Bridge Jumper Comes Back To Life For Help: The Century Curse

027

"Impossible, in our current state, we'll never be able to get the information he possesses."

Ian rubbed the bruising welt on his back, waiting for Reity to make a bag of ice. There was a hint of distrust having a newcomer rummaging through the drawers, cabinets, and freezer. Then again, there had been a lot of unfamiliar faces walking through their door recently. Not glossing over the fact that they had a lot of issues far more pressing.

Diana searched the entire house and didn't find any sign of Citrus. Though she did find that everything Citrus had in the basement was moved to the spare room upstairs. She also confirmed what Reity said about the state of the basement. Between that and Diana now unintentionally blocking him from entering his own residence, things were dire.

"Ian. You are listening, are you not?"

"Sorry Astuo, I heard you, but there's a lot on my mind."

It was odd, a feeling not of his own overcame him. It was as if he'd failed someone, it was Astuo's emotion accompanying his stress. He wasn't aware that an entity such as herself even had the ability to feel emotion after she flatlined into her mellow state. However, Ian was happy to learn something new about the rent free roommate in his head.

The knob of the front door turned behind him, Reity exiting the house, shaking the bag of cubes trapped inside a sandwich bag. A pale zelus hand reached the bag in front of his face, before taking a seat beside him. After grabbing the bag, and trying his best to reach around, he found it difficult to apply pressure to the wound.

"Hand it here," Reity snatched the bag back from him, placing it in the general area of the injury over his shirt. "Well, since you held up your end and I got the answers I wanted, what're you gonna do now?"

The boy flinched in discomfort, the coldness stinging his back. "I don't know... Astuo said it'll be impossible to find out who made her this way."

"And, Astuo is the person in your head? Like how... you said, Rycklid was his name?" Explaining the recent events involving Diana and himself, he watched as the detective became confused, then understood, then fell back to disarray again. But she insisted he carry on, it only dawned on him how groundbreaking all of this must have been for someone so grounded.

"...and so Astuo's only been in me since you rescued me."

"Sooo... to figure out who her 'summoner' was, you just have to become stronger?"

He hadn't thought about it like that, was there a way that they could strengthen themselves enough to extract the information they needed?

"Indeed," Astuo's voice chimed in to calm his racing mind. "The connection between the summoned and their vessel can rely on many different variables, depending on the parameters of intent."

"Intent?"

"What?" Reity, with a puzzled look, wondered what the word referenced to concerning their conversation.

"Oh, sorry. I'm talking to Astuo. You don't mind, do you? I haven't had a chance to get used to the whole talking in my mind thing."

Her black hair swayed in the wind as she nodded, with the condition that he kept her in the loop of what Astuo was saying. He could already predict how difficult having two separate conversations when the conversers can't hear each other was going to be.

"Okay, go on Astuo."

"Intent. There are two general criteria for summoning someone such as myself." Ian paraphrased the information he was being given for Reity to hear for herself. "Other than the ability and understanding to summon in the first place. One must set up the ritual for whom they wish to summon, then they must embody the intent with every fiber of their heart and soul."

"Could you ask her to clarify? This is all still new to me." Reity paused the boy, scruffing up her hair in frustration.

"I can hear you."

"She can hear you." Ian guessed that with Astuo having access to his immediate memory would explain her ability to do this.

"Simpler than that. We are one in the same... Moving on, to summon is not enough. Due to the fact that beings resembling two sides of the same coin share rituals. For example, I am a disciple of the deity of lust, Ziadose. And our call sign, audio hypnosis summoning, accompanied by subconscious reinforcement, whether mental and physical, are all shared traits, with the deity of love. That is where the summoner's true intent comes into play. If a ritual is performed with love in the heart, love will be brought forth, and vice versa."

The two physically present individuals sat in silence, disgesting the knowledge they were just bestowed.

"If... if that's true. Someone either wanted Diana dead really badly, or wanted something out of life and screwed up." Ian's analysis went unanswered, by both Reity and the woman who enabled him to come up with that deduction. But Astuo had a history of staying quiet if Ian didn't need to be corrected. But, in looking over at Reity, her face seemed to read as if she was more concerned with the boy.

"Ian, if it's true. Someone is either obsessed with you, or loves you very much and screwed up."

He understood her concern, "but I'm not worried about that right now. I'll deal with that when the time com—."

"Ian," Astuo interjected. "The time has come. If you wish to have a chance of freeing Diana of her affliction. We must strengthen our bond, in order to obtain the information we need."

The boy stood up, adamant in what he had to accomplish. His motivation had never been more focused on one objective. Though he knew what to do, he wasn't sure how to go about executing on it. "How do we do that, Astuo?"

"Two options, but I suggest we do both if we are to compete properly. The first, finding one's summorer, and the vessel learning of why they were chosen allows for summoned and vessel, to grow closer as they both have been informed of their true purpose for being together."

"So that's why you said the time was now," Ian's hasty decision to be lackadaisical towards something so virtual started to feel like a huge oversight.

"The second, as the two faces of a coin share a mass, the two sides of a summon not only share a ritual, but emotion. Experiencing either love or lust, will allow for a further comprehension of said emotions within oneself, thus strengthening the bond."

Immediately, the boy jumped up the front steps of the house and reached to open the door. But, Astuo's emotion projected itself onto him, the sense of fear overcoming his desire to enter. Diana was the one he wanted to try and strengthen the bond with, but she was out of his reach until this issue was solved. But then, another face popped itself into his mind, someone whom he enjoyed spending time with even if it was only as friends.

"Reity, do you have Hanna's number?"