Ori and the Spirits Within: Revitalized

Chapter 14: The Bond of Broken Souls

An aura of mysticism flew over the sky of the Soul Scape, the waves of spectral lights providing a dim glow to the forest around the two souls, currently in the middle of a conversation. After a perilous escape and rejuvenating Ori back to fighting strength, the lost soul sought to explain what he knew to the spirit. Obviously, there were a multitude of things to explain: Ori's resurrection, the lost soul coming from another world, and his excursion to Nibel to find the truth of this whole ordeal. He tried his best to explain all of it to the spirit, but it was hard given that even he didn't know the full truth.

"H-Hold on," Ori interrupted their monologue. "So... Seir managed to recreate my body and put my soul into it. But for some reason, he had to use your soul to revive me, and that somehow got me sent here, to the... S-Soul Scape?"

"Basically," he shrugged.

"And for some other reason, you lost your memories and Seir told you that you were me, but once you realized you weren't, you wanted to save me."

"Pretty much..."

"I... huh," Ori sat back and pondered for a moment, trying to process everything he was hearing. Seir brought him back to life? He remembered a lot of things about spirit culture, but he thought that bringing a spirit out of the tree that they created was impossible. Perhaps it was, and Seir took it too far.

But... the odd being before him talked about a multitude of things as well, mainly life after he was resurrected after Niwen had been restored. He talked about the family Ori had, about how they were shocked yet happy to see him again, and about the celebration they had in the Wellspring Glades. How happy they were, how safe they were...

...

"A-Alright," Ori nodded, not really understanding the whole situation but going along with it. "So... who made this whole plan? It wasn't Seir, and I... don't think it was your plan?"

"What? You don't think I'm smart enough?" he joked with the spirit.

"I-I didn't say that!" Ori rebutted. "I j-just thought that... I don't know, someone who understood this world better did."

"Well, Sein actually made the whole plan."

"S-Sein did?" Ori questioned.

"Yeah. L-Long story short, I went back to Nibel with Ku because I wanted to recover my... well, your memories, and I thought that Sein could help. Once she realized something was wrong, she strategized a way for us to fix this and sent me in to save you from that... monster."

That was Sein who healed me yesterday. She... n-never stopped caring about me.

"Th... That's great!" Ori cheered, letting a quiet giggle escape his lips and an unintentional blush come over his cheeks. Sein was a very familiar and friendly guardian to him in his youngest of years who he knew all too well. She took care of him when no one else was able to, and guided him along the path back to safety not just for him, but for all. The two shared a lot of moments together, and not just during their adventures in Nibel. After everything settled down and Nibel healed, Ori wanted to keep seeing Sein, as she had become a dear friend to the spirit. Of course, being the catalyst of the Spirit Tree meant little time for Sein to do as she pleased, but they still had some happy memories together.

That lovely reminiscence got cut off when he heard the other soul laughing in his direction...

"Wh-What? Did I say something funny?" Ori asked curiously.

"N-Nothing, kid," he replied, smirking at the spirit all the same. "So yeah, that's... e-everything up until now."

"B-But you still never answered my question!" Ori exclaimed, pointing a finger right at his face. "Wh-Who are you? B-Better yet, what are you?"