Those Who are Not

Chapter 2: Initiation

     It wasn't hard to find the so-called "Tall Room." The castle consisted of mostly empty stone corridors and furnished but empty living spaces, yet the Tall Room was in the center of it all, reaching from the ground floor to the roof. The room was all white and gray, detailed very polygonal and jagged. The center of the room was just an elevated platform, where grey lines from the details on the walls and chairs orchestrated in the center to create an emblem of sorts. Nine chairs circled the center platform, some higher than others, assuming hierarchy in the group. The stranger sat atop the highest one, as expected, while 7 other cloaked figures sat in the surrounding chairs, all with different colored trims. I noticed the only empty seat, the second one to the left of the stranger, and assumed that was my spot. However, I decided to keep my mouth shut and wait for instructions as I could feel all 16 eyes peering at me.
     "Noxcron, please step up to the center." The stranger motioned his left hand upward as an invitation. I did as he told.
     "Fellow husks," he began, "We have yearned to be whole for as long as we can remember." His voice seemed almost excited, yet bold. He spoke for a while about husks and how souls were the gateway to life.
     "Each living being requires a soul in order to feel. We are all here today because we want to be whole, we no longer want to be shells of our former selves." He put his hand to his heart sympathetically. Everyone else was still staring at me, but I wasn't staring back. The last thing I needed right now was issues with things that shouldn't even be alive.
     "Noxcron, you have the ability to help us become whole again." He pointed to me. Even though his hood was up, I could tell he was smiling the same way that I first saw him.
     "Unlike any other members you see here, you have a weapon that surpasses all of the others. You have a gem of your past that has stuck with you after your demise." My gem... I looked down at my left wrist instinctively. An emerald, flush with my skin, reflected myself as I stared into it, forgetting that I even had it. My gem... This is the weapon I had before I died. The stranger stood up and moved both of his hands upwards, pointing them both at me.
     "You have been selected by those who are not and those who cannot be. You will be assisting us as we journey to find the perfect soul to rekindle our life, and make us truly exist." And, as if he didn't exist at all, he faded away along with everyone else. I stood there for a moment, realising what the plan truly is. My gem can release souls from those who have lost it. They need me to release the souls for them to use as their own. I clutched my wrist tightly, the cold jewel leaving fingerprints as I slid my hand away.
     "Okay." I spoke to myself. Then I walked away.