Death... and me

"Merge souls?" Rean was surprised to hear that.

"But...is that even possible? First of all, even if it is, that means Langara and Eminia wouldn't be the same person anymore. It wouldn't be wrong to call them a different person altogether."

Fatax nodded in agreement as he wanted to stop Thicket. "Yes, you can't do that! What will happen to my sister? I can't let you kill her like that!"

Thicket didn't stop his work as he explained, "Kill her? She'll be very much alive if that's what you're wondering. It's just that she would be both your sister and your matriarch, I guess? In any case, this deal was made between Langara and me. You have no right to intervene here. After all, I made it very clear to both Langara and Eminia what would happen during the process. The two women decided that it was what they wanted."

"This..." Fatax knew his sister, so he knew she would definitely accept such a thing. Langara didn't have much choice either, as anyone could tell that she had reached her limit.

Roan was a lot more logical, though. "Langara didn't want to take someone's body for herself, and your sister didn't want your matriarch to die either. You should respect their decision here."

Fatax wanted to rebuke, but he didn't have an answer for that. If he said anything, it would be about his own wishes, not theirs.

Rean then looked at Thicket and asked, "Still, is it even possible? I mean, it goes beyond the scope of just revitalizing the soul."

Thicket agreed with Rean, saying, "You're correct. If it was any other situation, it wouldn't be possible. However, these two can become one. Simply put, their souls are very similar. You could say that this is a trait of Langara's race. Because Eminia has a very pure bloodline, she isn't much further away from being a full member of Langara's race either. Last but not least, they both accepted this fate completely. If one of them had as much as a single doubt on what was going to happen, it wouldn't work at all. Fortunately, that isn't the case."

Seeing Fatax's terrible expression, Thicket added, "Hey, it's not like your sister's memories will disappear. They will all be there. Rean asked if they could even be considered the same person. But let me ask you, why couldn't they be since they have both memories?"

Fatax still didn't like it but nodded in the end. "I know my sister. If that's what she wants, then so be it."

Rean then asked something else, "Since Langara... or Eminia will keep their memories, isn't there a risk of multiple personalities?"

Thicket shook his head as he answered, "The answer is the same. Both have accepted to become one. Once the process is over, the acceptance of memories will guarantee that such a thing won't happen. You could say that both memories will understand that they aren't two different people, but the same new one."

Thicket then looked at the fairy that brought Rean and Roan into the chamber. "Newt, I'm almost done with the revitalizing process. Bring our guests outside as I can't be bothered when the fusion process starts."

"Yes, Master!" Newt then brought Rean's group to a room where they could wait for the outcome.

Several hours passed in a flash. Soon, a day went by, then two, three...if not because Rean wanted to know where to find more of the Fallen Light Star Fragment, he and Roan would have left already. It's not like they had some deep connection with Langara anyway.

Finally, on the fifth day, Thicket appeared once again...followed by Langara, or Eminia, or whoever she was now.

Fatax was the first one to come forward to ask. "Si-sister, are you still there?"

Suddenly, tears began to fall from her eyes as she shot herself into Fatax's embrace. "Brother! I-I..."

Fatax was taken aback. This was definitely his emotional sister. But then again, Matriarch Langara would never act like that. Could it be that the memories of his sister were dictating this new girl's emotions?

However, Rean found it strange. He then touched Langara's shoulder and used his Light Element and Divine Soul Power to feel her soul. "Weird...I can feel the energies from both Eminia and Langara's souls. However, how come it looks a lot more like Eminia's soul after the merge?"

Fatax was surprised to hear that and quickly looked at his sister's body. "What does Rean mean by that? Should I call you Eminia? Langara? Or maybe some other name?"

Langara tried to wipe her tears and was just about to say something when Thicket intervened. "This is definitely Eminia. Langara is no more."

"What?!" Rean and Fatax were taken aback, while Roan didn't even bother to pay attention. Roan didn't really care about which one she was. Well, Rean wasn't much different. He was more interested in why Langara disappeared, considering they should have become one. It was just purely his curiosity. Fatax was the only one really concerned with their well-being. "Why did that happen?"

Eminia's expression became melancholic as she explained, "It was Matriach Langara...when Senior Thicket started our fusion, Matriarch Langara didn't let the merge happen. Instead, she woke us two up and told me that she was giving me everything."

That was a really surprising outcome. Langara didn't seem to want to die here as far as Rean's group could tell.

Eminia continued, "She said she had lived long enough, so there was no need for her to stay much longer. Although she wanted to deal with the Clan Head, she understood that the best way to do that was for her to disappear. That way, no one would find out about her race, nor would the Clan Head obtain the chance to get her soul to achieve his plans any further."

Eminia couldn't hold back and began to cry even louder. "Th-then, she said that above everything else, she couldn't bring herself to make my soul turn into something else. With Thicket's skills in soul merging, she was able to transfer all her memories to me while I kept my sentience as Eminia."

Rean understood after that. It was completely different from how Langara's soul was being consumed. Using that method, it wasn't possible to pass one experience and memories to the other. But with Thicket's help, she was able to do that.