A Sinner’s Chance

It didn't take too long after the body had fully formed before it began to move and the fusion of Gabriel and Kalista sat up, a look of bewilderment in her eyes as she looked between me and Ellie. She stretched and moved her limbs as if testing that everything was in working order. Physically she didn't look too different from Kalista, though her hair had become a lighter blonde that was closer to Gabriel's golden hair than Kalista's darker blonde.

While the two hadn't been identical, they had been twins that looked rather similar, so I wasn't too surprised, rather I was thankful, it would be a pain if I had to explain how Kalista suddenly disappeared. This way, I would simply explain away the sudden changes as a new Skill or Gift, just as I had when Marian had become a Dhampir.

"We truly are one." she said, her voice nearly identical to Kalista's. "What a sublime feeling." Her body shuddered as she began to touch herself, leaving only her unreachable areas untouched, before standing, her expression one of ecstasy and delight. She took a few steps towards me before kneeling before me and bowing her head deeply. "There is no possible way I can properly express my gratitude, Master."

"Don't wor-. Master?" I questioned, rather confused by her sudden unasked for subservience.

"I'm sorry, would you prefer My Lady, or Mistress?"

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to the kneeling woman before me. She was clearly more Kalista than Gabriel, yet somehow I felt that she had changed in a rather strange way. I could only shake my head at her query. "I'd rather not be referred to by any of those. I was asking why you would call me that in the first place." I explained.

The Kali/Gabriel fusion slightly lifted her head, an expression of sorrow and hurt on her face. "It is only natural to call the one you revere in such a manner." she said. "You wouldn't abandon us, would you?" Rather than being a question, it almost felt as if she was threatening me.

I could only release a sigh at her answer. I wasn't an expert on the matter of merging souls, but if I were to hazard a guess, the method I had used had resulted in her current feelings. Gabriel's obsession with destroying me and Kalista's obsession with her sister had twisted together to become an obsession with their sister, me, in a violent and dangerous form of love. Likely the only thing preventing her from attacking me to 'keep' me for herself was the small fragment of my soul that I'd mixed in.

Not wanting the small fragment to become overwhelmed, I decided it was best to simply go along with her for the moment, there was plenty of time for her to change her mind later. "I wouldn't do such a thing." I said gently. "You can call me as you'd like, but around others can you at least call me by name, or sister, at the very least?"

"Of course, my dearest sister." she said energetically, suddenly coming out of her kneeling bow to hug me.

Technically she was the older sister, yet for some reason I felt like I had suddenly gained an over-attached little sister, but as long as she could keep up appearances I didn't really care what happened in private. I gently wrapped my arms around her and embraced her back, slightly afraid she would snap if I didn't.

"What should I call you?" I asked out of curiosity. I currently thought of her as the fusion of Gabriel and Kalista, but it would be more appropriate to call her a new person, likely in the same way I was once Velen, but was now Vellithra.

There was a moment of silence before the fusion responded. "You can continue to refer to me as Kali, but when we're alone I hope you'll call me Kaliel instead."

I didn't know if her new name had been decided beforehand, as despite the hesitation and silence, I had a feeling that it was less about her thinking and more that she hadn't wanted to voice her actual request while Ellie, or perhaps anyone else was present, but I thought it was quite fitting. A blend of Gabriel and Kalista, while still being able to be referred to as Kali for those who had known her before.

After resting for a bit longer I refitted Kalista's clothes to fit Kaliel, though there were only a few adjustments to be made, mostly around the chest since her breasts had become larger, not that much, but enough where Kalista's dimensions were slightly uncomfortable for Kaliel. For now I planned to return to the surface, there wasn't much left that I wanted to do her in the city so I did think that I'd be heading back into the Forest of Darkness soon, though I did want to make sure that I got Kaliel to tell me and record everything about the Archangel that she could. With access to her memories, she would be able to tell me more than any of the best observations I could make with the limited contact I had with her.

However just as we were about to ascend, I heard Kaliel yelp in surprise and fright. Quickly turning back I saw a broken Status Plate held in her hands, much like how mine had ended up when I had attempted to use it. "What happened?" I asked.

Kaliel shook her head. "I'm not quite sure, I just thought it would be wise to see if my Status had changed, but it broke."

I briefly thought that perhaps whatever system that was in place was beginning to fail before I realized that mine and Kaliel's situation was essentially the same. She was the fusion of two souls, with a fragment of a third, while I was like a quilt of souls, one that had recently fused with another brand new soul. In both our cases, the new fusion was a common theme between our Status Plates breaking, and while that didn't explain why I could no longer simply view my Status in my mind's eye, it was a starting point to perhaps figure out what was happening.

I glanced over at Ellie, who seemed just as shocked as I had been, so I doubted she'd ever encountered the phenomenon before. "Don't try to view your Status. The same thing happened to me recently, I think it is due to the fusion."

The method of our fusion had been different, but for now it was the best lead I had and was now something that I was going to have to look further into, hopefully with the help of Ellie as, at the very least, the Status Plate was tied to the soul of a person, so there was surely some kind of correlation and maybe even short-term fix that could be put in place. The biggest problem was that I didn't have an infinite number of blank Status Plates, so if each test caused one to break I'd be out unless I got it right the first or second time. However, that was a problem for later, I had been getting pretty good at knowing what my abilities were without a direct visual aid, but it would be nice to know just what had become different since I had last looked at my Status.