The Astral soul system

Zen looked around as hard as he could but his shadow was really gone. The only reason he hadn't noticed earlier was because it had been night on the previous planet he was on.

"That's unusual"

"What are we gonna do?! This isn't natural"

Zen looked down and only thought for a bit before answering.

"Nothing. Although it's extremely rare, some abilities cause permanent side effects, we'll just say this is one of them, and if that doesn't work, we'll say we have no idea, were just a bunch of kids who survived a life or death situation, how would we know anything about this?"

Neo snapped out of his panic and nodded.

"Yeah, and it isn't a lie either so there's no way that could go wrong. You didn't even know about it before I pointed it out,so if they do a truth test nothing can go wrong "

Neo scratched his head nervously. Now that he thought about it,he was being very silly. He had absolutely no reason to panic , but the whole incident had put him on edge and he had acted without thinking much.

Sable was watching the whole thing but just didn't feel like talking. Everything else that happened was crazy,so she didn't feel very surprised.

Now that that was taken care of,Neo asked something else that had been bugging him.

"When did you tame a crow?"

"It's a raven and it's a long story"

Zen paused and suddenly noticed the irony of a raven waiting for him to come back.

'That's something she'd probably do too'

Zen turned around and started walking towards the infirmary while Neo just stood there a bit confused as to what to do now. A month on another planet seemed to have shook him more than he originally thought as he looked around, wondering if he could still remember the way to his dorm.

**********

"So were you being honest or you just played him?"

Expecting the question, Zen answered.

"No"

"What does that even mean?"

"I didn't know"

"Well we're going to have to do something about it"

Zen paused.

"We?"

Sable understood his question but didn't back down.

"Yes "we". You and I are connected now. We're close,closer than you think. I'm your blood and you are mine"

Seeing that Zen seemed to not know what she was talking about, Sable laughed.

"You really don't remember? Your blood flows through me and mine through you. You're my blood brother and I'm your sister now...or at least we will be if you agree " Sable said, muttering the last part under her breath.

Zen recalled hearing something similar while the memory of them drinking each other's blood resurfaced.

"Something like that doesn't happen lightly. To think we did it by accident. Anyway,there are meant to be vows or something so let's get to it"

"Like a wedding?"

"Sort of?...i think? Forget about it, I'm in your debt so i quite literally HAVE to do this. I promise to always stand by your side, and protect you when you need me... and occasionally fight you. Your turn "

Zen thought for a bit. He didn't really understand what was happening, but it seemed important to Sable as she had increased her grip on him considerably, probably due to nervousness.

After a little thought, Zen answered with what he felt was the easiest thing for him to promise.

"I'll kill anyone you want "

Sable closed her eyes and clenched her lips as she fought the urge to grin.

"What more could a girl want?"

[Congratulations! Blood bond formed]

[Hint: For most people this would mean nothing, but for someone like you,things happen differently. Bright side is that there's literally no down side to this]

'interesting'

Sable sighed in relief and squeezed Zen a little.

"Thanks for that,it means more than you know. And don't worry, it's just a silly tradition."

"..."

"Say hello to your new blood sister. You're stuck with me from now on" Sable said, gently resting her face on his head and sounding considerably more casual with him than usual

"You seem happy "

"No one fights like you do, there's just something special about you that no one else has"

"I see"

"That's not the only reason" Sable quickly added, fearing she had hurt him with her comment "

"....who are you running from?"

Zen suddenly stopped

"What do you mean?"

Sable took a breath, wondering if she should continue but remembering that she just made a vow to protect her new blood brother, she decided.

"You're strategic, cold and calculated... but you always fight like your mind is somewhere else. Your'e never completely focused and every action you take seems to be only halfhearted and instead directed to a different purposeYou look like someone who's supposed to be angry and vengeful but you're not?"

"That convinced you i was running?"

Sable shook her head.

"You look dead, like you're holding back a lot. You fight like you're carrying a mountain on your shoulders. You're focused and calculated, like you're on a mission,you've repressed your own emotions, and not once have you said why you weren't with the rest of your organization when they were attacked"

"..."

"...But other than all that...i guess I just know "

Zen kept his head down and just kept walking for a few seconds. Sable thought Zen no longer wanted to continue the conversation when he said something.

"Exceptional"

"What?"

"You learn about people through combat. Their intent,their character, their mannerisms. An incredible talent. You're an empath, albeit a strange one "

"Does that mean I'm right?"

"..."

"Let me help you. Share your burden with your sister. Tell me what's going on,who you are,who are the people chasing you"

"Destiny is chasing me!"

Zen accidentally snapped and under his glove which was actually Black covering his hand, his mark glowed.

Sable felt like she had overstepped her boundary and decided to keep quiet, but Zen actually continued the conversation.

"I don't know how to explain this but.....

************

Elaine heard the familiar sound of someone entering her place and looked to the door to see Zen walking in with a familiar girl on his back.

Her breathing momentarily stopped as she quickly got up to meet them.

"Kid! I heard what happened. Are you okay? I was so worr-"

"Elaine, calm down. We're fine"

Elaine smiled. Yep, this is the same kid,no doubt about it.

"I didn't realize how much I'd miss seeing your face in my office"

"I'll try to visit more often then"

Elaine suddenly stopped. Did he really just say that?

She slowly held his face, softly caressing it as she looked into his eyes.

"Something's changed. You seem more, but at the same time less...you"

Elaine stared at him for a few more seconds before enveloping him in a hug.

"Doesn't matter. Whatever happened to you doesn't seem bad,in fact you seem happier"

Zen didn't say anything and waited for her to satisfy herself. He had come here quite a few times already and this had become normal by now.

"Anyway, that's enough of that. Better stop before people start calling me a creep. Place her on one of the beds and I'll go get my equipment"

Elaine released him and walked off.

Zen gently placed Sable on the bed, and when he did, he noticed she was looking at him with a shit eating grin.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just realized why out of everyone in our class, you're here the most often"

"I come here because it's quiet"

"Yeah... right. I'm guessing it gets a lot less quiet when you get here"

Zen ignored her and sat down.

"Seriously though, it's not hard to reach that conclusion. She already has her own fanbase in the school. Sixty percent of visitors to the infirmary come here for insignificant injuries like rashes and bruises,ten percent "Got lost" and an overconfident five percent come here to blatantly ogle at her and nothing else "

"If it's so obvious,why not do something about it "

"Elaine's super nice. She basically just ignores it, doesn't break their bones and does her best to help the ones that do need her help"

Zen thought for a bit. Elaine did seem really tolerating towards him.

"She really seems to like you"

"She looks at me like a lost puppy. Like someone that needs help"

"Do you?"

Zen ignored the question and accordingly, Sable changed the subject.

"You're seriously living the highschool dream. All alone in the infirmary with a gorgeous absolute vixen of a nurse"

"You make it sound like you desire her in that way as well "

"She's a hot blonde milf in a tight-fitting nurses outfit. No one's that straight "

"Does that also apply to cute green haired,doe eyed school girls?"

'H-he saw that?'

"...Touché"

Zen looked towards where Elaine had gone.

"You don't have to keep hiding "

Elaine walked out, looking like a child that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Sorry,i guess I was just too flustered by the compliments. Kids nowadays really know how to make a woman blush "

Zen looked at Sable and noticed she was blushing a bit at being caught.

That suddenly reminded him. How was he supposed to tell her that they had fed her blood for almost a month straight?

Elaine stared examining Sable and in less than five minutes she stopped.

"She isn't hurt, just very low on energy. I can give you a few vitamins but you have to do the rest yourself. Sleep early,stay away from any big fights and eat and drink lots and lots "

Elaine handed Sable a few pills and watched her take them all before telling her to stay here for a few hours.

Zen was about to leave when Sable stopped him.

"Listen... about what you said earlier-"

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it and try to get better first"

"I agree with him" Elaine added.

"After all, you're going to need as much strength as you can muster for tonight"

"What's tonight?"

Elaine looked confused at the question before remembering that they hadn't been around.

"Do you have any fancy clothes?"

Zen shook his head. The only clothes he had were the school uniform he was wearing and his shirt, pants and hoodie.

"Well you're gonna have to fix that before you go to the party "

Zen was still confused but Sable looked like she finally understood.

"That's tonight?"

Elaine nodded.

"They pushed it back as far as they could. It's honestly quite lucky you just happened to come back right now"

Zen was still completely lost and luckily they didn't keep him in the dark too long.

"The welcome party for new students,or at least that's what they call it. In actuality it's just a big legalized fight club with some fancy suits and drinks. All the academy's get together and bring their newest students to give them a chance to show their worth against the other academys' students. It's usually done a month after school begins, but thanks to your little disappearance, sentinel academy had to postpone it"

Zen didn't say anything in regards to this new information. He honestly would have preferred if he had missed the thing but it seemed he wasn't that lucky.

"Oh don't be like that" Elaine said when she noticed he wasn't saying anything.

"It'll be fun,you can beat up as many people as you want, and if it turns out to be boring, just fight a single fight and leave when no one's looking, AFTER you've raided the buffet table "

Zen looked at his clothes that were covered in blood and reeked of beast corpses and other things.

"Do i really need new clothes?"

"Yes"

"Yes"

"..."