Soulbound Ch 15: A New Body, A New Home!

(Kaida)

The moment I passed through the veil, I could feel it.

That first breath was euphoric—like every inch of my body had been wound tight and was suddenly, gloriously, set loose. My cells surged with power. My bones sighed with relief. My muscles unfurled like they'd just been let out of a cage. And then the growth started.

Rapid. Unstoppable. Beautiful.

I moaned softly, the sound vibrating across parsecs as I stretched and stretched, my limbs growing longer, my form rising higher, until the very galaxy I'd just emerged from looked like a trinket—something a child might stuff in their pocket. I lifted my hand, slowly, and sure enough, I could fit that little swirl of stars right in my palm.

"Finally," I breathed, my voice a hushed echo in the endless dark. "I'm free."

Gods, I'd missed this.

The weightlessness, the stillness, the sense of space—and I mean real space. Not just the kind between continents or planets, but the vast stretches between galaxies, where no starlight dared intrude for long, and only we Aetherions dared to call home. The void between galaxies—where the rules of the cosmos went fuzzy and my people truly existed.

I floated deeper into the dark, my long hair trailing like a comet's tail behind me. It shimmered with the light of distant suns, caught and refracted along strands of gold and silver. My skin glowed faintly, a soft peach hue tinged with the starlight I'd absorbed, and with every heartbeat, I felt more like me.

It didn't take long before I saw it.

There, glimmering ahead of me, suspended like a god's snow globe in the middle of nowhere—a massive crystal sphere. Bigger than galaxies. Smooth as glass. Inside it, impossible towers and gleaming pathways wove like spiderwebs across floating islands, vast arcane circles pulsing with light. The structures inside danced with prismatic hues, each reflecting the raw magic of creation itself.

Home.

I slowed, grinning to myself. "Scott..." I murmured with a warm flutter in my chest. "We're home."

But he didn't answer.

I tilted my head. "Scott?" I called again, a little louder this time. Still nothing. A ripple of concern tugged at me—until I reached inward, letting my mind slip back into myself, past the muscles, past the bones, into the deep cradle of my soul.

There he was.

Curled up like a little ember at the heart of me, resting peacefully in my Soul Cavern. His soul flickered with gentle light, pulsing with steady calm. His tiny physical form floated beside him, the faintest smile resting on his sleeping face.

"Oh," I whispered, watching him through the folds of myself, "how cute."

I couldn't help the soft giggle that followed. A little breathy. A little giddy. Honestly, he looked like a kid that'd passed out in the backseat on the ride home. My poor sweet thing must've worn himself out again. He'd been doing so well too—learning how to see through my eyes, asking all the right questions, being all shy and earnest. I loved that about him.

I floated forward, slower now, gentle.

Didn't want to jostle the boy too much. Soul-sleep was delicate when it first started, and besides, I liked knowing he was safe in there. I could feel his warmth like a little heartbeat inside me.

With a wave of my hand, the massive crystal dome ahead of me pulsed in recognition. Threads of shimmering light traced along its surface, forming patterns and sigils too ancient for most minds to comprehend. It knew me. It had been centuries, but the realm still remembered.

A portion of the surface peeled away—slow and deliberate—like the parting of silk curtains. A gate opening just for me.

"Time to go in," I whispered, drawing my hand back to my chest protectively.

I didn't need to say it, but I still did. Even if Scott couldn't hear me right now.

"I'll show you everything," I murmured. "Just sleep a little longer. You'll wake up to wonders."

With that, I floated into the entryway, letting the folds of the realm swallow me whole. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he finally opened those sweet little eyes.

He was going to love it here.

***

(Scott)

I woke up feeling... weirdly refreshed.

Like the kind of refreshed you shouldn't feel after being asleep for who-knows-how-long. Not groggy, not disoriented, just... clear. Sharp. Peaceful.

But then I opened my eyes and realized I wasn't where I expected to be. No soft pink walls. No slow pulsing light. No strange, warm liquid holding me like a weighted blanket. I wasn't floating anymore.

I was lying on a a huge landmass of sheets.

I blinked a few times, sitting up slowly. The sheets were cool and smooth beneath my fingers, almost silky. The room around me was quiet and glowing gently from unseen lights in the ceiling. Everything looked... alien, but not in the "goo and tentacles" kind of way. More like a luxury space hotel that was trying very hard to impress me.

The walls shimmered like polished silver, faintly reflective, but not enough to see my face clearly. Some of them weren't even solid walls at all—they looked like transparent crystal, forming flowing shapes that rose and curved into pillars and shelves and odd, elegant designs I couldn't make sense of. Some glowed softly, like they were lit from within by starlight. It was beautiful.

I looked down at myself, frowning a little. My body—

Okay, this was the biggest shock.

My hands weren't see-through. They weren't glowing or ghostly or even a little bit transparent like they were before in Kaida's soul chamber. I looked... normal. Fully solid. Skin and bones and all the usual parts. Even my hair looked cleaner than it had any right to.

"What the hell?" I muttered under my breath. "Where am I?"

That's when I heard it.

Boom... boom... boom.

My head whipped toward the sound just in time to see the tall door at the far end of the room begin to slide open with a quiet hiss, and in she walked.

Kaida.

Not some cosmic star-wrapped titan like before. No. This was Kaida in the flesh. Still massive—don't get me wrong—just... more manageable. Maybe twenty feet tall instead of her usual 'I eat galaxies for breakfast' size. She had to duck slightly to fit through the doorway, but she didn't seem to mind. She looked right at me, smiling like she'd just come back from a long day and found her favorite thing waiting for her.

Her eyes were soft. Bright. That same molten white that always seemed to glow just for me.

"Welcome," she said, her voice rich and warm. "Welcome home."