Body and Soul

"You finally woke up" Allen opened his eyes, seeing the white-haired woman sitting on a chair with her legs crossed while he stood laying on the floor over some kind of blanket "Do you remember what happened?"

"The wolf..." His thoughts were a little blurred having just woken up, but Allen quickly remember, instantly turning over his left arm where he was attacked.

"You don't need to worry, it's completely fine. In the end, it wasn't anything serious." What the woman said was true, Allen found his arm completely fine, not showing any sight of wound or corruption, causing him to sigh in relief.

"Thanks" Allen stood his upper body and lowered his head to the woman "It would have been quite bad if you haven't appeared, thanks to saving me." Allen stopped for a second thoughtful before asking "How is the boy that was with me?"

"You are really a bad friend" The woman glared at Allen "You only worried about yourself, almost even forgetting your partner whose condition was far worse."

"We have only met for some hours, so he is not exactly my friend" Allen excused "And could you really blame me for thinking about myself first?"

The woman's glare was becoming more ferocious, starting to exude killing intent causing Allen's body to unconsciously tremble. 'She is dangerous. Extremely!'

"So you think like that" She said coldly before a smile bloomed over her face, her deathly aura disappearing completely "Good thinking. Continue like that and you might live long." She stood up and walked towards Allen, offering her hand "You can call me Skirk, nice to meet you, little mean boy."

"I'm Niwa Allen, nice to meet you." Allen took her hand, helping him to stand up.

"For your curiosity, the other boy is laying there" Skirk signaled at her back where Ajax laid sleeping on a bed. He seemed to have returned to normal, his face and hair recovering his colors, the only trace left being a white strand of hair.

"His situation was quite the serious one, so it would take some time for him to wake up" Skirk explained as she offered him a chair, Allen sitting in it "You must be hungry, I'll prepare something" She said before leaving towards what it seemed to be a rustic kitchen.

Having finally time alone, Allen started focusing on his surroundings. Some chairs, a desk, a bed and shelves full of books. It was a house all in one room and while it has a rural and aged air over it, if it weren't for the dark environment and heavy air that made it clear that he was still in the abyss, it could be quite comfy.

Shortly, Skirk returned with a soap, water and a piece of bread. "If it's bad, keep it to yourself. It has been long since I made anything."

"Thanks" Allen started eating the food under Skirk's watch. It certainly wasn't anything good, too bland of a taste, but it was eatable.

"So..." Skirk started talking just as he finished "Would you explain how did you come here?"

"Ajax" Allen signaled him "was walking over a forest as a rift appeared under him. And in my case..." Allen thought about what to tell.

"You were sent as a Fatui" Skirk deducted, causing Allen's eyes to go wide.

"H-?!" "How did I know?" Before Allen could say anything, Skirk again interrupted "Niwa should be your surname. They have quite a long reputation at Inazuma, but there are some of them at Snezhnaya. Looking at your winter clothes, I can discard Inazuma, so most probably Snezhnaya. And considering you have a trained body used to combat and to wield a sword, it would be strange for you to not be part of the Fatui."

"You are mostly right" Allen nodded a little shocked by her deductions "But my surname came from Inazuma and I trained there rather than at Snezhnaya. Also, I really doubt there is some Niwa apart from me."

"Time truly changes everything..." Skirk wondered "I suppose that when you pass your time in such a dark place, you can't really be up to the time. Anyway, that's not important. The other boy reached this by bad luck, but you were different. Explain to me how did you especially reach this place alone."

"I didn't came alone. I was with a..." He thought about how to describe Scaramouche "senior to explore the outer layer of the abyss to train me, but shortly after entering the path under me broke down and I alone fell near where you find us, there I met Ajax before finding that wolf monsters."

"It's strange..." Skirk thought "I met other Fatui before, but they were quite the strong guys and of course, weren't kids. Using this place to train..." Skirk's gaze fell again over Allen "Who had the idea?"

"Pantalone" Allen busted out under her gaze.

"So one of the Harbingers... What are they planning" Skirk made a thoughtful face "It doesn't matter in the end for me" She sighed "Allen, if you can, you should never approach that guy again."

"I know this place is dangerous, but I was the one that decided to come" Allen explained.

"You don't know anything about the Abyss, but Pantalone should know" Skirk explained "Sending someone to the Abyss, even if it's only the outer layers and with protection, it's the same as trying to kill one."

"The Abyss is a dangerous place and it certainly can be fatal for the body, but the worst is what can it do with the soul." Skirk stated "Just staying here corrupts oneself. Even if you were to leave alive, your soul would already be tainted, your self could be considered to be death, and you will be like another person. In a sense, your self as a person is killed."

Allen thought about himself, has it really changed him staying here? He couldn't feel it, but it could take some time... "It would affect me?"

"This is the inner layer of the Abyss, were the influence of it is much stronger." Skirk explained "For a kid like yourself, your soul should be unable to last. It won't even have the chance to be tainted. It will be devoured."

'I truly need to escape from here! This is too dangerous' Allen's eyes went wide "How much time I could last?"

"Take as an example him" Skirk signaled Ajax "He is quite weak, but his body is special. I think that's precisely the reason for him to reach this place." She said "He is quite compatible with the abyss, gaining him some resistance against its influence. In that case, his soul was able to last some hours before he started to fall under it."

"For some like you..." Skirk pointed at Allen "You are physically stronger than him, but not so much and that difference is completely depreciable against the compatibility, so you should barely be able to last a minute here."

Allen blinked in shock and frowned "But, I'm fine?" He said a little unsure.

"Sure, you are" Skirk nodded. "Everything says that you should have completely died, but here you are, completely unfazed."

"How can it be?" Allen asked.

"I'm not too sure" She said excited "For someone weak as yourself to be able to do it... It means that you are truly a special case. You have the strange soul."

"You said soul again, can you explain it?" Allen asked.

"Of course, I suppose that if you are not aware of it, it can be quite confusing" Skirk nodded "Ourselves are mostly formed by the body and soul. The body is the normal, your physical strength, instincts, talents... Then there's the soul where your mental strength belongs. Your experiences, your control, your internal status, your element..."

"It's quite difficult to explain, but as you use a Vision" Skirk signaled the jewel "The soul could it be considered your elemental power and the power that you are able to unleash from it."

"Usually body and soul are in equilibrium and when it's not, there are some inconveniences. Having a strong body and a weak soul would make it difficult to control the body and would make it difficult to learn anything. On the other hand, having a strong soul but a weak body would cause it to contain its power, acting as a barrier to unleashing its full potential."

"Over the Abyss, they are quite important. The power of the Abyss is quite simple, it's to devour."

"Let me explain it with an example" Skirk said looking at Allen confused face "You can think of the body as a recipient and the soul as the water within it." Skirk explained taking a glass box and filling it with water and closing it "The abyss tries to devour the water inside it, affecting the recipient, until they are able to pass through it and devour the water."

From Skirk's hand, black smoke surged and started to cover the box "The most common is for both soul and body to not be much strong. In that case, the Abyss would destroy the body and devour the soul, not leaving anything behind." The black smoke swallowed the box, completely making it disappear.

"Now, if the body is a little strong," She prepared a new box, this time from a strange transparent metal, covering again with black smoke "the Abyss won't be able to completely destroy it but nevertheless would affect it" The metal started changing its colors, acquiring and amber tone "until its able to pass through it" the water inside the box turned dark and it started emptying until no water was left "devouring the soul. In this cases, the thing left is a soulless body that you can call a monster."

'So is this how monsters appear?'

"Now, what would happen if the body is weak but the soul is strong?" Skirk presented a crystal box, with a strange liquid inside it, black fume covering it

"It would destroy the body, leaving only the soul left" Allen answer.

"Correct" The box disappeared and the liquid fell over the table "A soul can last without a body so it will end scattering and it will also devoured."

"And if you have a little strong body with a such strong soul?" This time it was the transparent box with the strange liquid. The black smoke tainted the metal, making it amber.

"You have a monster with soul." Allen answered unsure.

"Quite the tricky ones, yes" Skirk smiled seeing it.

"The way to resist the abyss is to have a strong body able to resist it" Skirk took a box of blue metal that remained intact under the black smoke.

"Or a body compatible with the abyss" She took a thin black box with water in it. The black fume passed through the box, tainting the water, however, the water level didn't lower, instead, the black box was becoming wider, bigger and stronger. "This would be the case of your friend there" She signaled Ajax "And mine." She said coldly "Tainted humans."

'So that's the reason of Ajax's future strength. Strengthening with the abyss, tainting himself in it'

"It sounds worse than what it is" The cold aura disappeared with her smile "But it certainly changes your being."

"Anyway, the Abyss is quite tricky. It's strong and never-ending, constantly trying to devour until nothing is left" From Skirk's hand, a dark metal gauntlet appeared and from it, it surged a deep black smoke covering everything on the table before disappearing leaving nothing behind, none box staying there "That's why everyone should avoid the abyss. No matter how strong you are, if enough time passes, you will fall."

"So what would be my case?" Allen asked with a mix of worry and curiosity.

"Allen, I've only met two people who were able to be unfazed under the abyss and they were ridiculously strong. For someone as weak as yourself..." Skirk took a crystal box "I don't really know what your soul should be." Skirk shook her head "A soul strong enough to completely resist the Abyss even to the point of making the body stronger."

"A solid or an expanding one..." Allen thought about the boxes, if there was pressure from the inside, it would make them stronger to outside influence.

"Yes, a monstrous soul."