The Plane of Elemental Spirits is like nothing they've ever seen before. Great sprawling fields, rolling hills, exotic plants and spirits milling around, all in some of the most fabulous colours they've experienced.
"It's beautiful!" the Hero gasps, hovering in their soul form. It was almost worth the strange, rather uncomfortable, sensation of Tomix sending their soul there in a flash of purple light tinged with black.
Speaking of the Soulweaver, they had better get a crack on with finding their new SoulAlly before they're unable to return to their body; as stunning as the Plane of Elemental Spirits is, they really want to avoid that scenario. They don't want to miss out on Soulweaving training, and if they can't return to Lore, how else can they help people or stop Sepulchure from obtaining the Elemental Orbs?
(That and they're pretty sure that if they did get trapped, their dragon would somehow find a way to get to the Plane of Elemental Spirits and spend eternity chasing them.)
The Hero is about to start their search when they hear someone calling out. "H-hello?"
"Who's there?" they call back, streaking off in the direction they heard the voice coming from. "I don't see you! Wait...do I even have eyes right now?" They pause, making a motion that feels like shaking their head, but who knows how it looks?
"Can you h-help me?" the voice asks, sounding much closer and distinctly female.
"I'll be happy to help you once I find you!" the Hero replies, rounding a huge arched plant and catching a glimpse of a yellow spirit, looking rather nervous. "There you are! What's wrong?"
The spirit glances over her shoulder. "I'm being chased…" Sure enough, behind her, the Hero can see the shapes of…something (some sort of monster? Other spirits?) approaching and they shoot down beside her.
"Don't worry," they reassure her. "I'll help you as best I can. Hey!" They direct their voice at the incoming figures while they swerve in front of the spirit and puff themselves up, trying to look threatening and to shield her. "You leave her alone!"
Perhaps it is the loudness of their voice, perhaps their increase in size, or maybe the figures don't want to pick a fight, just scare the spirit by chasing her, but whatever the reason it works, and the figures pause and retreat back over the fields until they disappear from view.
The Hero turns to the spirit with a wry laugh. "If only all bad guys could be scared off so easily, my life would be much easier. Who are you? And why were they chasing you?"
"My name is Pandora," the spirit, who the Hero can now see has the figure of a woman in a dark dress with rippling hair, two interlocking squares on her hand and a mark stretching over her eyes and up her forehead with a diamond in the middle, answers. "They were chasing me because, well, I shouldn't be here. I'm not meant to venture out of my domain, you see, because otherwise I attract bad luck, and cause trouble for others."
"Nice to meet you, Pandora," the Hero replies. "I'm the Hero of Falconreach. Well, that doesn't give them an excuse to chase and scare you. I'd be happy to escort you back to your domain so no one else bothers you."
"Thank you," Pandora gives a shy smile, indicating the direction they should travel in before cocking her head at the soul beside her once the two of them had set off. "You're a hero? Why are you in the Plane of Elemental Spirits?"
"Oh yes!" the Hero starts, suddenly remembering their reason for being there. "I'm here to find a SoulAlly, so my friend Tomix can train me as a Soulweaver. We've just saved the town of Ravenloss from the Corrupted Spirit of Greed, you see, and I'm always eager to learn new skills, especially those that can help me protect the good people of Lore and stop the bad, like Sepulchure."
"A SoulAlly?" Pandora bites her lip, her thoughts whirring as they pass by a cluster of Elemental Spirits. This person, this hero, they had helped her when all but one of the other Elemental Spirits shunned her, due to being the founder of Chaosweaving, and from the sound of it, they helped a lot of other people too…and she wants to help them, to show her gratitude for the kindness they showed her. There is a way for her to do so, but only if they're willing to accept the risks.
"Hero?" she asks tentatively, rubbing her upper arm nervously as the Hero swivels. "I'm really grateful that you helped me, and I want to repay that. If…if you want, I could be your SoulAlly? But you must know–"
A roar interrupts her and the Hero gasps. "What was that…?"
"Oh no…" Pandora whispers, slowly turning around as the other Elemental Spirits around them give cries of fright at the sight of the snarling monster that has emerged in front of them, eyes glaring and tentacles waving menacingly.
The Hero scoots in front of Pandora as she takes a step back, wanting to avoid the glares some of the other spirits who noticed her presence have sent her way. "Don't worry Pandora; I'll protect you and the others. Now how do I fight this thing without my body…?"
Their deliberation is interrupted by a flash of icy blue and the monster is sent careening back with a growl by a powerful kick. A figure rises above it, raising their arms above their head and forming a blue orb, which they hurl down at the monster before it can retaliate, encasing it in ice.
"Oh," the Hero blinks (or at least they think they do; this whole 'soul form' is really confusing). "Well. That takes care of that then. Huh, I do not like standing back and doing nothing; just WATCHING while someone else takes care of the monsters."
The spirit floats down; revealing themselves to be a light blue male with a white helmet, holding what looks a charm, and turns to the group of Elemental Spirits. "Uthuluc should be frozen for at least a century. But how did it escape in the first place? Who released it?"
The group parts, revealing Pandora in the middle, her head bowed, with the Hero hovering protectively in from of her.
The other spirit sighs. "Pandora. What are you doing outside your domain? And…who is this with you?"
"It was a mistake…" Pandora whispers, looking up at the spirit. "I just wanted to explore for a bit. Aegis, this is the Hero of Falconreach. They saved me from some others who were chasing me, and were going to try to save us from Uthuluc as well."
Aegis blinks and gestures at the other spirits to disperse. "A hero? Why are you in the Elemental Plane of Spirits?"
"I'm here to find a SoulAlly," the Hero replies. "My friend Tomix has agreed to train me as a Soulweaver now we've saved Ravenloss from Greed. I want to learn as much as I possibly can so I can help and protect the people of Lore. My dragon and I will save the world, and we're currently in a race with Sepulchure for the Elemental Orbs; if he gets them first, we're all doomed. Like Pandora said, I helped her out when she was in trouble and was escorting her back when that monster appeared."
"I see," Aegis nods. "You really are a hero. I'm sure you'll be able to find a SoulAlly here! Thank you for helping Pandora. The other spirits bully her you see, because she's the founder of Chaosweaving. I befriended her a while back and try to look out for her, which can be difficult when she decides to venture out of her domain where it's safe, despite me telling her multiple times that she has to stay there."
Pandora curls in on herself. "I'm sorry… But Aegis, you should know, I did offer to become the Hero's SoulAlly, to help them like they helped me."
Aegis frowns slightly. "Did you tell them about the risks?"
"N-no, I didn't have time."
"What risks?" the Hero asks curiously.
"I did found the Chaosweavers," Pandora replies. "And I am the Elemental Spirit of Woe. My presence in the material world can cause mishaps and cataclysms. But my previous SoulAlly created an artefact, a cube, that I can remain in safely. That is…if you still want to…"
"I think I know the cube you're talking about," the Hero muses. "In Mystlyk Museum. We can retrieve it when I'm back in the physical world. Thank you, Pandora; I would be honoured to have you as my SoulAlly."
A smile spreads across Pandora's face as Aegis laughs. "I think this will be good for you, Pandora. Someone else to befriend and look after you, and you them in return, and as a SoulAlly you're less likely to venture out of your domain and cause trouble for us! I think the two of you will achieve great things together."
"Thank you Aegis," the Hero grins as they face Pandora, who nods at her friend.
The Elemental Spirit and the soul begin to glow softly, a SoulThread reaching out from each of them and intertwining with each other before becoming one, shining bright to symbolise the newly formed bond. They both gasp softly, testing out their new connection.
It's similar to the bond they have with their dragon, the Hero muses, what with the sensing of each other's presence and emotions.
"The bonding is complete," Aegis intones. "The two of you are now linked until you die. Now Pandora, we'd better get back to your domain before we have another Uthuluc situation. And Hero, you need to return to the physical world."
"Of course!" the Hero nods. "Thanks again, Aegis! And I'll see you soon Pandora, once we've got that cube!"
The two spirits lift their hands in farewell as with another flash of light – this time yellow tinged with white – the Hero finds themself back in Ravenloss, face to face with a very anxious looking Tomix.
"Hero!" the Soulweaver exclaims. "I was getting worried. You were in the Plan of Elemental Spirits for a long time, too long almost."
"Sorry for worrying you, Tomix," the Hero rubs the back of their neck sheepishly. "There was a bit of drama we had to deal with. But the good news is I found a SoulAlly!"
"This is excellent news," Tomix nods. "Now we can begin your Soulweaver training. Do tell me about your SoulAlly."
"Can't wait!" the Hero grins. "Okay, she's called Pandora and before we can get onto training, we need to go retrieve that cube from Mystlyk Museum so she can be in the material world without accidentally causing anything to blow up."
"I remember the way; let's go," Tomix sets off before pausing as he fully register's the Hero's words. "Wait…you're bonded to who?!"
Disclaimer: DragonFable is owned by Artix Entertainment. Based on the quest 'Meet Aegis'.
I got hit with the idea for a Reverse SoulAllies AU where the Hero bonds with Pandora and Tomix bonds with Aegis, and the writing inspiration followed soon after. Hope you enjoy! If you want to see the full post for this AU, it's on my tumblr (theloverofdragons) under the 'reverse soulallies au' tag.