Chapter 30 – No More Secrets

Rain pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself. 

"Okay, Bright...explain this request of yours to me again, please?"

Bright lets out an exasperated sigh. Her and Rain are sitting on the floor face-to-face, close enough that their knees are pressed together. She is growing more impatient by the second. 

"Like I said, I want you to bring me into your Soul Temple with you, so I can see these absurd attributes of yours and their descriptions with my own eyes! Come on, Rain, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me! Do you have any idea how many academics would kill to see this!? As far as we knew, the Echo only gives abilities associated with gods. You not only violate that, but you say that your Lineage is from an even more powerful being, a primordial! This changes everything! What's the big deal, anyway, didn't you say no more secrets?"

Rain directs an incredulous expression at her. 

"What's the big deal? Is that a joke? Setting aside the fact that I didn't even know that this was possible, it's insanely personal. I'd literally be baring my soul to you! You might as well be asking me to pose nude for you."

She rolls her eyes at his response. Then, an amused smile flashes across her face, and she responds in a provocative tone. 

"Well if that's how you feel, then how about I let you see me naked and we call it even?"

Rain sighs in exasperation. 

"Deal."

Bright's eyes fly open wide, her expression becoming flustered. 

"W-...well...wait...R-...Rain...I'm not actually...uhm...see...th-"

As she stutters out unintelligible nonsense, Rain just maintains his gaze, staring at her expectantly without reacting at all. As her face starts to turn pink, and she can no longer meet his gaze, Rain finally lets himself burst into hysterical laughter, doubling over from the force of it. 

"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my gods, Bright! Oh you're right, this is hilarious! Ohhhhh yeah, I just needed to be the one doing the teasing! HAHAHAHA! Look at how flustered and embarrassed you are! I guess you're all talk as well, aren't you? Not so much fun being harassed like this, is it?"

As Rain tries to get ahold of himself, still laughing hysterically, expressions of shock, embarrassment, and annoyance play out on Bright's face in a slow progression. Eventually, she's just glaring at him as he regains his composure. 

"That was completely tactless, Rain...you actually had me worried for a bit."

He raises his eyebrow at her incredulously. 

"Tactless...really? If anyone should be offended, it's me. You know damn well that you said what you did expecting pretty much the same reaction out of me as I just got out of you. Don't say something like that and then blame me when you get flustered by the consequences of your own actions. Also, for the record, there was no reason to worry. I won't pretend that I'm immune to your...appeal, but I also meant what I said before. Our working relationship takes priority."

Bright just stares at him in confusion for several seconds, a strange, conflicted expression on her face. 

"You're very odd for a guy your age...you know that, right? No, actually, you're just odd."

Rain frowns disapprovingly at the assessment, but his expression eventually turns serious as he stares back at her. 

"Okay, Bright, we've both had our fun. On to business...I'm willing to do what you asked, but there's a couple of conditions. Alright?"

Seeing his suddenly serious disposition, Bright nods hesitantly. 

"Within reason...sure...what are they?"

He nods seriously at her question. 

"First, fair is fair...if you're getting to dig through my soul, I get to dig through yours afterwards. It makes me uncomfortable for you to know everything about me, every strength and weakness, but you remain a closed book. That part's not negotiable. I said no more secrets, but that goes both ways."

Her eyes widen a bit in surprise, then she becomes briefly contemplative. Eventually, she cuts her eyes back at him with a suspicious air. 

"If...and I mean if...I agree to that, I'll need you to take the same vow of discretion as me, you know? Would I actually be able to trust you to not mention anything that you see? Unlike you, I don't have a way to tell for sure if you're lying."

He purses his lips thoughtfully. He's already sure that he can guarantee what she's asking of him. However, that's not the only thing to consider. He needs to convince her of that as well. At least seeming like he's giving it serious thought is an important step. Eventually, he nods to her confidently. 

"I'll keep your secrets, you have my word. If you have any doubts, just consider my position. Someone as powerful and prominent as you...it would only detriment me. Not only are you kind of scary yourself, and you're about to know everything about me, but even being seen as too familiar with you puts me in the spotlight. As it is, I'm already concerned about keeping our little arrangement a secret, so people don't start wondering why a beautiful, fearsome Demigod of exceptional reputation is taking an interest in a nobody orphan with average abilities."

A smile tugs at the corner of Bright's mouth as she responds in an amused tone. 

"You're being quite the flatterer lately, Rain. Alright, I believe you...I agree to your first condition. What's your second?"

Rain smiles appreciatively and nods. 

"The second is more of a warning, really. Despite all that I've told you, there's still a decent amount of shocking information you're going to learn. So, don't...freak out...okay?"

Bright's eyebrows briefly raise, then the embers of curiosity in her eyes seem to erupt into great flames. She leans forward eagerly. 

"You better not be overselling this, Rain. I'm not a woman that handles disappointment well, you know?"

Rain rolls his eyes.

'Understatement of the century...'

Letting out a deep sigh, he fixes a serious gaze on her.

"So, how do we do this?"

Smiling pleasantly, Bright sits back on the floor, then scoots in as close to Rain as she can. 

"Just follow my lead, and do as I tell you..."

He simply nods, and she moves her left hand onto his bare chest again, touching his Mark. Surprisingly, Rain manages to maintain his composure. Then, however, Bright grabs his left hand and pushes it under the collar of her shirt, until it's pressed firmly against her own Mark. Feeling his jaw clench nervously, he tries to think about something else other than the sensations assaulting his hand. 

Bright's voice interrupts his thoughts, amusement once again evident in her tone.

"Okay, now focus on circulating your Ichor to enter your Soul Temple. However, try flowing your Ichor through me as part of that process. Down your arm, past my Mark and chest, and back down my arm into your Mark."

Rain focuses on her instructions, trying to visualize his Ichor completing the circuit she described after it first leaves his body into hers. After a while, he feels his Mark heating up and the familiar pull of his Soul Temple. This time, however, it feels like the pull is more...strained...like he's dragging something along with him.

Eventually, he's once again standing in the circular room, right in front of the black rune stone. Before he can look around for her, he hears Bright's voice echo out mockingly from behind him. 

"My, Rain...this is quite the dark and gloomy soul you've got here. Kind of depressing."

Feeling his eye twitch, Rain turns around to glare at her. 

"Oh? Gone plunging into many people souls, have you?"

Bright widens her eyes a little in surprise, then pushes her finger to her lips a bit...sheepishly. 

"Actually, this is my first time in someone else's Soul Temple. I've always wanted to try it, but nobody's been crazy enough to let me."

He stares at her blankly for several seconds, then grits his teeth. 

'I hope she turns out to have an incredibly embarrassing Quirk that I can trigger...'

Satisfied with his resolution for petty revenge at a later time, Rain sighs and gestures around the Temple. 

"Well, you're here now. Knock yourself out."

Bright smiles eagerly and starts walking towards the black rune stone. However, her eyes seem to catch on the stone table to the side of the room – the small, round altar-like one that Aron was surprised to hear about before. She freezes, looking between him and the table a few times in confusion. 

"Rain...what is that? There shouldn't be anything like that here."

He shrugs nonchalantly, directing an equally puzzled gaze back at her. 

"I have no idea...I was kind of hoping that you'd be able to tell me that. It's always been here."

Altering her course, Bright begins walking towards the small table slowly, her eyes transfixed on its surface. As she reaches it, she runs her hands over the rough, stone surface, he gaze seemingly far away, and she murmurs under her breath. 

"Fascinating..."

She continues running her hands over the table, periodically leaning in to peer at sections of its surface. The behavior continues for several minutes until Rain gets bored, then he clears his throat awkwardly. 

"Ehem...Bright...care to share your thoughts?"

As if startled awake, she snaps her gaze to him with wide eyes. 

"Ah! Hmm...oh, yes...uhm...I've got no idea what it's for, actually. These runes, however..."

Rain's face twists in confusion.

'Runes...I didn't see any runes...'

He quickly joins her side, following her gestures at the stone surface. Sure enough, when he looks more closely, he sees seven runes in a circle around the edge of the table. They're not glowing blue like on the rune stone, though, they're ingrained in the stone of the table itself – permanent-looking in nature. He hears Bright continue thinking aloud next to him. 

"These runes are interesting. I can't translate them. They're not the modern runic language of the gods, the one that the Echo translates. They're not even the archaic runes that I told you about, from the ruins mentioning the origins of the gods. These are similar-looking, but...they're obviously old, rudimentary...maybe older than any runic language we've ever found before. It's the small runes that are really interesting, though."

Bright's hand moves to the empty space on the stone table, or at least, that's what Rain thought it was. However, as he looks closely, he's able to make out something strange about the surface of the stone. It's rough, uneven...and in a manner that lacks a uniform pattern. As he continues to stare at the stone, straining his eyes, he suddenly lets out a small gasp. 

'No way...'

The seemingly random, roughened surface of the stone is actually due to innumerable, smaller runes, engraved into every spare inch of the table's surface around the larger seven runes. It's as if the whole table is writhing with them, alive. He tears his eyes from the chilling sight, and casts a regretful glance at Bright. 

"So, you don't have any insights into what any of this means?"

Her finger traces he lips absentmindedly, as she looks at the table thoughtfully. 

"I wouldn't say that. I can't translate these runes, but there are a few runes scattered throughout here that seem to have conserved structures relative to less ancient versions of the runic language. Those, I have a vague idea of what they're referencing, though it's completely lacking context. Collectively, I can wager a guess as to what the runes were put here for."

Rain's eyes widen in surprise, and his voice becomes mildly excited. 

"And? What's that?"

Bright looks over at him, her eyes conflicted and hesitant, as though she's not sure if she should say anything. Eventually, she bites her lip nervously before responding, a trace of concern evident in her voice. 

"Rain...I think...it's a lock."