Chapter 88: Meeting of Spirits
The Emperor stepped forward. He moved slowly, closing the distance between himself and Adam, who was still using Eric’s body. Soon, the Emperor stood directly in front of him, very close.
Adam, even though he was in Eric’s smaller form, looked up at the Emperor. He noticed, with a kind of calm, scientific interest, that the Emperor was indeed much taller than Eric. Eric’s head only came up to about the Emperor’s chest.
However, Adam felt no fear. Not even a little bit of worry flickered in his cold, white eyes. He was not easily scared.
The Emperor slowly lifted one of his hands. He reached it out towards Adam. Instinctively, Adam tensed up. His own hand, the one that was still in Eric’s form, twitched a little.
He was ready to move. He was ready to raise a hand to defend himself, or maybe even to attack first, before the Emperor could do anything.
"Do not worry," the Emperor said. His voice was calm now. It was not loud or angry like it had been before. It was quiet and serious. "I know who you are. Or, at least," the Emperor added, looking closely at Adam’s white eyes, "I know what you are."
A small flicker of real surprise, something that Adam rarely felt, went through him.
This was unexpected.
Adam himself didn’t fully understand his own nature. He didn’t know exactly what he was, or where he had come from. How could this human, this ’Emperor,’ claim to know such a thing? It seemed impossible.
Before Adam could think of something to say, or even before he could feel annoyed at the Emperor’s words, the Emperor gently placed his outstretched hand on Eric’s forehead. The Emperor then closed his own eyes, as if he was concentrating very hard.
The moment the Emperor’s palm touched Eric’s skin, Adam felt a strange feeling. It was a disorienting pull, a kind of gentle suction. It felt as if his very being, his true self, was being drawn out of Eric’s physical body, like a long thread being unspooled.