"Wakey wakey!" A voice chimes
Soutas eyes shoot up looking toward the ceiling of a familiar building..
"is this Scrollhaven?!" Souta exclaims to himself.
He notices someone hes seen before standing over him.
"You bastard.." Souta seathes toward the oracle that's hovering above him blocking his field of vision.
"I took it upon myself to finish what we started behind the tent!" The oracle directs her sarcasm at Souta antagonistically.
Soutas' vision gets blurry at the thought of what happened.
"What did you do to me.." His words grow shorter and more frustrated..
He continues
"Why are you so insistent on forcing me on a path I don't wish to be on! What's so special about you people!"
"Well.. that's just something you're going to have to find out for yourself! How does that sound?" The oracle chastises Souta.
"I swear once I get up from this floor.. You're dead." Soutas eyes widen in adamance as he attempts to shuffle back upright.
"Oh! Don't rush! Your body is currently under spiritual collapse.. Do you want to die?"
"Spiritual collapse?! That won't stop me from killing you, you know that right?" Souta words grow confident
"Do you seriously not know what kind of danger you're in right now?" The Oracle rolls her eyes wondering if she should really be worried about her safety or not.
"Let me brief you on exactly what's happening to you right now since you think you're strong enough to kill me right now." She continues
"Your body at this moment is connected to a deity, now we don't know what kind of power reached you but what we know right now is that your body was put under more pressure and power than you can handle for a prolonged period of time.'
"Do you remember connecting with a god-like being?" She questions
Souta stumbles his train of thought being given information that was once unknown to him. He remembers parts of his battle in the church and having a bering become one with him because of their affixed goals.
'I have to lie, she can't find out..'
"Uhm.. no?" Souta remarks calmly
"Are you sure?" The oracle grows suspicious and questions him again closing distance between her and Souta.
Souta dismisses her questioning and switches the topic
"How long am I going to be like this?" he squints his eyes in discomfort trying to create distance between him and the girl in front of him.
"Wait.. I never even got to learn your name? Who are you?" He asks curiously.
The Oracle giggles and says
"I'm glad that you asked Uetaa~" She chides along with a tone of being on the upper hand knowing Soutas fake name.
Souta grows a crooked smile
"Whew.. I'm glad she doesn't know about my other world.'
The girl continues on, "My name is Orcha, I am the Oracle of the 'circus' representing Goddess Yokuto.. That bitch.."
Soutas face reflects confusion and Orcha notices
"I see you're confused about my distaste for such a useless god.. I'll tell you.. I received her blessing before I joined the circus and aided anyone that had a curiosity about their future in the small village I used to live in.. But obviously, people had to get in my way and cage me up for the 'potential of misusing my ability'
'How fucking stupid' she scratches her head in irritation and annoyance.
She continues on
"Anyways after staying in a rusty ass cell for a few weeks, Inc and Dantalian broke me out.. It was like they were the only ones that could see my value other than those dumbasses that jailed me.."
"Who are those people?" Souta asks curiously
"You know Inc! you just can't match his name with a face, he's the 'ringmaster' of the Carnival.. He's currently spirit level 4 so I wouldn't mess with him..
"Oh that guy.."
Souta rolls his eyes recalling a voice calling him out on the stage where he first met Orcha.
"And the other one?" He asks questioningly
Orcha replies, "Oh! You mean Dantilian right?"
Souta nods
"He is the 'strongman' of the Carnival.. I think he's spirit rank-"
She thinks for a second
"-Spirit rank 2 at the moment. He's also a giant."
"Why would I give a damn about their spirit ranks?" Souta utters
"Why? Well, I mean it's like anything else about a person, like hair color, and gender. It's kind of just something that you chalk up when explaining a person, y'know?" Orcha tilts her head searching for Soutas understanding.
"Right…" Souta answers still emitting confusion in his statement
"Anyways now that I could finally finish the ritual, you've now become spirited
'Will that affect me and that mysterious voices' connection?!' Sourta thinks to himself nervously
Orcha notices Soutas displaced attitude shown in his face and asks, "what's wrong? Is something up?"
"I was just wondering if it is that easy to become a spirited, i mean if it was wouldn't everyone just become one" he thinks aloud
"Ah I see you must be a country bumpkin cause you dont know anything do you" she teases him
"What's that supposed to mean" he retorts
"Don't worry about it. But to answer your question not everyone can become a spirited because not everyone's spirit is strong enough to withstand the connection to a deity much less even power the ritual" she explains to him as he listens intently.
"What do you mean by strong enough spirit" he questions thoughtfully
"Gee all this explaining is making me tired, anyway not everyone is born with a strong spirit in fact only about one in ten people are born with a spirit strong enough to withstand becoming spirited" she explains seemingly getting fed up with Soutas continual questioning
"So i guess I was just lucky enough to be born with a strong spirit" he muses while thanking the gods that they put him into a good body
"Yes and now that I've told you all this information you have to make a decision and that is to either live in hiding from the church for the rest of your life because you are seen as a worshipper of Kazeyami or you could join us in the circus and hopefully live a better life" she says in a serious tone clearly outlining her ultimatum
"What if I chose neither" Souta says playfully before noticing that something has changed just at that moment if only imperceptibly.
Looking into Orchas deep dark eyes she suddenly speaks
"Sorry but you don't have a choice anymore".