[System: The Soul transfer failed. Soul transfer can't be done on a gambler]
The cold, digital voice echoed in Riku's mind, cutting through the tense silence, the shimmering magic, the terrifying, beautiful weight of Serabil on his lap. A stark, red notification text burned into his vision, a brutal, undeniable truth delivered with the System's usual indifferent finality.
Soul transfer failed.
Can't be done on a gambler.
Riku stared at the notification, his mind reeling. His mind reeled. Immune? Untouchable by such fundamental magic? By the power designed to bind souls and seal might? The implications were staggering, terrifying. Gamblers weren't just players given a System; they were something else entirely. Set apart. Immune to the very laws of this world, perhaps.
Anna/Serabil, still radiating that eager willingness, tilted her head, her golden eyes vast and questioning. "Riku? What happened?" A subtle, curious frown creased her brow. "Why didn't it... work?" Her gaze flickered to the ring, then back to his face. She didn't seem distressed, merely intellectually puzzled, like a scientist observing an unexpected experimental result.
Serabil tilted her head, her golden eyes questioning, her earlier enthusiasm fading slightly. The moment of shared curiosity, of a fan meeting her hero, was interrupted by the inexplicable failure. "Riku? What happened? Why didn't it…?" She trailed off, her gaze fixed on the ring, then on Riku's face, a flicker of confusion and perhaps something else entering her expression. The silence returned, heavy and charged, punctuated only by the rustle of leaves and the frantic beating of Riku's own heart. The game, it seemed, had just revealed a new rule, and Riku was still struggling to understand its implications.
Riku swallowed, the air thick with the scent of disturbed earth and the lingering phantom taste of starlight. He forced his voice to be steady, pushing back the rising panic, the crushing disappointment. "The… the System," he began, choosing his words carefully, revealing only what was necessary, "it… it said... it failed." He didn't mention the 'gambler' part immediately.
Anna/Serabil's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of understanding. "Oh? The System spoke?" She leaned in, her voice dropping conspiratorially. "What did it say
She shifted slightly on his lap, the small movement a fresh wave of unwelcome sensation, a stark reminder of his predicament. But her focus wasn't on resuming her earlier advances. It was on the failed attempt, on the meaning behind his request.
Her curiosity was palpable, overriding any concern for why the ring failed to bind her.
Riku hesitated for a fraction of a second, weighing the risk of revealing this fundamental rule. But she was a gambler. She likely had her own System. She would find out eventually, perhaps in a situation where he had even less control. This could be another path to gaining information.
"It said," Riku's voice was low, raw, "that soul transfer… can't be done… on a gambler."
Silence.
Anna/Serabil's golden eyes, vast and ancient, stared at him. Her smile, which had been hovering at the edge of her lips, vanished. Her perfect, ethereal features settled into an expression of intense, focused thought.
"Can't be done... on a gambler," she repeated softly, the words echoing strangely in the quiet pass. She looked at the ring in his hand, then back at Riku, then seemed to look inward, as if accessing her own System, her own data. A subtle shift in her aura, a vibration of immense power, indicated she was processing something profound.
"Even though… the ring didn't work," she said, her voice soft, earnest, a sudden seriousness replacing her usual cheerful chatter, "I was willing. I agreed. I was ready to… trust you. With everything." Her golden eyes, ancient and vast, held his, filled with a genuine sincerity that was baffling given her nature. "Doesn't… doesn't that prove… that you can trust me?"
Riku looked at her, truly looked at her, perched on his lap, a being of cosmic power offering her soul to a small, dark ring for his sake. The willingness had been absolute. Unquestioning. Driven by a trust born from a story, from admiration.
It was illogical. Terrifying. But in the face of such complete, baffling vulnerability from a seraph… Riku felt the cold knot of fear in his gut begin to loosen. The violation, while still a phantom weight, felt separate from this moment. She had been willing. Completely.
He sighed, a weary sound. It felt… wrong. Fundamentally wrong. To doubt that willingness. To deny the trust she had offered, however bizarre its origin.
"Yes," Riku said, the word quiet but firm. "You… you have proven… that you are worthy of trust." It was an impossible statement, given everything, but it felt true in a way that defied logic. He couldn't understand why she trusted him, why she acted as she did, but he could acknowledge her genuine intent in this moment. After everything she'd just done, everything she was, to offer herself like that... yes. It would be wrong not to trust the intent behind that offer.
Serabil's smile returned, softer this time, touched with a profound relief. Her golden eyes, vast and ancient, shone with a light that seemed to encompass galaxies, but in that moment, they were focused solely on him, filled with a simple, heartfelt gratitude. "Oh, Riku! Thank you!"
She shifted again on his lap, settling in more comfortably, her presence still undeniable, but the tension in the air subtly changing. The predatory edge was gone, replaced by… companionship? It was a terrifying thought. A seraph companion.
"You know," she began, her voice lower, more contemplative now, the chatterbox contained for a moment, "The movie, it showed me the original Riku Dola. Can you tell me who you were on earth?"
Riku froze. He thought that she only knew that he was riku, not that Rio was a separate person whose memories had merged with his. He thought she just knew he had knowledge from another world. But she knew. She knew from the start.
"You… you knew?" Riku asked, surprise overriding his weariness.
Serabil nodded slowly, her expression serious now. "Yes. How the souls from different world reside in this body, how their memories… became your memories." Her gaze was filled with a strange blend of intellectual curiosity and ancient understanding. "It's… unprecedented. Unrecorded even in the Archives of the Gods. A true anomaly."
She tilted her head, her golden eyes sparkling with that unsettling curiosity again. "So… who were you? In that other world? What was your name?"
Riku hesitated for a moment. Sharing this felt… incredibly vulnerable. Revealing the ordinary life of Rio, the otaku, to a being of such power, who already knew so much about him. But she had offered her trust, in her own terrifying way. And perhaps, this was the only path to true understanding between them.