Ixion hummed a quiet tune as he threw his hands behind his head and crossed his feet.
A moment later, he was looking down at his relaxed, soulless body.
Once again, he was taking his soul on a little journey.
This time, he was going to visit the Nameless King of Leyran, whose laboratory was barely at the edge of his range.
'Ah… I pray that scary fucker is doing well!'
After all, that man had the most vital task in all of the world!
That nameless engineer who endeavored to create an external vessel to house a soul.
Ixion was doubtful he'd accomplish the task when the idea alone sounded preposterous!
But, then again, he needed to succeed.
Because, in theory, then they'd be able to stave off the plague of the Scourge by way of hiding their soul in a remote core and controlling their vessel from a distance.
'Though true success is doubtful.'
Ixion sighed as he thought about how poorly the world's search for a cure to the plague had gone.
'This world has truly gone to shit if that man's our last chance…'
Ixion's soul began getting dragged through walls, then in the open, and finally into the forest with insane speed.
In a flash, Ixion's soul had found its way to the Nameless King's secret laboratory…
Ixion floated, scrutinizing the human bodies held in tubes, various buttons and levers at the base of their holding pods.
His attention eventually found its way to a young boy with long black hair and pale skin.
'So young…'
So young and to end up as a lab rat was truly a cruel fate.
Though at least he wouldn't have to suffer the woes of the world.
Well… his body wouldn't.
Ixion continued his march, finding scattered documents and the engineer's shattered creations strewn across the ground— orb after orb, each shattered.
'Ah, there he is.'
Under an Aether lamp, Ixion spotted the man sitting at a desk with a glowing orb in his hands.
The man whose hair and eyes were white and vacant. Matched by a white beard.
His skin was not wrinkly, but it seemed hardened by countless years…
A nameless man who looked like every pigment was ripped away from him — like anything that could give him an identity was lost.
The man stayed fixated on the glowing sphere in his hands, but he addressed the air.
"Hello, Ixion."
'How does he always know I'm here. I thought I'd finally be able to surprise him!'
Ixion wished he could sigh as he floated and found his way into the nameless man's body.
'Eeuugh…'
'I hate this feeling.'
The guy's entire being felt hollow and dead.
As if he were just a body with no soul. Though Ixion could tell a soul was there…
'But something is seriously wrong with it!'
Ixion had seen tainted souls and radiant souls in his life, but nothing like this! Something which bordered on non-existent, but also overbearing!
The nameless man's lips slowly drifted apart.
"You're here to inquire about Project Arc, I assume."
Ixion's soul shuddered at each word the man spoke. Shaking off the eerie feeling, he replied by way of thinking into the man's mind.
'Now, now. What if I were simply here to catch up with an old friend?'
The man drew his hand over the orb and pressed it lightly, causing its glow to flare.
"Since when were we friends? We're business partners."
'Ah, I know I know… As for why I'm here. Two things. I was curious about Project Miasma. Also, about Despair's location.'
The man's lips twisted and his eyes narrowed.
"Why do you need to find Despair?"
'Oh… no reason. I was curious if he'd finally reveal all his juicy secrets to me.'
The nameless man's face remained stoic, but a weird sound that was almost a laugh escaped from his throat.
"Despair? Reveal anything to you? He knows you're trying to stop him, so why would he do that?"
Ixion replied:
'Oh… I don't know. Because I'm the only one who can actually make his plans come to pass. Who else can shatter souls?!'
The man sighed as the sphere in his hands shattered.
"There goes another one…"
Then he slowly stood up and continued:
"Despair knows you'll do what you have to do for Project Arc, so threats would be meaningless. And he is most definitely not willing to tell you his plans once that ship has sailed."
Ixion's soul bounced around, but the man showed no reaction or mortal toil. Ixion thought:
'I thought as much. Oh, woe is me! Nobody wants to be my friend!'
The pale man with white hair sighed and made his way over to the small, pale boy with long black hair.
"You inquired about Project Miasma? Well… I am almost in need of your services. I've found nearly all the suitable souls needed and the perfect vessel…"
Ixion recoiled, and his soul was on edge.
'A young boy is your perfect vessel…? Have you sunk to going after children now? How horrid! How depraved!'
The nameless man sighed, ignoring Ixion, then he said:
"His soul just so happened to be transient and fleeting, one susceptible to being consumed by another…"
'Ah, so he is perfect…'
After all, Project Miasma was an experiment with a simple, yet impossible end goal: creating a living weapon immune to the plague.
As for the answer all of their experiments led them towards…
It was about finding a few thousand different souls, then splicing the strongest pieces and stitching them together into a new being.
At the same time, each part of the soul would be responsible for a different part of the vessel.
Finally, that meant once a sutured soul was created, using the foundation of a weak soul as the thread, it could inhabit a vessel that could, at will, change its form into something intangible.
While maybe that wasn't enough to receive immunity to the plague, at the very least, this being would be able to sacrifice a part of their soul to escape corruption.
Well, more accurately, sacrifice a multitude of souls to save the whole.
Ixion's soul shivered as the nameless man put his hand on the glass wall of the pod and muttered:
"Indeed, he is."