Soul Searching part II, part.. uh 2?

Hello Earthlings. I come bearing more of your favourite long short novel story type thing. It's only a short part really, I'm being lazy and you have my permission to punish me in any way you see fit.
So yes, this is a little more, not even the rest of the part, but at least it's something right? It's basically just a tonne of stuff about the Soul Society, ridiculously boring probably compared to the heart rending action of part I (ha.) but it's essential so we're just going to have to power through. (I promise I'll think of a more intelligent way to do this in the real thing ^_^)



Minutes pass that seem like hours, and hours pass that seem like minutes. We sit, entranced, on the edge of our seats as Zain animatedly tells us all that we’ve been longing to hear.
Kieran and I, we’re connected on another level. More intense than most people can ever even hope to experience. But with the magnitude of this dependency comes consequence.
“Your souls are like conjoined twins…” He says. People have always said that Kieran and I were joined at the hip. I guess they weren’t so wrong. “… That share a vital organ, if you are separated, your condition, both physical and mental, will deteriorate until eventually, you die.” Those last words are so blunt, so final that it seems all the air has been sucked out of the room. We sit in a stunned silence; my head feels suddenly dizzy again.
Zain leans forward in his seat, the expression on his face serious, almost grave.
“You guys are lucky you found us when you did. Another couple of days being separated like that and for one of you this might have proved fatal.”
“But… but…” I blurt out, shaking my head “we were with each other practically all the time, I mean, apart from the first few days, but after we figured out something was wrong…” I trail off.
“I didn’t mean to do anything,” Kieran says softly, solemnly looking at his shoes like a kid being made to apologize for some petty playground crime. “I… I was just so angry… I can’t even remember what about.” He looks up sharply, his determination barely covering the fear and vulnerability beneath. “You can fix us right?” Kieran demands tentatively, he seems almost afraid of what the answer might be.
After an agonizing pause Zain finally replies “Of course.” With a small, but reassuring smile. I hear Kieran echo my sigh of relief. “Actually, you probably could have fixed it yourselves if you knew how, although it requires cooperation on both parts.” He looks sharply at Kieran, although he can see something in his mind.
In the Soul Society logic doesn’t exist in the same way as anywhere else, like a faerie plain from old folklore. Zain said earlier that sometimes you can catch glimpses of things in other people, not just your own soul mate, sometimes even glimpses of the future. There’s no art to it, no way it can ever be controlled or pinned down, it just… happens.
I choose not to linger on whatever Zain saw, and neither does he, choosing instead to delve back into his lecture.
“From the very moment your eyes first met, your minds have been connected, no matter how far apart, physically, you were from each other, and pretty much always will be. But if either of you so something, either accidentally or on purpose, to disrupt that bond and cut yourself off from your partner, it can have fatal consequences, as I’ve already told you.”
We spend hours learning how to reach out to each other with our minds, reforming the bonds. We also learn how quickly they can be shattered. Zain teaches us how to send snippets of thought to each other and build walls and doors in order to keep our private thoughts in place.
“It takes a long time to master these techniques, to be able to truly control what you share. Most of the time, if you feel strongly about something, it’s harder to control it. Thoughts are easier to screen than emotions.
“Of course, there are always some who seem to master these things quicker than others, and are also able to become stronger in their techniques, so strong sometimes that their partners can barely feel their presence.” This time Zain is looking straight at me. I feel like those eyes can see right through me, all the ways to the things that I don’t even know about myself yet.
He holds my gaze for a few seconds, searching, but then turns back to his lecture. I glance over Kieran, but he didn’t seem to notice what just happened. He is staring out of the large window beside us. With our minds finally reconnected I can see that he’s thinking about the time. I can’t tell how long we’ve been here. The sky outside the window seems forever blue.
Later on Zain is telling us a little more about the Soul Society and I can’t help but marvel at the enthusiasm he’s managed to keep up all this time. There is so much information that he has to get through to me and Kieran and yet he has managed to keep our attention from wondering better than any teacher I’ve ever had, and this lesson has gone on far longer than the standard hour.
The Soul Society is a safe haven for people like us. There is no need to remain connected here; nothing affects us if we shatter. It’s like our bodies our frozen in time, making deterioration and ageing impossible, although over time appearances tend to become… altered, like Zain’s eyes and hair. The more time someone spends here, the more resistance they build up to the harsh forces of the outside world. It’s almost as if they become part of the place itself as the power they possess here in their minds slowly begins to return to the world with them.
Many people who have lost their soulmates choose to live on here, never ageing, in this dreamlike place where everything comes down to the mere power of the mind. They choose to live on and help the next generations from making the same mistakes, even though they are missing half their being.
“Zain, these people, these… lost souls you are talking about…” I struggle to find the right words.
“- am I one of them?” He finishes my question for me. The glint seems to fade from his eyes a little, a sad smile playing on his lips. “I’m afraid so.” He sighs and refocuses on us, his expression very serious.
“I think it’s time for you to learn that the Soul Society has enemies. Enemies that will ruthlessly destroy your bonds and torment your soul, then consume what little you have left and use it to feed their own sick addiction. They are so changed by this habit that they can barely be classified as human. I’m talking about the Gamaitha.