The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Chapter 797 797: Sea of Emotions

Removing the Soul Bloom and lowering her defenses had an instant effect.

Like a sea that had been previously held back by a dam, the emotional signatures of millions of people came crashing down on Noble.

The pressure pushed the air from Noble's lungs. She gasped.

Her instincts struggled to gain control of her arms so she could thrash her way to the surface of the invisible ocean of emotion.

Yet she forced herself to be still. Noble sat under the weight of countless emotions and remained motionless.

Happiness. Worry. Contentment. Anger. Fear. Boredom.

Noble's mind could barely keep up with the names of all the feelings entering her.

Admiration. Disgust. Relief. Consternation. Adoration. Surprise. Hatred.

Noble opened herself to all of them. They flooded her soul.

Amusement. Joy. Anxiety. Relief. Awe. Horror. Craving. Confusion. Boredom. Intense impassioned interest.

Every citizen had their own feelings at each moment in time, and they pushed against Noble in an unending tide. Even in their sleep, many people were still reacting to dreams that caused delight or dread.

Discomfort. Desire. Horror. Hope. Triumph. Terror.

Noble gritted her teeth.

'Too many.'

She felt all these emotions from others constantly, but all at once, and with such intensity was more than anything she had ever experienced since awakening.

It was chaos, each emotion flitting in and out of existence as it was felt, experienced, and discarded for the next sensation.

But Noble could not discard them. They were seared on her consciousness with an invisible brand.

It burned! Noble screamed. Tears streamed.

"Too much!"

"I'm right here." Fort hugged her, rocking back and forth with her as she sobbed. "Stop, if you need to."

"I..I can't!" Noble wanted to quit.

Her consciousness felt pulled in a thousand different places. Her soul sea crashed on the shore, disquieted and disturbed beneath the hurricane of mystical wind.

It was too random, too unpredictable, too hectic.

"Too much!" Noble repeated, her heart racing.

Even if she wanted to back out now, Noble did not think that she could.

Her Innate Ability was [Window into the Soul]. Trying to shut the window that she had opened was not easily done, if it was possible at all.

All across Ravenheart, Noble's Ability had silently taken hold. Her essence was being pulled from her at frightening speed, and she saw no way to stop it.

The souls of others were laid bare before her in all their emotional turmoil, and hers had responded in kind by taking them in with a thirst that Noble doubted that it would ever be satiated.

Now her soul and her mind were at odds. The Spell had forcibly reformed her core to face the challenge of transcendence, but that same magic had left her mind to fend for itself.

And that mind was failing.

Noble suppressed an inhuman wail.

"Bee..." Fort's soothing voice brought Noble back for a moment.

She blinked, her eyes swirling restlessly like the sea in her soul.

Then the world came crashing down again. She felt ensnared in the tide of relentless feelings. Each one was real, valid, and demanding an answer that Noble could not give.

They bound her, streams of good and bad feelings choking her all the same as the wrapped around her middle and squeezed.

No, it wasn't the emotions squeezing. It was Fort. He was holding her, would hold her as long as she needed.

Needs. What were emotions but reflections of needs?

Anger indicated a need for fairness, justice, or respect. Sadness and longing reflected the need for something that had been lost or never found. Fear was a need for safety. Loneliness mirrored the need to belong. Boredom, frustration, curiosity...all revealed the needs of the one who felt them.

Even contentment reflected needs, albeit that needs had been met or would be soon.

Everyone needed something. And that need translated to feelings that changed faster than the wind.

Needs. Needs. Needs.

What did Noble need now?

She needed her head to stop hurting and her pulse to cease racing. What was this feeling?

Panic. She felt deep and overwhelming panic.

The tears, which had been flowing freely, were becoming wracking sobs. Someone other than her husband was bound to hear her soon.

Her soul core pulsed violently, looking more like a heart beating than a steady sun.

'It's going to detonate!'

If that happened, Noble was sure that she would die and take the whole house with her.

Enough was enough. She needed to leave.

"Let me go!" Noble managed.

"What?" Fort didn't seem to understand.

"I made a mistake. I'm going to lose this fight. You have to let me go!" Noble's voice was desperate.

As a Saint, Noble wasn't sure how to leave Fort behind when he was touching her. The skill should have been intuitive, but Noble hadn't tried transporting someone other than herself back and forth from the Dream Realm just yet. An accidental trip would send Fort immediately into his first Nightmare. As tragic as her death would be, that would be far worse. Noble could not bear the thought of her children losing both their parents in the same night.

Rain had already been orphaned once. That would not happen a second time! Fort had to let her go so she could self-destruct in peace. As much as she needed him, the boys and Rainy needed him more.

"Let me go."

Noble found herself unable to push him away. If she did, the force of her shove might break him, so unsure was she of her strength in that moment.

Hurting him was not an option. Neither was staying here.

"Please. You have to let me go. I can't hold on. I love you. I'm sorry." The words came out like gasps as Noble felt herself hyperventilating.

"If you can't hold on to yourself, I will hold on to you." Fort refused to budge, his tone even.

"Let me go before I hurt you. The flood. It's too great. My core! I have to go!"

Fort looked her in the face. He could see the desperation in her eyes. He could not abandon her in this fragile state. The man shook his head.

"Drag me with you to the waking world if you must, or anywhere you like as long as we are together. I've already lost you once. It's not happening again."

Instead of listening to his wife and releasing her, Fort took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.

"Fort!" Noble felt a kiss against her forehead. It was so incongruous with the storm inside her that she doubted if she had felt it at all.

Regret. Grief. Aggravation.

Rejection. Hurt. Hopelessness.

All of it felt so real. So close. So overwhelming.

Noble's core pulsed erratically. The orbs around it flickered, ready to succumb to the inevitable explosion.

In the torrent of millions of desires, Noble was adrift and drowning.

Passing out would have been easier than enduring this pain. Unfortunately, her consciousness would not leave her.

Millions of emotions continued to come unbidden, each piling on top of the ones before. The weight at the bottom of the Stormsea had to be less than this!

Something had to give—or someone.

That someone was Noble.