Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 104: Freeing Clara (1)

"Hi, I am Riku Sakamoto. You must be Clara Robinson. Nice to meet you."

Clara’s ethereal form shimmered, her luminous eyes widening as Riku addressed her directly. Her trail of thoughts seemed to abruptly get cut off, as she extended her ethereal hand towards Riku’s hand.

"You... you can see me? And hear me?" Her voice was a soft, astonished whisper in Riku’s mind, tinged with disbelief. "But how? Mortals can’t..."

"Indeed, I can, Lady Clara," Riku said gently, his voice calm. "I can see and hear you. We came here to lay your husband to rest beside you."

Lila, who had been watching Riku speak to what, for her, was empty air, looked utterly bewildered. "Riku? Who are you talking to?" She glanced nervously at the tombstone, then back at him. "Is... is it the ghost you mentioned?"

Elara, too, looked confused, though a strange, almost electric feeling prickled at the edges of her senses. She couldn’t see or hear anything, but standing so close to her mother’s grave, with Riku acting this way, a deep, inexplicable yearning stirred within her. "Clara? Riku are you talking to my mother?"

Clara’s spirit drifted closer to Elara, her translucent hand reaching out as if to touch her daughter’s cheek, though it passed right through. "My sweet Elara... she cannot see me?"

"Not yet, Lady Clara," Riku said. "But we can fix that." He turned to the girls. "Elara, your mother... Clara, she’s here. Her spirit is right beside you." Elara gasped, her eyes darting around, searching. "Mother? Really?" Lila looked from Riku to the empty space near the tombstone, a mixture of awe and trepidation on her face.

"Let me help you see her," Riku stated.

Wraith Sight. Wraith Sight. (-10 Goodwill Points)

Riku gently touched Elara’s temple, then Lila’s. "Open your spiritual sight," he murmured.

A soft, silver light pulsed briefly from his fingertips, sinking into them. For Lila, the world flickered, and then, standing by the tombstone, was the shimmering, beautiful form of Clara, looking just as Riku had described. Lila’s jaw dropped.

For Elara, the change was far more profound. As her vision shifted, the radiant, sorrowful figure of her mother materialized before her very eyes. It was her mother, exactly as she remembered from faded memories and her father’s loving descriptions, yet also ethereal, otherworldly.

"Mother...?" Elara whispered, her voice cracking, tears instantly flooding her vision. "Mother, is it truly you?"

Clara’s spirit turned fully towards her daughter, her own luminous tears flowing freely now. "Elara! Oh, my darling girl! Yes, it is I!"

Her voice was filled with an overwhelming love and pain.

Elara stumbled forward, her hands outstretched, only to pass through her mother’s shimmering form. A sob escaped her. "Mother! I can... I can almost hear you! I can see you!" She ran towards the spirit, reaching out again, desperate for a touch that just wouldn’t connect. "Oh, Mother, I’ve missed you so much! Father... Father is gone too!"

"I know, my sweet child, I know," Clara’s spirit lamented, hovering before Elara, her own form trembling with spectral grief. "I realized that earlier. My heart broke with yours."

After a brief moment had passed and the mother-daughter duo had calmed down, Riku asked.

"Lady Clara, how did you manage to keep your soul for so long?"

Clara’s ethereal gaze then shifted to Riku.

"You called me a necromancer, young man. You are not wrong. The sickness Elara might have spoken of... it was the price of my studies, a decay brought on by delving too deep into forbidden lore."

"I sought knowledge, a way to transcend the flesh’s limitations. I was working on a ritual, a complex weaving of soul-binding, meant to create a... a more resilient anchor for my spirit, should my body fail. It was based on ancient texts, texts that spoke of ’Soul Echoes’ and ’Heart-stones’ – ways to persist beyond the veil."

A flicker of pain crossed her translucent features. "But I was too ambitious, or perhaps too reckless. The ritual was unstable. It backfired. Instead of a gentle transition or a secondary anchor, it violently anchored my spirit to my mortal remains when I left my body. It’s why I am so coherent, so present, even after all these years. This body... it became my prison, my phylactery, of sorts."

"Though I don’t mind that now. At least it allowed me to see my daughter once more. Now it is ok even if I pass away."

"Mother!! I found you after all these years. You cannot leave me again! You must come with us." Elara immediately cried out.

"Shhhh. Hush child. Unless you plan to carry my mortal remains everywhere you go, I cannot leave this place."

Riku stepped forward. "Lady Clara, what if that could be changed?"

Clara’s luminous eyes fixed on him. "Changed? How?"

"Your knowledge of necromancy was considerable, I believe," Riku stated, not unkindly. "You understand the principles of spirit anchoring. I also have some... proficiency in such arts." He chose his words carefully. "It might be possible to sever your current anchor, the one tying you to this specific place and your mortal remains."

Clara looked at him, a new intensity in her gaze. "You... how do you understand necromancy to such a deep level?"

Elara looked at Riku with wide, hopeful eyes. "You can help her, Riku? You can help Mother stay with us?"

"Yes. I can try." RIku answered with a nod.

"If you could do that..." Clara began, her voice filled with a dawning, fragile hope, "If I could truly be with my Elara, watch over her..."

Riku nodded. He then turned towards Lila.

"Lila, could you give me the charm that Sherry had given you earlier?"

"Here it is." Lila immediately produced the charm. It was nothing special, however, it seemed to have an affinity towards the dark magics, and had a very faint dark mist around it.

"This charm," Clara’s eyes shone when she saw it. Riku understood what she was thinking.

"Yes, this will be the new anchor for your soul."