“Persephane, tell me, if I'm understanding everything correctly, it seems like you have romantic feelings towards the Commander. Would I be correct in this assumption? Do you have romantic feelings towards the Commander? You can tell us the truth. We know that this must be uncomfortable for you to answer, but know that this is necessary, as it could potentially cause problems for the mission either now or further down the road. Look Persephane, to be completely honest with you, we do not know for sure that it will or will not. We must be prepared for any event that might arise. There can be no room for error, as all our existence hangs in the balance. I know that this puts a lot of pressure on you, and trust me, if there were any other way, we would have done that by now. But our laws prohibit us and your parents from actively interfering. You know all we can do is support you, so our hands are tied behind our backs. That is why your parents are doing all of this. It’s also the reason why they are having us do this as well. That is why we cannot allow anything, not even the Commander, to jeopardize you and the mission.” 

# 

Persephane looked away from the piercing stare of her Aunt Mariplius. She couldn’t help but blush when thinking about her feelings towards Commander Caijoonyung. She started to think back on all her fond memories of the time they had spent together, and all those precious memories made her heartbeat faster and caused her to squirm in her seat. Shyly she looked up and back at her Aunt Mariplius, swallowed, let out a breath, and began to tell her what she felt towards Commander Caijoonyung. 

“My sweet Aunt Mariplius, I do have feelings for Commander Caijoonyung. After all the time we have spent together, talking and sharing parts of ourselves, my feelings for him have only grown with each passing time. I love everything about him; I love how he makes me smile, how endearing he is, how considerate he can be about everything, and his kindness, not just towards me but to everyone as well. These are all qualities that have made me fall in love with him. I find myself longing to be with him all the time, and when it is time for us to part ways for the day, I try to find reasons for me to stay with him just a little bit more. When I’m walking around town and doing my daily duties and tasks, I catch myself scanning the crowds, trying to see if by some chance he is in the same area as me so I may catch a glimpse of him, and hope that he will notice me too. He occupies my mind throughout the day, whether I am with him or not; he is always at the forefront of my mind.” 

# 

Mariplius patted her hands again, gave her a warm smile, and nodded her head in understanding. She then got up and walked back to her original spot while Melophilio stood up and took Mariplius’ spot next to Persephane. However, unlike the others, Melophilio didn’t try to comfort her. Instead, he sighed exasperatedly as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and clasped his hands together. He knows that since both Persephane and Commander Caijoonyung feel the same way about each other, the imprinting is as good as done already, and has resigned himself to that outcome. Worried that they have already missed their chance to keep it from happening, he decides that he will try and give advice while also making sure she fully understands and is prepared for any consequences that might arise once the imprint is done. Melophilio, felt like he was about to give “the talk” to his daughter, but he needed to make sure that Persephane fully understood what imprinting meant and what could happen in the event tragedy befalls either of them. Melophilio sat up straight from his earlier hunched-over position and turned to Persephane with a look of concern that was written all over his face, and not looking forward to having to be the one to tell her all this news, but he knew that it must be done. 

# 

“Persephane, my lovely niece. After listening to everything just now, there is something that I need to tell you. This is very important and I need you to listen to what I’m telling you. It seems like the Commander, and you, have mutual feelings for each other,” Melophilio told her. 

# 

With a look of shock which changed to a questioning and puzzled look on her face, Persephane let out, “Uh..wh..wha..um...how..” to her Uncle Melophilio. 

# 

Melophilio continued, “We know this because we had interviewed him earlier today along with your parents.” 

# 

Persephane couldn’t keep a dumbfounded look off of her face. She felt elated, confused, unsure, worried, and frustrated with finding out that she wasn’t the only one who was feeling this way. She was even a tad upset, because if he had feelings for her in the same romantic capacity that she did, then why didn’t he say something to her or talk to her or even ask her to be with him? She calmed herself down so she could finish hearing her uncle out to see what else was going on without her knowledge. 

# 

“Persephane, have your parents mentioned anything to you about a bonding ritual called imprinting?” 

“No not really. I know they briefly mentioned it to me about bonding, fate, and whatnot, but not specifically about an imprinting ritual. If I'm being honest uncle, they said this to me when I was young, so I did not give it much thought.” 

“Alright. Persephane what I'm about to tell you is very important and I need you to truly listen and retain all the information that I’m going to tell you now. Imprinting is a bonding ritual that is done between fated mates. The way you know that they are your fated mate is by seeing the string of fate. You might not be able to see it yet since you are just now learning about it, but with time, patience, and training you will be able to see it. With enough practice, you can even train your eyes to see the string of fate between others as well. Even though you are not able to see this string of fate, I’m almost certain that you have sensed it during times when you and the Commander would be spending time together and maintained a close almost intimate proximity to one another.” 

“Well, there have been a few instances where I did take notice of some odd sensations whenever we were in close contact, like when our skin touched briefly while walking side by side, or when our hands would brush each other's when we would be reaching for the same thing, that’s when I noticed those weird sensations when the skin would make contact. Is that what you are referring to when you are talking about sensing it but not being able to see it?” Persephane said. 

“Yes, that’s good. You have at the very least realized that it is there. That is the first step you take in learning how to see it. It starts with sensing it and then training your body to understand what it is currently experiencing and tying it to seeing the red string. Eventually, once you have mastered sensing it, then you will be able to see it with your eyes. Now that I’m sure you have sensed it let’s get down to the other parts of it,” Melophilio stated. 

Persephane tilted her head to the side with a puzzled look on her face and asked, “What do you mean other parts? How many parts are there to this process?” 

“I’m glad you asked. Imprinting is a two-faceted process. The first facet of imprinting happens when two lovers engage in intimate relations for the first time and both parties have consented and agreed to the process. During their intimate moment, right when the couple is about to reach their climax, both will bite each other on the back of the neck at the same time. The bite needs to be hard enough that it draws a little bit of blood and leaves an imprint of the bite. When the blood wells up from the bite, both must drink whatever blood is there, that is what seals it and makes it permanent. After the bite has been left and blood has been drunk, then a glowing mark will appear hovering above their bodies which is visible when that part of the imprint has been completed. After that, the mark recedes into the body and will not be seen again unless circumstances call for it.” 

“What do you mean by ‘if the circumstances call for it’?” Persephane asked. 

Melophilio smirked at her slightly and said, “That will take too long to get into. So, we will save that discussion for another time.” 

“Alright. Then may I ask you about something else? You said that this is a process that is done between lovers, but has there ever been an instance where this process was done between individuals who were not lovers?” Persephane asked. 

Melophilio’s expression changed to a stoic and emotionless one when he said, “No. The only ones who have ever done this type of process were us, the demigods, and your parents, the gods. There has been no one else. We are paired for a reason.” 

“Oh. I see,” Persephane said wondering if she asked something that she shouldn’t have. 

“Back to my explanation, the second facet of the imprinting process happens after the marks fade into the body. This part is the last step of the imprinting process and is called the Soul Link. This process links the souls of each person together by an invisible bond that cannot be undone. Each soul link pairing is different and unique to each couple. The couples’ compatibility rating and level all have a corresponding color. The higher the rating and compatibility the brighter the color is. The highest we saw was between your parents, Claudeleous and Juliabethal. Among us, the highest would be between Topificetus and myself. I do not know what color your parents have, but for us, our color is a bright pastel purple hue, Mariplius and Archipeltis are neon blue, and Ventus and Jupcaeris have a dark red like the color of garnets. That said, the only ones that have fully completed the entire process are your parents. We demigods have only been allowed to complete just the first part.” 

“Why have you not been allowed to fully complete the process Uncle Melophilio?” 

“Persephane dear, the more questions that you keep interrupting with, the longer this meeting is going to last,” Melophilio said. 

Persephane lowered her head and worriedly apologized, “I’m so sorry Uncle. I really didn’t mean to keep dragging this out. I’ll stop asking questions now. Please continue.” 

“Persephane, Persephane, it’s okay. You don’t need to lower yourself like that. I’m not upset.” 

“Okay, Uncle. Thank you,” Persephane said while looking meek. 

“The reason behind us not going through the entire process is to ensure that nothing will stop the rebirthing cycle. We can discuss that at a later time if you wish. So due to that reason alone, we cannot complete Soul Link. Now to go more in-depth. Like with anything, there are pros and cons to this process. Some of the pros would be that you will be able to sense each other within a certain radius, you can talk to one another telepathically as long as you are within the same radius where you can still sense each other’s presence, and lastly, you will be able to share life essence with each other. However, be warned that sharing your life essence is taxing on the body and is dangerous since you will be temporarily incapacitated while recovering. Which is why this should only be performed in dire situations. Otherwise never use it. Another pro is that you both will know when the other is in imminent danger or seriously hurt. The con to that would be that with you being connected you will be able to experience and feel what the other is feeling, so for example, if one of you loses a limb, the other person will feel that pain as well. However, with time and training, you can block it to keep you from experiencing everything they are feeling or going through. The other con would be what I previously stated, when sharing life essence, you will be incapacitated, which will leave you exposed and vulnerable to anything. Now the most crucial con of all of this; is the Soul Link. Soul Link is both vital and dangerous. Just as it links the souls together in life, it also links them together in death.” 

# 

Persephane turned a little pale on hearing this news. She was almost afraid to ask what she wanted to ask. She was certain about what her uncle was going to tell her and wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to hear it, because it would confirm her suspicions and make her more worried and scared than she already was. But as terrified as she was, she knew that she needed to hear what he was going to tell her. That way there won’t be any room for doubt. 

# 

Persephane swallowed hard as her mouth went a little dry then, asked, “Uncle, what do you mean by they also are linked in death?” 

“It means death. When one soul is extinguished, the other will follow suit shortly after. That is the true nature of the soul link. It is a bond for all eternity. What happens to one happens to the other as well. So, head my words Persephane, make sure you weigh everything and think long and hard on whether you want to make this connection with that man.” 

“Uncle this thought didn’t even cross my mind since I wasn’t even aware of this until just now,” Persephane said almost pleading her case. 

Melophilio let out a long sigh, “Persephane I know that you didn’t know about it until just now, but I must make sure you are aware of it so you can avoid accidentally doing it or intentionally doing it but not fully understanding what it all entails. Remember Persephane, once it is done, it cannot be undone; it doesn’t matter if you are still in love with him or not. So please, for all of our sakes, think long and hard about this decision before going through with it. You never know what you will do while in the throes of passion,” Melophilio told Persephane.