The heart.
Throughout the years it has become symbolic of many things; love, life, courage, passion and most importantly, the soul.
In Ancient Egypt the heart was regarded as the most important organ, far more significant than the brain. The afterlife judgement called "Weighing of the Heart" weighed the persons heart against the feather of the Goddess of Truth and Justice. If the weight of the heart was lighter than or equal to the feather, they would be allowed in the afterlife; but if the heart was heavier and burdened by sin, it was devoured by the monster Ammit and ceased to exist.
There are many such examples, mythologically and religiously that define the heart as of paramount importance.
Based on science, the heart is simply an organ like any other that pumps the blood for the body. However the divine truth is that the heart is much more than humans can comprehend with their own intelligence.
Within the human body exists two hearts.
The heart, and the Heart. The first heart is the physical organ that pumps the blood within a body, it can be replaced and transplanted as its functions cease.
However the Heart is much more important and unique. Certainly the base of purposeful existence, it is what separates humans and beasts from grass.
The Heart is not something that can be touched, smelled, tasted, or seen, it exists entirely in another dimension; one that only the Soul Goddess can access.
A Heart is unique for each person, incorporating their memories, personality, talent, and emotions within that makes it impossible to replace.
Even though the Heart cannot be sensed through traditional means, certain civilizations have learned to awaken a new sense through mysterious means, allowing them to 'feel' Hearts.
They called themselves many different things among the countless worlds. However in the most advanced world, home to the gods, their names were:
Soulweavers.
These Soulweavers would wield immense powers by channeling the Hearts of different beasts through their own, allowing for them to acquire their experiences, and if the beast was strong enough, their abilities as well.
One prerequisite of such an act was the power of the Soulweaver's Heart. If the Soulweaver's Heart wasn't strong enough to subdue the Heart of the beast which contained all of the memories and experiences of it, the Soulweaver's Heart would be devoured, and cease to exist.
After the development of the Soulweaver path, which used to be known as the Heartweavers prior to the change, the name of the Heart was changed to prevent confusion with the physical heart. The newly propagated name for the Heart, was the Soul.
This is the origin of the belief that the Soul resided within the heart. It was technically correct since the location was the same, but the Soul and heart existed on completely different dimensions altogether.
---------------------------------------------------
Arkhaval, home world to the Divine Realm where Gods are said to reside.
Consists of five continents.
North Continent, which Soulweavers occupy.
East Continent, where humans who cultivate the energy of the world called Cultivators of all kinds run amok.
West Continent, the continent with the most advanced physical and metaphysical technology that thrives on the Soul Integrated Systemic Technological Energy Module, or SISTEM for short.
South Continent, the continent where the War of Gods took place countless years ago, now stained with the blood of the Gods and their Relics, the continent with the second most powerful beings.
As for the number one most powerful continent, that was naturally the central continent. There wasnt much of a continent there, only an endless expanse of emptiness that stretched down endlessly from the edges of the other four continents, creating what was commonly referred to as the Abyss.
However, what truly made the Central Continent an actual continent was the piece of land floating above the Abyss, the Divine Realm where most Gods took up residence...
---------------------------------------------------
Within the Eastern Continent, in the master bedroom of an inconspicuous farmstead laid a pregnant woman.
The woman could be classified as an ordinary beauty. She had long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. In a common village she was bound to be a head-turner.
This woman was digging on the bedsheets with her nails, struggling with an expression of pain as the midwife helping her give birth was giving encouraging remarks.
Next to the pregnant woman was an unremarkable man with a head full of black hair. His only uncommon features consisted of his remarkable physique, refined through years of consistent and hard farmwork; as well as his black eyes.
When one first looked into his eyes it would feel like they were being sucked into the darkness of it, giving the man a remarkable aura.
This man was currently holding the hand of his wife which he loved dearly, he couldn't bear to look into her pain filled face and was only able to regret the circumstances that prevented him from buying the expensive painkillers from a nearby city.
As the minutes that felt like hours passed, the midwife shouted with relief.
"You've given birth to a pair of beautiful twins, congratulations Xuan An!"
Yet the commonly heard wailings of the babies were nowhere to be heard, the only sound in the room was the heavy breathing of Xuan An.
The midwife furrowed her brows in nervousness as she looked at the boy and girl in her arms.
The boy gazed back at her, his serene eyes looked as if it was piercing straight into her soul. Tearing her eyes off of the boy, the anxious midwife looked at the girl who showed no signs of breathing, yet had her crystal clear blue eyes wide open.
'T-The boy is alive at least'
She sighed before she opened her mouth to deliver the bad news to the parents, it wasn't a new occurrence for her but she could never get used to it.
"Xuan An, Xuan Zhen, I'm afraid your girl is-"