Schiller took several quick, sharp breaths, pressed his lips together, then looked up at Constantine and said, "Are you insane??!!"
He put tremendous emphasis on the word "insane." His nose wrinkled, his teeth parted slightly, his jaw remained rigid, and the words seemed to be blown from his throat by the air.
"Tear apart an intact soul?! You really are insane! Constantine..." Schiller drew a deep breath, as though remembering something, and muttered, "That is the most painful thing in the world. No one would willingly do something so stupid..."
Schiller examined Constantine's soul within the orb of light again, until he spotted a familiar wound along its edge. He knew that kind of wound better than anyone, because over the past few days, he had repeatedly torn at such wounds, trying to stick them back together with another fragment.
The difference was that every fragment of Schiller's personality traits had a different shape, like a vase suddenly shattered apart, while the wounds on Constantine's soul fragments looked more like they had been deliberately cut.
That made Schiller find it even more unbelievable. It was absolutely impossible for anyone to physically cut their own soul into two halves.
Dissociative Identity Disorder might involve multiple personalities, but it was more like giving birth. The primary personality, unwilling to face reality because of some trauma, nurtured another personality within the body. The process was not overly painful, and once it was complete, the primary personality could even use it to escape reality.
But directly cutting apart one's soul would not create another personality. It would drive a person insane, leaving them unable to control their own body. Without special methods, they would never again be able to live normally in society. Schiller had learned that lesson long ago.
Yet now, before him