'Dear one, why do you speak your thoughts to themoon?'
Then, the pain was all there was; the years trundled by, and time moved by me. The kingdom flourished, though the Gods I worshipped seemed hazy. I can wish for everything – yet the one person I adore is gone.
I walked away from the window and through the halls that we walked and ran down. My footsteps echoed; the tapestry and carpet were red like blood. The ones that coated my arms that day. His blood stuck to me like a second skin. Although in some twisted, macabre sense, I imagined it as a last hug. A farewell, a goodbye, an adiéu. Something. To fill the silence his corpse left behind.
Additionally, I was angry. Furious at the Priestess for taking him from me. I watched her head roll. I made sure their heads rolled. The other nobles died, those who schemed together, sending the guards away and keeping the imperial physicians away. Guilt eats away at me; I had put him through treacherous danger. Simply through association with me, siding with me, and protecting me, masking those actions as pranks.
Even then, near his abrupt end – was the day when he would answer any questions I had about his person, character, and origins.
I was to meet him that evening. Yet all I felt was his blood in my arms.
"Your Majesty."
I looked at Bennet, a butler appointed by [Name] when he was alive.
"Is everything alright? Shall I call off the Cabinet meeting?"
"No," I paused, taking a deep breath, "There is no need."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
'I'll see you soon, love.'
••••
'Are you alright, Host?'
'I'm fine.'
[Name] ignored the person who stood behind them. He contemplated many things – his thoughts flitted about his head, and he felt numb and suffocated.
'Maybe taking this break world was a bad idea.'
'How come you think that?'
'Time feels too different – I am aware that they move differently to when I am here,' [Name] gestured towards his surroundings, 'It moves as it is supposed to,' he then paused, looked through the viewing portal, 'But, out there, I am moving much quicker and things age quicker – time. Overall, time passed quickly. Every time I return to this place, I feel sick even though I am younger than I was in those worlds.'
He took a breath, 'It makes me sick. It makes me want to ruin my soul. So, I would not have to feel this kind of thing feeling, whatever complexity this is again.'
••••
Lucian walked through the library. Documents and texts filled the shelves.
He does not remember much from what happened before he was a system – something that was to help other lost souls become purified for the reincarnation wheel. It had been monotonous and repetitive for him. He watched over a range of souls and pushed – assuring a perfect track record for his promotions.
His time was quite bland, and there was nothing quite like the monotonous movements of going through the same motions of guiding different souls. Lucian was considered a hopeless case by his superiors due to his lack of motivation. His lack of motivation is what caused the deterioration of his soul.
From what Lucian gathered about his past life, he knew that he was a depressed individual – Lucian was someone who had ended themselves before the given time. There was no fear. He had gone through no abuse – he was just purposeless. Without a purpose, the soul wilts. It wilts and becomes a brief shimmer from the glow it could have been. So, no matter the rigorous purification he, Lucian, for lack of a better word, was wasted.
Without purpose, there is no motivation. Without motivation, there is no drive to thrive.
But, it seemed that the more souls he purified and collected, the more he felt – becoming more human than when he was alive. Previous attachments that wouldn't have flourished with the old Lucian started forming. Where he was once indifferent, he had grown to care for his more recent Hosts and wished for their success, feeling anguish when they were gone.
••••
This new world was more modern – very futuristic, and technology had advanced so much further than [Name] had ever experienced. It was a so-called utopia for a percentage of the demographic, a brutal fight for survival for the others.
There was historical context; [Name] waited for the atrocious headache to pass through him, as per the routine of receiving information from Lucian. [Name] collapsed to the ground in pain from the pounding headache.
It was nothing he hadn't heard before. A few groups were once one big group, and because of internal disputes, there was a split. There was collusion between the two groups against the more well-armed and organised group, which ended up with the two lesser groups working together and failing. The defeat of the other groups ended with their displacement, and the winning group had to expand into prior, unoccupied territory and fortify the taken land, forcing the losers to live on the outskirts of the country they were in or planet B-1739.
[Name] had been transferred into the body of the second useless son of one of the defeated groups – living lavish and had been known to throw his weight and family's power around to get what he wanted. The original was a prideful fool, and because of his awful behaviour, he would end up cast out of the family – whereas, in the original, he was to betray his family. Subsequently, the character that [Name] was transmigrated into was the role of the villain – where he would be inevitably killed in retribution for his crimes by the stealth protagonist. The stealth protagonist came from a small family, where he had an older sister, not that much older than him, but fell prey to the originals shameful tactics and sold for a quick buck. It was one of the breaking points for the protagonist – believing that there was no point to these pointless feuds as both sides had people who were monsters. He declared in his heart that there were no sides to fight for in this world when monsters were among our groups.
[Name] ignored the finer details, opting to lie on the cobblestone floor and ignoring the buzz of activity from the surrounding citizens, further ignoring Lucian's urging to get to a safer area.