'Analyze.'
'Hmm, I appear to have had my soul stripped from my body and flung into some unknown realm. It doesn't appear to follow the same fundamental laws as my own, effectively rendering most of my capabilities useless… That damn god got really creative with this one.'
"Oh hey! You're finally awake! Dahlacia said they were sending me something interesting, but a disembodied soul was not what I had in mind."
A Voice echoes inside his head, although the man was unsure if he still had one.
"Hellooooo?? Can you hear me?? Oh right you don't have a mouth… or ears… or anything really… Hmmm… Imbue magic: soulsight and telepathy!"
The world around the disembodied soul flashed into existence. It could now see an entire 360 degrees around himself. The unusual sensation was hard to get used to. As he took note of his surroundings he found himself in an opulent marble temple that had been built upon a cloud. A radiant sun shines past the temples pillars and onto the only piece of furniture in the entire structure, a glorious gold and silver throne. Atop the throne sat a single man whose olive skin glowed with a holy light. His features were the definition of perfection. He had white hair, red eyes, and a commanding and athletic physique. His loose robes were simple yet elegant. The soul could tell from a single look that he was in the presence of a god.
"Oh no, not another one…"
"Hey!" The god quickly protested. "Most people would consider it the highest honor to even hear me speak!" He leans forward in anger. "Dahlacia said you were going to be insolent, but this is on another level!" he leans back and begins to massage his temples. "I had a whole speech planned to introduce you to this new world but you've gone and ruined it. It was going to be a glorious welcome to our wonderful realm, but now the moments gone. I really dislike you mortal…" He lets out another sigh, " Well I was asked to reincarnate you here so lets get this over with. Imbue knowledge: speech"
"Aghh!!" Pain surges through him as he feels information being forced into his brain. 'Analyze… Ah the language of this new world, if he's giving this to me than he truly intends for me to live here in this new world. What's more, since I won't be learning it naturally, I assume this new life won't start from birth. Wait- according to my analysis, pain isn't a normal part of this imbue knowledge thing he just did… he added it on purpose…'
The petty nature of the being in front of him added to the mans' dislike of godlike beings.
"Ahhaah!" The god shouted as if he had just something. "A suitable vessel just opened up, and not a moment too soon. You are quite insufferable!"
The god rises to his feet and strides over to the disembodied soul. He slams his palm onto what should be the souls head. "Time to go, you've spent far too long basking in the glory of Kalkan. Warp!" With that single word they vanish from the home of the Gods and are sent into a dark forest.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
The quiet forest held a somber air, for among the trees was an unfortunate soul, lying in his final rest. A young boy covered in a cloak, with dried tears in his eyes, lay in the small opening amongst the trees. Suddenly, with a flash of golden light, a radiant olive skinned man appeared next to the corpse.
For the first time in three centuries the God Kalkan has descended to Stahlnine.
"Hmm... Yes this will do. Rejoice mortal, for this shall be your new vessel." Kalkan raised his arm as a circle, engraved in intricate geometric patterns that shined an eerie blue, formed under the boy. "Hope you enjoy your new home." A sinister smile formed on the god's lips.
'Analyze… And here I thought he was a fool. This isn't simply a method to reincarnate me into that body, it's a binding contract! If he fulfills his end of the contract by reincarnating me into that body, then I will effectively become his servant. I could not defy his wishes, and he could monitor me and restrict my future growth. I must avoid this at all costs. I will have to sacrifice my remaining strength and influence, but at this point I have no choice. I have to…'
Kalkan closes his open palm, signaling the end of his preparations. "Imbue soul: Reincarnate!" At his command the disembodied soul slams into the dead body. At the same time the glowing magic circle leaves the ground and begins to wrap itself around the deceased body. The process continues as the lines of the circle expand and contort until it covers the corpse completely.
Kalkan began to look around, seemingly bored with the trivial miracle he was performing. That small lapse of judgement was all the soul needed. By the time the god looked back, it was too late.
"Hmmm? Wait… Wait! Wait! WAIT!"
Panic sets in as he realizes something is wrong.
"What are you doing! How are you doing this!! Imbue: Restriction!"
A red band shoots from his hand and wraps itself around the blue cocoon in front of him.
"Dammit! Imbue: Restriction! Imbue: Restriction!"
More red bands shoot out as the god tries desperately to regain control of his spell and restrict the rebellious soul.
"DAMMIT!" The god seethes with rage as the cocoon begins to unravel. "I finally managed to stop him but he's already adjusted my spell. MY spell! And as just a weakened soul! Dahlacia, just who in the hells did you send to me…"
Kalkan looks at the dangerous and insolent being before him and decides they must die. Regardless of what he owed, he could not allow the soul to survive and grow. Partially because he feared how strong it could grow if left unchecked, but mostly because he couldn't bear for the other gods to find out a disembodied soul had managed to defy him.
He raises his hand and creates another eerie geometric circle, one meant to erase him, body and soul, from existence entirely.
"Damn it." The god lowers his hand in defeat. "I've reached my limit for influencing Stahlnine."
The god disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving the body still sprawled out on the floor. However, it was no longer a corpse.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
First light shines down upon the canopy of the Great Vash Forest. Birds sing their morning songs while smaller creatures scurry about. Among the dew-covered grass lay a sleeping boy. His tattered clothing is riddled in scuffs and tears. The most notable damage was a large hole above his chest that sat like a passage directly to his heart. It looked as if he had just come from a major battle, yet oddly enough there wasn't a single scratch on his entire body.
"Hmmph." The boy's face begins to scrunch as he finally awakens. He slowly opens his eyes to the peaceful forest view. Confusion takes hold of his face as he slowly sits up. He blankly stares at his hands, opening and closing them before speaking.
"Didn't I… just die… is this the afterlife?" He asks this question to no one in particular as he begins to look around. Seeing as he was all alone, he never expected anyone to actually answer to his question. Yet strangely enough, someone did.
"No, this is not the afterlife. Although you did die, so your confusion is understandable."
"Uwaaah!" The unexpected cold and monotone voice spoke directly in his head, startling the young man. He desperately flails about, trying his best to retreat from the voice.
"Calm down child, I'm in your head so there's no need to run away."
"Aaahhh!" The boy quickly gets to his feet and begins to run as fast as he can.
"Did you not hear me? Or is that idiotic god's speech spell not working? Either way I'll say it again, I'm inside your head so there's no point in running away from here. Cease this foolishness."
The boy puts his back against a tree and begins to look around, searching for the voice. "W-What's going on? Who- Who are you? Show yourself!" The boy's breathing is heavy as he continues to panic.
"I cannot. As I have already said, twice mind you, I am inside your head. Now if you could please calm down, I would like to explain how I ended up in here. Then, once I am done, I will request you do the same. Specifically how you ended up dead in this forest."
"I- I-" The boy looks down as the memories of last night's chase flood his mind. "So I really did die…" His hands shake and his voice trembles as he speaks, "How am I alive? Who are you?"
"Right I suppose I should start there. My name is Amadeus, Amadeus Caeser. You do not appear to be the brightest bulb in the box, so I'll keep this simple."
The kid whispers under his breath "Not sure what a bulb is, but I feel like he's insulting me."
'It appears he inferred my meaning without even knowing the idiom, perhaps he's not so dull after all.' Amadeus notes to himself.
"To begin with I am not from this world. I lost a fight with the god of my world and as an unexpected consequence I ended up being banished here. That's when I-"
"U-Ummm… Mr. Amadeus… are you really trying to tell me you fought a god?"
"Yes, but that is not the crux of the story, allow me to finish."
"Yeahhhh, okay…" The boy thinks to himself 'This man might be crazy'
"After being banished here I was informed by a god named Kalkan that I would be reincarnated into this world. His plan was t-"
"Did you just say what I think you just said!!!" The boy's face went pale at the casual mention of a name all humans feared to speak.
"Silence, you fool! There are many things we need to do right now, but we will never accomplish them if you keep interrupting. Save your questions until the end."
"Right sorry. Please continue..."
"So Kalkan appeared to have made some kind of deal with my god, that's why he brought me here." The kid winces at the continued mention of the terrifying deity, but he allowed Amadeus to continue.
"He didn't reveal any details of the deal itself but he explained that I would be reborn into your body and live out a new life here. However I did not trust his word. Thankfully he hadn't realized that I had a subroutine which could… No, that would probably wouldn't make any sense if I explained it to you that way…"
Amadeus stopped himself, carefully considering his next words.
"You could say that I have an ability that is etched onto my very soul. I call it analyze. Using analyze, I determined it he was actually leading me into a trap. Once your soul had passed on and my soul became the only one inside this body, the trap would spring and I would be placed under his control. I used the last bit of power I had to slightly alter his plans. I couldn't get rid of those strange symbols he was creating, but I was able to add a few of my own. I added used those symbols to add a rule so that both of our souls would be replanted into this body. Since both of our souls are inside this body his trap couldn't take effect. After that, I created a space to hold my consciousness so that we could both exist and function at the same time and not be fighting over control. That way you could live this life as you please and I can begin my research into the fundamental laws of this new world. Are you following so far?"
"Yeahhh, um… am I just hallucinating all this? Maybe I ate some toxic mushrooms or something…" The boy was completely and totally confused.
"I have no idea what you ate, but any harmful effects on your body would have been healed during the reincarnation process. Perhaps you'd be more likely to believe me if I showed you some proof."
Instantly, the boy's world turned blinding white and he found himself in an empty space completely devoid of anything.
"Ahhh!!!" The boy shrieks at the sudden change in scenery.
"Can you stop screaming at every single thing that happens."
"No!!! How about you stop doing crazy things!" The boy shouts back.
"Crazy? I am simply explaining our current situation in a calm and rational manner. Now, you currently find yourself in the space I created to hold one of our consciousness. I call it 'the mental plane'. There isn't anything there at the moment. It will take time to build it into a suitable research center. Now try to focus on your body, specifically on your senses."
"Okay…" The boy closes his eyes in the mental plane, gradually shifting his focus to his senses. Sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, one by one he focused on his senses and one by one he could experience each sensation that was being felt by his body even though he wasn't in control. The odd feeling confused the boy.
"What you're feeling is the linked senses of your body. Anything I do in the real world you will be able to see and feel, though it may take time to get used to the sensation. In truth I don't plan on being the one piloting so you may not need to get used to it."
"Piloting?"
"I mean that you will be the one in charge of the body." As he explains this to the boy, he relinquishes control and the scene around him shifts back to the forest. "Do you understand now?"
"I-I- Wow… Okay, so I get that you're in my body too, but I still don't know if I can believe what you said earlier. Do you really expect me to believe you can fight with gods?"
"Not in my current state. I used up most of my true strength and influence back in my world, and then used the scraps of it to deal with Kalkan. Worse yet, during the encounter he used some odd restriction method on my analyze ability. Currently it is but a shell of its former glory. I plan to deal with it in time, but it will take me a long time to break down whatever is sealing me. We are quite lucky, all things considered. He should have just killed me for resisting his will, I have no idea why he let me live after inhabiting this body."
"Mr. Amadeus, I'm going to need to sit down for a bit. Are you telling me that you managed to piss off the one god you should avoid irritating at all cost…" All of the blood had completely drained from the kids face as he slumped down against a tree. As his butt hit the floor he dropped his head into his hands. Some time passes as tears begin to flow down his face.
"Uh. There, there kid… Everything is going to be alright…" With a voice more filled with irritation than compassion, Amadeus tried consoling the child. "I know, lets continue our introductions. Tell me about yourself."
*sniff* "Okay." The boy reluctantly agrees. "My name is Reid va…" He stops himself. "Just Reid… and as you can see…"
He takes off the hood of his coat to fully reveal his head. On the side of his head are long pointed ears. On top of his short cut scruffy black hair was another set of wolf-like ears. His eyes were multicolored with a brilliant emerald green on the outer circle, and a fierce amber color hugging his black pupils. "I'm a mongrel." The words seemed to invoke a sense of depression that washed over the boy.
"Okay. And?"
"W-What?" Amadeus nonchalant reaction throws him off. "Didn't you hear me? I'm a mongrel! Look at my ears! I'm a living abomination, and that's all you have to say?!?"
"Kid, I'm from another world. I have no knowledge about whatever prejudices you're worried about, nor do I care to know."
Reid's eyes go wide. "So it really doesn't bother you?"
"No, people always find some way to divide themselves and degrade others. It could be social status, skin color, religious views, it doesn't matter. I have no use for such things."
"Really?" A look of optimism takes over the boy's face.
"Yes. Now continue your story. We need to finish this conversation so that we can plan our next course of action."
"Oh right!" Reid suddenly looks up to the sky. "We need to hurry!" The boy quickly took a piece of cloth from his coat pocket and wrapped it around his head to cover both sets of ears.
"Hurry? Hurry where?" But his question goes unanswered as Reid begins to run through the woods, using all of his breath to keep his pace.