3 003

003

The Mirror man looked over the new sheet of paper and skimmed along the list. Marcus was growing irritated again, as he would like to be included in this process instead of silently waiting.

"Well that's interesting." The Mirror man said to himself, he was ignoring Marcus's silent plea to understand. "You've cycled through your previous universe a few times, experiencing a refreshed life with each one. Since this is basically your first breach across realities, you earned what could be considered some real nice options."

Marcus interpreted that comment rather oddly. 'Huh, didn't know I got airline miles for existing. I wonder what my previous lives were like.'

"Anyway, I think you lucked out here." The Mirror man looked back down and Marcus, "I can put you in a place that is essentially your version of heaven. You'd have control over an entire plane to yourself, manipulating it to how you see fit. You can be your own little god or whatever humans would do when they think they've become omnipotent."

Marcus was shocked, 'How did dying suddenly turn into the chance to become a god?'

At the initial rush, Marcus was somewhat interested in the chance to experience all the abilities and power to himself. Who wouldn't have wanted the chance to play the most powerful creature of existence?

Yet something didn't feel right.

'Play god at the peak of existence, sounds more lonely than anything else. Not unlike how my last life was . . .'

Marcus's thoughts started trailing off as he realized that there were others that came before, including a certain someone he never got over losing.

"Sarah, did she come here when she died too?"

If Marcus could look the other man in the eyes, he'd see the satisfied face of finally seeing the human make the most basic connection about his dead wife's passing as well. Of course this expression was brief and the stranger kept it to himself.

"You could potentially be put in a world that coincidentally holds her soul, but it certainly won't be as nice of an option. You'd be trapped in a less merciful existence than most of the other places you're capable of being transferred to. I also can't promise you'd find the reincarnated version of her you originally knew. Are you certain you'd be willing to lose all that power?"

"Yes." Marcus didn't even hesitate. His life had been completely different after Sarah died, losing her was the darkest point for him, leaving a pit in his heart he originally thought to be impossible to fill. He would've started laughing at the turn of events if the situation seemed too unreal from the start.

'Power means nothing when I can't see the woman I married anyway.' He thought, starting to lose the fear that crept along his spine.

The Mirror man seemed to have expected this, as he flipped through the stack to a spot he must have known was the universe she lived in. He blinked and the room seemed to flicker with that same distortion from earlier. The boxed-in room seemed to have grown colder.

"Of course, there are a few things you may find rather difficult in this world, most of the inhabitants call it Krotosia."

Marcus was rather confused by the name and its pronunciation, but he didn't think too much about it, he was focused on the rules being given to him. Without even realizing it, he was pacing alongside the Mirror man who was clacking his rather loud shoes along from side to side.

"I cannot just put you inside a previously hosted form, a dead body, or even throw you inside a newborn to be assimilated as the new consciousness. Now normally I use the latter method, but that requires much more planning and I've had something brewing in the farthest corners of this fun little world for a while now."

Marcus didn't know why he was being exempted from the reborn process, but being put into a fully grown body sounded like a more efficient way into finding Sarah.

"But wait, how would that change the age difference between Sarah and I?"

Marcus had married her when they were both in their early twenties. If he was put into a much older body while she was slowly growing from a newborn. Then the age difference would become much more drastic.

"Heh, don't be so concerned with such things, you'll be more concerned with everything else."

Marcus didn't like how that sounded, yet he kept the rest of his concerns to himself.

"Of course there are some definite rules to our system that you cannot break." The Mirror man's voice grew a bit more vicious than polite.

"You tell others that death means coming here, then you'll certainly regret having the chance to ever have been formulated into a consciousness, I'll personally make sure of that myself."

It wasn't an authoritative statement, it was clearly a very menacing threat. Marcus agreed, understanding that if he told this otherworld that dying meant being placed in a better world, then the circulating souls would become even busier than before. People would be killing themselves left and right, trying to get a better life than the first one.

"Now . . . the final step." He said while ending his pacing.

The mirror man's hands suddenly clasped around the sides of his reflection's head, but what made Marcus jump was the feeling of his cold fingers touching his head as well.

"I just need your permission to be moved. Otherwise the process becomes a lot more painful for the both of us, just say you're willing."

"I-I am willing."

The cold feeling was now getting even worse, making Marcus's teeth start to chatter. The quiet in the room was starting to ring in his ears, making his head start to hurt.

'Painless, huh?' He thought while wincing.

"You know what? I never normally say this-" Mirror man's blank face slowly turned into an inhuman grin. "But just this once . . . good luck, you'll need it."

At that final word, Marcus's vision went dark. The only thing lingering was the cold touch of the being who held his soul.