43 Soul Tribulation

It's hilarious to think about fate. Seven people who has absolutely no similarity, is actually the closest when it comes to their story.

Orphaned as a kid, studied hard and gained a specialization, turned to crime, got caught and was sent as a suicide squad.

Sure, the fine details were completely different, but every single one of them had the same synopsis in the same chronological order.

If you ask any one of them if they didn't think of each other as kindred spirits, answering no would be a blatant lie.

These seven people would consider themselves brothers and sisters from different mothers if it weren't for their circumstance. Killing, revenge, sabotaging, stealing, backstabbing, you name it. In the eyes of the others, these people are the most untrustworthy bunch.

Technically speaking, those people are right. Still, those same people will do the same if it were their benefits being attacked. Besides killing, an average Joe could do everything listed at a lesser extent. And yet, they condemn anyone who displays these acts assertively.

And yet, the people they claim to be the most untrustworthy happened to be the most honest. Not hiding their faces, doing everything under the view of the public, they got nothing to hide. Besides their insidiousness, you will know who they are at a single glance.

When people see Jack, they know he's up to no good. When they see Annie, they know something is about to explode. Everyone else is similar to that. It was that easy to tell.

Everyone else in the crew had the same habit of making troubles to people who think they don't deserve. Don't get me wrong, nobody deserves crime happening on them, but they think too much of themselves as heavenly and divine that no harm must happen upon them.

The entire crew is sitting on the floor.

Jack began to think about his parents who fought for the truth.

Annie missed her two sons and a daughter who were kidnapped to coerce her.

Nina yearns for her wife who passed after giving birth to their only child.

Li Xuan reminisced about his bionicant wife.

Miko prays to whatever god there is for his brothers and sisters.

Carmen wonders if his name will be forgotten by the time the black hole swallows them.

Connor imagines what is it like to be free and if this was one of it.

Everyone is truly different. Be it their circumstances, jobs, desires, hopes, dreams… And in that moments, everyone just synced.

From their own thoughts, their views shifted into the crew. Slowly, the faces of their families became the crew members. The same people that they thought were strangers are now the same people their spending their last moments with.

For me? From my family, one by one, they shifted into everyone. It was like, these people are the only one in the entire universe that has the capability of understanding what I'm going through.

I mean yeah at first, I was on guard against them. I treated them like how I treated new recruits. But in that very short time, even thought they were on guard against me, they followed my command. I can tell there was contempt at one point, but it all disappeared. It wasn't the same respect you get from being strong, but the respect you get from people starting to believe in you.

Before that, to finish our plan, I had to sacrifice a part of myself. To be honest, even to this day I wonder if the plan was a success. I mean it's been so long to the point that one can doubt it even happened.

But at that moment, I regained what I lost. The part of my soul that I placed in the metal plate, it grew back.

I'm sure these people don't know me, but I finally knew what it was like to be understood.

"That's why this is a good thing for the twins, Hjuutza. It's even apt to say that this phenomena can be called the soul tribulation."

"Why is that?"

"Because right now, both of their souls are in great pain. Both of them lost a part of their soul, one almost got obliterated even. Still, there's someone who understands them. And in this case, they even know each other better than them know themselves.

You don't need to worry about them for now, the new guests should be awake soon."

"Roger. Do I give them the same treatment?"

"No need, one of them is a Tauren. We don't need to name every race that we meet."

"O.. Ok…" Hjuutza answered as he flew away back to Antecaelum.

Without moving his eyes away from the screen, Jack shot out a golden light from Ninzhe's ring. He did not forget their original plan, which was to get their bionicant friend into their side.

…

Known Universe, Planet Buriean, Huelin City.

In the middle of the streets, two boys are facing off one another. One is down on the ground looking up while the other is standing up looking down.

If it were a novel, one could say that the one beat the other after a respectable battle. But the thing is, the fight is still ongoing.

In Ninzhe's view, everyone else was a stranger. His mother, father, twin brother, and even himself. He knows no one here.

Words such as who are you and why are you here were stuck on his throat. As much as he wants to ask, he already knew the answer. Still, he couldn't really tell what was the problem.

In Zhenin's view, his little brother began to tremble. Fear in his eyes tugged at his heart. But, there in front of him, the unknown. Similar to Ninzhe, questions were stuck on his throat but he did not dare speak up for the fear of getting the unknown's attention.

*Thuck*

But then, a change occurred. The little boy that's trembling on the ground took a step, it made a sound. Both of their faces changed.

Zhenin's eyes constricted like a venomous snake. Missing legs? Fuck that. Diving down with his arms supporting him, he slithered towards Ninzhe as he carried his little brother into his arms.

*HISSSSSS*

Against his fear of the unknown, his blood conquers all.

Hissing towards the unknown, he was surprised to realize that the monster his little brother is afraid of is himself. A bigger version of Ninzhe, the one currently present.

Extremely confused, he looked at basketball sized Ninzhe and felt like he understood something.

Thinking about it, Zhenin placed Ninzhe down. He pointed towards the bigger Ninzhe.

"That's also you, what are you scared of?" Zhenin spoke.

Ninzhe looked at Zhenin with beady eyes. He was scared of the bigger him since he's looking at an even bigger him, if he could speak, he would've scolded Zhenin already.

Getting stared with malice, Zhenin was confused. Why is Ninzhe so afraid of himself?

And then, he remembered.

If Jack wasn't lying to him at the time, then this basketball sized Ninzhe is his current brother. The newly formed soul from the remains of Ninzhe's true soul. If it were that comparison, then the one he's afraid of is his original soul.

When Zhenin reached that idea, he stared at the big Ninzhe and realized that the brother he knew was giving off a very hallow presence.

It was as if he was only a inflated skin. No flesh, bones, blood, and emotions.

Zhenin trembled. Doesn't this mean that his brother is already dead and is occupied by a newly born soul?