Chapter 11: A Dark Twist, part I

Just as my senses reached my spirit body, they disappeared.

No, rather than disappeared they got absorbed, by my soul.

And that was not supposed to happen, actually it was impossible.

How could my soul just absorb my senses?

But it did.

As if this was pre-planned, just like a play, or a movie.

And the moment they were absorbed, everything changed...

But in not the way, I ever it expected to.

Guess my hunch was right everything changes now...

***

I was in a white plane, an infinite white plane, with white in all directions...

I don't know what happened, I don't know where this white plane was, but that didn't matter.

The view in front of me was just that terrifying.

So terrific that it chilled my soul.

-Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

-Rawwwwwhhhhhh

A silver 'being', a chained 'being', was roaring, growling, screaming in pain.

Chained by golden chains, the silvery being's arms, legs, chest, and even neck were bound.

But even then, the 'being' didn't stay still.

It was roaring and continued to do so, it was just that painful for him.

I was facing his back, so even if I didn't want to see it, I could...

The reason for it's screaming, the reason for it's growling, the reason for it's roaring...

...the reason being embedded in it's back.

Pikes, black pikes, half a dozen of them, embedded in his back.

With each of his movements, with each of his roars, the pikes moved in his back, increasing his agony.

I didn't know what this 'being' was, but even then I felt a chill in my heart, a piercing cold chill that spread to all my body as I hugged myself and started shivering, and that's when I noticed something odd.

My hands, my feet, my body it was back, back to how it was...to my original body but that was not all...

...my body, it too was silvery.

And that somehow deepened the chill in my heart, as I got a bad feeling, another hunch, just this time an extremely ominous one.

I didn't know why, but I looked at it, the chained 'being', and as if sensing my gaze, it stopped.

All of it's roaring, all of its movements, all of its roars, its everything just stopped.

The constantly ringing white space fell in silence, a pin drop silence, an ominous silence.

A silence that made me feel even more anxious, it was like calm before the storm where each passing second felt like hours, at some point, I even had the thought, 'It would be better if all of it just ended.'

"OhH, YoU WAnT tO EnD iT aLL, DoN'T WoRRy i WiLL GraNt YoU, YoUR LaSt WiSh!"

A voice, that felt like it came straight from hell shook my soul, as malice and hatred oozed out of it.

Just hearing that voice made my soul ripple, but as if that wasn't enough, that being turned its head around as it spoke.

And my eyes met his, eyes filled with madness.

Its face twisted in fury, and as if a switch had been flipped it shrieking resumed, as it tried its best to break the chains.

It was clearly different from before, unlike its previous lifeless roars and tries, now he was filled with anger and madness.

Both of them giving him strength as he bit and clawed the chains.

All of that because he had a target, a target to fuel his anger and a target to unleash his madness.

And that target...

...was me.

I didn't ask why it was angry, nor did I try to guess it...

Why?

Cause I already knew.

I knew it, as soon as I saw that face.

That 'being' was none other than me.

But it was not me.

Just like me, he was Rayne Von Ellsworth.

But not the current one, instead, he was the previous, the original, Rayne Von Ellsworth.

Then, situation automatically clicked in me.

This room, these chains, and Rayne.

All of them just clicked.

But still, someone felt missing.

Someone essential, someone who made this play, and someone who was enjoying it.

It was like, all the actors were on the stage, but, the director was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, it was just another guess, another hunch of mine, nothing but a hunch...

...And just like the previous ones, it came true.

Golden flames suddenly ignited in the room, they twisted, they turned, and wherever they burned through, they left a solid golden trail behind.

Just seeing those golden flames was enough for me, to know, that that 'someone' has arrived.

But different from what I thought no one appeared, no divine being, no entity.

Just the golden flames that continued burning, leaving behind similar golden trails.

Were my thoughts wrong-

Wait, my thoughts...?

I thought something...?

This was.... weird.

Actually, in such a situation, I shouldn't be able to think, instead I should be scared shitless, I should be frozen in place being a stuttering mess as I denied reality, then what is this?

How am I thinking, how am I so calm?

Is this the real me...? Or the situation is just that serious that my survival instinct buried my emotions?

I didn't know, nor could I find out.

But either way, it worked well for me.

So, I let it be, as I looked at the play in front of me...

The golden flames had ignited for more than thirty seconds now, as their trail formed letters, English letters.

This actually confirmed my burgeoning guess, 'Whatever entity was behind this, must be the same guy who transmigrated me.' And helped me conclude another thing, 'Considering that it is only my day 3 here, my life shouldn't be in danger.'

And that conclusion gave me a moment of respite.

Just a single moment...

-Rawwwwwhhhhhh

A roar filled with rage woke me up from my trance as I saw Rayne, now shining in an intense silver light.

-Flassshhhh

A light that made me close my eyes.

-Clink

-Clink

-Clink

And after that light, followed distinct clinks of chains breaking.

With all those clues I didn't need someone to tell me what just happened, so without hesitating I jumped forward with my eyes still closed, right at those golden flames.

And that, looked like the correct decision.

Cause as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a silvery palm which looked more like a claw, just two inches from my face.

I instinctively moved back, as I captured the whole scenario and processed it.

Rayne was bound, just like before but rather than measly six chains he was covered in dozens of them now, the chains binding even his mouth.

These chains actually extended from the half formed English letters, ruining them.

'I don't think that the Entity would like his words ruined', I thought, before sighing.

-Huuuuu

Looks like I have to change that previous conclusion of mine, 'My life is still in danger.'

I concluded as I waited for another sign, another movement, another power, to appear and move the play forward.

Thinking of power, I must say I am disappointed, an otherworldly being, an entity, can't even restrain a kid's soul, that was just disappointing, unless this Entity-bastard did it on purpose.

Maybe to scare me?

Sorry you bastard, normally it would have been super effective but now, even I don't know why, it didn't work.

So don't keep hiding and show me something...

Just in time with my thoughts, another batch of flames sparked but unlike the ones before they were fast, super fast in fact, in just less than five seconds they formed a paragraph of words which I could read.

And that was what I did.

"Hello, you poor transmigrator" as soon as I read the first few words, I stopped, because a childish voice, one which I didn't expect echoed in my mind but the voice didn't come alone, along with it came an overwhelming presence, a presence that just erased the thought of fighting back from my mind.

My mind stilled for a moment, so did my soul, as I couldn't even think.

As if noticing my state, another batch of golden flames appeared on the side.

Before, once again converting into different words, "Don't be surprised poor transmigrator, I am too busy to communicate with you directly, so I used this method to communicate with you, albeit indirectly." a childish voice continued to dictate, as quickly came back to myself and I read those new words.

Those words stopped there, and burst out into motes of golden light, as soon as I finished reading them.

Clearly, that higher being misunderstood my condition, and that relieved me a lot, even if his voice echoed in my head, him not being able to read my thoughts was a huge boon, at least I could think of a way out.

With the previous words still hanging there, I quickly read them as I tried to figure out more about this Entity, "I am [Kasivier], a lowly servant of the [Exalted Goddess] whose name itself is too sacred to be known by you. I am here because the Goddess chose to draw inspiration from your work to create one of her worlds. And as this was originally your creativity that birthed this world, the Goddess chose to give you a reward, a chance to live in your own world. Unfortunately, the last time I saw you, you were too busy in relieving your humanly needs, so I made the choice in your place."

That much was enough, actually more than enough for me, to know, that this bastard was the one who fucked over me.

I felt anger boiling within me, but I was too powerless to so much as curse at it.

I didn't pay much mind to his 'The Exalted Goddess' mumbo-jumbo, cause if she can't even manage her subordinates, then what kind of Goddess is she?

Disregarding her, I continued to read for that is the only thing I could do, "The Goddess is as kind as she is fair, as such other than right to retain your memories you weren't supposed receive any other privileges..." then the voice paused, it gave a slight gap, as it's tone suddenly changed, from a normal childlike tone, into an excited child's squeal as it continued, "But rejoice human! The [Goddess] handed over the task to bring you here to this Great [Kasivier], and as being with infinite kindness, I decided to give you a small gift. Of course, it is small only from this great being's perspective, for you it may even be the highest blessing from the heaven. So be grateful, as for your gift..."

The text stopped there as once again it turned into motes of golden light, before another flame ignited in its place but rather than forming words it formed something else.

It formed a weapon, a golden weapon, a golden sword.

And now without any more flames the voice continued to boom in my head, "Take it."

As if it grew tired of its own theatrics.

-Huuuuuuu

In the end it came to this, I thought, as I grabbed the golden sword.

I didn't need anymore clues to know what will happen next, it was just that simple.

If this 'Kasivier' is the fucker I think he is, then I could guess.

An empty place, with only two people, one he bounded and to another he gave a sword, was it even necessary to elaborate?

But the voice did so anyways it's tone back to normal, "To your right is the soul of the real Rayne Von Ellsworth, originally he was supposed to be dead, a year ago. But to facilitate your transmigration and present you with a gift, I kept his body alive and his soul bound, in here. And contradictory to what you must be thinking, those pikes embedded in his soul are not my doing. Rather they are the reason he died, just the burden they placed on his soul was too great for him to bear."

"What are those, and who placed them there?" I asked him not actually expecting an answer.

But to my surprise he answered, as if he was waiting for me to question, he answered and his answer only creeped me out...

"Khekhehehhe," The voice laughed, it's childlike voice with that creepy, borderline mad laughter, was enough to break my calm and send chills down my spine, "Oh you know who did this, you know very well, I specially 'preserved' it to be shown to you after all, now don't tell me you forgot and ruin the fun, kekekheke..."

Just its voice was enough to turn me into a shivering mess, it a different kind of feeling that Rayne's voice.

If Rayne's roars were pure manifestation of rage, then Kasivier's laugh was laugh of a mad higher Entity who deeply enjoyed an insects suffering, and being that insect, I couldn't help but shiver.

But, even so I couldn't ignore what he said, his voice compelled me to think about it, as if an invisible force affecting my thought process, and I didn't resist.

Why resist a mad higher being when you know, you can't?

Won't that just paint a target on your back?

So, playing the role of an obedient insect, I thought.

Well, I didn't need to think much, as the word 'preserved' struck a particular cord in me.

'Preserved', the only thing that came in my mind after hearing that was a single 'memory', a single star that didn't explode, that star which waited for me as if it was 'preserved'.

"That..., no way..., it can't be..?"

I still remembered that scene, a child whose head was being patted by his mother. Her palm, covered in a golden light that seeped in him, as he felt sleepy right after that.

"It can be human and it did, it was his own mother, his own mother who did this, kuhahaha, just how funny is that, hahahahaha..."

The voice continued laughing as if he found it hilarious...

I looked at Rayne, just like before he was bound, he was suffering, he was mad, why?

Because of his mother.

The same mother, who told him to enjoy himself to the fullest...

I just couldn't believe it...

So, I couldn't help but ask, "Why...?, Why did she do this, to her own child!!??"

A Mother cursing her own child with such fate... just why?

"Why you ask? How would I know? With the power she gave her son, he could only survive if he was the greatest genius born ever, but he wasn't, and she knew that, then why did she do this?

Why indeed... maybe she wanted her child to work hardest, so he could overcome his limits, maybe she wanted a brilliant child or no child at all, maybe she wanted someone to know her suffering, or who knows maybe the world you created is just that twisted."

"But say now, does it matter to you?"

"Shouldn't you be just happy to receive your gift?"

"And more importantly, shouldn't you worry about yourself?"

The voice said, each of his sentences shaking my soul, especially the last one.

As I practically croaked out, "What should I... worry about?"

"Hu hu hu, worrying about yourself as soon as I reminded, hah, I like that selfish nature of you humans, well that's good."

"Now let me explain the situation, the thing is, Rayne Von Ellsworth, as you see him survived for 7 years while holding this power, that coupled with his one year of suffering-, I mean, imprisonment here made his soul especially resilient, and as a higher being not specialized in souls I can't hold him down any longer, five minutes is my current limit, after that you will have to fight his soul, and if you lose, that you definitely will with your current power, then you will truly die and your soul will be devoured by him, your existence will forever be merged in the void, ahh that would be a waste, khekeke."

He said, as he laughed like a madman enjoying his favorite show.