A failure

I looked right at the girl who was by the right-side of the bed and lunged at her pushing her to the wall while keeping my fore-arm at her neck, not my usual way of doing things but if this is a dream I should wake up by now, if not...."What do I do if not?".

I waited for a second...two...three..."Maybe I got a delayed concussion, is that even possible?", "Explain yourself, what's going on" , the girl oddly enough didn't look frightened, and didn't even fight back she just looked me right back dead in my eyes, her eyes were amber, fancy brown. She didn't respond. I dropped my hand she clearly wasn't intimidated.

After I let go she started rubbing her neck, "I realize this must be confusing for you but please sit down, we have a lot to talk about and I have a lot to explain to you", her voice was sore, she continued, "for now try and get as much information you can by going through Leo's memories".

"Is that the name of the person I am in right now?", I asked.

It was only for a moment but a flash of shock appeared on her face, and then she returned to her calm demeanor, "You seem very accepting of the situation", "More like I don't know if this is a dream or not and I'm still figuring that part out", I retorted.

She sighed, "I can assure you it's not a dream, Leo, the owner of the body you are in right now, gave up his life so you could take it over, again try and get as much information as you can by going through his memories then when I get back with the tea, we can discuss what you might've missed", it almost felt like an order, for someone her age she is very rigid.

When she left I stared around the room, it looked like a mountain lodge a wealthy man splurged his life savings on yet it lacked a few details that clearly showed that this place lacked modern technology, I walked up to the huge glass paned window embroiled in what looked like gold, I looked outside and noticed we were on a mountain, because of how close we were to the sky.

I looked as far out as I could and almost littered all across the mountain were similarly built houses, I looked across the mountain range, I noticed that the majority of houses that could be seen were on the same mountain as mine, while the other mountains had fewer buildings.

"Now how do you go through someone else's memories?", I went back to the bed, laid my back on it and closed my eyes, I started thinking as hard as I could, "Nothing".

"I don't get this, I'm forced into a world and no-one's telling me anything", I started getting a headache, and getting more frustrated, "Why did you bring me here Leo?".

All of a sudden a flood of memories started rushing in all at once.

----Leo's memory

"Leo, master Leo", my attention was brought back to the meeting, I looked for the voice that called for me, at my right was Camila with her usual serious self even though we were the same age, her eyes were sharp, as if they were always trying to pick someone apart, I looked around realizing it wasn't her who called me out of my daze.

I notice the four clan elders were all looking at me and I notice Nightfur was looking at me waiting for an answer, "Do you mind repeating what you said?" I asked, it was barely noticeable, it was only on his face for a second, but I noticed his face scrunch up in dissapointment, "Don't look at me like that", I clenched my fists under the table "Please don't look at me like that, I never wanted this, if only father didn't die then all of this...", and then I got even madder thinking about how mother abandoned the clan when he died.

"9 years have passed, and I still can't change that face", "Yes master Leo, our holds and control over businesses are practically pushed out of the Greyhart Kingdom, and our grip on whatever we had in the black markets, is now loosening as the shop owners themselves are switching loyalty to other clans and gangs, what do you advise we do?", before I had a chance to respond Goldfur spoke out.

"Young master there is no need to burden yourself, I mean of course if you have an idea it is welcome", he paused waiting for an answer from me, out of the four Goldfur was the most clearly outspoken against me, Nightfur was the most loyal out of the four but it seems not even his loyalty could endure my failures as a heir for this long.

I looked at the other two, Redfur and Greyfur, they remained neutral, the only reason they didn't outwardly disrespect me like Goldfur did was because of their deep sense of loyalty they had towards my father the 12th Leader of the Kurlai clan, in the span of 9 years after his death we lost a huge portion of our control in the city to the other clans, basically putting us in the same position as a gang, the only thing we have left that lets us keep calling ourselves a clan is control over this mountain and the remaining members on it.

I couldn't look back at Goldfur, because all the ideas that came to my head fell short, they lacked experience and nuance. Normally the four elders would've run the clan themselves under these circumstances without listening for my input, but due to me having all three connections with the Hereditas artifacts, they thought that giving me experience as a leader on the side lines as early on as possible was the right course of action.

Though the clan elders didn't directly allow me to make decisions due to my lack of experience, I was expected to at the very least be able to help on the field due to my talents or at least be able to make informed decisions, but no matter what I always fell short, especially when compared to my father, or older brother who was supposed to be the heir, "If only he was born with all three connections like I had been maybe we wouldn't have fallen this low".

I sat there for a while and stood up, "I-I am sorry I will ponder on this for a bit and will return to the respected elders with a suitable answer", my eyes started feeling warm after saying that, then the warmth started spreading to my face and I couldn't look up to meet their faces, I simply turned around and walked out of the room, Camila followed behind.

When we made it back to my room, I walked in and Camila followed closing the doors behind her, "I understand that the young master might feel uneasy responding to the elders, but it's his duty as the future heir of the Kurlai clan to-" Camila stopped, as she saw me pick up a Hereditas artifact, and not any one at that.

I looked down at the monocle, it was a secret artifact that we were able to acquire from the Greyhart Kingdom after a few bribes and manipulation thanks to the 4th clan leader, it was a symbol of our dominance, not only because we were once capable of manipulating the kingdom to give us one of their most prized artifacts, but because this was once owned by the Magnus Greyhart, the first person to be born with three connections.

The first person that was able to connect, to the mind, body, and soul of the Hereditas artifacts, "Can you imagine Camila, that this monocle, was once owned by a man who created a kingdom, and he was capable of peeking into worlds and dimensions with this item? And now look how far it's fallen", she simply looked at me and responded, "It is inappropriate for someone of your position to degrade themselves master I-", I interrupted "Camila, I plan to apply the theory I showed you last time using this monocle", she paused.

"Leo, I've known you for all of your life, this is the dumbest idea I've ever heard you say", for a moment I was shocked because I managed to break her emotionless exterior, "It is a must, and I believe I will follow through with the person I chose and told you about last time." I let it sink in before continuing, "Though his position from what I can understand is similar to that of a carriage driver, he is experienced and above all we can motivate him".

"How long will you be gone you think, if it works, and if it doesn't...", "Kill me?" I finished the sentence for her, "At this point, I will give my life if it means that person makes it to my body, because he can change the clan and return it to what it was, maybe better".

"What will happen to the body of the person you are going into?", Camila asked accepting there was no convincing me otherwise, "I will put them in a coma for 15 years, I will maintain their body so that it won't grow weaker, almost putting their body at a halt, then when he returns, his body will be stronger and better than it was before, I promise him that.

"Camila, whatever he asks, do as he says, serve him better than you served me, now walk out and comeback after an hour, and check if it worked", Camila took one last glance at me, took my hand into hers, "I hope you make it back safely...Leo", I embraced the moment, and Camila walked out on her own.

I looked back at the monocle, picked it up and looked through it, I let my soul connection pour through connecting me to the artifact and I began to see instead of my room, a man cleaning his bloodied knuckles in ice water, then lying on his bed.

I then poured everything I had connecting to the other two aspects, my mind and my body were now all connected to this person, "Jay, that's his name", the world then went black.

----Memory End back to Jay's POV

I woke up and looked around and I realized I was sweating worse then going to the sauna after going to the gym, I then saw Camila to my right and asked the first question in my mind, "So I'm here cause your 'master' is a pussy?".