Chapter 1: Reincarnation

"YOU DARE TO BARGAIN WITH THE COUNCIL OF REINCARNATION?"

An angry voice boomed across the black space with only six sources of light.

"All I'm asking for is my memories, I don't think that's a hard to for you guys," An equally calm voice echoed out in response.

A lone humanoid transparent figure stood in the center of this dark space. Surrounding this figure were six podiums, and at the top of each podium was a being of light.

None of these beings could be seen and the humanoid figure was okay with that.

"Mortal, it seems you do not realize the gravity of what you are asking." Said another being.

A sigh escaped from the nonexistent lips of the human soul. "No, you guys don't understand. My life up till my death had been filled with regrets and frustration for the mistakes I made, and the actions I did not take.

The council wishes to reincarnate me and I want my memories to come with me to my next life. I want to remember all that I did in my previous life so that I can avoid it in my next life."

"THATS CHEATING!" A female voice thundered.

"No one gets to reincarnate with their memories, it's a rule from the Highest Will." Another man said hurriedly.

"Then I refuse to be reincarnated," The human soul said with firm determination.

"You have no say over this," An angry voice rumbled.

"Then why don't you reincarnate me now?"

"INSOLENT!" This time, the whole space seemed to shake and brew with ethereal energy. The human soul also began to fade away rapidly.

True to their words, they didn't need his permission to send him away to wherever they wanted.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light from nowhere in particular. The shaking hall stopped shaking and the tense atmosphere seemed to calm down.

The rapidly fading human soul came back with its faint ghostly glimmer.

"It is not that we can't allow you to go with your memories, we can afford to make an exception now, but..." The female voice trailed off with the new revelation.

The human soul was excited at first but reined in his expectations at the end of the sentence, "But what?"

There was a long period of silence, so long it felt like an eternity, yet an instant.

"You cannot choose what you become in your next life." A manly voice from the being of light in front of him answered.

"Oh..." The human soul didn't seem to be bothered, "What am I going to be?" He asked.

"That, we don't know, your fate has fallen into the care of the Highest Will."

"Is that a good thing?"

There was another moment of silence, "Mortal, let's just say you could be very lucky...or unlucky." The voice that answered was filled with uncertainty.

"So, the price I have to pay for my memories is that I wouldn't be reincarnated as a human?" The human soul asked.

"YES!" All six said at the same time.

"Well, as long as it's not some insect with a week's worth of lifespan, it can't be that bad."

"Not necessarily, if you get reincarnated with your memories, once you die, that's the end. That's the rule unless you can access the power of Reincarnation on your own." Another female being said kindly.

"..." The human soul didn't answer

"On the bright side, the Highest Will would probably give you something to increase your chances of survival. Whatever you become in your next life, you'd have to make the best use of it."

"I'll make sure of that," The human soul bowed, but none of the beings present acknowledged this act of respect.

Before the human soul could raise his head, his transparent body dissolved into countless moats of light, and those moats of light gently flew out of the hall, being guided by a higher power.

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On a vast grassy land with yellow sprouts that moved with the wind and sparse trees as far as the eyes could see.

At the bottom of a steep hill that stood at a corner of the grassland, a group of female lions wandered about the entrance of a small cave. The cave was only big enough to contain a group of lion cubs inside.

The lion cubs within cried with their little voices, hoping for their mother to come and feed them.

There was one particular lion cub that laid down on its side, with its eyes closed and its limbs stretched out. It looked dead but its chest rose and fell slowly, showing that that wasn't the case.

One of the lionesses outside the cave walked in, she looked around at the cubs with curiosity in her eyes, then rested her gaze upon the cub that wasn't active at all.

She lowered her large head to the cub, taking in its scent that proved evidence of life.

This lioness was very confused, ever since she gave birth to this cub, it had never opened its eyes, nor had it let out a sound.

No matter how much the other cubs jumped and played around it, it didn't wake up, not once.

The other lionesses were running out of patience. She, the mother, was the only one who still had hope, but even her strength was limited.

Soon, the cub would be taken away or ripped to pieces just for taking up space.

Just as she was taking a sniff of her cub, the eyelids of the cub shot open. Its golden brown irises looked around erratically before settling on the large lioness's head in from of him.

As though finally realizing something, the lion cub jumped to its feet in fright. Its eyes were opened wide in such a comical way that it would make any human question its intelligence.

The lioness was also startled, one moment the cub was acting like a cripple, and the next moment it had jumped up and frightened her.

The little lion cub stared at the lioness with fright clear in its eyes. It took one cautious step back, then it came to another realization.

'Why am I on all fours?' It asked while looking down at its little furry limbs.

The lioness leaned her head closer and gave the lion cub a gentle lick on the head before it could react.

The lion cub stood there, frozen on the spot with its eyes wide open. That it was shocked was very evident.

'Fuck, I'm a lion.'