Chapter 1 The pitiful one

Argh, what is with all this noise? I already died the least I deserve is some peace and quiet. Am I in hell or heaven or maybe in between, never mind that, why is there no light here? What a bummer always thought no matter where you go after you die, you'd at least get to see an otherworldly light show.

At least let me experience a cinematic scene, I'm not asking for much but make it better than 4D. That's not too much to ask for right? I mean the entrance price for this experience is death so at least make it worth it.

However, it's just dark here and, it feels like someone, or something is watching me. No matter where I look, there is nothing in sight though. Argh, what is this invisible pressure I'm feeling? Staring into the void my breathing became slightly erratic as if I was being pressured by a hungry beast. I could feel my chest tightening as my eyes desperately yearned for any signs of light.

The possibility of being alone in this darkness started to settle in. In a fit of desperation, I tried calling out to anyone or anything as tension laced my scream. "Is anyone there?" I heard my voice reverberate throughout the void of darkness only to fall on deaf ears. The dark void remained unchanged maintaining its stillness.

Visions of my past started to flash in front of me, almost like I was watching a live-action adaptation of my life but if I'm being honest, it's horrible. I watched how I grew up with my mother and I watched the toll the stress started to take on her over the years as I started becoming increasingly more like a little brat.

I wish I was watching someone else's life, but I clearly knew it was me. This made it even harder as I watched how I kept on making mistake after mistake. I was always complaining and was never appreciative of what she did for me or what she had to sacrifice to give me the best she could manage. I hate myself for it now, but it's too late as it won't make up for all the wrongs I had done in the past. My mother had just graduated college when she had me and couldn't work in her chosen field as it was highly male-dominated.

Having to take care of me probably didn't help either as no employer would be happy about giving you maternity leave just as you start your job.

My father left her to fend for herself, not even bothering to send child support, and I still ended up blaming her for that deadbeat not loving me. Only later in life did I realise what kind of a person the man I called father really was? I felt ashamed calling someone who only showed up when he needed something father. When my real parent struggled to provide for me and put up with all of my selfishness.

I watched her give up opportunity after opportunity only for my sake. Over the years, I could see her beautiful face get more and more haggard due to the stress, but her love-filled smile never left her when it came to him. It was as if I couldn't do anything wrong in her eyes as in the truest sense, she was my biggest cheerleader.

Even as she started getting sick, the loving smile on her face never left her, putting me before herself always. Even the day she died; all she did was make sure I wouldn't lack anything without her. The tears in her eyes as she apologized for not being a good enough mother still stung me to the very core of my being. All I wanted to tell her is that I am sorry for what I had put her through. To tell her that she was enough, that I'm sorry for all the times I've hurt her and that I wish to take back all the hurtful things that I said. In the end, all I could do back then was shed tears as the most important person left my world.

Crumbling due to sadness and sorrow, I gripped my chest falling to my knees before tumbling to the cold ground. My heart pounded against my chest, as streams of tears slowly poured out of my eyes. All kinds of thoughts started overwhelming me pressuring me with all the horrible moments of my past life.

'My life was a waste of time! "Cough," I wasted so much time doing useless things.' I found myself thinking about all the things I did wrong. This one thought opened the floodgates of all the despairing thoughts that have been plaguing me over the years.

'Mother, I'm sorry for breaking my promise "cough" I'm sorry for giving up on our dream. I'm sorry for hurting you and not giving you the appreciation, you deserved. It was me who wasn't good enough for you. I couldn't understand your pain and just kept burdening you. I understood far too late how my actions affected you I'm sorry.' I found myself sinking deeper into thoughts that lead me head-first towards despair. I felt like I was being pulled down by an anchor that wasn't letting go of me no matter how hard I struggled.

'If I just had a second chance, I promise "cough" I'll make sure to accomplish our goal and make you proud. If I could see you just one more time, I will make sure to keep your smile.'

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With all the sorrow and heartache clouding me, I didn't notice that the tears that trickled down my face to the ground created subtle white ripples in all directions with me at the epicentre. The ripples turned into small waves that started to glow blue and red in colour spreading in all directions, this created a sharp contrast with my sorrowful body. The irony was that the light show I had asked for was happening before my eyes but due to my attention being clouded, I missed what was right in front of me. Guess the saying that you miss the tree from the forest is really true.

After a long passage of time, my tears faded only to be replaced with silence once again. The glowing lights converged into my soul from all directions like hungry beasts who found a tasty snack seemingly ignoring my body. It was as if I had a black hole in my body that devoured all the lights.

[Ding Ding Ding: your deep desire to write your wrongs has been recognized by the void.

Positive karma value has been certified, calculating appropriate rewards for the soul.] I heard a metallic voice speak throughout the empty void. The robotic-like voice seemingly breathed life into the desolate void. I knew that this wasn't a possibility since life in the void just wouldn't make any sense, but then again, I somehow ended up here.

[Ding: As the soul has a fervent desire to change their past, (memory regression and fusion) are being granted.] I heard the voice speak up again sounding slightly more natural as if it was regulating its voice to make me feel comfortable.

[Ding: The desire to achieve greatness detected (system) is grated.] I heard the voice speaks up again now taking a female tint to it.

'I must be hallucinating let's just shut my eyes and sleep for a while, it's not like the void will go anywhere I thought to myself as I shut my eyes trying to sleep feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over me.

[Ding: The system is limited to one chosen field, as compensation souls' potential has been promoted to (SSS).] I vaguely heard the female voice say again, however at this point I was already off into dreamland, so I didn't pay attention to my hallucinations any longer. They do say you are only crazy once you acknowledge the voices in your head or something like that.

[Ding: The void wishes the soul good luck.]

Just as the voice had finished speaking, the void seemed to rumble seemingly reacting to her command as her voice was a decree. In the next second the body of the man started to disintegrate, and with a flash of white, he disappeared. With his disappearance, the rumbling void returned to its stillness as if nothing had happened there. As the saying goes if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to witness it, did it really fall? Well in this case someone was there to witness this scene, not exactly someone but something.

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[General Pov]

"Lord, why did you help that human soul so much?" A girl's voice asked. She could be seen wearing a golden dress with distinct silver markings which gracefully hugged her body. She has amnesty-coloured eyes and golden wings on her back. Her long silver hair only highlighted her beauty further. If any mortal was to glance at her it wouldn't be an exaggeration that they would be petrified by her beauty doomed to stay still for the rest of eternity.

"Hmm, who knows? maybe it's pity or admiration for the life he led despite all that went wrong," said an elderly man, whose only identifiable features were his golden eyes and his long silver beard. However, judging by the calm and gentle aura he was giving off you could tell he had a caring nature.

"I understand he did indeed live life with a lot of heartaches. But my lord, wasn't it you who accidentally cursed his life back then?" the girl questioned with a look of confusion at the man. She was seemingly trying to figure out why it took the old man so long to fix his mistakes.

(cough) "That was a moment of carelessness, I couldn't let my wife catch me reading that (cough) never mind that I already received my punishment." grumbled the old man with a pained expression as he subconsciously rubbed his bum, earning a chuckle from the girl.

"Good luck young one." With a wave of his hand, they both disappeared leaving only the void behind that seemed to want to preserve the leftover presence not daring to devour it.

>>>

[2015 Atlanta USA]

In a small bedroom decorated with posters of Iverson and Lebron on the walls, a boy was lying unconscious on the bed drenched in sweat. His face began to twitch slightly, and you could see blue and red tears flowing out of his eyes. If that wasn't odd enough the tears seemed to travel around his body as if they had a mind of their own.

The peculiar thing was that his tears carried a faint glow that started enveloping him in an invisible sphere to the naked eye. The sphere created a sort of cocoon that blocked out the outside world for a brief moment. The sphere soon dissipated after having seemingly completed its task. Just as the cocoon disappeared his eyes shot open, and his breathing became ragged as he clutched his head.

Memories began to flood the boy's head instantly assimilating with his soul as if they had always been there. Thanks to whatever the cocoon did to the boy's young soul, it luckily didn't dissipate due to an information overload. However seemingly in return for the gift the boy wasn't spared from the pain of the process. The boy began to scream in agony as he whimpered from the pain, and his body quivered ever so slightly as more cold sweat poured out his body. After what felt like a lifetime but was no more than a minute, the boy's screams quietened down.

A second later before the boy could fully regain his wits the bedroom door burst open, and a worried figure rushed into the room with panic written all over her face. She fell to her knees looking over him for what might be causing him pain. The woman ran her gentle hands all over his body in an attempt to locate the source of the boy's pain.

"Rex, are you ok? are you feeling sick? Baby where does it hurt" She shouted in frustration tears freely falling, as she couldn't locate the source of her child's pain. Just as she was about to fall deeper into her worry, she felt a hand gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.

She looked up only to see her son's love-filled eyes with a hint of sorrow in them. She looked slightly surprised by the emotions in his eyes but was simply happy that he seemed to be ok as she embraced him in a hug.

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To Be Continued...