I'm not far from looking like a complete screw-up, but I really want to get in touch with my previous world. The reason why the second favor I was going to ask of Ravenna depended first on her performing the ritual is because a series of abilities come with it, and one of them includes interaction with extra-dimensional beings or even spirits.

I technically fit into this, because I come from a completely different place that might be in a random plane impossible to find. My original plan was to make up an excuse to check out Ravenna's new powers, but now that's down the drain since she discovered the secret.

We are inside my room. It's late at night. I told Victorian to rest, and we would resolve his situation tomorrow. I am looking at my reflection in the mirror, at the purple eyes I gained since my reincarnation and the black hair that doesn't suit me.

I look more like a glitch in the Matrix than a person who is part of this world. Who would have thought that the noble who would die as a tertiary character would be here becoming an epicenter of the latest events in the Imperial City? I even feel like a protagonist thinking this way...

I let out a sigh and look over my shoulder, coming across the witch merging with the shadows with a terrifying naturalness. In moments like this, Ravenna manages to be scarier than I normally think, because you can see that in the end, she's just a psychopath who would rip off anyone's head in her path.

"Lie down", she orders, pointing to my bed.

I, like a good simpleton, obey this incarnate beauty without complaint. A shiver hits my feet... this is a bad sign.

"Relax your body, Darius. We will proceed with an astral projection. I will use my mana so that you can escape your body, my spirit will guide you through the planes to the destination you desire. If I notice that something is wrong, or that too much time has passed, I will pull you back."

"Understood. Is there a chance of death?"

"Everything has a chance of death."

Was that supposed to reassure me? If so, terrible service. Let's do it.

My entire body turned cold as Ravenna approached. The bed creaked under her weight, but I didn't move, just closed my eyes. I felt her fingers touch my chest and, suddenly, a wave of energy ran through my body, as if my soul had been shocked.

Something moved, a spot growing like when you look at the sun and a tiny dot appears in the middle of your vision. It grew in size until it reached me, covering all sides and revealing itself as Ravenna's dark spirit, the colossal bone serpent that now scared the living daylights out of me more than anything else.

Wait, was I used as food for this thing?

"Human."

It talks?!?

"Yes, I talk. I am inside your consciousness..."

Ah, now it makes more sense... but it doesn't calm me down one bit! Why are you inside my head?

"I need to guide you to the spiritual plane, and from there we will go to your destination. However, you need to reveal to me exactly where we are going. I may be inside your consciousness, but I do not have access to your memories."

"Makes sense. Well, uh, can we go to the spirit plane first? From there, I think I can give you some directions. My destination is a complicated place."

The snake-spirit nods its head and then crawls around me, before offering its back for me to sit on. I like a ride, it's better than walking through the void for all eternity. The next moment, we traverse that dark field, tearing the fabric of space around us, which gives way to a world full of color and strange creatures.

And when I say strange, I mean it. You know those genie lamp guys who grant wishes? Take them and dismember them, or even modify them into something unrecognizable, then throw a bunch of bizarrely shaped little monsters and some normal ones like animals you see every day into a cauldron. It's like walking through Chernobyl and encountering both normal and mutant creatures because of the radiation.

I was still digesting that madness when I felt the serpent move beneath me, sliding through the undulations of the spiritual plane. Reality was still dissolving around us, and the creatures observed us, some with too many eyes, others without a face at all, but the worst was the impression that all of them were staring at me with a lot of disgust. Ugh, I don't even have peace in the other world?!?

"Focus on your destination, human" the serpent's voice sounded deep within my mind. "The clearer the memory, the closer we will get."

Easy for you to say. How am I supposed to focus with a hundred abominations trying to eat me with their eyes? Hah, whatever, let's close my eyes, or whatever vision works like in this plane, and remember the place.

Buildings. Glass. Asphalt. Cars. The city lights at night, horns, the smell of cheap frying coming from any corner. A crowded bus passing by, people with tired faces. Me seeing myself in the reflection of a shop window, wearing ordinary clothes, without purple eyes, without this secondary character destiny nonsense...

A warm wind passed across my face, and when I opened my eyes, I no longer saw the dense mist of the spirit plane, I saw the sky. Real sky, grayish-blue, hidden behind skyscrapers. There was asphalt under my feet, with the familiar smell of industrial pollution that planet Earth consumed as it marched toward its death, along with those horns from terrible drivers.

"Holy shit..."

It's my world. I'm back!

Glass towers rose like giants, pedestrians passed by me without even noticing the presence of a guy mounted on a bone serpent. To them, I seemed invisible. My heart is racing. I can't believe I came back here so soon, I thought I would be stuck forever in that corner full of psychopaths!

"I'm home…"

But then I noticed something strange. People rushed past me, but none of them had faces. They were blurs of flesh and color, as if my brain was failing to complete the visual details. The cars had correct shapes, but the license plates were a mass of meaningless symbols. Even the billboards flashed incomplete messages, with the letters scrambling before turning into alphabet soup.

"Your spirit is no longer interlinked with this world" the serpent said, slithering in the air above the people. "Because of this, you won't be able to discern the details here. Your memory and spirit will slowly become attached to the current world, so what is here will become nothing more than a distant memory."

"Wait, wait, are you telling me that I will... simply forget everything I did in my previous life?"

"No. You will still remember, but you will not be able to discern the details nor be sure that your mind is functioning correctly. Your original soul and the soul of Darius's body have merged, therefore, you are becoming accustomed to the world in which you were reborn instead of this one."

This hit me like a punch to the stomach. So that was it? Even if I set foot here, it wouldn't matter? I wouldn't remember things, who I met, what I did, not even what I ate once, or the first kiss I had, or that toxic relationship that made a fool of me? I would never again feel the texture of a keyboard, the rush of the subway, the taste of bitter coffee on a rainy Monday? I wouldn't have a streaming marathon with popcorn and beer, without a cold coke and a pizza to eat while I watched? All that was left to me were distorted projections, things stuck in my head because I can't let go of this place?

My throat closed up. I... fuck. That horrible feeling came back again, the impression that I can't fix my life, no matter how much I try. What garbage...

"Hey, can we leave?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to come here?"

"Yes, but... now that I know these things, I don't think it's worth it."

I let out that deep sigh, emptying my lungs as if drowning in the sea. The serpent turns, a portal opens up a short distance from us, and then, in the middle of the blurred crowd, something made me freeze.

Among the faceless figures... I saw one person completely. He was a skinny old man, a little shorter than most, carrying a sack of cement on his shoulder inside a construction site. There was an orange hat protecting his skull, gloves and overalls on his body, but he was there, working just like everyone else.

He... is my dad. My real dad.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.