I opened my eyes to a blank, white space; empty and bright as far as the eyes could see.
"Lyserg, you're dissatisfied, aren't you?"
His voice didn't come from behind me; when I blinked I found him suddenly sitting in front of me, like he had always been there.
I see. I must be in the Great Spirit. But how?"You brought yourself here, Lyserg." Hao looked the same as when I had last seen him, three years ago at the conclusion of the Shaman Fight. It was odd, but the sight of him didn't make me as angry as it used to, maybe because I no longer had any chance to beating him the way he was now.
Hao seemed a bit curious to that too.
"True, you can't beat me, but you still have doubts, don't you?"
"True... I-" That was why I was here. I had been thinking about it as I was falling asleep. I guess I was dreaming right now. "... Now that you're here, I can't kill you. You'll never die. In that case, what was I doing all this time, what was I living for-"
"You've gained a lot of strength in pursuit of that goal. Maybe you could use it to cure humankind of their corruption? I thought that's what I sent you all out to do. I've been waiting." He was watching me closely. I was still panicing, my hand cupping my mouth.
All those people I hurt- all those I killed in pursuit of power, and I still haven't avenged my parents.
No doubt reading my mind, Hao sighed.
"You know, a good friend once told me that only humans desire revenge. It's a stupid thing. Couldn't you just let it go-"
"I can't let it go!" I screamed the words, my breath coming out in gasps. "They were murdered! By you! And I'm a shaman- I know their spirits are there, watching over me! I don't want them to think that I'm not angry about the way they died! To think that I'm alright with them being gone! I-I haven't accept their deaths yet-!"
It was unnerving, the way he looked at me so calmly as I broke down in front of him. Try as I might, I still couldn't summon my old anger; I only felt fear, fear that my parents may be looking down on me with disapproval.
"Certainly you're not that stupid? It's obvious to everyone that you cared for your parents. Lots of people accept the death of loved ones."
"I cannot! I made a promise!" My pendant materialized on my arm, and I pointed it at him as a threat.
"If you want to get revenge so badly, then prove me wrong. Prove to me that this terrible world can be redeemed."
"That's not enough! I need to k-"
"Would you like to ask them if it's enough?"
His question stopped me in my tracks. We were both shamans, and we were in the Great Spirit. It would be no trouble to bring them here.
My throat was dry, and I couldn't get any words out when I tried to speak.
"Or could it be that you're too ashamed of yourself to see them? That you're scared of what they'll say to you if they saw you now, that they'd judge you for the things you've done?"
He knew the answer. He just wanted me to hear it.
"Go out and redeem yourself. Fix this broken world and undo the damage you've done." He smiled, suddenly. "I'm sure you'll find redemption when you get here."
"Could it be... Here... They can hear everything?"
Hao only let out a soft hum in response, suddenly looking very bored.
"I think you can leave now." He was playing with his hair, sitting sideways on his throne. Suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at me again. "Oh; and you've seen it, so you should know. I've done some very bad things, Lyserg, but my mother still accepted me when I came here, didn't she?"