The soul had yet to choose a body. It only watched as the world began to form in front of it. Almost like a virtual world, one by one, objects and living things that were needed to make a planet were created.
It watched...
It didn't want to be born yet. It wanted to rest, it was tired of always living on the edge. Always being cautious. Always pursuing powerー to be stronger. Always protecting. Always always hating.
Always..
Always...
...cherishing the people(characters) it loved and the world they live in.
It might have been afraid to be born.
The world slowly formed. And then there were humans. Elves. Demons. Devils.
Magic.
The soul flickered at the discovery. If the world had magic, then it needed to become stronger again to survive. It became more reluctant to part with its current convenient form.
Then we(I) will lend you a hand. The soul shook. Hearing the familiar voice made its being tremble.
The black haired person. The Firstー Qui appeared before it, holding out their hands at it. The soul saw them, her, or him. His past lives.
Brown, White, Red, Blue, no matter what color their eyes or hair were, they always had the same look in their eyes.
That very strange apathetic look, their eyes filled with mixing hate and love. It was a weird contrast, but it was always there.
I am tired. The soul stated as it landed itself on Qui's extended hands. They stared down at the weary soul.
Qui fully understood why it was tired. Because it was them, the same as the people behind them.
They were all them but at the same time they weren't. They were their origin, but that didn't mean that their other lives can be considered as themselves.
Some lived with hate.
Some endured hardships.
Some loved, loved, and loved until the end.
Others chose to end it early.
There were those that forget.
And those that always remember.
Qui knows how it feels to be tired to live. Because they need to know, they need to remember, if not for them, then who else would remember their story(lives).
Don't worry, this timeー starting from now on, you wouldn't be born weak. Qui said and brought the soul in their arms, as if embracing them.
They had endured for so long.
Tried so hard to live, to be stronger, to the point where they sometimes forget bits and pieces of their memories.
After more than a thousand times, then the world(s) would recognize you as something else. Holding on for so long, it wouldn't be a surprise if the impossible happened.
You had lived.
You have tried.
You hated.
You loved.
You have failed.
But continue to live as if it was a curse.
The moment it opened its eyes, it saw red eyes staring at it. Claw reaching for it, eyes filled with desire.
"You've gained a form." The black red-eyes humanoid said with an evil grin.
The soul looked at itself and saw that it had gained a body.
"No matter." The other reached for the soul again, but unlike the first attempt, the claw was blockedー or rather it was restrained by strings that appeared out of nowhere.
"You want to eat me." The soul, he said, not minding that he didn't have any clothes. With a glare, his hands were held out, it was obvious who had made the strings appear.
"Youー!" The other tried to speak, but the soul quickly covered its mouth, not wanting to hear it speak.
"I see... So this is where I am." The soul saw the transparent book or grimoire that he had. The strange thing that he noticed was the weird shape of the four-leaf clover it had.
"How irksome. First day of my life and I come across a devil that wants to eat me." The devil growled back to the soul in response.
The devil saw that even though the measly soul had put down its hands, the strings didn't disappear. He had contemplated his judgement because a few minutes ago, he was sure that the soul was weak. Though weak, its essence was strong, that was why the devil was planning on consuming the soul.
"Zagred. To think that the first person(devil) I would meet would be you." The devil Zagred was surprised at the mention of his name.
He once again began to measure up the soul. Clearly it was a weak one before, or could it be he misread.
On the other hand, the soul had other things to think about, completely not finding Zagred as a threat to it. Well, even of Zagred did manage to land a blow to it, it would only account as if being hit by a child.
The soul had a headache at the thought that it had arrived before Zagred was sealed. It doesn't really want to concern itself with the large-scale drama that would happen soon. It would be a hindrance to his upcoming listless life if it got involved.
"Here's a great deal for you." The soul smiled at the struggling Zagred. "As long as you don't approach me anymore, I won't kill you."
Zagred wanted to scoff at the arrogant words, but couldn't start at it since he couldn't even make a dent to the strings that were restraining him.
"Or should I just kill you here. It would also save me from a lot drama in the future..." seeing the contemplating look the soul had, Zagred felt a chill.
No, a threat to him.
He really had misread this soul.
"Well it is some tragedy, but its too tiring trying to fix everything." As if coming up with a conclusion, the soul nodded and looked at Zagred straight in the eyes.
"With the goodness(laziness) in my heart, I will let you go. Live and do what you want." The soul released Zagred from the strings.
The devil continued to float, not making any move towards the soul. He felt, noー he knew that it would be useless to fight. Because of he does, he would die.
"In exchange, you can't approach me. You won't come close to even ten meters from me. Or I would kill you. The moment you scheme of my death, I would kill you. The inkling of revenge I would feel from you, I would kill you." For the first time since he existed, Zagred felt a shiver born from fear. The soul spoke of no empty words.
"You... what are you? You aren't the soul of a human..." As if showing his unease, Zagred's wings and tail continuously swayed.
"Grow strong enough to leave a scratch on me then I would answer you." The soul fixed their hair, and as he did, clothes appeared to cover their body.
"I might even tell you my name."
Zagred saw the soul leave with a blink of a light. He stared at where the soul disappeared, engraving its words in his very being.
More than a thousand worlds you have lived in.
More than a thousand lives you have endured.
You struggled. Gnashed your teeth in hate and held yourself up with love.
To you, to us who have endured, the world(s) gave us a gift.
Hey...
Hey...
Hey...
How does it feel to be a God?