Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Endra's mind blanked at the familiar words. How could he forget the parting words of the woman who sent him to this world in the first place?

And of course, he spent countless hours wondering about its meaning when he first appeared in Evin's head. All his thinking gave him one answer. If he half-assed his death in his next life, he'll end up as a spirit in Alvox. He'll be forced to go through the same thing we went through on Earth.

'No…'

A sense of dread filled his entire being.

The time that stopped started to move once more. Colors filled the world again, and the knife in front of his face started accelerating.

Endra had to act quickly. With all his might, he pushed his body away from the knife's trajectory. It barely missed his ears, but Endra ignored the close call and let Evin's body stumble past him.

The boy fell on the couch next to him, still holding the knife in his hand. He looked back at Endra, his eyes accusing Endra of making light of his determination.

Endra looked down upon the boy, and a decision was made in his head. His body started moving, following a single, grave intention. His hand snatched the knife away from the flustered Evin and stabbed him in the back of the head. Evin did not receive the chance to retaliate. He did not even receive the option to question Endra. Before the boy could understand what was going on, he was forever silent.

Endra did not dare to stab the boy in the heart or in the guts. As the coward he was, Endra chose the quickest method of killing. That way, he wouldn't have to listen to Evin's final words, and he wouldn't need to make this moment harder than it needed to be. Dead people were dead. Their dying wishes were only a burden.

What happened, happened. There was nothing to think about next. As the coward he was, Endra refused to feel guilt over his actions.

"I refuse to die after all that trouble," Endra muttered to himself. "If anyone deserves to live, it's me."

He spoke to the words over and over again under his breath. There was no other way. How can he willingly fall into that hell he spent three centuries to escape? Who can say that he'll be saved in this life?

"No more…" he repeated to himself. "I will live out my own life, as I intended to at first. This is just a brief detour I needed to take. Nothing serious."

The weight attached to his knife disappeared abruptly. He suddenly realized how tightly he was holding onto the knife.

The wound on Evin's head was shining bright blue, and the boy's soul was phasing out of color. In a matter of seconds, Evin's soul broke down into nothing and flew towards the sky.

Seeing the scene, countless thoughts threatened to overwhelm Endra's head, but he decisively pushed them all back.

One by one, the doors inside the house opened up. The Twelve Calamities walked out of their rooms and headed outside in a messy fashion. They all passed by Endra as if he didn't exist. Only Twelve bothered to approach him. She gently took away her knife from Endra's hand and then pulled him away.

"Let's go back."

Endra let himself be dragged away from the house, and they once again entered the Soul Tree shaped like a box. They all went out of the World of Souls and Endra's consciousness reappeared in the real world. This time, he did not appear inside Evin's space of consciousness, but inside Evin's body. In control of it.

He also felt the faint pulsations of pain coming from his metal foot, and the lingering stiffness he felt all over his body. He opened his eyes and was met with the bright rays of the sun, viciously assaulting his pupils. He frowned involuntarily, but his body was filled with glee.

These were things that real, living people felt.

He was finally alive.

Despite the horror he committed to live, he still found it hard to erase the grin forming on his face.

"Welcome to Alvox," the Twelve Jokes said from in front of him. "Properly this time."

Endra couldn't tell who was talking to him, but he assumed it was Twelve. Then, he remembered how time stopped briefly inside the World of Souls.

"Was that you? Who shouted those words to me at the last moment?" he spoke, the words almost slurring.

His body was very weak, so even talking felt taxing.

"No," Twelve replied. "It was Four."

'The Sinmother…'

"Why?" The moment he asked that, a thought passed his mind. "Was my only option to kill Evin?"

Twelve did not answer. But the silence confirmed Endra's guesses.

"Was me surviving alone the only outcome you could allow?"

Again, silence. Endra was feeling hot-headed now.

"Then why go through all this farce in the first place? Those visions, my past, all of it!"

"I know this sounds awfully like those cliché lines that prophets often say, but… it needed to happen."

"Why? At least tell me that. Don't prophets always reveal the truth after everything's over anyway?"

Twelve sighed and started speaking. "Even without you killing the boy in the World of Souls, he would've died in a month regardless. There was nothing I could do about that. And to be honest with you, even if I could do something about it, I wouldn't have. I mean, why would I? But I saw that if it was you who was alone in the boy's body, you would've survived. I'm only saving what I can save."

Hearing the words, Endra calmed down slightly. There was also a part of him that felt relieved. A part of his mind still felt guilty about the whole incident, but he silenced it immediately. It was what it was.

"What's going to happen to me next month?" he then asked Twelve.

If he knew what was coming, he could deal with the problem more easily. It was something that Evin couldn't deal with but he could. He wondered what it was.

But Twelve's answer was a figurative punch to his gut.

"Nothing. And he wouldn't have died next month either. I made up an excuse in your stead, so you'll feel better about killing Evin and replacing him. At least for a few seconds."

"…"

"You want to live and you don't mind killing a child to achieve your wishes," Twelve said coldly. "You can believe the lie if you want to. It's not impossible for something like that to happen. The Otherworlders will be giving you extra attention because of what you did, so perhaps one of their attacks will find their target… But, it's better for you to accept your ugliness and move on."

Spoken to like that, Endra wanted to talk back, but anything he said would just be more excuses.

Splashed with cold water, Endra nodded grimly. "I understand."

"Good," Twelve's expression turned soft. "Do you need help getting up?"

Endra tried to get up, but stumbled down the ground. He felt like a newborn foal, just fallen out of his mother mare's womb. He didn't know if it was because he stayed inside the World of Souls for too long, or because he hasn't been in control of a body for so long.

The second guess couldn't be right since his soul was shaped like a body, and he also moved Evin's body around sometimes.

Twelve grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Entering the World of Souls is a tiring ordeal. You'll get better when you get used to it, but for now, let's get you some rest in the house."

Endra nodded.

The two made their way into the house, in which the Easterner was sitting inside, making food.

"Relain."

"Mistress," the man greeted, glancing at Endra. "Has your work been successful?"

"Yes. Anything happen while we were gone?"

"There were a few birds which flew overhead. Finding it suspicious, I've shot them down and buried them under the ketricite. I've left one for you in your room."

"Good," Twelve nodded. "Make some extra for us and bring them to my room."

"Yes, mistress."

Twelve entered the room she occupied in the World of Souls.