The Dawn of the New World

"Who...?" Hao Xuan slowly repeated trying to remember, "I don't know...some men....they said they would give me a job...if I went with them...they said the King was...looking for help..."

Jin Wang could see a reflection of the Hao Xuan knew in his eyes but other than that they were totally different. He didn't know what to even say to him. Try and console him? Or tell him the truth again?

But then he remembered the first thing Hao Xuan had said to him upon seeing him.

"You were expecting me? Do you know who I am?" he asked in hopes that maybe Hao Xuan recognized him like the second version of him.

Hao Xuan nodded lightly, "Aren't you the...angel of death?"

Even though he was asking the question there was no doubt in his voice. He truly believed that Jin Wang was here to take him to the other life.

The rain picked up and turned into a proper shower while Jin Wang was thinking about what to say. And out of nowhere he said "I am" without even realizing it.

Hao Xuan smiled. Or at least it somewhat resembled a smile since most of his face was cut and swollen which made it that much harder.

"I knew it...hehe..." he coughed blood in the middle of the laugh.

Jin Wang wanted to help somehow but he knew that wasn't possible. This wasn't actually happening. It was but an afterimage of what COULD have come to pass if circumstances were different, WAY different.

Hao Xuan struggled to take a few deep breaths but that didn't really help and even more blood came out.

*Cough*Cough*

"C-Can you tell me? About...what's on the other side? Will I...go to heaven..?"

Jin Wang placed a hand over Hao Xuan's forehead in a futile attempt to calm him.

"Of course. You can go wherever you want. In fact..." he paused and looked around before whispering, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Hao Xuan nodded, so engrossed in the conversation that for a moment he forgot what was happening to him. Jin Wang smiled knowingly. He leaned in and whispered in an even lower voice.

"What if I told you that this was a dream? A very bad dream? Would you believe me?"

Without a moment of hesitation Hao Xuan nodded back, "Yes."

'Such trusting nature...both like and unlike him...'

"Good. All of this is nothing but a terrible nightmare. Soon you will wake up in your own body, and then it will be all nothing but a distant memory....but can you do me a favor?"

"What...favor?" Hao Xuan asked innocently.

"When you wake up, I want you to remember something. The other 'yous' really need to hear it."

"The other...me?"

"Yes, you will understand later."

"Okay...what do I...tell them?"

"Tell them that someone is trying to trap him. That everything he is seeing, all these terrible lives he is living are meant to break him. They couldn't do anything to him in person so instead, they chose this as a punishment. Tell him to be strong and not to give up, no matter what. Tell him I will bring help and get him out of here very soon. Can you do that?"

That was a lot to remember but as long this version of him understood what it meant then there was hope. Because when this Hao Xuan dies the portion of his soul would return to the original body and this information would be distributed to the rest of his soul to some extent.

Hao Xuan stared back at him in silence for a good minute or so before nodding slowly. It was like he remembered or understood something deep down but didn't know why or what.

"Okay...I will..."

Jin Wang sat beside him for what felt like an eternity talking about different things until it became too much to bear. Extreme blood loss led to an eventual loss of consciousness and despite Hao Xuan trying to fight against the fatigue, his eyelids became too heavy to keep open and he drifted away a moment later.

The world turned dark and Jin Wang was forcefully pulled when Princess Helena finally couldn't take it anymore.

When he opened his eyes back in the real world she was already down on her knees. Her left hand which was placed on Hao Xuan's forehead was twisted at an odd angle and already turning purple.

She tried to explain what happened, "I held on as long as I could but all of a sudden a strong force came out of nowhere."

Jin Wang stood up and as he neared Hao Xuan he felt the difference. The force of gravity had been turned up to almost 12 times the norm. Numerous small white threads of lightning were filling all of the Chaos energy that was spilling out from Hao Xuan.

"He is becoming unstable.. The more emotional he feels the worse it will get. We need to get out of here quick!"