PROLOGUE, PART 3

Now that things were wrapping up, he’d just enjoy his last precious moments. So he stood there with a smug smirk, grinning at the plethora of recorders, angry crowd, and shaking triumvirate. None of it mattered to him outside of becoming entertainment.

The outcome of this trial was set in stone, evident by how they’d dug up any and all the petty crimes he’d ever committed. Their goal, he figured, was to destroy his reputation. Utterly. Tarnish it into the ground and leave nobody wondering why someone like him had been sentenced the way he had.

Assholes.

Work like a dog your whole life, only to be put down once your owners thought you were too old or potentially rabid. Not the first time Vander had seen it happen, and he was sure the DMHA would remain unopposed until the world collapsed in on itself or the Doors let in something they couldn’t handle.

Like that.

But all of that, he no longer needed to worry about.

The middle man of the triumvirate stood and held up his hand to calm the court. “Please, peace in the court. Vander Braxton, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I plead guilty.”

“The severity of your crimes warrants only one consequence for your actions, death.” The middle judge waved his hand over his high chair.

The platform beneath him let out a quiet hiss as enchanted steel caged him. The floor receded, and an even larger, transparent box surrounded him. The Eradicator, his harbinger to send him along to his next life. One of the few things in this world that would break down his mana and kill him permanently.

Inside the box, he couldn’t hear anything from the outside, nor would he ever again. This was one of the magitek tools he knew about. Now that he’d entered, he’d never leave alive. The runes on the sides began accelerating, using him as the core fuel source.

The specifics were easy to understand, but thinking about it hurt his heart. Is she watching this right now, or are they keeping her in the dark? He rested his hands against his trusty firearms, Azazel and Yugmuswa, and rubbed his thumbs over the handguards. Of course they’d keep her in the dark. That’s… sad.

He couldn’t imagine the fallout that would occur. Somewhere along the line, the DMHA either forgot about what slumbered inside of her or thought they had something that could control her. Impossible. They don’t realize they’re bringing about their own destruction right now, I’m sure. She won’t let this go, knowing her. And if anybody does, I do. Damn.

His nerves remained calm. The lack of sound didn’t unsettle him, nor did his waning strength. In fact, he felt at peace for the first time in living memory. Closing his eyes let him tune out the crowds, recorders, and triumvirate.

Vander knew the reason he’d die today. The DMHA had too much power. He advocated for the separation of their accumulated powers and a mutually governed system for the Delvers more times that he could count, and he had been gaining support.

That was the real reason he would die here.

Vander had once been a hopeful man. He had been well spoken, well educated, and highly ambitious. But his time as a Delver changed him. Now, he was tired, broken. Thinking about what Madison would do made a soft chuckle escape his lips. He couldn’t stop it, and his raucous laughter echoed throughout the death box.

“Fuck all of you,” he said, waving towards the audience and triumvirate. “Madison… give them hell, my love.”

Vander Braxton closed his eyes for the last time, a flash leaving nothing of his existence behind.

***

In the judge’s chambers, the triumvirate sat and mused about their decision.

“The Braxton boy knew too much and was too influential. The Delvers and that DiMaggio brat respected him enough to plan against us, so he had to go.” After taking his mask off, the middle man, John Toyer, spoke calmly with a calculating look in his eye. He contemplated the events, running them through his head. “The Storm King could have destroyed the entire courtroom and destabilized the DMHA for quite some time, so why didn’t he put up a fight?”

Jordan Salvo and Darren Andrews both nodded towards John, showing their deference.

John pulled up a HoloDisc with the recordings of the past few minutes of the Storm King’s execution. He replayed it and noticed the veteran Delver’s lips moved in the brief moment before being obliterated. He expanded the view, and the HoloDisc clarified the zoom effect so that all three of them could see his lips move.

Cold sweat poured down John’s back. “There’s no way…”

Jordan, the youngest of the three and least experienced by more than three decades, shrugged. “He’s dead and gone. So what? We just have to clean up after his mess and pull the Delvers back under our control to keep harvesting the Doors.” His smile was one of greed, his eyes flashing with the wealth they would control. “This is all going according to plan, so there’s no reason to worry about the final words of a dead guy, John. You’re over thinking.”

John’s cold eyes wiped the smug look off Jordan’s face. “Is that really what you think?” John turned to Darren. “Do you agree with his judgment, old friend?”

Darren shook his head and pulled up another HoloDisc displaying the DiMaggio residence. Grim acceptance flashed through his eyes as he looked at the other two of the triumvirate, turning his screen their way.

“Why don’t you just say something, Darren? You’re not cool or mysterious for not saying anything,” Jordan grumbled, accepting the HoloDisc passed his way. “Wh-what is that?”

“The DiMaggio residence,” John muttered, closing his eyes. “Or what’s left of it.”

“She’s coming,” Darren said, his first words in the last decade.

“I see. ‘Give them hell, my love’.” John reached his hand under the small meeting table and pressed a button, immediately shutting down the entire DMHA facility and sending all available forces into active Code Black alert. “A calamity comes, and it’s our fault. We should’ve just exiled him.”

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John and Darren turned towards Jordan.

The youngest member of the triumvirate raised his hands and shook his head, scowling. “This isn’t just my fault! You both agreed to the verdict in advance, even though we knew this might happen.”

“As the one who suggested the idea, you must take responsibility for the consequences.” Black and violet energy exploded out of the man and consumed Jordan, leaving nothing but a husk behind. He groaned as the usage of his power took its toll, wracking his body with violent shudders. “D-Darren.”

The man moved before John said anything, his hands resting on both head and heart. The imbalance of energies ripping John apart abated, leaving both of them breathing deeply.

“Darren, what are the chances of surviving against the DiMaggio girl?” John asked, huffing a deep, shuddery breath.

“Absolute zero.” Darren’s eyes spoke volumes in a way John understood.

“We fucked up,” John said.

***

“So yeah, I guess that’s my story,” Vander said towards the strange static in his head. He looked around, hoping to find some semblance of being to direct his thoughts and attention towards. But no. He stood in a void, unsure of what he should be doing at all. “Can we move this along? If there’s an afterlife, I’d love to go there. If not, this feels kind of like a waste of time.”

A glowing orb of light appeared in front of his face and flashed. When he blinked away the stars, a woman with a silver halo and white wings stood before him. “You seemed to be uncomfortable before, so I, Amany, Goddess of Servitude, have appeared before you.”

“That’s cool and all, but why are you naked?” he asked, averting his gaze. “Put some clothes on, why don’t you?”

“My apologies,” she said. Another flash followed. “Is this better?”

Vander tentatively looked towards her and nodded. “Now, what’s up with this whole situation? I died. I want my eternal peace now, so if there’s nothing else, I’d love to leave.”

“Unfortunately, that isn’t possible.” She bowed. “My apologies, Vander Braxton, but the reincarnation system has been activated. Whether intentionally or not, your soul will be reborn to a new world.”

Dumbfounded, Vander gaped at the angelic woman. “No. I refuse.”

“You can’t refuse.” She bowed again. “Once the reincarnation system has been activated, a soul must be reborn.” She pursed her lips and deadpanned, “I didn’t make the rules, so don’t blame me. The sooner we get the integration process underway, the sooner you can go about dying again and finding your eternal peace… whatever that means.”

Many complaints tickled the tip of his tongue, but Vander held them back. If what she said were true, he didn’t have a choice. Reincarnation was a topic he’d only heard whispers of when he entered Doors with sentience, but he’d never believed in the possibility.

Yet, here he was.

“Okay, whatever. I’ll go along with your stupid reincarnation system for now,” he grumbled, crossing his arms. “What now, then?”

“You can’t avoid the reincarnation syst—eh?!” She perked up. “Do you really mean that? You’re not just going to try to kill yourself when you reincarnate, right?”

Vander thought about the life he lived. He’d lived as a dog, a tool for others to command his entire life, and died as such. He’d forsaken any chance of freedom, happiness, and sacrificed anything and everything for the sake of his slavers.

Another chance, a chance to live a life with no regrets. That, he could get behind, even if he was initially hesitant. So, looking at the bubbly goddess before him, he shook his head. “I’m intrigued, so I’ll see what it’s all about.”

“That makes me really happy to hear!” she said, clapping her hands and smiling vibrantly. When she saw his disbelieving look, she straightened and collected herself, clearing her throat. “Okay, so here’s the deal. Your destination is preselected, but everything is randomized. The reason you’re here right now is because of one thing,” she said, holding up a finger.

“My devilish charm?” he guessed, grinning.

“Well…” She curled a lock of hair behind her ears and blushed. “Not quite that.” She pointed towards his chest, and a buzzing ball streamed outward from his chest. “This.”

Vander patted his chest, eyeing the ball of energy the goddess held. “Okay, for future reference, don’t pull things out of me without telling me first. That’s totally uncool.”

“Sorry, but I thought the look you’d make would be priceless!” She grinned devilishly, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Your world, Designation 7: Wanda, has an energy called Kamii. It infects its users like a parasite and feeds on their emotions to expand their powers.”

Wide-eyed, Vander stared at the ball of energy, presumably his Kamii. “Never knew.”

“Of course not,” she said, shrugging. “Who needs to know the nasty details behind something like that? The important thing is the laws of equivalence, balance, and rights of reincarnation.”

“Meaning…?” He glared at her, knowing she kept pausing for dramatic effect. For being a goddess of servitude, she didn’t seem very helpful.

“Want me to bore you with the details and all the rules that apply, or do you want me to just show you what’s going on?” she asked, smirking.

“Don’t torture me with the legalese of deities, please,” he said, rubbing his throbbing temples. “If it’s anything like I expect them to be, we’ll be here for all of eternity.”

“Good choice!” She shoved the energy orb back into his chest. “The things that matter. You’ll be reincarnated with all of the power you contained in your last life, since you came from a magical world. However, there is no exact equivalent, so the reincarnation system will be converting all assets you contain to opportunities in order to balance you.”

“So I’m getting nerfed?”

“Yup!”

Another flash of light, and the endless void and angelic goddess disappeared.

What the fuck did I get myself into?

Reincarnation system activated.

First reincarnation activated.

Two reincarnation attempts remain.

***

A knock on her front door startled Madison. She prompted her HomeSense to display the live footage onto her desk’s workspace. Someone she’d never before seen stood outside, looking around anxiously.

She tapped the intercom. “Who are you?”

The unknown man waved towards the decoy camera she’d displayed and gave another look over his shoulder. “I’ve been told to relay a message to you, ‘the Storm King has fallen’.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she forgot how to breathe. Numbly, she rose from the chair and stepped away from the desk, nearly falling to the ground as her shaky legs threatened to buckle beneath her.

The trip to the door, all a blur. The package she received and the words they exchanged, even less memorable. The trip back to her desk, equally unimportant. No, the only thing that mattered were the words echoing in her mind.

“The Storm King has fallen,” she repeated aloud, a tear slipping down her face. The package she carried felt like lead weights and burned in her lap. “The Storm King… has fallen?”

Madison only knew one Storm King, the love of her life. This just couldn’t be, so she took the package and opened it. Three things were inside: a data disc, a dimensional cube, and… a tear-stained letter that looked old.

The easiest for her heart to handle, the data disc, she took from the box and loaded into her holographic scanner. A massive folder of countless letters, all addressed to her as “my one and only”.

To: My one and only

My letters of farewell

Note: A compilation of documents written by Vander Braxton to Madison DiMaggio.

“Vander…?” she muttered, selecting the latest entry.

Last Page:

Oh, Mads, I’m so sorry. If you’re reading this, I’m dead and gone. These are my final thoughts and everything that went unsaid over the years. I know I’m not a good man, but you always saw me as someone better than I saw myself.

I wish I’d have listened to you, at least once. In my last moments, I’m sure your face is all that I will see. You are my heart and soul.

Be safe, my one and onl—

That day, the world shattered and broke for the genius magitek innovator, Madison DiMaggio. The rage she inflicted on the world and those that broke her heart was a myth better left forgotten, driving fear in the world’s heart for eons to come.