I...I am tearing apart. My body, my powers, everything’s gone. Emotions, the ones I had long forgotten, resurfaced. Anger, anguish, even sorrow, they all clawed my heart but there was nothing, no one I could take them out on or share them with.

It wouldn’t have been a problem though, nothing could possibly have been a problem, if I could just feel that presence again. Her presence again. It took every ounce of mental fortitude I had to keep me sane. Never once had I thought even I could feel loneliness.

I have been falling for eons now.  No control over this form, a void taking the place beside me, the place that was never meant to be a void.

Am I even alive?

At first I could see stars, galaxies and lights but after a while everything around me became dark. My true form is gone, a hunk of silver light weaving through emptiness is all that's left.

Mighty Adron Athav? My fate wasn't any better than that of those I slayed.

After what seemed an eternity, I saw something: a cascade of light. Streaks of light passed by, every hue I could think of. Having seen nothing but darkness for an eternity, even I was mesmerized by that beautiful sight.

More so than its beauty, my heart was comforted by the affirmation of my existence. 

I am alive!

Not just the ghost of a fallen god.

They were the people called “Heroes”. After death their souls rise to the heavens. These guys were going to the place I was banished from but that didn’t matter right now. 

Being able to see this shower meant the place from where they came from was drawing near.

Earth is close.

Finally, it came to view, a blue sphere. It wasn’t anything significant and there were seven others, much alike, that revolved around a yellow star. Normally, I wouldn’t have valued this planet worth a second gaze but it was going to be my home so I scrutinized every sight that came to view. 

From a distance, I could see the uneven land. There were four continents that covered a significant part of the surface. Then there was a huge congregation of ice at the farther pole of the planet, I wonder if it’s natural or made by some... someone? Earlier, I could have wiped this planet off with a snap but now, when I am most probably going to be far weaker, if there was someone that powerful here then that spells trouble. 

When my incorporeal form descended into the planet’s atmosphere, it travelled across the land and in the oceans. This planet, this world was excessively unbalanced, very diverse in every sort. 

Although the majority of the population lived underwater, a certain species that seemed to have drastic influence on the planet comprised people they called humans and alike.

Having vaguely seen this world, I wonder how I would manifest here. A severely weaker form of my previous self is what came to mind. Well, I know many other ways but I’d rather stay optimistic. 

Then I-...my form got really close to the surface in a settlement that seemed vastly underdeveloped compared to many others I had seen but my attention was caught by a rather amusing group. It was a human offspring buried in the ground up to his chest surrounded by three others. I could understand their language, which wouldn’t have been something worth mentioning if I weren’t stripped of my powers. 

 "Oi, staying down there all night?" A boy with blonde hair cackled. He seemed to be the leader of this bully entourage

"But...John, you are the one who trapped me here." The boy buried in the ground grumbled. Most of his body wasn’t visible, but I could make out his silver hair and emerald green eyes, and the rags of the clothes he was wearing.

"Wha? Trapped you? Who waz the one tha forgot he shan't mess with John?" a disgustingly round boy gagged while munching something in his hands. 

"All I did was ask for my jacket back." The boy tried to contain his tears as he spoke. Not that I care about any of these bugs, I was surprised to see that this boy was worrying about a piece of clothing in the state that he was.

"Right. This?" John sneered as he held a jacket aloft and then threw it in front of that boy, then he stepped on the jacket as he walked away. "Bran, Nick, come on. No point wasting our time with this turd."

"Aye!" The fat boy yelled as he spat on that jacket that was laid on the ground and started walking with the other two.

I could have sworn the buried kid shot a fierce glance at John before the latter placed his hand on the ground without looking back. It loosened enough around the boy for him to scramble up on his feet. 

The trio rambled back towards the village while the boy was pathetically trying to wipe that jacket clean with his hands, stifling a cry. Sad as it was, I just wanted to move on to the next place this body of mine would take me.

Wait, I'm slowing down? No, I've completely stopped! I didn't notice before when I was looking at them but I'm no longer drifting. Now I'm just floating here. 

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Wha-What's happening? 

Don't tell me, no what the!? Why the hell am I going towards that piteous thing?

"No!" I cried as I was reminded of the one thing I knew more pitiful than the boy now in front of me. 

My luck!

***

The kid passed out the moment my incorporeal form entered his chest. It was funny how he was still clutching onto that jacket tightly even though all it took for him to pass out was a little shock. I never understood why people tend to attach themselves to materialistic possessions so much so that they adore those objects even in their final moments but I still respected them because the only beings I know of other than myself that weren't much attached to objects were... Well, they were demons, evil ones.

I wonder if people here think gods can alleviate all their sufferings.

Here I am, a former god, cursing my fate so graciously with my very soul. Trapped inside the body of a turd (as his friends so affectionately called him) sprawled out helplessly in a field of the remotest village I have seen on this planet.

But there’s no point worrying over it now though, I am just going to possess his body and get as far away from this lowly place as possible in this weakly body. The bodies of these humans are much like us angels, sparing the wings, so it won’t be much of a hassle possessing him.

I thought.

I could feel his limbs as my own. Well, that’s a good sign. I tried proceeding without going overboard, just curling up the finger I so earnestly wanted to show the heavens, to the old coots who took it all from me even though I was upright.

Failed

Haha, I shouldn’t have such malice towards my own home, I am not the type to hold grudges anyway. Let’s try twirling the thumb.

Failed.

Calm down, Adron, remember the warrior of the past who remained calm even in the most dire circumstances and try again. Maybe try moving his pinky a little.

Failed.

Damn it! DAMN IT! I am going to kill all those bastards... They sent me here without my body, without my powers and even without the ability to possess a body just for cleansing the heaven of that filth?

Just what have you been reduced to Adron? Of all things... desiring a mere body?

It was then that I realized the emotion I was feeling wasn’t rage, it was sheer frustration. I never even thought I could feel powerless. 

I gained my strength through the harshest means, having gone through every kind of training I came across in heavens or even learned from the demons I slayed in battlefields. It had become an inherent part of me and yet, right now...

What’s gone is gone, the more you dwell on the past the more you’ll fall in this pit.

“Steve!” A loud cry snapped me back, it came from a lady. Apparently, even though I couldn’t control his body, I could still share this boy’s senses. 

I really hope she’s related to this child because I don’t want to find out what happens if he dies out here, which, knowing my good fortune would probably mean my death as well.

“Oh my God Steve! What happened?!” Rah! Finally! 

An elder “One” once said to me ‘Young Adron, your nights are going to last long. Long but never perennial. Never forget the day is to come.’ I wonder why that’s coming to me now. The fact that I am deeming the arrival of an aid for this kid as luck is disturbing.

The woman crouched beside the boy and sighed deeply after confirming his breath. She wrapped the boy’s arm around her neck and shuffled towards the village. 

This lady Ella, the people on the way called her, was probably the kid’s mother. She took me-the kid-to her house. I had a vague idea about the housing structure that the majority of the humans used and this place was “horrible”, if not worse, compared to others I had seen. 

Creaking floor, acrid stench of rotten wood...ahh, this place can collapse anytime. There was a blue rug with golden embroidery in the room where she took us which would have looked elegant if it weren’t in tatters. 

Likewise, the furnishings and house itself looked as if they had lost their once decent aesthetics due to age. 

The poor lady looked truly worried for the boy so much so that I almost wanted to tell her that this weakling’s just dozing off. It was comical how the words in my mind came out straight from someone else’s mouth:

“Mom. This fool’s probably just kissing some princess in his fantasies. Now, just don’t start crying.” A girl came inside what I could only imagine as the living room where I-ahem, this boy was lying down on the settee.

Just how long is he going to sleep anyway? 

Now that I looked at her, that girl had brownish red hair that slung just short of her hips and dark brown eyes. She must be the kid’s sister but come to think of it their features are nothing alike. Could it be? Haha, I shouldn’t judge, I know little about their culture after all.

“Ughh” My host’s mouth muffled. He is finally awake! It is distressing how I am hopelessly stuck inside this pers-being whom I wouldn’t even have valuated worth looking at. I am not being arrogant, it’s just that the gap between us is huge, cosmically huge. 

“Even a mouse knows to run away when it’s outclassed.” Such was the wisdom Steve’s cousin imparted. 

“Sara! No more taunts or you sleep hungry tonight.” Ella barked as she supported the boy up on his ass. “But you know Steve, she is partly right. Was it John and his friends again?”                                 

“No aunt, it wasn’t anyone. I just felt a little dizzy and the next thing I know is seeing your worried face.” He scoffed and I could feel his lips trying to curl up into something that could roughly be called a smile. 

Aunt huh? So, the girl wasn’t his sister after all. But the way this lady worries about the kid is more than that of a mere relative, it’s motherly, they must have lived together for a while. Also there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around and looks like they aren’t expecting anyone either which made me wonder.

Kid’s an orphan huh? Well, he has my sympathies.

Incidentally, these humans seemingly use many names to call their kin which depends on the tone of conversation. His aunt called him Steve when she looked worried or sad and she called him Stevenson when she was serious in the conversation. Which made me conclude, Stevenson is what I am going to use.

After his aunt did a too intimate inspection, the kid was declared “fine” and was allowed to go. I am excited as well as a little worried about our first conversation. Wonder how I should present myself? Mighty Adron Athav? Or perhaps the humble god sent? Hehe. I am excited about seeing his first reaction.