One year ago, when was reborn into the world, was also the day he also died in this world for the first time.

The Queen hadn’t liked his presence. Declaring him a nuisance, released a mysterious light.

Brilliant light cut through his head, his left eye turned dark, but his right eye still saw light. The room dimmed, giving him the opportunity to see his killer. The Masked Queen stood with her hands outstretched. He fell to the side missing his face. A puddle of blood quickly formed underneath it.

“He dodged it.” The Queen’s voice sounded far away. “I intended to blow off his whole head, but he dodged at the last minute.”

That was as much as he understood before his consciousness snapped like a dried rubber band.

He was sinking in the ocean of darkness. His very existence felt like it was being nibbled at the edges by fish.

Kagami knew he had died. It was a strange thought. He had never thought he could die, yet, he clearly just had. In his old body, not a sniper’s bullet, not a full sped truck that slammed him, not a bomb, almost nothing had ever made a dent on him.

Yet with his new body, he experienced something he had never felt before.

Weakness.

Faraway in that darkness he saw a glimmer of light.

A spark.

Then an explosion.

A giant fire bird screeched, it’s rainbow flames engulfed him.

Kagami gasped, sitting up. His heart felt like it had exploded. Just like his dream, he was bathed in rainbow colored flames. The Queen had taken a step back, as did her aide. He saw light within his left eye and touched where a chunk of his face should have been carved up like a crescent moon.

“What is this?” Kagami asked but no answers came.

The flames whittled away, until it was nothing but embers. Kagami was left to sit in a tense silence as the the Masked Queen and her aide gave each other looks.

“What do you think that was?” The Queen finally asked, her voice quiet.

“It looks like the Phoenix’s flame.” Her aide answered in an equally quiet tone.

“That shouldn’t be possible. There should be no phoenix. I killed that useless goddess’s pet.”

“Yes. You did do that.”

“Yet, what we witnessed shows that isn’t the case.”

Kagami wasn’t following anything they were saying, so he silently watched their back and forth with some interest. Eventually though, his excitement from his revival tampered down. Kagami sat crosslegged and rested his chin on his hand. Boredom reached him like a old lover, and he yawned at their conversation.

“Are we boring you?” That caught the Queen’s attention. “I just killed you and you’re acting like this has nothing to do with you.”

“Of course this has to do with me,” Kagami leaning into his hand more. “But just watching you guys talk about me without asking anything is boring. There’s so much I don’t know about this world, but what I do know is that this place isn’t for me. I want to go back home, to my world.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Your home.” She repeated. Though the mask covered her face, he could feel from her tone that she smiled underneath it. “Truly, you believe that don’t you? I can see it in your eyes. Let me tell you something my dear son, there hasn’t been a person transported from another world for quite a while. The path has been destroyed and the art of it has been lost. So, even if you were somehow reborn here, the question is how?”

“The Sun Drop?” Her aide answered.

“Yes. That would explain the power of revival, but it wouldn’t explain his story.” She turned her attention back to him. “Let’s say what you say is true. That you aren’t Cedar. That my son stole a wish fulfilling fruit, but why would his wish be to bring you from another world? The wish looks like he was given the ability to revive upon death.”

Kagami rubbed his chin. “Isn’t this one of those summoning bonuses? My wife always told me that it’s a cheat ability or something.”

“Wife?” She sounded amused. He could practically hear her smile from her tone. “You were married in this hypothetical former life?”

“Yes.” Kagami met her gaze and set his jaw. “It’s why I need to get back, because she’s waiting for me.”

This time she almost lost it. She doubled over and started to hack a laugh. Her aide looked astounded by the turn of events. He reached out his hand.

“My Queen?”

But she held up her hand, using her other to hold her stomach. “I-I can’t. To think, I would see such a sincere expression on Cedar’s face. It really is like he changed personalities.”

Kagami wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t amused by this at all, yet somehow this all felt familiar. He wasn’t sure why his heart was hurting.

“Do we know each other?” Kagami asked.

The Queen caught her breath, taking in deep breaths. She looked up at him.

“Of course we know each other. I birthed you.”

“No. I mean, you feel very familiar. I can’t place it, but what’s your name?”

She stood tall, turning her head. “That’s funny, this body of mine also is telling me that you also feel familiar. Oh, wait it’s because your my son!”

Maybe she didn’t understand what he meant, but there was something here. Something old and yearning. Not the familiarity his wife gave, but another familiar feeling, he just couldn’t place what this unease was.

“You said your name is Kagami? Let’s assume that you are who you say you are.”

“I am.” Anger started to boil. “That is who I am, no matter what you say.”

“You’re definitely an impatient man. I’ll get to it. I don’t believe you. My son, Cedar, is a conniving man, this is exactly the kind of thing he would do. But your actions don’t make sense. You’ve made mistakes he wouldn’t have made. He wouldn’t have gone to the guard shack to ask where he was. He would have pretended to stay dead, but even if I believe you, it would be foolish of me to trust you.”

Kagami changed hands to rest his chin on.

“So, what then? Can you just point me a way back home?”

“There isn’t a way. Not sure if you cared to listen, but I broke the way home. There is no path left.”

Kagami straightened his back.

“Why would you do that?”

“I had my reasons. What’s done is done.” Her voice strained.

“That’s bullshit. If I’m here, that means there is a way back home.” Kagami countered.

“If what you say it true. And that’s a big IF. I should just kill you where you stand. But I can’t. So, I’m left with another option of what to do with you and letting you go just like that is a cause for disaster.”

“We could just chain him up and put him in the dungeon.” The aide suggested.

Kagami glared at the aide. He just returned a smile at him.

“If you think I would allow myself to be chained, then you’ve got another thing coming.” Kagami pushed himself up.

Light blasted and Kagami dodged. His thigh was still hit, and he bit his lips to silence his yell.

“See. I don’t think chaining him will do anything. He is the kind of man that would eventually get out of them.”

“Then what do you suggest, my Queen?”

“We toss him in the Wishing Well.”

“The Wishing Well?” His face creased and lips pursed. He looked to Kagami and then his Queen. “Is that wise?”

“You think he would escape?” She coolly asked, turning her back against him and walked briskly back to her throne.

His eyebrows furrowed. “No. I don’t think so.”

“But if he did that might bring some validity to his claims. I know my son, Cedar wouldn’t survive there. His pride is too deep. His act could only get him so far.” She sat back down. “There are enough people down there that would do everything they can to kill him. A man from another world, is a Chosen. The Goddesses would help him in some capacity.”

“How wicked?” The aide grinned.

She leaned in. “Isn’t it?”

Kagami rose a hand. “Don’t I get a say in any of this?”

“No.”

With that, Kagami forced himself up. Pain bristled from the hole in his thigh as blood spurted from pressure of standing up. He glared at the Queen.

“Oh?” She seemed interested.

“Then, I’ll do what I want.”

Light blinded him. The next moment he was aware, he was on the ground, a giant puddle of blood underneath his chest, and a hole where his heart had been.

“Your determination is quite something, but it means nothing if you have no strength.”

It was the last thing for her to hear before he died again.