At the end of all of William’s musings, Chris provided the final insight into what was making him upset. William once again went over everything that he thought about, ending with the current time, and him being in Ustil. Chris asked for more detail on the prophecy, again. Even though Chris had been around to hear it, William obliged. What he knew that was the humans most probably lost the upcoming war with the Demon King, at least if they weren’t united. Then, if the Demon King wasn’t destroyed, they would certainly lose the next one. The effective end of the world did bother William, but Chris breezed past that. William finally finished with the only way that had been seen that actually succeeded. Someone came with Chris and a plan to defeat the Demon King… and sometimes it worked. “That’s it,” Chris noted.

William shook his head. “I already thought that over. Although this being seemingly the only way for humanity to survive is certainly a lot of pressure… It’s not what’s bothering me this much.”

Chris glowed in a manner representing no, then expounded. “No, that’s not it. You’re upset because a staff… I show up, carried by someone with a plan.”

“You think I’m jealous that you’re important?” William pondered. Was that it? “That doesn’t seem right. I’m glad you have an important part.”

“That’s about half of it. However, in most of those cases, it looks like something is missing. That is… you.”

That thought hit William hard, because it was right. He was upset because he wasn’t there. He wasn’t important, he was just someone who could bring Chris. William thought he didn’t care about being important, but that wasn’t entirely the case. It was nice to be special. “That’s… probably it. Also, I think… I also wanted to be the person who brought you, because you’re important and that would make me someone special as well.”

Chris spun for a few moments, thinking things over. “Well, how do you know it isn’t always you?”

“It’s simple, they specifically mentioned that it was always a different person who showed up with you.”

Chris tilted forward a bit then straightened, in poor imitation of a nod. “Right, so… you were born in Liaoyang, right?”

“Of course I was. I already told you, and it’s pretty obvious if you look at me.”

“You were also born in Ostana.”

“No- well, yes. But that was in my previous life.”

“Why were you born in Liaoyang this time?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem that souls care about where they are born.”

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“So… why can’t it always be you in the visions? Honestly… I can’t think why I would go with just any random people.”

“Wait… so you’re saying... “ William thought about it, for a moment. “I could have been born anywhere, and then I would have found you and come up with some plan to defeat the Demon King?”

“Sure. Why not? When you got close to me I felt you, and eventually we’d both realize that and fine each other. I can’t imagine you not trying to find a way to defeat the Demon King. So, you just happened to actually be born in Liaoyang, instead of somewhere else, or to different parents.”

“Huh.” William said flatly. “That kind of makes me feel better, but also now I feel worse because I always am against those people with an inflated sense of self importance, yet I also seem to have or desire that. If I think that I’m in the prophecy, it also upsets me more in some ways… but not in a lasting manner. It’s just… thought I might want to be that important, I don’t know if I can actually handle it. On the other hand, maybe almost everything is a coincidence, and the prophecy is bunk except for the fact that you exist.” William shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t have to change anything.” William thought for another moment. “Actually, I might have literally done everything important that makes me relevant. The nations can probably carry out the plan without me just fine at this point. They were already working on such things, but I might have just been the push that got them properly organized.” William let out a breath of air. “Wow, it might not even matter if I die right now, and yet that somehow makes me feel better.”

“Of course it matters if you die!” Chris interjected.

“Oh, how so?”

“I’d be sad and bored for a long time!”

“Ah… that’s right. Still, I’m sure you can find another friend if you actually look for one.”

“I don’t want another friend. I’ll just wait for you to come back.”

“Listen, Chris. Just because it happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again.”

“It will.”

William shook his head. On some subjects, Chris wouldn’t change his mind no matter what. “Okay, maybe I would. However, in the fight with the Demon King… well, he has ways to destroy souls, and even if we succeed, I’ll probably be close enough to get mine destroyed as a side effect. I don’t think… I will be coming back again.”

Chris flopped on the floor for a few moments, rolling around, then continued, “You’ll be fine, you have a strong soul.”

“So? The Demon King has an even stronger soul. At best, my soul might hold up enough that it can technically reincarnate instead of being pulverized. However, even if that happens I probably won’t remember anything. That’s the normal way of things.”

“Then, I’ll look for you and find you, and we can become friends again.”

William shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind that, but I can’t say I would be the same person without my memories… and that’s only on the chance that I even still count as me, and that’s even in the small chance that I don’t actually get destroyed. I am going to be there for that, because I am one of the people who has a chance at actually pulling off Shattering the Soul, and that absolutely must happen for the future of humanity.”

Chris spun slowly, and glowed a dull blue. “Then… I’ll miss you.”