Chapter 1

«Price of Love»

“One can never run away from their own shadow, was that not what you had once said so yourself? Young Dullahan?” The question was something that was left hanging in the air as the one who had the answer refused to indulge the one who had asked. It was the next moment that the light cascading down onto his eyelids was obstructed that the [Dullahan] finally opened his eyes, clearly annoyed.

“I have no answer for someone who has no intention of showing their real face.” He glared at the familiar face before his eyes briefly before looking away to the side. The speaker’s cute face framing with beautiful long hair did nothing to make his heart rate jumped, neither did the hair with its color a mesmerizing shade of ash blonde. It was not the speaker, but the identity, the skin she wore like her own face. It was a face of someone who should have ceased to exist in this reality.

He too, should have already ceased to exist.

“Mwu, do not be so cranky like that. Since it seems my own true form could not be comprehended by you and your human logic, using this form which thee seem to be familiar with should be easier for both of us, do you not think so?” Seeing a bright smile on Caeli’s face like this made him a tad bit uncomfortable. The [Dullahan] pushed himself up from the hard floor using both hands as support. His body was still weak, the pain in his chest was still there, they were telling him that this was no dream and the reality he existed was no more.

It had already happened, or in a better sense, finished.

And this place, there was no way this place was on the same plane or the same reality he came from. It had been about half an hour already since when he had first opened his eyes after that accursed red light flooded his vision. He had no idea of what happened, but he was certain that this was not afterlife.

No one with good head on their shoulder would call him [Dullahan] in the afterlife. Besides, there was no way that this person was his little sister, Caeli. She had admitted it herself that using Caeli’s face would be easier for them to talk, as he should not be able to comprehend her form.

A God? A being from a plane above?

“Ha, but to think that someone who was feared as the modern day’s headhunter like you, Young Dullahan, was a siscon. You could not judge people from their appearance, hmm?” The thing using Caeli’s look received quite a ferocious glare from him like it was nothing. He poured his killing intent into it so to shrug it off like that, this being was already out of the norm.

Maybe something like a God, Evil God?

He read too much of Caeli’s novel, it seemed.

“I’m not a siscon, and stop calling me with that name already.”

His tone was packed full with annoyance and animosity, but his eyes that were filled with longing and possessiveness betrayed his thought. It showed how much he valued his little sister who he had put through hell, and his own reflection from those hazel green orbs caused him to recoil.

All those feeling, even though not adamant in his words and actions at the moment, the one wearing Caeli’s skin noticed it as clear as day, and decided that teasing him any longer would do them no interest.

“Well, Big Brother?”

The cheeky tilt of her head that came with it did nothing to placate his surprise. It was a roundabout way of fulfilling his last wish that his sister never had a chance to listen. He flinched visibly, and this person surely noticed because she slowly crept closer to him, lessening their distance in this white, and bright void.

Finally seated down in front of him on her heels, her shoulder slumped and in a moment, she seemed to age ten years older in a blink of an eye.

Then with a tired sigh, “congratulation, for being the last human alive.”

“So, this… Everything has already come to an end?”

“Indeed it has, but it was a mere seven billion something that has been lost, do you not know? There are many more out there, living their lives cleverly, carefully, and content with what they have and what they are given. They do nothing foolish like tapping into the reality itself to make everything their way. I have to give it to your father, coming up with a way to come a step closer to us. He did bring up more and more troublesome matters, however.”

He felt her breath tickling his skin lightly as sat up and leaned in closer to him, shoving that grin into his face. She let the tip of their nose touched for a moment before vacating herself into an empty space right next to him. It only took her a short while to situate herself comfortably against his side, her head laid upon his shoulder, as if they were real siblings and she was the real Caeli.

“My head hurt so much. Sorting through that amount of people going through the cycle, it really was a pain, you know? I have been working without any break for weeks just to get everything done quickly. It is great now that I am with you, however. Because once I am done with you, I will be free, away from this shackle.”

He took a glance to his left, catching a glimpse of the solemn look in her eyes as they flashed vivid purple for a second. She was looking down at both of her hands, as if she was seeing the said shackles that bound her to this reality.

From what he could grasp from her words, it seemed like the being wearing his sister skin was really something akin to a god. Processing souls of the dead, guiding them into the cycle of life and reincarnation, those seemed to be what she had been doing until she had met him here.

She was here to judge him, then?

“So, it’s hell for me, no?”

“Nn? No, no, you have already been through hell and back, and that is not a figure of speech either. Hmm, if I remember correctly, you should not be able to remember anything you have seen on that side. It is that place’s policy after all, shame you would not be able to remember. But rest assured, the face that you are before me means that you are ready for reincarnation!”

The being chirped cheerfully as she started her monologue, forcing him into silent as he digested what was said about him and hell. Other than that, the fact that she was rubbing herself against him also froze him solid.

Caeli could never be this touchy feely, there’s no way.

It was a nice change though…

“I have met with your little sister before, are you surprised? She freaked out a bit when seeing me using her appearance like this, it was kind of funny. However, do you know? That she asked of you? She asked me if you have been reincarnated already, and with such worry in her voice as well. Look at how much influence you have on her, Young Dullahan. You made her life a hell on earth and she still cared for you, it made me smile, really. I have been rooting for you two, after all.”

“You’ve been watching us?”

She shook her head in denial before snaking her arms around his middle, pressing her lithe frame against him further. The following silence was not suffocating, however, as she let out a satisfied sigh after taking in his scent.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

It got him thinking if this god was a stalker or something.

“I watched every single one of you living beings of this plane. That was a duty I was entrusted with when others exiled themselves. It was a shackle, a cage, something I have to do before I could finally be free. Thinking about it now, I wonder what I should be doing after this. Everyone just went and did whatever they wanted wherever they wanted, I just… It feels lonely sometimes.”

The last part was almost inaudible, but considering that there was no space between them, it was loud and clear as if she had whispered it into his ears. He chose to say nothing regarding that matter and let her continued the conversation however she wanted. After all, he knew not of what was going on.

“Say, what do you think reincarnation is all about, Young Dullahan?”

He frowned a bit at the nickname before answering.

“Reincarnation is something like being born again after one’s death, beginning anew, a fresh start if you want. Starting again with the same soul but no memories, a blank slate to write another story. That would be a possible answer, yes.”

It was either the correct answer or the answer she wanted, he knew that as her smile widened. He let out a quiet sigh when the being finally detached herself from his side and took the seat in front of him once again. Sitting on her heels like that seemed uncomfortable, but he was not forced into doing the same thing so he would not point it out. She looked kind of prim and proper like that, and it was something he would not expect from the real Caeli either.

It was kind of fresh.

“You have got the right idea. However, it was a pity. This reality was almost at the top, as perfect as one can get. Physical Realm and Astral Realm merged as one, it was a perfect condition for lives. Yet, human desired convenience to the point of disrupting the balance, creating an artificial magic. It was not different from giving pearl to swine? Ah, I apologize if it offend you, considering you are a fine [Mage] yourself. From my perspective, it was like that. However, for you human, magic is convenient tool, is it not?”

She put her palms onto her lap and smiled sheepishly at what she had said. The glum look on her face only lasted a moment before she clapped her hands loudly, startling him out of his thought. What came next was a bright smile, one that he had to look down in defeat.

“Hey, Young Dullahan, what do you think about a second chance? I could send you to the same realm as your little sister, you know?” This offer caught him off guard, even more so when she sprung up on her knees and scooted toward him with gleeful smile plastered on her face. The look he received from her clogged up his throat completely, leaving him no room to response.

However, it was a chance, a second chance for him…

“I love how expressive your eyes can be, even when you rarely change your expression. For someone who wore a mask like a second skin like you, your eyes say everything I need to know.”

His hand moved up instinctively to his face but was stopped, as her soft and comfortable touch invade his grasp. Her warmth spread from his palm into his whole being, the feeling he wanted but never deserved.

“Caeli?”

“This, it was something your little sister wanted me to do, a prayer to a god, if you would. I want to be his little sister again, she said. I want to love him again, she said. I want to be loved by him again, she said.”

It was then that the warmth inside was suddenly changed into excruciating pain. His fingers desperately tried to find hers, unable to handle the feeling of being stabbed by millions of needle all over.

It started from the finger tips, where he touched her, and made its way through his limbs until he felt nothing but her soft hands on his cheeks.

“She said all those sweet things like that to you, but do you think that I, a god, had no idea of what was going on in that pretty little head of hers? I still need my revenge, she thought. I will not forgive him, she thought. I will end him with my own hands, she thought.”

Her hands were away from his skin the moment he caught a flash of smile across her gentle feature. Then he was pulled up, into her embrace as her words continued. The strength he once had was no more the heartbeat he was in her arms. He could only listened, all ears to those harsh words he dreaded the most.

“So that was why I told her, revenge was always sweet. It was the aftertaste that was bitter. I know of it better than any single soul… Fufu, the face she made when I told her that you despise her was just like yours. You two really are siblings. I apologize for doing this, but seeing you two… I was envious.”

It was a simple touch of their foreheads that robbed his vision away, forcing his other senses to work overtime, trying to get a grip on what was going on. However, it did not matter how hard he tried, the only thing he can feel was her, the only thing he can smell was her, and the only thing he taste was her. A soft touch on his lips was so gentle he froze on spot, one mind telling himself it was her, other telling it was not.

It was Caeli, yet it was not.

He could talk, making any voice, but he offered no complaint nor objection as this being used his little sister’s lips to kiss him. Was it Caeli’s kiss or was it hers, he had no idea and no time to voice out his question.

“This is the real message from Caeli, I love you and I’m sorry, let’s meet again in our next life. I want to be your little sister again, Big Brother.” Her voice cracked a little at the end, as if she was trying her best to convey everything Caeli was feeling when she left this message with her. His thought conflicted once again, one wanted to see if this was really true, the other however, wanted this to end.

He was afraid of her tears, afraid that he was the reason she cried.

His vision returned a moment after as a small and unfamiliar voice rang beside his left ear. It came along with the warmth that soothed his very core, gently lulling his hurt and agony into calmness against his will. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to wail, yet he could not for he was prohibited.

The last words, the message…

She finally called him Big Brother after all these years…

“This is a gift from me, Young Dullahan. You will be reincarnated with every bits and pieces of your soul intact. It is not much, but I believe you would not want a memory of your little sister gone, would you? Please be happy, for your little sister, for me, for us…” The last two phrase was no louder than a whisper, as if she wanted no other but him to hear those parting wishes.

If it was a gift from a goddess, then…

Her smile finally disappeared as the body in her embrace had finally gone limp against her bosom. She let out a quiet sigh as her right hand moved up to the back of the man’s head, rubbing it affectionately.

She simply let her thumb traced a circle along with the motion of her hand as she looked up, her hazel irises turned purple in color in a single blink. There, she gazed, at the audience who stood there, watching, from the very beginning.

“Was that all you want you want to tell him? Little Pumpkin?”

As the purple orbs met with pale hazels, a small laugh resounded.

“What’s stronger than lover’s love is lover’s hate. However, if that love is really true love, then such thing as hate won’t last over a single night. I never hate him, what I’m really mad about is not about what he had done. It’s the fact that he did it before I could even hold a knife properly, you know that, right?”

Caeli’s eyes lacked any light even though her pleasant smile was still apparent on her feature. The gaze was so cold that the being assuming her appearance could not help but shuddered at the girl’s twisted train of thought.

She loved him too much for her own good.

“You chose to suffer in hell alongside him, twice the amount of time you were supposed to, just so that you could be with him until this moment. You will not remember him, you do know that, do you not? You even tried to kill him before anybody could so that he would not die by anyone else’s hands… I have been watching this realm for a long time, but this was the first I have seen love so extreme such as yours. You have my respect, Little Pumpkin.”

The one with purple eyes looked down at the man in her embrace and smiled lightly. Even though this girl’s twist mind was a bit troublesome, the determination and resolution she had was really something else entirely.

“As I have promised, young one. You will be reincarnated into the same realm as your brother. However, I do think you have yet to forgotten what we have discussed, have you not? Little Pumpkin?”

“The price of being an audience to his final moment, it is high indeed. Since I wouldn’t be able to remember him in my next life, it seems like my wish of being his little sister again won’t be fulfilled no matter what, huh?”

The light which had never been in her eyes for so many years had finally appeared as she smiled cheekily. Along with a whimper and a sob escaping her quivering lips, her sweet grin crumbled and turned into a sheepish one. It wrenched her heart to see such a sweet sight morphed into a heartbreaking scene.

“Thank you for fulfilling this selfish wish of mine, goddess.” Failing uncontrollably, her façade vanished just as fast as her whole being dissipated into small particles of light. The girl’s eyes never swayed from her brother’s still form for a single moment. Never blink, never stray, she bore witness to the sight before her even with the amount of tears rolling down her cheeks in waves.

She was afraid, oh she was so afraid. She feared that the moment she closed her eyes, she would not be able to remember him and their tie any longer.

“Rest assured, Little Pumpkin. For that even though you will not remember him anymore, he will never be able to forget about you even in a single moment of his new life.” The Purple-eyed Goddess never left the girl’s gaze until the final moment, she tightened her hold, trying her best to hold everything back.

As the last trace of the girl vanished completely, the whole place was suddenly filled with sobs and whimpers, ones that gradually grew into a mournful cry.

“This is way more effective than onions, don’t you think so? Young Dullahan?”