"I serve the Lady... or Number Three, as you would know her by... and ONLY the Lady. So you had best remain her ally... or you will also become my enemy."

At the blatant overconfidence of the red haired man, Number Seven found himself taken aback.

And yet - closing his eyes for a moment - he smiled.

[How rebellious you are... no... to say you are rebellious wouldn't exactly be correct. Rather... how should I explain it... heh.]

With a nod, Seven headed towards the exit as he returned to the place where the blue haired girl had been left.

[You understand your place... and yet you understand nothing at all.]

"I understand enough to know that you won't touch me."

[Indeed, I will not. Come, One.]

[Coming!]

With this, the three headed out into the hallway, walking once more - however this time with a strange tension between them.

They walked as allies, yet they felt as if they were walking alongside enemies, tiptoeing with care to ensure that a war would not break out.

"You can't risk angering the Lady for two reasons. The first is because allying with her will greatly assist you in your goals. And the second..."

With a smirk, the red haired man walked in a carefree manner - as if nothing could possibly harm him.

"Is because even you fear her ability."

And as the man spoke these words, Seven said nothing in response.

He merely walked forth.

[I'm sure that Three has taken her time building you up, human. Perhaps a day will come where my human is also powerful enough to look someone with my level of power in the face and spit on them as you have. But know this.]

It was at that moment that something shot out of the back of Seven's neck.

A tentacle.

Slice!

It pierced straight through the neck of the red haired man, then slicing to the side it cut his head clean off as it fell to the floor with a plop.

The red haired man's eyes widened for just a second, however after this he smiled as tentacles seemed to form from the base of his neck, reattaching it to the body as the head began to transform into that of the woman.

[I do not fear your ability... nor do I consider you to be irreplaceable, Three.]

"How rude. And now you've gone and killed my host without reason."

[Oh, but I do have a reason.]

"Well then... I'd like to hear it."

As the head was lifted up, once more connecting to the torso which held it, the woman adjusted her head with her hands as she closed her now lashed eyes.

"After I take my revenge for doing something so pointless, that is."

And in that instant, time seemed to stop.

It was not that time had actually stopped, but rather that the universe itself had shifted.

And in that instant... Marcus awoke.

'Hm?'

The blackened whites of the businessman's eyes became white once more, and he opened them as he looked around with confusion - waking up from his slumber in an unknown scenario.

Then, turning around - he saw a woman.

"Sorry, Host of Seven. But I live by a certain rule."

The gorgeous woman whose red hair flared about in a chaotic manner chuckled as Marcus took in the situation, registering the woman before him for only a moment as he comprehended his location.

'Ah... it would seem that Seven has done something again without my knowledge.'

Snap!

And with the snap of her finger, a tentacle shot out from the other hand of the woman - aimed straight at the neck of Marcus.

An immense surge of pain welled up as he felt the tentacle pierce straight through his neck. He felt the fluid of blood flowing down his shirt and the choking feeling of losing his capability to breathe in, all combined with the pain of being sliced.

'And now... it seems that I'm going to die again because of it.'

Falling to his knees, the man smiled a slight bit, choking on his own blood as the tentacle was removed - tears of blood filling his eyes as the veins burst due to the immense pain.

'Heh... well, I suppose this is my punishment for murdering that man. After all...'

And as he thought these things, finishing her own statement, the red haired woman spoke as if she had read the mind of the man.

"An eye for an eye."

And then, falling to the ground, a mouth formed below the ear of Marcus, whispering into his mind as his hearing became numb.

"And a tooth for a tooth."

This was [Revenge].

Thus, Marcus died.

For the 10th time.

----

Ten.

One Zero.

A single digit was no longer capable of containing the amount.

The amount of what?

'The amount of times... that I've died.'

Not once did it ever become any easier.

Not once did the pain ever soothe from becoming used to it.

It hurt.

It hurt enough that Marcus wanted to kill himself.

It hurt enough that he wanted to end his miserable life with this death, once and for all.

'Yet... that is not what I am here for.'

If he was not floating within a bodiless abyss, then perhaps he would have clenched his teeth to the point where his mouth began to bleed.

He would have balled his fist, digging into his rotten hand to the point that his flesh was torn and the discolored blood would flow.

'I will... change something.'

With this thought, Marcus resolved himself - even after death.

'I will change... this world.'

And if he had a body at that moment, his pained expression would have shifted into a mad grin.

'And I will bring about... a future where my deaths are put to use.'

[What are you talking about, Marcus?]

'You heard me, Seven.'

In a cheeky manner, the formless thoughts that Marcus had within the realm between life and death reached the very one who kept his soul from leaving this already dead body.

'I'm going to put my deaths to use... to bring about a future that I am satisfied with.'

[You act as if you have the power to do so.]

'I don't.'

While Seven spoke in a condescending manner to the man, this quick response quieted the experiment.

'I'm nothing more than a struggling human.'

And as Marcus began to monologue, Seven merely listened - something which perhaps he had never done before.

'I've tried and I've tried... all my life I’ve tried. At everything. I tried to become something great. I tried to become someone great. Someone important. Someone who people looked up to. Someone respected, someone who was loved and seen as reliable.'

As the man poured out his regrets, tinges of fear and hatred coated his soundless voice.

'When I was young... I dreamed. Do you know what I dreamed of, Seven? You hold my memories, don't you? Therefore you should already know. I dreamed of becoming... a hero.'

As the man said this word, he laughed, as if such a notion was completely preposterous.

'I wanted to fight monsters.'

'I wanted to defeat villains.'

'I wanted to become someone who saved everyone around me.'

'Someone who would put ease into the minds of the people as soon as my name was spoken.’

‘Someone who was a shining beacon of hope in a world filled with darkness.'

Clicking his tongue, the man spoke with regret in his tone.

'Yet this world was not filled with darkness.'

'It was filled with a thousand shades of grey.'

'And I soon came to realize that I was just one of them.'

With these words, Marcus quieted, and the abyss became exactly that - an abyss of nothingness, with a void so silent that one might come to believe that sound didn’t exist within this desolate place.

However in response, Seven spoke.

[I suppose then... it's my turn, isn't it?]

And with the distorted voice that the monster usually took, Seven chuckled to himself as Marcus was overwhelmed by this presence that had taken control of his life from the moment he had first awoken his eyes in this bleak world.

[Why don't we witness it together, Marcus?]

----

It was different.

Previously, Marcus had felt the strange and discomforting sensation of being inside another person's body.

Though the proportions of Seven's body were not too far off from his own, they were still different - and as such it took adjustment each time he found himself within one of his memories.

However, there were two things that felt different this time.

The first - the body which Marcus found himself in was small.

That of a child.

And the second was that it felt... human.

It was fresh.

Healthy.

Unexperimented.

Unaltered.

Familiar.

'This...'

And as he slowly realized where he was, Marcus felt himself welling up with tears - yet he did not cry.

For he could not.

'This is... me.'

"Hey Marcus! Marcus!! What are you doing over there!? We're going to play tag!"

"Come on!!"

"Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!"

Two boys and a girl called out to the boy as they approached him with cheerful smiles.

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'Martin... Evan... and... Katelyn.'

Nostalgia filled the mind of Marcus as a memory was dug up from deep within him.

'That means... this is when I was 8 years old.'

It was a long time ago.

Long enough that Marcus had almost forgotten.

Not that he could have ever truly forgotten - even if he wanted to.

"One second, guys! I gotta make sure I got my stuff! We're gonna make a base in the woods later, right?"

"You can grab all that later! For now let's go play!"

Right now, Marcus was on a wooden deck outside what he recalled to be his home, and these three children who urged him were the others who lived in the neighborhood.

"Alright, alright. But don't complain if you need something and we gotta head all the way back to get it!"

"Yeah, yeah! Let's go!"

Evan and Martin seemed to urge Marcus to hurry up, and the girl merely laughed at their interaction as the four rushed out into the woods.

[You know Marcus, while it is true that I contain knowledge of all your memories, I don't usually get to experience them firsthand like this. My knowledge is limited to your own... and as such... before this I was never able to experience the EMOTIONS in which you have experienced.]

Interrupting his memory as the boy ran off alongside the other three, the parasite within him seemed intent on ruining even this peaceful moment.

[Perhaps I will be able to experience those right now.]

----

The boy ran through the forest, hiding from the one who was deemed to be ‘it’.

'Heh... she'll never get me if I go this deep.'

On this particular round, Katelyn had been selected as the one who had the goal of finding and tagging the other members of the group.

They would all be given a head start to rush off, at which a time limit would be set.

If any of the children were not tagged at the end of the time limit, they would be declared as the winners.

In other words, it was a simple game of tag.

'Oh... a bridge, eh?'

As the boy approached what appeared to be a ravine, he grinned deviously as he approached the bridge, looking down at the river below.

'Should I cross here and keep going? I've never been this far... OH!'

As the boy contemplated his options, his eye caught sight of a particular crevice below - a cavern.

'She'll never find me if I hide there!'

"HAHAHA!! Marcus, did you think you could get away from me so easily!?"

Yet just as the boy thought this, a chill went up his spine as he heard the powerful voice of the young girl, who shouted out from behind him.

'Geh! Already!? Did she come after me first!? How did she know I would come this way!?'

These questions entered the mind of Marcus at that moment, yet his body responded in a different manner as he immediately began to climb down the ravine.

"Even if you found me you've gotta tag me! You won't be able to come down here!"

As he slid down, placing his footing from one ledge to another, the boy smoothly made his way down to the bottom, at which he began to run towards the cavern.

"Why you... in order to avoid me you're going to climb down there!? That's cheating!! You're so unfair, Marcus!!"

"Who said it's unfair!? It isn't in the rules, is it!?"

"Grr!"

As he shouted up towards the girl, the boy continued rushing towards the cavern, however in that instant he turned around to see something unexpected.

The girl was following him down.

'Eh!? I didn't think she would go so far as to climb down with me! She... is she going to be...'

"Agh!"

In that instant, as a young Marcus had these thoughts, the girl lost her footing.

Holding on with only one hand, she squealed as she threatened to fall into the river - or even worse, onto the rocky ground below.

"Hey!! What are you doing, Katelyn!?"

Turning around as he shouted this, a single instinct overcame every aspect of the boy at that moment.

'I have to save her.'

'I have to help her.'

'I have to protect her.'

These things, the 8 year old Marcus did not think.

No, he did not think them.

But as someone who could experience every sensation and emotion which overcame him, Marcus understood immediately.

Everything within his very being at that moment was screaming these words.

'I have to be a hero.'

Yet even though he turned and ran with everything that his eight year old body could handle, it was not enough.

"AGH!!!!!"

The girl fell before Marcus could do anything.

Splash!

Right into the raging river below.

"HELP!!!!"

As she was carried away by the current, Marcus could do nothing more than watch as he ran and ran, yet despite his running the girl disappeared from his sight within mere moments as the river turned and twisted.

"WAIT!!!"

Holding out his hand, the boy shouted this out as he tried to stop her with his words - yet as he shouted these words, tears filling his eyes and heated breaths tainting his lungs, he came to a grand realization.

He couldn't help her.

'I have to do something.'

She was already out of sight.

'I have to find her.'

Yet even so, the boy started running once more.

'And I have to make sure... that she doesn't get hurt.'

He ran, and he ran.

He ran until he was panting and sweating, barely able to take another step.

And as he did so, he turned a corner, he saw the girl.

Shivering as she clung onto a cluster of rocks, she desperately hung on for dear life - unable to even shout for help as she focused every bit of her energy on not being swept even further.

Yet even as Marcus watched this scene from his spectator spot, even as the emotions within the boy seemed to well up to the point where he was about to burst, the man had a single selfish thought.

'Why is it that I have to experience the same exhaustion that I felt at that time?'

The boy had run until his lungs ached.

And he continued running, to the point where they felt as if they were about to burst.

"Grab on!!!"

Grabbing a branch, the boy held it out to the girl, who slowly tried to take hold of it.

'Ah... did I just think something so selfish, even when faced with such a situation?'

'But this is only my memory, isn't it?'

'I can't change what happened... So why do I have to experience the same pain that I felt at that time?'

The girl lightly grabbed on, yet her strength was sapped.

She wouldn't be able to climb up at this rate.

So instead, the boy jumped in.

The water was cold.

Freezing, in fact.

'What am I thinking?'

'Have I... lost my heart?'

'Ah... but it's so cold.'

'It hurts so much.'

'Did it really hurt that much back then?'

Thrusting the girl out of the water, the boy followed suit as he climbed his way up, heaving and panting as he was out of breath.

Then, looking at the girl, the two fell to the ground, both breathing heavily as they tried to regain their composure.

"It's... cold.", the girl whispered weakly.

"It... is.", the boy whispered back.

Sitting up as he slowly regained his energy, the boy turned to look at the girl - about to scold her.

"Why did you-"

However just as he was about to do so, a single look at the girl was enough to shut him up.

'Ah... now I remember this.'

And as he saw her, the spectator within him knew not whether the shock he felt within him was merely the emotions of the boy at that time - or whether he truly was shocked himself.

For surrounding the girl was a puddle of blood.

"Eh?"

Lifting up his hands as he looked at them, the boy realized that he was covered in the red fluid.

Not his own.

But that of the girl in front of him.

"My back... it... it hit the rocks... ugh..."

Choking out these words as the puddle around her seemed to increase, the boy widened his eyes in shock as he looked around him with terror.

"Hey... wait..."

Looking around frantically, he tried to figure out what he should do.

Yet even as he thought such things, he had absolutely no idea.

'I need to... help her.'

This was the only thought that consumed him.

But how?

How could he help her?

What could he do?

What should he do?

'I should... run for help?'

'No... I can't leave her alone.'

'I need to patch her up.'

'But... I don't have anything.'

'If I try to get something... that would mean leaving her alone.'

'That would mean...'

"Hey... Marcus..."

Looking up to the boy with fearful eyes, the girl grabbed his shirt as she quietly spoke.

With a gulp, the boy listened intently, and the rushing sounds of the river seemed to die out as his attention focused completely on the girl.

"Don't leave me... ok?"

As the girl made this plea, an instinct arose within the boy.

One which fired up his conviction, and forced him to make a decision.

And with a nod, the boy closed his eyes with sincerity.

"I won't."