The space he stands within feels empty. There is no up, no down, or any sense of direction. It is almost like nothing exists around him. Yet it is not emptiness per say. The sensation feels somewhat familiar. Aster Stradivii has been here before. He has felt this sensation of standing and falling at the same time. Something akin to the sound of rushing air passes by him. He turns in its direction, or tries to, and is rewarded by a shooting star.

The star quickly passes and falls away. Then another comes, then another. Dozens of them passes Aster.

A halo slowly surrounds Aster and he slowly joins with the shooting stars. On his way he passes bodies floating in the unlit void. A shooting star flies close to him, matching his speed, then another and another. He joins them in a dance toward a destination unknown. No, not unknown. This is not the first time he experiences this is it? He died, again. Memories, or most exactly lack of memories he should have rushes back. This entire situation is more than familiar, it has happened before, he is certain. Another shooting star passes him and he sees, for the first time and once again, what is within. A human curled into a fetal position. Each of the shooting stars contain the same thing. Humans curled and rushing to a destination unknown. Just like he is.

The journey goes on for what feels like hours but might only be mere instants. Then something changes in the emptiness. Something appears in the distance. A line of light. Each star passes above it and a strange mist is sucked from them before they are sent up. Not all of them though. Some are sucked until they wink out of existence. An ethereal scream of agony always accompany those. Aster shivers at every screams.

When he finally get close enough to the line, it reveals itself to be the demarcation of a lake of black water. Its depth is unfathomable. And strange shapes can be seen moving beneath. Aster travels above the lake for eons or seconds, each passing moment feeling as if the dark waters are absorbing the sensation of heat. Then the scenery abruptly changes. Gone is the lake, he now flies above a land of fire and flames. The heat disperse the cold, but quickly becomes unbearable. The flames lick at Aster and he cries out pitifully every time they touch him. But the fire is only temporary and soon he approach a distant chasm surrounded by storm clouds. Lightning strike from the clouds as he passes above them. Some bolts still manage to reach him, shocking him to numbness.

Finally, he flies above the chasm. He knows he should not. He knows he has tried every times. He must not look down. He knows, without remembering, what lies deep within the chasm. And yet he knows it is a losing battle. He looks down, into the abyss, and screams. He screams as part of himself, of who he was, who he is, is devoured. His memories, his soul, sucked into the relentless abyss. He screams and screams and screams. Until he falls down. Down into the abyss.

He is one of the unlucky ones it seems. His course run. As he approach the level of the surrounding clouds, his memories start to miraculously return. His past, on Earth. the many deaths before he ever met his most loyal friend. The others he met along the way. The dozens, maybe hundreds he walked with, fought with or against. And then it all stops. The fall ends abruptly. The memories become nothing but a distant echo. An echo of something cherished and lost once more. He screams in frustration and anguish. And his scream is echoed by something. A scream of frustration and anger. A primal sound that echoes all around the space. Through seemingly time. A scream he had never heard, a scream he has always heard.

Aster falls on his ass. He now has his body back. He stays, naked on the cold floor hidden beneath knee high mist. The room appears white, but it might only be that there is all colors at once. looks around and his mouth opens in mute terror. In front of him, Eziakophael's eye looks balefully at him. The black watery part of the eye is wracked by waves, the fiery part burns with hatred and the stormy part surrounding the abyss is filled with angry lightning. Yet, the eye is not actually locked on him. No, the eye of Eziakophael looks down on three... creatures. He knows not how to qualify them.

From his position, the left-most being ressembles a mix of a wolf, a fox and a tiger. Its coat mostly white, with a long purple mane running from its head to its purple tail. Purple vertical stripes adorns its legs. Its hairs are standing out, as if it is ready to prance at the eye of Eziakophael. The more he concentrate on them... Her, the more he can see details. Dozens of scars adorn her fur in many places. Her eyes are amber orbs slit by almond shaped black pupils. An aura of contained violence, patience and anticipation emanated from her.

The right-most being looks as if one had decided to make a human out of symbols, letters, book, cables and light. The shape is here, but ever shifting. Looking too long makes Aster eyes water. The being stand straight, reminding him of a businessman or a politician standing before a competitor. A strange memory here. And that is the crux of this being. He, for that is how he sees himself, radiates knowledge, the first for new discovery, the curiosity to look for something new, but also the cold calculations that comes with the assembly of knowledge, the sensation of detachment from the actual situations and simply commiting the events to memory, simply to further one's knowledge.

The center being is... indescribable. Aster cannot make sense of what he is before he no longer is that. For a second it is a mass of flesh, eyes and mouths. Then a human covered in bandages, then a planet, then... more shapes than he can keep a count of flashes by. He tries to stop looking, his mind feeling as if on fire the more he tries to make sense of the creature, but a strange magnetism stops him from taking his eyes off him. The being stops changing. It turns back to a human shape, only for that shape to start to expand into a kaleidoscope of what a human is. Then the ever expanding and repeating shapes slowly changes to plants, to animals planets atoms. Energy and matter, matter is energy, any actions has consequences. Consequences form new actions and again and again and again until they all collapse and explode in chaotic conclusion. It is madness and chaos all wrapped in utter insanity. The repeat of the same action until something different actually happens.

And then a voice Aster knows not and all too well at once talks, breaking the spell. And Aster cries in despair.

"DO NOT DARE TO TRY AND STOP MY FEEDING! OUR BET IS OVER! IT IS YOUR LOSS!"

The authoritative tone, the despair inducing booming. This is the voice of the god that ripped him from his home. The voice he could not remember, but always could recognize. The voice of Eziakophael.

"I do not believe so. What says you, love?" A soft voice laced with violent anticipation soothes the atmosphere.

"System critical. Emergency energy reserves depleting. Unit still online. Death is not confirmed. Soul containment compromised due to unexpected interaction. Soul construct has been dissembled for security. Reassembly ongoing. Again, Unit is still active. Recovery ongoing. Unit will recover in [ERROR] [TIME _UNIT]"

The cold voice intones. Aster feels like this concerns him somehow.

"It does."

The cold voice answers his thoughs, However, the voice comes from closer than it should. He looks around and his eyes lands on a human, sitting in a chair, a mere couple of steps from him. The man has raven black hair, and is dressed in a blue-grey suit. He is reading a book with no title. And the moment their eyes meet, he knows who the being is. He looks at the assembled three, then back at him. He is still standing before Eziakophael, he is also standing right next to Aster, reading a book. Within the man's eyes, eons of informations and books dance together.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Greeting Aster. I am Knowledge. Do not worry about the ongoing debate, it is a mere formality." The man says, the voice is identical to the right-most beings facing Eziakophael. A cold and calculating voice. A voice that only seems to take only numbers, information and results into accounts.

"IF SO WHY IS ITS SOUL HERE? HIS PRESENCE MEANS HIS DEATH. AS SUCH I SHALL CONSUME IT AND BE DONE WITH YOU UPSTARTS!" Eziakophael voice booms once more above the tone promises death and pain and echoes with the laughter of an uncaring deity.

o0o_And now for the fun part_o0o The voice echoes right next to Aster left ear. He jumps and turn to see another human. He is almost similar to the man seating, save for his outfit, and the third vertical eye upon his forehead. Aster quickly averts his eyes. Within this man's three eyes he can see life and death, birth and destruction. The creation of infinity and the collapse of nothing. Chaos is standing to his left as he is standing center in the assembled Trio before Eziakophael.

o0o_AHAHAHAHHh... Oh you little innocent fateless. Do you believe we agreed to your terms in fear? Do you think we are scared of you? Of your powers? We could destroy this entire little playground you made in instants and devour you before you could understand what has happened! We are only playing with you out of boredom. And you, dear little fateless, are not playing fair._o0o The voice echoes all around the room, mocking and with an edge of hunger to it. o0o_Now he is going to try and defend himself_o0o The same voice leaves the human next to Aster.

"THAT IS NOT THE POINT. HE HAS ARRIVED INTO THE CYCLE OF REBIRTH, AS SUCH I CAN FEAST! AND IF MY FEAST MEANS HIS DEATH, THEN OUR BET IS OVER!"

"Yet you are unable to. We are not actively blocking you. His presence here is a consequence of both our actions and yours, that much we may agree upon, however, your foul play in the Ezian plane has only given you a false positive. One you wish to be true. It is not. He is still alive, you merely triggered a security of the soul containment system. The soul protections are still active and will soon kick in, bringing him back to the Ezian plane."

o0o_Moreover, YOU cheated more than us here. A one year raid on the second day. We expected a horde, true, but to send one of your supposed best from the get go? That was low play. Also, if you will play like this, I believe we can take a more active role here can we not?_o0o

"YOUR INTERFERENCE IN MY PLANES ARE ALREADY ENOUGH. TRY TO DO SO AND I SHALL NO LONGER HOLD BACK! HE STILL WON DID HE NOT. THEREFORE THIS WAS NOT THAT MUCH OF A CHALLENGE."

"Fine, then we shall still operate within the confines of the bet. And I believe his soul will soon return." At the last word, Aster feels the room he is in dissolve.

"MAKE SURE HE DOES NOT REMEMBER ANY OF THIS. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS WITH THE FLESH PUPPET."

o0o_This is beyond the purview of the bet, as such, we shall do as we see fit._o0o

With this last mocking jab, every beings dissolve away before Aster eyes. "Sorry for that young man, you will return to sleep soon enough." The first voice that had answered Eziakophael speaks to Aster, and the vision of an athletic woman fills his vision. She is scantily clad and smiles at Aster. A bright smile that spreads on her face, revealing rows after rows of sharp teeth. "Now go kick some ass for us yeah? We'll take care of the issues here." And she joins the other two human, both quickly dissolving into nothingness. Aster cannot help but wonder why she had two cat-like tail on her lower back and fox like ears upon her head.

And that question stays with him in the darkness. And for an unknown amount of time, Aster sits in silence. The more time passes, the more he becomes aware that his body now feels incomplete. He is missing parts of himself. This goes beyond memories here. As he looks at himself, he can see entire parts of himself visually missing, his body is like a shell of porcelain, with cracks all over and pieces missing. As he goes to try and look within himself, a soft blue light descends from above and slowly suffuses him. It fills the gaps with glass like blue material and he can feel an almost staggering amount of knowledge just on the tip of his mind, yet none come, only teasing Aster with its existence. Still it only feel like a replacement, It feels alien and so different from what he is.

Before he can ponder too much on it though, a human shaped construct of light, similar to Aster in appearance slowly descend onto him. The moment it touches him, Aster feels his will slowly wilt. He feels his consciousness being pushed deep beneath himself. Yet he accepts it, for with the loss of control and dominance, comes peace. And as he falls asleep. I awake once more.

My vision is only filled with darkness. I am floating in the middle of nowhere. Like, there is no light, at all. Nothing exists here beyond me. I try to summon a system screen, or something, but nothing happens. I am stuck in the middle of nowhere. Did I die? It does not feel like it. My broken memories tell me I am not dead yet. Simply waiting to return. It feels weird in some ways. Knowledge is flooding my mind the more I concentrate. Who I was... No who part of me was. I am not Aster. I never was. And I never will be him. He knows it himself. He is part of what I am, but I am the sum of the meddling of gods. Made for a trivial bet between divine entities. It... It hurts. I though I was a chosen man. But Aster and I now know. They just needed a base. A Template to make something that could slip back into the realm of the Tyrant of the Ezian plane. My entire purpose is to go to the end of the quests and prove that one could return to their home with the least of the Trio's blessings. This is what the quest is. A bet. The Trio against Eziakophael.

...

Should I continue? Even when I wake up? If I wake up. Should I continue, knowing it is all just a game for being beyond me? Beyond us all? Can the puppet rebel against its puppeteers? Is there even a point?

I stay motionless in the darkness. Neither sitting or laying or floating or standing. And yet doing all four at once. The questions turns and turns in my mind. And in the darkness of this strange realm, answers come to me at some point.

If I do not continue, the next time I die will be for real. It will mean the end of the Trio's bet. Not a fluke like they seemed to argue today, I will not recover this time. They will be pissed, but why should I care? Would they even be angry? Now that is a good question. But then there is Mewtwo. His situation seems worse than me. They made him just for me. A companion. An equal. Someone to accompany me in my quest. They knew Eziakophael would try to rig the game in his favor, so they made preparations. Yet he went beyond what they expected.

But what does that means for him? If I give up, does he die? Will he be stuck here? I... Can I accept my death with such consequences? Aster is also horrified at the implication here. Can we truly give up and leave him alone in this hostile world? For once Aster and I are in agreement. No! We both refuse to leave him. The Trio want to win their bet? Then we will win it for them. But only so we do not leave Mewtwo alone!

With this my decision is made. I will tell Mewtwo the truth of course, but I will keep going. The Trio gave me a body beyond what the normal humans get when they arrive. And I will find ways to make full use of it.

A package of blue light appears before me and I blink. I reach out and touch it, and am rewarded by the entire system booting back up. Dozens of screens appear at once then disappear. Lines after lines of shining code scroll before m eyes and suddenly there is a pull, and I gasp.

And I cough as something thick is slowly running down my throat. I am awake, and someone is trying to drown me! I try to gasp and only inhale more of the strange liquidy paste.

"He's awake! He's awake!"

A hard surface is removed from my lips and I swallow most of the paste still in my mouth. And I realize it tastes of water, earth and vegetables. Were they... "Ack! Were you trying to drown me in soup??"

They called it porridge.

I turn sharply to Mewtwo. "Not the point!" I say harshly. But then I see, and my anger melt. His worried expression mixed with relief at my return make me almost tear up. We have only knows each other for less than a day, yet it feels we are connected much more than just the system.

Before I can react, he jumps and hug me. Tiny tears fall from his eyes

Welcome back.

"Yeah... I am back." I answer as I hug him back.