Prologue: The Fall Before the Rise

Before Sirius was thrust into the strange world of second chances and divine forces, his life had been marked by an entirely different kind of struggle. It was a life filled with the simple, everyday battles of youth—friendships that felt eternal, desires that ached with intensity, and the bitter sting of betrayal that would come to define his last moments in the world he had known.

Sirius had always been different from those around him. He wasn’t sure whether it was his quiet nature, his introspective tendencies, or the fact that he never quite fit into the social circles that surrounded him. But he had friends—people he trusted. People like Ryan and Sophie. They had been inseparable once, sharing their dreams, their secrets, and, in moments of vulnerability, their fears. Ryan was his closest friend, someone Sirius had considered a brother. And Sophie... well, she had been something more.

Sophie had entered Sirius’s life like a bright spark, illuminating the gray of his existence. Her laughter was contagious, her presence magnetic, and for a time, Sirius had been content just to be near her. She had given him something he hadn’t realized he was missing—hope. Hope for something beyond the quiet loneliness that had often accompanied him. But that hope was shattered in a single night.

It had been a gathering, a small group of friends meant to celebrate the end of exams, toasting to the summer ahead. Ryan, Sophie, and a few others from their circle had gathered in a forest clearing just outside of town, their usual spot for late-night bonfires and laughter. The fire had burned brightly that night, casting long shadows as they shared stories and jokes. But Sirius had sensed an unease in the air. There was something different about Ryan and Sophie. Something off.

At first, he ignored it. Perhaps he was overthinking things, as he often did. But as the night wore on, he could no longer deny the looks they exchanged, the way Sophie leaned just a little too close to Ryan, her laughter no longer directed at his jokes, but at Ryan’s. It felt like an invisible wall had risen between them, one he hadn’t even noticed being built. Sirius had tried to shrug it off, forcing himself to enjoy the night, but it gnawed at him, this sense of something slipping through his fingers.

Then came the moment he could never forget. In the dim light of the fire, Sirius had wandered away from the group, his mind clouded with questions he didn’t want to ask. He had found himself on the edge of the forest, the cool night air doing little to ease the tension in his chest. That’s when he heard the voices. Quiet, at first, but unmistakable.

Stolen story; please report.

Ryan and Sophie.

His heart had pounded in his chest as he crept closer, not wanting to hear but unable to stop himself. Their voices were hushed, intimate. And then, he heard her laugh—a laugh she had once saved for him. A laugh that now belonged to Ryan.

“What about Sirius?” Sophie had asked, her voice carrying a note of guilt, but not enough to stop her.

“He’ll never know,” Ryan had replied, his tone casual, dismissive. “He’s always in his own head, too distracted to see what’s right in front of him.”

Sirius’s world had crumbled in that moment. The betrayal was sharp, a knife twisted by the two people he had trusted most. His best friend and the girl he had quietly loved for years—together, behind his back. The pain was overwhelming, and for a brief moment, all he had felt was rage. Rage at Ryan, at Sophie, at himself for not seeing it sooner.

He had stumbled back to the group, his chest tight with betrayal, his vision blurred by anger. But instead of confronting them, instead of demanding answers, Sirius had done what he always did—he retreated. He couldn’t bear to face them, to acknowledge the truth of what had happened. He simply left.

The following days had been a blur of bitterness and isolation. He avoided them both, cutting himself off from the world he had once been so desperate to belong to. The loneliness that had always hovered at the edges of his life now consumed him entirely. He had no one. No one but himself.

It was in that state of emotional turmoil that Sirius had made the fateful decision to seek solace in the wilderness. The forest, once a place of comfort and camaraderie, now became his refuge from the betrayal that haunted him. He had wandered deeper into its heart than he ever had before, driven by a need to escape the pain gnawing at his soul.

That’s when the bear attacked.

In those last moments of his life, as the massive creature bore down on him, claws ripping through his flesh, Sirius had felt the full weight of his helplessness. He had fought, tried to survive, but the pain had been too much. His body had been broken, his mind consumed by the injustice of it all. In his final breaths, it wasn’t the bear that filled his thoughts, but the faces of those who had betrayed him. Ryan and Sophie. The people he had trusted, the ones who had taken from him the only thing he had left—his sense of belonging.

And then, darkness.

Sirius had thought it was the end. But in truth, it was only the beginning.