Somewhere unknown
General P.O.V.
With the use of a simple thought, a soul began coalescing in front of the unknown entity, its shape still unclear. Only after a while, did the spirit acquire a human shape, turning into a naked human male. The man, however, had yet to regain consciousness, slumbering for who knew how long.
This 'coma' finally came to an end after an unknown amount of time, as his 'body' started twitching slightly, while his 'eyelids' started fluttering until they opened wide, taking in the nebulous 'view' before him. The man felt some confusion at the current circumstances he found himself in. 'Am I dead?'
As the thought traversed his mind, a sudden chuckle resounded in his 'ears' with its origin unknown. “You are very much dead, Damian Knight. There's no doubt possible here.” Damian noticed the fact that the voice sounded like a male. Nonetheless, he would not take it for a sure fact as it could have easily been faked, especially for a being he met after being killed.
“You're an amusing one, for sure.” He commented, amused as if he could read his mind. 'He probably can, right?' He thought, surprisingly calm about the whole seemingly crazy situation he found himself in. His train of thought was suddenly interrupted as the man's voice sounded again.
“I understand that you might have many questions, but I will only tell you what you need to know. Knowing more than that would only be detrimental to you.” Pausing for a second, he continued. “Let's start with the beginning. You got killed in your Multiverse, so you were supposed to be reincarnated over there.”
“That means I'm in a different Multiverse?” Damian asked. “Exactly. In my own, to be precise. Anyway, for reasons that you'll discover if you become strong enough, I took your soul away from there and I'm about to reincarnate you in my own. And since I'm very generous, I'll allow you to choose three perks to bring with you in your reincarnation. Keep in mind that they will need a certain trigger to be completely activated. Before you ask, it'll naturally appear before you at the right time.”
As if an afterthought, the entity added. “Also, no instant God-like powers are allowed.” Titling his head, Damian asked, puzzled. “May I ask why?” After a few chuckles, the unknown being responded. “Where is the fun in that?” After shrugging
his shoulders, the brown-haired soul replied calmly. “If you say so.”
“Let's start then.” The entity retorted before the two started discussing what kind of innate powers he would like to receive. Fortunately, as an avid cultivation novel aficionado, it was something that he already had some inklings about. The 'negotiation' thus went smoothly, and the two ended up satisfied with the result.
“Equalized Adaptive Physiology, Love Bond and Soul Shield... A great combination of Perks. Hopefully, you'll use them well...” As the words fell into Damian's ears, his consciousness started to blur again, with only the following sentence registering in his mind. “Good luck with your new life. May we meet again...”
As the soul vanished from this dimension, the entity coalesced into a stunningly handsome man with shoulder-length black hair and an infectious smile on his face. Laughing mischievously, he commented offhandedly. “I hope the kid won't disappoint me...” He then began humming a tune, filling the seemingly empty
void with his magnetic voice.
♪ “Unholy war,
My demons are coming,
Boy, you better run,
Go take your freedom...” ♪
Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
When Damian lost consciousness in that empty dimension, all concepts of time disappeared from his mind, making it impossible to determine how long his slumber lasted. Minutes or years? He could not tell. He nonetheless regained his memories as soon as his consciousness returned. However, what he found puzzled him.
'I'm clearly Damian Knight. But then, why do I have the memories of... Demian Mikhailov? And why... Why do I feel like I'm also that man... Which is it?...' He thought, confused about his true identity, despite recalling his current name, the one he was assigned with in this life by his mother.
The two sets of memories suddenly mixed together, transforming little by little his entire being and frame of mind. 'I am... Damian! But also... Demian? I am both and also neither... What a mess!' He thought while trying to integrate the two sets of memories into his very being, to make them completely his.
After a while, the confusion in his mind seemed to abate, leaving him free to focus his mind on what he could recall. “That entity was telling the truth, wasn't he? I can tell that this body was not stolen. It's the one I was born with... But then why did it take 18 years for me to remember everything? And what about my Perks? I mean, the last two are a bit special, but the physiology Perk should have given me incredible strength by now, right?'
His mind unconsciously avoided thinking about the consequences of his untimely death in his previous universe, instead trying to understand this world and the dangers scattered around. 'I should be on a sort of parallel Earth, although one with obvious differences. Just the fact that Superhumans exist is cra...'
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a delicate voice, one that was surprisingly similar to Sofia resounded in his ears. The fact that she was speaking some kind of Eastern European or even Russian language provoked a certain confusion in his mind until he finally recognized the owner of the said voice.
Letting out a sigh inwardly, he thought with melancholy. 'I've truly died, haven't I?' The crushing sadness coming from his Damian's side invaded his mind, and the fact that his Demian's side seemed to have a more withdrawn personality did not truly help him deal with the torrent of emotions he was experiencing.
'Mom, Michael, and Jane... Will I ever be able to see you guys again? Are you well over there? I hope you're not too sad because of my death... I... I... Why me? WHY ME?!!...' The young man's mind started spiraling, sending him into a dark place where he found nothing to hold on to, nothing to help him deal with the agony wracking his heart.
'What did I do to deserve this?... I miss you guys so much...' As his entire mind was 'focused' on the pain, a small, almost unnoticeable light started to illuminate his thoughts. It was negligible at the beginning, but as time went by, it grew and grew until a thought came to disturb the spiral of misery he was feeling.
Adeliya Mikhailov. A simple name, but one with deep meaning for the young man. She was the woman who adopted him when his mother died while giving birth to him. His aunt then spent the next 18 years raising him even though her husband, his uncle, died when her two daughters were still little girls, leaving her alone to raise the three children on her own.
She was one of the three most important people in his life, the people he could trust his life to without even giving a single thought about it. They were as important to him as his previous life's mother, brother, and sister. The thought seemed to dampen the overwhelming sadness traversing him, helping him put his situation into perspective.
As his emotions calmed down slightly, Adeliya's voice reached his ears. “ты дурак [You're stupid]. Why did you have to fight with those scum... You're too fragile...” Pausing her words for a few seconds, he could feel her hand soft hand grabbing his before her voice resumed. “They had guns, Demian!... If it wasn't for Bryn, you could have... I don't want to lose anyone else...” An audible sob came from the woman who then continued her monologue.
“It's so hard, you know... I feel so tired... Always having to stay strong is so exhausting...” Another sob resounded in the otherwise silent room before she added. “If something happened to any of you... I... I don't know what I'd do... I don't think I can take it anymore...”
The last words were said in a whisper, her voice cracking from the overflowing sorrow she clearly felt. New wounds added to the old ones ended up shaking her current state of mind, turning her into a weeping mess. When the memory of the fight responsible for putting him out of commission for an unknown amount of time appeared in his mind, he could not help himself from thinking wryly.
'No wonder she's worried. My body is so weak that I'm even surprised that the guy's punch did not kill me right then and there.' A mix of amazement and depression came over him as he realized that particular fact. Not wanting to linger too much on something that he used to have no real control over, his thoughts went instead toward his Aunt.
'Do I have a thing for making women cry?' Sighing inwardly at his poor joke, he added. 'I really feel like a failure... I've got a second life and I found a way to mess it up... Good job, Damian! Or was it Demian? Fuck, I'm not even sure myself...' As the young man's mind was heading in an unpleasant direction, the woman's muttering pulled him back toward reality.
“Stay with me, Demian...” As the whisper left her lips, a sudden weight gently jolted the mattress he was lying on, while the room plunged into silence. 'She fell asleep?' He thought while trying to regain control of his inert body. He finally succeeded a few minutes later, using his new bodily control to open his eyes and examine his new world through his 'new eyes'.