A few minutes earlier...
It had been forty minutes since Amiah left Theo alone in the forest. Walking through a steep and humid environment, Theo tried to balance himself to avoid tumbling into the stream below. Carefully, he descended the natural steps made by moss-covered rocks. Upon reaching the stream bed, he crouched and prepared to act.
Watching a bird on the other side of the stream, Theo placed one foot on a slippery rock.
"As soon as I place my other foot on the rock, I'll use the wind to launch myself at the bird. The rest is improvisation," Theo pondered before making the move.
With his right foot as a pivot, he lifted his left leg off the ground and landed on a rock. In the same second, Theo used the wind to propel himself toward the bird. Moving at sixty kilometers per hour, he regretted it the moment he saw the animal up close.
Since it was in a hole, Theo could only see the head and part of the wings. But everything depended on the angle. The bird in question was almost three meters long. A fabulous creature, with the head, beak, and wings of a hawk and the body of a lion. The gigantic animal heard the roar of the wind and felt Theo's sudden movement.
Alerted, the bird prepared to flee before its predator arrived, but before it could act, Theo leaped toward the animal with a dagger. Flying upward, the animal threw Theo to the ground, leaving him no chance to escape.
"A griffin..." Theo murmured, a sob escaping his mouth.
The griffin's roar flooded Theo's ears, leaving him disoriented. Diving through the air, the mythical beast charged at the boy.
To defend himself, Theo created a vortex in his palm and exploded the spell, launching himself to the opposite side of the stream.
Sliding on the ground, Theo got up and ran into the forest. Creating dense wind disks, he threw them at the griffin while trying to buy time to escape.
Running, Theo bumped into a tree along the way. Even though the sun was still setting, the nearly seven-meter-tall trees of the forest almost completely blocked the sunlight.
"I'm grade one, but that beast... It doesn't even have a grade to describe its strength," Theo analyzed as he ran. "If it has the head of a hawk, then it has night vision...!" The griffin charged, smashing its face into a tree and stopping for a few seconds before taking flight. "Damn it! This is the mythological zone!"
Picking up a tile from the ground, Theo used a gust of wind to hurl it at the griffin. Then, he threw another stone to the side, making it spin 180 degrees in the air. The stone hit the griffin's head, irritating it to the extreme.
Jumping over a crack in the ground, Theo misstepped and nearly fell into the hole, but not by luck—the griffin grabbed him by his right arm and carried him above the trees.
Grabbing the dagger again, Theo slashed at the animal's throat, expecting blood to spill. That's what Theo imagined, but in reality, the blade broke as soon as it touched the beast's skin.
Aiming to finish its prey, the griffin dove through the branches, almost scraping the ground. Executing a shallow flight, it threw Theo far away, where the boy rolled until his back hit a rock.
Letting out a roar, the beast looked at the moon. While the animal performed some ritual, Theo scanned the environment and noticed a cliff behind him.
Alternating his gaze between the griffin and the cliff, he dragged himself with his left arm to the edge. Upon reaching the destination, he didn't even look at the animal before making his final decision.
Theo jumped into the abyss of the cliff.
The infernal heat woke him. Waking up suddenly, he broke into a cold sweat from the heat emanating from flames that covered the environment with a red hue.
Touching his forehead, he noticed it was larger, about thirty centimeters. His body also seemed more mature, like that of an adult, with defined muscles and veins visible under his skin.
Looking ahead, he saw a huge, agitated river, so he decided to go to the riverbed, aiming to see his reflection. To his astonishment, there he was: the soldier who had died fifteen years ago, with blond hair and blue eyes, scars all over his face, and one on his throat. Liam Mason.
Liam's shock and confusion didn't last long, as a hoarse voice interrupted him.
"You," the voice called to Liam. "Come up," it ordered.
Even though there were countless translucent people on a small piece of land, Liam noticed they were interacting with him.
Scanning the place, Liam found a wooden boat on the riverbed, where an old man in dirty white rags waited for him.
He swallowed dryly before taking a step toward the boat. Uncomfortable with the stares, Liam averted his gaze to the river and noticed what looked like faces and hands agonizing in the water, forming the agitated waves.
Boarding the boat, the old man asked:
"Payment."
"Payment? What do you mean?"
The boatman stared at him for a moment. Noticing the difference between Liam and the others present, he realized Liam's body was "physical."
"I see."
Climbing onto the bow, the boatman began rowing toward a waterfall that cascaded into nothingness. As they sailed, Liam couldn't take his eyes off those waves. They looked like souls agonizing after death, paying for their sins.
Passing the limits of the waterfall, the boat began to float through an abyss. The abyss below soon transformed into the absolute universe. As if they were traveling atop the stars and galaxies themselves. The atmosphere was nonexistent, but Liam couldn't describe the purity emanating from all sides.
He already knew this. An energy so pure and clear, responsible for the creation of the universe: ether. Different from what he had in his core, it was denser, more powerful, and superior in every way, almost suffocating him.
A feeling so good that it calms the heart and empties the mind. As if a sea full of waves and tsunamis became a sea without a single wave, a calm sea.
"So, who are you?" the boatman asked.
"Theo... Liam Mason."
"You don't know who you are?"
"More or less."
"Your soul, it has been here before. Tell me, Liam, have you died before?"
"What do you mean?"
"For some reason, the underworld recognizes you as a soul, not as a mortal who came here while still alive. So I assume you're a mortal who managed to transfer your soul to another body before death. What humans call reincarnation."
Liam's eyes widened slightly.
"Who are you?" Liam asked.
"Don't worry. You're not the first, nor will you be the last. But to answer: I am Charon, the ferryman of Hades."
"Charon? Camille told me about him..." Liam thought, and as he processed everything, he understood in shock.
"Is this Tartarus?"
"You processed that quickly. But yes, this is the world of the dead."
Liam looked back, searching for the river. His eyes lost themselves in the path, gazing at the stars and the infinite sea around him. The waterfall was there, distant, enough for him to see Tartarus as a flat world. A floating disk in the middle of the universe.
"This is a spiritual zone. We are in the universe, but no living being can see us. I see... My lord must think your existence is still necessary, as he hasn't sent Thanatos to fetch you," Charon said, fixing his gaze on the universe as if observing something.
"What do you mean?"
"As the ferryman of the underworld, when I come to this region, I can see the lives of all souls. I usually do this with beings who intrigue me, like you. A reincarnated one, huh? How did you get here?"
"I jumped off a cliff to escape a griffin. After that, I don't know anything."
"Hmm... You fainted in a nether zone. Since your reincarnation didn't go through divine judgment, the accumulation of energy brought you here. But there's something that intrigues me..." Charon stopped rowing. Turning to Liam, he asked, "How did you die? I can't see certain parts of your life..."
"I don't know. In fact, I remember very little about my previous life," Liam lied, an act that Charon didn't catch. "Only who I was. Over the years, my memories have been fading..."
"That's good," Charon said. "It means that when you reach the age you were before, you'll lose the memories related to Liam Mason. That would truly be a second chance..."
"The energy he emanates... You shouldn't be human."
"That's not bad. It means I won't be bound by the chains of fate."
"In a way, yes. But is it so bad to be who you really are?"
"Does the excuse of being a murderous general count?"
"To me, it makes no sense. Life, fate, and death are irrelevant concepts to me. So I have no moral lessons for that, nor do I have opinions. Now, tell me, did you die with negative karma due to envy?" Charon asked.
"Karma of envy?" Liam pondered, placing his hand on his jaw.
"Yes. By any chance, did you die carrying the weight of envy on your shoulders?"
"Envy..." Liam continued to reflect, searching his memories for an answer.
"Did you do bad things out of envy?"
As he reflected, Liam sat at the bottom of the boat and placed his hand in the void of the universe, where waves like those of a quiet lake began to form under his fingers. He took a deep breath before answering:
"Yes. I always envied those who had a normal and happy family, the children who weren't forced to become soldiers. The ordinary humans who weren't called cursed. I envied the people who, despite all the bad things happening, could still laugh. I confess that I often acted out of envy, but I never regretted it..."
"I see... now your reincarnation makes sense."
"Your expression is pure, and your words are genuine... You didn't stutter once, so you're telling the truth. Not to mention, the atmosphere you've established isn't much different from the sensation the ether around us gives off. Liam Mason, or whatever you call yourself now, Theo Lawrence... You're much more than you think you are, aren't you?" Charon analyzed.
"Hey, hey?" Liam waved at Charon.
"Ah, yes, forgive me for taking too much of your time. My work must also move forward, so... Alvheim."
"Alv... what?"
"Remember to gather good karma. Second chances won't come so easily when you die. Make sure you don't regret your actions, but live as you wish. I'll eagerly await the day we meet again, and of course, the day I personally take you to the Elysian Fields, Lord of..." Charon spoke a language incomprehensible to Liam, his lips moving without forming syllables.
"What? Wait! What are you...!"
Time froze as Charon pushed Liam off the boat. Only the boatman's lips moved, uttering a single word: "Destiny."
Sinking into an absurd amount of pure ether, the former general's thoughts became confused, seeing things he had never seen before. In an instant, he began to sink into a deep ocean, where not even light could reach him. Whether his eyes were open or closed, nothing changed. Until finally, he felt the ground violently hit his back.
☽✪☾
A current constantly splashed against Theo's face, nearly drowning him. With his body aching, he could do nothing but rest his chin on the ground and drink some of the flowing water.
"Look at that, the princess drinks natural, dirty water," Amiah said, sitting on a rock right next to Theo. "Two minutes unconscious... if you had taken any longer, I might have considered worrying."
Turning his body to the side, Theo aimed to look at his mentor. When their eyes met, the boy flipped him off.
Walking over to his disciple, Amiah pulled the finger back, almost breaking it. The boy winced in pain and exhaustion but soon returned to normal.
"Come on, blondie. You still have a lot to do."
"Where were you?" Theo asked.
"With you. I never left. For example, when the griffin smashed its face into a tree, I was the one who pushed it there."
Theo fell silent.
Standing up, he tried to look around. Above, only the crack he had fallen through. On the sides, rocks and more rocks, but to the right, there was a small cave that ended where his eyes could still see. In a rock formation, a crimson glow shimmered in Theo's eyes.
"What's that?" He pointed to the rock that emitted the glow.
"That is..." Amiah searched for the object. "Ah, right. It's an arcane nether crystal. Don't get too close, it might summon an imp or consume all your ether."
"Ah..." Theo muttered, as if his mind had exploded.
"Let's go. It's going to be a bit tricky to get out of here," Amiah said, trying to follow the stream of the small river.