I knew I had been a bad parent when my own son stabbed me through the stomach. Still, it wasn’t surprising. I had done the same to my master, once, but that was more than a hundred years ago. Blood trailed from my lips. I grit my teeth, coughing and covering the ground in front of me in blood.

No ordinary sword could cut through my flesh— this was one forged by cultivator hands, assembled of void metal that looked so dark it was like a hole in the world, twinkling with stars. I looked into his eyes.

“Betrayal breeds only more betrayal.” It was a lesson I was learning, here and now. I had lived my life at the edge of the blade, conquering the nine realms in my own name. He grit his teeth. “And suffering begets only suffering.”

“Quiet, old man. You’re going soft with age.” There was frustration in his eyes as he glimpsed away. But the sins of my son are my sins as well. I had raised him this way, in my own sect. I didn’t want revenge, or vengeance. Not against my own son.

I wanted a long rest.

Of course, one blow wouldn’t have been enough to kill me. If this was the me of a hundred years ago, I would’ve killed my own son without remorse. I had killed my master, after all— something this realm considers nearly the same as family. And yet, another me, an older me, felt a sort of horror from it. In the world I came from, this kind of violence was unacceptable.

I would die, with the only regrets the violence I inflicted upon this world. I wouldn’t inflict any more.

“You don’t even have the strength to fight back anymore.” My son frowned, swinging—

And then it was over. Everything was over. I was in darkness, a soul floating through the void again.

I felt a warmth from inside of my soul space, my eyes opening to behold my inner world.

The sky in my inner world, reflective of who I was, burnt red, filled with black clouds. In the distance an ocean of blood roared, an invisible storm stirring the waves, and the salty air of an ocean of death stung my eyes.

Wind roared as blood crashed on the shore. This was it, then? The afterlife? Were you left with all you made yourself to be, a reflection of your soul to live for eternity?

It would be a fitting end for me. I stepped forward, over blood red grass sharp enough to cut mortals, though it only tickled my feet. A pagoda stood in the center of my soul space— the pagoda, itself, a treasure that I had taken from a primordial ruin hundreds of years ago. I felt the source of the disturbance that brought me to my soul space within, and stepped within the tower.

This place didn’t have much value for me anymore. I kept it for a reason other than the fact it was an ancient treasure. But I hadn’t visited this part of my soul in years. I followed the burn up the stairs, around, and into a high chamber where sat a room unlike anything in this world.

It was a room from earth, I was sure. Full of office furniture and electronics. On the wall was an old analogue clock. That was why I had kept the room— for nostalgia. Though I had spent not even two decades in my time on Earth compared to the hundreds here, it was still the place I was raised. I traced my fingers along the desk, walking over carpet.

In the Immortal Realms, we made carpet out of hair harvested from immortal dragons. Our furniture could cost empires, our walls the lives of hundreds of men and women willing to die for their Immortal Emperors. Yet I would keep this over any of it.

The clock ticked. It had never done that before— in fact, none of the electronics in this room worked. I reached out to touch it— and the phone on the desk rang.

It was the old kind, the kind you had to pick up and use. Years of cultivation had made my memory flawless, recalling perfectly those early days on earth. I stepped towards it, then hesitated— what if this artifact damaged my soul?

It rung again.

I had no idea what it would do, an ancient treasure that it was, from some distant world. It looked similar to something from earth, but what if—

It rang another time, the crisp electronic tone buzzing in the air of the pagoda.

I pulled it free, and ever slowly, raised it to my ear. The wire attaching it to the desk went taut—

And then I was gasping for breath.

“Nurse! NURSE!” I flinched as the screaming came so close to my ears— I wasn’t used to anything being loud enough to be painful. And that voice— that was my older sisters voice. Or at least it sounded like her. “He’s… oh my god, are you awake? Can you hear me? No, lean back. Relax… Rain.” I leaned back.

The room was sterile, the scent of sterilizing cleaner and fresh sheets invading my nose. Blinding light shone through what was, presumably, a window. To me, the entire room was a blurry mess of shapes and sound. Footsteps pounded into the room, but they stopped at the entrance. I turned my head, looking at them. The blob was clearing up, lines slowly defining themselves as I blinked away sleep.

“Willow?” I asked, wondering what was going on. Was this an inner heart tribulation? In my last moments?

It felt all too real as she slammed her arms around me and pressed me into the hospital bed. She twitched.

She was crying.

“I— I thought I lost you, Rain.” She sobbed, hard metal pressing into me. Why was she wearing armor in a hospital?

Why was she wearing armor at all?

I raised my arms— they ached. My lungs ached. My back ached. My legs ached. I raised them anyway, pulling her tight.

“Its okay, Willow. I’m not going anywhere.” I rasped.

My family— one that had never betrayed me— was alive right here. Even if this was just the dream of a dying man, ending any second, I wouldn’t let go.

“Ms. Gold.” Someone walking into her room said. “He, uh, he may be disoriented after waking up.”

“Its alright.” I rasped, my voice choking out over my lips, as if it didn’t want to escape my throat. I coughed. “Why… the armor?” I whispered, feeling the burning in my throat. It had been centuries since I felt such mortal weaknesses that weren’t at the hand of lethal poisons.

My sister backed off, sniffing, and looked up at me. Her face resolved. It was different now— harder. Leaner than I remembered. She stared at me and her face grew tense. “The world has changed in the years you’ve been asleep. Its changed so, so much. You’re… we’re all the family we have left now, Rain.” Her voice broke at that. “I’m so glad you woke up.”

“All the family we have left?” I choked. “How long… has it been?”