“Hahaha! I was right! Bloom was reincarnated from Earth!”

Miko laughed while looking at Earth.

“She was too skilled for her age. Not to mention, she created so many unique stuff like anime, manga, literature, new genres of music, and video games. No one can be so versed in so many different fields. She didn’t seem like she experienced any challenges when creating them either. That could only mean she was duplicating them.”

He looked around.

“This is a great chance to see what Earth looks like. First, I must find Bloom and see her past life. Once I do that I’ll have a better idea of how to fix her.”

His soul was tug towards Earth. The next instant he was inside a room.

“Is this someone’s bedroom?”

Posters of Asian women and men with colorful hair covered almost every inch of the walls. There were several shelves filled with anime figures and thin books with anime characters on them. On the bed was a body pillow with an anime character Miko recognized.

“Is that Eren Jaeger?”

“This room creeps me out.”

Miko looked beside him and saw Ishma floating in the air.

“How are you here?”

“We fused our souls so I was dragged here with you. I must say though, I never thought that I’ll see this world this way. I thought that it would be when I am leading an army to conquer this place.”

“…..I’ll just act like I didn’t hear that. More importantly, where’s Bloom?”

The room door opened and Miko saw someone walked in while humming. A chestnut ponytail, pink joggers, baggy shirt, and brown slippers. Her hazel eyes had bags underneath them but she still had a beautiful face.

“Bloom…”

Bloom hummed and took a seat around her multi-monitor computer.

“Alright. I’ve gotten a full 3 hours sleep, got some food, streamed all my fav K-Pop groups, now it’s time for Manga.”

“This is Bloom? She’s…exactly how she was when we met her.”

Miko shook his head.

“No, she’s really carefree here.”

He couldn’t help but smile while watching Bloom happily read manga on her computer. The smile slowly fell from his face.

“If we were brought to this specific day then something must’ve happened. Something that left a mark on her soul.”

“Kathrine!”

A voice came from beyond the door.

“Yes, Dad!”

“We’re going to watch the match. Are you sure that you don’t wanna come?”

“I’m sure. I don’t want to drive more than an hour just to watch football every weekend. Besides, we live in Manchester so why do we support Chelsea?”

“Our family has supported Chelsea since the last world war! I refuse to support Man Utd or Man City! We are a Chelsea family!”

Kathrine sighed.

“Fine, I get it. But I’m still not going!”

“…I see. Then I’ll bring you back a souvenir!”

“Alright, see you guys later!”

Bloom turned her attention back to the computer and continued reading her manga.

“What’s wrong? Why the long face?”

“….It’s because I know how this will go, Ishma.”

The scenery changed to a gloomy hillside. Katrine was alone in front of some gravestones.

“….I see.”

Ishma frowned beside Miko. Katrine's shoulders trembled while she held her head down. She bit her lips while trying to fight back the tears that were flowing out of her eyes.

“If only I had gone with you guys…..I wouldn’t be alone right now.”

Miko turned to Ishma with eyes widened.

“You’re being influenced by her emotions?”

“It seems like it. Although, I only know what she’s feeling. I’m not feeling the same thing.”

“….I see. Then, you’re still good.…. Who the fuck is this?”

Miko’s glare landed on a middle-aged man who walked up Katrine and pat her on her back.

“Come, Katrine. It’s time to go home.”

Katrine wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded.

“Yes, Uncle.”

She followed him as they made their way down the hill.

“I don’t know why, but I feel the urge to kill that man.”

Ishma’s eyes were trembling.

“I feel the same. So it must be Bloom’s emotions.”

The scenery changed again. This time they were inside a house. They were facing the entrance. The door opened and Katrine and her uncle walked in. Katrine was still holding her head down. Her uncle watched her from the side. He sighed and took off his jacket.

“Why not go to your room for the time being?”

“….Alright. Is it upstairs?”

“No. It’s right there.”

He pointed to his right. Katrine lifted her head up. Miko and Ishma looked in the direction her uncle pointed at the same time as her. Their eyes widened simultaneously. However, while shock and confusion were painted over Katrina’s face, rage stained Miko’s and Ishma’s faces.

“That son of a bitch….!”

Ishma had released her claws and fangs before she knew it.

“I see why Bloom is the way she is. To think her own blood would do this her.”

Katrine turned to her uncle with her mouth wide open.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t I tell you to go to your room?”

“Room…Uncle, that’s a cage.”

“No. It’s your new room.”

Katrine looked at the cage in the corner of the living room. She saw a bucket and dog bowl inside it. She shook her head and turned back to her uncle.

“You must be jok-”

Her words were cut short by a slap. Her body hit the floor with a thud. With her ears ringing and her cheek hot, Katrine looked up at her uncle with fear in her eyes.

“You haven’t been here for 10 minutes and you’re already talking back. You’re just like your mother!”

He kicked her in her stomach and forced the air out of her lungs.

“Arrogant!”

He stomped on her side.

“Self-centered!”

He stomped on her hand as she tried to get away.

“Condescending!”

He stomped on her knee.

“Bitch!”

He kicked her head and pushed her over on her back with his foot.

“You know, when I heard that she and her idiot husband died in a car crash with her kids I was happy. But then I heard that one of her kids weren’t in the car, I prayed that it was you and would you know, God heard my prayers.”

He grabbed her legs.

“No! Let me go!”

She kicked his hands off her and tried to get up. He ran up and kicked her in the stomach. She rolled and hit the door.

“You little!”

He walked over to her and started kicking her. Her body banged on the door with every kick. Katrine wailed and screamed but her uncle continued to kick her. He only stopped when she stopped screaming. He stooped down and grabbed her feet.

“Do you know why I wanted you to be alive?”

He started dragging her deeper into the house.

“It’s because you look exactly like my sister when we were kids. You know, I never liked her. She was far better than me in everything we did, which by itself is fine but do you know why I hated her?”

Katrine's head hit on a table leg while she was being dragged but her uncle didn’t seem to care.

“It’s because everyone around us would always compare the two of us. No matter how hard I tried to standout I still ended up being compared to her. Our parents were the worst offenders. They didn’t even try to hide their basis towards my sister. I’d get socks for my birthday while she’ll get something like a new car. Can you believe that shit?”

He dropped her legs when they reached the cage.

“Living in that house was hell so I decided to move out when I was 16. Do you know what my parents said to me when I told them that I wanted to leave? They told me “good luck”. Me, their son who didn’t have a pound or euro to his name. They showed no concern at all. It even seemed like they were glad.”

He opened the locks on the cage and swung open the door.

“Ironically, my sister loved me despite knowing I hated her. She was the only one who was sad to see me go…The bitch.”

He lifted Bloom’s feet and dragged her but she wouldn’t move. He looked and saw that she was holding on to a table leg. He clicked his tongue and punched her in the stomach. She screamed out in pain and let go of the table. He stood up and stood over her.

“Naturally, I couldn’t make anything out of my life on my own. I was nobody after all. My sister was the one who got me the job I have now. I got to buy a house but I lose my dignity as a man. I’m sure you noticed how I couldn’t talk back to her. How she controlled every part of my life. Well, the bitch is dead.”

He laughed and brought his face closer to Katrine’s blood face.

“And thanks to her, I’m your legal guardian. That means it’s my time to control every aspect of her life.”

He stood up and kicked her side. He continued to kick until she rolled into the cage. Once she was inside, he closed the cage and locked the locks. Katrine looked up at him from within the cage and saw him smiling at her.

“From this day forward, I own you.”

He took a cloth and threw it over the cage and blocked out the light Katrine was getting.

“Good night, My Niece.”

“That son of a bitch!”

Ishma’s scream felt like it could shake the heavens.

“Does he know how humiliating being locked in a cage is?! Does he know what it’s like being treated like shit by the one who’s supposed to protect you?! Does he know the coldness of the cage bars?! That fucker!”

Miko turned to her in silence.

(Why do I think that she’s talking about her own experiences instead of Bloom’s?)

He turned away from the fuming Ishma and the scenery changed again. It was still the same house and room but from the different furniture and color of the walls, it seemed that some time had passed. Even though time had passed, the cage was still there with a cloth over it. The uncle approached by the cage and pulled the cloth off it. Inside, something was lying on the ground. Miko recognized it as something because what he was looking at was too skinny, too dirty, and too pale to be called a person. He could only recognize it as an undead.

“……..”

He looked at the uncle. He was smiling while salivating and breathing heavily.

“Miko….”

He turned to Ishma. There was no expression on her face.

“I think I’m beginning to understand your desire to destroy everything. Even in a world without magic and constant wars, there’s no happiness to be found.”

Miko turned away from her and watched the uncle looking down on Katrine.

“Look at you. You were once beautiful and full of life but now you’re no better than a corpse. But don’t blame me, it’s your fault for being a brat. I wouldn’t have to break your legs if you hadn’t tried to run away. I wouldn’t have to smash your fingers if you didn’t try to strangle me. I wouldn’t have to smash your teeth if you didn’t try to bite your tongue and kill yourself.”

He stooped down and stared at her.

“Just give it up. Your life is mine. Only I can decide when you die.”

He stood up.

“I am your God.”

The scenery changed and the uncle was gone. Katrine was laying down under the sunlight coming from the window. She heard chirping and turned her head. There she saw a bird sitting at the window. She looked at the bird in silence and it looked back at her.

“….I’m so jealous.”

Her voice lacked power and was pretty much a mumble.

“You’re able to fly to wherever you want. You can outfly your troubles…..Well, at least until you’re caught. After that, you’ll be caged for the rest of your life….I had a canary as a kid. I wonder if this is how she felt. Watching her life wither away in a cage.”

She rolled on her back.

“I wanna fly. Fly above everything. Go to a place where my sorrows and pain won’t reach me.”

A tear fell from her right eye.

“I want to be free.”

The scenery changed again.

“It’s the police! Open up!”

Shouts came from the doorway. It was followed by a loud bang. Men in uniformed burst through the door with guns in their hands.

“Search the premises! We must find that girl!”

The officers spread out through the house. It didn’t take long for them to find Kathrine.

“I found her! She’s in horrible shape!”

“Get away from her!”

The uncle ran out of a room screaming.

“She’s mine!”

“He has a gun!”

The uncle shot the officer closest to Bloom in the neck. The other officers all open fire and instantly riddled him with bullets. He collapsed on the ground and started bleeding on the floor.

“Medic! We need an ambulance right now!”

The officers rushed to their wounded comrade.

“He got an easy death.”

Ishma spat on the uncle’s body.

“Slowly, slowly. Be sure not to hurt her.”

Kathrine was taken out of her cage by a few female officers.

“How cruel. How could someone do this to another person?”

The other officers talked among themselves as Kathrine was taken outside.

“Thank god that a neighbor happened to spot her when he went to retrieve his son’s ball that landed in the yard.”

“It looks like she’s been here for years.”

“I heard that she may be his niece.”

“Really? The monster.”

“So she got lucky?”

Ishma had a disgusted look on her face.

“After everything she’s been through her luck just kicked in…When it’s too late.”

Miko said nothing and followed the officers outside.

“She hasn’t said a word since we’ve arrived!”

“Her pulse is fading! Where the goddamn ambulance?!”

“It’s on the way!”

“She’s not gonna make it!”

Kathrine slowly blinked. Above her was the boundless sky. Birds were flying freely without a care in the world.

“Hey…”

The officers turned and saw Kathrine lifted her hand towards the sky. Tears gathered in her eyes as she stretched her hand as if to grasp the birds above her. She opened her mouth and spoke slowly.

“Wait for me….Don’t leave me behind.”

Her vision became blurry and her arm fell. She felt cold despite being under the sun. She slowly closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath.

“I’ll finally be able to fly…..I’m finally free.”

The scenery darkened until Miko and Ishma found themselves in a pitch-black world. The two stood side by side in silence.

“Fuck!”

Ishma broke that silence with a curse.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck it all!”

She turned to Miko.

“What the hell was that?! That’s not a life a human was supposed to live!”

“…..And yet, someone did live it. Bloom lived it.”

The dark world started lighting up.

“And I’m sure she has more of life to live.”

The world lit up and Kathrine was seen floating in the white space. She opened her eyes and was instantly confused.

“What’s going on? Is this the afterlife?”

“No.”

A voice reverberated through the world. The voice was majestic and powerful but also soothing. Just hearing it made one feel at peace. And yet, hearing this voice made Miko grind his teeth and clench his fist.

“Who’s there?”

“Who I am is not important, Kathrine McCloud. What is important is what I am about to ask you. I want you to think carefully before you answer.”

“I see. So you were involved in all of this.”

“Miko, do you know who this voice belongs to?”

Ishma could see unrestrained anger on Miko’s face.

“Know him? Our origins are the same so you could even say that we’re brothers. He’s my greatest enemy.”

The voice spoke to Kathrine with a gentle tone.

“Kathrine, would you like to live again in another world?”

“The Supreme Being, Aniket!”