His body was heavy. Pain coursed his nerves for every breath he took, but something inside him told him that if he gave in to the gaping maw inside his mind, he would never wake up again. Gemini breathed deeply, and forced his eyes open.

“You’re awake.” Someone said from beside him…no, all around him. “You died a horrible death, but that’s not the first time, is it?”

Gemini looked around. He was lying on a literal cloud, and as he sat up, the Constellation took in the surroundings. He was in a world of grey light, a place devoid of anything but a single man scribbling on a desk.

“I’d say that this looks like heaven,” Gemini said quietly, “but I’m not sure if there’s any afterlife where I wake up on a cloud and see someone writing on his desk. More importantly, I thought I died.”

“The Cardinal Champions died a few times too. It was fortunate that you managed to activate the true Champion Support System before you died,” said the man. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be alive now.”

Gemini froze. “Who are you?”

“Me?” The man placed the pen in his hand down. “I am Hereward, the Sentinel of Space, He-Who-Maintains. The Stabiliser.”

“You’re…one of the elemental gods?”

“Precisely. And at long last, I get to see the first of the thirteen summoned by Anren.” Hereward got up from his chair, and the long coat around him quivered. “You’re an interesting one. Lucky, too. Or unlucky? Well, whatever. You’re not someone who should have died one month ago, but I suppose everything has a price.”

Gemini couldn’t wrap his head around what the Sentinel of Space just said, so he did the next best thing and nodded. After a few more seconds of what seemed to be the Sentinel’s senseless monologuing, the Constellation asked, “Where am I right now?”

“In my Divine Kingdom, naturally.”

From what he could see of the space around him, however, Gemini wasn’t too sure of how the words ‘Divine Kingdom’ and this study-ish place gelled with each other. It would be rude to bring this up to the Sentinel of Space, however.

Gemini rubbed his head. “I’ve been here for a month?”

“Yes.” Hereward paused for a moment. “Well, this is the only time I’m going to save you, however. I had the authority to the first time, but the moment I exercised it, it’s no longer there. You’re on your own from now on.”

“But who was that?”

“Someone with a vendetta, if you ask me. Did you see how you actually died? Your murderer carved you into tiny strips of flesh after you fainted. It wasn’t pretty, to say the least.” Hereward glanced at the piece of paper he was writing on. “If you hadn’t activated the save-load system embedded inside the CSS, you’ll would have been demon jerky by now.”

“Erm…”

“I see you have a lot of questions,” Hereward said, a smile on his face. “But I won’t answer much. When the CSS interface starts up fully, the state of your body then is saved through my power. If something goes wrong, I would be able to revert your body to its previously saved state. There’s no more state for me to load to now, so your second life is on your own.”

“I…see. Thank you.” Gemini nodded his head in difficulty.

“Mm. I’ll return you to Ark City, unless you have a better place in mind.”

“You know about Ark City?” Gemini asked, curious.

“I am the Sentinel of Space, after all.” Hereward pulled out a piece of paper from mid-air. “Hard not to notice an entire city moving through Orb. And the Demon God isn’t keen on throwing down with me either. I wonder why. Alright. Time for you to go back home. And remember to run when you see your murderer next time. Your assistant should be of use there.”

He shook his head. “Sheesh, human jerky strips.”

His hand gestured elegantly, and light surrounded Gemini. The next thing he knew, he was back in familiar territory, right outside the city gates of Ark City. Gemini raised his hand and patted his chest, at the point where he remembered the blade last stabbed through him, before shivering. That person who had attacked him…he could feel the hate radiating of his attacker’s…. murderer’s body. But he didn’t recall doing anything that would gather that much hate, least of all in the Wildlands.

And yet, from what he could remember, that person knew his true identity, which should have been a secret to most of the Wildlands. Furthermore, few in Ark City knew him as a Constellation, and those that did were unlikely to have loose lips.

Who was that person, then? And why did that person hate me that much? Gemini shook his head, and limped over to the entrance of Ark City. A company of soldiers was guarding the main gate, and on the city walls, Gemini could see even more people on them. With a jerk, the Constellation realised that the terrain around Ark City had changed drastically; the city was now sitting on top of a small hill, with only one path leading upwards.

No. Ark City wasn’t sitting on a small hill. To be more accurate, the land around it had been flattened to the point that whatever ground Ark City had occupied was now the crest of a hill. There was only one path leading up to it, and that path was probably well in sight of the city’s walls and defenders. From the looks of it, Ark City had received his message, and they were prepared to hunker down in the Wildlands, rather than returning to the Five Lands with the Ars Tribe.

Gemini smiled ruefully. He wasn’t sure which course was the better one either, so it was great that someone else had made it such that he didn’t need to think. As he continued to plod up the long, solitary path towards Ark City, lights streaked out of the city, arcing towards his current position.

“Constellation Gemini.” The first one who’d arrived was Paragon Ortega, a smile on his face. “It’s good that you’re still alive.”

“Mm.” Warmaster Chamberlain, who landed a second later, nodded in agreement. “We had feared the worst. All we had was one message from you, and then utter silence. We didn’t even know where you went, and primal demons were roving around where Ars used to be.”

Gemini groaned, his body staggering as he tried to speak. Paragon Ortega caught his falling body and said, “Let’s get him back to safety first. Gemini is clearly more fatigued than he seems.”

Warmaster Chamberlain nodded, and together, they supported Gemini as they returned to the city. Gemini, who could barely make much of a protest, closed his eyes for a proper nap.

There would be time to settle the little details later on.