I opened my eyes.

The cloudless blue sky opened up to me.

I felt a nice breeze blow, the dirt and grass on my back.

I rose to sit.

“Hey.”

I turned to look at the person still laying beside me. Both arms placard behind his back, chewing on a grass stem.

“So you’re Shin huh? Nice to meet you, asshole. Good job killing the turned-Seraph Pu’er Julis.”

“What?”

“You think you’re some grand entity or something? Possessing my soul on a whim and doing whatever you want? Sheesh.”

This is.. where?

A hillside, below was a giant lake.

Mountains surrounding every part of the horizon. We were under the shade of the only tree here.

“Can’t you say something?”

“Did we die?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“Don’t be too sad. It’s only me, probably.”

Avner spit out the grass from his mouth and sat up.

He looked at me.

His signature crimson eyes.

Just like the first time I saw myself in the mirror.

“I don’t mean to be a jerk but I just find it unreal.”

My brain began working to process the situation. What even is going on?

“You woke up late. I don’t have much time left in this space you created, so let’s go somewhere.”

“Where?”

I noticed the countdown timer in the sky. 10 minutes left, it says.

It’s so fantasy-isque.

During that final showdown.

I.. no, we. We managed to kill her.

At the cost of our life.

“You’re overpowered,” Avner said.

I followed him down the hill, to the lake.

“Compare the two of us, it’s obvious who is better.”

“Me? Better? No, it’s the both of us who..”

“Getting into my noggin and knowing that I have an inferiority complex. I get it, I don’t need you to remind me of it.”

He pointed to the center of the lake.

There was something glowing in the water.

“You see that?”

“It’s a coffin.”

Or something resembling it. Made from crystal all around, creating a display of iridescent refractions. It was pulsing, like a heart.

“Remember how we wondered what would happen if a third soul joined our body?”

“I do.”

“Too bad, we won’t get the chance to find out.”

I looked on silently.

“I don’t know when he’ll wake up but, when it does, take care of him. It doesn’t seem that long, feels like that meeting with his girl gave him a nudge.”

That explains the outburst we felt.

“Are you seriously going to just go like that?”

The truth, the reality.

I wanted to deny it.

The only reason I get the chance to talk with Avner’s soul here is because of the composition of my soul as Shin.

“I don’t get to control life and death, unlike you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just saying..” he snickered.

He was silent a moment before calling out to me once again.

“Shin.”

And I received a punch to my face.

And fell.

He straddled me.

And punched me again.

Again.

And again.

It hurt.

It hurt like hell. It felt like my teeth were going to come off; Like my eyes were going to explode.

But nothing like that happened. It couldn’t kill me here.

It didn’t even leave me in a concussion.

By the time he stopped, tears had filled his eyes.

“Why..? Deciding on my life just because this world was created by your girlfriend..”

He punched the ground beside me. I felt blood leak from the cracks on my mouth.

“Why do you get to live and not me?”

I don’t know.

He bit his lips.

“I want to continue.. I want to live..”

His tears dripped onto my clothes.

“It’s unfair.. so unfair. Why is life such a bitch and so nice to you? Protagonist correction? Because I’m some shitty male lead?”

I don’t know how to reply to that.

“Fuck.. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK IT ALL!!”

He shouted towards the lake. I slowly got up and wiped the blood off with my sleeve.

“Fuck.. fuck.. Shin. Promise me one thing, can you?”

He turned to me, eyes red from tears.

“Protect Pu’er. Don’t let hir die. That Pu’er Julis whatever, don’t let it do what she wants with hirs body. We don’t know if it’s true that she can completely override hirs body similar to what you did.. don’t. Protect hir Shin, I ask of you. Please..”

“I.. I don’t know if it’s within my control.. you know that she’s already inside her..”

“Haha..”

The timer in the sky.

3 minutes.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

His maniac echoed across the prairie.

“Right.. that’s you. Your personality. It’s not like what I say means anything. You’re strong, way stronger than me.. so much so you can act almighty, however you wish. That's why I lost Pu’er. Yeah. I’m weak, I’m the stupid one. It’s my fault, everything is my own damn fault!”

He dropped to the ground and hugged his knees.

I stood there silently for a full minute.

2 minutes.

“Avner.”

Then I took a seat beside him.

“Thank you.”

This is the only thing I can think of to tell him.

“Thank you for everything.”

“Shin.”

“...”

“A naive kid like myself wouldn’t have known so much.”

“You’re the one who provided me with most of the knowledge of this world,” I said.

“You’re the one who provided the knowledge from the 20th century,” he said.

“Put it this way. We made up for each other’s shortcomings. That’s how it is. You’re no weaker than myself.”

“Damn it. If only I had your calm mind.”

“You’re hot headed yourself.”

“I know that!”

He sat up.

1 minute.

“Protect Pu’er.”

“Right.”

“I mean it seriously. Make up with hir and get married. The person you’re trying to find is a girl right? Then slot in my wife elf with yours.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Fuck you and your 2 gender only-world. You have our world laws to follow. You want to blame someone, blame your girlfriend who created this damned world.”

I should be mad.

Yet, I can’t help not be.

We’re supposed to be one in the same.

“It’s not like I can control you. Do what you want, I’m going to disappear anyways..”

30 seconds.

“Just.. make hir happy. That’s my last wish.”

“I’ll.. do what I can..”

He’ll disappear? Really?

“Hell. Of course you will.”

15 seconds.

We looked towards the sky.

“Protect hir well.”

10 seconds.

5 seconds.

“Goodbye.”

1 second.

0 second.

An intense pang ran through my body like an alarm clock had just been set alit inside my soul. The feeling of a part of me being torn apart– torn away.

The world glitched in a hazy vision.

I held my head. The world seemed to spin, it went on for what felt like an eternity before I regained my half-self.

I panicked, turning to the ground to my right..

Avner who was beside me was no more.

Left was an imprint of his body in the grass.

I gripped my fist till my knuckles turned white. My body trembled.

He.. died?

I let the tears fall.

“Avner. I promise.”

This time also.

“I promise. I’ll protect hir for you.”

I was too weak.

===

dotturndot: Chapter after chapter it’s just.. WTF.

Ah yeah, to give my thoughts on this. I’ve had another breakthrough in my writing, so everything reads like shit to me. (f*ck). Now I feel like dropping this series hahahaa–

Anyhow, I was surprised by how cold Shin was. I had to purge his dialog and replace it with better ones because it ticked me off. (And I’m the writer of it! Ridiculous).