"......What is this place?" a painful voice echoed in darkness.

"Did...I die?" the voice continued as it tried to move its body. Yet, the commands it was sending to the vessel did not reach their supposed destinations. Not because of the injury it sustained. Not because of this enduring agony it felt. But because it had nothing to command.

"What?" the young voice screamed again when it realized the condition it was in. It was as if the only thing it has left was its own consciousness. But a consciousness without a body? What could it be like? A soul free of its mortal shell perhaps? Or a harrowing desolation like two lovers being torn apart?

How frightening would it be, to be unable to do anything yet fully self-aware?

The soul was one of the few immortal things in this universe. Though it could be damaged, it could never really be destroyed, not even by a God. For all creations made by the Creator can only be removed from its existence by the Ender. That was the most fundamental law of the Old and the origin of a never-ending curse that haunted each and every one of us till this day.

Alas, that was a story for another time. For now, our story turned back its focus on this tiny soul. Unable to recall its own name, the soul could not even remember why it ended up here in the first place. It did not even know what it was 'before'. All it could do was to struggle like an infant with its nonexistent arms and legs to find out what was happening, or what already took place.

Then, all of the sudden, a series of characters manifested themselves before the soul.

The soul agitated furiously as if it wanted to nod its nonexistent head in agreement.

Again, the soul 'nodded'.

Even though it had no body, the soul did its best to move toward the left option.

Perhaps someone was playing him by switching the options this time. Or maybe 'it' was testing the cognitive and intellectual ability of a soul. Who knew? Still, the soul moved toward the right option this time.

It seemed the charade finally ended. At last, our tiny soul could escape from this place. It possessed none of its previous memories but somehow it knew that it must go back to....somewhere. Whatever it was, the thing it searched was not here.

Without warning, a bright light overwhelmed the soul and blinded it. Before it knew it, the surroundings have changed. But not just that.

"I...I am back." The body of a young boy stood up as he attempted to move his arms around. Unlike before, he now had a body.

It was then that our little soul remembered what has transpired to him.

"All these times...it was her..." the boy muttered while referring to his own mother and also the culprit behind his tragic life. This person, whom everyone trusted and regarded as a hero, was actually the villain this whole time.

Perhaps it was by accident but when he was stabbed by his mother at the time of the grand betrayal, the boy saw her memories. Unfortunately, it was not what he hoped for.

There was no love, not for the husband, not for the child. Perhaps there was in a long distant past. But now, that love has been crushed, hidden away by the feeling of hatreds that consumed her.

The boy was devastated. His tragic past has always been the drive of his goal to search for peace. But now that he knew that it was just a big lie, a fabrication with a sinister motive to use him. So then, everything he did, all the people he killed, for what?

Yet still, the boy realized that now was not the time to feel sorry for himself. He has already done a lot of that in his life.

"No!" he shouted. Instead of moaning and doing nothing, he must do something. This could not be his legacy. He refused to believe so.

"There must be something....something I can do..." He spoke.

A grain of sand hit the boy's eye while he was trying to stand up. Such a trivial thing to happen but it was this tiny thing that brought the boy back down to earth for him to realize something crucial: he has not yet gone out of the 'woods' just yet. To say that he was in trouble would be a gross understatement.

This scorching heat he felt.

This sunken soft soil he walked on.

This wind blowing the sand to his face.

"What in the....?" He muttered in disbelief as he looked at his surroundings: a boundless wasteland of nothing but sand.

How was it possible? Just a moment ago, the boy was in the middle of a heated battlefield. As he tried to remember what exactly happened, his head was hit with an intense headache.

"Did I die?" he asked himself. "But then...what is this place? Is this heaven...or hell?"

Judging by the landscape, the boy could only think of the latter option. For this desert looked nothing like the paradise one would expect. He wondered if this was the punishment for his sins. Still, what exactly was he supposed to do here? Must he travel across this barren land for eternity to atone for his sins? Was that why he was transported here? Whatever the answer was, it was not what he was thinking.

As he searched for clues to where exactly he was, the boy, following a strange instinct, looked up. Hovering high in the cloudless sky was a giant door, the same door that appeared after the close encounter with the Celestial God. Apparently, it led to the heavenly seat of Eden, Celestia. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to cross it.

Still, this was a good thing. For the first time since he stepped in this place, the boy finally found something evoking a sense of familiarity.

The first question that needed answers was his current whereabouts. From the landscape alone, it would be impossible to guess where he was. Although, the door itself could provide a clue. Back in the world of Astora, the door was also seen hovering in the sky. However, this place where the boy was could not possibly be Astora. At least, not the one he was familiar with. If so, where could he be right now? It could not be a random location. Else, why would there be the same door in the sky? That left only one possibility.

The boy was on the other side of the door. In other words, this god-forsaken wasteland was the rumoured heavens of Celestia where the Gods resided. If so, and this place was indeed Celestia, then either the Gods here had a very different sense of what a paradise would be or something terribly wrong happened here.

"No use staying here thinking about it. I must move on and find a way out of here." The boy decided after spending a moment to think about his options.

So began his journey to cross the boundless desert of Celestia.

* * *

Days passed without anything in sight. Or at least, that was what the boy believed. There was no way he could know since the night never came in this place. The sun never went down and so did the heat. All he could do was estimating his times here. But alas, he sometimes forgot to do that too.

So far, all the boy found was nothing but sand. In this dead silent place, the only sounds one could hear were the whistling sound of wind and one own's footstep.

Under this unwavering and harsh fever of the desert, the journey has been unforgiving. Combined with the strong body odor and the smell of dry baked earth, it could only add to the displeasure of the journey.

In first glance, this seemed to be an ordinary desert. However, it was clear that something felt incredibly wrong in this place since the very first moment the boy began his journey.

First of all, for some reasons, the dark crystal embedded on his chest was gone. Though that in itself should not have been a problem since it would mean that the boy was finally freed from that treacherous God who has inhabited inside his body since his birth. The boy would have no regret if that was the only downside. The actual problem lied elsewhere: the boy has lost all of his powers. The demon lords' power, the soul magic, they were all gone as a result of this broken covenant. Still, the boy did not fall into despair. He could not afford to.

With no real destination in mind, all he could do was moving forward, aimlessly.

* * *

With nothing but sand in his dry throat, the boy continued his endless walk without not much as a single drop of water for days. It has been a long time since he felt so close at death's door. This powerlessness, this frailty...this mortality he perceived. It was only now that he finally comprehended his own insignificance. Up until now, all he has done were thanks to the powers given so easily to him. There were a few moments of struggles but in the end, he managed to overcome them all with brute strength.

There was nothing special about him. If not for that treacherous God, the boy would have never made it this far. Even more, he has always been a puppet dancing to the whims of his manipulators.

Yet, strangely, the boy managed to somehow remain alive despite having lost all the much-needed magical powers. Was it due to the influence of this place? Since he already died once, he could not die here? If so, then perhaps this was really his punishment: to wander in this place for eternity.

* * *

Something caught the boy's attention when he overlooked from the large sand dunes. A structure could be seen around the horizons with its tips reaching above the sky. At first, the strange thing looked like a shiny needle reflecting the light of the sun. However, the closer the boy moved it, the more it revealed its true nature. It was no needle at all but a tower. Furthermore, only when the boy crossed the mountain of sand ahead that he finally caught a glimpse of the full picture: a giant black cube with a silvery tower rising out of it toward the sky.

With a glimpse of hope in sight, the boy decided his new destination.

* * *

The boy has made it to the outskirts of the strange black box. The closer he got to it, the more astonishing he found it to be. Not because of the size or how strange for such object to be here, in the middle of the desert but because the cube inspired a sense of familiarity in the boy, as if he has seen it before, and not just once.

Still, it could not help him in being at ease in this place. Perhaps it was due to what was in the proximity of the cube instead of the cube itself. During the time when the boy made his way toward the cube, he found an abundant number of debris.

Metallic fragments of some kind of machinery lied scattered around as if it was blown off in the sky before falling down to where they were now. "Were they shot down by something?" the boy wondered.

Secondly, arms, ranging from basic ones like swords to sophisticate long range weaponry like the gun that was given to the boy, were also found, gathering together like a pile of trashes outside the cube. This begged the question about the origin of the owners of these weapons. "Did they really come from Astora? ... or some place else?"

Though the boy did not need to go far to get his answers. As he was investigating the weapons, picking them one by one, his leg tumbled over the sand dune, making him slide down toward the center of a crater before hitting his head against something hard.

"Ouch!!!" he yelled while hugging his head. Thankfully, it seemed like he was hit with a blunt object, whatever it was. If it has been a sharp weapon like one of the swords he saw just before, he could have died. That was it if he could die in this place. Still, it did not stop him to be shaken up a bit from the shock. Right now, he was just a normal kid after all.

However, the boy did not have time to recover before he realized that he has ended up in a death trap: a quick sand. The loose sand began to drag him down, burying him alive. If this continued, he would be dead and everything would have been for naught. The boy looked around to try to find something he could grab on. What he saw were these weird white objects sticking out of the sand and there were quite a few of them, all of different shapes. But the moment he grabbed onto one of them, it broke. That was when the boy realized their true nature. These white objects were not stones like he thought they were but bones. And not just human bones but monsters as well as some unknown creatures.

Alas, whatever mystery was hidden behind these remains, it would have to wait or instead, the boy just might join them very soon. Unfortunately, for a little boy with no magic nor strength at his disposal, escaping this quicksand seemed like an impossible task. The boy did try to struggle at first but the more he struggled, the quicker he sunk. He tried to call for help. But who on earth could hear him now? With the sand now up to his mouth, the boy remained still in fear, waiting for his ultimate demise.

'The once powerful Alastor who fell the Gods, the strongest demon lord in history, died to a quicksand.' The irony could not escape the boy's thought as memories of his adventure passed through his mind like a wave of images.

And so ended the journey of Alastor.

.....

* * *

'Am I...not dead yet? .....I feel heavy...' Alastor started to regain to consciousness. He tried to open his eyes but his body felt so heavy to do that.

The boy felt a warm touch on his forehead. 'What is this soothing feeling?' he wondered.

Then suddenly, a man's voice could be heard. "How is he doing? Is he alright? Should I call for Amelia?" The man spoke with a worried voice.

"He is fine! It is just a fever. Will you calm down a little?" a woman scolded the man. Based on the voice, it seemed that she was the one who was putting her hand on his forehead.

Unable to hold back his curiosity, Alastor forcefully opened his eyes faintly. At first, his eyes hurt a bit, making him shedding a few drop of tears. 'I must have passed out for a long time.' He thought to himself. Despite the impaired vision, the boy could still make out the outlines of two persons in this room he was in.

"See??? You woke him up!!!" the faint form of the woman turned to the man before turning back to Alastor. "I am sorry, honey. Did we wake you up?"

"...Where....am...I?" Alastor spoke softly. The last thing he remembered was the quicksand. If so, how did he end up here? Did these people rescue him? ...Or was this just another 'paradise'?

"We are at home, of course." Answered the woman.

"..Ho...Home?" uttered the boy. "Wh...what happened?" He still could not discern the face of these two strangers. His eyes were still recovering after all. But at the very least, he could see that the woman had blond hair while the man's was white.

"You were playing with your sisters when you fell into the lake. Thankfully, Magnus warned me in time to save you." explained the man.

"What? Magnus?" shouted the boy when he heard that treacherous name. But then, a voice echoed in his mind.

'Hey kid. That was close, wasn't it? You can thank me later.' That voice unmistakably belonged to Magnus. Alastor was sure of it. By instinct, he put his arm on his chest, only to feel the presence of the crystal gem once again.

"Hey, slow down!" the woman pushed him down to his bed. "You have to rest."

'...sister?' thought the boy to himself.

'Alice is fine. She cried a bit when we pulled you up though. Don't worry! Lilith will take care of her.' Magnus spoke. 'As for...'

"SHUT UP!" Alastor cried out to the surprise of the two strangers. He simply could not forgive the God for what he has done.

"What's wrong honey?" asked the woman worriedly.

Perhaps it was the shock that awoke his sleeping senses, making him aware of his surroundings. Nevertheless, the boy could now take a good look at the faces of his rescuers.

"It can't be..." the boy uttered in awe, refusing to believe what, or rather who, he was seeing.

The couple looked at each other face in confusion, unable to understand what was wrong with the little boy. A frightening thought hit them. Maybe the accident from earlier has caused some kind of trauma in him, or even worse.

"Son, are you okay?" spoke the man with a genuine worried face.

Without a moment to waste, Alastor ran out of his bed as he rushed to the door. Why was he able to know where the door was so quickly? The answer was simple. He spent quite a while of his time in this very room. After all, this was the same room as the one he used during his stay at the demon lord's castle.

Pushing the door violently, the boy tried to escape outside. To him, this was certainly some kind of trap. There was no way those two could be there. He never met them face to face in the past but he knew their face too well. If one was to visit the demon lord's castle, a large portrait could be seen the moment one was to enter the palace as they showed who were the last master of the castle alongside their spouse. But in this case, the two were already dead. Even more, one was actually not and was trying to kill the boy just recently.

"Alastor, where are you going? Come back!" the woman shouted loudly.

"No no no!" the boy mumbled as he ran across the familiar hallway. Without a doubt, this place was the demon lord's castle, or at least a very good, if not perfect, replica of the original. How could this be? For now, Alastor must focus on getting out of this obvious trap. Based on the last two, there was a strong possibility that the enemy, whoever they might be, would be using other people close to him in order to let him lower his guard down. But now that he knew this, there was no way he could fall in this trap...right?

History has shown that despite so many progresses, humans were doomed to make the same mistakes again and again. The only time when they no longer made mistakes was when it was their last.

Indeed, he crossed so many familiar faces on his way to the entrance: the four royal demon guards, the hero party from ten years ago and even Alice who could not help but hug the boy in tears. Nonetheless, he pushed her away, knowing that this could not be real. So far, none of them had any intention of restraining him or even showed the slightest hint of deception. Instead, they all reacted just like the real things. The person behind this charade must be a great deceiver for him to be unable to distinguish the real and the fake.

Finally, he arrived to the main hall. The entrance lied just up ahead. Just a couple more steps and he would be out of here. Or so he thought.

"Big bro, where are you going?" a young girl's voice called out to him at the end of the hall.