The "Interrogation"

(Caution, sensitive content in the next few paragraphs.)

"Still not telling, dog?"

"...Fu...ck....You....Leo..."

It had been how long again?....I don't remember very clearly. So far I have barely even kept myself sane enough to realize how bad I was doing. Leo had decided to use me as his personal toy, and he had brought me to the basement of his house, where he seems to keep his many "tools" which he has been using very often with me.

So far I can't count the many time he has done sick shit like breaking my fingers or simply beating me to a pulp with a hammer. I can feel life leaving my body, and everyday it's a nightmare just to try and function properly. He doesn't feeds me often and he always manages to cause enough damage for me not to die, but to stay in pain until he comes back again the next day.

I can feel my mind going crazy bit by bit, and it wouldn't be a surprise if I snap one of these days and simply stop reasoning. The only thing that keeps me sane so far is speaking to myself when he's not down here, but it gets harder and harder since my throat is dry and I feel like I am very close to losing my voice too.

That state of sanity banished when, after Leo had gone away, something I could only describe as a notification window from an RPG game appeared in front of me. Out of all types of hallucinations that I had in mind, this one was the least expected.

[ "Siegfried, The God of War, has called out to you. Will you answer?" ]

[Yes.] [No.]

Hummmm...Let's see. My mind was obviously playing tricks with me anyway, but I had experienced being reincarnated before right? So the existence of a god shouldn't surprise me too much, and with the fact that it was either die from torture at the hands of Leo while being concious about it, or go crazy and accept this hallucination, I decided to go with the second option, so I touched the options [Yes.]

A white light engulfed my vision and I could feel like I was falling once again. Somehow, this felt exactly the same as it felt when I was dead, so I was starting to doubt the falsehood of this hallucination, since it felt way more real than the ones I've had before.

When I oppened my eyes once again, I was standing in the middle of a room made out of marble and gold. Covered in banners and emblems that very certainly could form part of a god's collection. But what truly surprised me the most, was the appearance of the man in front of me. He was at least twice my height, and he was sitting in a throne. He didn't need any kind of presentation, since something inside my mind told me this was Siegfried. The God of War.

He was wearing a golden crown upon his head, red and white clothes with golden armor covering him from neck to toe, leaving his head uncovered if not for the symbol of power that laid there. He had tanned skin and white long hair, alongside a hairy beard that was a little unkempt. His eyes were glowing red and he had an aura of intimidation around him.

"....I have never seen a transmigrated soul being trated as poorly as yours. In the name of my superiors, I wish to apologize for the situation you have been part of."

Out of all things that I would expect from a God of War, an apology wouldn't really be in the list at all. It seems that my surprise was evident, as he sighed and proceeded to explain what had happened.

"I am sorry to be the one telling you this, but you had been thrown into a really bad place at an incredibly unlucky time. Helos, The God of Luck, has commited a mistake with you. Instead of being handed to me as we had agreed, he confused your soul with another and finally ended up giving you the fate of a far more sinister and....Deserving one."

"So you're telling me....All this time that I have spent inside that dungeon....All of that suffering...Was because of a single mistake?"

"Yes. And I have summoned you here due to that. You see, I can offer you a third chance to start again. No torture or suffering this time. I am ashamed of what troubles and pain this mistake has caused to such a promising soul, and my pride wouldn't allow me to ignore this problem."

....Certainly my head was spinning around since I could barely grasp what the situation currently was. It seems that Siegfried was taking responsibility for the mistake even if it wasn't his own doing, but the offer was as tempting as it was suspicious. So I tried to question it a little further.

"Alright so...Why would a God go through all of this problem just for a single soul? It sounds far too good to be true."

"Ah...That might be the case yes. You see, you were supossed to come here instead of being thrown into the wild. The plan was to reincarnate you as my champion, some sort of heir to my throne, and have you ascend into Godhood in order to replace me in here. A change in our ranks occurs every Milennia in order to keep the pantheon working properly since Gods tend to corrupt as time goes by. So the deal is as follows. If you accept my offer, I will provide you with a proper chance at living once again before the time for you to replace me comes. Then, depending on how much regrets you may still hold, you will be ascended into my position, and finally replace me as the next God of War."

"Why....Why would you choose me for your replacement? I mean, I may be a bit good at Kendo but..."

"Hummm...Certainly a lack of knowledge about your own soul is to expect...Let me explain this. When souls are born from the void, they are gifted with inherent talents. Some receive special proficiency with musical instruments, while others gain incredible intelligence. In your case, warfare seems to be your inherent talent, which is why I had chosen you long before Helos commited his mistake."

He let me digest the information for a moment. I started thinking, this time much more clearly. Certainly I had a great time studying history and visiting museums about that sort of thinng but...I am not sure if that is something I should be interested in to start with.

It took me a few minutes but I came to a conclusion, so I took a deep breath and looked at Siegfried with a serious and determined expression.

"I accept."

The God's expression turned from confident and pridefull into a much warmer and charismatic one. It was almost as if looking at a proud parent, and it gave me a feeling of acceptance within my mind that really calmed me down. He stood up from his throne and approached me, kneeling down and placing a finger upon my forehead.

"Thank you. Be sure to enjoy your life and grow old. Under which name do you want to reincarnate?"

"....Helena."

Clearly I wasn't very original about it, but really it sounded like a nice name for a future God of Ward doesn't it? Siegfried nodded and gave me a few final words.

"I will be waiting for you, Helena. Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again, Siegfried."

He really seemed like a good God, or at least I thought so since he treated me so kindly. The fact is, that I really appreciated what he was doing for me, and the fact that I was going to aim for something big this time made my heart race.

So, I was engulfed by the very same white light as before, and soon enough I would wake up again.