Chapter 93: In the Reflection

Ali, the boy who owned the original body, had no particularly complicated story.

In fact, Ali himself, doesn't think his life was a tragedy or that he should be sad at any point or moment he had in the original world.

The devil took notice of him because he was reminded of himself when looking at the boy.

Ali was always hungry.

There was a great famish in their place and it seemed as if the land has dried. But Ali, he loved watching people, because he loved them.

The devil could see that, even without peeking through the boy's heart.

Ali always looked at people with admiration and love, whatever they did.

Eating delicious or bland foods, interacting and talking to each other, caring for their offspring, drinking water, playing and hopping around, and living their lives the best that they could.

The devil couldn't count the days they watched over Ali from afar.

In a usual afternoon, Ali was struggling to get his food once again. He and his family suffered from poverty and hunger, so he had to travel and walk constantly in order to get them food.

From other people's perspective, Ali was just a poor child who always struggle for food, safety, and comfort with an almost eventless life.

But the devil never saw that from the boy's heart.

And the devil was confused why they couldn't see that at all.

And eventually, Ali died from starvation as he was searching for food. The devil felt pitiful, but most of all, curious.

It was just a spur of the moment, but he thought, if he could give the body at least a bit of relief and love, he wondered if the boy would be happy.

What made the devil feel so frustrated from curiosity was when Ali's soul left and ascended from the flesh with peace and contentment.

There was no reason for satisfaction or happiness, the devil thought, and so, he wondered, "Why was he okay with everything?"

The devil didn't know why Ali left with seemingly no unfinished business.

Most people, most souls, seek for something even after death, despite having everything.

Why, then, a poor child with nothing, seem to have nothing to do with how the world made him suffer, then?

The devil was extremely baffled. The devil thought that they were similar to the child, to Ali, but they were mistaken. The both of them were completely different, but the devil doesn't know which part they were different.

And so, the devil took over the child's body, hoping he could understand what was it that made the boy special. And what was it that made the boy different than them.

"Why didn't he wished for compensation? Why didn't he want to retaliate? Why didn't he get angry?" The devil asked over and over.

Ali's soul was peaceful, beautiful, and pristine that it didn't turn into a ghost despite the devil perceiving it to be understandable that he'd have a lot of unresolved pain left in the world. What was it that set free the boy from the world's earthly shackles?

During the devil's journey in creating the five worlds to save humanity from the world ending, they used the boy's body and became Ali himself.

But at the recesses of that body's consciousness, the devil had temporarily met the body's original owner.