Echo of a thousand Lives

Habiki walked home from school. He couldn't wait to get onto his favorite video game and spend hours grinding to get to the next level. He rubbed his eyes and swept his blond hair to the side. Habiki was quite tired, he did stay up until 2 AM playing that video game after all. Sometimes he wished he could just live in that video game. If that was his reality, he'd be forever happy.

He smiled to himself thinking about all the amazing adventures he'd have if he did actually live within a video game. He wouldn't have to worry about school, grades, personal relationships. He'd just have to level up, and become the strongest.

"Ugh." Habiki moaned as he rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm so tired, maybe I should take a nap before I play."

Habiki saw someone crossing the road ahead of him. They were on their phone and not paying attention for potential cars coming. Of course though, there was a car coming. Habiki's heart dropped, and he ran towards them.

"WATCH OUT!" He yelled, but they turned to him and not the the car coming right at them.

The driver must not have seen them because they never slowed down. Habiki ran towards them and onto the road. He quickly pushed them onto the line separating the lanes. The driver saw Habiki at the last second, and swerved the car, almost missing him, but unfortunately, the butt of the car hit him, and he was knocked to the ground, hitting his head really hard. His whole life flashed before his eyes, as he closed his eyes. He heard sirens, his parents, and then everything faded. Darkness. Nothingness. "Of course something like this would happen to me." Habiki thought.

"What an unfortunate ending to your story." A booming voice said.

Habiki opened his eyes to see a giant man floating before him. He glowed white and he had no features, and no blemishes. He was such a perfect being, he couldn't even breathe.

"I pity you Habiki, I really do." The man said.

Habiki didn't know what to say. He was speechless at the fact he had met... god? He wasn't sure, but what he knew was that this person was an almighty being, all-knowing, and all-seeing.

"You had ambitions, hopes, and dreams, but they were all taken from you prematurely. You deserve more than that." He told Habiki. "So take this as my apology to you." The man said, opening his arms as if he was going to hug Habiki.

Suddenly everything went dark once again. "May your dreams be recognized." Habiki heard the man say.

Those were the man's last words before Habiki opened his eyes. He needed to let his eyes adjust to the light, but once they did, he saw that he was in a strange environment. It all looked like something out of a fantasy Isekai anime.

The streets were busy, vendors advertising their products, civilians walking by. They weren't all human either. Some were mixtures between humans and animals. Habiki saw a lizard man, a cat-girl, actual humans, and many more. His dream was finally coming true!

He sat at a water fountain and looked around. It was a beautiful day, and the sun was shining brightly. Now he just needs to find an adventure! He looked to his left and saw someone sitting on the water fountain as he was. They had long silky blue hair, probably a girl, and wore leather clothing.

"Perfect." Habiki said.

He scooted in closer to her. She was reading what looked to be a wanted poster.

"Hey, watcha doin'?" Habiki asked her.

She quickly folded the paper and hid it from him. "I'm reading." She said annoyed at him. "What are you doing invading my personal space?"

"Well I just wanted to see what you were up to." Habiki smiled at her. "I'm new around here and I got no one with me so I was hoping I could find someone to guide me around here."

She looked offended at his comment. "I'm not your servant you know!"

"That's not what I said at all, I just need a friend to show me around, that's all!"

"I'm not your friend."

Habiki frowned and checked his pockets. Surprisingly, he still had all the items he had on him before the accident. He pulled out his phone, 20 yen, and a switch blade. He put the blade and money back in his pocket and turned on his phone. The time was all messed up when he checked it, and he had no internet. "I should've expected that." Habiki thought to himself.

He suddenly saw the woman eyeing his items. He smiled and held the phone to her. "Wanna have a look?"

She took the phone slowly and looked at it. She inspected it all around. "What do you call this?" She asked.

"That's what I call a cell phone." Habiki said. "Now, what do you call yourself?"

The woman raised her eyebrow and looked at him. She looked back down at the phone. "My name is Hanna." She told Habiki.

"Ah, alright Hanna, well my name's Habiki, do you have anywhere to be right now?" He asked.

"I do."

"How bout' I come with you!"

"Definitely not." She told him immediately after his proposal.

"Oh come on, it's a win-win scenario!" Habiki said. "I get to explore and learn the city, and you get a little help from me!"

Hanna scowled at Habiki. She got up and walked away, but Habiki got up and chased after her. "Don't follow me." She commanded, but Habiki ignored her.

"So, who ya looking for?" Habiki asked. "Are you a bounty hunter or something?"

Hanna sighed, realizing that she won't be able to get rid of Habiki. "Yeah, something like that."

"Awesome!" Habiki exclaimed, jumping into the air, raising his fist to the sky. "Y'know, I have some experience as a bounty hunter." He whispered to Hanna. He didn't actually have any real experience as a bounty hunter, but he did do quests and kill criminals for money in video games.

Hanna chuckled at his ridiculous claim, it was so obviously untrue that it was funny to her. They made their way down the city-streets, and Habiki looked at the architecture, which looked not exactly medieval, but more like renaissance era buildings and houses.

"Ooh, what's that?" Habiki asked, pointing to what looked like a store.

"That's a diner." Hanna said.

"Do they serve lunch? I'm starving."

Hanna pulled out a clock and looked at the time. She breathed in and said "Alright."

They went inside and sat down at a table. It was practically empty, and there was not a single person to be see, at least if you don't count the waitresses.

"So do you guys have magic in this world?" Habiki asked.

"What do you mean by 'this world'." Hanna asked suspiciously. "Also, what is magic?"

"Ah, never mind that, but magic is like saying a spell and a fireball shoots out of your hand of your hand."

"You didn't eat any strange mushrooms in the forest right?" She asked, genuinely concerned for Habiki.

"Ha ha, no I haven't." He said scratching the back of his neck.

The waitress came by and asked for their orders. She wore a maid outfit, and she had black hair. He was entranced by how cute she was.

"You guys have maid cafés?!" He loudly whispered to Hanna.

Both the waitress and Hanna gave him a confused stare.

"My bad." Habiki said, making himself small in his chair.

They both ordered their food and he sat back up. Habiki looked around everywhere, fascinated by every detail. Hanna saw this and smiled at his almost childish fascination with the architecture. Habiki saw her smile, which made him smile.

The waitress came back with their order very quickly. Habiki ordered a simple rice bowl and milk, but and Hanna ordered something like sushi, and no drink.

"Itadakimasu!" Habiki said before digging into his plain rice bowl.

Hanna quickly finished her food but Habiki took his time, enjoying each bite. She was clearly rushing herself, but Habiki didn't notice.

"Anyway." Habiki asked with his mouth full. "Who are you looking for?"

She looked through a window. "I'm looking for a man named Odokuro."

"Why are you looking for him?"

Hanna just looked down and didn't respond. Habiki could tell whoever Odokuro is, he must've done something real bad.

After he finished eating they got moving. They traveled down more roads. Habiki saw homeless people sitting on the sidewalk, carrying signs with words he couldn't read, and one held a coffee mug.

He pointed to one and asked "what does that say."

"It says 'please spare some change'." Hanna told Habiki.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his 20 yen, and dropped it into his cup. The man pulled out the money and inspected it.

"Where did you get this?" The homeless man asked.

"I got it from my homeland." Habiki told the man, and walked away, Hanna following behind him this time.

They walked for a while and it was unusually quiet. "Why did you give him that?" Hanna finally asked.

Habiki had to think about it for a moment. "I don't know." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

Hanna got in front of Habiki and started to lead again. The sun started to set, and they eventually found what looked like an abandoned building.

"What's this place?" Habiki asked.

"This is where Odokuro hides out." She whispered.

She went up to a couple steps that led to a wooden door. She put her back up against the wall next to the door and pulled out two long and sharp knives. They must've been well concealed, because Habiki had never noticed them until she pulled them out.

He ran to the wall on the other side and put his back against it, pulling out his switchblade. He felt like he was in a spy movie. Hanna reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it, opening the door. Habiki suddenly felt a little bit of nervousness, he had no idea what lay ahead of him.

She pushed the door open wide. She peeked her head in and looked. There was an ominous staircase that led to a room on the next level. She walked in, and Habiki followed behind her. They walked up the stairs slowly, and with every step Habiki took, the wooden boards would creak, but Hanna wouldn't even make a noise.

She looked into the room. It was messy, things littered on the floor. Boxes, bottles, weapons, and things like that covered the room. Hanna searched for a bit and Habiki just looked around. He picked up a shiny sword.

"Look at this!" She whispered to Hanna.

She looked at Habiki childishly swinging the sword. It was too heavy for him though and he lost his balance, falling on his face. Hanna held in her urge to laugh and Habiki rubbed his aching head.

After a little longer Hanna went back down the stairs. "There's nothing here." She said walking past Habiki.

He followed her back down the stairs and left the building. They were once again walking down the road again, going back where they came from.

"So what are you going to do now?" Habiki asked.

Hanna sighed. "I don't know." She said.

They walked a little longer, but Habiki got tired, and asked to sit down against a buildings. They both sat down and watched the clouds in the sky, go from white to pink.

Suddenly Hanna screamed and frantically scooted closer to Habiki, holding him. "What's wrong?!" He asked.

"Spider!" She said pointing at a tiny spider.

"You're afraid of spiders?"

"Yes!" She said. "They are so creepy!"

Habiki got up and went over to the spider, crouching down next to it.

"Kill it please!" Hanna pleaded.

Habiki reached out to the spider, extending his index finger to it and letting it crawl up to his hand. He went to Hanna and sat in front of her and showed her the spider crawling around on his arm.

"This little guy doesn't want to hurt me, see?" He said. "He just needed a friend."

Hanna watched the spider stand on Habiki's arm, not doing anything. Then Habiki got back up went down the road, and let the spider down on the ground, letting it crawl away. He went back to Hanna and extended his hand to her. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. They looked into each other's eyes for a second, and Hanna's heart practically skipped a beat, but she broke the eye contact and started to walk.

"So, do you have a place I can stay for the night?" Habiki asked, running after her.

"You're asking to stay at my place?" She laughed

"Hey, don't blame me! I'm broke!"

"Maybe if you hadn't given all the money you had to that homeless guy, then maybe you could get your own place to sleep."

"There's nothing wrong with doing someone a solid!" Habiki said. "I could always use some good karma." He smiled at Hanna, who smiled back. "Anyway, it's your turn to do someone a solid and let me stay at your place."

"Nope." She said, giggling.

"Oh come on!"

They walked down the road further as it turned night time. The roads weren't as busy and people went to their houses and slept. Vendors on the street packed up their stuff and went inside.

"So where am I going to sleep tonight?" Habiki asked Hanna.

"On the street." She said.

"For real?!"

She giggled and looked at Habiki. "I'm joking, you can sleep at my place, but only for tonight."

"Yes!" Habiki cheered. "So where are we going?"

"No where." He heard a strange voice say. For a second he thought it was Hanna, but it was too deep to be her voice.

He looked at her, and she looked at him. She was absolutely terrified. Suddenly they were both grabbed by their heads and lifted off the ground. A man walked in front of of them and stood there with a smug smile on his face.

"Odokuro!" Hanna screamed.

He was tall, but lanky, and he wore a nice suit.

"Well, what a situation you've gotten yourselves in." Odokuro said. "We saw you go into our place, and we saw you get scared of that spider." He pointed to Hanna.

"Screw you!" Hanna said, and she spat at him.

"You better watch what you say lady." He said. "I am the one who's on the ground after all."

"Let us go!" Hanna wouldn't give up, and she squirmed in the air, but the hand that held her wouldn't let go.

Habiki wouldn't move. He was too afraid.

"You." Odokuro said. "Where do you come from?"

"Me?" Habiki asked.

"Yes you!"

"I-I-I come from Japan."

"Japan?" He asked. "I've never heard of that before."

"Please let us go." Habiki pleaded with the man.

"It's gonna take a lot more than a 'please' for me to let you go." Odokuro said. "You guys broke into my place, touched and damaged my stuff, now you need to pay."

"What are you going to do, kill us?" Hanna asked, and Habiki gave her this look that screamed "Shut up!"

"No, I will not kill both of you." Odokuro said. "But one of you will die tonight."

Habiki's heart dropped.

"No one breaks into my place and gets away with it."

"Which one are you gonna kill boss?" The man who was holding them asked.

Odokuro thought about it for a second. He pointed his finger at Habiki. "Him." He said. Hanna looked at him horrified. Habiki was too shocked to look back at her.

Odokuro walked up to him, and made eye contact face to face with him. "Such a polite boy, but unfortunately too polite. It's too bad you got involved with someone like her." He turned away and walked to his original spot.

Odokuro turned around and put his thumb and middle finger together, preparing to snap.

"NO!" Hanna screamed. "DON'T DO THIS!" She started kicking frantically and tried to escape with Habiki. The man put Hanna down and pushed her to the ground.

She got up and ran up behind Odokuro putting her knife to his neck. "Drop him or I'll kill your boss!"

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but even if you kill me, you won't save your friend, and my men will find you and kill you." Odokuro said.

"Hanna!" Habiki called out. "Let him go."

"No!" Hanna responded. "Not until he lets you go!"

"Just let him go!" Habiki said.

Hanna started to tear up. "Please don't make me let them do this to you!" She said. "Kill me instead!"

"It's alright." Habiki said. "Go do great things for me, cause I'm not about to die for someone who isn't going to respect my sacrifice."

"Then I won't!" She said. "I won't respect it!"

Habiki sighed. "Please Hanna." He said. "It's your turn to do someone a solid and don't let my death be in vain." He gave one last smile to her.

Suddenly Odokuro snapped. "Kill him." He said.

The man who was holding Habiki grabbed his shoulder with his other arm, and with one swift motion, twisted his head quickly. He could hear his own neck snap and he could feel the flesh of his neck tearing until his head flew off onto the ground.

"NO!" Hanna cried. The man dropped Habiki's headless body and Hanna ran over to it and hugged it, crying. "How could you do this!" She asked desperately, putting her head onto Habiki's chest.

Odokuro walked over to Hanna. "Maybe if you hadn't brought him this wouldn't have happened." He said, walking away with his bodyguard.

Hanna just kept hugging his body, as if by some miracle he'd come back to life. Her vision blurred with tears and she bawled over the loss of a new friend.

For Habiki though, he saw darkness, nothingness. It all felt strangely familiar.

"What an unfortunate end." Someone said.

Habiki instantly recognized the voice. He opened his eyes to see the giant man once again.

"Despite your good deeds, and your willingness to help others, you keep meeting a horrible demise." He said. "But somehow, I feel that you still have more ahead of you."

Everything went dark again. "Please, may your dreams be recognized." Habiki heard him say.

Those were his last words, before he opened his eyes once again.

Written by: HorrorsUnknown