1. Autumn Forest

'Did it work?'

Starring at the endless night sky, Juno became perplexed. This was not the crusty old ceiling he was accustomed to.

"Wake up! We have things to do!"

The voice he heard was one he never wanted to hear again. He did the unspeakable to get away from it but it was in vain. Juno's head felt like it was split in the middle by a cold axe when he heard the voice.

"No!! There's no way I could have survived that. That must mean!! You followed me into the afterlife!! No! No! No! Nooo!"

He closed his eyes again and began screaming louder and louder. The thought of him taking his own life for no reason was very upsetting to him. As he screamed he had curled up into a ball and began rolling from side to side.

"Shut up you dunce, this isn't the afterlife! It's way too ugly to be the afterlife."

Tears rolled down Juno's face as he sat up to look at the surroundings. He was in a forest. The ground was lightly covered in leaves and if it wasn't nighttime he would say the leaves that hadn't fallen were a yellow-ish orange color.

He couldn't see past a few trees due to the darkness.

Besides him was the man he hated the most. The man had long flowing hair that was blacker than the night sky. His eyes were the same color as his hair but it had a hit of crimson around the pupils. His skin was as white a ivory and he was as handsome as the devil.

"Have i reincarnated? Transmigrated? What is this!!"

A hint of fear could be seen in his eyes. He flew back into the ball position he had been in before and continued to cry.

"The crying is not need but I do believe your first assumption was correct. The aura of this world is very different from the previous world. It is much stronger and concentrated. I believe I may be able to regain my former strength in this new world."

Juno sat up from lying on the ground in lightning speed and he turns his head in a robotic manner towards the man. Juno had the look of disgust on his face.

The man stands there with a stoic expression on his face. His eyes were of a man that could not care about anything. His arms crossed as a sigh of boredom and patience. His long flowing hair and his elegant oversized robes majestically whip back and forth due to the wind.

"Shut up! I'm tired of you spouting off nonsense, you're just a figment of my imagination! Dr. Plenkin said so."

"Your just a construct my dumb brain created to help me cope with the trauma. That old gypsy even said you weren't real."

In the same robotic fashion as before, he turns his head forward and stares off into the abyss of trees.

Juno stands up from the L shape he had previously made from the way he was sitting.

"I killed my self and now I'm in hell. That's reason you're still here, you're here to torment me in hell."

With a kick to the ass Juno falls to the ground. He looks back to see what had happened and the horror of what it was had shocked him to his core.

"You… You're not supposed to.. how… it's not possible.."

Juno becomes frantic when he sees that the man he had been talking to could touch him. This was not previously possible. Thus it is shocking to him that the man could now touch him.

"No no no no no! This is just in my head. He can't hurt me. It's just my head playing tricks on me! No no no no!"

Juno continued to mumble to himself in a frantic manner. Fear is the only thing he could feel now, the pain from the kick had vanished magically.

Having to listen to the whispers and delusions of a mad man made the man stand in front of Juno more agitated. The man crouched down to Juno's level and gave him a firm smack in the face.

"Listen to me! You are not in hell and I am not an illusion. This is all very real. The only reason I am able to interact with the outside world is because of the strong force of mana that surrounds this world."

The man stands up from the crouched position he was previously in. His face goes from agitated to the stoic expression he held before. His eyes beam down on Juno and crosses his arms again.

"Now that we have the resources, we will begin the process of recovering my former power and you will become my vessel. I suggest you play your part, I am sure that others will not want me to be reborn."

Juno stumbles to get up and run. Out of fear he begins to runaway from the man. Due to the darkness he stumbles multiple times. As he runs he lets out pleas for help. After running for a few moments he falls to the ground.

The dead leaves crunch under him as he falls. The man walks towards Juno. As the man walks towards him Juno sees that the dead leaves don't seem to be affected by the man walking towards him. This gives Juno a false sense of security.

The man crouches down to Juno once more. Juno is paralyzed with shock does not react.

"Please just…"

The man stops what he was about to say and quickly looks into the distance to the right of him. He then flicks his head toward Juno.

"Someone is coming. Their killing intent is far too strong. In our current state we will not be able to defeat them. You have to stay silent not move. I doubt they will be able to sense you will such a weak aura."

Juno's expression turns from shock to agitated with a twitch in his eye.

"Shut up! You're not real! Nothing you say is real! There is no person over there! Just shut up already!"

The stoic man let's out a sigh of frustration and stands up from his crouched position, then he crosses his arms with glint of expectation in his eyes.

As he finishes the sigh a rustling sound comes from the direction the stoic man had been looking in from before.

A glowing beauty approaches them with extreme speed. The only reason Juno could see her was because of her glowing aura. She let off an aura of divinity and perfection.

"Help! Over here! Im currently lost! If you could help me it would be greatly appreciated!"

The beautiful woman grew faster the more he talked as if his words were propelling her towards him.

The stoic man watched as this happened. He stood there and studied the event. In an instant he knew what would happen next. A grin grew on his face as she got closer.

"You should really start listening to what I say in the future."

The stoic man said this and the closed his eyes. The grin still on his face and his hair whipping in wind made him seem like a deity of great power.

"You shut up."

Juno flicked his head in the direction of the man and said this. He then turned back to face the beauty that was closer than she had previously been.

"Ahh… I don't have any money or anything of value but I'm sure we can…"

The woman's speed did not slow down and the moment she was in range she had dealt a devastating blow that would knock Juno out instantly before he could finish his sentence.

Juno fell to the ground and as his vision began to fade he could see the stoic man once again crouched beside him with a big grin that could be seen from space.

"I told you to play your part didn't I…"

These words echoed through Juno's mind as his consciousness faded.