Prologue [1]

Twilight descended in it's might, painting the city-scape in hues of lavender and indigo. The once-blazing orb that dominated the day had surrendered its throne to a luminous crescent moon, casting an ethereal glow across the sprawling metropolis.

Numerous buildings, like scattered fireflies awakening from slumber, flickered to life as darkness deepened.

Streetlamps dotted the landscape, their soft glow a counterpoint to the vibrant tapestry of light and movement woven by the towering holographic advertisements that adorned the facades. It seemed impossible for dullness to exist in such a glittering paradise.

On the very precipice of one of these towering structures stood a young man, his dreams shattered, and a disfigured resolve etched on his face, a testament to a life devoid of meaning.

The chilling night wind whipped around him, tugging at his ink-black hair, as his wine-red eyes, devoid of warmth, surveyed the sprawling panorama below.

He exhaled a plume of gray smoke, the glowing ember of his cigar momentarily illuminating his face. "I never thought I'd be back in this damned place," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. His gaze remained fixed on a photograph clutched in his hand, a fragment of a happier time preserved in time.

"Promised myself I'd never return," he continued, a faint, bitter smile curling his lips. He flicked the spent cigarette over the edge of the building, its trajectory mirroring his plummeting emotions. He turned then, towards a figure shrouded in darkness.

"Quite ironic, isn't it?" he said, his voice flat. With a solemn expression, he shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered closer to the woman standing at the rooftop corner.

"Are you ready?" the feminine voice, devoid of warmth, inquired.

"... Can you really do it?", His reply was a mere whisper, his eyes still fixed on the shadowy recess.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I couldn't," came the lady's reply.

"But how…? She should be—," he tried to speak but was interjected.

"... Dead?" She asked.

"... Yes." he replied.

"Believe it or not, Ellen... the end isn't always the true end," the voice whispered from the depths of the darkness.

"... Who are you?" Ellen asked, his brow furrowed in suspicion. "Why are you doing this? What's in it for you? How do you even possess such power?..."

".... So many questions, so few answers," replied the lady with a sardonic chuckle.

Ellen clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "... But tell me... Tell me where she is."

"... Far..." the voice trailed off.

"...?"...

"Far, far away. Light years across the expanse of reality itself."

"... And can you take me there?" Ellen asked.

".... I can." She replied.

"And the price?" Ellen inquired.

"... We'll see." She responded cryptically.

Frustration flickered across Ellen's face. "You're not telling me what I want to know," he spat, turning back towards the edge of the roof.

"You want answers, don't you? So why not just take my offer?." the voice continued, its tone devoid of emotion.

"An offer without terms? ... Sounds suspicious." Ellen retorted.

The voice held a brief moment of pause before a reply came. "Cocky, aren't we? .... But you understand you have no other options, right?"

Click!

A click echoed in the tense silence as Ellen produced a gun.

"You can't kill me with that, child," a pair of obsidian eyes gleamed from the darkness, seemingly peering through the weapon.

"Worth a shot," Ellen muttered, his voice laced with defiance.

Bang!

Clink...

-Clank...

Silence descended. A thick, suffocating silence.

Finally... Ellen spoke, a hint of grudging respect in his voice. "You're not entirely human, are you?"

"... Perhaps not." The lady replied.

"Well, it was worth a try." With a shrug, Ellen holstered the gun.

"... You do know I can end you with a flick of my wrist, right?" The lady asked in amusement.

"I couldn't care less, though," Ellen replied nonchalantly.

An unsettling pause stretched between them, heavy with unspoken questions and a growing sense of dread.

"... Do it then," Ellen said, his gaze returning to the dizzying drop below. "I accept your... offer, regardless of the terms. Send me there."

"... Very well." She replied after a brief pause.

Footsteps, sharp clicks of high heels on the cold metal rooftop, broke the silence. Then, a sudden whoosh of air that ruffled Ellen's hair and tugged at his clothes.

The world became a blur as Ellen plummeted towards the unforgiving ground. Wind shrieked in his ears, a banshee's wail that threatened to rip the very air from his lungs. He could only hear the howling wind and the frantic flapping of his clothes. He was falling. Falling to his inevitable demise.

He looked up, his eyes meeting the gaze of a woman with eyes as deep and black as the unfathomable abyss and hair that rivaled the inky darkness of...a moonless night. It was the woman who had been shrouded in darkness all along.

But in those fleeting moments before his consciousness faded, only one word resonated in his mind: beautiful.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud.

He was dead....

Ding!

Cycle of reincarnation...

Soul detected...

Destination selected...

Error...

Eternal influence detected...

Destination Altered...

Processing…

Error...

Tampered soul… Memories cannot be tinkered...

Records in sequence...

Thread of time re-assimilating...

Character analysis...

Deciding fate in tandem with the soul's Karma...

Determined…

Villain...

Vi—....

Error…

Character analysis...

Error...

The character cannot be identified...

Character classified... Anomaly.