Maxi's maid looked at him, worry etched across her face. She was shaking, clearly rattled by what had just happened; her wolf ears were flat against her red hair.
"Young Master… you screamed, and then… you collapsed. Your muscles started spasming, your eyes rolled back into your head, and… and foam came out of your mouth. I didn't know what to do, so I called the Big Mistress. She told me to just put you to bed and that she would arrive soon. But then you started bleeding from your nose, so I told her, and she said this would make you feel better."
His maid said, gesturing to the food.
Maxi blinked, then sighed. He reached out and gently patted the maid's head with his right hand.
"Don't worry. It's okay. I apologize for putting you through that. But I'm fine now."
The maid puffed her cheeks in frustration, balling her hands into fists.
Maxi flinched, already predicting what was coming.
"Called it," he thought before saying,
"Please don't hit me too hard. It still hurts."
She huffed and lightly punched his shoulder. She then buried her head in his lap as he looked down at her. She muttered through the fabric of the blanket,
"Don't make me worry like that ever again, okay?"
Maxi sighed in relief that she didn't hit harder and gave a weak smile.
"No promises."
She raised her fist again, and Maxi immediately leaned back.
"Okay, okay, fine! But don't expect me to start controlling fate or perform miracles."
She let out a small sigh and then muttered into the fabric of his blanket,
"Yeah, I know… that's what gods are for."
Maxi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I didn't know that."
She straightened up, adjusting her maid outfit, one hand on her hip.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Your father didn't give you a tutor until now. So uneducated."
Maxi smirked at the sudden familiarity growing between them.
"Uneducated isn't the right word. I read books daily, while you just stand around all day."
The maid tilted her head, pressing her face closer to his with a playfully annoyed expression.
"Stand around all day? Is that what you call taking care of you? Bringing you food? Buying the books you oh so desperately wanted?"
Maxi then teasingly and exaggeratedly said, "Oh, so it was you who was the one buying books for me, and not my dear, loving mother all these years? Okay, it seems like I will have to confront my dear Mother about that later."
His maid's ears perked up as she flusteredly shook her head. "Wait, all these years—no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. I am not taking all the credit from your mom. No, don't say it like that."
She pouted as she hit his lap lightly through the blanket. "I am only taking credit for this past month."
Maxi chuckled. "Alright, I guess I should thank you for doing that for me, so thank you."
She grabbed his arm, pulling him slightly so they were face to face.
"You're gosh dang right, Young Master."
"Alright, alright, I already said thank you. What else do you want from me?"
They both laughed as Maxi's maid let him go.
She stood up and straightened her uniform.
Maxi sighed as he smiled, enjoying the more lively atmosphere.
He then glanced at the three-eyed symbol on his right hand. The top eye was still looking straight ahead.
His stomach twisted.
It wasn't a hallucination.
Acting on instinct, more than curiosity, he lifted his right arm to examine it again.
The moment he and the eye locked gazes—
The world shattered.
Colors twisted and merged, swirling violently before cracking like glass. The glass then shattered, giving way to a new scene.
A scene where Maxi wasn't [Maxi] anymore.
—————
He stood in a bustling city. The smell of smoke and asphalt filled his lungs, and the honk of cars in the distance filled his ears, along with the footsteps of people and their conversations. Dogs barked, birds sang, cats meowed, and children laughed with joy.
But he couldn't quite enjoy life like the rest of the people, animals, and pets, because he was an alien—not literally, of course. He was not from this land; he wasn't born here, he wasn't raised here, so he couldn't quite enjoy it as the others could.
The joy of going to another country and being in awe had long ago been drained out of him, so even that little bit of joy was gone.
What made it even worse was that he had just gone through an experience worse than death, but he had to pull through.
And
he would have to get used to this place fast, because this was where he was going to have to be staying for three years.
He looked down. In his hand was a note, scribbled with a dorm room number.
He climbed a set of stairs, reaching a door. His heart pounded—not from excitement, but rather anxiety. He hated making first impressions.
He pushed it open.
Inside, amidst a pile of trash and discarded food containers, sat a young version of her—his future wife, Anna. Of course, he didn't know it at the time, but it was destined to happen anyway.
She was gaming, completely unfazed by the mess around her. He internally sighed as he thought about what life would be like living with such a person, but he pushed his thoughts down before they got way too critical.
He put on his new and improved bright and lively smile as he walked over to her to introduce himself.
Time passed. Life seemed to flash before his eyes as the wind flew faster, as his thoughts ran quicker, and his movements ended before he could see them happen—but he kept up.
The sun dropped and rose seven times, marking the end of his first week.
Time calmed as the wind blew naturally again.
While she was out, Maxi cleaned the entire room.
When she returned, she was stunned. They argued—over what, he had no idea. She said something along the lines of, "I don't need your help. If I saw a problem with my mess, I would have cleaned it myself." She said all of that, yet she clearly did find her mess a problem. He saw her trip over her pile of trash multiple times. He saw straight through her. In the end, he ended up carrying her into the bathroom and forcing her to take a bath. How it led up to that, he doesn't know—and how he didn't get sued for sexual assault, he also does not know. All he does remember is that she looked miserable the whole time… but he could tell, due to her constant fidgeting and the occasional smiles that escaped her lips, that deep down she appreciated it.
And after she came out of the shower, she looked brand new, and it seemed uncomfortable at the prospect of this newness, but it looked like she was getting used to it already.
But he did tell her it was going to have to be permanent, because he wasn't going to stay with a stinky roommate. So it was either she took a bath or he forced her to bathe—but one way or another, she was going to be clean. Again, how he didn't get sued, he has no idea.
---
Time jumped. The sun fell and rose more than thirty times this time.
---
Throughout this time, it seemed like Anna was riding the high of her new self—dressing differently, walking with more confidence, smiling more openly.
She was becoming someone new—someone who could stand proud for once instead of hiding away in her game dungeon, which she still had, by the way. It looked like some habits never die.
He was watching TV today when she arrived home—with another man.
He barely reacted. He didn't know the guy, nor was he interested in doing so. He stayed home to stay away from people—why would he interact with one when he was staying home to do the opposite? So he focused on the show he was watching, giving the man a small wave and a bright smile in acknowledgement.
The man waved back.
Anna gave the man's hand a squeeze before they both went to her bedroom.
Before anything could happen, he turned up the TV's volume, drowning out the world, not wanting to hear what came next.
He knew exactly what activity they were getting into—playing Super Smash Bros and the such—and he wasn't in the mood to listen to all that.
He sighed as he knew she was still riding her high, and he also knew if she kept going on like this, she'd crash—hard.
He could warn her, but that would do nothing but hurt their friendship, and then he would have to wait for her to come to him—which either wouldn't happen or would take too long to happen. He is a patient guy, but he doesn't really like arguments, because they usually include shouting, and he hated shouting.
So he decided to do it subtly. He would warn her every now and again, but not enough to start an argument—just enough for her to take notice and decide whether to discard his warnings or take them to heart, and also enough times for him to say, "I told you so," when she crashes.
---
Another time, skip. The sun rises and falls sixty one times before it slowed.
---
It was a stormy, rainy day.
It was quite the dramatic fallacy.
He was working on a project while they were shouting in Anna's bedroom.
He sighed as he heard it all.
Today was the day it all crumbled; today was the day it all came crashing down.
The man angrily grabbed his clothes, slamming the door on his way out.
She tried to go after him, but she was too exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
She fell to her knees and broke down crying.
He didn't decide to help immediately; for a few seconds, he just watched her.
And he saw a woman who had gained a new burst of confidence for the first time in a long time, and in that burst of confidence got lost in it all, and saw and took a man who was handsome, good-looking, spoke well, made her feel things she had only once felt before, and still in the high of her confidence mistakenly built her life around a man who was only there for her highs.
He also saw a woman who was fragile, who was easily influenced; he saw a woman that made mistakes, a woman who broke as soon as the man she saw as her world left, as soon as her confidence faltered, as soon as she showed him what was truly underneath.
But in the end, she was still human; she was allowed to make mistakes and learn from them.
So he helped her, holding her as she broke down.
And he spoke to her.
"Anna, I told you so. I know it's the last thing you want to hear, but you have to hear it anyway. I told you to stop clinging onto him like a life. I told you you may have been rushing things, but most important, I told you not to get your expectations too high because he wouldn't live up to them, and it would end up breaking your heart."
Anna spoke, but he couldn't hear her or remember what she said, but he remembered his reply.
"That's not the problem. You as a whole are not a problem; there's nothing wrong with you. It's just the expectations you put on other people when you haven't even fulfilled the expectations you set up for yourself to live up to.
Anna, I have seen you drop seven friends and one unofficial boyfriend within these two months alone, and I honestly know you don't want a life like that. You don't want a life chasing short bursts of fun. You want a comfortable, stable life where you are free to game and be yourself and have a home where you can come back to with a comfortable bed for you to sleep on, and I want that for you too. But in order for you to get that, you are going to have to work hard, you are going to have to face challenges you don't want to, and you're going to have to learn lessons you don't want to.
But if you struggle and you feel like you can't do it anymore, then I will help you. Just say the word, and I'll be by your side."
Anna's reply was muffled, but he heard his own voice answer:
"Yeah, of course."
A long time passes before he started to let go, but Anna's grip tightened as she said something.
He sighed as he gave her a reassuring smile, as he said, "Sure. We can stay like this for a little bit longer."
The vision cracks like glass. As the color bleeds through, as reality comes back into Maxi's vision.
Maxi gasped as he found himself back in bed, staring at the top eye of his symbol—a reminder of the world he was now trapped in.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "So that's why... she needed someone to help, and I loved helping people, so it evened out."
"But I feel like that isn't the full story, though." Maxi rubbed his head.
Maxi didn't remember everything from his past; in fact, his life didn't even flash before his eyes before his death. When he did die, it was just darkness, then he was here. So he does remember some things; other things he didn't quite remember. Those missing parts were weird because he couldn't think of them or remember them, no matter how much he tried, until a scenario forces or gives him a hint that reminds him of what memory he was missing. For example, "why he loved his wife."
And it didn't even give the full answer. "His wife needing him" isn't a full answer and doesn't fully answer his question; it just gave him one peace of a puzzle. You obviously can love someone because they need you, but that love would be on shaky ground if that was the only reason. You need a lot more reasons than that, which Maxi could tell there were a lot more reasons than that.
Maxi even had a deeper suspicion that he doesn't have the full story, not just of his wife, but of his past life in general.
He felt like he is missing key details of his life that would have shaped him into the person he is now, but now he doesn't remember those events or those lessons.
Maxi frowned as he sighed as he thought
"Unfortunately, right now i didn't have time to ponder on all that because right now i am...
LATE.
He got out of bed.
His maid looked at him curiously. "Where are you going?"
Maxi shook his head. "I am going to my brother for my 'training.' If I don't go to my brother, then..."
A booming voice cut through the castle, shaking the walls.
"OOOOOOOHHHHH. MAXIIIIIIII BLOODHEART! YOU'RE LATE!!!!!"
The door to his room exploded off its hinges, flying across the room and smashing into the opposite wall, leaving a gaping hole.
Maxi's head snapped toward the entrance.
There, grinning wildly, stood his brother. His sharp teeth gleamed, his long pink hair flowed beautifully like a river of flowers flowing past his broad shoulders and across his chest and back. His blood-red eyes gleamed and shined bright in the dust and debris of the broken wall, and his gold royal training clothing hugged his mesomorph body tightly, his short red rim and gold emerald black shirt having the family crest on it, a stapled bleeding heart that has its blood flowing down from a crown with only half of it being completed. His gold crown hung loosely on his head as his glowing red eyes darted around the room, searching for him.
Maxi groaned, rubbing his temples.
"Man, I can't catch a break."