"The world is in terror! The Demon God's minions have taken over half of it, corrupting everything. That is why I had to call you. Please, help us, great warrior."
"Why must I do it?" The voice was flat, devoid of all emotion. The man it belonged to had well-built brown hair and a scar across his face. Most people, when they see the goddess, their first instinct is either to worship her or fall in love with her greatness, but he talks as if he is greater than the goddess. Clad in a black suit and white shirt, his eyes were sharp and focused, yet held a profound emptiness as he stared dead ahead. "I have no obligation to achieve your goals. I was dead, and I should be dead."
"Not everyone gets a second chance. The only reason I called you is because of your vile nature. If you accept this life, everything you desire will come within your reach."
"Life is poison. It is suffering, no better than hell sometimes worse. It gives you hope and love like it was your destiny to have it for a few seconds, only to take it away as if it were never yours Life sells nothing but falsehoods and lies; it is nothing but an apple wasted from inside Do you know what is beautiful, true, and truly yours?" He paused, his dead eyes seeming to focus on a distant point. "Death. She comes and takes away all your suffering and hate filling you from inside. She comes for everyone. It doesn't matter who you are, or when. Be it a beautiful summer or a lifeless winter, she comes. And she came for me, taking everything away and giving everything I needed."
The goddess was flabbergasted, her mouth wide open for some seconds. In all her eternity, she had never seen a soul so lifeless even in death a man so in love with the concept of his own end. "You must be out of your mind. Don't you realize I personally came to give you an opportunity?"
"It doesn't matter. In the end, it is the truth." He fixed his suit and straightened his tie, a gesture of finality, staring into her eyes. He was ready, waiting for the goddess to send him back to the void.
"The things you have done and many lives you have taken you may be a demon itself, but that is what I need," she pleaded.
He cut in, his voice rigid as iron. "It is your world, not mine. It has nothing to do with me." He gave her no space for negotiation, his decision as rigid and immovable as a mountain.
"Never in all eternity have I seen a mortal like you," she sighed. "Well, even if you don't want to go, that's fine. But I cannot send you back to your own dimension. Your soul is mine to adjudicate. So, you can either remain with me for all eternity… or you can be with Death."
"Death?" A flicker of interest finally broke through his stoic facade. "Aren't I already dead?"
She smiled, seeing her bait taken. "Yes. But here, a Goddess of Death rules over the underworld."
"The underworld? Then I request you send me there this instant."
"Hold your horses," she said, a note of triumph in her voice. "I can't do that. You didn't die in our world."
With no hesitation in his mind, "Then please, send me there! I shall end my life as soon as possible and"
The goddess cut him off. "That's not going to happen. Death herself doesn't come for just anyone. But…" She let the word hang in the air. "If you do what I have asked, then maybe I can arrange an introduction."
The man stood perfectly still, with a grim smile across his face eyes like an abyss. "Absolutely," he said, his voice a low whisper. "If that is what you desire, but I will do it my way, and you won't interfere."
"I will not directly interfere with any of your actions as long as you achieve the goal."
He knew the goddess was using him to do her dirty work, but he was ready to be used that's how the world functions; everyone uses someone and gets used. He took a last look at his magnificent suit, a very favorite attire for him, and he looked towards the goddess a final look showing he was ready.
"Luis Garavito, also known as the Beast, I command you: make an ocean of demonkin blood that even scares the Demon God."
Black smoke rose through the ground, covering him completely. Soon, all of his senses got numb; it was like he was floating in the air but couldn't feel anything. Soon he heard a voice; slowly the voice grew, and in the end, darkness faded, but everything was still blurred. His vision was recovering slowly, and he could see a girl in a maid outfit who seemed like she was calling him continuously. At the end, he said to her, "Who are you?"
The girl was stunned, stared with intensity worry covered her beautiful white face. At last, she took a step back.
"Call the healers fast!" she said as she left the room.
Luis was confused. He thought he would be reborn again, but now he possessed the body of a 10-year-old boy. This is not what he expected. He tried to move but couldn't; his body was too heavy. For him to take a look, he removed the blanket covering his body, and it completely shocked him. The legs looked like a skeleton; the skin was so thin, if it was pinched, it might show his bones. Sometime later, he came to the conclusion that he was a cripple. The more his mind cleared, his veins popping in his head extreme anger was flowing through him.
"That so-called goddess made me a fucking cripple! And expects me to kill the Demon God? How? By making him feel pity to death? It is better if I just stay dead than being a cripple." Luis made his decision, moving his vision to find any sharp object and end this miserable life.
The door opened; three women came running through it straight for Luis. One checked his veins, one his legs, the third checking his eyes. Two looked quite young, and the older one, just by checking his eyes, started noting down a bunch of things. This made him more restless, as he wanted to get out of this cursed life as soon as possible.
"Young Master John, how are you feeling?" The older one said, looking straight at him.
"N-no problem. My head feels heavy, that's all."
"Can you move your legs or feel any touch?"
"A little, I think." Just as he answered, a sharp pain filled his head so intense that he wished he would die already, but his brain refused to comply and stayed wide awake, letting him feel the pain thoroughly.
He tried to roll around to ease his pain, but his body refused to listen, so he could only helplessly shut his eyes in pain. It was like someone hammering his head with thousands of nails at once; various fragments of memory continued to drift in his mind, and he knew that they were definitely not his own.
Seeing him like this, the healers were stunned and started to hold his body together and were opening his eyelids forcefully to check his brain functions, simultaneously calling out to him.
"Young Master, what's wrong?"
"His body is vibrating!"
"If he dies in our care, say bye to our heads!"
On the other hand, after what felt like an eternity, the pain finally began to subside not totally disappearing, just loosening its grip enough to allow him to breathe again.
A rapid, ragged exhale tore out of his lungs as he tried to catch his breath again.
By now, his whole body was drenched in sweat. Every muscle throbbed like it had been cooked over an open fire; his veins still pulsing from whatever cosmic crap he had just gone through.
Exhale.
And with that, he finally remembered who he was but more importantly, what the hell had just happened.
He looked at the healers; they were staring at him. Everyone was stunned. A complicated expression covered his face, and at last, he said with a deep breath:
"..What the fuck.."
….
"My lord, he had some type of seizure, but now his life is out of danger," the elder healer said, looking down on the floor. And before her was the Emperor of Arkelem in a black throne, majestically emblazoned with rich diamonds surrounding the hall, where many heavily armed guards known as royal guards stood.
The emperor, hearing this news, had no reaction to it. Covered with golden armor and a long masculine beard, he said, "Good. My nephew's life is much more important for Arkelem's prosperity."