A gentle breeze, the clear blue sky with the occasional cloud. The lone tree in a field of grass, with a figure standing under it. The figure is blurry but oddly comforting. I walk towards the figure slowly, enjoying the calm scenery and warmth on my face.
"Hey there." (Figure)
"Who are you?" (Jake)
"Who am I? Well seeing as I am dead now, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. Call me…Zero."
"No seriously who are you?" (Jake)
"As I said, I don't have a name anymore so call me Zero." (Zero)
"Okay Zero, why are you here? For that matter, where is…here?" I look around a bit more, realizing the calm scene is a far cry from where I was earlier.
"We are in your mind. Err dreams really, I guess. It's kinda confusing to me personally. As for why I am here, that damn woman pretty much threw me in here so you tell me. Why am I here Jake?" He says with a threatening tone at the end.
"I…I don't know. All I remember is agreeing to hold something for her."
"…Damn guess there really is no choice then. Alright, listen up!"
Slightly startled by his shout, I listen intently for any new information that could help me get out of this mess.
"We are going to have to share."
"Share what?"
"…Your body."
"…Run that by me again?"
"Basically, I am a soul. I died in my world and was being reincarnated into this one. Only before the process was completed, that bitch grabbed me from the ether and shoved me inside YOUR soul." (Zero)
"…So you are saying I'm spiritually pregnant. Great."
"Well good to know you still have your humor at least. I figured the pain would have made you mad or even worse, a turned."
"Turned?"
"Never-mind. Anyway, think of it as having two people in one body while both can control it. We need to be partners if we are going to make anything out of this. Especially now that that lunatic summoned Field class demons into your little group."
"So, that's what those orbs were…I saw a few of them head straight for me but get evaporated before hitting me. What happened there?"
"By having my soul semi-merged with yours, you perpetually emit a weak…erm field I guess you can call it. The good news is that you will never get possessed by any demon. Regardless of class."
"That's good news." I sighed with relief. "I don't think I could handle the pain of another soul being jammed inside me."
"...Yeah about that…I felt that too. Nice job hanging in there by the way. From what I see in your memories, you don't have any resistance to pain or torture, so I was surprised you came out of it with your sanity intact…mostly."
"What do you mean mostly? And why did you feel that too?"
"I felt it because since we were getting semi-merged, what you feel mentally and physically would of course get transmitted to me as well. Remember the whole two souls controlling bodies thing? The same goes for feeling, senses, and emotions. As for the 'mostly' remark…"
"Just tell me. I'm pretty sure nothing can top what I've already seen."
"Fine. Your mind was forcefully unhinged to accommodate my soul during the semi-fusion. That's why you saw those visions and flickering. From what I understand you are definitely still very much sane, but there is something inside you that broke free. It's like your base instincts and mind are less inhibited than before."
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"Honestly? Could be either or both. There is really no way to tell until it manifests itself." (Zero)
"Sigh…just what I need, more shit to deal with. I'm already up to my neck in trouble with that lunatic and Claire somewhere in trouble…what am I gonna do?" I complain to zero. I know that it is unfair to blame him as a cause of trouble but I really don't know what to do at this point. I'm chained in a room to an altar, with about fifty people who have now been officially possessed by "field" class demons, on top of a buff lunatic with a wicked right hook…
"Maybe I can help you out…" he says apprehensively.
"How can YOU help? You are dead remember?"
"True, but I can still control your body and do things that you can't. Like magic for example."
"You can use magic?! Then get us out of here and…"
"Woah slow down there. If I start using magic with your body without you controlling it, we could end up worse than dead. Not to mention we JUST got SEMI-fused. We need to be fully fused to use even basic spells safely."
"Then how did you plan on helping?"
"Body enhancement spells. Moving energy outside of your body is lethal right now with our fusion just barely there. Any kind of magic recoil and we would both end up dead…if not completely paralyzed and in eternal pain. Just...trust me on this ok?"
"So, body enhancement. Like stronger muscles and better reactions?"
"Now you are getting it. I can give you a helping hand but I can't do anything for you that wouldn't hurt you. I'm sorry Jake…we need to work together on this…please."
"…" I think about everything that he has said for a moment. What if he is lying? What if he takes over my body and I can't ever get it back? What if he is a demon as well? So many questions are racing through my mind, but there is one that I need to be answered no matter what.
"Can you swear that you will never try and control me? For our future."
"Jake I wouldn't dream of it unless you wanted me to. Partners?" The figure extended a... thing, a hand maybe? I reach out and grab it with my hand and shake it firmly. "Partners. For our future."
Suddenly the blurry figure comes into focus immediately. I see a handsome older man. Dark blue hair with streaks of silver. He is wearing leather armor with iron shoulder pads and light metal gauntlets. At his waist hang two peculiar-looking daggers giving off an ethereal and majestic feel.
"Thank you." He says simply. "You should probably get going now. Once you wake up, I will start the enhancement. Try not to move too much during the process so nothing gets messed up alright? Also if you need me just think about talking to me and I will respond."
"Alright, thanks Zero."
"No, thank you…partner, for a chance at life again. Also, before I forget, that girl of yours. The one named Claire…be careful of her. I went through your recent memories and something seems familiar about her to me. In a very bad way."
"There's no way-"
"Just be careful alright?"
"Alright." The scenery starts to shift and bend and fade out into the darkness.
***
I wake up still chained to the altar and immediately notice something different about the room. There is no one else besides me here. I recall what Zero told me in the dream and try to think about talking to him.
(Zero? Are you there?)
("Yeah. I'm starting the enhancement process now. Give me a bit of time, I'll let you know when it's done.")
(Thanks. I wonder where everyone went? I ask with slight dread.)
("Dunno, while I was in that dream with you, I couldn't use your eyes either.")
(Alright. Let's get started.)
Immediately I felt something wash over me. A gentle invigorating feeling that slowly courses through me. Like waking up well-rested and refreshed mixed with the adrenaline of danger. I can feel it seeping into my muscles and bones as my mind becomes more clear and serene.
("There, it's all done. This is a permanent enhancement but it isn't much of a boost, to be honest. You can probably snap those chains of yours with a lot of effort but that's about it. Although, I would recommend against that in case the big guy comes to take you somewhere else. The effects need a bit of time to fully synchronize with your body and mind, and in your current state, I doubt you can fight him.")
(Yea I figured as much. Thank you though. But since we have the time, why do you think that something is up with Claire?)
("She reminds me of someone I used to know back in my world and is a dead ringer in terms of looks too. It's just a feeling, so like I said, just be careful.")
(Fine, I will keep an eye out for anything weird with her.)
I lean back and notice the roll from earlier lying on my lap and think to myself wish I could tell if this was drugged or not. I really don't want to be out of it like those people were if I need to make a quick get-a-way.
("Oh, you don't need to worry about that. My enhancement temporarily reduces that mind-altering effect of the medicine in there to nothing. But it won't last long so we need to get out of here.")
(How long exactly do I have?) I ask while sitting up and starting to inspect the delicious-looking roll.
("Two hours…tops. Less if you eat that roll.")
I quickly put the roll down and once again lean back against the altar while thinking of a way to escape.
***
What feels like hours later, the large man came back in with one of the people from before walking behind him. He grabbed my chains and simply said "Get up.".
I slowly get up and stumble a little to give him the impression that I was under the influence of whatever drug he was trying to feed us.
"Come." He said.
I slowly follow with dragged footsteps.
(Any idea what we should do Zero?)
("Just wait for an opportunity to present itself. Remember, you can't take him on with your strength. Try to sneak out if you can.")
(Got it.)
I walk to the metal door that leads out of the room and back into the room with cages. I notice that there are another two doors that I missed before while I was inebriated last time. One to the left, one straight ahead, and the door I just walked out of for a total of three in the room.
We keep on walking straight to the door on the far end of the room, ignoring the door on the left. He opens the door and beckons me inside with a motion of his hand.
Inside, there is a very large octagonal-shaped room with weapons lying everywhere on the floor and hanging on the walls from hooks. There are also cages with slide-up doors with numbers one through sixty-four with one person in each cage. He leads me to cage number forty-three and shoves me inside. I stumble to keep up the inebriated impression while getting a resounding headbutt against the steel cage for my efforts. Thankfully the enhancement seems to have made me less receptive to pain.
("That part is temporary just so you know. Be careful, just because you can't feel something doesn't mean an injury isn't there.")
(Point taken...I'll be careful. Still, doesn't this kind of look like an arena or colosseum?)
("Yeah, it does. I don't like this.")
I sit at the back of the cage and try to relax. No point in being stressed out if there isn't anything I can do about it at the moment. I think to myself to calm down. The occasional scream or creepy laugh going around the room isn't really helping much. Try as I might, I can't really calm down all that much with everything that has just happened in one day.
I am jerked out of my thoughts when a loud booming voice comes through unseen speakers.
"WELCOME EVERYONE! TODAY WE WILL BEGIN THE FESTIVAL OF SMILES. THERE ARE A FEW RULES. RULE ONE GET FIVE KEYS AND YOU WIN. RULE TWO, YOU MUST KILL YOUR OPPONENT TO WIN! RULE THREE, BESIDES THE FIRST TWO, ANYTHING GOES! HAHAHAHAHA!
Then all of the cages open as people sprint towards the closest weapon to them. I look at the cage next to mine and see her.
"Claire…"