"My life has no meaning, yet I cannot die. I strive for the clouds, yet there is no sky. Right now, I live for war... and once it's over?..." - Lucius Mc.Conol

***

"Efenkit darim!" {Speak, pig!}

"For the last time, I don't speak that sh-" Lucius's words were shut down with yet another pistol whip to the face. At this point, he was certain that his face was beyond recognition, even if his country did decide to send someone for him, he doubted that they would be able to get a positive ID out of him.

"Can you stop do-" he tried saying, but was met with a pistol whip to the mouth. Trails of blood stained the wall directly behind him, adding onto to the already dried blood from previous victims or as they called them -informant shits.

The beatings felt like they went on for an eternity, and it wasn't as if the insurgents lacked creativity either. They put him through several 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴; waterboarding, car batteries, even pliers, and all the while he was succumbing to both sleep deprivation and starvation.

"Sergeant Lucius Mc. Conol, that is you, isn't it?" The words trickled into his ears slowly, though it was a wonder how he was even able to hear with how messed up his ears looked. He could not speak, so he nodded his head ever so slightly in response.

"Forgive my men, they weren't trained in interrogation." You could tell that the person speaking used English quite often, perhaps it was one of the higher-ups in this insurgent's division, though Lucius couldn't tell because his eyes were swollen shut.

"Sergeant Lucius, your country has sent a request for your release. Though as a soldier, you must understand the implications that entail.' Lucius answered the question with yet another nod.

"Tell me, Lucius, what are you doing in Ashgatal? And why were you, a mere sergeant, sent on such a task alone? And where are the men you were spotted with a few days ago?"

Even if Lucius could answer, there was no way he was going to tell them that he was in fact the leader of a ghost division sent to kill their leader. Things had started going wrong ever since he and his team had landed in this god-forsaken country.

At every turn, the intel his team was receiving seemed to have been wrong, and at the moment they needed HQ most, they were left in the dark. Lucius had ordered the rest of his squad to lay low, something fishy was going on, so he decided it would be better for the team if he tried to complete the mission alone. That's to say, they were set up for failure, and he wasn't willing to have the whole team die like this.

"Arubis deriscan, al khahit dervurum," whispered another voice.

"Ah, I see. My men have burnt your tongue, then it seems that this will be quicker than I thought... shivata!" the man called out. What followed were a series of footsteps, and though Lucius couldn't see, his trained instincts told him that several men had just entered the room.

"You see Sergeant Lucius, whether that is your real name or not. I do not believe that you are just a Sergeant. This area is deep in our controlled zone, there is no way a normal operative could've infiltrated so deep..."

~Fuck.~ Lucuis's cover was blown, though he expected as much. The insurgents were one of the most sophisticated groups on the ghost division's hit list, with their commander Julaludin Kalmani being the top Afghan warlord on that list. They weren't dumb, a bit of planted information wasn't going to fool them, in fact, it probably just added to their suspicions.

"-the Kalmani will not rest until you withdraw from our lands. We fight for our people, for the ones you have hypnotized and led astray. For Khurasan!" With those words, Lucius lost all sensation from his bdy. Darkness, true everlasting darkness.

~So this is death, huh?~

***

[Candidate for System Trial found...]

[Allocating System resources to Canditate's soul...]

[Allocation complete.]

[Absorb Sunlight] The words flashed repeatedly, like some kind of warning siren in his mind. Lucius was unsure how long he had stayed in that vegetative state, unable to move, speak, or even think.

He had coveted death for so long, but if that was all it had to offer, he was glad to finally be out. Though one thing didn't make sense, or rather, several things made absolutely no sense.

"What are you things?" Lucius stood face to face with a weird green creature, it had no arms, and the string-like limbs that it stood on could barely be called legs. The creature had leaf-life skin and two black beady eyes that protruded from the top of its leafy body.

"We're leaflings, just like you. Welcome to the world new leafling!" replied the creature, before walking away. Just as fast as the group of leaflings had surrounded him, they dispersed and moved on to another spot. Lucius watched carefully as the crowd just stared at the ground, until...

"Welcome to the world new leafling!" A creature exactly like them sprouted from the earth, and after having said the words they moved on to the next spot.

~Chemical torture? Is that it?~ thought Lucius, unable to understand the situation he was in.

~Or maybe I'm dreaming, yeah that must be it. If so, then I welcome a dream without bloodshed with open arms.~ he thought to himself before looking down at his body.

~So I'm a... leafling huh. No arms... great. I can already tell this will be a splendid dream,~ he thought sarcastically before surveying his surroundings. It seemed they were in some kind of patch in a massive forest.

The trees seemed taller than skyscrapers, but Lucius guessed that it was probably just due to the fact that he was the size of a leaf. The area reminded him of his days in Congo, vibrant green trees covered the entire sky and the ground felt nice and moist, a nice break from the deserts of the middle east.

[Absorb Sunlight] There it was again, that blaring message.

~What's this about absorbing sunlight? God's, just let me enjoy my dream in peace,~ he thought, ignoring the message.

"Boar incoming! Everyone hide!"

~Huh?~