People have two lives; the second begins when they accept they only have one.
Crux laid over a destroyed staircase residing within a ruined tower that was now just a shell of its former glory. Multiple centipedes had erupted from his right eye, and his body was lavished with blue veins that ran under his thin, pale skin.
A ditzy, wide smile was on Crux's face as his left eye was greying and losing vision—all while he was in a drunken state of consciousness. Only after most of his organs had failed to the eggs that were traveling through his system and he lost feeling in all his limbs did Crux start to lament how he lived.
Clinging to life like he did for 17 years, desperation led him to become a menace to those he came across. A good-for-nothing, traumatized boy who would destroy any bridges before they were even formed.
Scared of being victimized, he used and discarded others like trash, so he'd never deal with the heartbreak of betrayal.
He did everything to survive in the harsh reality he was abandoned in. He lived out of pure spite... and this is where that has led him.
Hadn't even reached the age of 20.
Crux lived as a parasite until he became a host to an actual parasitic disease.
Ironic.
Four battered, peeling walls enclosed him, and only rubble or destroyed pieces of technology surrounded the boy in his last moments—proof of what lone life he lived. His last view of the yellow sky was a destroyed hole in the ceiling that revealed a leaking pipe.
He had stumbled upon this place while running from some civilian guards he had stolen from. The red bag he carried was still next to him, full of bread and cans of beans.
'I know there won't be rest for a piece of shit like me in the afterworld... but I do hope there is at least serenity on my way there.'
At this point, Crux just wished to be out of pain.
Like any of the six types of parasites in the apocalypse, the one that had gotten him was keeping him alive for as long as possible while running its operation inside Crux's body. He was powerless to stop it as his limbs were too far gone, and so were any of the other systems that would allow him to fight this fate.
It was pure agony for hours, to the point Crux wondered why his pursuers hadn't found him yet. They could at least take him out of this misery by stabbing him in the heart. Or a bullet to the brain.
They probably wouldn't, though. Why would they?
Maybe it was the pain and his barely hanging conscience that was letting his subconscious thoughts seep out, but... Crux felt sentimental.
'I can't believe... this is... the end. Is this all I... amount to? One life and that was it? No... I don't want to die... not like this.'
Alone.
In pain.
And unfulfilled.
'... damn it!'
At the end of the day, there was nothing Crux could do. He should've done better to not end up in this situation in the first place, and he knew. He was accountable.
There was no one to blame but himself. He would not curse fate or scream to the sky for some god who had a grudge against him. That's just not who Crux was.
Minutes, hours, and even days had gone by in which Crux counted every second before finally, Crux, a boy with no last name nor loved connections to him (although regretful) at last felt peace in his death.
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"... ello! Heelllllooooo... Hello? hmmmm... Should be about time. Get up, kid."
Crux blinked to a blurry image of a grand chandelier and a major, dizzying headache. A gruff hand was mildly slapping his face before the boy's entire body jerked awake and he sat up.
"Ugh!" He groaned in pain and tried grabbing his head only to feel metal cuffs weighing his wrist down behind his back.
"There you are! Alright... How did this go again? Oh yeah! First is the introduction. I'm Jackenios Pulnemiral the 3rd of the Demiscous Empire! Call me Jack. And you?"
'What...? Who?'
In an attempt to look at the overly cheery voice, Crux raised his head with lazy eyes that burned at the bright, radiating light that entered from all the luxurious, gold-bordered windows.
They all lined the hallway behind the man, which opened to the circular room that Crux sat in the middle of. Around him was a huge ritual circle carved out in gold and multiple different materials on specifically marked areas of the floor.
He was sitting in the center of the big red X mark in the middle of the ritual circle.
The room itself was huge, with shiny, baby-blue brick walls that mirrored the scene happening in the middle.
A single metal chair that looked as though it had seen its fair share of days was under a fancy, confident man who sat on it backward.
When Crux didn't answer his name, Jack continued,
"So, while you collect your thoughts, let me do a quick rundown for ya. You died."
...
A big, dramatic pause from Jack.
'No fucking shit.' Crux was going to snap back before Jack continued with puzzling information.
"I have now pulled your soul from the Lunar River, which was taking you to be judged and given a result due to how you lived. Heaven or hell. Your soul's judgment didn't look promising at all, and it kept almost wailing to be given a second chance. I felt pity listening to that!"
Jack boasted himself up as he talked. A smug smile was on his face and ego filled his tone. He sounded like a really spoiled prodigy of his craft.
"So I brought you into The Channel. Thanks to how strong your connection to the living realm was, and with the gracious help of your royal I, you are now going to have a chance to become a Traverser! Of course, under my rule, that is hehe hehe."
The man kept rambling on about things Crux didn't understand. Was he even a man? This Jackenio—Jack, or whatever — looked to be the same age, if not younger than Crux.
What the hell was The Channel? Lunar River? Was this reincarnation, then? Crux looked down to his body, which was the same as the last 17 years his soul lived in it.
Then transmigration?
'No way. Our country was never magical, even in its prime days.'
"Dude, are you ignoring me? That's real rude, you know!" Jack spoke to him in an annoyed manner.
He got up off the chair and shook his head with a sigh.
"Either get with the program or I will just kill you and send you back."
That snapped Crux out of his thoughts. No matter what was happening, he was alive once again, and not just alive, but healthy. He couldn't blow this chance with his cynicism. Crux was always someone who thought first and acted later, which logically was the better thing, but the more thinking he did, the more he only saw the negative outcomes. The young boy was tired and mentally drained from always being on edge, ready to defend himself.
A wise man once said, "Ignorance is bliss".
'Just go with the flow.'
Crux looked up at Jack, who stood before him wearing royal clothing. High-waisted brown pants with a white shirt that had ruffles around the neck and arms. Then, there was the emerald jewelry embedded into every part of the outfit, the biggest being at the neckline where a huge jewel shone bright.
"I am Crux. Nice to meet you."
Crux fell back into his regular pattern of making acquaintances. He was polite and well-mannered in his speech. Crux was a good sweet talker; It was one of his biggest strengths. He didn't get as many people as he did to trust him by being an asshole.
Those people were now all dead. Ominous foreshadowing? Perchance.
"That's more like it!" Jack cheerfully smiled at Crux.
*Snap!*
Instantly, the cuffs on Crux's wrists got lighter. He could pick his arms off the floor now and he immediately put them up to his face. Specifically, his left eye.
'I'm really okay! I'm okay. That's good. Was that magic? He used magic on the cuffs!'
This was all incredibly fascinating to Crux, and it almost revealed his inner child as he got excited at the use of magic. He quickly suppressed himself.
With all his mobility back, Crux had as much freedom as he perceived to do whatever.
He looked up at Jack, who awaited his next move. The way he was so relaxed and so close to Crux let the young boy know he was not an easy target. Probably because of his already-established talent for magic.
Crux plainly stood up and looked at Jack's face.
He had a crucial decision to make at this moment, and it depended on his mindset. How he was going to view this opportunity, Jack, and his life in general.
Had this been a couple of years ago, heck, even a couple of hours, Crux would be plotting how to kill this kid the quickest and rob him of his valuables. He would lie if he said he wasn't fighting the urge.
But Crux has already felt the pain of death. The pain of loneliness, fear, and hunger. He didn't want to ever feel that again. He wanted to feel the highs of friendship, love, and compassion for once. He wanted to feel happiness, and security and allow himself to be hopeful for a bright future. For this dream to come true, Crux had to avoid the decisions that led to his dark demise in the first place.
That didn't mean to be dumb and sloppy in his senses, to let others walk over him, but to put effort into becoming a better person. Crux had decided to die with as many people as possible, grieving over his life.
So with a polite smile, he asked Jack,
"Explain as much as you can about this Traverser idea to me, Jackenios. "