In the Valley of Forgotten Souls, a skull dropped to the ground, rolling forward due to the momentum of its toss.
Once its roll comes to an end, it should stop moving, right?
But it didn't!
It started hopping like a rabbit, moving towards the light in the distance.
Behind, white ghosts burst out of the mists and assaulted Sal's corpse.
Nothing was left of it when they were done with it.
Then they flew away, completely ignoring the existence of the skull, which was noteworthy.
Sal's spiritual consciousness, which was inside the skull, was wound tightly around his soul and busy protecting it from the harmful elementals present in the air of the Valley of Forgotten Souls, unable to be expanded outwards, which would have granted him a view of his surroundings.
Thus, he couldn't see what had happened outside.
Otherwise, he would have been surprised, to say the least.
The white ghosts acted like the skull didn't exist.
It's as if they couldn't register its existence.
If that was not the case, they would have come for it like they had come for his body, stealing it away.
Since they didn't do that, it could only mean that the skull was invisible to them, which was a good thing for Sal.
However, why was it that the white ghosts couldn't sense its presence?
If Sal had a chance to witness this abnormality, he would have concluded that the white ghosts could only sense creatures that they could comprehend.
As for those that they couldn't comprehend, they weren't able to sense or see them!
The skull belonged to a Limitless, a creature beyond the scope of comprehension, so it fell into the incomprehensible category for the Faceless White Ghost, hence it wasn't picked up by their senses.
The skull met no issues as it bounced towards the light, following Valerius's will.
Soon after, it reached the light.
The second the skull bathed under the light, the mist as well as the thousands of miles long stretch of land disappeared.
The skull was left hanging in the air.
It plummeted down furiously.
A brilliantly silver river of unparalleled beauty appeared down below.
Plop!
The skull fell straight into it.
****
In the distant corner of the universe, a world with a sky painted a dim color of black could be seen.
It had seven massive stretches of land and many islands in between.
In one massive stretch of land to the west, an area was covered in dark black clouds.
It seemed like it was about to rain.
Rumble!
A deafening thunderclap rang out, resonating through the atmosphere as heavy lightning streaked across the clouded dark sky.
Each jagged bolt of lightning carved luminous paths through the clouded dark sky, momentarily illuminating it with intense, fleeting bursts of light.
Unnoticed by all, when it had thundered and the lightning had flashed, something had fallen out of the clouds.
It was a ray of silver light.
If a magnifying lens was used to look at it from point-blank range, one would see that inside of it was a golden skull with three eye sockets.
If an even better equipment were to be used to do the inspection, it would reveal that a blue light with a red dot rested inside the skull.
The silver light with a skull inside wandered through what seemed like a massive refugee camp.
Beyond the chaotic and cramped sprawl of the Refugee Camp, towering walls could be seen.
These walls seemed to tell a story of great inequality.
Behind these walls, one could hear pleasant laughter, birthday celebrations, parties, and cheerful voices. Outside these walls, the sound of flesh being cut off, blood splattering, cries of anguish, and haunting silence could be heard.
These walls acted like a great divide, separating a world of hurt and pain, where it was a struggle to stay alive, from a bright and wonderful life.
Unaware of it all, the silver light traveled rapidly.
Moments later, it came in front of a thatched shack that looked dilapidated and rundown.
Its walls were made of mismatched materials that barely held together and its roof was patched with various bits of thatch and branches. It leaned slightly as if it might collapse at any moment under the burden of its own weight.
Whoever it belonged to must be as poor as a tree without leaves.
The silver light flashed inside the shack and entered the cold and lifeless body laying on a makeshift bed made of old rags and discarded pieces of foam.
Rumble!
It thundered again, but this time it seemed to be announcing the coming of rain.
Raindrops fell from the sky.
Pitter-patter!
It was amidst the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground that the figure lying on the makeshift bed opened his eyes.
The figure quickly raised his hand and pinched his cheeks harshly. Immediately, he felt pained.
A smile spread across his face.
"I lived!" Sal exclaimed in joy before coughing thrice, indicating something vital.
"This body is quite unhealthy."
Sal came to this conclusion as he was left coughing and heaving for dear life just because he shouted a little.
He had no memories of what happened after the skull reached the light.
Thus, he focused on making sense of his situation.
Firstly, has he succeeded in time traveling?
The answer was as plain as day.
Yes, he has.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be here as his soul would've been captured by the three super factions of the 3000 World during the time he was out.
It didn't happen because he had traveled into such a distant future that he was no more than the stuff of legends or entirely forgotten.
It could also be that he had gone way back into the past when he was still not the common enemy.
As for which one of the two scenarios had played out, he had no way of knowing it in his current situation.
He needed information about the world he was in and what year it was to confirm what had really transpired.
But first, he needed to understand who he had possessed.
He quickly looked around, taking in his surroundings.
His eyebrows raised as what he saw left him feeling bewildered.
He was inside a thatched hut, lying on a makeshift bed, a sign he had possessed the body of a poor person.
'Looks like I am a poor pauper in this life.'
Just as he reached this conclusion, his entire body throbbed with pain.
Sal didn't let out a single cry even though it felt painful beyond words, gritting his teeth and enduring it silently.
He had faced worse, so this much was nothing.
After a while, he got used to the throbbing sensation and inspected himself.
He was in the body of a young man, dressed in old and unwashed clothes that were no better than rags because they were torn from various places.
From each tear in his clothes, badly bruised skin could be glimpsed.
Seeing the condition his new body was in, Sal came to the following conclusion.
'The original body is a young teenage boy who got into a fight and was beaten to death.
'He passed away while lying on the makeshift bed.
'Before anyone could become aware of his passing, I possessed it.
'But why did the possession take place?
'There is no mention of anything remotely similar happening in the heavenly secret.'
Sal rubbed his chin, pondering.
After a while, a flash of realization lit up his eyes, indicating he had gained an understanding of the reason behind the possession.