Prologue

Destiny, whimsical in its designs, often lifts us to the highest peaks only to hurl us into the deepest abysses in a matter of seconds.

For the young man who witnessed what he shouldn’t have, the highest point was the top of a skyscraper, and the abyss, the icy pavement of any ordinary pedestrian street.

He died, as expected. But, contrary to what many mortals believe, death does not mark the end of everything. On the contrary, to the fortune of our protagonist, it was merely the beginning of a new life.

But the nature of a “new life” is often elusive and hard to predict. Nevertheless, it is always preferable to the infinite void where human souls expend their energy and fade from existence.

But let’s return to our protagonist. Confused like the rest of the newly deceased, he found himself floating in nothingness, a sensation of weightlessness that defied any human understanding. He had left behind his mortal body, a shell now stripped in a world where things have mass and particles. His soul, now only an echo of a 23-year life, clung to a different existence, full of experiences and feelings. A brief life, but a life nonetheless.

The ex-alive, deprived of sight but not of perception, explored his ethereal surroundings. Infinite darkness enveloped him, but something else slipped among the shadows, a subtle sensation that eluded words.

He found himself in the dark void where the stream of life empties, alone… or so he thought. He observed what seemed to be stars, tiny spheres of light dancing in the twilight of the ethereal landscape.

To his surprise, two of these spheres of light drew closer to each other. One seemed to absorb the other, devouring its light. A shiver ran through the protagonist as the remaining sphere grew, gaining more energy and, consequently, more time of existence after death.

Terror invaded him, but the idea of fleeing vanished as he lacked limbs. In the distance, he watched as other spheres fled, in a way unknown to him, initiating a chase in this strange plane of existence.

Time seemed to stretch into eternity, but its glow began to diminish, although without eyes to notice. He could deduce that, like him, those other spheres had felt the same fear, and unlike him, they had decided that fleeing was the best option for their survival. He chose to remain still, conserve energy, and avoid the fate of the previously devoured sphere.

Hours passed, or perhaps days, as he remained motionless, as much as his ethereal body allowed. Fatigue invaded him, sending him slowly into a deep sleep, from which he wouldn’t know if he would awaken.

In an undefined time, he woke up, and to his unpleasant surprise, he was still in nothingness. The idea of ​​remaining still to survive hovered over him, but a few centimeters away, a sphere of light stalked him.

He held his nonexistent breath, trying not to make noise, although he lacked lungs to breathe; a reflection of his former human condition. The sphere was still, rotating on itself as it seemed to search for any movement in the void.

Our protagonist remained motionless until anxiety and panic about being next invaded his being. He knew he couldn’t run, more because he didn’t know how than because he didn’t want to. The decision to stay still seemed the most sensible to avoid the fate of the previously devoured sphere.

Time passed, and the sphere remained close. At one point, an internal voice emerged in his consciousness, a dialogue with himself that revealed his thoughts and fears.

“What if I eat them first? Then there will be no one to eat me!” -His own voice echoed within him, causing a mixture of disgust and surprise.

“I’m not going to do that,” he replied, resisting the idea of ​​feeding on other spheres of light, which presumably were lost souls like his.

“Don’t you see that it’s the only way to survive, idiot?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not going to do anything weird, I’ll just stay still until everything passes and find a way to come back.”

“Do what you want, anyway, you only have a few minutes of energy left. You’re going to disappear, mister ‘I don’t eat others to survive.'”

“Well, then I’ll leave here without having hurt anyone, for wanting to prolong something that can’t be prolonged no matter how much one wants.”

The other voice spoke in a furious tone, revealing hundreds of voices, which spoke in unison.

“What a waste of energy you are! You’re not even worthy of being consumed and joining me.”

After that, he watched as the sphere moved away, seeking its next victim.

“Doesn’t matter, I only have 3 more to be able to obtain a physical form. I don’t care what I become, but I need to come back to life, soon. With 105, they seemed to be enough, but I’ll have to try with 108. Maybe then I’ll have better luck. I’m glad you didn’t fall for my tricks. I don’t want a pacifist who is content to survive inhabiting the same body as mine,” declared the sphere, its voice echoing in the vastness of the void with a malevolent satisfaction.

A feeling of relief flooded him as he noticed how its presence faded away in nothingness.

“Thank goodness,” he sighed in relief. “Well, I guess I just have to relax and wait for it to disappear, if what it told me was true and I only had a few minutes of life, or death, well, existence, well, neither, I don’t know, I’m going to relax. What does it matter? I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow to go anywhere,” he said as he laughed lightly to himself, something that strangely comforted him, it had been so long since he had laughed.

“So…” he yawned, “There’s no heaven, no hell, no nirvana, or anything like that… it’s a relief, in a strange way.”

Little by little, his glow was diminishing, blinking intermittently, weaker each time.

A voice, different from the one that tried to convince him earlier, appeared in the head of the spherical ex-human.

“You’re very interesting.”

“Oh, no, the one with the 108 souls again.”

The voice laughed cheerfully.

“No, I’m not that amalgam of souls, don’t worry.”

“And who are you?” he asked.

“Well, I’m someone who can give you a second chance, a new life.”

The sphere remained silent for a moment and then spoke.

“And the catch is…?”

“There’s no catch, pup.”

“I’m not a pup, by not being, I’m nothing.”

“But you were human, right?” the voice asked with curiosity.

“Yes, you said it, I was, from the verb ‘not anymore’.” If he had a mouth, he would have smiled, as it seemed that his sense of humor was still with him, even after all that, something that cheered him up a bit.

“I like your humor. Although you’re about to disappear, you still have a cheerful and happy attitude, and I quite like that you didn’t accept the offer before mine, that says a lot about you.”

“Thank you, although you haven’t told me what your offer is, beyond saying a new life and a second chance.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“No! Just that ‘new life and a second chance’ is very ambiguous, I need you to be more specific.”

The voice emitted a slight laugh.

“You will be alive again, in a new body.”

“That’s as far as I go, mysterious voice in my head, but what kind of new body are you referring to? If I’m a tree and I’m going to live for hundreds of years but I won’t be able to move, speak, or anything like that, I’m not interested.”

“So in your world, you don’t have trees that walk and talk? I’m sure you’ll love mine, you’ll discover so many things,” the ethereal voice commented with a curious tone.

“I’ve always liked to see new things, but I can’t imagine a tree talking and walking down the street as if it were a person,” he said as he laughed lightly at that ridiculous scene.

“You won’t be a tree, although you might be. Who knows? That will depend on your tastes after all.”

“I assure you I won’t be a tree if I can choose.”

“Of course you can. What do you want to be? A dragon? A bird? A shapeshifter?”

“But can’t you see that I’m already a shapeshifter? I’ve changed my human form for that of this weird sphere thing, and I’ve only needed to die for that,” he let out a small laugh, it seems that talking to that voice filled him with tranquility, enough to laugh, forgetting the situation he was in, “I wouldn’t like to have scales and spit fire. What if I catch a cold and accidentally burn a city?” He smiled, although he had no mouth to do so. “And a bird… he thought for a moment, “well, flying and all that is fine, it’s been the dream of humans for centuries, to fly like birds, but I’m afraid of heights, so… no.”

“So the option of being a shapeshifter doesn’t disgust you?” the voice asked again.

“Well, it sounds interesting.”

The sphere observed the other spheres of light, the other souls that were in that strange place.

“Can’t I become human again in your weird world?”

“No, pup, I’m very sorry but once your human life ends, all humans end up there, in the void, until they disappear, besides, there are no more humans where I come from.”

“Why?”

“Human souls are not strong enough to transcend that place, and under normal circumstances, they disappear. As for my world, I think you’ll have to learn it in due time, but there are no humans anymore.”

“No, I didn’t mean that, thanks for that information, but I was better off not knowing… I mean why did you choose me instead of someone else from the, I don’t know, thousands that are here.”

“Well, I think you’re eager to live.”

“I think like everyone who just died, right?”

“Of course, but in my world, the choice is not as simple as it seems. It’s not just about desires or whims, pup. Each soul is unique, and there are factors beyond the obvious. In your case, I see something special. Despite your difficult experiences as a human, there is a strength in you that goes beyond the life you led. Perhaps, in that strength, I find the opportunity to create something new.”

The protagonist reflected on the words, trying to understand the complexity of the choice.

“Besides,” the voice continued, “in my world, souls are not chosen only for what they were, but for what they could become. It’s an act of creation, an opportunity to give a soul a second chance to explore its true potential.”

The sphere assimilated the information, still skeptical, but feeling a strange mixture of uncertainty and curiosity.

“I hope it’s not a trap or something, but I have nothing to lose, I suppose.”

“Only your soul.”

“No way,” replied the flickering sphere.

“I was kidding, pup,” the voice laughed softly. “That said, you’ll have to go through a special process to come with me, if you agree, as I told you before, human souls cannot pass from this place.”

“Will it hurt?”

“No, don’t worry, it will be painless, I promise you.”

“Okay, although I still don’t know what I’ll be in that other world.”

“You’ll be like me, and at the same time, you can be whoever you want, with a little time,” the voice sighed, “So, do you give me permission to return you to the stream of life, and take you to my world with me?”

“I suppose so, although ‘you’ll be like me’ doesn’t give me any information.”

“You’ll be a Mew.”

“Oh, a Mew, great,” he said in a somewhat sarcastic tone, “I don’t know what a Mew is.”

The voice let out a small laugh.

“You’ll see, in due time, you need to rest first.”

“Yes, this has been an experience I don’t want to repeat.”

“Don’t worry, pup, relax now.”

“I’ll try, and stop calling me pup,” replied the sphere.

“I’ll never stop doing that,” the voice began to laugh softly, “Well, let’s start with the process to bring you back to life, okay?”

“Yes,” the boy remembered something for a moment, “Wasn’t I supposed to disappear in a few minutes? How come there was time to talk so much?”

“Don’t look for logic, time doesn’t work the same where you are as in your old world. Although before we start, are you sure you won’t regret it later? Being with me in my world entails, like everything, some responsibilities.”

“Well, among the options of disappearing from existence or living again in a world I don’t know, and which makes it a thousand times more interesting than the one I come from… I think you already know which one I’m going to choose, right?” -He smiled- “What responsibilities?”

“They’re not very difficult, for a human, yes, of course, but in your new form it will be easy, like a walk in the forest. I’ll explain it to you later.”

“Okay then.”

“So be it, pup,” the voice fell silent for a few moments, while a last word was heard, resonating in the void:

“Transmute.“

And after that, the sphere disappeared.