"I thought you would never do that! You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve been trying to make contact with you!" she chuckles, "I can’t believe it, lucky 1105."
"What did you just say?..." My eyes soften lightly at her words.
"Your age, and how long I’ve been watching over you. I have been here since the beginning. To think, you were willing to go into your last life without the use of your most potent school of magic. That won’t do though!" She taps my shoulder ever so lightly, and I feel my soul lurch forward as my connection to Death mends itself. My eyes widen in surprise at how easily the woman had made the impossible possible.
"It’s alright, I just changed the timeline a bit to make it like your denouncement of Death never happened. You’re once again connected to him, but our connection will remain hidden just underneath that one. I won’t be going anywhere, and Death in your next life will be none the wiser that anything is amiss."
My heart pounds in my chest. I can’t help but be drawn to the woman, but more so than that, I’m drawn to the shimmering golden glow that’s emanating from the drawer. I had so many questions, but this took precedence. It is beckoning to me, almost as if it’s asking me to take it.
"What is that light?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Your Karma. A culmination of your actions across your 99 lives."
"Karma?" I echo, my thoughts racing. I had done so much across my lives, I couldn’t believe it had somehow been recorded somewhere, that it had been immortalized in a place separate from my own mind.
"Indeed," she continues, her gaze never leaving mine. "Every action, every decision, every choice you've ever performed has been weighed, measured, and held here. Its golden hue signifies that it leans heavily towards the side of good."
Her words hang heavy in the air as I remembered all the worlds I had abandoned. All the lives that had been lost because I lost. Because I failed them.
"Your Karma reflects the countless lives you have saved, directly and indirectly," she explains, her voice somber yet tinged with admiration. "It is rare to find one whose Karma shines so brightly."
"But what does this mean? What does Karma do?"
"Many things. But first, you must decide what it is that you truly desire."
I hesitate, there are many things that I desire. What did I truly want though after all this time? My mind goes to the many treasures that Nihilothe offered me. They were nice, but none of them were enough. None of them could be considered a solution to the large problem at hand.
"Could my Karma be used to go back?... To fix the wrongs of the past?"
"Your Karma is of the highest tier. But even with such power at your disposal, it is an impossibility to simply rewrite your past lives; it’s only possible to bend your next life to your will, ever so slightly. It might be possible with an even greater power, but this is something neither I nor yourself possesses. Although this small bend we create could lead to undiscovered paths. Here, how about I give you a few recommendations?"
A small piece of paper appears in my hand, with beautifully legible cursive across it.
- A spell of your own creation, one that could turn the tide of battle.
- The ability to retain a portion of magic as you venture back into the past, making easy work of the early trials that await you.
- Or perhaps bless a weapon, or an object with great power.
"Wait, why’s the last one scratched out?"
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"Oh, well I wrote this in a hurry, you know. I decided that one wasn’t very good. What good is a blessed weapon if you go and lose the thing? It would be a total waste of your Karma if you chose such an option. Honestly, I don’t even know why I thought of it!"
My thoughts drift to my family, to the faces that haunt my dreams and the memories that refuse to fade. And there, I find my answer.
"Gabriel," I murmur, the name bitter on my tongue. "I want to ensure his survival."
"Your eldest brother, Gabriel Crowsong. He has insurmountable strength, his presence in this world will be of great assistance to you if he is to survive the night."
"Can it be done?" I plead, desperation clawing at my chest. "Can my Karma really help him?"
"Nothing is certain. Fate is a delicate thing," she replies, her fingers tracing an intricate golden pattern into the air. "But we must try regardless. Tell me, what gift would you bestow upon your brother that might tip the scales of Fate in his favor?"
A vision of my brother fills my mind. Gabriel, standing tall and resolute with his trusty weapon Grave-Breaker in hand, the ancient mace had been passed down through our clan for generations. It was a weapon of immense power, one that could shatter bones and crush spirits with equal ease. Yet, with time, its power grew dull, and it proved insufficient in the face of our enemies.
"Can my Karma enhance Grave-Breaker?"
"Perhaps."
"Then please, do it."
"Very well," she agrees, her eyes shining even brighter now as she weaves an unknown rune in the air. "Let the threads of destiny be rewritten, and may your Karma guide you to a new future."
As her words fill the air, I feel a surge of energy course through me, as though my very soul was being reshaped by the power of my Karma.
Sticking out of the drawer was a long, wooden handle with an inhuman skull connected to the top. My hand grips the ancient hilt, and I look into its empty eye sockets. The mace was far too large for me to wield. Even using both hands, it still felt awkward.
"Grave-Breaker… I want to infuse it with something like Animasculus Excidium."
"Animasculus Excidium? One of the forbidden spells… It is powerful indeed, but I cannot guarantee its effect. At the very least, such an enchantment should allow the mace to absorb souls and convert them into strength, aiding Gabriel in the battle to come."
"Then do it. Use my Karma."
"Very well," she replies, her eyes narrowing with concentration. She stretches out a hand, and the golden light from the drawer envelops Grave-Breaker, the ancient weapon begins to pulse with newfound energy. The raw power emanating from the weapon is on par with a legendary weapon.
"It still requires a word of power to activate it. Similar to how you and I cast spells. Speak the words in your heart, and that weapon will surely accept them."
I look up at Grave-Breaker's glowing eye sockets now, and whisper to it. For the first time in a long time, I allow a brief moment of hope to show through my own smile.
This moment is shattered though as the door splinters open, the devil bursting back into the room. His red eyes blazing with fury as he takes in the scene before him. The majority of my Karma he had been hiding from me has been spent now.
"No, no, NO!" he roars, lunging towards us. But the woman is faster, her form shifting and twisting as she intercepts him. Their bodies mash into one another with a force great enough that my vision, and the room shakes.
"Go, Clara!" she commands, holding the devil at bay, "Challenge Fate, make it your own. I’ll entrust you with the rest of the Karma!" These words only serve to enrage the devil even more as he fights to get past her. With one hand flat against the devil's skull, she points the other at me, and what remains of my Karma fills my frame.
Time seems to slow as I watch the world warp and crumble around me, the familiar surroundings of the room disintegrating before my eyes. I lose my footing, and fall into the darkness below. The light of my next life is already in sight. The night of the Solstice of Souls approaches quickly.
"Will I... Will I see you again?!" My last words hang in the air, a desperate plea amidst the chaos.
"Yes!" Her response is barely audible over the sounds of their battle and the disintegrating reality, but it is enough for me. With that final assurance, I allow myself to be swept away by the tides of time once more.
And as the darkness envelops me, I cling to the hope that this would be the beginning of a new chapter, my final chapter. Two prayers of mine were answered tonight, and as I close my eyes, I have one final thought.
My 100th life will be my last.