Soul Between Lives

Prologue

Hidden from all the world below, a demoness rides along the air currents looking for her next meal.

*sigh* "Its nothing but greedy businessmen and corrupt government officials after their rival's secrets these days. Nobody wants to learn something useful anymore. Its all about gaining power and never for the sake of learning... Makes me miss the old times. Even those stuffy alchemists were more fun than these kids nowadays."

She looks over at the formation of birds flying along beside her. "You guys ever feel lonely?"

All she got in response from the goose was a honking squawk.

*sigh* "Ah well, time waits for no one."

Shielding her eyes from the glaring sun, the demoness surveys the world below. "Let's see... there should be someone performing the summoning ritual in that tall building over there." She sped up, leaving the flock of geese behind, as she flew toward a nearby city heading for the skyscrapers downtown.

Just as she was flying over an outlying suburb, a massive shockwave stopped her in her tracks.

"What was that!?" With eyes as wide open as possible, she stared in the direction of the origin of the sudden disturbance.

"It feels like something is calling to me. Not like a typical summons ritual... it feels more like an invitation. What is this...?" She warily flew forward to investigate.

She stopped over a middle-class house with a messy backyard surrounded by plain grey cinderblock walls. In the middle of the yard, a young boy of about seven years old was standing on top of a small tree stump. The ground around him showed signs of recent regular traffic as if the boy had been pacing back and forth and around the stump for some time. The lad himself had his eyes closed like he was concentrating on something while shutting the rest of the world out.

[It came from him? But how?] Keeping her thoughts to herself, the demoness watched the boy with a quizzical look on her face.

End of the prologue.

...

A little while later than the start of this story, in a place where bright light obscures everything.

Older man's voice: "Are you sure about this?"

Younger man's voice: "Yeah. It's what I want to do."

Older: "Wouldn't you rather live a normal life, find a lovely wife and have kids?"

Younger: "Maybe someday. But for now, I can't imagine giving up this kind of freedom."

Older: "Sometimes we erase or block out a person's memory so they can start a new life. Wouldn't this make it easier for you? I can let you forget about all of this so you can move on and live properly. Should I do so for you?"

Younger: "Nah. Even if I forgot everything here, I bet I'd feel like something is missing. I'd probably feel trapped as if my life doesn't have the meaning I want it to have."

Older: *sighs* "Alright. But I'm warning you, if we do this you absolutely CAN NOT GET CAUGHT! Because if you do, it is both of our as*es on the line."

Younger: "What would they do? Kill us?"

Older: "With that attitude, I may just save them the trouble."

Younger: "I'm just kidding! Relax, I'll do my part properly. I promise."

Older: *Momentary silence* "Alright let's get started."