Echoes of Fire And Shadows

Prologue

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I opened up my eyes only to find myself in a place where the color white reigned supreme.

"Where am I…?" I asked. 

I was in a white void. The void reached as far as I could see. It felt like it was engulfing everything around me.

I tried to look around me... 

I was trying to find something that would give me a clue to know where I was, but it was a futile effort…

"How did I even reach this place...?" I continued to look around with a confused expression.

No matter how much I looked around, the white void did not change in the slightest.

"There's no use…" I tried to remain calm, but my desperation and my confusion were getting the better of me.

It was then that I noticed it… Something was not right with my body… Something was compelling me to lift up my shirt...

My body moved on its own. My hands reached for my shirt and I took it off…

I couldn't believe what I had seen…

"What… What is that…?" I was extremely confused.

There were six bleeding holes scattered all over my torso. Two were in the place where my stomach should be, one was on my kidney, two were on my lungs, and the last one was directly where my heart should be.

I instinctively knew what had caused these wounds…

"Bullets… No way… Did… Did I die?" I gasped as I realized what might have happened to me.

But strangely, I did not feel any pain...

"I'm afraid that is the case, young man." A manly voice resounded all around me.

Thanks to my previous discovery of the bullet wounds, I was cautious of the voice.

"There's no need to be on the edge. After all, it was I who summoned you here." The voice appeared to be getting closer to me.

"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?" I asked the voice.

"A good question. Can you answer that very same question, young man?" 

The voice no longer resounded in the white void. It came from behind me.

I quickly turned around to meet the owner of the voice.

I was left speechless thanks to his appearance.

He has short white hair and silver-colored eyes. He seems to be at least 1.80 meters tall. He is wearing a toga similar to the ones the ancient Greeks used. He looks young… He looked like a young man in his early twenties.

"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?" I asked the mysterious man. I was still very cautious of him.

"You're still on the edge... I understand why you would feel so cautious of me after discovering such shocking news." The man nodded in understanding.

He took a deep breath before his expression changed.

"Julius, I'm afraid to inform you that you have lost your life." He spoke with a serious expression.

So, I really died…

But now the real question is: how did I die? I never made any enemies that would want to shoot me to death...

Just as I was thinking about the cause of my demise, my body started trembling and I experienced the worst headache in my life.

I fell to the ground and started to breathe roughly thanks to the pain...

Flashes of a tragic scene immediately crossed my mind.

I was in the middle of the kitchen at my parents' place, I turned around and I was shot.

The maniacal laughter of a familiar girl resounded in my mind as I remembered the faces of my killers.

My adoptive mother, my adoptive father, my best friend, and my girlfriend who I wanted to propose to…

My best friend, Chris was holding the gun while my girlfriend, Claire was laughing maniacally beside my parents. My parents were also chuckling as if they were having the best time of their lives.

The headache and the flow of memories suddenly stopped.

"..." 

I could only look at the ground in shock.

"Is… Is this some kind of twisted joke…?" I asked myself that question.

I remembered everything vividly… I was killed by the people I loved the most. 

"But why…? What did I even do to be killed by them…?" I hit the ground with my fist with anger and confusion.

I couldn't understand why it happened... 

"Julius, you just received sad and shocking news, but believe me when I say that I plan to punish the one responsible for that tragedy." The man said with determination.

"The one responsible for that event…? Are you telling me someone forced my family to kill me? Then why did they look so ecstatic...?" I was completely dejected and depressed. 

The man shook his head. 

"You know them better than that, right? You should know that they would never in their sane mind do such a thing." The man said something that I had forgotten.

"You… You're right…" I had to nod in agreement.

Despair made me forget that fact...

I always had a good relationship with my parents, they have always been good people and good parents. They were always loving to me each and every single moment ever since they took me in after the deaths of my biological parents. 

No… Even before that, when they were just my uncle and aunt, they were always kind to me and tried to spend time with me…

The memory of my parents laughing while I was dying crossed my mind once again…

"There's no way they would ever do that willingly…" I muttered to myself.

My best friend, Chris… He has been my best friend since elementary school… 

The image of him holding a gun crossed my mind.

I immediately shook my head in denial. 

Chris had a phobia of guns. He had always expressed open dislike for real guns and even for video game ones…

"Hahaha… It is so obvious when you think about it…" I laughed bitterly.

I then remembered Claire, my first and only girlfriend. The person I wanted to marry.

The person who would cry if I got hurt playing sports… A person who is not even capable of killing a small fly, because she feels bad for them.

The sight of my compassionate and loving girlfriend laughing maniacally while I was being shot, doesn't make any sense.

No… It is simply impossible…

That person was not Claire. 

"Are my sisters alright?" I had a serious expression when asked the man about the well-being of my adoptive siblings.

"They are alive and well. Luckily for them, they were away at the time of the incident." He replied with confidence. 

"I see." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 

I kept taking deep breaths in order to calm myself. When I finally felt that I was calm enough, I opened my eyes to face the man.

"You said that you were planning to punish the one responsible for the tragedy of my death… I want to know everything you know." I said with a blank expression.

"Patience, Julius. I believe that I still need to introduce myself." The man smiled warmly.

By now, I was no longer cautious about him for some reason."

My name is Melius. I am the God of Light and Creation." He introduced himself humbly.

God...? 

"You're God…?" I looked at him dumbfounded. 

He didn't fit the descriptions of any Deities I've read about... He was wearing a toga, but he didn't look like the descriptions of Zeus or other Greek Deities... 

"I am a God from another world, it is natural that you wouldn't recognize me." He said with a gentle smile. 

I was left dumbfounded thanks to what he had just said.  

"Did you just read my mind…?"  I looked at him with confusion.

He nodded before speaking again.

"Allow me to explain what really happened and why you're here in this void." His expression changed to a really serious one.

Even though I was still a bit dumbfounded about him reading my mind, I prepared myself to listen to what he was about to say.

"Julius, as I have told you before, you died. At the age of 20, you lost your life. As you may remember, you were killed by your adoptive parents, best friend, and girlfriend. But the truth is that your murder was not their fault. Someone I know was behind that tragedy." Melius explained with a serious expression.

He turned around and looked at the empty white void.

"Your family, your friend, and your lover were manipulated by that person. He was using his powers to confuse them and control their actions. Making it seem like they always wanted to do that. The truth is, that this horrible monster is a God who gets pleasure by witnessing the miseries of mortals." There was a lot of anger in Melius' voice.

He stood there silently as if he was admiring the emptiness of the endless white void.

He then turned around to face me again.

"His name is Agmos. He is the God of Deceit and Treachery. He's the reason why you lost your life at the hands of your loved ones." He looked me straight into my eyes and revealed the name of the one responsible for my death. 

"Agmos… I see… A God was behind my death…" I looked at the emptiness in front of me with frustration.

I knew the truth about my death and how that horrible monster used my loved ones for his sick amusement, yet I can't do anything about it…

"Now that you know about him, we need to talk about why I have summoned you here." Melius looked as if he was expecting something from me. 

I looked at him with a lot of expectation.

"Julius, the reason I brought you here is that I want you to release me from this place." He explained his motivation.

Release him from this place…? 

"I don't think I'm able to do that. I'm dead after all…" I shook my head.

"Just listen to me, please. This place… This white void where there's nothing besides you and I… This place is my Divine Realm. A place that only I control and a place where my power reigns supreme. Agmos and his siblings managed to convince other gods to gather power to seal me here, in my own Divine Realm. As a result of being sealed, I cannot interact with the world I created nor can I use the full extent of my powers. I am merely a hollow shell of what I used to be." Melius smiled bitterly.

I looked around the white world surrounding us…

Melius' realm had become his prison.

"Julius, I collected what little power I could in order to summon you here and ask you for this favor. Please break my seal." He bowed to me.

I was caught off guard by him bowing to me…

"I want you to reincarnate into the world I created and release me from this place." He pleaded with me.

Reincarnation… That means I get to live once again...

I have read several books and played multiple video games with that premise.

"Could I find Agmos if I looked for him in your world?" I asked Melius.

He simply shook his head.

"It would be far too dangerous for you to do that... Julius, I understand that your heart desires retribution for what he did to you and your loved ones, but we must act carefully while we have the element of surprise. Julius, I will support you with all my power to have your vengeance, after all, I also want to punish him for what he has done to me, but we must not be hasty. He has way too many allies and he's too powerful for you to take on." Melius shook his head again in disapproval.

I was about to retort, but I knew Melius was right… I couldn't deny that it was a stupid plan to go and attack Agmos right away… I was simply foolish to think that I, a mortal with no power, had a chance to make that deity pay for what he did.

"For now, our safest bet is to find my friend and ally, Lia. She's the Goddess of Knowledge, so she must know how to release me from this prison." Melius had a very serious expression on his face.

Melius then walked toward me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Julius, will you please help me? I cannot ask anyone else this favor." He asked me with a bitter smile even though he already knew my answer.

"I will help you. But I need to ask this first… When we are done with Agmos, can I see my family again?" I asked Melius.

He shook his head. 

"I cannot help you with that, sadly. It is not my jurisdiction. Only the Gods of Earth could allow you to see them again. I'm sorry." He seemed a bit sad. 

"I see…" I looked at him with disappointment. 

I was enraged at what Agmos had done to me and my loved ones, but I was also extremely sad that I wouldn't be able to see them again... 

"Julius, I cannot thank you enough for helping me. You're my only hope of being released right now… It took me thousands of years of collecting my power, but I should be able to reincarnate you as a humanoid." Melius looked genuinely grateful.

Melius then laughed awkwardly.

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough power to set the rest of the parameters of your reincarnation, so as for what gender, race, or genetics you will have will be all unknown until you're fully reincarnated. Even your location might be random..." He explained awkwardly.

So I could be reborn as a woman or as part of another race other than a human?

"I understand… But what choice do I have? I cannot allow Agmos to get away unpunished for what he's done to me! I don't care if I'm reborn as a plant or a humanoid shark, I will make that bastard pay!" I smiled.

Melius nodded as if pleased, but…

"Julius, as much as I want you to have your revenge, I would prefer that you had a good new life. Don't let revenge be the focus of this new opportunity. I want you to live a life without regrets... You deserve it. After all, this is all because I allowed Agmos to live for far too long..." Melius had a concerned expression on his face.

The faces of my loved ones appeared in my mind… My siblings, my parents, my friend and my lover…

I know they wouldn't want me to live obsessed with revenge…

"I will try." I nodded.

I won't do anything that would make them sad…

With that thought in my mind, I looked at Melius and nodded. 

"I'm ready," I said to Melius.

Melius smiled warmly, a few tears started streaming down his cheeks.

"You have no idea how much your help means to me, my friend! Thank you!" Melius looked genuinely overjoyed. He was completely ecstatic.

It was then that I noticed that my body was becoming transparent… There was a blue-ish glow all around me...

"Julius, once again I cannot thank you enough for your help. Good luck, my friend!" Melius said happily while clearing his tears.

My consciousness faded away before I could reply...

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Prologue

END