“Do you believe in God, Kaz?”

  Her voice echoed, soft and warm.

  “How about Heaven and Hell?”

  Sometimes, she could be too persistent. Annoying even.

  “Hey! What are you doing, Kaz?! Stop that-”

  A blur of blonde hair. A slap on his wrist. A grin cracked on his face, followed by her giggling. He had always teased her. She might say she hated it, but then, she kept coming for more.

  More.

  Her voice. The scenes. And then, there was that one. The dip of her waist under his palms, how her body moulded perfectly against his. The way she giggled every time he caressed her neck and smelled her hair. The warmth of her supple breast clung to his chest, and for a second, he lost his breath.

  “Why are you humping on my tail?”

  Bahamut’s voice echoed inside Jin’s mind like a bell tolling furiously inside a small room, jolting him awake.

  Jin wiped the drool off his face and noticed there was a stain on the tip of the dragon’s tail. He unapologetically brushed it off. Bahamut didn’t even twitch.

  “Your tail, despite looking like it could cut people in half, is surprisingly soft. Can’t help it.”

  Jin grinned.

  “Is it about your wife again?”

  “Like always, Bee. Like always.”

  Stuck in the abyss, protected by a magical translucent barrier, Jin had lost count of how many times he dreamt about his wife, Elyzabeth. First meeting. Dates. Sex. And like always, he ended up coiled around Bahamut’s tail like it was a poor man’s dakimakura. Might as well slapped Ely’s face and call it one, if Bahamut didn’t mind. He knew she would laugh at it. Loved it even.

  “So, what is it about this time?” Bahamut asked. “Previously, it was how you met her.”

  “She went on about God, heaven, hell. All that nonsense her family drilled into her.”

  “Nonsense? Do you not believe in this higher power?”

  “Not a believer,” Jin cracked a smile. “But seeing you here like this makes me question my sanity and my wife’s. I mean, you’re basically a god, right?”

  “Do not know and do not care.”

  “Even though you called yourself God-Emperor of Allbeast yada, yada?”

  “I am what I am. Your belief changes nothing. I merely attuned to what your mind can comprehend. God. Beast. Whatever.”

  “That’s deep.” Jin laughed. “But hey, if you’re god, can you know… uhmm… resurrect her?”

  Bahamut’s mythical eyes gleamed. Yet the answer came cold and harsh. “I do not interfere myself with humans’ fate. Life and death should be the concern of you mortals. Not me.”

  “But didn’t you save me?” Jin shot a glance at Viridiana, who snuggled at his ankle before correcting himself. “Us?”

  “I do find your existence interesting. That is all. Your wife, unfortunately, never crossed paths with me. Nor had I found her interesting, yet.”

  “Fuck you, Bee. That’s not how you talk about a man’s wife.”

  Jin snapped. Then winced. Swearing at a god-like creature whilst he was still here on the ever-whimsical Bahamut’s benevolence was a fool’s mistake. And he was no fool.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, “I should not have said that. It’s just that I missed my wife. It has been too long, you know.”

  “I do not understand this concept of missing someone. Do you feel the same toward your daughter? Eleana, was it?”

  “Of course!” Jin's voice echoed inside the barrier. “She’s my baby, after all. There are still many things I want to do together with her. Watch her grow up, see her getting married – nah. Scratch that. Ain’t letting any fuckwit near my girl. Also, my friends. I missed my friends, too.”

  “Then you shall not miss them for long. Your home will reappear soon.”

  “What?!” Jin stood and walked closer to Bahamut, as if he wanted to hear those words once more. Clearer. “Soon, you say?”

  “Yes. Soon.”

  “How soon?”

  “Soon.”

  That was all Bahamut was willing to say. Jin could not cajole him further. However, one thing was certain. If the godlike beast said it would happen, it would happen.

  ***

  Yet, the time never comes. Jin never knew how long he had been stuck inside this endless abyss, protected by the barrier. But what he knew was that he had grown a beard that reached below his chest. He never liked to keep one. Yet, with nothing in his hands – he couldn’t ask for a shave using Bahamut’s claw, could he? – he braided it instead. The same with his hair. It came effortlessly to him after having the experience of braiding his late wife's and daughter’s hair to perfection.

  “Jin?”

  Bahamut crawled up to him. Never once during the time he was here that the dragon initiated the talk first. However, this time, it was different.

  Jin, still braiding his beard in a four-strand style, was surprised. “What’s up, Bee?”

  “Is your home, Earth, beautiful?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Jin nodded without hesitation. “Very. Also depends on what you’re looking for, though.”

  “What I am looking for?”

  “Yeah. If you’re looking for arsholes, you’ll probably get all of them. That time, Earth is a shitty place. But if you like to sight-see or eat, there are lots of places that give you experiences that you’ll never forget. I still remember my first sake on a very cold winter day. Back when I stole it from a store.”

  Jin cracked a laugh. Bahamut looked on, and despite the deep, endless shine in its eyes, Jin knew that blank stare anywhere.

  “I’ll take you around. If you want.”

  Bahamut flapped its wings and let out a smile. “Very well. I shall take on your invitation. Hopefully, your world’s Overseer will not be taken aback by my presence.”

  “Huh? What do you mean? Overseer? Your presence?”

  “Nothing. A random musing, that is all.”

  Again, Bahamut said nothing more. Jin was used to it by now. Every time they pivoted toward certain ‘sensitive’ topics, Bahamut ceased to explain anything further. Or being evasive about it.

  “By the way, your home shall reappear.”

  “You said that last time,” Jin said, tugging on his beard. “Look at how luscious this becomes. Any longer and my daughter will no longer recognise her dad.”

  “There,” Bahamut said, lifting its claw toward a point within the abyss, “the sky will be formed. Then there, the ground. Then everything else. Everything you had seen before the realm closed will reappear.”

  Jin’s eyes widened. “Really? Then I can go home? For real?”

  Bahamut nodded.

  That was all Jin needed. He stood, arms in the air, crying the words ‘Home’ over and over. Of course, there were snots and tears, but he couldn’t care less about appearance now.

  “Hahaha. The lads are going to be in for a hell of a surprise. Me, the almighty and handsome Dr Frankenstein, am coming back from the dead!”

  “But you will be dead when the world reappears, Jin.”

  Once again, Bahamut poured cold water on the man’s premature celebration.

  “What do you mean I’d be dead when the world reappears?” he asked, slightly accusing the godlike creature of withholding the most important piece of information.

  “You said you want to go home. But you did not say you want to be alive when doing so.”

  “Bee!” Jin snapped. “That’s related. That’s the whole point of going home! Otherwise, why bother? And you did take my invitation to join me, right? Right?”

  “I did. But I can go by myself. Besides, I did say that you, the little and me will be together. Here.”

  Jin flipped out. “Fuck you. If you want us to be together, then let’s do it at my place. My home. Not this… this abyss. There’s nothing here.”

  “So, you want to return home. Alive?”

  “That’s the plan. The only plan.”

  “Then you will need a minutia of power. One that your Overseer has granted upon humans of Earth.”

  “Eh? What are you talking about? What power? You mean being a Player?” Jin replied, stroking his beard.

  Reflecting what Bahamut said earlier, it finally dawned on him. To return home unscathed, he must be a Player. Jin heaved a sigh as reality finally sunk in.

  “I don’t have any power. I am as ordinary as anyone could be.”

  “How are you ordinary?”

  Jin let out a bitter smile. “You think too much of me. I’m no Player. No power. And without power, I can’t even go home. Right?”

  Bahamut tilted his head. “You want power, yes? Be this thing called Player? But only to return home?”

  Bahamut’s question was relentless. Curiosity of the divine, perhaps. Or was there something more? Jin gave it some thought before finally speaking his mind.

  “Not just to go home, Bee. With power, I could’ve saved Ely. Now? My daughter is all I’ve got left. Power means I can protect her. My friends. Everyone I care about.”

  “What kind of power?”

  Jin, surprised by the question, mused on the answers.

  “Maybe I’ll be Ultraman. Fire beams from my eyes or hands. Big enough to squash arsholes with my foot like bugs. Fly around. Or perhaps a Super Sentai hero, though I’d need four more idiots to make it work.”

  “Are you sure?” Bahamut’s eyes shone with power. That question wasn’t simply any question. It was a statement.

  Jin’s grin was wiped out immediately. “Just kidding. Honestly, I want enough power to go home and protect my loved ones. Any would do just fine.”

  “Protect? What do you mean by this protect?”

  “Protect, you know. To give them a future,” Jin said. “A proper one. Heck. Even without power, I took the ‘Special’ Cleaner job. Why? Because the dead deserve some dignity. Protect their honour or something. Besides, their family and friends could use a proper farewell. You know how my wife died, right, Bee? I want to avoid that feeling. Never again.”

  Bahamut smiled. “Your wife shaped you. She might be interesting after all.”

  “She was,” Jin said, reminiscing about his past with Elyzabeth. “Also, it’s her last wish. To protect and help those who needed us, having power or not.”

  “I see,” Bahamut said before turning his attention to Viridiana, purring in Jin’s lap. “The little one, too, has a wish. For you.”

  Jin scratched her ears. “You’ve got a wish for me, Vee?”

  “Kri… Kriii… Kriiiii…” Viridiana chirped excitedly, nuzzling on Jin’s lap.

  “She wishes you to be strong,” Bahamut said. “Strong enough to protect them all.”

  Jin laughed bitterly. “Thank you, Vee. But easier said than done. I’m not blessed by any god. Against even the weakest Player? I’m a helpless baby. A goblin could kill me a hundred times over. This is nothing but idle talk.”

  Jin heaved a sigh.

  Idle talk.

  It was the one thing he did – besides braiding his beard and hair – while he was stuck in here for who knows how long. Something that he had never done before, but somehow, it felt natural to talk about anything. Especially depressing ones.

  At first, he was in denial; wanting to go home was his biggest motivator for staying alive until now. But then, that denial has become acceptance. That he either stuck here in infinity with Viridiana and Bahamut or died the moment he set foot into the newly opened RIFT.

  “Have you forgotten who you are speaking to?” Bahamut rumbled. “I am Divinia Bahamut, the First System Arbiter.”

  “And?”

  “And? There is no ‘and’, Jin.” Bahamut said, his deep and regal voice echoed not only within the barrier, but throughout the abyss itself. “I answer to no one. Even your world’s Overseer is insignificant to me.”

  “I have no idea who this Overseer you’re talking-“

  “I can bestow power on anyone.” Bahamut rose to his feet. “So, again. What do you want?”

  “B-But why?” Jin closed his lips before he said anything else he would regret. After a while, he spoke again. “I mean, thank you. But do you have reasons why you want to give me power? Is it just for me to go home?”

  “Like I said, I do find you interesting, Jin. And I want to see how far you want to take the powers you have chosen for yourself. Will you continue to protect? Or will you destroy the very thing you swear to uphold? Like many others that came before you.”

  Jin rubbed his beard. It couldn’t be this easy, right? Got to be a honeyed trap. But what choice do I have?

  “You always have a choice. So, choose.”

  Deep down, Jin should be excited. Instead, he was anxious. The ability to choose one’s own power? That was not only unheard of but a total fantasy. If Jin ever tells Old Man Sid about this, his friend will laugh at him before calling the psychiatric ward.

  He deliberated for a while longer. Even Viridiana chipped in with her thoughts, translated by Bahamut.

  “Oh? You want me to do this instead of this? Interesting. Very interesting.”

  “Kri!” Viridiana purred happily.

  “Is that all, Jin. Little one?” Bahamut, who lay on his belly the whole time, rose and flapped his wings.

  “Greed gets you nothing,” Jin said, rubbing Vee’s fur. “Better to eat one candy with all the flavours rather than choke on a hundred, each with a different flavour.” He winked. “Besides, if I play my cards right, I might surpass you one day. That’s what Vee said.”

  “Mortals and their insolences.”

  Bahamut’s laughter shook the void. Then his expression darkened – as much as a dragon could.

  “Your mind and soul are ready.” Bahamut brought forward his front paw and nudged Jin’s body. “But this body? Unfortunately, not.”

  “Come again?”

  Bahamut didn’t answer. Instead, he pressed his claw to Jin’s forehead. In an instant, the man’s body collapsed, limp as a discarded doll. A dark flame then flickered out from his skull – Jin’s soul.

  Viridiana screeched, her tiny paws beating against Jin’s chest. Warm. Still warm. But no heartbeat.

  “Apologies, little one. Jin,” Bahamut murmured to the soul-flame. “My power needs a stronger vessel. Stronger than what your world’s Overseer can ever hope to grant upon other Earthlings.”

  With a flick of his claw, the flame vanished. Viridiana, still nuzzling her head against Jin’s chest, was lifted away, wrapped in translucent light.

  “This is no longer a place for you to be.”

  Viridiana disappeared into nothingness.

  Only then did the work begin.

  Jin’s body exploded. Flesh and bone mangled, blood pooling like a grotesque offering. It grew smaller over time, until all that was left was a single cell. Bahamut placed his claw on it, and the cell glowed in brilliant light.

  It was the first step to rebirth.