“The Left! The Left!”
I jumped towards a stone roof and skid my body towards the left. The boy and girl seem to know me so I think it would be best to follow them, for now. They led me deeper into the web of the market encrusting a sizable portion of the city. In there, we weaved ourselves to a path covered by a huge number of tarps covering the entire street. As we go deeper, the light went dimmer until there are only darkness and strange lights coming from glowing wares. The boy pulled me from the crowd and we hid in a crowded alley. We crawled in the mass of feet and worked ourselves in a path towards a glowing crate adorned with a symbol of a weasel. The girl pressed something and a hatch opened and we went inside.
“That was intense.” I huffed. I could barely catch my breath with how fast my heart is beating.
“What happened back there, Rashid?” The girl said.
“I- uh- I don’t know and I’m not Ra-”
“You don’t know? First, a strange light went into you and you began speaking gibberish. Then you began asking where you are in the middle of a chase. You were going to kill us back there! And please tell me you have the thing.”
“The thing?”
“The Thing! The Thing! The one you put in your pocket.”
I pulled out a thing from my pocket and sure enough, there’s a bag filled with something. I don’t know what it is and I’m sure it’s not coins.
“By paradise, at least we have it.”
“Enough with everything, please. Everyone. Sit down and listen to me.”
They sat on the ground immediately.
“Well, we’re listening.
——
They listened to everything I have to say. Including from the moment of my death up to the time, that stupid deity kicked me off.
“So you’re telling us, you’re not Rashid?” The boy with short brown hair and a mousy face asked.
“For the fifth time since you asked, yes.”
“So where is Rashid?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m here or why I am in your friend’s body.”
The girl laughed, “Hahahahaha! Rashid? Our friend?” Then she laughed some more and slapped me in the legs. Fuck! That hurt. It’s still sore from running. “He’s not our friend, yet. We barely know the guy and he hasn’t talked to us ever since he joined us in this part of the city.”
“I heard the reason why he doesn’t speak is that his parents are dead,”
“Whose isn’t? The previous Rashid is boring but now, this new one is better.”
And by this new one, she meant me.
Speaking of, “Where am I? What is this city? It’s so big when I’m falling.”
The boy grinned, “You’re in luck because I’ve read this stuff in the Historical Arcanum of the Empire.”
“Forgive him, he’s a street rat but he calls himself,” Quote “A Scholar” Unquote.
Almaria, otherwise known as Almar, is the lion of the sands. It’s four individual kingdoms that grew too big and fused into one giant kingdom. Well, it’s Queendom because the current head of the state is Queen Almira. We are currently in the region known as Olivares. It’s comprised of a large bazaar comprising the whole region. Bordering to our East is Kyndareth, a work and residence region encircling Olivares. Due to the Southernmost East is Abscon where the degenerates live. And lastly, the Royal Circle to the core of Olivares. By its name, that’s where the Almarian Castle is and where the aristocracy lives With the geography lessons done, I believed that I forgot something.
“I think I haven’t caught both of your names yet,” I said.
“My name is Faira,” The girl with short hair and a gash on her nose said.
“And mine’s Sett.”
Since this body already has a name and I have a new life ahead of me, I’ve decided. “You can call me Rashid,”
—
I spent the rest of my day circling our small compartment hidden beneath the bazaar. Although it’s tight inside because of the abundance of stolen wares, it’s lighted up with glowing stones that give off enough warmth to make a cozy atmosphere. They also have a hammock where I can think of my next goals in this life. I don’t know where to go or what I can do. I don’t know anything at all. But that reminds me, the god said he’d give me a gift.
“Ah yes, a gift.” A familiar voice said in my mind.
“Ah!” I shouted causing me to fall from the hammock.
“What is it?” Faira asked.
I pointed at the god in my vision. He’s standing right over there but Faira doesn’t seem to see her.
“If you’re thinking about it, they can’t see me.” Well, in that case, I called off Faira and told her it was nothing. With her gone, I returned my gaze to the fucker who threw me to the portal.
“I know you’re angry but you can’t get angry with me.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because this is a pre-recorded message I’ve embedded in your new body.”
“Then why are you answering my questions if this is a pre-recorded message?”
“Because I’m a god? And I know what you’ll say in the future?”
“Then this is no- Bah!” This god is making me angry. “Why are you here?”
“You thought about the gift and so, this message activated. Welcome to the manual of your new and unique powers.”
And by unique he meant this. This is the power that killed me in the first place. Possession!? I could have millions of other powers in his disposal and he gave me this? He’s doing this to spite me. The son of a bitch is making this to lose my nerve.
“Ouch,” He said. “I’m a god so I have no mother. So you’re calling a non-existent entity a bitch but again, ouch.”
Anyway, this power he’s giving me is pretty simple enough. I get inside a person and control them from the inside. Like a demon possession minus the head-spinning and fucked up rotten bodies.
“Pretty simple means pretty boring, my dear friend's death once told me. I told him what I’ll be doing to you so he told me to spice things up. You can’t possess anyone until you’ve leveled yourself with their rank in society.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you can’t possess are warrior if you’re not a warrior. You can’t possess a sorcerer if you’re not a sorcerer. In your current case, you can only possess common citizens and petty thieves. But I know you’ll have a hard time doing this rule so I sneaked in a bonus just for you.” “Don’t tell death,” He whispered.
“You can possess any person if you defeat them in combat. So did you get everything I’ve told you? I know you did so goodbye! I’ll see you when you die or something.”
And with that, the god was gone.
“So what was that all about?” Sett said behind my back. “You were like talking to yourself like some crazy person. Wait, are you crazy? Is everything you’ve said so far a story from your crazy mind?”
“Wha- No! I talked with god again.”
“Ah! Crazy talk,”
“It’s not crazy talk. He said that he gave me a gift. More like a power to possess people’s bodies.”
“Did he? Let’s see you try it then.”