Lost Soul Finds a new profession

"You were the one we were waiting for. The one who will carry on our legacy. Are you ready to live once again?"

That was a voice a young child had heard throughout his lifetime. His short 6 years old lifetime. The voice was a constant friend as well as a weird companion of his since his birth. Also, it was vaguely familiar, as if he was supposed to know it.

And yet the child was sure that he had never heard it outside his dreams before.

"Hurry up. The time is running out. A little more and no one will be able to save you anymore" the child could hear a ringing in his ears with the sound.

It was not as clear as before but the urgency still conveyed in it. It was asking him to make a decision.

All he remembered was a push at his back before he was tumbling down the staircase. He was sure he was not well-liked by other children in the

new place his mommy had left him at.

But they were his friends and they won't try to do anything to him? He was just like them. Mostly.

He was sick in the head or so sister liked to say. He could see things that had not happened yet or things that didn't exist. His imaginary friends told him things that made other people angry with him.

So he kept to himself mostly. There was a faint memory in his mind of an older person, a boy telling him not to worry about it and it was all normal but that was too faint for him to remember.

All he wanted was his mommy and her warm hug.

"Hey hey hey, Don't give up on me. I'm desperate here too" the voice had a panic in it now which made something deep inside hurt.

He was needed? No one else had needed him till now but the voice needed him. He wanted to reach out to that voice but his body hurt too much to actually reach out at once.

There was a wet feeling on the child's back which made him uncomfortable but the child could not get away from the feeling.

"What am I going to do with you? At least you responded back to me" The child tried to roll his eyes in the direction of the voice, his voice a mere whisper.

It hurt a lot and yet the feeling of being wanted more than made up for the hurt in his back.

"It's decided then, you'll be my next apprentice" the voice was getting fainter and after much effort, the child finally landed his eyes toward the direction of the voice.

But there is no shadow of anyone anywhere. It was all the same scenery stretching for miles apart.

"Oh god, the child is bleeding. H-Hurry calls the hospital. We can't have this scandal here or we all will be fired" there was a panicky voice that was much more familiar to the child.

It was the sister in charge of the children of his age group. His mommy had left him here because he was a burden to her and this sister had been the one to take care of him for the time being.

She helped him patch himself up after he got hurt but she never did anything to stop him from getting hurt too. She was OK in his book.

A neutral party. And right now, her voice was the only thing that was audible to the child. The shadow at his back had disappeared completely and so did his vision.

__________________________

Red eyes opened up to look at an expense of white. It was as monotonous as one would expect a hospital room to be but it was still all dull nonetheless.

The child attempted to stand up but the child could not support his own weight. Also, there was something heavy in his arm that obstructed his arm moment.

"Are you alright? Need anything else? Should I call for anyone?" the voice that called out to him was sweet but so detached that it hurt his ears.

It caused the child to fold upon himself. It was somehow scary to his ears despite its friendliness. Or perhaps it was the black cat with sharp amber eyes which unnerved the child.

The cat was lazily lying on the nurse's shoulder and adjusted itself with every move the nurse made. The nurse herself didn't even seem to feel the cat at all.

Or if she did, she made a damn good job of making sure that no one noticed her. Her moments were flawless to the child's eyes.

"You don't seem deaf to me. Was the trauma that strong?" the woman drew closer and the child withdrew even further into itself.

The cat also grinned but it looked too maniac for the child's untrained eyes.

"How is the child doing? Any complications we should be careful about?" The sister had also entered the room without the child realising it.

Normally the child would seek protection from a familiar face but in this situation, it gave him a creepy feeling.

Stuck in the room between the two females somehow felt really dangerous.

"I'm alright" the child gathered his courage and let out those words but shrunk on himself again when two pair of eyes turned toward him. Both had a look in their eyes that felt dangerous to his instincts.

"I see. So when will we be able to take them back home with us?" the sister asked in a firm voice which left no room for arguing.

And yet the uninterested doctor only gave a grin in return.

"Take back? Such an interesting sample? The labs would kill for such a perfect sample for their work. I heard that their earlier sample was stolen. Won't I be in for a promotion if I hand this one in?"

The child did not like where the discussion was going. Not that he understood, but the mood spoke to him.

He would either go back to the place where he was not needed or stay here where it creeped him out. He had no idea what they were talking but this certainly was a mistake on their part.

He wanted neither of those and suddenly the child found it difficult to breathe. His body was burning up and something was flashing in his

peripheral vision.

The black of his hair reflected the shine but the child could not see. All the instincts in his head said to run away from the place as fast as possible.

Something dangerous was coming right his way and they needed to get away from it if they were to survive. He did not know how he knew it or

what was going to happen, just that they needed to getaway.

"Asato?" the sister was calling the child but only got panicky red eyes back at her. The voice that left the child was not his own but sounded far too old and androgenous to be identifiable.

"We need to escape while we still can" the voice inside his head shouted and the next second a huge burst sounded all around the place.

Heat picked up its pace and smoke could be smelled all over. The place had caught fire and was burning away at the place fast.

Amused purple eyes took everything around him as they faded back to red. The expression turned from amused to horrified as it took in the

destruction all around him.

"Asato, hurry. We need to leave here fast" the sister called him and yet the child did not move.

"I'll be the one to take him with me. He's much more useful there. Besides, your personal agenda with this child will have you killed sooner or later" the cat at the nurse's shoulder hissed in agreement but once again, no one

paid it any attention.

The child faced with the choice froze. He did not want to make the choice here. On one hand, the sister was much more familiar to him. He had spent the last few years in her company and yet she was not someone who he could trust.

And the thought of going back to that place scared him. He had died. The child was sure that he had died before waking up. The voice inside him had saved him after death, given him a second chance to view this strange world.

And yet, the nurse was someone he did not know at all. She insisted that he was perfect for something which sounded wrong to his ears. It was creepy in a way he was not comfortable with and his mother always warned him not to go with strangers.

He needed someone to make a decision for him for the child could not. Both options sounded awful and all he wanted was to live in peace.

"I guess it's time I fulfil my part of the deal. Don't just wait here to get killed, run outside you fool"

He had already trusted that voice once and survived, so he could trust it again right? And so the child made his decision. For he had learned a lot and he had known a lot and so, the result of the decision came easy to him. He would dedicate his life to the cause he felt right. something which suited him and his feelings.