It's All Me 2

(Hyzi's POV)

Tana wasn't the same when I met her again. The years had taken their toll—the life in her eyes was gone. She no longer covered the scarred half of her face and didn't even try to appear presentable. It seemed like even walking was strenuous for her most days. Still, she offered me a weak smile and said,

"Welcome to the Glass Palace. If you need anything, please ask me." She ruffled my hair, then left me alone in the hall with my brothers.

"Tana is so gross and annoying," Zaikel, the Lightning Incarnation of this generation, commented. I glared at him.

"I didn't get that impression at all… she seemed sincere."

He laughed loudly, and some of the others joined in.

"Are you, like, super naïve or just blind?"

That's when I punched him. He turned his head in the direction of the hit and sat silently. The room fell quiet. A second later, he powered up and charged at me at high speed. I'm nowhere near as fast as him. I couldn't even see him move, but I knew what he was going to do ahead of time, so I was ready. His fist phased through me, and he stumbled, crashing into the wall behind me.

"You don't know her, so shut up."

He turned, ready to yell again, but Valin—the youngest of us all—stepped between us and said,

"Stop fighting. We're all stuck here. We should at least try to get along."

I frowned and walked away. Multiple things were bothering me: the fact that I got reincarnated—because I died. Zaikel. How worn down Tana looked. And the fact that she didn't recognize me at all. Did I even make an impact on her? I know all the incarnations look similar to one another, but it's still disappointing.

I pretended to know the bare minimum so I could spend extra time with Tana.

"You told me you would practice all night and yet you still fail to do the most—"

I cut her off. "Have I told you the name my parents gave me?"

She paused, tilting her head. "No… and I don't see how it's relevant to theories on sleep gas."

"They named me Hyzi."

Her eyes lit up knowingly—she hadn't forgotten me, at least.

"It means daylight… or hope. They wanted me to always look to the future positively."

"Oh… that's… a wonderful name." Her tone changed completely, but the emotions I was sensing were too complex to place.

"I read that the Chosen of Smoke from Generation 2 had the same name. "She sat quietly, staring at her lap. "Isn't it a cool coincidence?"

I kept my voice light-hearted, so I was shocked when tears started falling from her eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away with her wrists and said,

"Oh, I am sorry. Please forgive me. I… can't… I can't seem to stop."

"…Oh… were you close?" I asked, even though the answer scared me.

"Yes… we were friends…" She took a deep breath, sat up, and fanned her face to dry the remaining tears.

"Can we be friends too?"

The moment I asked, her aura shifted. The Tana I knew curled deep within herself as something else took over.

"Of course, we can be friends!" the thing stated cheerfully. "Oh! Have you heard of the Power Ceremony?"

Her curse was now swallowing her whole body. A barrier kept me from reaching her.

"What is the Power Ceremony?"

She gave me a thorough explanation. Hearing it made my face hot—imagining her performing such a ritual with countless other Chosen made me angry. Jealous. I wanted to cry or hit something.

"Why are you doing that?" I asked, shocking the spirit that had taken over.

"Wow… no one ever cared about why before. I… want you to be strong. When you leave the palace, you'll need strength to survive. Even if I train you with all my might, we're outnumbered, so you need an edge. I wish there were another way… or that you were allowed to do it with someone else, but… I'm the only one who knows how, and I'm not allowed to reveal it to anyone outside the palace."

My question seemed to bring her back.

"I'm sorry… I don't know why I even brought that up. Let's get back to our lesson, hmm?"

I already knew everything she was teaching—I had learned it all in my past life. Even then, I hid what I was capable of, just to spend more time with her. But unlike before, Tana now avoided me if she thought I was showing interest. She always arrived for our lessons on time and left promptly, even if I claimed I needed more help.

I guess I scared her away.

We were left alone for the first time in a while after Netalai chose his "Right" to vow away. He gave up his inhibitions, and his personality did a complete 180. When we choose a vow, we feel something flip inside us—maybe it's the body's way of making it harder to break the promise.

"Isn't there something… that you feel like you could live without? Like, Cera gave up feeling physical pain. That might be useful."

"Yeah, until you don't notice you're dying until it's too late."

I couldn't believe Cera chose something so dangerous. What was he thinking?

"…Well, Raijian gave up lying."

I scoffed. I need to lie just to get through a normal week.

"No thanks. That sounds inconvenient. I rarely lie, but… one day I might need to. I want to… lose my sense of taste. They never season the food here, and the poison I need to drink is so bitter—I'm better off without it."

If I don't eat, drink, or inhale toxins daily, I get sick, and my powers weaken. The food's gotten worse lately. It was better in my past life—maybe Vetro is punishing us by removing the seasoning. He is petty like that.

"There has to be something you love to eat. There are still five hours left. Maybe I could get you a treat before you make this choice. Taste is one of the five major senses, and the power you gain will be immense, but… your brothers have only given up bits and pieces that won't impact their lives so greatly. I just think—"

She was talking so much I became entranced—and gave in to the urge to kiss her. At the last moment, I shifted and kissed her cheek instead.

"I've made up my mind… but thank you."

She touched her cheek. Her eyes lit up. She was flustered—her face bright red. I thought she'd have more immunity to me because I'm younger. I could get addicted to seeing her like this.

"…Do I have to leave now?" I asked, then gently touched the spot I'd kissed, tracing her stitches.

"You should go!" she shouted.

I was hurt, so I decided to tease her.

"Wow… are you blushing? At your age?"

She hid her face from me.

"Do not mock me!"

Her response was so cute I couldn't help but laugh. She peeked out at me, and I stood.

"Fine, I'll go."

I settled on losing my sense of taste, and I felt the effects instantly—a surge of power swirling inside me. Even my perception of smells felt altered. She watched me silently as I left, but I could hear her heart racing. I must have caught her off guard today… good.

Netalai was waiting near the exit. He approached and said,

"I want to be friends with you."

I was stunned at first, but once I settled down, I patted his head.

"Sounds good. What do you want to do?"

He beamed.

"Can we play cards together? We can talk during. You seem really cool—I want to know more about you."

Without his inhibitions, the words were spilling out of him.

"Sure."

He left cheerfully. I sat on the floor near the door for a few minutes… It just hit me how bold I was. I have to be strategic in this life. I can't die again. I'll need to tear down the entire monarchy. I shouldn't be so obvious…

The first step is figuring out exactly what I can do now.

Later, I saw Netalai waiting near my room. He waved.

"Is it okay if we hang out in your room?"

He tilted his head as he asked, and I nodded.

"Alright, then I'll be right back," he said with a smile. As he turned to leave, I called out,

"Hey… since we're friends, you can call me Hyzi. It's my birth name."

He turned to me and smiled.

"My birth name is Fyriga… but I prefer Netalai. You can call me Nelly if you like."

He sounded shy as he added the last part.

"I'll be waiting in my room, then, Nelly."

My response perked him up again, and he rushed off.

It feels like I can trust him. I don't think anyone here ever sincerely tried to befriend me—even in the past—except Tana.

Netalai started visiting me regularly to play cards, vent about Rytem, or just joke around. I imagine this is normal, but even in my past life, my brothers kept their distance. Especially the Chosen of Lightning. He was always pissed off when he saw me… I guess that hasn't changed.

One day, all my brothers escaped the palace—except me. I needed to stand out as little as possible, so I stayed put. I created a crack in my bedroom wall while the barrier was down. I sent a clone through it, trading consciousness to look around. Since it was a smoke clone, changing my appearance was easy.

I witnessed things I hated: my brothers being punished repeatedly for escaping. But I had to stay out of it, fly under the radar, while I gathered various complex toxins from outside the castle.

My target doesn't play fair, so neither will I.

Vetro has been asking me to kill him for a long time. I know he hid some kind of device in my body in the past. My primary focus is locating and destroying it without him noticing.

The only time I broke composure, caused a scene, was when I found out Tana had performed the ritual with Zai.

Why did she invite him?!

I knew that when she was near Zai, the essence of Lightning would take over and she'd behave amorously… I knew she wasn't in control. But that didn't stop me from starting a fight.