Redemption

>>Sorin (The original timeline)

The demons attacked, the palace was in a frenzy and I was running around not sure where to go. The royal have secret passage ways they can access in these situations and I knew of a few but the place was getting swarmed by enemies fast so, I made my way to the royal study where I ran into Leonidas and Enri.

Just at the same time an attack was launched at the palace, making the whole place quake.

They had already opened a passage and were making their way in.

"Wait!" yelled and they both looked at me. I looked at them both with wide eyes as the place trembled, "Take me with you." I said as things began to tumble down in the room making blockades to the passage.

Leon and Enri looked at each other and never looked at me again. They cut the rope holding the passage open and it shut immediately. They left me there as the demons entered the floor and killed everyone in their sight.

The place was already filled with screams, the sound of gushing blood, the echoes of things shattering, the stomping of feet, the bursts of magic, the cries of water, the smell of death and everything in between.

It was already a mess but it was the moment I felt the most betrayed in my life. When I asked for help for once but I was coldly ignored like a bug and left behind but on that note, I had no one to blame but myself for that.

I knew no one would take me. Everybody hated me and all this mess was my fault too.

"Sorin!!" Just then, in my moment of defeat someone grabbed my arm pulling me out of the room just as a demon attacked, "Move!!" The only person who would take care of someone like me, came to me again when I was abandoned by everyone else. Leroy grabbed me tightly and cast a shield behind us as we ran towards another passage.

He was always my hero, he was my protector. He was the shadow who kept me safe when no one else did.

He protected me till his last moments. He covered me when I opened another passageway but died just as I entered the narrow place. The image of his head rolling away, his blood splattering in the air yet his eyes still on me, will never leave me. Even in his last breaths, he wanted to see me safe.

It broke me the most

He did so much for me, only for me to end up in a miserable state in the end too.

***

I fall to the ground as I begin to bleed out. At my very last moments I see the person walking away after attacking me. My vision begins to get hazy but I still see his black horns, black hair and those big black wings that can only belong to a dragon.

Ah…

That must be the Demon Lord, Kaan.

Figures. He was given the news that I was involved in his imprisonment. His resentment is understandable. I would want to kill me too, if I was in his place…

He flies away leaving me to my death, he didn't even turn to spare me another glance just like Leon and Enri did. Tears roll down my face horizontally as I'm unable to move. All that's going through my head is regret. My whole life was just regret and regret and regret and nothing else. It was full of fear, it was full of hate, it was full of loneliness.

The only person who accompanied me through this all was also dead and it was all my fault. I am exactly the villain, everyone makes me out to be.

…

Why am I bleeding out so slowly?

It's so painful.

I've run this far into the forest yet I can still hear the people screaming. I can hear the cries of little kids. I can hear houses burning, I can hear the people cursing, I can feel the pain of everything

And I can hear footsteps approaching me.

Footsteps…

I hear footsteps!

Someone is walking towards me but I can't see who it is. I can't move. Life is slowly leaving my body and I feel lethargic. I feel myself sinking into some gooey darkness.

Whoever it was, stopped right beside me and then sat down on her knees, "You're at your last." I heard a sweet voice, "Dying after so many." It felt like those words were mocking me.

…

But they weren't wrong.

"Was it all my fault?" I asked but received no reply.

The person placed their hands on my shoulder and moved my body, so now it was facing upwards. The movement sent an excruciating current in my body but it numbed down right afterwards, probably because all the senses were leaving my body.

"Perhaps," I heard the person speak and moved my gaze to finally look at her, "Perhaps it is your fault." She said, I could tell who she was right after looking at her. There is only one person with an appearance like hers.

The Oracle.

As soon as I saw her, more tears streamed down my face. I was filled with guilt. I was filled with regret. Sorrow was overwhelming me and in the last moments of my life, I had no one with me.

I was completely alone.

"I'm sorry," I choked up as I uttered those words, "I'm so sorry…" I looked utterly pathetic.

I was truly all alone.

I had lived such a pathetic life, so full of fear and neglect. I was rude to everyone who tried to approach me, I am the cause of my own isolation.

If only I had been better. If only I had stepped up against wrong. I probably wouldn't be dying here alone. If nothing else, I should have done something about the Demon Lord who was imprisoned in the palace dungeon. I chose to ignore it all. I brought this all upon myself and my people.

I am nothing but a pathetic failure.

And here I am, dying by a stranger's side. I wish I had someone to really call family. Someone to be by my side even in my death.

Just then Leroy flashed before my eyes . The only person I had, the only person who probably cared for someone like me but also died because of me too.

Yet I don't want to die!

I'm afraid I'll be alone in the afterlife too! I'm afraid I'll be isolated just like how I was here!

The oracle took my head and placed it on her lap, "You've destroyed the whole kingdom." She whispered, "Everyone I love is gone." She looked at the smoke in the sky, "The whole nation will vanish like this…"

"I'm sorry," My voice was fading, "If only I was better." She looked down at me, "If I could do it again I'd be better…" Dark blood flowing out of me had begun to slow down, "I want redemption. I'll do anything for it." My voice kept cracking up. I had stained the ground as well as the Oracle's pretty white clothes, "I'll take on any punishment. But I want to do better." I coughed up more blood and the light in my eyes vanished. I could no longer see but I still wasn't dead and that was very frightening.

It felt so cold and lonely, I began to tremble.

"I'm sorry," Words slipped out of my mouth of their own, "I'm so sorry…" I couldn't help it, I just kept on crying, "I'm sorry, I'll be better, Please…" My voice was fading, I could feel my throat dry up, "I'll do better… I'm sorry," I felt like the last of my breaths were here, "If I could get another chance…" My voice was barely audible, "I'll change things for the better…"

"..."

"I'm sorry… I don't want to be alone… I'm sorry, I'll do better." I choked up again, "I really will be better. I promise… I'm really sorry." I wanted to feel some warmth at the end of my life.

But everything was cold. All my memories were cold, all my life was cold, the way people treated me was cold. Even my own body was getting cold.

"I'm just… so… sorry…."

"Fine," She said and grabbed my hand, "Let's do something then!" Her voice was firm yet broken, "I'll send you to another world." She placed her hand on my chest, "I'll bind your soul to someone who's born dead and seal your memories of this life.

I felt something warm in my chest.

'What are you doing?' I couldn't speak but I said it in my mind and she read it.

"You want redemption?"

'More than anything else.' I still couldn't see anything. It was all pitch black but her touch made me feel a little less lonely.

"You'll change things if you get a second chance?"

'Yes… With everything I have…'

"Fine then,Learn to live like a decent human being there. I'll call you back when it's time, you should be able to remember everything once you come back. The time here and there will flow the same. So the time you spend there, the same amount of time will flow here."

'I don't want to remember this life…'. Darkness was taking over my consciousness now, 'But I'll do it.' I spoke the words in my mind, 'I want redemption.' My soul was leaving my body.

"I'll take time to bind your soul to someone. Perhaps months but once I'm done, we'll be resetting some things."

'Alright…'