Chapter 3: Transmigration
A beautiful sea of rainbows. That was the best description I could offer once I found myself here. It was a vast expanse that kept alternating between different colours, looking so thick that they almost condensed into a liquid. They stretched as far as my eyes could see, twisting and turning endlessly.
As my "body" swam through this seemingly infinite psychedelic plane, I noticed countless white humanoid figures. All in the same boat with me as the "sea'' carried their bodies along.
That was when I "gazed" down at myself. My body was completely white and translucent. 'Is this my so-called soul?' I wondered. However I involuntarily "gasped" once I saw a glowing orb at my chest area.
I recognised it. It was the same orb that my grandson had offered to me as a gift. The same orb that shattered and sank into my body.
Somehow, it had found its way into my soul as we sailed the unknown like treasure seeking pirates. However, seeing such an outcome, I was calm, strangely so. I accepted that such a thing wasn't entirely strange considering the limitless and colourful view that was before me.
Just as I was about to probe a little further, the whole space began to tremble. It was as if a great beast was about to erupt from this sea of colours to cause a great disaster.
Looking around, I could see some of the other souls struggling, their forms flickering, trying to steer away from what was about to come.
Although they had no faces, just like me, I could tell they were filled with dread. Some didn't struggle and were still, having seemingly accepted their fates.
But, the great disaster that I expected failed to arrive.
The great judge I expected to cast me into the depths of hell was nowhere.
What came into view were numerous images so big that they enveloped the whole expanse. Sometimes they appeared near, and other times they seemed far. However, in one of these images, I recognised something.
It was a man with blonde hair wearing a white kimono over a black one, working on something which strangely resembled the orb attached to my soul.
'Isn't that —' Before I could conclude my thoughts, the orb within me thrummed. However it relapsed back into a quiet state almost immediately, as if nothing happened.
Why was this image here? He looked just as real as any human. Although it was short, not more than a couple of seconds, It was enough for me to recognise him.
Kisuke Urahara.
A character from an anime I watched back on Earth. I couldn't differentiate between reality and fantasy anymore. My mind inadvertently drifted to a passing thought I had some days before my death, where I pondered on the possibility of life beyond death.
This came as a surprise to me. Was it truly possible? Were these shows that were born out of the imaginations of humans actually real?
As I observed these images, most were unfamiliar to me. Some were bizarre, filled with nothing but darkness. Some were colourful, filled with strange mythical creatures.
One after the other the images kept switching. As I watched, it only fueled my conviction.
A colossal fox with nine-tails spewing a purplish ball out of its mouth.
An island consisting of only female warriors, wielding several weapons.
A young asian man in white robes with a solemn expression resisting terrifying bolts of thunder.
Vehicles that transformed into large humanoid robots.
It was a phantasmagoria of figures I was all too familiar with. The more I observed, I unconsciously thought of the very last show I watched and wondered if it was also real.
As if listening to my thoughts, one of the images flashed again but this time it showed an all too familiar character. It wore a strange red mask and a black robe. It was accompanied by another female figure who was white horned and in full black armor, wielding a black bardiche.
They stood in front of over a dozen people. Some strange white figures with golden wings were suspended in the air above some people in black robes and masks. It seemed like a confrontation was about to happen between the two parties.
I didn't need to guess what image this represented. I knew this scene and could hardly forget it even if I wanted to, thanks to my strong memory. This was precisely a scene that took place in Overlord.
At this point my small doubts were cleared. These individuals didn't seem fictional. They were as real as it could get. It was almost as if I was in a cinema, watching a movie with 3D glasses on.
My desire to be part of such a world only grew.
I wanted that power. Power that belonged to me and me alone. I wanted such a thing and my greed swelled as I witnessed the scene before me.
Just as I had such a thought, the image receded at high speed, almost as if on rewind. It switched to another image, vastly different from the earlier one.
I saw a middle aged man. He had a slim body and black hair. He seemed to be maintaining some farm tools. However, he suddenly held his chest and began gasping for air as he fell to the ground like a log of wood.
Without warning, my soul shot into the image at a blinding speed.
…
…
...
Unbeknownst to him, the other souls disappeared one after the other into the countless images that kept flashing. But as they vanished, more souls kept pouring in so the process wasn't noticeable.
The stranger part was that his own soul was much larger than the rest. Compared to them, he was like a giant. He couldn't notice this difference simply because time and space lost their meaning in this place.
The reason for his abnormal size was all thanks to the hōgyoku which kept filling his soul with energy. It was accelerated even further after he saw the Bleach world.
When the image which represented Overlord appeared, the hōgyoku sensed its master's overwhelming desire and deemed it necessary to fulfill it.
But as it scanned the image, it noticed a problem. Compared to the figure in the red mask, its master was too weak. It realized that although its master had a higher potential, he would die a miserable death if he encountered the red masked figure.
Coming to this conclusion, it tried to find a solution and in an instant it found one.
Time.
That was the answer it arrived at. Its master needed only time to at least be able to contend with that masked figure.
So using every bit of its energy, it broke through the boundaries of reality and interfered with the image to find a suitable timeline for its master.
This wasn't without a cost as the farther it went back in time, the more its energy was depleted as slight cracks began to form on its surface.
Once it reached a certain timeline, it finally lost its glow as multiple cracks appeared all over. Using every last bit of its energy, it pushed his soul into the image as its glow completely vanished, entering a deep slumber.
.
.
.
Inside a hut, a man was maintaining his farm tools as he hummed a tune with a smile on his face.
He had a very light bronze coloured skin with hazel eyes. His hair was neck length and black in colour, tied into a slight ponytail. He wore a thick brown tunic with black leather gloves.
It was winter and the cold was harsh so he needed to finish what he was doing and rush back to the house. However, just as he stood up to pick another tool, he felt an excruciating pain in his chest.
His face scrunched up as he clutched his chest area tightly. Suddenly, he felt the wind knocked out of him as his breathing became disjointed.
He knocked down the farm tools in his struggle for dear life as he tried rushing outside but it was too late as he fell on the cold hard ground head first with a loud thump. His eyes gradually became listless and the beating of his heart slowly came to a halt.
He was dead.
However, not even two seconds later, his heart resumed its beating motions as if jolted awake by a defibrillator. His previous listless eyes gradually regained their color once more. He blinked and tried to speak but the words were stuck in his throat.
Slowly and with much effort, he pushed himself off the ground but immediately felt nauseous which made him retch.
The foul and rancid odour of his vomit wafted in the air but the man didn't stop ejecting out what looked like mushed up dinner. His face was slightly pale. His posture was hunched and the corners of his mouth were marred with a yellowish stain.
After some time, his retching ceased as he gradually regained his bearings. However, just when he straightened himself he felt extremely weak and disoriented. He held his head and stumbled back a few steps but his body still felt largely unbalanced.
Luckily, he was close to a wall as he stretched his hand and supported himself. There was still some slight confusion plastered on his face but it gradually disappeared.
He finally got a hold of himself. However his current demeanour prior to his death was different.
Despite his gentle looking appearance, his gaze seemed deep. It was as though he had been through the vicissitudes of life. He had a regal and authoritative aura about him, making the hut he was in seem extremely small despite his average height.
As he scanned the hut, he noticed the farm tools on the floor and a red stain not far from it. Some of the tools were covered in his vomit while the others seemed relatively free from such fate.
"What happened?" His voice was a little hoarse as he massaged his temple. "Where is this?"
Lost in his thoughts, he was unaware of the bleeding right side of his head.
He only remembered seeing the image in that expanse before everything went blank and then finding himself here in such a weak state.
Realising that his body stabilised somewhat, he adjusted himself and tried to sit on the floor to further think about his current situation, not noticing the wooden chair behind him.
However, before he could sit, the door of the hut was blasted open. A young teenage girl rushed in with a flustered expression on her face. She had brown hair and bore a slight resemblance to him.
"Father!" she yelled. Her sights were immediately drawn to the disgusting goo on the floor which emitted a putrid odour and the blood which still looked fresh. She looked back at the man she called father and noticed his pale complexion and bleeding head.
Shocked and in panic, she ran to him and acted as support, "Father! Are you alright?"
The man looked at the young girl that was trying to offer him some help and was reminded of his son and grandson. But just as the thought came, it disappeared.
The girl helped him to the wooden chair with a worry stricken face, wiping the stain from his mouth with the tip of her sleeves.
"I heard some noise from the hut and what seemed to be a struggle so I rushed in." She tore off her left sleeve disregarding the biting cold that penetrated her skin as she cleaned the injury and wrapped it around his head.
Only when she began treating his head clumsily did he realize that he was injured.
"You look pale, did you contract a disease?" she asked worriedly. "Why are you bleeding? Did you fall or hit your head somewhere?"
The questions shot out again like bullets and without waiting for a reply she continued, "Please hold on father, I'll get you some water immediately."
From the moment she entered till she left, the man couldn't get a word in and could only watch helplessly as the girl dashed out of the room.
Sitting there, the man muttered his thoughts, "Just now, that girl called me father. So it's safe to say that I might have a wife and other children as well."
He looked down at himself, noticing his thick tunic and black leather gloves that looked poorly made.
He now remembered seeing something similar just before his mind went blank. Thinking further, he concluded that he was most likely in the body of the man.
Although he was surprised by this fact, he remained calm. This wasn't as strange as what he had experienced in that iridescent plane.
"If I assume that this is a different world and I'm in a different body then the question is…just where am I?" He looked around, taking in everything. "I need information."
Luckily, he had a daughter who seemed to care a lot about him. Deciding on his next course of action, he relaxed a little.
But then, he felt a pulsating pain in his head as he clutched it tightly. Without warning, foreign memories not belonging to him assaulted his mind.
It took no more than a few seconds but it felt like hours to him before the pain completely dispersed.
The man was silent as he pondered on the memories he just received. After a few seconds and from the little information he gathered, his lips slowly curled into a smile.
The very same genuine smile "he" had before his untimely death. There was no difference between the two. However if one looked deeply enough they would notice the slight change in his temperament.
Just as he was about to get up, the door opened for the second time as the girl rushed in with a cup of water and made her way towards him.
However she wasn't alone as a woman followed right after. Raising his head, the man studied her carefully. The woman had brown hair and brown eyes, her hair was tied into a braid which slowly reached her chest area.
Looking at her clothes, they were brown and slightly worn out with a few patches. This came as no surprise to the man, considering he now knew how impoverished the family was.
The woman looked at him with slight worry as the girl slowly brought the cup to his mouth and offered him some water. After rinsing his mouth and drinking some water, he felt much better as color returned to his face prompting a sigh of relief from the girl.
"Dear, what happened?" she asked worriedly as her gaze alternated between the man and the vomit on the floor.
Flashing the woman a smile, he looked at her warmly.
"There's nothing to be worried about Rosey, just a mild discomfort."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Thieving
Thieving Hello, hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Pictures are in the paragraph comments.
Will put up an auxiliary chapter later to show the characters and their images.
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