The boat cut across the sea, and as it sped away, the thief glanced back. The storm was breaking. Rays of sunlight spilled across the horizon, red against the clouds.
It was the same as before.
The first time he arrived in that last world.
Back then, he was just a thief. A rat scurrying in the alleys until the mafia caught him, pressed him into their service. Forced to bow to their boss, he ran errands, bled his hands, and did their dirty work. But deep down, greed gnawed at him.
In time, his hunger outweighed his fear. He betrayed the mafia boss, stole his money, and sent him to jail. For a short while, he lived like a king.
But kings fall.
The boss was released, not guilty, and his wrath was swift. A bounty painted the thief's name in blood. Goons hunted him from city to city, until one night, headlights blinded him. Tires screeched. The truck slammed into him like fate itself.
That was his death.
Or so he thought.
On the ground, breath failing, he saw a strange being hovering over him. Its face flickered like mist, its voice a low murmur, words curling inside his skull. And then darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer a man.
His body was small, weak, ribs showing through skin stretched thin. His limbs trembled as if they hadn't known food for days. Around him, other children lay chained, their cries hollow, their eyes empty.
He groaned. "What… why am I here?"
No one answered. Only the wind, and the sobbing of children.
Then he understood.
The chains. The smell of unwashed bodies. The men's rough voices in the next room.
Slavers.
The thought should have crushed him. But instead, something stirred within him. His gaze wandered, not to the other children, not to the locked door
But to the gold pouch lying carelessly on the table nearby.
The devil inside him whispered.
Money.
His lips curved. Even in this wretched form, even at the edge of despair, greed sparked life in him again.
Just then, a shriek split the silence. One of the children collapsed, breath gone.
The door slammed open.
A man in red robes entered, sword at his hip, keys dangling from his hand. His eyes narrowed.
"Another one dead?" he muttered. Without care, he unlocked the chains, lifted the lifeless child, and carried him out.
But in his carelessness, he never noticed
The keys had already slipped into the thief's hands.