Jinnah and I stood in front of Meridian's door.
She held a cake with both hands, a small vanilla frosted thing with strawberries.
A few of the staff stood behind her. They held confetti poppers and a banner.
And me?
I had the ring sat in my pocket. Everything was ready and all that was left to do was to open the door.
With a deep breath, I opened the door.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!"
The staff shot off their confetti poppers.
Meridian jumped in bed, startled. "Ah, what are you doing so early?"
I laughed, gesturing towards the cake. "It's your birthday, Meridian." Jinnah nodded as she set the cake beside him.
Meridian stared at the cake with wide eyes. "A-a cake? For my birthday? But I—" tears welled in his eyes as his gaze shifted between the cake and everyone in the room.
He raised a hand, then lowered it, then raised it again. He looked like a malfunctioning robot.
His eyes soon focused on me, and within seconds, he leapt at me. I laughed as he crashed into me, his face buried in my chest.
"You bastard!" He cried. I could feel his tears soak through my tunic. "You could've told me, I don't know what to do now, I feel so embarrassed!"
I just laughed as I stroked his hair. "Hey, if I told you then it wouldn't have been a surprise, would it?"
He raised his head with a pout and stared into my eyes. "Maybe, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
I sat up as he rolled off me. "Well," I began, reaching a hand into my pocket. "I might not be able to fix that, but I can promise to stick by your side."
I produced the ring from my pocket and held it out in my palm. "May I?"
Meridian stared at the ring in my palm. His eyes went wide, wider than they've ever been before. His bottom lip fell slightly as his body trembled.
The staff tensed at the sudden silence and awkwardly took a few steps back with strained smiles.
I was even a little worried.
"Meridian?"
He slowly extended his left hand and wiggled his ring finger. I raised an eyebrow.
"No-no, it's a friendship ring." I tried to explain, "You know? Uhm, I need to put it on a different finger."
Meridian didn't blink. He didn't even speak.
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "Fine" I took his hand in mine and slid the ring on his finger. It was almost a perfect fit, just a little too big.
But he'll grow into it.
I cleared my throat as he pulled back his hand to examine the ring closely. "Meridian," I began. "This ring represents a promise that I'll never leave you, no matter what. You and I, we're friends for life, BFFs."
Meridian finally met my gaze with a tilted head and a long smile. "I accept."
I nodded and clapped my hands, "Alright, who's ready for some cake—"
I was cut off by Meridian suddenly standing and approaching his shelf. He snatched his half of the stone from it and turned to me with a pointed finger.
I blinked.
"I'm going to turn my half into a ring too!" He declared. "I'm gonna give it to you on your birthday!"
Meridian laughed happily. "It'll be like we're engaged for real! With an exchange of rings! My future husband!"
My jaw dropped.
Phillip just so happened to pass by right when meridian said that, and looked like he just swallowed a brick.
He looked down at me with a questionable look. "You gave him a ring?"
I looked up at him and shook my head. "No, no I swear I didn't give him a ring for that purpose! You have to believe me!"
Jinnah looked away and laughed
After desperately defending my actions, we spent the rest of the day celebrating.
— — —
It was late in the evening and everyone was asleep. I sat awake in my bed, my eyes glued to the ceiling.
Today felt good.
Really good actually.
And I didn't want to let this feeling go without doing something with it. There was only one thing left that I could do.
Attempt the Seal of Self again.
I mentally called for the dragon,
"What is now, boy?" He asked grumpily.
I want to try the Seal of Self again.
The dragon stayed silent for a long time, then he let out a long and tired sigh.
"Are you sure? Should you fail again there is a high likelihood of you dying. The stress you put on your mind…"
I sat up with a clenched fist.
Come on, don't pretend that you care about me now. Besides, I know what I have to do this time.
Trust me.
The dragon huffed.
"Even if I don't care for you, your survival is tied to mine. It would be difficult to inhabit the vessel of a brain-dead idiot. However, I would be a fool to squander your potential, let's go."
I rolled out of bed and snuck out of the manor.
— — —
I stepped through the clearing alone. My body shook with adrenaline as I approached the log and took my seat.
"Are you ready?" The dragon asked.
Born.
I took in a big breath before closing my eyes and entering the white void.
And waiting for me like always was my clone.
Kenji.
But he wasn't grinning this time. He stood silently, his head tilted. After a few tense seconds, he spoke.
"There's something different about you."
I stepped forward with my head held high. "I am different. I'm stronger, I'm happier, I'm better…"
The clone began to circle me and I circled him.
He frowned deeply. "Your confidence reeks," he snarled, stepping to my face. He pressed his chest against mine, but I held my ground.
I looked down upon the clone. "Of course you would say that. You hate this, don't you?"
He gritted his teeth and tried to shove me.
I didn't budge.
The clone forced a laugh. "You have some nerve acting like this! You're the same guy who got cucked!"
I smiled.
"I wasn't cucked," I replied with a step forward.
"Being cucked implies I had her in the first place." I stopped in the clone's face. "I didn't even have my head on straight. No, I was just a piece of shit with a god complex."
The clone shrank back as I had attacked him.
A deep laugh escaped me. "What's wrong?" I teased. "I thought you liked this game, where we air out all our secrets. Am I not doing it right?"
The clone continued his pointless scrambling. I followed him with slow, hard footsteps.
Step.
"You're the same guy who lusted after his bully for years!" The clone cried.
"I was," I replied.
Step.
"You're the same guy who died because he was too lazy to pick up chopsticks!"
"Sure was."
Step.
"You're the same person who… who… who wasted his life! You're a failure! A fraud! This confidence you have, it's nothing! Nothing!"
I now loomed over the clone, my eyes burrowed into his. His body trembled as he raised a hand to hide his face. "Stay away!"
I brushed his hand aside and leaned close.
My voice dropped to a whisper as my lips neared his ear. I gripped his neck, not to hurt him, but to hold him in place.
"You're right, Kenji…"
My body slowly began to shift into that of Lafayette's. My black eyes flickered blue.
My black hair turned blonde.
"…I was all those things. I was a loser. I was a pathetic sack of shit who did nothing with his life." My expression hardened.
"But the keyword here is 'was'."
I forced the clone to look me in the face. Which was now fully Lafayette's.
His eyes shook with fear.
"I'm not Kenji anymore. My name is Lafayette and my story starts here. I will be the greatest man this world has ever seen. And you are my reason why. Understand? I never want to be like you, but I will never forget you either."
I squeezed Kenji's neck and listened to his heavy breathing.
"Thank you, for wallowing in your misery so that I know to never do it. To never give up. Because the only thing worse than failure is a lifetime's worth."
I snapped his neck.
His head lolled to the side as his eyes went white.
I gently laid him back on the floor of the void.
"Rest in peace, Kenji Sato."
As the words left my lips I could hear cracking from above.
I looked up to see the void shatter like glass. The pieces, orange and white, rained down on me as the real world revealed itself.
The pieces of the void swarmed around my feet and spun like a vortex. Once all the pieces were gathered, they rushed into me.
The pain I felt… was indescribable.
I shouted in agony as my eyes went orange. It felt as if every fiber of my being was ripped apart and reorganized into something tighter.
Denser.
The process felt as if it took an eternity.
When it finished I dropped to my knees and gasped for air. But somehow the air felt different, it tasted like… energy?
The dragon boomed with excitement. "BOY! You've done it! You've broken the first seal, your body can compound Ouro from the air!"
My fingers dug into the soil beneath me as I let out a hoarse laugh. You mean to tell me, I'm plugged into the wall now?