Alex opened his eyes in a strange place.
The ground beneath him was as sandy as a beach, but the sand was strangely ash-coloured.
In the distance, he could hear what sounded like rushing water, but when he turned towards the source of the sound, he didn't see water, but a giant pillar of light rising up to the sky.
Or at least, whatever passed for a sky in this place.
The pillar of light rose from the ground and seemed to rise infinitely into the endless darkness above.
Drifting slowly towards it were countless smaller motes of light. Each one had a different coloured outline, but their centres were all uniform ash-grey, just a shade lighter than the sand below.
Glancing around, Alex realised that he too, was shaped like one of those lights. He was also a floating orb with a black outline, hovering in a long line that extended towards the horizon.
At this realisation, his last memories before awakening came rushing to him.
He remembered that he had been shot in what was probably a robbery. 'Probably' because he had no idea why the gunmen opened fire immediately after entering. They didn't make any demands or anything. They just lit up the whole room with gunfire.
He could remember the pain blooming in his stomach, the blood in his mouth and the way he slowly lost all feeling in his body.
If Alex had a physical body right now, his spine would have shuddered at the realisation he had come to.
He had certainly died.
Following that realisation, pure rage welled up in him, at those who had killed him for a reason that would never know.
But however much anger he felt, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
At least, not from this strange realm filled with drifting orbs of light he found himself in, which was likely …the afterlife?
That was most likely the case, considering he'd found himself here after death.
If that was correct, then all these other floating orbs of light were the souls of other people who had died as well…
While he brooded, the line of souls automatically moved, with him getting closer and closer to the pillar of light.
As he got closer, seeing more souls vanish into the pillar of light, he wondered what happened to them.
'Do they go to some Heaven or Hell? Or do they get reborn as different people, or…cease to exist?'
The possibility of the last thought sent another chill through him.
But this, too, was another thing he could do nothing about. He could only be moved along the line that was slowly approaching the pillar of light.
When he got closer, he could see souls on other lines coming from other directions, as well as the humanoid figures near the base of the pillar.
There were about three of them, two of which seemed to be looking at floating tablets, while the third, a woman in long white robes, just swept her gaze around with her arms crossed.
The vibe she gave off was that of some sort of overseer or supervisor.
Just then, there was a loud rumbling noise, and the entire place shook. Immediately, the woman in white narrowed her eyes, her gaze locking onto a spot between Alex's line and the next, where the space itself literally split open.
From the crack emerged two massive hands that pulled it wider, making way for a giant man to step through.
He wore a half-armour reminiscent of a gladiator and carried a spear.
Looking directly at the woman, he spoke in a voice that echoed across the entire space.
"I am here to retrieve three souls from my sector that have fallen into yours."
Hearing him, the woman frowned and responded, "There are no souls from your sector in mine. Return to where you came from."
As she spoke, a wave of white light burst from her body, some sort of energy that pushed back against the man.
However, the man stood his ground, his expression unchanged as he replied, "I was not asking permission. I was simply informing you of what I was going to do."
With that, he turned his gaze towards the lines on his sides, his eyes scanning them as he began looking for a particular soul.
This action, however, enraged the woman, whose eyes glowed with a white light as she extended her hand.
"Get out of my domain!"
With that, she released a wave of white energy from her palm, using it to try to push the man back into the rift from which he had come.
But once again, the man stood his ground, though, this time, he slashed with his spear, slicing the wave of energy in half.
Then, he charged at her, his weapon glowing with dark energy as he swung it at her. From the woman's extended palm, a sword materialised, and she gripped it and used it to meet his clash.
The collision unleashed a shockwave that shook the entire realm, sending hundreds of souls flying into the air, scattered like leaves in a storm.
Unluckily for Alex, he was very close to their collision point, and the force slammed into him, making him feel pain like nothing he'd ever felt before.
Which was a lot, considering that only mere minutes ago, he'd been shot dead.
The pain he felt now was even worse than the pain of being shot. It felt as if his very existence was being ripped apart as the energy wave hit him.
The other two holding tablets panicked and tried to run away from the two clashing beings. One of them raised their hands and tried to create some sort of dome-shaped barrier to cover a portion of the scattered souls and protect them from the shockwaves.
Unfortunately for Alex, the energies of the two clashing beings formed a swirling vortex that pulled him in the opposite direction from the barrier.
Tossed like a driftwood in a flood, Alex was slung towards the pillar of light, which had begun to flicker dangerously.
The white-robed woman noticed him, and she reached out, as though trying to drag his soul back, but the armoured man's next strike diverted her attention.
Just then, a soul with a red outline dashed towards the pillar of light, dragging another behind it.
As they passed, they brushed against Alex's soul, nudging it towards the pillar of light and causing it to fall into it and vanish along with them.
The moment the bright light filled all of Alex's vision, Leon woke up with a gasp.
Breathing heavily, he sat up and looked around in confusion.
"What kind of messed-up dream was that…?"
He sighed, placing a hand on his temple as he tried to recall all the contents of the dream he'd just had.
But as he began sifting through his memories, he noticed something strange. He had far more memories than he was supposed to have.
"Huh? I'm 17. Why do I remember an 18th birthday party??"
It wasn't just that. For some reason, he remembered two different versions of his 17th birthday.
Leon, no Alex, no Leon, felt his head ache, and when he looked around, trying to find water to quench the sudden, inexplicable thirst he felt, he blinked in confusion.
"Where the hell is this?
No, wait, this is my room.
But where? In my apartment?
No, wait, not in my apartment. It's in my house."
The different memories in his head caused quite a bit of chaos in his mind. It was as if a new set of memories had suddenly entered his head and were trying to overwrite the ones that had been there always.
But which set of memories were the original?
His fingers dug into his scalp as he tried to process the memories of both Alex and Leon…
"Who the hell is Alex?
No, wait, I'm Alex.
But my name is Leon…where did Alex come from?"
The pressure in his head spiked as the dual memories seemed to battle for dominance, the strain increasing every moment.
"Fuck, this hurts my head. If I were a normal human, my brain would have probably overheated, and I'd have passed out."
A moment after he muttered that, he blinked in confusion.
"The heck do you mean 'normal human', of course, I'm a normal human…"
But a moment later, he shook his head and contradicted himself.
"Wait…I'm not a normal human."
His words only seemed to confuse him even further, so he decided to just stop talking and focus on dealing with this messed-up situation.
'Okay. Deep breaths. Just like mum always said.'
And with that thought came the next jolt of confusion.
"Wait…which mother?"
Alex's mum or Leon's mother?
Alex's mum always said to take deep breaths, one at a time, to calm himself, while Leon's mother always said to circulate his magic power while breathing and induce calm into his mind.
Placing a hand to the side of his head, he used his magic power and, while taking a deep breath, released a small flash of white light that poured into his head like a stream of cool water, washing away the pressure and chaos.
He then closed his eyes in silence, and after nearly 15 minutes, he finally opened them and spoke.
"Finally, everything's sorted out."
Indeed, it was.
"So, I'm Leon, but at the same time, I am Alex.
No, I was Alex before I was Leon."