Kane was feeling unwell. He'd never considered himself to be faithful. He'd didn't believe in god or the afterlife or anything remotely supernatural.

  But dying changed that, and he was distinctly uncomfortable to learn there was something after death.

  Exactly what it was? That he wasn't quite so sure about. Because since dying he hadn't really seen much.

  Just a whole lot of black. Maybe some lighter patches but it was difficult to tell when he couldn't feel anything.

  He'd tried to move at first, to flail around. That hadn't done much. So that left him with thinking.

  God he hated thinking. Because there was only so many things one could think about; Regrets, wishes, desires and mistakes.

  God why did the human mind have to focus on mistakes. He thought. Yes mind. We did stutter in front of our crush in grade three. Why are you bringing that up for the hundredth time?

  But unfortunately it was all he do to pass the time. So he continued to think. Unable to - stop - thinking. Wishing he could at least sleep.

  Would have helped a bit.

  But no, just thinking for all eternity.

  Please god, gods. If anything like that even exists, please. Let me stop thinking.

  He begged for a while. Really poured his heart out, made up for the time he'd not been religious.

  It didn't help.

  At some point he'd figured out how to just not think. It was like going into zen mode. Just... do nothing. The only kink at the moment was every so often things would intrude.

  He hadn't figured out what to called them. They didn't feel like they were sentient. He'd thought it was him going insane. But insanity didn't beam the image of a metal sphere into your head for twelve weeks straight.

  Don't worry about if the time was accurate. He'd made sure, he counted every second.

  Then there was the other things. Kane didn't know if he was finally going insane but things have been... speaking recently. The issue was he wasn't quite sure if it was his mind playing tricks or it was actually things speaking nearby to him.

  Hopefully it was nothing but the projections of his mind because he really didn't like what they were talking about.

  Because, what the hell was deep storage?

  But as with al things, the voices left, and he decided they probably were just another attempt from his mind to stay sane with how long he'd been like this.

  Actually how long had it been? But he didn't get to muse on this long. Because then one spoke to him. Directly to him.

  "Hmm, this one's old, I don't recognise any of the dates." The voice said, its tone was gravelly and plain. "Well, best get to it. Those pricks up top want the space for their new fountain of reincarnation" The voice sigh heavily. "Messing with the order of things. Don't sit right."

  Then for the first time in a long time, Kane felt something. Movement. "There we go, nice and steady, easy in there. The machine isn't quite as-" The voice cut of and the sensation of being looked at, you know the one. When the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you feel the sensation of being seen.

  Whoever the voice belonged too it was watching him. And he really didn't like it. It felt too exposing, like something important to him was being examined. "Huh. I could have sworn it twitched. Soul in deep storage can't move... they're asleep for a reason. Memories going back that far... interferes with the more delicate bits."

  The sensation of being watched finally subsided. Kane let out the soul equivalent of a sigh. Not knowing what was happening made every word it spoke feel important. Reincarnation? Machine? More... delicate bits?

  Kane couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. A sense of tension hung over him. Something was happening, it involved him and he had no idea what.

  "That's odd. No given origin? Where the hell did this one come from and where the hell do I send it?" The voice said, sounding exasperated, Kane almost sympathised with the voice, it was rather annoying when issues cropped up during work.

  At least he thought the voice was working. Working exactly on what he didn't know. It seem important considering it involved him. Where was this being sending him exactly?

  Then the light started bleeding in. It wasn't pleasant light, light should be warm. Comforting. This was cold, clinical and felt sterile. "That's it, just try not to shred this one. I was finding bits of the last one in my hair for weeks after. Did you know he was a barbarian lord? He lived on a world with more land then oceans. Would have been a nice place to visit. Shame you can't travel between the realms anymore."

  The light increased in intensity and Kane started feeling unwell. It had been a long time since he'd felt unwell. When he first came to in this place he'd felt unwell but all sensation had faded quickly after that and then he had the - pleasant - company of... Thoughts.

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  The first inkling of sensation returned to him. It felt odd, to feel again after so long. Even if much if much of it was spent in an almost vegetive state.

  "Alright you lucky bastard, I want to piss off those above so I sure you don't mind helping with that." A humming started up. "There we go, right to the top." The voice chuckled, amusement clouding its voice.

  Then the buzzing turned odd, like it was underwater. "Huh, that's odd. Why are you having difficulty with this one. Tell me old girl" The voice said softly, sounding it was talking to a pet.

  Whoever they are they sure love to talk out loud. Kane thought as the sounds of something straining echoed out.

  "To large to wipe? No that can't be right. Pause the transfer." The voice sounded out. Concern colouring its tone. "Pause it, what do you mean you can't? Pause it!" The concern bloomed into full blown panic.

  The buzzing had stopped at some point. No the straining had overwhelming it. It sounded like he was in the middle of a hurricane. The light drained out as the voice spoke again, sounding defeated this time.

  "Fuck"

  Then Kane was gone, a smear across existence dragging along the weight of his memories and more.

  Colours other then black and white - the absence and the presence of something - started bleeding in. Images of worlds, holes in space, voids the size of entire universes and realities contained with the space of a thread.

  Kane screamed, finally finding his voice after eternity in the void. Awe and even a bit of fear flashed through his mind. His awareness torn between the images he bore witness to and the memory of the defeat in that voice.

  But the spectacle didn't last long enough to Kane to fully process what he saw in the travel between existence. Suddenly, just as quickly as it had started he hung before a wall.

  It was a shimmering thing. It seemed to contain a world that had been folded out into a two dimensional space. The time and history of a world spread out across a single plane that he now floated before.

  A hole opened up in it. A force akin to suction pulled at Kane. Dragging him towards the gaping wound in that tapestry.

  The passage through it was quick. One moment he lay beyond and the next he hung above a vibrant ball of blue and green. The sight would have been deeply familiar to Kane if not for the giant ring of burning gold that hung around it.

  The force started tugging him downward, towards the planet. He gradually picked up speed and was soon hurtling towards its surface. His view went from a rapidly approaching planet to a small cabin made of thick logs the size of a man's waist.

  His speed decreased rapidly, he phased through the cabin's roof until he hovered above a woman sitting in a rocking chair. She cradled a heavily swollen belly between two hands. A loving expression gracing her weathered features. The pull increased, dragging him towards her belly, which no doubt held a child.

  But something stopped him. A sensation of rejection. Akin to when you tried to put the circle shape into the square hole.

  He didn't fit.

  The pull sensed this and suddenly he was far away from that cabin in the woods. Several scenes similar to the first. All of pregnant woman in various dress and location. The same scene played out. He'd be dragged close only to not fit. His soul to heavy for the fragile body of a child.

  The pull weakened after many attempts. But it was still there, dragging him across the world again and again. He'd started to fade out like he had when he was in deep storage. Returning to his state of zen, of emptiness.

  The next scene however witness shocked him out of it. The pull had weakened recently, so faint he'd not even noticed when he suddenly changed direction.

  A castle grew in the distance. This new pull dragged him towards one of the many towers that drilled up towards the heavens. He collided with the stonework and passed through it. Entering what appeared to be a study of sorts.

  A man sat in the centre behind a desk. He looked haggard but there was a gleam of pure joy in his eyes. Between his outstretched hands hung an object of light. It shimmered and shifted, the glow it gave out illumining his face and sent shadows stretching across the study. The new pull seemed to originate from this strange star-like object.

  He gleefully pulled the object to his mouth, swallowing it in a single gulp. There was a rushed aspect to his motions and the glow vanished as he swallowed. The man closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. The pull lessened as the man swallowed the object.

  Whatever he was doing seemed to be going well. Until he started bleeding from his eyes. The man shuddered and clutched his head, a soundless scream coming from his mouth as he thrashed in the chair, sending droplets of blood across the room.

  As the bleeding intensified the pull that had faded when the man had consumed the object returned. Kane found himself falling towards the man the object having been consumed by him. But this time something was different.

  The sensation of rejection had returned and stood strong for a moment. But unlike before it suddenly started crumbling and then Kane was sitting at the desk.

  Pain laced through his stomach but the sensation was quickly fading. Turning to a dull warmth in his navel.

  No the most blaring change was the sensation of life. Kane drew a shuddering breath, blood dripped down his face as he leaned forward. He was alive again.

  Raising a pale hand he flexed it experimentally, testing it. The muscles shifted beneath pale skin, blue veins underneath visible.

  A headache was boiling up in his mind but he didn't even register it. Kane pushed himself up off the desk and stumbled over to a sink and mirror in the corner. He stared at the man he'd seen moments earlier eat a star and then bleed out from the eyes in the mirror. His features was unfamiliar, a set of long deep black hair framing a set of thin features and two green-blue eyes with rings of gold.

  "What in the actual fuck" Kane said out loud, the voice greeting him unfamiliar and rustic. With a hint of smoothness that made it feel distantly rich.

  Turning on the facet he cleaned off the blood that was rapidly drying on his face. Once he got rid of it he had to admit, whoever the person who's body he'd stolen was. He had a pretty good face.

  After a few deep breaths Kane straightened up. Well this was one hell of a way to start a new life. Now. Where the hell was he and who the hell was he.

  A loud knocking interrupting his musing. He frowned, turning to face the door to the study. Someone was loudly slamming their fist on the wooden surface. Mentally shaking himself Kane stumbled over to the door.

  After a moment to recall how a door worked but when he did he grabbed the handle and twisted. Pulling the door open with a smooth motion. Standing on the other side was someone that felt familiar to him but he knew that he hadn't seen this person before.

  It seemed the memories of the original owner of this body were bouncing around inside his head. Would explain his headache. The woman clad in official looking attire stared at him for a bit. The expression on her face made him feel like an imposter. His eyes drifted to the name badge on her chest.

  The words on it weren't English but he understood it fine. 'Officer Kaia' He raised his eyes back to her face. Long blond hair framed a golden brown and fair face. However the words that left her lips were nothing fair.

  "Prince Aaron, you are under suspicion of stealing a fragment from the church of the order. Please do not resist."

  It seemed his new life was nothing but ordinary. Somehow he was a prince and it seemed he'd stolen something important from a church of all things. Hopefully that wasn't going to be too much of a problem to sort out.

  You could spit up stars after you eat them right?