---Happy New Year!---
White.
It was the first thing Alaric registered. An endless, seamless, and sterile white void. There was no ground, no sky, no walls. Just a vast, quiet emptiness.
In the center of this nothingness sat a surprisingly mundane, comfortable-looking couch. And on that couch, a man with lazy golden eyes and silver hair was tickling a fluffy white cat under its chin.
"Who's the cutie-cutie~" the man cooed, his voice echoing slightly in the void. "Who's the little ball of cosmic fluff? You are! Yes, you are!"
The cat purred, a sound like a tiny, rumbling engine.
Alaric stood in the middle of the room… or what passed for a room… his soul-form a perfect replica of his physical self, down to the crimson coat and the faint scent of cigar smoke. He cleared his throat.
"Umm... don't let me interrupt you."
The man, Kami, looked up, his golden eyes crinkling at the corners. He didn't look surprised at all.
"Ah... Alaric, my boi," Kami smiled, acting as if nothing had happened. The cat purred contentedly on his lap, stretching a paw. "How're you doin'?"
Alaric blinked. He looked down at his own incorporeal hands, then back at the god lounging on the couch. "Don't you know everything? I mean... you're Kami and all."
"Of course," Kami said, scratching the cat behind its ears. The purring intensified. "I have the director's cut, the behind-the-scenes footage, all of it. However, it's different when I hear the actor's opinions for himself."
Alaric sighed. He walked closer, stopping a few feet from the couch. He supposed he did have a lot to get off his chest.
"Alright," he began, the story of his second life tumbling out.
He spoke of his reincarnation, of waking up as a helpless infant in a poor Welsh farming family, the cousin of Edward Kenway. He described the cold, the hunger, the quiet desperation of his early years in Swansea, and the desperate grind of a five-year-old pickpocket, stealing just to earn enough Reales to unlock a power he barely understood.
He told Kami about the business in Bristol, the first taste of real wealth, and the overwhelming, agonizing transformation when he bought a suite of god-like powers from the System. He talked about the loneliness that came with that power, the feeling of being separate, different from the family he was trying so hard to protect.
He spoke of meeting Reuben and Thulani, his first disciples, his first true friends in this world. He described their training, their growth, and the fierce loyalty that had bound them together.
He recounted the long journey across the seas, the naval battles, the strange camaraderie with Captain Oldgate, the political maneuvering with William Penn, and the quiet satisfaction of seeing his family finally safe and prosperous in Pennsylvania.
Then, his voice softened.
"And then I met Kassandra," he said, a genuine warmth entering his tone. "In a hidden Isu cavern under a volcano. She was... like me. Immortal. Alone. We fought for two days straight." A small smile touched his lips. "And then we... connected. She understands the weight of it all. The loneliness."
He told Kami about Caroline, about the Apple's corruption, the ghost hunt across the world from the Philippines to Japan, and finally to Joseon. He described the final confrontation, the two Apples, the Kusanagi sword, and the desperate, all-out battle in the throne room.
"I had the Black Apple in my hand," Alaric concluded, his voice quiet now. "But it was too powerful. A fusion of two Apples, their energies unstable. I couldn't contain it. The System wouldn't respond. It was going to explode, take out the entire city. So... I flew up. As high and as fast as I could." He looked at his hands. "And then... boom."
He finished his story, the tale of his entire second life, and stood there in the quiet white void.
"Damn... I mean, I see," Kami said, finally breaking the silence, his tone still light. He gently patted the head of his purring cat. "You've changed, Alaric."
"Yeah, I would like to think so," Alaric replied, a faint, weary smile on his face. "Hopefully for the better."
Kami stopped stroking the cat and stared at Alaric for a long moment, his lazy golden eyes suddenly sharp and analytical. Then, he chuckled.
"Of course, it's for the better," he said cheerfully. "Your death didn't traumatize any EMTs this time."
Alaric's eyes rolled so hard he felt a strain in the back of his non-existent skull. He sighed. "Damn... can't you forget 'bout that one?"
"I am Kami. I don't forget," Kami smiled. "But honestly, you became brave. You faced death not on a dirty floor from a heart attack, but in the cold vacuum of space, sacrificing yourself to save thousands. That's quite the upgrade."
"...Yeah, about that," Alaric said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not supposed to be dead, am I? I mean... with my Phoenix Sage Mode, I have Eternal Rebirth...?"
'I also didn't necessarily expect to save thousands… just Caroline, but that's a plus.'
"Yeah, I know that, just bear with me-" Kami started to say, holding up a hand, but Alaric cut him off, his frustration finally boiling over.
"AND BY THE WAY!" Alaric glared at Kami, his voice rising. "Why didn't the System work that time!? I was about to sell the exploding Apple to the System, and for SOME ODD REASON," he made air quotes with his fingers, "it didn't work?"
Kami just smiled calmly… almost too calmly. The cat on his lap didn't even stir.
"...Plot?"
Alaric stared. "Plot? What do you mean, 'Plot'?"
"Yeah," Kami continued, his smile widening into a grin. "Didn't you buy a plot of land in Pennsylvania? You have to tend to that, right?"
"..." Alaric just sighed, running a hand through his hair. The god was messing with him. "Yeah, okay... if you don't want to tell me, fine." He crossed his arms. "By the way, new question. Is it possible for me to travel to another world?"
The question hung in the air. The cat stopped purring for a second. Kami tilted his head, a genuine flicker of curiosity in his golden eyes.
"..."
"..."
"Yeah... sure?" Kami finally shrugged, as if the request was as mundane as asking for a cup of tea. "Only once, though. A one-time portal opening from my end. But," he added, a sly glint in his eye, "you can travel back and forth on your own after that. With your Hiraishin."
Alaric blinked. "Hiraishin? What do you mean?"
Kami rolled his eyes dramatically. "...Duhh? The HiraiSHIN no Jutsu. The Flying Thunder GOD Technique." He emphasized the words like he was explaining something to a particularly slow child. "It manipulates space and time. You think that's limited to just one planet, dumbass?"
Alaric could only sigh again. He was about to ask something else, about the logistics, about which world, but when he looked back at Kami, the god was already eye-smiling at him, one hand raised in a cheerful, final wave.
"Bye, kid!"
Alaric's eyes widened in alarm. He knew that look. He knew what was coming. He glanced down.
A circular hole, perfectly sized to fit him, had opened up in the seamless white floor beneath his feet.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His scream was abruptly cut off as he plummeted into the darkness below.
As Alaric fell, Kami looked at the spot where the hole had been, which had already sealed itself up without a trace. He turned back to the fluffy white cat on his lap and resumed scratching it behind the ears.
"Can you believe that, kitty?" he murmured conversationally. "He can literally fly through the vacuum of space, but still yells like a girl when he falls..."
"...meow."
.
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