Darkness.
A voice from the depths of his mind should have been screaming in panic, his heart should have been hammering against his ribs, trying to break free. But there was nothing. Only a bottomless void and the heavy, dense sound of something flowing, echoing off its walls.
His senses began to emerge, like cracks spreading across the surface of a frozen lake. First, the muffled hum that filled his ears, then a strange warmth, as if warm honey were flowing through his veins instead of blood... The command to move his body was like a letter that never reached its destination, lost in his mind.
Finally, his eyelids parted, each feeling as heavy as lead.
The sight before him defied the limits of reason. He was in a room, yes, but from its four corners, columns of magma flowed silently, like rivers of molten gold. The heat wasn't suffocating; rather, it was a power that seeped into his bones, awakening something within him. There was an oddity that contradicted this hellish landscape: the air carried not the smell of burning, but the intoxicatingly sweet scent of vanilla, mingling with the heat of the magma.
At the center of this utopian nightmare stood an extravagant bed draped in black sheets. On it, the silhouette of a woman lounged, one leg crossed over the other. The clothes she wore were no more than a shadow, yet they provocatively outlined the curves of her body.
It was as if he were looking at everything through a pane of sooty glass. His vision was blurry, the colors muted. Were his eyes damaged? Perhaps. But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was why he couldn't move even a single finger.
But the owner of these thoughts did not yet belong to a body. He was a figure inside a massive, tube-shaped culture tank, filled with a black fluid. Cables and mechanisms wrapped around the tank like a serpent, their rhythmic and technological beeps mixing with the mystical hum of the room.
Two points of light ignited in the darkness within the figure: blood-red, predatory eyes. There was a pure, unadulterated bewilderment in those eyes as they scanned their surroundings. The dense darkness of the fluid revealed no detail other than them.
Those blood-red eyes locked onto the female silhouette on the bed. As if she had felt his gaze, the woman slowly rose and began to walk toward the tank. Her walk was as hypnotic as the slithering of a snake.
When she saw he was awake, he felt the glint in her eyes the proud and possessive look of an artist beholding their most precious creation. Yes, he felt it. Even though he couldn't see her face clearly, his instincts whispered her interest to him.
The woman approached the tank and placed her elegant fingers on the cold glass. Her voice filtered through the glass and the fluid, piercing directly into his mind; it was as sweet as honey and as dangerous as poison.
"You've finally opened your eyes, lost one. Do you remember... who you were?"
The question was like a key turning a rusted lock in his mind. Memories assaulted him, not like a flood, but like painful, scattered shards of broken glass. Kai... His last memory was of sirens in an alleyway, the metallic smell of his own blood mixing with the asphalt, and a sharp, final pain... It had all ended in a gang fight. So where was this?
"Of course," his voice whispered, transforming into a muffled rumble inside the tank. "Where am I?"
As the woman drew closer, the sooty filter seemed to clear. Her flawless skin, her lips as full and crimson as a bitten apple... She possessed a beauty too perfect, too supernatural to belong to a mortal.
The bewilderment in Kai's gaze was replaced by a primal, uncontrollable desire. This wasn't simple lust; it was a command etched into his very soul. When the woman noticed this shift, a pleased chuckle escaped her lips.
"Just as I expected from my subject. So sharp, your instincts, even on the verge of your creation."
He couldn't deny it. The elegant, curved horns rising from her temples, her hair that billowed like white fire, her blood-red eyes that stared right at him... Every detail fueled the new and alien emotions stirring within Kai. And she was aware of it; her lips curved upwards like a victorious commander.
"First, allow me to introduce myself," the woman said, her fingers slowly tracing a path over her breasts. Even this simple gesture was enough to wipe away all traces of logic from Kai's mind.
"I am Viessa. Commander of Desires from the Lust Corps. And you... you are an unlucky soul turned away from Hell's gate, and a lucky being, chosen by me to serve a purpose."
Kai's mind was in turmoil. The words made no sense. He tried to move his hands, to touch the glass wall that imprisoned him.
"What Hell? What do you mean, a failure..."
Viessa shrugged. "Souls sent from Hell face a trial. They are expected to prove their strength, to realize their potential," she explained, as two pairs of wings unfurled majestically from her back. They were black enough to swallow the night itself, their membranes a sinful shade of pink. And in the very center of the wings, blood-red eyes blinked open, all staring at him.
"Most of them fail. They turn to dust. They become nothing more than a worthless memory to us."
As Viessa spoke, a thorny, dark crown materialized above her head. It floated in the air, radiating an oppressive power. In that moment, Kai understood. This woman was not a commander; she was a queen. Every atom in this room bent to her will. This wasn't a feeling; it was an absolute truth.
Viessa leaned down slightly and touched a panel at the base of the tank. As the beeping intensified, the black fluid within the tank began to recede.
"But I," Viessa continued, her eyes gleaming down at Kai, "dislike waste. Especially such an... interesting failure as yourself."
The fluid wasn't draining. Kai felt it being absorbed by his soul, spreading through his veins like a cold fire. His body was becoming darkness itself. He was no longer a soul, but a Wraith, a shadow. His hands, which once resembled a human's, elongated into sharp talons.
When his feet touched the metal floor of the tank, the cables attached to his body were still injecting something into him. He should have felt shock, maybe even fear. But all he felt was an empty curiosity and a growing hunger.
Viessa watched him with the pride of one admiring their masterpiece. Kai asked, noticing how alien and monstrous his own voice sounded:
"What have you done to me?"
His tone wasn't frightened, merely inquisitive. It was as if only two emotions remained inside him: lust and curiosity.
"I have reshaped you," Viessa said proudly. "A kind of Artificial Fallen. Of course, you're nothing next to a true Ascended... for now."
Kai tried to take a step toward her but was still inside the capsule. He placed his talon on the glass. His reflection materialized on its surface.
Eyes that burned with flame. A monstrosity formed entirely of darkness, its contours constantly shifting. He... was a monster.
This realization instantly wiped away the curiosity and lust. In their place, a pure, tar-black rage was born. This rage was the scream of his lost humanity.
He slammed his fist against the glass. The sound was a dull, ineffective thud, like hitting solid metal.
"WHAT... HAVE YOU DONE... TO ME?" he roared. He felt no pain, only a searing hatred that consumed him from within. He did not relent.
One...
Two...
Three...
The smile on Viessa's face was condescending. That glass was designed to withstand even the wrath of a god. The rebellion of Kai's flimsy soul was no different from a pebble thrown into the ocean.
CRACK!
The sound was a sharp blade that cut through even the hum of the flowing magma. The smile on Viessa's lips froze. The pebble thrown into the ocean had just parted the sea. For the first time, a look of pure astonishment flashed in her eyes.
Another crack.
"Tell me what happened to me! What's going to happen to me now?"
His voice was now the snarl of a beast. As he brought his fist down one last time, the glass exploded like a bomb! Sharp fragments scattered across the room as Kai took his first step outside. The cables attached to his body snapped, showering sparks. With every step he took, a black, tar-like fluid dripped from his body onto the floor.
Viessa's shock instantly transformed into pure excitement. Her tail swished behind her like a whip.
"This... This is perfect... YOU are perfect!"
She, too, moved toward Kai. On her face was the pure joy of a child who had just received a gift beyond their wildest dreams.
"You don't need to understand what happened. Very soon, you'll be making a new beginning."
Viessa's fingers drew a complex pattern in the air. Kai tried to flap his small, newly formed wings to lunge at her, but his body froze solid. He was pinned to the spot. In that instant, Viessa's voice echoed directly inside his mind, though her lips never moved.
"When you are reincarnated in the world I am sending you to, these moments will remain in your mind as nothing more than a blurry nightmare. But know this: I have high expectations for you. I want you to live a life filled with passion, with desire, and with plenty of sex. After all..."
The smile on her face twisted into a wicked grin.
"Desires, in their purest form, are unleashed in bed."
It was the last thing Kai heard. As darkness swallowed him once more, he was already on his way to a new, unknown life.