The Forsaken Hero

The Undead Hero’s question set me back in my seat, my tail twitching in surprise. "What am I?" I repeated dumbly.

Connor nodded, gripping the table tightly. His black eyes, usually shrouded in darkness, held a glint of nervousness. "Millions," he continued, his grip on the table tightening. "You wade through the blood of millions. How could anyone cause so much death? And yet," he paused, his gaze shifting beyond my flesh and into the depths of my soul. "You are as pure as a child."

I tilted my head, idly raising a hand and stroking my horn. "I’m not sure I understand. What do you mean?"

His fingers tapped on the table hesitantly before he sighed. "My ability, Soul Gaze, allows me to view one’s relationship with death. In death, a soul leaves an imprint upon their killer. I can manipulate that mark, gaining power and suppressing my opponent’s soul based on the weight of their crimes. I’ve closed four gates so far, but never, even when faced with the eternal souls of demons, have I witnessed a soul as black as when you walked through that door."

"Is that why...?" I started, my voice trailing off.

He nodded, his face drooping. "I’m sorry. I reacted instinctively and attacked you. I’ve uncovered several criminals and demonkin infiltrators by observing their misdeeds, so it wasn’t entirely unprecedented."

"Then what do you see in my soul?"

"It’s like I said, everything, but nothing at the same time. When your eyes glimmer like the stars, even that disappears. It’s like there are hundreds of different souls all mixed into one, and I catch glimpses of one here, and another there."

"Different people?" My hand dropped off my horn as a disturbing thought crossed my mind. "Or different times?"

"You are the Fate Hero," Connor mused. "But that seems unlikely. Demon souls are different than humans, so even if you didn’t bear the Sun God’s curse, slaughtering millions of them wouldn’t stain your soul. Perhaps it’s simply a strange interaction between your heroic nature and mine. Fate is mysterious, after all."

Fate. An enigmatic combination of past, present, and future. It claims knowledge of the future, but the visions are ultimately unreliable. After all, what happens is meant to happen, and only becomes written as it plays out. In a sense, Fate stands outside of time, encapsulating reality from start to finish. It is truth, pure and simple. As the Fate Hero, my soul stands apart from linear time, a record of my entire existence, past to future, compressed into the present.