An Accounting Error

Prologue/Concept

He wakes up in a black void, feeling numb, distant, exhausted, and fatigued. A sharp pounding headache is all that keeps him from falling back into sweet unconsciousness. Images flash through his mind, a jumble of memories telling of his endless downhill spiral, getting beaten up for running his mouth at that black-haired punk, his brother coming home in a coffin from the capital, just two years later Rain city being firebombed by wyverns taking away the rest of his family, and finally the 20 years of continuous war that resulted in the extinction of all intelligent life on both continents. After the memories settle, he remembers what he agreed to with the God of Death - time would be rewound 22 years, just before that 'fated' encounter with that punk of a hero, and the price? Switching bodies with some stranger from another world.

'Is this what regressing is like? The memories feel almost foreign like they don't quite belong. Those events happened to me and the emotional impact is real; however, it feels odd.'

A sound catches his attention, the quiet sound of someone breathing. The presence of someone else pulls him out of his reverie. He slowly turns his aching head in the direction of the other person, taking in the other's appearance. A man in his 30s, with neatly slicked back black hair except for his bangs that cover half of his forehead. Although his foreign-looking facial features are reminiscent of that punk hero, this man appears much more refined and mature. His well-toned body is also evident in his thick long-sleeved black turtleneck, with vicious-looking scars only noticeable on the rare spots uncovered by his shirt. Observing the man, it's clear that he is asleep. His relaxed expression suggests he is in a deep and comfortable sleep.

"Cale Henituse." A booming voice resonates through the space, pulling Cale's attention away from the black-haired man.

"God of Death," Cale replies feigning indifference. "so this is the guy I'm about to swap places with?"

"About that," The God of Death replies, his voice sounding somewhat strange. "there was a slight mishap, so the contents of the deal have slightly changed."

Cale's brows furrow, "Mishap, what kind of mishap? Would you be so kind as to explain it to me in detail?" He began to feel a little fear fill his chest.

"Well, you see," the God's voice clearly faltering, "I may have messed up the order of what needed to be done." He pauses awkwardly before continuing. "I was supposed to turn time back first before switching the souls, but because I was too eager to get my hands on Kim Rok Soo, I kinda maybe forgot to turn time back first."

"And that's a problem because?" Cale asked not fully comprehending what the issue is.

"It's a problem because the 40-year-old version of Cale Henituse has already safely transmigrated, but here in front of me is you 18-year-old Cale Henituse."

"Huh, if I'm my 18-year-old self why do remember the future then?" Cale asked sounding exasperated.

"As severance for my mistake, I've given you your future self's memories." The God said sounding somewhat guilty.

"So what happens now?" Cale asks, the word severance filling him with dread.

"Ah, there's another issue." The God's voice sounded almost panicked now. "Because Kim Rok Soo was occupying your future self's body when I rewound time, your souls began to fuse. While I was able to stop it before it reached the point where your egos and sense of self could be damaged, there's nothing I or any other god can do to unfuse you."

As his mind whirled, Cale wondered about what it would mean to exist as such a fusion, what would be the side effects.

The God of Death continued, "That brings me to Kim Rok Soo's severance, It's one of the three reasons why he is currently unconscious. The first is that I took back a curse that has unjustly affected him his whole life, the other is because of the time travel. His severance is to have a separate body from you, the issue with that however is that I can't just conjure a new human body out of thin air without causing an imbalance. Luckily for him, there is a particularly necessary existence that your world is lacking." he paused for dramatic effect, "Dragons."

"D-Dragons!" Cale echoed back in shock, taking a look at the unconscious man beside him.

"Yep," his voice almost chipper now, "I'm planning to give him the body of a dragon. While I can't fully change his soul to that of a dragon partially because of the whole fusing thing, partially because it would be too much strain for a human soul to handle. However, I will make some 'minor' adjustments to get his soul as close as possible to one though. When he wakes up he'll probably be quite disorientated so I'll have to trouble you to explain the situation to him. On the topic of waking up, while you'll have your own personal bodies, because of the state of your souls I would not recommend straying too far from each other. As the distance between you grows so to will the negative side effects, so stick together." The God paused in thought, "I can't think of anything else I needed to tell you. If you have any other questions that come up contact my Holly Maiden Cage and I'll get back to you when I can. I'll let you go back to sleep now, by the time you wake up I'll be done with working on Kim Rok Soo's body. Sleep well."

The last thing Cale sees as he enters a dreamless sleep is a light surrounding the black-haired man's body.