Given An Unwanted Second Chance

Chapter 24

It was...annoying to be a passenger in my own body.  I couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't ANYTHING.  I just kinda...hung there.

I wasn't sure where we were, though.  It...looked(?) like the place Error took me before, but there was this strange...buzzing air to it.

After the portal closed beneath the two of us, Code forced me to some kind of ground, making me kneel.  My arms were trapped at my sides and my tendrils were partially trapped, as well.  Not that I could move the tendrils myself.

Code knelt in front of me, glancing into my eye.  "Kinda wish at this point that my strings didn't take you over so easily..."  He grumbled, standing back up.  "I happen to like hearing people beg for their lives."

...weirdo.

He shrugged.  "Oh well.  I've got an idea, anyway.  Some questions that you are going to answer or face the consequences.  I'm going to release you, but you, Eclipse, will NOT move from that spot, understood?"

No answer from me, but I reluctantly decided to do as he asked, afraid that he'd go back after Gradient if I didn't.

He released me, and as soon as the strings no longer touched me, the neon green hue to my vision disappeared.  I took a deep breath, closing my eye momentarily.  "What do you want, Code? "

"How did you get the mark removed?  Only a reset of the soul can do so."

I shifted uncomfortably.  That was a particularly personal question, and if he knows I can die without...well, dying, per se, I might be screwed.  Even so, I couldn't quickly think up a good lie.

Code clearly saw my hesitation and scowled.  "Don't lie."

I grimaced.  "I...can reset in a way..."

"Reset how?"

"..."

He leaned down and grabbed my face, making me look at him.  Clearly had no respect for personal space...  "How."

I shrunk slightly.  "I-I reset when I die..."

He let go of me, though he did not back up.  "When you die?  You can die?"

I grabbed my arm, partially hugging myself.  "I-I've dusted...and come back..."

"How...interesting."  He murmured, looking intrigued.  "So what exactly happened to Nightmare?"

"The...the Stars killed him...I took his place..."

"How did they kill him?"

"Um...they...did something with their souls...combined them or something...made a monstrosity..."

"Soul combining...not a phenomenon I've heard of before...  You are just full of interesting answers, aren't you?"

I didn't answer that one.

Code chuckled a bit.  "So how did you take over Nightmare's soul?"

I shook my head.  "I'm unsure about that one..."

"I suppose you are another version of soul combining...but surely you know some bit of how you came to take over a god-like being..."

I shook my head once more.  "I don't."

Code hummed.  "Well, soul combining means you were once two separate souls.  So just who were you before, Eclipse?"

I frowned.  "I have no memories of who I was before.  Not even my name is one I came with.  It was given to me."