before long, can found himself at the door of the hut. can reached out to nock on the door.
the door swung open, a kind-looking, yet intimidating old man stood on the other side.
"welcome, i am Sabastian. i have been expecting you. please get in."
can got spooked by the old man, a shiver ran down his spine, shifting his body into the shape of a raccoon as it travels through him.
"oh... i did not expect that." said Sabastian.
can transformed back into his human form after realizing what had happened. dusted himself off, and cleared his throat.
"I'm can... can you tell me where i am?"
"get inside first, i will explain over tea."
can decided to follow what he said and got in, the inside was cosy, warm, and relaxing, soft music was playing in the background, tea was on the table, and the view of the forest from the inside was breath-taking.
can was speechless, but that didn't apply to the rest of the spirits didn't hesitate to express themselves.
"DAAAYYYMMM THIS PLACE IS NICE!!!" said James.
"aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" asked Cass.
"oops. forget I've ever been here."
can sighed, but didn't comment on it. instead, he took a seat on the couch placed in the middle of the room. Sabastian came over and sat in front of can.
"what would you like to know"
"where are we... and why is this forest so damn big..."
"hmmm... i suppose that topic is important nowadays..."
"we are in Eshwyn, or so this planet was called... it is overtaken by forests and water."
"Eshwyn? planet? what do you mean?"
"you don't know? have you been under a rock for the last three months or something?"
"... i guess? just tell me already."
"*sigh* thee months ago, the world changed, or i guess you could say worlds... all of a sudden, an unknown number of universes merged together, the huge amount of different worlds also brought a lot of different races that are not willing to coexist with each other, and other who are similar enough to be considered the same, but small differences between them meant racism is an even bigger problem now."
can stayed silent, he did fuse the universes, but he didn't know what to do now. does he just... go back home? or does he stop being lazy and go explore the new world?
can decided to just... ignore it... instead, he tried to change the subject. "you have a nice house. do you live here alone?"
"you want it?" asked Sabastian almost eagerly.
the spirits jumped up in can's consciousness. the idea of having this hut to themselves seems incredibly appealing
"TAKE IT!!! TAKE IT!!!! TAKE IT!!!!!!!" James perked up.
"i don't like that i agree with that lazy bastard, but yes. take it." followed Cass
"i would say the same. but this hut is too warm for me." said Cryon.
"this is a nice place if you plan to rest every now and then. i suppose it wouldn't hurt to take it. and with your ability to take a place into a subdimension, which then you could visit at any given time... this would be a perfect little hut." said Sam, his tone calm and calculated.
"i suppose i do want it... but wouldn't it be a little difficult to take care of?"
"Great! i will give you this house and I'll even act as a butler of sort to maintain this place in your stead. all you need to do is shake my hand."
can was a little sceptical, but with the spirits clouding his judgement. can couldn't put his mind on it. so he took Sabastian's hand.
Sabastian yanked his hand back and pulled out can's soul from his body, what followed was immense pain, but can was used to it after all the suffering he felt in the void dimension.
without his soul, can's tree of existence had no way to connect to his body. so it churned, it condensed, it produced an astronomical amount of energy, it tried to use it to connect with the body, but it was too crude. to rugged.
can, knowing the huge role the soul plays, acted quickly, he didn't know what to do, but he acted nonetheless.
putting his hands in front of him. can started shaping the energy his tree of existence made into what he remembers his soul to look like. then used his own body as a mould.
before long, energy started condensing into a new soul. one that was much purer than the last.
"tsk... damn immortals... making a new soul is like second nature to them..." grumbled Sabastian.
"i suppose a contract is a contract..." Sabastian stood up and gave a light bow "this house is now yours. and i shall be your butler as long as this soul i took can supply me with energy. this could last up to a month, if you want me to serve you longer. you could supply me with another soul."
Sam' eyes widened. his judgement was clouded, he recognised what Sabastian was. a demon.
"i cant believe i didn't recognise what he is... he's a demon... he's from my world..."
Sam paused for a few seconds then continued.
"demons would use an ability to cloud your judgement, then trick you into making a contract with them, they would take your soul, most of them get away with not doing what their contract stated since the person who the soul belonged to would die within a few minutes. no one can survive without a soul..."