Past Life
"Are you really sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. It's the only way, Alex. I can't let the government get away with what they did to our father."
"Adam, you know what happens if you walk straight at them. They'll kill you the same way they killed him."
"Dad was all we had," Adam said, jaw tight. "We never knew our mother. No relatives. No safety net. And because he refused to sell his land, they erased him. For crude oil. Oil they won't even use right."
Alex looked at his brother for a long time. Same face. Same eyes. Same everything. "Revenge won't bring him back."
"I know," Adam said. "But letting them live like nothing happened will kill me."
Alex shook his head. "It's still suicide."
Adam smiled, small and sharp. "Then I'll make it loud."
Silence sat between them.
Alex spoke again. "What if there's another way?"
"There isn't."
"There is," Alex said. "It's just slower. Harder. And it doesn't end with bodies."
Adam scoffed. "You mean forgive and forget?"
"No," Alex said. "I mean live. Build something they can't touch. Make their power useless."
Adam leaned back. "That sounds like running."
Alex met his eyes. "No. It sounds like surviving."
They were eighteen. Old enough to decide. Old enough to be wrong.
Adam stood. "I'm done being powerless."
Alex stood too. "So am I."
They faced each other. Two mirrors refusing to reflect the same future.
"I'm going to the streets," Adam said. "I'll learn how power really works. Fear. Money. Control."
Alex nodded slowly. "Then I'll go the other way. School. Work. Systems. I'll learn how the world is held together."
Adam smirked. "You always liked rules."
Alex smiled faintly. "You always liked breaking them."
Adam stepped closer. "If I don't come back—"
"Don't," Alex cut in. "You'll come back."
"And if I don't?"
Alex held his gaze. "Then I'll keep going for both of us."
Adam looked away for a second. "You're really okay with letting them walk free?"
Alex answered quietly. "I'm not letting them win."
Adam laughed under his breath. "We really are different."
Alex nodded. "Same start. Different endings."
Adam extended a hand. "Whatever happens… you're my brother."
Alex took it. "Always."
They released.
Adam turned first. "If I get what I want," he said without looking back, "I'll burn it all down."
Alex replied, calm and steady. "If you do, I'll be the one rebuilding what survives."
Adam paused. "Don't try to stop me."
"I won't," Alex said. "But I'll be there when you're done."
Adam walked away.
Alex stayed.
Two paths. One blood. One origin.
And neither of them knew that the world would remember this moment—
because it was the last time they were only human.
Present
"Who the hell is that guy?" Adam said, eyes following the masked man from earlier. "He gives me that itch. Like I've seen him before."
Rebecca folded her arms. "I don't know. When I met him, it felt like I was standing in front of you. Same kind of pressure. And he had a Glock. He also said he's something called a reincarnator." She glanced at Adam. "He said I am one too. Which means… you are as well."
Elizabeth blinked. "I'm sorry—what?"
Adam looked at Rebecca. "You don't know what a reincarnator is?"
Rebecca frowned. "Not you too."
Adam sighed. "Come on. Even the locked-in princess knows about reincarnation." He pointed at Elizabeth. "You do, right?"
"I do," Elizabeth said flatly. "And I am not a locked-in princess."
Adam shrugged. "Sure."
Elizabeth stopped walking. "You know, for someone who just appeared out of nowhere and keeps insulting everyone, you're really comfortable talking down to people."
Rebecca hid a smile.
Adam looked at Elizabeth properly this time. "Relax. I'm not insulting you. I'm stating facts."
"Facts?" Elizabeth snapped. "You don't know anything about my life."
Adam waved a hand. "We'll unpack that later."
Rebecca cut in. "Explain. Reincarnator. Transmigrator. Slowly."
Adam nodded. "Alright. Simple version." He walked ahead, hands in his pockets. "A reincarnator dies and is reborn in the same world. New body. Same soul. Same timeline. That's you."
Rebecca listened closely.
"A transmigrator," Adam continued, "dies and wakes up in a different world. Different rules. Different system. That's me."
Elizabeth frowned. "Then what am I?"
Adam glanced back. "Native. Lucky you."
Elizabeth didn't look pleased.
Rebecca tilted her head. "Then the masked guy?"
Adam's smile thinned. "That's the interesting part."
They kept walking.
Elizabeth crossed her arms. "You talk like this is normal."
Adam shrugged. "It is. Once you've died once, everything else feels optional."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond—
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Adam moved.
One second he was beside them.
The next, he was in front of Elizabeth.
His hand snapped shut.
An arrow rested in his palm.
Rebecca's eyes widened. "Elizabeth—"
Elizabeth froze, staring at the black shaft inches from her face.
Adam examined it casually. "Poisoned."
The arrow hissed softly as dark liquid sizzled against his skin.
Nothing happened.
Adam smiled.
"Huh," he said. "Interesting."
Rebecca stepped closer, eyes sharp. "Adam."
"Relax," he said. "It's trying to eat me. It's adorable."
Elizabeth finally found her voice. "You… you just caught that."
Adam tossed the arrow aside. "Bad aim. But decent poison."
Rebecca drew her blade halfway. "Show yourself."
Silence.
Adam cracked his neck. "Didn't think the fun would start this soon."
Elizabeth looked at him, shaken. "You're not human."
Adam glanced back at her, grin slow and dangerous. "Never said I was."