As I opened my eyes, the only thing I felt was confusion. I looked around and at first, things seemed fine. The door was closed, everything was in order. I stood up and, though a bit shaky on my feet, turned around on the spot to find out what was going on.
Only as I looked down on my desk again, I noticed the blood. Quite a lot of it.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, oh gods, what is this?!", I couldn't help to shout.
There was even more blood on me. My clothes, everythig from the neck down was splattered in, what seemed to be, my own blood.
One spot in the middle of my chest was especially soaked, all around a big rip in the fabric.
Then the memories came back. The man, the sword,...
"Oh gods, how am I alive? And not even hurt? Are they still around?"
I turned around to take a look around my room, half expecting to see the man waiting for me, maybe to torture me, or do other gruesome things...
My fantasy went wild, but I didn't expect what I saw in the slightest.
A little blue ball of fire was floating at the other end of the room, suspended in the air and not moving at all.
'Am I hallucinating? What is going on here?'
---
There I was, in the corner of the room, kicked out of the body. Years of planning, waiting and executing flashing before my metaphorical eyes, as I watched in a mix of confusion, anger, interest and awe, while the man stood up, his wound completely gone.
'There he goes... what is going on... why isn't he dead... why am I out here, while he is in there? He wasn't even just killed, that sword should've burned through his soul like dry leaves, gods know I've seen it happen often enough.'
The man was now looking around, he even screamed.
'Yeah, I would scream too, if I could! Hold on... calm... only 300 something years... 300 years... this is fixable... think... think... Why is he looking at me like that? Does he see me? So he has the power now? Then why am I still here? Just to suffer? Just to wittness this failure of mine? Just to-'
'STOP! Think... thinking brought me this far, it will bring me farther. What to do now? He has the power, I need to know what I have. I'm still here, so I can't have nothing.'
'Got it split up? Duplicated? Distributed evenly? Lopsided? I need to clarify this whole situation as soon as possible!'
'But will that go fast? Probably not. So what to do now?'
'... I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time... being formal and clear should work best... I should certainly get some information... he better be respectful, this alchemist'
---
And suddenly, I even heard a voice in my head.
"Greetings, how are you doing?"
I was extremly confused.
"I really am hallucinating", I spoke more to myself than to whatever was talking to me.
"I can most certainly assure you, that you are not. However, both of us find ourselves in a bit of a predicament."
"Yeah. I should be dead. Is this hell?"
"Yes and no, but if we don't work closely together, it might become quite undistinguishable from that place, so I propose you listen up."
"Alright. What's going on? Who are you, what happened, why is this happening, wha-?"
"Listening and talking are mutually exclusive, my boy, so stop it with the latter one. As for what is going on... I don't really know. As for who I am, you don't need to know. The other two.. I don't know either. But-"
"Then what do you know? And if you don't know anything, why so high and mighty?"
"Now stop it right there. I know quite a lot more than you, but this situation proves to be exqusitely delicate, so my profund knowledge doesn't extend to it. I have some theories, none of which I dare to call even close to knowing something."
"I don't see any proof for that, so talk to me like a person. You should know, that I am quite well educated myself and I will not be talked down to by a little ball of fire!"
"So it seems. Then you should know, that I am far more educated than some basic alchemy that would impress none but some village idiots, to which, as you think of your little 'studies' as impressive enough to brag with, you may count yourself."
"Then, what knowledge do you hold, oh candle flame to poor for a candle?"
"I couldn't even begin to tell you, as you wouldn't understand any of it! But I held enough wisdom and power to chat with the gods themselves and create magic you know today! The heroes in your sweet little stories over there were my students and you should be proud to have ever talked to me! So show some respect for your superiors, or face the consequences!"
"That's a lot of talk for this little flame, so should I get the waterbucket now or do you have any other fascinating anecdotes to tell me?"
"Go and get your bucket, if it offers you some emotional support, for I am no flame, you fool, what you're looking at is a soul and you shouldn't be able to see shit right now, you walking corpse!"
"Oh yeah, what did you want anyway?"
I somehow heard the self-proclaimed soul physically exhaling.
"I wanted to work together with you to make this all a little clearer for the both of us, a plan I now come to reconsider."
"So, do you have any additional knowledge to this situaion, because if not, I don't see why I should be talking to you instead of figuring this out myself."
"I do, actually. But first I have some questions for you, as well as some test."
"An eye for an eye, isn't it?"
---
'He's quoting me and he doesn't even know it... and so disrespectful... maybe an eye to eye approach would be better... but this really is below my dignity... alchemy of all things... such a pointless thing, when there's magic to study... never liked the students from that course... good times...'
'Anyway. What should I tell him? I shouldn't antagonize him any further... I don't know how much either of us can actually do... certainly not everything... and most certainly not that I got his murderers to come here and kill him...'
---
'What the hell is going on? I doubt these are hallucinations, especially after that. Does this thing really know anything? And what happened to me? Can I talk to souls now?