Zen felt his heart race as he looked at Ariel. He couldn't believe he was standing in front of
such a stunning creature.Ariel's beauty was captivating. Her emerald green eyes sparkled like jewels, and her long, darkred hair was tied in two ponytails that cascaded down her back.She had a petite yet curvaceous figure that was accentuated by her vibrant green blouse andblack pants.Her skin was flawless and had a radiant glow to it.Zen couldn't help but notice the intricate tattoos that snaked up her arms, which seemed to bepulsating with an otherworldly energy.As she smiled at him, Zen felt like he was in a dream.Ariel's warm and inviting welcome made him feel special, and his heart raced.In his previous life, no one was willing to come near him, let alone talk to him in such a politeway. And here he was given a goddess to work with."Shall we get started?" She took a few steps towards him, and Zen felt his knees go weak."Y-yes," he stammered, trying his best not to blush as he scratched the back of his neck.Zen was startled out of his thoughts by Lucifer's abrupt dismissal. "Well, you both can leavenow," he said irritably.Zen coughed, "Okay."Ariel nodded, taking his hand and leading him towards the portal.As they stepped through, a violet light enveloped them, and Zen felt disoriented.When the light faded, he found himself seated in a sleek, futuristic car.The vehicle was a work of art, with sleek curves and an aerodynamic design that spoke ofspeed and power. Its glossy black exterior was flawless, and the tinted windows added a touchof mystery to the vehicle's already impressive presence.Ariel sat in the driver's seat, her hands on the wheel.Zen noticed the holographic system in front of her, which displayed a variety of informationand controls for the car's features.The system was sophisticated and intuitive, with high-resolution graphics that made it easy tonavigate.As Ariel started the engine, the car hummed to life. Zen felt the vibration of the powerfulengine beneath him, and he marveled at the luxurious interior.The seats were made of soft, supple leather, and the dashboard was lined with gleamingchrome and brushed metal accents.The car was spacious, with four seats that were slightly separated, giving each passenger asense of privacy.Zen couldn't help but be impressed by the car's advanced technology and sleek design. It wasunlike anything he had ever seen before.Zen's heart raced as he gazed at the sleek, futuristic car in front of him. "This is one hot ride,"he murmured, unable to hide his excitement. "With a hot cutie driving it, too."Ariel's eyes remained fixed on the road, but a faint smile played at the corners of her lips."Thank you, sir," she replied evenly.Zen was taken aback. "Wait, you heard me?""I have special abilities that most humans don't have," Ariel explained. "One of them isadvanced hearing and visual abilities."Zen's mind whirled with the implications of what Ariel had just said. "So, since I will be givenpowers too, does that mean I would no longer be a human?"Ariel turned to him with a reassuring smile. "By the time you have all the power, no. Moreover,you were not born human. You were never one of those lowly humans."Zen's eyes widened in shock. He was just about to ask her more questions. However, Arielturned her attention back to the road.The car glided smoothly down the road, and Zen felt a sense of awe and wonder wash overhim as they soared up into the sky.He let out a low whistle as the wheels retracted into the car, allowing it to move quickly andsmoothly through the air."Damn," he whispered, unable to contain his amazement.Zen tilted his head. His eyes shifted towards the window, and he saw his own reflection in the mirror. It was the first time he saw the man in whose body he was now.
‘I am old?’
He could see wrinkles on his face. His hair had already turned grey, but not completely. Some of his hair was still black, while others were grey. It clearly proved that he was not a young man in this world.
Zen was actually eighteen years old and was a college student in his era. However, he was now in a man's body who was quite old. Seeing those facial features, Zen could tell he was around forty years old. But still, to be sure, he turned towards Ariel and asked, "Do you know how old I am here?"
"You were supposed to be thirty, but because your body was trapped in the time loop, it increased your aging process, so you are forty now."
Zen got worried hearing that, "This is wrong. I will die early now. I don't want to die."
"We will find a way to make things right. Don't rush. Everything will be alright soon." She gave Zen a warm smile.
Zen felt his heart immediately calming down. He nodded in agreement. He knew she was right; it was just a matter of time and patience. With a new sense of hope, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Ariel led him through the city, pointing out different technologies and advancements. Zen was amazed by what he saw. However, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease from being lost in an unfamiliar time and place.
Soon, the car stopped in front of the building. The building looked familiar to him. He felt like he had memories of coming there before.
And soon memories started rushing in his mind. It was the research center where the previous body owner worked before.
"Wait, that's where I used to work." Zen said, pointing towards the building.
He turned towards Ariel, but she was already out of the car.
"Wait for me." Zen shouted in the car.
Turning towards the door, he tried to find the handle lock. As he rubbed his fingers on the door, a certain button was pushed and the door opened. He wasn't really sure which button he pushed. Without bothering about it much he pushed open the door.
Getting out of the car, he headed towards Ariel. She stood in front of the car looking towards the building.
"Do you remember this place?" she asked.
"I have some memories of coming here."
"Yeah, you used to work here. But that building hasn't been used for years since the time loop incident." Ariel explained.
Zen felt his heart race. "Time loop incident? What happened?"
The woman must have noticed the confusion on his face because she continued, "It's a long story, but basically, there was one of your experiments that went wrong. It caused a time loop that trapped researchers inside the building for years. Most of the people died in that incident. Only some were able to come out some days ago, but even after coming out, they were old and won't be able to live long."
As Ariel explained that, a rush of memories appeared in his mind. He remembered the incident. Scenes from the incident ran through his mind.
The time loop was actually an experiment on which the real body owner was working. He was done collecting everything, but something happened and all the things he collected got stolen. He was trapped in the building because of the portal.
The portal created a layer around the building. The layer was radiating so much radiation that when other scientists from inside tried to approach it they died right away.
Everything that happened there felt like someone did it on purpose. The real body owner was trying to find the source of the time loop. It was likely that someone had interfered with his experiment. He could not leave the building due to the portal. He was trying to figure out who caused the time loop and how he could get out of there.
While he was finding the source, it became obvious that radiation from the layer was not only deadly but also speeding up time. Other scientists who were inside started ageing fastly along with him. One day he found a way to close the portal. Preparations were made with some of the scientists he worked with. But during the process, a light came out of the portal which hit Zen directly. Two other scientists, including Zen, died. But the light cleared the layer around the building.
"So the real owner of the body died in that incident." Zen tilted his head towards her.
"Yes." After replying to him, she didn't wait for him to ask her any questions again as she walked inside the building.
Zen ran after her. "Why are we here? Won't it be dangerous to come here again?"
She didn't answer him, instead she started looking around. In front of the building, chains covered the entrance.
Ariel pushed her hand up and forward. A light appeared in her hand and on the chains. Soon the chains broke and fell to the ground.
All this magical stuff was still new to Zen. Everything felt like a dream to him. He watched in awe as the light from Ariel's hand broke the chains.
"Come." With that, she walked inside, and Zen followed her.
They got into the building. Zen looked around the abandoned mess, realizing for the first time the true inspect the intrusion of the experiment had caused. There were black holes in the wall, some debris and blackened stones. It was almost as though he could imagine clearly what had happened here. As he looked at fallen walls and melted stones, flashbacks of memories that weren’t his flitted through his brain. He paused briefly at an upturned dirt in the air. A female worker had died at this spot. She was helping others to out and somehow the impact of the portal had reached her when it blew over the top. He ran forward and caught up with Ariel. She was surprisingly fast paced. He suppose he should not be surprised, seeing as she was a demon and had a magical trait. She suddenly stopped and he saw that they were in a shattered sort of room. “Here was your office,” Ariel said. “Here, you made important decisions that affected or impacted the lives of others.”“I can see that the las
On the ride to his supposed home, Zen glanced severally at Ariel. He expected that she cracked a joke to ease the tension, but the little demon was as stiff as possible. It was almost as though she was with his boss. He supposed that in many ways he was her boss; since he had the face of her former boss and he was to act as one, she’d have to accord him with the same respect she accorded the former one; which means the end of his youthful lusting towards her.Zen shook his head and thoughts away. It wasn’t like he was particularly lusting after her—okay, maybe he was, but who wouldn’t? She was the epitome of everything sinful. The car suddenly stopped and Ariel turned to him.“We are here.”Zen looked out the window at the house she had stopped at. It was a decent house in a decent neighborhood, with a tiny flower bed in front of it that was beginning to weed into the main entrance. It looked as though it had been unattended for years, but the footprint on the flowerbed signified th
Zen woke up to breakfast in bed. He stretched, yawning and then immediately closing his mouth when he realized that it reeked of bad breath. He sighed and massaged the middle of his head.“I suppose the perks of an old man includes bad breath.” He muttered to himself.A raucous laughter filled the room. He turned and saw that Emma was standing at the door, watching him. He relaxed back into the bed, watching her. His resurrection made him see life a different way. Sure, an old man point of view, but different nevertheless. Emma smiled at him and closed the door after she left. She was dressed in a black dress and a stunning red lipstick. Sighing, he looked to the food beside him.He never imagined that she would go through any length to serve him food, but she did. It was toast bread and milk, a very simple breakfast. Then he glanced to his right and saw that he’d overslept.Shit.Zen bounced of bed, and he nearly toppled on his face in the process. He steadied his foot and stood upri
Zen came down from the car and stood before his workers, who all turned to look at him the minute he stepped down. Ariel started the car and drove off; he held himself from looking back because he knew that it would betray his stance as the leader. He soon realized that he didn’t need to do much.Like the people he was so accustomed to seeing, these people knew how to recognize power. The body he was in exuded the most power he could ever dream of, a strong powerful man who secretly had arthritis. The workers gathered around and he looked at their faces, one after the other. As someone who had been in their midst before, Zen knew the right words to use do they won’t be discouraged and spoil the work he wanted to put in this.“Thank you for coming, guys,” he started.The men edged forward, surprised that he was thanking them. Very few employers thanked their workers for coming, and the ones who did usually had a behind motive of overworking and underpaying them.“I know you took your
In six months, Zen had successfully built the company back from scratch. This was not an easy feat, as Ariel continually tormented him for as long as she could, trying to rile him up into finishing earlier than usual. Six months was a good time and good deal. He was impressed, excited even. It meant he had achieved something that even the workers thought was impossible.It wasn’t.Zen had dedicated all his time and energy in trying to accomplish this feat. He saw Emma less and less everyday and even ate her food less because he was running out of time and working to get to the site. One morning, she was so upset that she blocked his way.“You’re sleeping with your assistant!” she screamed.Zen was dumfounded. He stared at her for long moments and did not even know what to do. It was 6am that day, and he had specifically asked Ariel to pick him up that day since she was so slow in getting him a driver. Ariel had happily obliged, saying that she had to watch him anyways.“I’m not sleepi
Zen followed her about as she toured the new company, examining each place critically.“When are we going to meet this friend of mine?” Zen asked.“Oh be patient,” she replied. “I’m sure he’s eager to meet you as well. For the main time, I’m impressed with what you’ve done here.”“You’ve said that a hundred times already. Are you stalling for time?”“Absolutely not! I just get impressed at every turn that I take.” Zen rolled his eyes and followed her as she checked the rooms and the offices. He really didn’t know what she was on about, but people who saw them would think they were just the boss and the assistant. Zen craved for a new assistant; Ariel was torturing him, whether she realized it or not. He wasn’t sure he could keep up with the mystery around her.They started to walk back out of the company, Ariel having done with the examination. Zen looked towards the entrance and stopped short, transfixed on the person standing there. It was Stella.Stella!At first he wanted to run
"So where are we going to now?" Zan asked Ariel rubbing his aching head."I see you are having headache?" Ariel noticed him rubbing his head."That is one of the problem of being in a body like this." Zen opened the door of the car, and sat at the back seat."We have to go see someone now!" Ariel informed him, igniting the car engine."Where exactly? Do you want to take me to go see someone who wants to serve another punishment? Perhaps, someone who also made me suffer in my past life?" Zen question her, almost pointing his head to the driver's side."Act like an old man, you fool!" Ariel warned him."You should answer my questions first, stop leaving me in this kind of suspense. Before meeting anyone, you should know that I hungry, and I need to eat now." Zen complained to her."Okay then. We will get what you want to eat on our way." She assured him.It was a long journey to the place where Zen was to meet up with someone. Zen's mind went to Stella."So she will have to go through t
"Okay, then. Since it is for our benefit why shouldn't I do it?" Zen sighed after thinking for more than a minute."Yes! That is is a good idea. I am so happy you agreed to do something like this." The old man stated with hint of happiness in his voice."Yes, so when are we starting? Now? Later? Should I come back?" Zen questioned."So I am Lucas, I survived the incident that happened years ago. So I heard from Ariel that you did. We were friends, and I was surprised when I heard you also accepted the incident. We both survived the incident." Lucas said to Zen.Lucas only knew Zen as Daniel, and not as Zen. He didn't know another spirit already possessed him."She didn't tell me much." Zen nervously said looked at Ariel who was at the corner of their room."Yes, it's okay that way. I can get to do the introduction myself." lucas wouldn't stop smiling on seeing his friend."Oh! She told you about me already, but she didn't tell me about you. Do you think that is fair? Ariel?" Zen queri