But will it hurt?

It will be quick.

And I don’t—I don’t go out doing something stupid, do I? that’s not—I want to live.

Foolish creature. That is not something you get to decide. Your fate was sealed from the moment you enlisted.

I couldn’t have changed anything? 

You were always going to end up slaughtered.

But that’s not—

Fair? Life isn’t a storybook. Your tale has no morals, no happy endings. You will die for a country that won’t remember your name and you will rot in a ditch for the rest of eternity.

A ditch?

You’ll grow the prettiest flowers. And you’ll have a gravestone, eventually, hundreds of kilometres away, but not for a long time.

Louis?

Who else? Your soul didn’t touch anyone else’s. You’re inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Then again, most humans are.

I thought God would be kinder. You’re supposed to be. 

I am not God.

Nevermind that. Louis—he lives? 

He thrives.

Does he—

You’re quite funny, Hugo Drakos. Instead of pleading for your own existence, you’re eager to find out about somebody else’s.

My life only matters because of him.

You’re correct.

And if I don’t die? if I hadn’t died? 

He has met another boy. Their fates are woven together as thickly as vines. Their connection spans across centuries.

What about our connection? Louis and I’s?

In each lifetime, you die. You are known, and you are loved, but you always die first. Always too soon.

But you said the moment I enlisted—so if I hadn’t enlisted—

I would have collected your soul from a prison cell.

Oh. 

You are a protector, Hugo Drakos. Some humans are born to be nothing but.

How can I live? In other lifetimes? Am I ever able to?

You must forsake your connection. This means never seeing his soul again. You have been offered this choice many times. You have never agreed.

He doesn’t even know I—

He knows.