In a dense forest on Lulucca Island.
Inside a simple wooden cabin, Sephiroth, wearing a white coat and with two swords at his waist, stood before a wooden table. In his left hand, he held a test tube containing blood-red liquid, and in his right, a dropper filled with dark green liquid.
As he gently pressed the rubber bulb of the dropper and dripped the dark green liquid into the test tube, the blood-red liquid immediately went "bang!" releasing a large cloud of gas, and small bubbles began to form within the blood-red liquid.
It looked exactly like a carbonated drink!
Sephiroth looked at the test tube with the blood-red liquid in his hand, mumbling with a conflicted expression.
"The new type of potion made using Brook's blood has already undergone toxicity testing. It's non-toxic and completely safe to consume…"
"But the Bat Clone collapsed immediately after drinking the new awakening potion!"
"Is it because I tried to permanently erase the will within the Vampire Fruit, causing the Bat Clone, which was the medium, to collapse?"
Because the awakening drug he made was specifically for awakening the Vampire Fruit…
Therefore, even if he found others for experiments, it would be useless. The final clinical test subject could only be him!
"Well, whatever! Anyway, with my physical condition, even if I drank ordinary poison, the most that would happen is I'd get diarrhea!"
"Just a bottle of improved potion? I don't believe it can do anything to me!?"
"There's no way I'd just die after drinking it, not even having the chance to split into bats and rebuild my body, right?"
Sephiroth sighed lightly, picked up the test tube in his left hand, and tilted his head back, downing the blood-red liquid inside in one gulp.
"Hmm!? It tastes pretty good, a little sweet…"
After saying that, his eyes rolled back, and with a "thud!" he fell straight onto the ground.
......
In the dark and silent space, pulled by an unknown force, burning and flickering soul fires involuntarily moved along a certain path.
Gradually, scattered red light illuminated the outline of a road.
Looking closely, the objects emitting the eerie red light were clusters of vibrant, dripping red flowers, named… Higanbana!
This is the path all the dead must take… the Yellow Springs Road!
On both sides of the road, a white-boned skeleton, holding a long-handled scythe and wearing a black robe, would occasionally float by in mid-air. They were the soul reapers of the underworld, taking the souls of the dead into the Yellow Springs of the underworld to undergo reincarnation anew.
Sephiroth's soul fire drifted aimlessly, going with the flow, following the soul fires ahead. He was passively pulled by the power of the Yellow Springs, drifting on the Yellow Springs Road towards the end of the path.
Under the influence of the Yellow Springs' power, his consciousness, while in the state of a soul fire, remained muddled.
He always felt like he'd forgotten something, yet also like he hadn't. He didn't know why he'd come here, why he was walking on this Yellow Springs Road.
Did I die?
No, how did I die?
I don't remember, but I always feel like something is wrong...
Just like that, Sephiroth, in his muddled state, arrived before a bridge. Beside it stood a large stone, named the Three Lives Stone.
Beside this stone, there stood... Oh! No, there floated a white-boned skeleton wearing a black robe. It held an ancient book in its left hand and a writing brush in its right.
"Lost soul of the dead!"
"Before the Three Lives Stone, review your past life, present life, and gaze upon your future life!"
"Your past will determine your future life..."
Amidst the black-robed skeleton's murmuring, green, yellow, and red flames ignited on the Three Lives Stone, intertwining to form a slightly ethereal image that began to play rapidly.
The first scene reviewed was Sephiroth's past life. He lived in a peaceful country, went to school ordinarily, worked ordinarily, became a doctor, and dated a woman...
However, the two ultimately didn't enter the tomb called marriage, but ended with a breakup.
Then...
As a doctor, during earthquake relief efforts, he was affected by a second earthquake and was buried underground, thus ending his short and ordinary life.
The scene shifted, arriving at Sephiroth's present life. He was born into a wealthy family in Water 7, living a life of comfort and ease from a young age. Aside from his mother's death when he was young, his childhood could be said to have had no regrets.
Until Sephiroth was fourteen years old, his life underwent a drastic change. His beloved father was killed by Pirates, and he, having suffered a shipwreck, drifted to a deserted island...
The ancient book in the black-robed skeleton's left hand turned its pages "rustle—!" without any wind.
Soon, the pages turned to Sephiroth's past life, showing his former experiences sentence by sentence.
After his life had completely finished, the page automatically turned, and it began to show Sephiroth's present life experiences.
"Hmm!? No, what's going on?"
"You're not dead at all...?"
Red light suddenly ignited in the black-robed skeleton's empty eye sockets. Although there were no muscle fibers or facial features on its skull face, it still displayed a panicked expression.
It used its left hand, holding the ancient book, to wave at the Three Lives Stone. The three-colored flames on it instantly extinguished, stopping the playback of Sephiroth's present life.
In response, Sephiroth's soul fire remained muddled, staying in place without moving.
"Which fool dragged him into the underworld Yellow Springs...!!?" The black-robed skeleton roared angrily, red light flashing in its eyes.
As the words fell, a skeleton holding a long-handled scythe and wearing a black robe flew over in a hurry, saying nervously:
"Ah!? It... It was me who brought him, milord!"
"You idiot! This person isn't dead at all. Why did you bring him to the underworld, to the Yellow Springs...!?"
The scythe skeleton scratched its smooth, white skull with a bone claw, its tone bewildered. "Ah! This... That's impossible!"
"When I passed by Lulucca Island, I found that this person's soul was wrapped in very dense Yellow Springs Yin energy, and his consciousness was blurry. I thought he must be a wandering, lonely soul."
"Therefore, I directly used the pulling force of the Yellow Springs to bring him here."
Hearing this, the book skeleton immediately picked up the book in its hand and smashed it heavily onto the scythe skeleton's forehead, making a loud "bang!"
Then, it said angrily, "Bah! Open your eyes and see clearly!"
"That Yellow Springs Yin energy was just wrapped around him; it wasn't generated from his soul fire at all!"
"His body is still alive and well!"
"His consciousness is blurry because he drank some kind of special medicine that temporarily affected his soul consciousness!"
"Ah! This... What should I do now?"
"What to do!?"
"Of course, before the higher-ups discover this, quickly send his soul back!"
"Otherwise, both you and I will die!"
"We're already dead!" the scythe skeleton muttered softly.
"What did you say...!?"
The book skeleton glared fiercely at its subordinate with its empty eye sockets.
"I said... I'll send him back right away!"
The scythe skeleton nervously grabbed Sephiroth's soul fire and immediately dashed off without a trace.
The scythe skeleton nervously grabbed Sephiroth's soul fire and immediately dashed off without a trace.