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Delos smiled. “Yes. If a river stagnates, the water would no longer be drinkable. The creatures who inhabit it would perish. Hence, to sustain its purity and the lives of all who depend on it, the river flows. Constantly. Freely,” picking up a pristine white pebble, Delos offered it to Evan. “A human life is quite similar.”

Evan hesitated, then took the pebble, and Delos continued.

“If you let yourself stagnate for those who aren’t meant to flow with you, you’ll never reach the deserving ones who await your arrival at the shore,” Delos watched the flowing river with a lazy smile, those all-seeing blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight reflecting off the water. “And sometimes, someone out there will continue to wait—no matter how long it takes, until you finally reach the shore.”

There was a peculiarity about the way he spoke, as though he wasn’t imparting knowledge but retelling an old tale.

Evan fidgeted with the pebble Delos had given him, ready to chuck it into the water—but paused. In the sunlight, the glossy white surface glowed with a bluish undertone. Too pretty to be lost to the riverbed.

After a brief consideration, Evan slid it into his pocket and changed the topic. “You sound like you’ve been around for a while. Tell me, is there such a thing as past lives?”

Delos paused. “Why do you ask?”

Evan shrugged. “Just curious. It’s not always I come across an all-knowing, polite, non-human friend willing to answer all my questions.”

Although he feigned indifference, Delos saw through his act and chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. As for your question, doyoubelieve in past lives?”

Evan regarded the expanse of the river, expression distant. A faint voice in his head tried to override the chaos of his muddled thoughts but failed.

After a moment, he said, “I don’t think I’ve had one.”

As soon as the words left him, a chill crept down Evan’s spine. He whipped around, wide eyes darting around warily.

The isolated dirt trail leading to the town greeted him, trees swaying silently on the opposite side. Not a single soul was in sight other than Rue hopping around madly.

Delos followed his eyes. “Everything okay?”

“Huh?” Evan blinked, disoriented momentarily, before settling back. “Yeah… Yeah, fine. I’m just… Guess I’m still recovering.”

Or maybe the last brain cell keeping him sane had expired.

For a moment, it’d seemed as though someone was standing right behind him, and the moment he’d spoken, a rush of intense emotions crawled up his spine like venomous spiders. A strange combination of anger and sorrow followed by a trail of disappointment that still lingered in the air.

Evan blinked furiously to dismiss the off reaction before Delos resumed their conversation.

“So, past lives…” Delos’s crystal blue eyes gazed at the sky, thoughtful. “Every human soul is said to have seven lives. So, rebirth is, in fact, pretty common. Reincantation, however, is not.”

Evan’s lips twitched. “Reincarnation?”

“Exactly. You see, when a person dies and is reborn in a new physical form, they won’t remember their previous lives. It’s a new beginning. A rebirth. But a re—uh,reincarnationhappens when a deep-seated desire or a promise from a past life is left unfulfilled. If the yearning of the soul is strong enough, they will be born again, and might even recall memories from that lifetime.”

Evan nodded, curiosity thoroughly piqued.

It was like he was sixteen all over again, learning about the world of the supernatural from Rhea for the first time. He’dnot been scared then either, just curious. Too much for his own good.

“What kind of desires could compel a soul to reincarnate?” Evan asked, images of a white-clad youth and a face so identical to his own floating past his mind.

“It varies individually,” Delos glanced at him. “Sometimes the reason is as moving as a promise of true love. Or as destructive as a desire for revenge.”

As the two sat chatting at the river bank, a silhouette soundlessly passed through the trees behind them. Dark eyes lingered at the back of Evan’s head, red robes fluttering silently in the breeze.

Evan drifted alone through the woods, hands stuffed in his hoodie pocket. He had wandered into the town for a stroll, heeding Delos’s suggestion about “flowing like a river.” But after only a few minutes of unwanted side-eyes from the townspeople and whispers following him like ghosts, Evan gave up on socializing and settled for solidarity again.

He dropped Rue back at home in Celie’s care and went on about by himself.

Trees shimmered in the golden glow of the afternoon sun, birds taking flight high in the sky. It was a relatively clear day, even though a few dark clouds lingered here and there as usual.

As Evan approached the area restricted by the road construction workers, he stopped, staring at the rows of yellow caution tape.