the tarnished, rusty handle, Selena holds him back.
"Wait a minute ... I want you to promise me something before you go ..."
The slight smile on her lips is pushed into the background by her worried, sad eyes.
"... you know I'm waiting here ... so ... come back, will you?"
Slightly surprised by her sudden change in mood, he smiles encouragingly at her and gently places her right hand on his. A simple, narrow ring shines on one of her fingers.
"So, according to this ring, I promised you that before, didn't I? I'll come back and then we'll get married, everything as planned ..."

"Hey, hey! Just a moment! Tell me, what did you say again, how old you were then?"Sey punishes Suki's rude interruption with an indignant throat clearing.
"I was 18 then, okay, and that was a perfectly normal age to get married at the time, so don't say that with that tone of voice ..."
"Hmm ... if you say that ..."
Sey seems slightly annoyed, but Suki interprets his repeated sighs according to her own ideas.
"And please don't interrupt me ... I hate that ..."
"All right, won't happen again!"

[i]

Although he has heard quite a few of these typical motivational speeches during his months of military service, Sey simply cannot think of the right words in this situation. As he lets his gaze wander over the men in front of him, who are all looking at him intently, he feels a slight touch of nervousness rise in him. They are all ready to risk their lives tonight, he can clearly see that ... All the more difficult it is for him to force the thought that not all of them will probably see the end of their revolution from his subconscious. Unfortunately, he also cannot completely ignore the feeling that he is responsible for it. One of them gets up full of energy and starts an old folk song with a loud roar, the slow melody of which the whole group quickly joins. Sey sighs, partly in amusement, partly in relief. This saves him from having to suck any encouragement out of his fingers ...
However, the good mood of the troops quickly subsides, and at the latest when the final preparations have been made and everyone is tense at their places, the mercenaries' accommodations in view, there is a threatening tension in the air. After lingering in the freezing cold of the night for a few minutes, Sey gives the agreed signal ...
Less than an hour later, a bloody battle has broken out between the soldiers and the freedom fighters. The first mercenaries are already withdrawing in view of their inferiority, and Sey's troops manage to take over their headquarters. Joe appears panting right next to Sey. Blood runs down his face from a laceration on his forehead, but otherwise he appears unharmed.
"You are withdrawing! The city is ours again!"
"Save that for now ... it's not over yet!"
A huge explosion makes the two of them flinch. The rain of small flames that pours over them lights up the night as if morning were already breaking.
"What about the cowards trying to run away?"
"Let them go ... there's no need to kill them while they get out of here."
The large, colorful flags of the soldiers who have adorned almost every house in the city so far lie on the wet floor or are on fire. A little man comes running across the square, out of breath, armed with an old shotgun."Sey? Sey! We have a problem! The damn bastards have started new fighting! We thought they'd escape and let them pass, and those bastards took the opportunity and attacked us in the south!"
Sey is frozen for a moment. The south of the city, the part furthest away from the mercenaries' quarters, was not included as a battlefield ... This is where the women and children of the town hide ...
Sey and the other two jump up and sprint through the streets. Joe's deep voice breaks through the muffled noises of the scattered fighting as he calls for more comrades for support. When they finally turn into the southernmost street of the city, they can already see the black smoke billowing over the houses. Screams and shots can be heard here and there. Sey discovers one of the armed mercenaries who are apparently responsible for the various fires and stops him with a targeted shot in his leg. In the next moment he can hear a familiar voice. When he turns around, he discovers Selena, who is storming out of the entrance of a house into the open air with a little, blonde girl by the hand. A light breeze lowers the dark billows of smoke through the street. Sey discovers three more soldiers and when he notices that Selena and the girl are apparently running straight towards them, he sprints off with a whispered curse. But the burning smoke in his eyes robs him of sight for a moment and the next moment he is knocked off his feet by a violent bump. As he straightened up with a groan, he looked at another mercenary, who pointed the barrel of his handgun at him without hesitation. Sey's eyes wander past the uniformed man, looking for Selena and the girl, but before he can discover them, a stabbing pain runs through his head and from one second to the next everything around him is black ...

With a scream, he tears his eyes open, only to close them again immediately, blinded by a merciless glaring light. On the second attempt he holds a hand in front of his face as a precaution to protect himself against the bright rays. He looks around, blinking. The battlefield he was on just now is nowhere to be seen, instead he is in a circular room with completely white walls. The ceiling and the floor under him are also snow-white. Slightly hesitating, he straightens up and looks around uncertainly. He spots someone lying on the floor a few meters away from him. The figure doesn't move, just lies motionless on its back. As he crawls closer on all fours, his hand suddenly reaches into a warm liquid. His gaze wanders from his trembling, bloody fingers over the red puddle on the floor to the person's face.With another scream, he frantically backs away a few meters when he realizes that it is himself who is lying in front of him ... with a bloody gunshot wound on his forehead. Absently he wipes the blood from his fingers on his shirt, his eyes fixed on this second version in front of him as if spellbound. Suddenly, a low chuckle behind him caught his attention. When he turns around, he looks confused at a little girl who is looking down at him with a large, colored lollipop in her hand. Her eyes glow a strange red ... She grins at him.
"Hehe, it sure is weird to see yourself lying there ... right?"
The whole situation seems so twisted that at the moment he has no words. The little one seems completely unimpressed. On the contrary, she even hops around him calmly, humming the same happy melody over and over again.
"What is it? Aren't you surprised? Don't you want to know where you are?"
"Y-yeah ... sure ..."
She stops and giggles to herself contentedly.
"I'm not telling you!"
She bends down so their faces almost touch and stares piercingly at him. After a few seconds she jumps away from him again and starts singing again.
"Well, I'll tell you ... you are dead, you know."
"T-dead? What? ... No wait a minute, that can't -...."
The girl pauses and blurs before his eyes as if it were made of dark smoke. In the next second a white cat with gray paws sits in its place and stares at him with glowing red eyes. As if the sudden appearance wasn't unreal enough, the animal opens its mouth and begins to speak.
"Don't you believe me, meow? Have a look around ... if this doesn't mean you're dead, how do you explain this room to yourself?"
"But I can't die! Not now! I-"
The cat disappears as quickly as it came. Instead, a young woman appears at the other end of the room. It's Selena ... or at least something that looks like her ...
"So, you think it is not time for you to die yet? You want to protect this girl, am I right? But I have to disappoint you ... your time is up ..."
Everything seems to be spinning in Sey's head and he can barely get a clear thought.
"But ... I ... I promised her that I ..."
A cold grin appears on Selena's features.
"Would you like to go back? I could give you one more chance ..."
Sey stares at her expectantly. With another giggle, she transforms back into the cat and pats nimbly towards him.
"I could send you back ... I'm one of the few who have the power to ... meow ..."
"What exactly are you?"
The cat seems to be grinning as it sneaks around him, purring.
"Who I am? ... I am that here and now. The all and the nothing.Past and future. Life and ... death ... what about, do you want a second chance? Or not?"
"You can really just send me back?"
The cat nods in silence.
"Then do it! Now! If you send me back now, I might be there in time to-"
The animal lets out a roaring laugh.
"Always slow, don't worry, we have all the time in the world .. meow ..."
"But I-..."
With one smooth movement, she sneaks around him and naturally sits down on Sey's lap.
"You want to save the girl, don't you? Very amusing, meow ... But you don't have to worry ... This room is not tied to Earth time. No matter how long you are here, it makes no difference. So we have enough time to take care of business ... "
The cat suddenly jumps up and sits across from him.
"... business ..?"
"Sure, meow ... Nothing in life is free, isn't that what they say? And in death it is no different ... Besides, life is not cheap ... That's why we prefer our clients to work off their debts. .. "
"What should I do?"
The cat's red eyes narrow into slits.
"You will become one of us. We will give you your life and in return you will work for us. It's that simple ... you just have to sign a contract ... meow .."
She lets one of her front paws glide swingingly through the air, where at the same moment a written piece of paper and a gold pen appear.
"But I warn you ... This contract is valid as long as your soul exists ... Once you have signed it,