Milliways OOM: Waiting for rebirth (take one)
Time in Hell passes slowly.
Then again, five-hundred years would pass slowly, no matter where your spirit resides; in Hell, at least, Hao has something to do.
In time, those who betrayed him die, and find their way to the same place, and he's there, waiting for them, his spirit stronger, and more refined each time. Somehow, they're surprised to find him waiting - as if he would be held somewhere, as if he had already reincarnated.
In the end, they all understand, each and every one of them; Hao sees to that, before ensuring that they repay him for their betrayal in the only way left to them: by becoming a part of him.
Each of their spirits makes him stronger, but after a few decades, they're all gone; dead, done, and devoured, and he still has most of a half-millennium to wait, with nothing to do but train, and study, and refine himself further.
It's interesting, centuries later, as Heaven and Hell and all the other realms of the dead begin to stir. The spirits know, and as he himself is a spirit at the time, so does Hao.
The Great Spirit is shifting.
The Shaman Fight is coming; it is almost time to choose another Shaman King.
Which makes it time for Hao to be reborn. He already knows where it will be, which family, which tribe... It became quite evident to him, in the last Shaman Fight, when he learned of the guardian Patch tribe, and their five great elemental spirits, where he would need to be born, and what he would have to do.
All that remains is to wait, and watch, and prepare for his own rebirth.
Then again, five-hundred years would pass slowly, no matter where your spirit resides; in Hell, at least, Hao has something to do.
In time, those who betrayed him die, and find their way to the same place, and he's there, waiting for them, his spirit stronger, and more refined each time. Somehow, they're surprised to find him waiting - as if he would be held somewhere, as if he had already reincarnated.
In the end, they all understand, each and every one of them; Hao sees to that, before ensuring that they repay him for their betrayal in the only way left to them: by becoming a part of him.
Each of their spirits makes him stronger, but after a few decades, they're all gone; dead, done, and devoured, and he still has most of a half-millennium to wait, with nothing to do but train, and study, and refine himself further.
It's interesting, centuries later, as Heaven and Hell and all the other realms of the dead begin to stir. The spirits know, and as he himself is a spirit at the time, so does Hao.
The Great Spirit is shifting.
The Shaman Fight is coming; it is almost time to choose another Shaman King.
Which makes it time for Hao to be reborn. He already knows where it will be, which family, which tribe... It became quite evident to him, in the last Shaman Fight, when he learned of the guardian Patch tribe, and their five great elemental spirits, where he would need to be born, and what he would have to do.
All that remains is to wait, and watch, and prepare for his own rebirth.