You have the power to age or de-age people by stealing seconds,minutes,hour,day or years from others lifespan and than giving that time to someone else. This ability has made you wealthy. You give seconds chances to those if they tell you a good story. Today, you hear the most unbelievably one. [Link to post.]
"Your next appointment is here, Mr. Tyler," Charlene's voice notified me through the intercom. I pressed a black button the base to reply.
"Send him in." I stood up and walked around the desk, preferring to meet all visitors on equal footing. A man much younger than my normal visitors walked in. He appeared to be in his early 20's with a full head of long, silky golden hair on his head. He also sported a well groomed, thin golden beard on his face that matched his head. His hair style resembled a lion's mane. He extended his hand and I accepted his greeting.
"Hello Mr. Tyler, my name is Regal. Thank you for seeing me." He smiled and shook my hand vigorously. I showed him a seat then walked around my desk to sit across from him.
"What can I do for you Mr. Regal? If you don't mind my asking, isn't it a bit early in your life to want to start over? You know I can't help with serious health issues, correct? I only handle aging, disease is out of my domain." He nodded at me.
"Yes sir, I know. I'm here to ask you two questions. Depending on your answers I may have some helpful information to share with you, or I'll leave."
"You just want to talk to me? Without asking for my power?" He hesitated slightly, taking a second to consider his answer.
"Well, maybe? You'll see. For the first question I'm going to blurt it out at you, and you answer as fast as you can. Don't even think about it, okay?" Regal sat up straighter in his chair, scooting his behind closer to the edge. I nodded at him. "What's your favorite number?" he asked.
"14" I said, without thinking. A brilliant smile overtook his face, showing off his pearl white teeth.
"Do you have a tattoo with the number 14 on it?" I nodded again.
"I do, but it's not uncommon for people to get a favorite number tattooed on them. Why do you ask?" His smile dimmed a bit.
"Mr. Tyler, this next part is entirely up to you. I have answers for you, if you want them. I can't answer everything, but I can answer a lot."
"Answers? For what? If this is a scam..." I moved to stand up, ready to press the security button if I needed to. He raised both hands in the air in front of him at shoulder height as if to show he meant no harm. I remained at an awkward crouch hovering over my seat, undecided about calling security.
"Answers about what you are, why you have this magnificent power. You didn't really notice it until you got your tattoo, right?" I felt the color drain from my face when he asked. I'd never told anyone about that. Less than a handful of people even knew about the tattoo, much less that I guessed it was tied to my abilities somehow. I let my weight fall back into the chair, and he dropped his hands back down to his knees.
"Tell me, please?" I asked. I did not dismiss the possibility it was still a scam, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. I could press the button for security at any time, they were posted outside my door.
"You are a Unique Soul, I'm one also." Regal reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small purple notebook. He flipped it open and showed me a drawing of Death with the number 14 in the corner of it. Under the picture it said, "La Muerte".
"That's you," he said. "La Muerte is a very powerful Unique." I looked at the picture, then up at him.
"So, I'm a powerful Unique Soul. Okay." I shrugged. "What does it *mean*?" He sighed in return.
"Unique souls are just that, Unique. Your personality, thoughts, likes, dislikes, etc. You are the only YOU. There might be other people named Leonard Tyler, in this or even other universes. But just because they share a name doesn't mean they're you. You, me, all the Unique souls are the only one like them, in all the infinite universes. Each universe randomly produces 12 Unique souls," he said. I put my hand up to stop him there.
"Each universe? So like parallel universes?" He nodded, then stood up from his chair to pace the room.
"Yeah, there's infinite universes out there. Each universe randomly spits out 12 Uniques. If they die, they get reborn again and again, unless their soul is absorbed by another Unique. If a Unique gets all 12 souls from a universe, it can shape that universe however it wants."
"So there's only 12 of us? What's different about non-Unique people?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I wrapped my head around the first part yet, but I still wanted more information.
"Non-Uniques are cookie-cutter souls, they're present in every universe in one form or another. Like your secretary, Charlene, for example. She'll be found in any universe, and she'll be almost exactly the same as your Charlene with the same likes, mannerisms, and so on. Maybe cosmetic variations, but the *soul* is exactly the same across universes. That's pretty much it really. There's infinite Charlenes out there, but only one me. One you." He smiled at me.
"And my powers?" I asked.
"There's 54 different Unique souls, and they're divided into different tiers. You, La Muerte, are ranked in the highest tier, with the most powerful souls." He flipped pages in his book and showed me a list divided into various sections. I found #14 listed in the "Celestial" category. I flipped through the rest of the book quickly.
"Wow. How'd you compile all this?" I asked. His head fell slightly, then he sat down in the chair again. He took a deep breath.
"Higher level Unique Souls each have a different role to fulfill. Most of us don't know anything when we first awaken our powers. There is one Unique, El Mundo, that knows everything about Unique Souls, and its job is to inform the other souls as they appear. El Mundo is one of the few Uniques that is guaranteed to be in every universe. Most of that notebook is notes from my dad, he was the Mundo of my universe. Oh right, I should also point out that I'm not one of your 12. I mean, I'm not from your universe. I've been travelling looking for people to help me, and you would be a big help.
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