Chapter 148 - The Cycle

Meanwhile, in the Secret Garden Bar and Lounge, Ghost Lin let out the umpteenth sigh. Kween and Marl exchanged looks and shook their head lightly.

"Is there really not a way for her to see me at least once?" Ghost Lin asked dejectedly as she turned her head to Kween. "Just once, please? I still have many things to tell her."

"Miss Ghost, that soul in your body is doing alright. She is slowly figuring out her life." Kween persuaded as she slid her arm across the bar counter. "That life you left behind is already hers to live. You shouldn't interfere with her and cross the afterlife before it's too late."

"I...." Ghost Lin pounded the bottom of her fist lightly. "I know that. It's just..."

"It's just that you're regretting giving up the life you had that easily?" 

Ghost Lin glanced at Kween. "Easily? Didn't you read my profile? I've endured it for a long time and... and I was unhappy. It's not like you can just reset depression. I didn't ask for it."

"I can barely understand the human dilemma, Miss Ghost. But you had options. If you let things go now, you can you know? Live life a bit happier, in another world, maybe?"

Ghost Lin just glanced at Kween with disinterest in her eyes. She let out a shallow breath, setting her eyes back on the glass of margarita Marl served her, which she couldn't touch.

"Letting things go completely is hard and painful." Marl chimed in, leaning his arms against the bar counter. "But holding onto things longer can hurt you more than letting go. Not only it was painful, but you are missing to grab the opportunities because of it."

"I'm certain Miss Lin will be fine... without you around," Marl added with a slight reluctance in his voice. 

"Everyone is fine without me around. I know that." Ghost Lin mumbled, cupping her cheek. "I mean, most, I guess. There's this stubborn one who isn't."

"Gosh... you and your first love have a very toxic relationship. I get it you guys love each other, but girl, just accept that you two are not meant to be!" Kween exclaimed in frustration and clicked her tongue. "Do you think if you are still in that body, you will get back to him if you meet him again?"

Ghost Lin pursed her lips in a thin line. Of course, she knew the answer. There was no way she would get back together with Quentin. 

"See? You know the answers to every question. I still don't understand why you are suddenly acting in denial." Kween rolled her eyes as Ghost Lin had kept her in this world for far too long. 

"You're wrong," Ghost Lin corrected as she turned her head to Kween. "I don't know the answer to every question. For example, is Quentin the same Quentin back in that princess' world?" 

Kween furrowed her brows before she glanced at Marl. The latter shrugged as he fixed his eyes on Ghost Lin.

"Not really. He can be the same Quentin, but not most of the time," Marl answered vaguely, making the ghost tilt her head to the side.

"Can you say it in the same language because I don't understand a single word you just said, Mister Grim reaper?"

"It's a bit complicated, but let me summarize it. When a person dies, they will return to a ball, I mean a soul. That soul will cross the afterlife and wait for their turn to live once again. Be it in their original world, or the other worlds depend on which way they go." Kween explained as a matter of fact. "It's just a cycle."

"Wait. So, you're saying, before I became Devon, I had a life before?"

"And a life before that — several more lives before that too — but you don't know because you can't keep the memories of your previous life." Kween shrugged nonchalantly. "Think of it as a device. If you keep every data, it will have problems. Worse? It will explode."

"Ohh. But, how about my circumstance with that princess?" asked Ghost Lin as this discussion piqued her interest. "How can she keep her memories from her previous life?"

"Well, I told you about the cycle of soul, life. But there were some instances like yours, whose soul rejected their living body, and by that, I mean you didn't want to go back in your body." Kween raised a brow, casting Ghost Lin a knowing look. The latter pressed her lips in a thin line, guilty of this.

"Since we have a living body, it is only natural for another soul to take over," Kween explained as she rolled her eyes. "Most of those takers are the aggressive and desperate soul who didn't go through the proper cycle."

"Wait, what? Are you saying you didn't choose that princess to take over my body?"

"That's out of our jurisdiction," Marl chimed in. "Also, souls don't always get to live with the same face, life, race, and world. That's why, even though your previous lover had the same face as that Quentin in the Princess' life, we are not sure if they were the same soul."

"Holy... then what about the Princess's memory? How did she keep it? Does it have anything to do with 'not going through the proper procedure?'"

"Sometimes, even though a soul goes through the proper recycling procedure, they get to keep their memories. Mostly, it was because of their strong will or that life just etched deep into their bone, no one could erase." This time, Kween answered her query. "You knew your first lover. Do you think he was the same Quentin?"

Ghost Lin bit her lower lip while tapping her fingers against the bar counter lightly. "I hadn't even met the Quentin, Devon was talking about. How will I know?"

"Exactly. Only Miss Lin can tell." Marl nodded in reassurance. "But I highly doubt that Quentin is the same Quentin in this world."

"How can you say that?"

Marl shrugged. "Gut feeling."

"Gosh. Are you really a grim reaper who is in charge of taking the soul to the afterlife?" Her nose scrunched up in dismay.

"I am, but there were also certain rules we follow. Also, it's not like I'm the only grim reaper in this world."

"Make sense. You guys are like working in a corporate." Ghost Lin mumbled to herself, thinking how these beings' working system was quite similar to a large corporate. 

"Yes. Not because we work in the same company, doesn't necessarily mean we know all things in another department."

Ghost Lin let out a sigh as she gazed up, reviewing the new information given to her. It was appalling and amusing, in a way. 

"Wait." She narrowed her eyes as a sudden thought hovered over her head. "What are the odds that Quentin reincarnated in this world?"

"Well, we can't say that," Kween spoke once again as she glanced at Marl. Although she wanted to be honest and tell Ghost Lin of the high chances, she thought it was unnecessary. Most of the souls in this world came from the world the Princess was before, after all. 

Ghost Lin didn't probe, though, as she acknowledged these two only knew a thing or two. So she nodded in understanding before raising another question.

"Is it possible that Quentin reincarnated in here with a different face?" she titled her head to the side, darting her eyes from Marl to Kween. 

"It's not impossible," Kween answered in a knowing tone.

"Let's say he reincarnated in this same world with a different face, but his soul might not remember his previous life. Also, if he went through the proper cycle, he might've been born and raised in this world." Marl backed up calmly so as not to make her panic. "It'll be safe to say that if he was reborn in this world, there's a slim chance he can remember his previous life."

"A slim chance?" Ghost Lin raised a brow. "So there's a chance that he is reborn in this world and still remembers his previous life as a tyrant?"

Marl and Kween looked at each other once again before nodding. It was a bit complicated, but Ghost Lin was quick to catch on.

"Last question. Is there a timeline for a soul to follow to get reborn?" Ghost Lin asked in interest. "I mean IF Quentin got reborn in this world, is it possible that he is still a baby right now or a grown adult?"

"Either. We can't really say if his soul just arrived here or hundred years ago. There's no telling if he was a girl or a boy, too. As we mentioned, a soul can't choose the next life they will have to live." Kween sighed, clarifying this obsession Ghost Lin had about the Quentin in Devon's previous life. "So, there's no need to fret about this since we don't even know if he's in this world."

Ghost Lin stared at Kween, and then at Marl before she sighed. 

"You're right. I shouldn't dwell on this since I can't do anything, anyway," she mumbled, knowing deep down she was simply finding a reason to linger a little longer.

"Instead of worrying about those things, you should worry about yourself. Just look at you, I can barely see you now." Kween shook her head and the three of them continued to hang out.

Little did they know, someone's life was about to be turned upside down.