Anodyne sat alone as he looked over the tattered remains of someone he once knew. Their blood covered everything in sight; Anodyne held the remains, unsure which parts were the god he once knew and what was cloth. His hands shook softly as he slowly raised his head to see a blurry figure standing before him.
“Are you here to finish me or just watch me suffer?” Anodyne said through grinding teeth.
The figure before him let loose a small, breathy laugh as they knelt on the ground in front of Anodyne. They looked him square in the eye, and he spoke as if speaking to a child with a comforting smile and a soft voice.
“You don’t understand how this all works. Do you think that your actions have no consequences? Life is about action and resolve. Everything you do will have an answer, whether you like it or not. Even doing nothing counts as an action, and there will always be an answer.”

Anodyne looked back down at what was left of the friend they had in their arms; licking the front of his teeth behind his lips, he took a moment to think before speaking with strings of saliva bridging his lips.
“You don’t understand; I don’t have much. My connections are what make me, and without them, I am nothing again.”

“Oh, how you sound like a mortal I know of, not personally, but through the grapevine kind of deal. Much to his dismay, I would say you two are quite alike.” The figure said as they stood, looking down on Anodyne with pity before continuing.

“This is the reality of things, Anodyne; you are too broken to change; you will forever hurt those closest to you. You should know this better than anyone; you hurt others and like it. It was the same through your mortal lives; it is the same now; it’ll be the same when you reincarnate as the next thing in the line. You are a beacon of suffering for others, and it is not enough for you to die; you need to hide from everyone. Because in death, you will be reborn anew, new face, new life, and the same suffering. So, instead, I say hide, I say hide, find a corner of the Eterna-Verse where no one will find you, and live there knowing that this is the only way you can help people. ”

Anodyne looked up, the figure even more distorted than before, their shaping changing through the distorted views, and Anodyne spoke.

“You look like a friend of mine.”

“You don’t have friends, only victims.”