When my vision returns to me yet again, I find myself in an infinite white void.

Standing before me is a man I don't recognize.

"...hello?"

He approaches, eyes wide with panic. He appears to be rather physically fit, with a sturdy frame and broad shoulders. He stands at roughly five and a half feet tall, if I had to guess.

"Who are you!? Do you have any idea who I am!?"

"Uh, none, sorry." 

He gasps. "Such disrespect! How dare you treat me, Eric Moore, Prince of the Beruzia Empire, in such a way!?"

"I'm sorry - the who of the what?"

"Feigning ignorance will not spare you from my wrath!" The strange man lashes out at me!

I brace myself, and his hand makes contact with my cheek in an open-handed slap. All the momentum disappears, however, just as our skin makes contact.

There's a moment of silence, before a feeling akin to thunder rips through me!

Memories not my own fill my head, and I realize that they must be the memories of this man. I can see a happy childhood fitting of a Prince play out before me.

I can also see an equally tragic fall from grace, as he rapidly grew addicted to drugs and alcohol. His memories grow disjointed and fuzzy as time goes on - an effect of frequent drug use. Soon, there are week-long gaps in his memory, with the increasingly rare islands of lucidity becoming smaller and smaller.

The last memory I see is of him, grumbling about being sent to the capital academy the next day. I don't know the specifics, but it seems like the last-ditch effort of his family to force him to get clean.

His last moments consist of him desperately trying to get high using a hidden stash of drugs, and overdosing.

After what feels like a lifetime, we finally disengage, and I'm left staring at my hands, struggling to reconcile the two lives and identities I have kicking around my head now.

"You have seen…such wondrous things, in your realm…"

Prince Eric stares up at me blankly.

"You saw my memories, too?"

"Yes!" He approaches, an eager glint in his eye. "If we are both dead…are we swapping places? Will I be able to see those things myself!?"

The mere thought of this man traipsing about in my world makes me see red.

"You're not going anywhere, you piece of fuckin' shit."

"I…what?"

Usually, my anger is kept in check by my fear of consequences. But you know what? I'm dead! And you know what else? 

Fuck this guy!

I lash out, and catch him right in the jaw with a heavy punch. To my surprise, the momentum isn't dispersed at all, and he's sent to the ground, glaring at me with unmasked hatred.

"How…how dare you!"

"How dare I!?" I stop myself from kicking him while he's down. There may be no consequences here, but I don't want to lose myself to my anger - no matter how righteous it may be.

"You had a family that loved you! They tried to help you! So many times!"

"I…I just wanted to enjoy myself!"

"Exactly!" I scowl down at him, remembering the faces of his family as the pain he inflicted on them grew. Especially his poor mother.

"I don't know how, but I'm going to make damn sure you'll never wake up in my body. I'd rather have the people I care about mourn me, than have to watch me slowly kill myself."

Eric hugs his knees to his chest. "I'm sorry…please, it wasn't my fault…"

This is one of his usual tactics - rather than admitting that he's wrong, he tries to garner sympathy.

I shake my head with a heavy sigh. "You're truly pathetic, you know that?"

Slumping down, I somehow find a wall to lean against. I guess it's not all totally empty, here.

I need to get my head on straight. His memories are still bouncing around, and his violent tendencies are tempting me to lash out at him again. I need to retain my sense of self.

"Look, I'm not blaming you for being addicted. Addiction is a disease. It rots away at you, from the inside out - I get that." I lock eyes with him. I hope that, at least in death, he can finally realize what he's done.

"But addiction doesn't excuse abuse. It doesn't excuse violence. And it certainly doesn't excuse betraying who you are. Your family never stopped loving you, Eric - even as you stopped being yourself."

He stares at his hands, struggling to respond. Evidently, he's having a similarly hard time reconciling our memories, as well. I'd wager it's even harder for him, since my memories are actually intact.

"Then…why didn't they try harder?"

My eye twitches. "Don't put this on them, you selfish prick. They tried as hard as they could before they couldn't handle the pain anymore." I sigh. As his most recent memories settle into place, I get an even bigger picture of how hard his family is truly trying.

"Do you even realize how many strings they had to pull to get you into that academy? It's their last ditch effort to get you clean. And after they bust their asses for you like that, you smuggled drugs into the palace and fuckin' overdosed."

"That wasn't me!" He punches the floor in protest. In his memories, there's no confirmation of his claim that he did not smuggle the drugs into the palace. I'm not sure who else would have done it, or why - but I don't think he orchestrated it.

Honestly, I just don't think he's smart enough to pull it off.

"Then somebody compromised your recovery."

"It was Rodney!" He grits his teeth. "He wants to secure his position as crown prince! He fears that I may take it from him!"

I comb through his memories, and shake my head. Thankfully, a lot of the people in his memories were very clear with how they felt about him, so I don't have to guess the meanings of their expressions.

"No. Even at the times that he looked at you with nothing but contempt, he still went out of his way to cover for you, and bore the brunt of your actions."

"Th-then it was Janet! That bitch has always had it out for me…"

"Once again, no. Even when you lashed out at her when you got back from a bender, she would help you to your bed. The memories of her helping you are faint, but they're there. Dig around - you'll find them."

Eric goes quiet again. For quite a while, this time. He seems to be deep in thought.

I close my eyes and wait. It's not long before I can hear him sobbing.

"Mother, father…sister, brother…What have I become?" He stares at his shaking hands, eyes full of tears and regret. "Oh, gods…What have I done…"

"You fucked up." I stand with a sigh. I know what has to be done now, to leave this place. I'm not sure how I know, or why I'm so certain of it - but I do, and I am.

"But together, we can make it right. I don't know how much of you will be left once I'm in your body - maybe just enough to be aware of the world around us. But I promise, I'll work hard to make it right with everyone you've hurt - and if I can't make it right, I can at least apologize on your behalf. It's the least I could do, if I'm going to be using your body."

Eric looks up at me. What I see now is not a pathetic man. What I see is a broken boy. A boy that lost his way, and just wants to hug his mother, one more time.

"P…promise?"

I extend my hand towards the boy.

"I promise."

He hesitates for a moment, before slowly reaching out for my hand.

I gently help him to his feet. We don't have to say anything - we've seen everything of each other, and we both know that I'll keep my word.

A blinding light envelopes him, and he seems to turn into motes of light that slowly dissipate.

"Thank you…"

I don't bother answering. I'm not doing it for him, not really - I'm doing it for the people he's hurt.

As he silently flickers away, I finally let go of my past and start to look to the future.

As I begin to dissolve into light as well, I close my eyes and let a sensation of peace wash over me.

The void fades, and so do I.