Glitch chuckles softly when he heard you ask the question: 'What was his greatest fear?'

"Well, Y/N, everyone has a fear. That includes me. That fear? Well.. I'm afraid of being trapped. Caged." He says.

This threw you for a loop, maybe even a little. You never thought that Glitch had a fear. He smiled at everything and faced down so many terrifying things you had lost count. He even saved your life once – multiple times, even.

It never struck you that he would be afraid of something. Well, it was why you asked the question.

"Y/N. Have you ever felt free? I don't mean going outside and taking in the fresh air and laying in the grass. I mean have you ever felt True Freedom?"

You shook your head 'no'. You didn't know what he meant by that. You asked him to explain.

"Freedom is something everyone can have, and everyone can enjoy. But. True Freedom? That is completely different. True Freedom is like flying. Nothing weighs you down, nothing keeps you bound to the earth. Then, once you escape Gravity. You get closer to True Freedom..." He says.

You could see his eyes flicker and shimmer, then you could see small, miniscule droplets of water in the corners of his sockets.

"True Freedom.... It's living a life where no one can bring you down. No one can tell you otherwise. No one can tell you do come back down.. Where..." He paused, sniffling and wiping away a tear.

You hadn't seen him like this. Not in a while. It was... Weird..

"Where you can finally escape everything..." He says, tears flowing down his eyes.

The more you thought about it, the more you were starting to realize how difficult it was to see life as you being free. But then you thought of something.

You thought of Death. How it was such a sweet release.. And.. the only way to escape Life. Glitch was Mortal, you knew that. But every cut, bruise, ache, stab, impalement, even the breaking of his bones.. It all healed just as fast as you could blink.

Then it started to set in: How old Glitch was. How much he had grew. How much he had heard, smelt, touched, and saw everything in the world.

Suddenly...

Sadness grew inside you...

You saw his pain firsthand: This. One. Moment.

He wanted to be free.

Every fight...
Every tear shed...
Every wound taken...
Every wound healed...
Every moment relieved...

It was all to be free.

You finally asked the daunting question...

This time.. Wanting to know the Truth..

'How old are you?' You asked him.

The question made Glitch pause for a moment. He wiped away his tears and put on a triumphant smile.

You knew it was fake...

"Very ol-"

You stopped him.

'The Truth..'

Glitch stopped and his smile went.. His face softened...

"I was born when there was nothing..."

He said. And this... This truth... It made your heart break.

"This isn't my first life.... This is my... Two.. Something, something, something, something, something-hundredth and something life..."

You broke...

"Everytime I die... I get reborn as something else..." He says. "In the life before this one.. I was human... Living in peace with my family... My love..."

He paused and your hands instinctively went to your chest.. Holding onto your clothes.

"Then I died peacefully in my sleep.. It was one of the best lives I had... Then I woke up like the one you see before you." He says. "I have never died since..."

You...?