First Death

“So, this is what destiny has in store for me”

Those were my last words muttered in the living world. Not the best way to end my life honestly. Kind of a pity if I have to be honest. But then “kind of a pity” could be the summary of my entire existence. Well, it doesn’t matter now because, you know, it’s over. Yet it seems my idiot brain forgot to stop thinking and now there’s this thick darkness all over the place. I can’t feel anything aside my thoughts, especially nothing regarding my body. That would make me smile, probably. No idea what to do, what are you supposed to do when you die anyway?

Follow the light

Oh, yeah, that. The last light at the end of a tunnel. For some it’s paradise, others think it’s our brain tricking our consciousness with one last glimmer of hope. Time to find out. Thanks voice inside my head. Wait, voice inside my head!? Who are you? Also, which light there’s not…

Look around and you’ll find your light.

Nothing good will come from standing in one place for too long

And there goes my hopes of leaving my mother’s sermons behind.

I’m not your mother

Get out of my head!

You don’t have a head anymore, where should I go?

OUT!

A strong light cut the darkness wide open, leaving a scar on the black haze in a shape of an eye. Then white feathers appear inside the scar, one after the other I see them forming into something…wait, they’re making a pupil, then an iris finally a cornea. A bunch of other, bigger feather are now dancing around the scar’s exterior, as if wings flapping around. You know, I was kind of taken aback by them but thinking rationally, they’re feathers, they should be part of a wing, everything checks out!

You can’t rationalize an Angel.

Ah! You didn’t get out!

You are dead.

Thank God!

How dare you mock the greatest gift you were ever given?

Don’t know. I can’t say I enjoyed myself much out there, you know?

I can see you picked up terrible speaking habits.

Why are you judging me? Aren’t you supposed to console me? I just died you know? And what about your speaking habits? Shouldn’t you talk with a more dignified vocabulary?

I am here, to speak to you, o Child. To do so, simplification of the lexicon is a must.

You told me to follow the light, should I…enter you!?

Death has come to you before your time was due.

For once I wasn’t late!

And you died, cursing your fate in your last moment.

Oh…that, right.

So, this is what destiny has in store for me. How vulgar a way to close you trial on the mortal realm. Rejecting the very path that was meant to give you happiness.

I don’t want to reply, I can’t think of something to say.

In this realm thoughts and words are one and the same. Here you can’t hide.

Even if hiding is impossible, being honest doesn’t get easier.

Do you understand, the severity of your actions?

What?

You walked away from your fate, rejected your destiny. That’s not something easy to atone for. I can’t let you past me towards the heavens.

Eh?! I just found out there’s an afterlife and you’re literally taking it away from me!? How is that fair? And just because I hated my lot in life. I did not choose any of that.

That’s where the fate-less go. The ones who rejected they road they were given while also not trying to pave another one for themselves. Our Lord’s love is infinite and it accepts all of its children, it matters not if they were content with the easy path or they wanted to go through the less traveled road. What’s important, it’s to move.

I did move…

You didn’t. The moment your fate was clear, you rejected it. There was no attempt to build another way, nor the faith to go through what was ahead. That’s cursing onto one’s own soul.

And what should have I done!? I had everything against me. EVERYTHING. And don’t come at me to the whole “there’s people worse off” bullshit I was always given. I don’t care. Nothing ever went my way and I was just supposed to adapt!? Fuck off. I…I…I…don’t want to say…why…why was I given this wretched life if nothing in it was ever supposed to make me glad to be living it…

You’re pitiful, O Child…

The Angel is going to erase my existence now. I didn’t really believe in an afterlife, but finding out it exist and being denied access to it hurts. Even if life wasn’t enjoyable, the thought of being so wrong of a creation that i needed to be deleted, hurts. I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want oblivion.

You’re going to…

Make a deal

Huh? What’s this bubbly cute voice?

Oh, Arthesys don’t mess wi…

Mettachan, please let me handle this. You owe me one soul, remember?

It’s been one hundred years already! I more than made up with you for that one favor.

Without me, the world you supervised would be gone, and you would be back to heaven for several millennia. Instead, it’s still going…well, not strong, but adequately!

That’s such a bad plea for help.

Please Mettachan, you owe me! And you…Mister? Mistress? What are you?

Oh, I’m no one I want to remember.

That’s wonderful!

It’s really not.

I promise it is.

A faint blue light appeared near the Angel, Mettachan.

Call me that again and I’ll evaporate you

Mettachan, don’t scare my hero! heroine! Whatever!

The light changed shape into a beautiful girl with long white hair and a turquoise dress with a majestic gown full of pink roses. Basically, a stereotypical princess. So cute. I wish the worst to her. Something this cute shouldn’t exist in my sight. It just reminds me of what I won’t ever achieve. She is transparent though.

You want to achieve a form similiar to mine? So, you’re my Heroine then! Still, you shouldn’t talk badly of the very cute Goddess which is handing you a second lease on life. A witless heroine is a dead heroine,

Please Goddess, do whatever! I envy you very much and I’ll probably think you should suffer as a payback for being this cute, but please, know that I would never say something like this if I could hide my thoughts!

Oh my!

The Goddess touched her cheek with two fingers and smiled while closing her eyes. That’s so sexy. I hate that I love her so much. Looks really are everything.

Arthesys, you’re stealing way too souls for your world.

Mettachan, I’m only doing what’s necessary. And still, I wouldn’t need so many if you had led me one faster!

You know this world souls are dangerous.

A shackle can’t be broken without risk Mettachan. I’m taking her.

The Goddess reached for me, or well, in my direction. I still had no body and it was unclear what was the reaching out to. My soul I suppose?

This is the deal. I’ll give you a second chance to live a better life, in my world. But once you’re there, you need to accomplish a mission. Once you arrive there, you won’t be able to tell anyone about this place, no mortal under any circumstance can know about the afterlife. But you can tell them you made a deal with Arthesya, the Goddess of Law to convince others to join your cause. What you need to do is simple.

Free me. Become my heroine. Save my world

OK! But please one condition.

Oh? You’re getting a free extra life and you even want to set conditions?

Don’t reincarnate me into my body. Please, give me another.

If that’s all, it won’t be a problem

Her lips are getting near me; I expect a kiss. Instead, she blows gently and I lose consciousness.

When I open my eyes, I’m inside a field of what seems to be wheat, so high I can’t see anything else. Not a very inventive way to start out in another world. I get up, only my head can see over the field. Yeah, I seriously am not in my world.
The sky is blue, but there’s something that never existed on Earth. A gigantic chain stretching as far as the eye can see. There are also three Moons. I walked for a bit in order to escape the gigantic wheats, and it seems I’m on the edge of a crater.
Arthesya seems to have sent me straight to business. I could see my objective. Multiple chains descended from the sky towards the sea. In the middle, the figure of a beautiful woman, completely covered in what seemed a coral barrier.
I could not go wrong. That was the Goddess Arthesya.

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Why have you taken that soul?

Because I knew you would’ve agreed!

I was just about to assign it purgatory time before heaven. It’s an inept, weak and quite pathetic. It’s not the soul of a hero; it won’t help you.

There was no chance you would’ve given me an actual honorable person Mettachan. You’re too scared.

Souls from my world are dangerous for yours.

I already took some pretty dangerous peeps from other Angels!

Don’t elude my question. You know exactly why I never gave you anyone.

Yeah…I know. And that’s why I was waiting for the perfect candidate.

And that’s the perfect candidate in your eyes? Look at you, you’re fading away. The last of your energy it’s gone, until your world is saved, you will be trapped in there without other chances to ask for help.

This was my last recruitment, but it was perfect. After all, there were only three parameters it had to meet. One, it had to be from your world. Two, it had to be someone you would have let go. And…

Cut the dramatic waiting out Arthesya. You’re going to deplete your energy soon.

…the idea of leaving you handing is tempting.

I gave you the soul you wanted, an explanation it’s the least you can give me.

It needed to be a fateless soul.

Wait…so you really?!

A shackle can’t be broken without risk, Mettachan