Bryce

I pushed myself off the ground as my vision returned to me. I wasn’t out for very long, or rather it hadn’t felt like long, but everything around me had changed. The air was cool, but not uncomfortable, and the stars above me were more brilliant than any I had ever seen.

Actually, that wasn’t quite true. I had seen stars almost as beautiful on my way to meet Chorus in his temple. As my mind went back to that memory, I felt a sense of bitter-sweet resignation wash over me. I was in Elysia. I was dead.

I’m not sure how long I just stood there staring at the night’s sky, or when I started to feel the presence standing silently beside me, but eventually I was pulled from the daze by a quiet, compassionate voice.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I nodded and wiped the tears from my face as she continued speaking. “I’ve been here since the beginning. Nearly sixty-thousand years, and yet I still find myself getting lost in the vastness of it all.”

“Who are you?” I asked, without turning to see her.

“My name is Reiki. I’m a guide of sorts for those whose destination may not be entirely clear.”

“You’re here to take me to my afterlife.”

“Eventually, but first we need to determine which that is.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You do.”

We stood there in silence for some unknown amount of time before I let out a shaky breath and finally turned towards her. Reiki was a raven-haired woman with near-transparent pale skin that seemed to glow from within. She had an ephemeral feel to her, as if she were just an echo of herself, and she was smiling sympathetically towards me. “Okay, what are my options?”

“You have quite a few, more than most even, but I'm afraid there isn't much in the way of good choices for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Chorus and Kai both placed a claim on your soul personally, but I don’t believe their afterlives suit you very well. Then there’s another rather strange claim. One that I don’t fully understand, and was hoping you could help clarify for me. ”

“I could try, but I really don’t know how a lot of this works.” My mind was doing its best to try to process everything.

The claim Chorus put on me made a lot of sense, and I actually really appreciated it. I enjoyed the time I spent in his temple, and going to his afterlife could mean that Thea was able to visit me. Or at the very least, I could probably see Esme, Nes, and Taz again.

Kai’s claim was strange, though. At least, it was until I remembered Thea telling me that Kai tried to convince Inim to hand her over. That probably meant Kai was just using me to get to Thea. Or it was some not-so-elaborate prank. There was no real way for me to know what was going on in the goddess’s head, and thinking about it was just going to drive me mad.

“That’s entirely alright. There’s no expectation that you would know how any of this works. I was simply hoping that you would know how a devil of Inim managed to get a claim on your soul.” Reiki tilted her head as she looked up at me. “Normally, when that happens, it’s because of some sort of contract or agreement that’s binding, but if that were the case, we never would have met. Your soul would have been sent directly to the devil.”

I felt a sense of relief as I realized what had happened. “It must have been Thea. I had a contract with her when I was killed. She must have somehow managed to put a claim on me.”

Reiki frowned as she slowly shook her head. “While Thea has a surprisingly large influence on your self-identity considering the short time that you've been together, she doesn’t have a claim on your soul.”

“If not Thea, then who?”

“Her sister, Ashaiya.”

“Ashaiya? I met her once briefly, but I don’t know what from that exchange would make her think she could claim me.”

“Unfortunately, why she did it is less important than how. A devil shouldn’t be able to make a claim on a soul without a contract. I really hate to ask, and I know you must have countless other things on your mind right now, but do you have any insight into how she was able to do that?”

“If Inim were still alive, would he have a claim to me?” I asked, and Reiki seemed surprised by the question.

“A rather strong one, yes. You associated with a number of his children, and even dated one of his daughters. Although, if that were the case, I would have cautioned you against choosing his afterlife. You lack the demeanor that was typical of his followers, which would have made acclimating difficult.”

“When I met Ashaiya, she explained how she was using a relic to replicate the effects of Inim’s afterlife in order to avoid mana decay. I’m wondering if she has some method of intercepting souls to populate it.”

“That is concerning,” Reiki trailed off in thought before shaking her head to clear it. “But not something I should worry you with right now. We should focus on finding you the right afterlife.”

I nodded as I mentally pushed the issue with Ashaiya aside. It wasn’t my problem, and if there was ever a time to be selfish, this seemed like it should be it. “Okay, what are my options?”

“Well, there are the direct claims that I’ve mentioned. However, I don’t believe you’ll be a good fit for either of them, and I won’t allow you to choose Ashaiya.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that something you can do? Stop me from choosing an afterlife?” It’s not that I wanted to be trapped in a relic for the rest of eternity, I was just curious as to what role Reiki actually played in all of this.

“It’s a power that I rarely exercise, but yes, if I believe you’re making a critical mistake, then I can overrule your decision.”

“Good to know. So, if you don’t recommend Chorus or Kai, then what are my other options? Preferably, in order of how closely we match.”

Reiki smiled up at me. “Of course! Tess would be the closest match for you by far, but that comes with a few caveats. After that, in descending order, would be Iefyr, Zesh, Leena, Aenir, and technically Orrid, but I really wouldn’t recommend him. You two have similar personalities, and would probably eventually get along, but he’s still holding a grudge from the fight with Thea. So, I don’t think it would be wise to choose his afterlife.”

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“That’s quite the spread. Why is Iefyr such a high choice for me? I’ve never really considered myself an anarchist. And who’s Zesh? I don’t recognize that name.”

“Zesh was recently elevated to the aspect of order, but she hasn’t been very active in the last century. So, I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of her. As for why I’d recommend Iefyr so highly,” Reiki chuckled as she explained. “You’re right about not being an anarchist, but a large part of her domain revolves around autonomy and personal freedom. Which is something that you value extremely highly. While that might seem somewhat counter to me suggesting Zesh, you also value rules and order so long as they aren't forced on you. It’s part of your obsession with contract magic.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it an obsession.” She just smiled at me as I mulled over my options. Starting from the back, Orrid was an easy cut. It was a little insulting to call our personalities similar, and even if Reiki was right, I wouldn’t want to be in his afterlife while he was holding a grudge.

Aenir was an interesting choice, though. His domains were freedom and exploration, but I suspected the freedom part was why Reiki suggested him. Exploration was a cool idea, but I was usually more comfortable at home with a book.

Leena was the goddess of innovation, and normally credited with the creation of the beacon network that made aether travel possible. I would love to have a conversation with her, or maybe take her to dinner, but her afterlife didn’t really appeal to me that much.

Then there was Zesh. That one caught me somewhat by surprise, but the more I thought about it, the more it made a certain amount of sense. I enjoyed working within the rules and finding ways to get them to bend without breaking, but it felt like something of a stretch to say that was a defining part of my personality.

In that same vein, Iefyr was absurd to me. Her entire deal was no rules at all. Absolute freedom, even when it starts to infringe on the freedoms of others. Or so I thought. I remembered what Chorus once said about a god’s public image not necessarily reflecting their domain, and combined with Reiki suggesting her as my second highest match, it was probably worth reconsidering how I thought of Iefyr. But first I had a question that needed answering.

“I’ve always considered myself a follower of Tess, and you even said she was the closest match by far, so why even give me the option to choose? Sure, I was marked by a few gods directly, but like you said, their afterlives wouldn’t be a good fit for me. It seems like you could have just sent me to Tess and been done with it.”

“Normally, you’d be right. Being one of Tess’s followers kind of puts you on the fast track to her afterlife, and the only reason your case was even flagged for review was because you were marked by several gods personally. Even then, I would’ve dismissed the marks as being unsuitable because they were done without your consent and they were remarkably bad choices for you.”

“But you didn’t because of the Ashaiya situation?” I asked, and Reiki shifted uncomfortably.

“Sort of. That was definitely a part of it, but only a small part.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Tess’s afterlife differs from the others. Among those differences is that she doesn’t allow resurrections, even consenting ones. There are five people in your life that would be capable and willing to resurrect you if they were given a chance.”

“Which means it would make sense for me to go to another afterlife in order to have an opportunity to be resurrected.” I started mentally going over the list of afterlives again, but then paused when I realized what Reiki had said. “Wait, five people? Who are you talking about besides Suriel?”

“Suriel is the obvious choice,” Reiki agreed. “But there’s also Lenestia Nightshade, Aeisha Aoyama, Rose Bloodthistle, and… Mother.”

My heart caught in my throat as I realized the implications. “Oh, I see. Then I have a real decision to make.”

“You do.” She nodded with an apologetic look. “But for what it’s worth, you don’t have to make the choice right now. We’re in between timescapes here, which means almost no time has passed since you were killed.”

“It also means that nothing will change until I choose,” I pointed out, and she nodded again. “You said there were caveats to Tess’s afterlife. Caveats, plural. What are the other ones?”

“You can only stay for eight-hundred years before you’re forced to move on. You can’t speak to anybody outside her realm, and you’ll likely never actually meet Tess. She’s rather reclusive. There are other conditions as well, but they’re specific to what goes on in her afterlife. I don’t have access, so I don’t know all of them myself.”

“If I allow Mother to resurrect me, then she’s going to torture me to death, and bring me back to do it again until she gets bored playing with me.”

“At which point she’ll likely destroy your soul to hurt the people who care about you,” Reiki added. “As I said earlier, there really isn’t a good choice here. I’m sorry.”

As far as I was concerned, there wasn’t any choice at all. So, long as there was a chance to rescue me, then Thea would try. Which meant storming Mother’s compound and getting herself caught along with anyone else she took with her. The only option was to hope the spell worked, and let Mother wear herself out. Anything else was suicide.

“Don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault, and you’ve done everything you can to help. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” I let out a shaky chuckle. “Can I say goodbye to my girlfriend?”

“Anywhere that Thea has access to would be in a primary timescape, which would give Mother an opportunity to resurrect you. It would be extremely risky.”

“Could you arrange it for me?”

“I can.” She took a few steps towards me before explaining the plan. “I can take you to Chorus’s afterlife and have him summon Thea there. But, Bryce, you won’t have long. Mother is going to take your body directly back to her compound to interrogate you. If you’re not in Tess’s afterlife by that time, then there’s no guarantee that she won’t destroy your soul.”

“I understand. Please, I need to see her.”

“Alright. Take my hand.” I did as she asked, and we appeared in a room identical to the one where I met Chorus in his temple. Nobody was around at first, but the god appeared a few seconds later and rushed up to me to place his hands on my shoulders.

“Bryce, I’m so sorry. But for what it’s worth—”

“We don’t have time. Please, bring Thea here,” I interrupted him, and the god looked towards Reiki, who was still standing there before turning back to me.

“You didn’t choose my afterlife, did you?”

“No, she didn’t,” Reiki answered for me before continuing. “And she doesn’t have much time before I have to take her back. So, please, just do as she asked, and I’ll explain when she’s gone.”

Chorus nodded before stretching out a hand to create a summoning circle. A few moments later, and Thea was standing in the center of it in tears. I rushed over to envelop her in a hug before she even knew what was happening.

“Bryce!” She returned the embrace with what probably should have been bone crushing strength. “I was banished back to Hel and our contract broke. I don’t know if I can get back to the mortal plane by myself. Gods, Bryce, I thought you were going to die.”

I broke the embrace and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Thea, but I don’t have much time, so I need you to listen to me. I did die, and I can’t ever come back, but Ithnaa and Sora made it away. You need to get to them and keep them safe. Tell them that the spell might have still worked, and that if it did, then Mother is going to come for them with everything she has.”

“Bryce, it’s fine. We can just bring you back. Suriel can bring you back.”

“Thea, he can’t. I’m going to Tess’s afterlife to stop Mother from resurrecting me. I can’t come back from there.”

“No! I won’t let them take you!” She pulled me back into a hug and wrapped herself around me even tighter. “You can’t leave me. I won’t let you.”

“Bryce.” Reiki took a step forward, and I nodded to her.

“Thea, I can’t stay. I love you. I’ll always love you.”

“Please, don’t go.”

Reiki placed a hand on my shoulder, and I quickly grabbed Thea’s face in both of mine to kiss her as we disappeared, but she was gone before I could. I fell to my knees on black asphalt and broke down in tears.

“I’m sorry, Bryce, but this is where I have to leave you.” Her voice sounded distant, and I barely registered what she was saying. “Whenever you’re ready, just knock on the door and somebody will show you inside.”

I muttered some sort of acknowledgment, and then I was alone.