The woman is suspended about three feet in the air and is claiming to be a goddess. She’s incredibly powerful - I can feel it from twenty feet away - and towers over us to get our attention. She seems worried for some reason, but doesn’t say anything.

Everyone stares at her until finally she decides to speak. In a light, almost musical voice she says quietly, “I don’t know what to say. Can you ever forgive me?”

We stare at her in confusion until Caleb decides to speak up. “For what?” He asks, his voice several octaves higher than normal. “We weren’t aware that there was anything to forgive.”

She coughs and clears her throat. “In your previous world, you all… died. And it’s mostly my fault. I’m so sorry.” She waits for that to sink in for a moment before continuing. “I can give you two options. Either you can choose to actually die and return to the reincarnation cycle of your world, or I can send you to another world.”

Everyone is silent. Caleb, apparently taking the role of spokesman, asks respectfully, “Would you care to elaborate, Lady Goddess? It’s a hard choice, and it’s only worse when we don’t have all of the information.”

She considers. “Well, there are some things I can’t say. I won’t tell you the future, for example. But there are some things I can promise you.

“If you choose to return to the reincarnation cycle of the world you came from, I can guarantee that whatever you loved most dearly in this life will return to you in the next, and that you will find happiness, though happiness has a different meaning for each person, so know that it may not come in the form you expect.

“If you choose to enter the new world, well… I cannot give you many specifics. There are too many uncertainties, too many fates that could be made or broken by my words. I can promise to aid you if you have a good reason and ask nicely; I can promise to help you stay alive, though for all my power, I can’t fix idiocy. More than that you will have to wait to know, for all that I wish I could tell you now. Forgive me; there are rules even I must obey.”

We break into small groups to discuss our choices but fall silent again when she continues. “I will create two portals. The blue door will lead to a small waiting area for those who choose to enter a new world; the brown door will lead to a similar small waiting area for those who choose to reincarnate. I will place a barrier about ten feet away from the pair of doors that will only allow one person to pass at a time. Please, do not feel rushed. This place is timeless; you quite literally have all of eternity to decide.”

We wait for the two circular doors to appear before resuming our discussions. Well, I say our, but I’m not part of any group. I’m simply deliberating on my own, standing slightly separate from the rest, despite already being completely certain of the path I will take. Instead, I watch my classmates’ choices carefully.

When about a third of us have passed through, a group runs up to me. I’m shocked to see Annabelle with them; I consider her a little sister despite having no legal relationship with her, but she goes to a different school and therefore shouldn’t have been caught up in whatever event caused our untimely deaths. In fact, I see Sophie and Tyler with her. “Tabby!” Annabelle squeals, seemingly unaffected by the difficult choice ahead, but when she hugs my leg, I can feel her uncertainty, and I know without a doubt that she will follow me through whichever path I choose.

I’ve just rested my hand on her head when a commotion draws my attention. Jayda, Caleb’s girlfriend, has just passed the barrier, and he’s crying. I step closer as she stops in front of the brown door. “I loved you, Caleb, I truly did,” she says with tears dripping off of her face, “but I love music more, and I’m going to chase it. If you ever loved me at all, let me go. Dry your tears and be strong. Instead of living for me, take this opportunity to live for yourself, just as I will.” He crumples as she slips through the door to reincarnation.

After a moment, though, he straightens. With purposeful strides, he makes his way to the other door and steps through, though it appears to take an enormous amount of willpower for him to stop himself from looking back toward the direction his beloved went.

As he disappears, I sigh. “Bella,” I call softly. She looks up. “Little one, I want you to think this through. Blindly following me isn’t a good idea. There’s a strong chance you’ll regret it later. What do you want to do?” I wonder to myself if she realizes that despite my words, I would follow her wherever she went, for the simple reason that I live for her, and don’t want to let her go.

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She seems to be on the verge of crying. Melissa, Sophie, and Nisi are politely averting their eyes, but I can sense that they will follow me either way. When about half of the students have chosen their path, I decide that it’s my turn. Stepping up to the barrier, I touch Annabelle’s head, and she releases me reluctantly, though I can feel her eyes tracking my progress all the way until I vanish through the blue door.

With wide eyes, I find myself falling from the ceiling. Barely containing a scream, I flip myself in midair so that I’m falling spreadeagle, like a skydiver. I look down to see my classmates forming a net in preparation for my landing. I forcibly relax my body; tensing up will only hurt both parties. Though to me it feels like a crash-landing, I silently acknowledge that it could have been far worse.

“That wasn’t so bad!” I hear as I stand. Looking over, I see Luke grinning widely. “I knocked everyone over when I landed.”

“That’s just ‘cuz you’re so tall,” his friend says, laughing.

I offer them a smile before looking upward worriedly. “Don’t worry,” I hear Luke’s friend say. “There’s always enough time between people for us to form the net. Personally, I think the goddess lady is doing it on purpose.”

I nod and murmur, “Probably,” as I link my arms with those around me. As soon as the net is complete, Bella comes tumbling out of the sky, shrieking. Her light body doesn’t even break the net and we set her on her feet easily. When she tries to weave her arms through, the person next to me smiles and shakes his head, waving her off, so she sulks behind me instead.

An unknown but seemingly short time later, I find myself surrounded by Melissa, Sophie, Nisi, Rei-ann, and Bella. Around us are various classmates. Suddenly, we see the goddess falling from the sky gracefully; the current members of the net aren’t quite sure what they should do as she lands on their arms. To their surprise (and slight annoyance) she weighs no more than a feather and immediately bounces up and begins speaking.

“Approximately half of you have chosen to enter a new world. I understand that many of you are grieving. However, I can see in your faces that you are ready, so I will delay no longer.

“The world I am sending you into will likely appear strange.” She draws a map in the air that looks vaguely like this:

“There are three mountain ranges. That brown area is a near-continuous valley that runs between them. The only break is that one little valley where two of the mountain ranges cross each other. The northern region is inhabited by monsters - you might refer to them as demons - from a different realm. They aren’t a problem right now, but I don’t suggest venturing into their territory. The eastern segment contains many races and tribes who are frequently at war with one another. The countries are organized by which race you belong to, are very discriminatory and many kill beings of other races on site.

“The western area is uninhabited by sentient beings, but plants and game are plentiful. That is where I will place you. Don’t worry, I’m not sending you in there unequipped.” She holds out her hand and our backpacks appear by our feet. “Most of you left these behind. The rest I’ll admit to taking when you stepped through the portal. I’ve taken the liberty of modifying them slightly. I can guarantee that almost anything you need will come out of those bags. Note the word almost. They won’t produce food, beverages, or most condiments, for instance, but they will give you salt for preservation or canteens to carry water. One thing in particular that the bags won’t create are magical tools; you will have to find or make those yourselves.

“That is another thing about your new world. It is magical. When I said races earlier, I basically meant species, but if you told an elf, ‘You’re from a different species than me,’ you’d be seriously insulting him. Use race instead. As you adapt to your new environment, many of you will experience changes - your bodies will become like the original inhabitants of the world. Most of you will be able to use magic. Many of you will no longer be human as the magic inherent to the world seeps into your very bones and you become something else - shifter, elf, fairy, nymph, etc. Please don’t become like the eastern half and discriminate against other races. I would like to see at least one piece of my beautiful world remain at peace.

“That said, I have only one major goal for you. Don’t die. Even if you don’t create something grand or establish society, try to make it so that in a few generations, your descendants are still alive… and preferably thriving.

“And with that, I will send you into your new world! You will find yourself under a magical protection dome that will last until the second sunrise. Good luck!” She says cheerfully, and our entire group suddenly drops through the floor like lead weights someone tried to hold up with tissue paper.