It was an awfully weird surprise for me to have a chat with a boy called Anonymous like we’re close friends, where truth to be told that we just met less than five minutes. And he was the one doing most of the talking, with me answering back anyway. Instantly knowing that his name was merely a cover, I expected that he had no intention to reveal his real name. And I for one, definitely respected his privacy.
As for me with my amnesia, Anonymous had to quickly explain that memories could be separated into two categories. One of them was intellect, while the other would be identity. Obviously during your death, you can bring your knowledge part with you where it’ll be removed before your next life. However, your identity part will stay with the body by all means, hence my current state.
“Wow, that’s an impressive explanation, Anon. And it’s just done right before you brought me out of here. And to think, it’ll be a long lecture to begin with!”
“I assure you, I try to keep my talks brief. For some reason, all of my explanations suck badly.”
“Well, you didn’t screw it this time.”
“Huh, thanks for the compliment. Too bad this will be the first and last time it’ll happen.” He replied, muttering the next sentence to himself.
Technically speaking, we were on our way to the exit of the so called Underworld, or Soul Plane as mentioned by Anonymous. He was holding the candlelight while leading the exiting pathway. He insisted to let me call him Anon for short, as even for the immortal, masking his actual name sounded and felt irritating if he wanted to use such a word all the time. Back at the spot where I woke up, I was very wary of calling him that over more than a hundred times.
You just hadn’t watched how long we chatted.
We had a discussion of various things like personal favorites and hobbies after leaving our seats. Anon intended to extend the ice breaking session as a way to kill our boring walking time. Contrary to my expectations, the identity memories only consisted of your name and whoever had a relation with you in your life. Your personality and likings belonged to the deeper part of your intellect, and was also the sole piece of your memory that will remain inside you throughout the reincarnation cycle. That’s right, all of those days that I got involved in my favorite activities just popped into my head the moment we spoke of it, the depressing downside was unable to tell who’d been with me at that time.
However, because of that, it took a good amount of time before we caught up with the topic of my reincarnation back to my world. This conversation turned out to be as entertaining as it should be, given that Anon and I had more than just common favorites, although we couldn’t keep it going for more than ten seconds because of me.
There was still an exception, and I got a chance to speak more than him, though he didn’t had much of an intention to reply back either.
“What do you enjoy the most, Anon?”
“Hmm… that would be travelling.”
“Really? I actually loved that!”
“You do?”
“Yeah! I mean; who doesn’t want to venture out for an adventure of their life, and go through countless dangers but came out unharmed? I always wanted to do that, and yet knowing that I’m just a measly human discouraged me to go around my world.”
“Uh huh. Is that so?”
“Plus, I’m a home lover at heart.”
“Same thing here.”
“Whoa! Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“And I though immortals often have free time?”
“Not this immortal. I’ve done travelling a long time ago, and I’m bored again.”
“So you wanted to use me as entertainment?”
“Go figure it out yourself.”
That talk only lasted a few seconds longer than the rest, but nevertheless perked up my interest to travel with all of the free time I’ll get soon. Maybe once I settled my issues back at my world I could start thinking about it.
Friends and family comes first after all.
“Here we are. At the god damn exit that’s so far away.” Anon grumbled, muttering a few words in silence.
He and I arrived at a dark wall of the pocket dimension we were standing in, apparently said dimension had to be explained to me when I gave him an eye of curiosity. So to make it understandable, he just blatantly said five words.
‘A space created outta nowhere’.
The walls itself was practically blending in with the ground and the ceiling with seemingly no boundaries, making it like there’s still a distance till you reached the end.
I was kinda shocked when Anon went into the wall like a ghost, but as it turned out for the Soul Plane, you can simply head into pocket dimensions by just going off the main road of the Plane, granted, these pockets now were no bigger than a couple of football fields, and it’s just a matter of time before you got out on the other side.
Or for a more reasonable word in the Soul Plane, you got out of the tiny dimension from where you first set your foot into. There was only one main road that connected the Plane to my world, so it made sense why it happened.
Nothing’s confusing me so far.
Under Anon’s guidance, I followed him out to proceed with our objective. My eyes again, got blinded by a bright light. This time, it was the exit being the cause.
It’s getting on my nerves.
As white as a newly polished mirror that got exposed to radiance, the Soul Plane’s doorway shone proudly with its light, standing several meters from us. With the sides decorated by white marble pillars, the door was like a stairway to heaven.
“Wow, that’s awesome looking.” I commented.
“I know, right? Yet, something just doesn’t ever looked right.” Said Anon, adding in some questioning to the talk.
“Yeah, I think…? What do you think is that problem?” I asked him.
For a certainly mysterious reason, I was probably wondering if Anon and I had the same thought.
“Well, you know. This door looked like it should’ve belonged to the Divine Plane, aka Heaven, not the Underworld.”
“Agreed.”
……
We kept silent together, Anon was tucking his hands in the hoodie pockets while I lightly tapped at the ground with my well-laced sneakers that also coming in a shade of black. It was a fortunate fact to know that you’ve got clothes to wear after death. I was wearing a black tuxedo as we speak; another full black outfit, excluding the white button-up shirt that came with it. Nope, no nude angels or demons I presumed.
Huh, and I felt so nervous all of a sudden.
Maybe it’s the surroundings. Or thinking of nudity.
“So, young man… Are you ready?”
Or making my preparations to go pass an otherworldly door.
“Well, I’m not sure. Where will it take me to?”
“Back to your body. From there I’ll help to refresh your memory back. Then the rest is up to you.”
“And that’s it? All up to me?”
“Remember what you’re going to promise me.”
“Ah, right. Got it.”
“Good.”
I almost forgot the deal we made a while back.
“So it’s just an answer? It’s that simple?”
“Not just an answer, but a choice.” He glared, and I quickly averted my gaze away.
“A choice you say? Then I’m sure I can’t make empty promises for that.” I anxiously chuckled.
“Neither can I,” Anon added back, “Just to let you know, once you give into my offer, there’s no turning back…
I show only your memories related to my question, and you must provide an answer. Only one.”
“……”
“You will search and uncover the remnants of your sleeping memories yourself. I hold no responsibility if it’s your loss. Am I clear?”
“Y-y-yes, sir!”
“Good.”
Anonymous went to approach the gate, ready to leave the Underworld ahead of me. I on the other hand stood like a statue, terrified of the face he made when he… commanded me.
Yeah, commanding sounded appropriate for the situation.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
Oh dear, I wasn’t paying attention for just a second, was I?
“Are you listening, man?”
“Y-yes, I am!”
“You’d better be listening ‘cause this is your chance, not mine. You’ve got one minute to reconsider this, for like I said, it’s a one way trip. If you accept it…”
“I’m going with you.”
“…Now that’s a wise choice, but you better not regret it. Come, we’re heading out of this gloomy place.”
The boy mentioned to me as he went into the light. I woke up and shook my head, realizing the time has come. Since I said yes, I couldn’t say no when he already left, so my final decision was to……
“You coming or not?” Anon yelled from the other side.
“Ah, coming!”
……Get in the portal.
Taking a courageous step to move against the flow of nature was ridiculously difficult for me to advance. My whole body was like it got frozen in a block of ice. It took a little more time than I expected, but I was able to shake off the feeling this was something really wrong to do.
I ran into the door and felt a strike of cold hit me, noticing that I was beginning to float while my conscious slipped away. And from there, drowsiness took over.
Man, that’s how sleepy I am in the real world huh?
Closing my eyes, I recalled back how I ended up here in the first place.
Let’s see… I was dead.
I was about to be reincarnated when I rejected it, then got bailed out.
I got an offer by an immortal who wished to be entertained, and I accepted it.
Now, I’m kinda hovering upside down in a portal gate of some sort.
That’s it.
Only that… there’s something I clearly do not understand, and it’s completely unrelated to Anon’s explaining.
I agreed to be resurrected while letting him satisfy his peers, all because I wanted to remember who was that girl that called me back and made me struggled against nature’s cycle. I also wanted to remember who and where my parents were, maybe friends too.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Speaking of friends, my gut told me I had almost no friends. They’re most likely boys and learn in the same school as me. As far as it gave early info to me, I had instant doubts.
I felt that Anon and I had met for more than just a couple of minutes. Otherwise, I could have hesitated longer besides my first reason.
It couldn’t be right?
Maybe it was my soul playing with my hollow mind.
Or maybe it’s at some graveyard or treehouse did we seen each other.
I don’t know why, but it felt like it.
Yawn……
Well, I had to ignore it; the trip to my world naturally felt bothersome.
Just a little nap would do while waiting to reach my body.
Zzzz……
----------------------------------------
………
……
…
Zzzz……
……
…
“WAKE UP.”
“Gah! What in the……?”
Where am I?
It’s all dark in here. I can barely see a thing.
Or at least, I could see one thing. Whatever this thing was occupying my sights.
Ugh, I feel cramped. Who stuffed me into a box…?
Wait a sec.
This isn’t a box.
It’s a coffin.
Why am I in a coffin?
“Damnit! Who the hell put me in this place?” I scowled, annoyed if I knew that this was a prank. They were lucky there’s air to breathe here! Once I found the culprit, I’m going to make him or her pay dearly!
Oh, wait.
Now I remembered.
I was dead.
But I earned a deal that made it like it never did.
……
Alright! First things first, I gotta get out… Argh!
Pins and needles all over me! Not again!
“Hrgg! Oof!”
BAM!
Gee, how much dirt did they put over my coffin? It’s not like I intended them to bury me in the center of the earth!
BAM!
Not even making space for my legs to kick seemed to be effective! This coffin space’s so cramped!
BAM! BAM!
Ah! Just a little more…
BANG!
There! Using both my arms and legs simultaneously did the trick, granted, I realized how dumb I was for a while.
The coffin cover flew high up in the sky upon receiving a very strong blow, landing somewhere nearby with a heavy thud. In an instant, I had to get up in a sitting position myself; the overfilling dirt just outside the coffin was ready to pour in and stuff my mouth with it. I may possibly be an immortal now, but I’m not gonna try something this foolish.
Well, at first, taking a glance at the scenery was what my mind proposed. Surely, I couldn’t expect much of a tranquil view in the middle of a cemetery, but at least there should be a beautiful blue sky out there with some birds chirping, although it doesn’t match up with the place.
KRAA-KROOMMMM!!!!!
Or at usual terms, there’s a huge, dark grey cloud cluster blocking out the sun for a very dramatic effect of a deceased crawling out of his grave.
“Huff… Puff…”
Really, I can’t simply anticipate something nice to wait for me after such trouble…
“Interesting. You’re probably worth my attention after all……”
“Huh? Who’s there?”
Instinctively looking to the left and right, I found nobody in sight other than myself. That is until…
“Behind you, man.”
…Said voice was at said direction.
“Gah! It’s you, Anon! What gives?”
With my lower body still half asleep, I strained my neck and hips to turn around and look at his direction. Apparently, the immortal was sitting on a gravestone, staring no more than five inches away from me. The very difference when we met in the Underworld and made me freaked out was his face.
He had his hood pulled over just enough to let me look at his still glowing blue eyes and his eerie smile. His face however had darkened, shaded by his hood and the weather altogether, whereas his front hair grew just enough to cover his forehead, but was swaying to and fro thanks to the winds.
Needless to say, he looked more like a Grim Reaper in human form rather than an immortal. My reactions were not far too vigorous, since an introduction to a Soul Plane made me understand that things will get a lot more weirder in a distant future.
Monster were gonna be making a common appearance.
No doubt even in this situation could get worse besides a bizarre wake up call.
“Watching you kicking your way out of the coffin sounded oddly satisfying. So I sat quietly.”
“Oh, really? Well, I guess that can make a good explanation… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?”
“Entertainment.”
Frustration caused me to yell at the gloomy sky, to which the thunder crackled back in response.
If in the later days, I was told I need to live with him under the same roof, forgive me, but I would prefer dying over the first choice. The boy doesn’t had much in mind other than having fun, which to me sounded less promising for my years to come.
Because I would be the fun that will be played, if you get what I mean.
……
“So this is my grave?”
“One hundred percent- No, make that two hundred percent sure.”
Somehow, while waiting for me to kick my way out of the dirt, Anon ‘unintentionally’ stood on top of the coffin, and only got off several BAM!s later, all because he said he felt a tremor coming from below. Despite his appearance, I gotta admit, never judge a book by its cover.
The little boy was as heavy as hell.
*PINCH*
“Ow!”
Also, he reads people’s minds, whether they cared or not. Clearly, I was marked as a lifelong target. And by that, he was invading my head the second I was still sleeping.
Because if you were to ask why he was pinching me that badly, I had the evidence that he was an immortal who kept grudges. All before this happened, I had plenty of bad thoughts on him hidden away from my words. To think it would go off that easily, he actually took it seriously.
And mainly, he’s mangling my nose.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! All right! All right! I’m sorry, okay?”
My poor little nose.
“Well, now since that’s over… Would you want to double check the tomb again?”
“Argh… mind if I do.”
After being pleased of trapping me underground, the immortal himself coincidentally sat on my gravestone, which was half a rectangle with round corners jutted into the damp soil. The chiseling had been bad; The words were of a blur and had been poorly maintained, but they were still visible.
On it, the slab etched-
HERE LIES THE GRAVE OF
ZACK WINSTON
BORN ON 24TH OF NOVEMBER 2002
RESTED IN PEACE SINCE 23RD NOVEMBER 2018
……
So my name’s Zack Winston?
“Yes, and like most babies you were born healthy, having an average life and an average family in an average life. And of course, you got an average ticket to death.” He said.
“I’m dead because of……”
“Why don’t you see for yourself? I did promise to refresh that noggin of yours, didn’t I?” Anon drilled his knuckle at my skull, and I swiftly evaded it.
“Please, just show me. No more distractions!”
I felt like getting away from this guy the sooner we get this over with. I wasn’t sure why, but surely the spiteful feeling was setting in.
“I’m just easing the tension, Winston. There’s no harm in doing that.”
“……Well, fine. Tell me. Why am I here, other than becoming your toy?”
“I have a question for you. And you promised to answer that so you can be an immortal.”
“And would you kindly inform me what is it so I can focus on my stuff?”
All of this was just providing a sentence that ended with a question mark and required me to justify so I can finally get on my way. Fortunately for me, the question came briefly like Anon’s explanations.
Unfortunately for me, it was tricky, because it actually had a relation with my life, or precisely, me.
“Let’s say I give you two choices, but you will lose either once you made your decision.
Between your love for your family and vengeance for your life, which will you pick, Zack?”
“……”
“Hello?”
“W-what… What? I don’t get it.”
This was baffling.
“Hah… Just as I expected. I said-
If you picked your family, you won’t be able to exact revenge on the person that killed you, ever. The same goes for the other way around. And my question was; which choice would you pick, if this situation happens?”
Anon’s words and eyes were cold at this moment, showing that he now decided to put serious matter into his business. The wind was beginning to blow violently over the area, and I discovered a terrifying truth within the second. With the immortal’s sudden switch of emotions, the condition was made worse.
“I was murdered? Then what about my family? Are they alright? A-are they safe? Are they d-d……” I stammered.
“Think of it yourself.” Anon answered with a lifeless glare.
“You didn’t even care about it, don’t you?! You cared only about yourself-”
My argue got abruptly cut short when Anon swiftly placed a hand on my forehead. He shushed me before I opened my angry mouth to speak, so I kept it shut.
“Being rash to jump to conclusions is a very bad habit. I suggest you get rid of it the next time we meet.”
Apparently, he was just getting ready to warm up my brain, because he whispered in ‘This might hurt.’ as I felt a foreign energy pouring in.
Accustomed to the voices that circled in my head, it wasn’t as painful as he describe, since I got mentally prepared when he said so.
It was on the contrary, soothing, like I went back to my childhood and enjoyed it a second time.
Literally.
“Feels similar to a melody, doesn’t it?” He asked.
“Yeah… It’s good…”
“Open your eyes, then.”
“Huh?”
As it turned out, I unconsciously closed my eyes when comfort hit me, my mind retreated back to the one and only place I feel the safest.
But if it were to be more surprising for me when I got out of mental cover, it was standing at yet another location in the middle of nowhere.
Still, I gotta admit an extra fact.
Anon’s good at bringing people to places.
This particular one had a decent reason for me to stay.
It’s strangely familiar…
Like it’s…
“......Come on, Zack!”
Where I could relearn the word called joy.
----------------------------------------
The wind was blowing furiously this very morning. Although the continent had four seasons where late autumn was predicted to have more frequent and stronger air flows this year, people weren’t expecting a mild cyclone coming by at a speed of 70 kilometers an hour while causing certain havocs at certain places. Unleashing a not so violent vandalism act on the some of the city fragile structures, it lasted for approximately three seconds, a duration enough for the wind to draw everyone’s attention, then came to a halt as if it never existed.
Most of the people living at said unknown continent were made of those who had high superstition. Additionally, given that the city was one that housed many who believed in fantasy, it was an excellent zone for tourists to unwind and indulge in a ‘magic’ festival held annually.
However, this year’s event was already done during the summer. All of the enthusiastic travellers had went back to their respective countries, finally leaving the local residents to savor their peaceful and quiet lives, waiting for next year to bother them once more.
Nobody has ever correctly guessed what empty air can speak. It can’t show a sign, it can’t hint what it is nor can it inform if it’s good or bad.
On this year, specifically this day of 23rd November 2019, the wind was anything but empty.
It blew vastly over the place, sending chills down peoples’ spines at areas where it was highly unlikely to occur. It reeked of danger and fear in cataclysmic proportions. The wind was literally screaming at everybody’s face.
Something bad was coming.
And it’s not because the city mayor decided to have the festival running twice next year.
In a school, located just near the edge of town, the students also felt the unusual breeze, which broke nothing but the mentality of a few scaredy cats and some unlucky ones that had items smashed to their heads.
At one part of the compound, where a group of boys were gathered under a large oak tree, one of them was froze in place by this phenomenon.
He was terrified.
Unlike the rest, he could clearly hear the bad news the wind wanted to inform all that stood on the continent.
He’s here.
And he’s doing it.
For a first, the boy was an otherworldly being. Based on the details he obtained, this place was indeed a non-supernatural world, which to his delight, met his favored working standards while he learned as a student.
And clearly, the wind was now proof to make it a false statement.
With him around…
This was gonna be a rough month.
As a subordinate of the Grim Reaper, the boy’s guess was that his boss would probably felt it already, and would be calling forth a meeting for further discussion. Speaking of him loud in the public was sure to raise some ears of his fellow colleagues, but as one of the members that was closer to their boss, he wished he could have advice him to take a smarter path. Provoking him was the least bright thing to do.
Just as I knew, karma is a bad thing to play with.
“Dude, wake up!”
“Huh?”
The Reaper’s subordinate was woken up by his human friends who ignored the strong breeze. The boy’s attitude of having his non-physical mind dozing elsewhere was well known among his close buddies.
“Sorry, guys! I spaced out again, didn’t I?” He said.
“Nah, it’s okay.” One of them answered.
A sudden ring of the bell abruptly cut their conversation short, but this bell was just a way of the school to make a quick announcement, as implied through the music made by said bell.
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So~
“Attention to all members of the Fantasy Club, please gather at the school’s Herbal Garden right now. Thank you.”
The girl speaking through the microphone briefly spoke before the mic got hung up, for the subordinate knew she was also a member of the mentioned club, like him, quickly making her way to their short destination. It was a way for the Reaper Society assigned to this world to get sufficient privacy for their gathering. Most of all, because their group consisted of teenagers only.
“Whelp, sounds like you’re running out of time, man.”
“I get that… Later, guys!”
All of the students know the boss was a responsible person and was not a fan of waiting, so the sooner he gets there the better. He just hoped he’s not the late one again.
But after unknowingly hearing that he will be the main topic, this will be one hell of a time besides taking after school missions.
Well, it’s a talk of him and the boss altogether.
The current matter was not as surprising as it looked, or sounded. Still, working for barely a year for the Underworld, this will be the most hazardous mission he has to endure in all of his Reaperhood.
Everyone had became a witness between a game participated by him and the boss, it was thus a lower hand for his superior. Not to mention, on a certain day at the start of the year, he accidentally overheard a chat with him and his boss.
Promptly to describe how fate was pulling the strings behind the scenes, he was very displeased.
And it was bound to get ugly, when things are personally handled by a boy who defied chaotic odds.
Crazy.
Mad.
Lunatic.
That was indefinitely him in the question.