"D-Did I die again?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"There's nothing here though?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"This... This doesn't seem to be the usual place? There's literally NOTHING here."

"...That seems to be the case."

"I can't see myself or anything else for that matter, I'm also certain I can't hear anything either, but it seems like we can still communicate."

"...That seems to be the case."

".... Y'know, I've been trying to ignore this for the longest while now, but are you finally broken or something? Why in God's name do you keep repeating that damn line, Aria?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"...."

"...That seems to be the case."

"I DIDN'T EVEN GIVE A RESPONSE THAT TIME."

"Would you look at that? That was an oversight on my end. Would you like to know something though?"

"Sigh, what is it?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"Screw You."

"Pfft."

"..."

"Fine. I'll stop, it's gotten boring anyways."

"Finally got it all out of your system?"

"...That seems to be the–I'm kidding, I'm done."

"THANK YOU."

"Oh don't get mad now, there's very little to do here besides waiting or messing with you."

"I'm pissed because you kept wasting time instead of trying to help me figure out where the heck we are, in case you haven't realized this isn't the usual place. Are we in the afterlife? Why is there no one else here? Why are we here? Am I stuck here forever?"

"Okay so I'm going to need you to calm down, I can only answer so many questions at once."

"I'm calm right now. Totally calm. Fully calm even. I've never been this calm before."

"Sure you are. Let's get to answering your questions, or at the very least making educated guesses, you just need to listen."

"Roger."

"No, I'm Aria silly."

"Would it kill you to take this seriously?"

"Moving on."

"For your first concern, I'm 100% sure we died again so no, I doubt it'd kill me to take this seriously."

"Second concern, well technically your first if we go in order of what you asked, but I don't think you have to worry about us wasting time or anything like that. Not sure if you've realized but our conversations are being relayed to each other instantly, so time doesn't feel like something we should worry about as there's no way to even estimate it here"

"Aside from our conversations, there is no real point of reference to use for—well, anything here. I got hit by the car first, so I ended up here a moment before you, and even that can't be used as reference as there is no actual way for me to judge how long said moment was. I just know you were not here when I got here."

"You're... actually making a valid point."

"So then what about the other questions?"

"Beats me? We always just got reincarnated after going through the black doors before so I don't even have any idea of what heaven or hell would like, much less if they actually exist."

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"I highly doubt owing money to loan sharks is reason enough to end up in hell, and if we are in fact in hell, it makes no sense why we're the only ones down here, much less in the same room—if you can even call this a room."

"Therefore, I suggest we wait until whatever put us here is ready to get us out, explain why we are here, or proceed with the next step. They must have left us with the method to communicate with each other for a reason."

"Fine, might as well kill time since we're stuck here."

"Time as a concept does not appear to exist here."

"..."

"Oh humor me will you, there's nothing else to do here. Wait there's actually a bright side to all this."

"And that is???"

"We don't have to pay our loans."

"..."

"Aria that might be the smartest thing you've said all day."

"We don't know if it's been a day though."

"It's.a.figure.of.speech."

"Oh I know, just messing with you."

"Since you're so bored, let's discuss the events leading up to our respective deaths this time shall we?"

"Well, for starters, we got hit by a speeding car and died."

"Stop being coy. You know that's not what I meant. I'd roll my eyes at you if I had any."

"Well, since you're oh so curious about my ongoings, I suppose I could tell you."

"Gasp, her most royal highness is bestowing this humble one with her favor? I am unworthy."

"Yes, yes, keep praising—I accept your prostrations."

"I didn't prostr—"

"MOVING ON, I, the great Aria, the most beautiful, talented once-in-a-century—nay, a one-of-a-kind genius, the likes of which will never grace creation again—"

"Could you please move on? Aren't you embarrassed, how are you even saying all that with a straight face right now?"

"You can't see it, but I just rolled my eyes at you."

"Continuing, as you know the commonfolk, unappreciative of my genius, have ceased the funding towards my research, so I had to acquire monetary aid from, let's say less than reputable sources. Everything was going well but they started demanding me to pay them back because 'no progress was being made'. The rest was pretty much as you saw it, I grabbed the thing I was working on, threw a soot bomb and ran before they caught me, I would have gotten away if I didn't run into you. Just my luck really."

"So basically, as usual, your shady research wasn't going anywhere, and your workplace or whatever decided you're a lost cause and stopped supporting you, so you carelessly borrowed from the loan sharks, believing you'd succeed. That's everything, right? I must say, your genius is truly unmatched. I applaud your excellence, truly the beacon of our era."

"You know, you're talking an awful lot of shit for someone who was chased by the same people as me."

"..."

"Silent now, are we? Let's get to your story, how did you die this time Arc, hmmm?"

"Wellllll, if we're being specific, I was hit by a speeding car and died, nothing too out there."

"No, no. Surely the great Arc must have made a most impressive series of choices. Surely recklessness is not what got him here."

"I apologize for my earlier outburst."

"Let. Us. Hear. It. How. Did. You. Die?"

"Sigh,iwashiredtostealsomethingfromsomereallyrichclientssoitookoutaloanexpectingthemtopaymebutafterthejobwasdonetheydidntwannapaymesoiranoffwiththepaintingandtriedtogiveittotheloansharksaspaymentbutitturnsouttheyworkedformyclient."

"Speak up, I can't hear a word you're saying."

"FINE Aria. I owed the loan sharks. I was struggling to pay them back, so they offered me a job and stated they'd cancel my debt if I completed it."

"Continue."

"So, I went to the job site and it was pretty sketchy but I chose to ignore it because the clients seemed hella rich. The thing they wanted me to do was to rob them."

"Pardon? They wanted you to rob them?"

"Yes, I know it sounds weird but let me explain. See I'm not sure if it was a security issue or what, but they seemed to be locked out of their mansion. It wasn't all that hard getting past the security system and I went in and got the weird animal hide painting they wanted."

"Wait pause, are you sure they didn't trick you into robbing someone?"

"Yeah no. There were portraits of them plastered all over the place. Honestly it's probably just some weird rich people game cause they didn't go inside at all."

"They weren't outside when I got out so I went to the loan place to drop it off and lo' and behold there they were."

"I was gonna hand it over but I felt something strange. They tried capturing me so I stole the damn thing. It's not like I was gonna break in their place again so I don't think they had to go that far to silence me."

"Got it, so your judgment failed you. Continue."

"My judgment didn't fail me, I just neglected it a little bit. I finished the job,showed them the flaws in their security and got the painting, THEY DIDN'T WANNA PAY UP."

"Ahhh, so YOU of all people were scammed? Pfft."

"I was not scammed. They LIED and broke an agreed-upon contract."

"Hate to break it to you, Arc, but that's what us normal people refer to as, 'being scammed'."

"Pause, how did you even end up owing the loan sharks in the first place?"

"Oh... yeah, I borrow from them a lotttt. I was low on cash, so I borrowed the money to pay for the tools I used. Well, half was also lost in gambling, but that's beside the point really."

"I see."

"I'm ignoring your judging gaze."

"We don't have gazes here."

"You know what I mean. So yeah, didn't exactly have a plan for what I'd do if I got away but that's what happened up until we met in the alley."

"You really are quite unfortunate aren't you?"

"Oh you don't even know the half of it."

"I'm pretty sure I do considering it affects me too.I still think this is all your fault, though."

"How is any of this my fault?"

"Well, you ARE the one that brought them to the alley, are you not?"

"They had no idea where I was until you brought them there. I would probably still be alive if not for that."

"That's a reallyyyyy scummy way of dodging accountability."

"Is it really, though?"

"YES."

"Worry not, your queen will not hold it against you. I am quite merciful."

"Sure you are."

"I'm glad we agree."

"... I think that is all for our pre-death recap, though. I guess now we just wait?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"...Aria, I really hate you."

"...That seems to be the case."

"..."

"Ha."

"God I hope this isn't our new eternity."