Soul Magician Ch#01 Death
In a dark room a candle was burning with a fickle flame, its dim yellow light brightening the upper corner of an intricately carved wooden bed. An old man his face full of wrinkles was resting his back on a pillow his shaking hands trying to light the pipe placed in his mouth.
Cough… cough “Wilson! ...help me with this”
“Yes master” A middle aged man dressed in a western styled butler uniform approached him and carefully ignited the tobacco.
“Aah… these decayed bones... a dissapointment, considering it might be my last” inhaling a large puff of smoke he turned to his butler with eyes that held a melancholic look which seemed to have experienced the test of time.
“Time… truly passes like an arrow. It was just yesterday when my mother scolded me for running out of the church” said the old man
“Wilson, do you remember when I found you on the streets. How many years was that… 25?”
“Yes master. Back then I was just 12, if not for your grace I may not have lived much longer” said Wilson bowing humbly.
“Do you remember my parents? Wilson” asked the old man
“Sir and Madame? I do remember them”
“Did you know they were true Christians… cough cough…”
Seeing his master in such a miserable state Wilson wanted to help but was stopped.
“It’s alright, at least I want to die with dignity” straightening back he wiped the blood off his wrinkled lips.
“i wonder what they felt seeing their only son turn out to be a scientist instead of inheriting his father’s position as a religious man”
“…”
“Wilson, tell me what is evil? And what is virtuous?” he asked
Wilson shook his head expressing his ignorance. He knew that interrupting his master’s last words will do more harm than good. At least he wanted him to leave without regrets
“Well to be honest to me it’s all nonsense. Why? Because for a person who strives to unravel the mysteries of nature all these concepts seem fictional”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The old man had a self-ridiculing smile but his eyes showed the firm belief he had on his ideals.
“It is my regret that I am unable to finish my research. But,” sighing he continued, “Nature truly is a bottom less ocean”
The old man had another fit of coughs. After having few gulps of water he turned to stare at Wilson his eyes devoid of all emotions
“Tell me Wilson, have I been good to you?”
“Master how dare I-”
“It’s not a request”
Seeing his master insistence Wilson gave up and continued, “Master may not feel some emotions but to me you always did justice”
A wry smile appeared on the wrinkled face “just some emotions… Alexithymia is not that simple”
“Cough… well enough of that, come help me lay down I want to sleep”
Tenderly tucking his master into bed. Wilson could not help but lament at his master’s weakness. But alas all he could do was express his sadness seeing those bright eyes slowly losing its shine.
“Before I excuse myself, do you want me to nip the candle?”
“No, leave it. It reminds me of my self”
Breathing his last all he could think of was, what will happen if I die? Where will I go? Will my brain stop functioning? Will I Brian Nicolas be decomposed into nourishment for bacteria? Having such thoughts he stopped breathing.
***
After god knows how long, Brian’s vision started to clear up
“Ho-- how” looking around he could find nothing. All he could see was grey. The sky, the land everything. It seemed like he was trapped in an infinitely stretched grey space.
Didn’t I die? Wasn’t I supposed to be buried in a tomb, turned into fertilizer Brian started to walk but to his dismay he observed that he was not covering any distance.
“Huh” alarmed he looked at his body only to find that he didn’t have one.
“Is it a dream? Yes. I think it is a dream” he mumbled, he wanted to pinch his hand or bite his tongue to prove his hypothesis but his whole body seemed to be made of grey clouds.
Although he had human outline his body was a hazy, blurry and was gray same as the space he was stranded in.
There was no concept of time for Brian in this bleak and lifeless gray world. At the beginning he still had his doubts and questions. But the brutal torture of solitude through idle passage of time made him realize the truth.
So after a long period of careful deliberation he came to the fact that it was too absurd to be a dream
But how come this has happened to me, maybe after death you travel to a new dimension. But what happens now
Brian couldn’t tell how much time had passed since he came to this gray world. At first he wanted to speculate but with time his thought process started to get dull and at some point he completely stopped thinking.
***
Brian was standing in the middle of the gray world lost in his daze when a faint tremor appeared in this dull world. What started as a faint tremor became a 9 magnitude earth quake. Before he could comprehend what was happening the surface beneath his feet began to crack apart.
A single crack extended in a straight line and divided the space into two distinct parts. The intensity of the shacking climbed which caused even the space itself to tremble
“What in the world…” the things happening in front of him seemed so fictional that Brian once again started to doubt his sanity. But as if feeling this shock was not enough the space to his left collapsed into itself causing a black hole to materialize. In a similar fashion the space on his right had a bright light pierce through it which eventually bloomed to become a sun.