CHAPTER: 9 "Perspective: Coincidence"

Early in the morning, the light of dawn bypassing the cover of the curtain fell on my face causing me to wake up. I observed the cabinet for a bit in a daze, checking if anyone was there the previous night. None.

Feeling quite tired I got off the bed. As my foot touched the floor its cold sensation chased off all the drowsiness.

Well, it's the land of the dead after all... I mused while stretching my back, which went stiff due to sleeping in a bad posture.

As the bathroom was divided into separate compartments, navigating through the narrow aisle became necessary for me. While passing the cabinets of other passengers, I found myself stealing glances at the occupants, a choice I now regret. What I witnessed inside served as a blunt reminder that reality often diverges from fairy tales: the people within appeared dejected, with baggy eyes and pale skin, constantly stabbing themselves. Trying to end their lives, was complete chaos.

"What are you watching?" A soft voice came from behind startling me. Turning my head I saw a pair of cute round eyes, plump cheeks and a curious face.

"Oh! Pachu it's you, you startled me there. Well, it's nothing I was just looking inside the cabinet used by other passengers." I replied, feeling uncomfortable thinking about the scene inside.

She too looked a bit disturbed after listening to my answer. Maybe she knew something.

"You mean the Cage of Purification." She asked with a look of pity, colors draining from her face.

"You know something?" I asked weakly, worry and guilt creeping up my mind. "You don't need to say if you feel uncomfortable," I added quickly, trying to change the subject, but miserably failing.

"No, it's fine." She replied without her usual sympathetic voice. She seemed......unusual. "It's the room where it's decided whether you reincarnate or become a Reaper candidate."

Her answer sent chills down my spine for some reason; cold sweat trickled and suffocation choked me. I don't know why, but I excused myself and went to the bathroom in a hurry, rapidly closing the door behind me.

The eyes, the eyes she had when she answered were not those of a kid. I was sure it was far from normal.

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I washed my face, pushing away my thoughts and trying to calm myself a bit. What was that feeling? I questioned.

It was like a surge of emotion came clashing with my mind, like I was in a dreamscape. It was by no means a good experience, and quite horrifying at that.

I cleared my thoughts and went to the kitchen.

Making my breakfast in the public kitchen, my mind was in a trance and due to me being unfocused, I accidentally burned my toast a bit.

What a bad way to start a day. I mused as I brewed my coffee. Why did we even need to eat food? Aren't we dead already?

Looking for my other companions who might be supposedly eating their breakfast. I soon noticed a guy sitting on the bench in the far corner. It was Axel.

"Morning Axel." I greeted him in a polite tone.

He looked towards me and, with a smirk greeted me back. "Hey, Grey. Have you been snoozin' like crazy lately, huh? Haven't spotted you 'round here in ages."

Of course, he would speak like a total gangster; what did I even expect? Looking closer at what he was reading, I was quite surprised. It was a newspaper.

What?! I thought he had been reading some weird magazine, didn't know he read stuff like this.

"I didn't know that this was one of the things you enjoy first thing in the morning." I said, trying to calm my expression, secretly revising my opinion about him.

"Yeah, I'm into reading the newspaper, Ma'am. The selection here ain't half bad either, gotta give 'em that." He replied and went back to enjoy his morning meal.

Then it went quiet, I didn't mind the quietness and started eating my slightly burned bread. It was horrible, to be frank, it was not slightly but completely burned. Now that I look closely, Axel's hair wasn't black but deep dark purple, his hair was well maintained too. Why was his hair better maintained than mine?!

His mannerisms while eating were also not half bad, quite a contrast from his usual delinquent behavior. Maybe he is just attention-hungry.

Soon Axel finished reading the news and started a conversation. "So, I heard you got handpicked by Dream himself." he said, raising an eyebrow. "Must've pulled off somethin' real shady to get on his radar like that."

I looked at him with a confused expression. What does he mean? Handpicked? Wasn't I scammed into doing this job?

"I don't quite understand what you mean by that. Mind explaining with a bit of context?" I asked with genuine curiosity, leaning towards him.

"Wait, for real? Ain't nobody told you nothin' 'bout Cage of Purification," he asked, a mix of surprise, disbelief and jealousy evident in his tone. "Guess you're just lucky like that."

"I heard about Cage of Purification from Pachu and even saw the horrors within it, but what exactly is it?" I asked, creasing the table with my palm.

After some silence when I was about to get my answers when a mechanical voice echoed throughout the compartment.

[Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Stork City. Storks City is our next stop. Please remember that there is no going back.]

It was the usual announcement done just before reaching a station, except for the last part, which included the very convenient timing.

"Aight, catch you later." He said as he dashed off to his cabinet. He went so suddenly that I didn't even get any of my questions answered. What was with him either way?

"Well, that was a bad coincidence." I muttered, irritated by the series of events that had been occurring. Was this all really a coincidence?