Chapter 2: Go ahead
941 Words
The next thing Arion knew was that he's sitting in the middle of nowhere inside a dark room. There's no light nor any kind of radiance, it's literally pitch-black.
"I apologize for my rude behavior earlier, my name is Azrael, Grim Reaper of the Underworld." The skeleton guy introduces himself as some sort of reaper, Arion's wondering why he couldn't see anything or anyone.
"Hm... where were you?" Arion asked with all due respect.
"Oh, I forgot to turn on the lights." He flickered his fingers out of nowhere, torches from across the room lightened up. The place's quite dusty and untouched, an old room where books were scattered all over the place, even the shelves were too disorderly it looked like it was abandoned.
Inquisitive from the unusual settings and place, Arion began to question the bigger picture of what's truly happening. "I'm dead now, am I right?" He doubted while seeking to activate his voice recording invention secretly as a striking realization has hit his head like a truck.
"That won't work. This place and everything can be in any form. It was the manifestation of your mind and soul, Arion." Azrael has a shrewd observation. He planned to record his words using his device and discerned he was actually in a spiritual form, meaning, his clothes shouldn't even exist let alone the inventions that he usually uses to get an advantage over his competitor.
"As a true advocate of science, I'm freaking out right now. And I should ask, did you used my girlfriend just so you could kill me?" Arion's tone went higher a little bit. He can't deny he's outraged that he was just killed by his lover.
"Now, now, don't get mad at me. You were fated to die that night. I'm planning to reincarnate you using the usual trope of getting hit by a truck, but it seems the one you trusted the most betrayed you which made my work faster." Azrael stated the truth. A chain of bizarre things is happening to him and he couldn't understand what's going on anymore.
In a state of panic, Arion took deep breathes while counting the stars. The problem was there's no star in the room of the self-proclaimed wanna be death, Azrael, who pulled Arion's soul from another dimension.
After taking his calming therapy, he can now think rationally without freaking out. He really is the kind of guy who strongly believes in science. If there is a thing that couldn't be explained by something he accepts, then he'll simply find the answer for himself no matter if it's almost impossible.
In his previous life, he made revolutionary discoveries and inventions that even humanity believed he made the fantasy and alike unquestionably real. Now facing an unprecedented ordeal he never encountered before, his brain is undergoing extreme calculations and judgment by dragging the fantasy back to the science once more.
A prodigy among prodigies, the smartest man alive was none other him. The hardest decisions have allowed him to be the independent person he used to be.
"I can't accept this. Just kill me." Arion glared at the paragon of death itself.
"Why?" Azrael gazed at him with the eyes of the reaper. A cold freezing state caused him to shiver, he learned that by gazing at the abyss, the abyss shall gaze back in return.
But that wasn't enough to break his unyielding will. Arion simply wished to die peacefully thinking what he did in his previous life was adequate.
"I still couldn't accept that my lover killed me. The epitome of death wouldn't understand the pain!" Arion raised his voice and got too emotional in front of the Grim Reaper.
"Pain...? Then tell me..." Azrael flickered his fingers, torches that are lighting up the room vanished. "...what's her name?"
Arion heard his voice whispering ever so slightly, he clenches his fist in a taut because he doesn't know the answer of the simplest question.
"I... forgot her name." He answered earnestly, not lowering his pride.
"See? You forgot her name! In that world, you never deserved to live. Jealousy and envy, an emotion that drives people from exterminating your existence. Arion, you should realize you are special." Azrael instilled some senses in his mind. They say prodigies were incorrigible, albeit that's the case with him.
"Fine! I accept it. I now understand the reason I died, but you're still annoying." Arion ridiculed his presence.
"Good. Come with me." He beckoned him through willow-o-wisp lighting up the path, guiding him towards a gate that's brimming with malice and darkness.
The night that engulfed his eyes were shifted into a blinding light of radiance, and the next situation he comprehended was that he's standing at one of the things that looked like some sort of magic circles along with the other three wearing a cloak, hiding away their identity.
Based on their bodily formation, two of them were female, while the other one certainly is a guy without a doubt from his staunch muscles bulking on his biceps.
"I'm sorry for being late. This man will be the last one who will join this game–" Azrael pretends to cough wearily. "I mean to join this war!"
"Explain to him faster. I don't like wasting time." The girl from the right side huffed.
"Hey, can they see me?" Arion asked.
"Your avatar–" Azrael slipped his tongue and coughs much heavier than before. "I mean they can't see your identity like them. From their perspective, you are also wearing a cloak. Now I shall now explain things but before that, I'll introduce everyone to you."
"Go ahead." Arion gestured his agreement.
A subtle air permeates the very mood, he got the gist of the circumstances, ready to accept the new world that was forced onto him.
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