Second Chances
[ A Saeverse Storybook ]
A wise man once said, “People die if they are killed.”¹
This rule has generally held true over the centuries of human existence. When a person is killed, their soul is collected by the nearest reaper and brought to the administration. After a decent amount of paperwork and usually a little bit of confusion, the soul is brought to its proper afterlife where it lives out the rest of its eternity.²
But, for as long as the reapers have reaped human souls, there's been a bit of a...problem. In the relative scheme of things, it's a quite a small one, but most reapers like to ignore this because it's one of the few things they don't understand about souls and death.
Not every soul makes it to the administration.
There have been theories for years about why this happens. Some believe that the occasional soul just fades after death. Others believe that the missing souls have become ghosts that haven't ever been found. Others still think it's a recording error.³ But while all of these theories pass from reaper to reaper, the true explanation is the one they all know is true but don't want to accept: someone has been stealing souls.
And you are one of the stolen souls.
These souls – though you don't know it – have been stockpiled over the course of humanity's past. It's only now that they are finally being released into the world.⁴ A common misconception is that the souls would return to their original world upon being released, but you are no longer on Earth.
You are on Arium.
The rules of Arium are simple: everyone there has died at some point over the course of human history, everyone has been granted a special ability of some kind, and, like Earth, you're generally supposed to follow the rules of the ruling group in whatever part of Arium you're in.
But, also like Earth, no one had the thought to tell you anything important before thrusting you into this strange, new world, so it's up to you to figure out the rules of Arium yourself.
And finding yourself in a desert, laying atop hot, desert sand after your supposed death certainly doesn't make things easier.⁵
¹ That wise man was actually a viral internet joke that came from an episode of 2006's Fate/Stay Night, but the principle holds true.
² Alternatively, the soul is put back into the flow of life and is reincarnated – only the highest tier of reapers is aware of how this is done, and sadly aren't fond of sharing.
³ The most stubborn believers will even deny the accounts of humans that knew the deceased, though these reapers also the ones who rarely interact with humans – their word means little to them.
⁴ The souls have actually been released over the course of a few decades. This could be compared to a gentle, trickling stream leaving a vast lake and running through a forest, bringing a steady yet small supply of water to the ecosystem. The current flow of souls, however, is more like a dam breaking and covering the entire forest floor.
⁵ You could be optimistic and be grateful that you aren't truly dead, but pessimism makes far more sense in the desert – and death does change a person, contrary to popular belief.
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