Chapter 12: Interlude: Afterlife, Pt. 2

  After Erik stepped back through the wall. The hole vanished, and the Peon with the slab started back up. After about a second, it sounded like it rewinded just a brief moment.

  “You are a Titan” it said as if nothing had happened these past five minutes. It was also incredibly casual when saying Titan, much more so than that other guy, at least.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “No problem. Please follow me to the District.”

  The Peon then took the lead and continued down the hall, resuming Erik’s journey through Afterlife. Next stop: the end.

  A short walk later, the Peon opened a new set of doors and guided Erik through.

  “Welcome to Afterlife,” he said.

  Unlike the boring plants and vases he had become accustomed to, this was something different. Neon signs, shops, and crowds of people. At least at first glance. All the neon signs were of varying sizes and colours, but after a closer look, they were all for the same place. The arrows and text pointed towards a small stall straight ahead of him. Every other shops he could see were closed and empty, and probably hadn’t been used for quite some time. As for the crowds… nothing but more Peons walking around aimlessly.

  He saw one familiar face, or at least one other than the hundred or so identical faces. Jessie. She was standing in front of the stall straight ahead. Considering it seemed to be the only shop open, that made sense.

  “Hey! Witch, right?” he asked as he approached her.

  “Oh, hey. That took a while. That’s right! How about you?” she asked.

  “Some complications arose. Turns out I’m a Titan,” he said, mimicking a playful ghost with his hands before following up with an explosion with his hands extending away from his head.

  “Well, woo-hoo!” Jessie exclaimed sarcastically. “And that is?”

  “No idea. Maybe I grow big?” Erik guessed.

  “That’s such a guy thing to hope for,” she teased.

  Behind the stall stood a petite old lady, her hair white, and skin wrinkly.

  “Hello! Welcome to the District of Afterlife. I wish you could have seen this place in its glory days! Now we even simulate crowds with these gods-awful Peonites,” the woman greeted and continued talking.

  At some point, she walked away, talking at the same volume all the while. Half of what she said following that, Erik couldn’t even make out.

  “That’s great, lady. So, what do you sell?” Erik asked.

  “I just told you!” the lady complained when she returned, smacking Erik in the head with a roll of paper. “Everything!”

  “Is ‘everything’ an actual thing here, or do you mean everything?” Erik asked.

  “I’m not quite sure what you mean…” the old lady said, shaking her head gently in confusion.

  “Magic’s real, I guess. I’m dead, but not, and next to me is a witch. Maybe ‘everything’ is an actual object of great quantum time paradox power… or something.”

  “Hmm…” the old lady responded, turning her head to look behind her as if searching for something. “Nope, don’t have something like that,” she answered a moment later.

  Jessie laughed.

  “Food?” Erik asked.

  “In your rooms,” she answered.

  “Drink?”

  “Part of food.”

  “Clothes?”

  “In your rooms.”

  “Shoes?”

  “Part of clothes.”

  “Hmm…”

  “That’s it? You managed to think of two categories of stuff?” Jessie cut in, grinning at Erik.

  “What? I hoped it’d be four categories! You think of something!”

  “Umm… Toys?” she tried after ten or so seconds, the word creaking out with a high-pitched voice.

  “Nope,” the old lady answered. Erik laughed.

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  “See? Not that easy!” he said. “Wait. Do you actually sell anything?” he then asked.

  “Of course! I got some… things…” the lady attempted.

  “Do you?” Jessie asked.

  “I think so… Maybe come back tomorrow, I’ll show you stuff!”

  While it didn’t seem like the old lady, calling herself Nana, was of any use on the goods front, she turned out to be helpful in bringing Erik and Jessie up to speed.

  “As you likely know by now, the First People were very powerful magical beings. At the time, the universe was full of magic and wonder. Today, that magic is gone, the lot of it. Things have changed. Afterlife was made a long, long time ago, in a time when magical beings were in decline due to watered down bloodlines and faltering magic presence. People weren’t born Remnants anymore. They had to grow into it. Then they had to die, only to reawaken to their power. Then, with less magic all around, their magic-deficient bodies couldn’t survive the sudden influx of powerful magic. Those few who did suffered from broken minds.”

  Nana started her story whilst fiddling with her thumbs.

  “And so, Afterlife was made for two main reasons: to help newly awakened Remnants from a million different worlds come to terms with their death and… to help them transition. By transition, of course, I mean turning into a magical being. Awakening, rebirth, it’s been called many things. At Afterlife, you experience these next three months just like you usually would. You live in the now, you will sleep and eat and days will go by like they normally do. In effect, your bodies are practically at a stand-still.”

  She paused, looking at the pair to see whether they were paying attention. She smiled and continued.

  “Without Afterlife, had you died and awakened to your bloodlines, it would only take a moment. The magic latent in your souls would infuse your bodies with magic, awakening your Crests in a mere instant. As you have lived your entire lives in a magic void, though, you wouldn’t be able to take it. Your bodies would disintegrate just as fast and the soul would implode in on itself.”

  Jessie and Erik stood silently, listening to Nana intently. Her way of speaking told them that these were facts, not guesswork, and it sounded like they were told by someone who was there at the start of it all.

  “Crests?” Jessie asked, surprising Erik. He thought maybe she knew about some of this stuff beforehand.

  “Aye dear, Crests. The key to your powers, to all Remnants’ powers. Every Crest is unique to the wearer. When completed, it will be one or more marks on your bodies, symbols of your true selves. The symbol will gain strength with you as you grow stronger, unlocking more power. Anyway, here at Afterlife you will be well taken care of. Consider this an extended vacation. You will have your own rooms, tailor-made to fit your needs. The two of you are lucky. The last aeon, give or take, it has been a rare occurrence that more than one Remnant come here to awaken their magic at the same time.”

  Jessie and Erik looked at each other.

  “And, quite impossibly, even from the same world?” she guessed.

  Erik had only noticed the brief mention of different worlds from Nana’s previous explanation but hadn’t considered the ramifications of it. Was he standing next to an alien right now? Now that he thought about it, he grew sure he was, as Nana was almost certainly not from Earth. But Jessie? She was so… human. If Afterlife covered the entire universe, though, Jessie might be from somewhere quite different!

  “Err… Earth?” Erik tried, looking at Jessie.

  “Yes…?” was all she said in response, just as unsure as Erik.

  “Pizza?” Erik attempted once more.

  “Yes?”

  “Fiat Panda?” Erik said, much more certain this time. Jessie laughed.

  “Yes!” she exclaimed.

  The following awkwardness where the pair didn’t quite know whether to hug, shake hands or nod in acknowledgement was quite… awkward.

  Erik looked over at Sophie who was eagerly paying attention to his every word, fidgeting with her golden hair as she did. It brought a smile to his face when he considered how different the two sisters were from each other. It wasn’t just the hair, though he had to consider whether one of them coloured it - and which one it was.

  Erik started feeling a slight tingle unlike anything he’d ever sensed before just then. It was like putting his tongue against both poles of a small battery except it wasn’t just his tongue that tingled. He felt this throughout his entire body, though it was more centred in his torso. His chest? No, his Crest?

  He looked around but couldn’t make sense of it. The slight buzz felt like it was gently pulling him in a singular direction. There was nothing that way, though; no sound, no appliance, just the door into the hall. Soon, the direction moved, the slight pull of what he realised must’ve been his magic changing. After just a few quick seconds it stopped moving again, this time right outside the door once more. The door opened moments later.

  “Hey, sis!” Sophie said, giving her sister a wide smile.

  Jessie entered the room, wearing one of her signature black hoodies. This one depicted a skull with a heart-tattoo on its temple with the word ‘Death’ in heavy metal twisty lettering above it.

  “Erik!” Jessie said, sprinting two whole steps and attacked Erik with a big hug. “You’re here!”

  “Hey! It took a bit longer than expected, but here I am,” Erik said, hugging her back tightly.

  “I can’t believe most of the Empire is gone! That must’ve been hard for you, returning there to find nothing but ruins,” Jessie continued, eventually letting him go.

  “Yeah, that took me by surprise for sure. It wasn’t easy getting past all those Hellbeasts, I’ll tell you.”

  “How did you get here? That’s still beast territory, isn’t it?” Sophie asked as if she hadn’t considered that before now.

  “That’s a story for another time, I think. I was just telling your lovely sister about Afterlife,” Erik said with a smug, teasing smile plastered on his face.

  “Don’t you dare tell her about the cabin!”

  “What cabin?”

  “I promised I would never tell another soul! You have to let that go,” Erik complained.

  “There was a cabin?” Sophie asked, feeling a bit ignored.

  “What did you tell her?” Jessie then asked with a nervous expression.

  Erik waved her worries away with his hand. “Just told her a bit about Nana that first day.”

  “Oh. Okay, in that case, it’s fine. There’s a lot more to tell, then. Save it for another day, I want to hear about your travels here,” Jessie sighed in relief.

  “No, what about that cabin? We never even got to who it is you’re dating!” Sophie complained again.

  It was with a terrifying expression on her face that Jessie then stared at Erik, who couldn’t help but shrink a little into himself.

  “I thought you’d tell her,” he squeaked.

  “It’s fine. To repay your debt, though, let’s hear about your trip here,” Jessie grinned as if that was her plan all along. Was it?

  “Okay. Let me tell you a story of bravery, magic and more bravery!” Erik started, then told the story of his journey there, starting with his resurrection at the burned down ruins of his old home.