"Ready?" morning preparations done and feeling the dread. I shifted my door to the path and let her walk through safe. I came through last as the dog I were. She even lowered down to have a better look at me and pets me with a smile. The door fade off. Very eerier today for heaven was all empty but of soldiers waiting really. I stepped through fine as did my friend. Walking up to greet the welcome comity.
"Hello reaper why did you come with?"
"Off duty and just looking out for him. He needs someone that isn't going to threaten him to the inch of his life, right?" They looked between each other, "You are aware that this is the court hunter for my homelands right?" they backed away, "Why does that offend you more then anything else? You lot really your ranks?"
"You don't need to talk them down. They were just a test." Someone at the side lines muttering.
"Since when were angels using enslaved heretics as a test? Don't you have any better use of morals? Humanoids like you confuse me. Not such thing as good and bad. Yet you by your own definitions just did a bad thing for something that meant to be the face of good and kindness." They are sneered by that comment, "At least get this over with. I have a reason to open their wills or not." They all peered oddly, "What? Didn't you know that their personal items and what was meant to be the dust they died in was sent to me. Their feathers, scales and cloth. Do you even know how to be normal?" I hissed.
They have some go ask around about that. Directed to the rooms of the dead. I stopped at the very first ones and just listened to their remains. Souls that lingered… wrote names with each person. Respected them. Each one at a time. Smell, listen, write and then bow. Move.
"What is this nonsense?"
"I think it's a respecting the dead practice carried over from their years of being a path walker." My friend muttered back to them, "Look how he writes their names and put them to their hands in prayer."
Someone following as guard among the group and a their scribes come in to confirm the names. I stopped longer with this one person. Looking at them as they are now the damned in oath. The damned looking back at those so far and bowed to me in respect of what I was doing. Tilt in ask if I could do anything, a denial of a no. Give me a feather of theirs as thanks. Folks hissed about this only to find that the damned hiss back.
"I understand, you don't have to for me. I ask nothing. Just a prayer for good luck. I hope you find your ways of moving on, David." Spoken softly towards the damned. Whom sighs, scratched about it and stands back form it, "If you ever need another help, a lost to lost sorts. I sure to make them find you if you need it. Anyone else too." they bowed a thanks and joined in this group of following around to respect the dead. It became quite a gathering of so many lost and hurt souls. Over whelmed at points I had to stop. Deep breath and just try to do the best. Legs hurting from all this bowing and methodical prayer to each.
I knew from smell, four bodies over. Stare there for a while, deep breath. Weep a little and deep breath. Continue.
"Shadow?" I heard and stood up, tail going with greeting my human. My favourite… but she regrets something. How she hugged me and pets me. I finally get to hear to tell me right. Asking forgiveness for not being allowed to say sorry all this time and it really were laws in the way of us being together. She converted out of a shadow and left happy. I stopped knowing she was gone. Stood up and go to her shell… lick her for thanks and sit with her a while. Longer then anyone.
"Was that her before too?" my friend came over to ask. Kneel next to me.
"damned are regretting, forgetting or lost souls. She regarded not telling me the truth. She finally did. How terrible that it took her death?" I weep alone my turn to hug her back, "Her life taken from her to early alive. Taken away here too. What terrible luck? How could life and death so… cruel to my beloved person?" I looked up, "Her brother, mother." I gestured to the rest to, "father." To the only demon corpse, "family…" I gesture to the clothus, "taken again. Leaving me behind again. I can't go this time. I can't follow them. Their gone. They really are gone." I was losing my voice, "All these lovely people gone. Gone." I shook about it, "I know…" the shock taking toll and just being to emotionally shocked. To much and done so much. I think I passed out? Must have. To dark now.
"I will not let you harm him, his just fainted in shock." I was rested comfortable, "Are you really going to kill a innocent soul? Someone whom follows laws, refuses to eat people or souls. A good man dipsite being a ex-dog. You really are going to? Because I refuse to back off from protecting him. A good man that was helping those you can't see or understand. I bet if I could see them now, they be mad at you for going at someone so honest then you. You made this a trap and wanted his head or whatever."
"His a murderer!"
"By court law. Only in law with a execution order. Even then he finds a why around it without any sides being added into the doors."
"I will have you too then." This had sudden a mass order of folks around, but just for a few seconds. The smells drafting in of people I knew. A barked a little in sleeping with remembering that smell. People being told by even higher people, "Sire and sir death… and lord nightmare?"
"Whom gave the order to have a reaper and the court hunter executioner? By what laws? We invited them with helping to id the dead." That sniffy general comes in, "Did you order this?"
"No sires. I believe we have a very hot headed individual here being in command while we were away." Huffed marked and kneeling, "Would you like to have them do?"
"Forgive." I muttered dreaming of what all this smells were telling me, "Forgiven them. Racist sure but ugh…" I heard my friend laughed about that and she there petting me again. Way to weak to being even moving anymore.
"Is there something wrong?"
"His fainted. I thought of it being emotional show." Yet my paw was lifted and hairs were wiped off, "I don't he is anymore. I don't know what is going on with them." the one kneeling of the crime must have done something to be shouted at. Sounds more like they were losing it. Muttering in beating lips about the things around here affecting me and how well this were turning out. They stopped laughing… well a lot of things seemed to just happened.
My soul carved out of my shell, my corpse shifting to an egg and my inventory all hidden in the eggs shadow. No one was laughing. Well, I have my shadow side to tell me. Taking my soul from anyone hands, my shell too. Stood looking at the parts of me.
"Hunter?" I did hear but this is the side that feels nothing and doesn't do anything. Empty and broken feeling, "Pass me those." I moved away from that dark voice and even ran away. Shrinking to that of a child and runnng this all of dead. Scared of all these weapon holding beings and sounds. To many many sounds.
I did find somewhere to hide to, scared and into a box. What sort of box? A box. Scared of things around.
"hush hush… I trust that if you would do anything, they wouldn't either." A comfort to hear this voice, the cold tone of honesty. I stay loyal to trusting them this one time. Locking the box from being openable, "Here." being passed over to someone else, "Your off duty and being here meant you were to help them." soft hands around the box. I still hide, "the soul, body and mind have been split for now. They would need help getting back together. But… there is lot of questions of them and if they would remember."
"They are passed away too?"
"When a god eater losses its life, they should have converted into a egg and hatch immediately. The souls of them are always purely normal animal souls. That soul is rare. A rare soul comes with side affects like higher intelligence then their nature." Pointed to, "That is a unique being both as race and soul type will mean be interesting to see how they grow up again."
The box was being carrier by someone that walks around. The warmth and humidity changes the further they are going, stopping short from someplace. My mask peeked about this stop, how they hesitated at the gate. I do this sneaky sink through the floor trick with them holding the box. Back to a flat I knew as a shadow well. The box closed again with the sense of being lifted.
"You remember here?" the box locked, "Ugh, that's childish." The box being carried to the kitchen area. There being things placed about, eventual this box, "I bet your hungry." No… I am split into three. Mind, egg and soul crystal. No body and stomach. Even my meals of meat and blood isn't worth it now, "At least, I make something for myself."
There goes my shadow turning the stove on and goes cooking. Going by memory, how I used to watch them cooking or the screen people 'cooking'. Fired egg rice with a grilled fish topped a little soy sauce. Leftover into a container for another day. She did watch the whole thing even with the fish to her and the fade back into the box. The stare of the leftover and that none of it was made for me.
"Hello?" She paused with looking at the front door. Box picked up and carried with looking at the door. Apprentice Darth… told of the new issue, "Hey, seen hunter anywhere?"
"Yes. They are… well." She looked up and bowed, "Sir. Forgive the caution." Gestures about it all, "Please feel free to come in." steps to the side with letting them in.
"Got home before master could cross over."
"You have to work out how to get them to talk about how that happened. I am still very confused." Placed on the table, "I am glad of it as I left my id here, not meaning to. I would have remember if we walked out the door like normal people."
"well, it be no surprise that their don't talk or do anything."
"Well, no. They can do things. I was just trying to see if there was something to eat, talking to them about how they may need it too. I find that they are a good ghost cook… serious ghost see through almost invisible… strange really. Talking about getting here, if they didn't remember here. We wouldn't be here."
"The mind is independent from the soul. I seen cases like that but they totally different."
"Maybe it has to do with them being a damned?" the apprentice with the answer.
"forgetting, regretting or lost? Clearly not a lost damned. They did regret but I have a feeling that has passed off. So this would be; a forgetting. Very cryptic race of souls."
"Souls have a race?"
"A theory proven by our hunter here. Souls are as different by race." I had a paper appear with writing. The apprentice picked it up and reads it. Passed it over, "states of soul? Not races but states? There is a lot of questions." He looked back to the paper, "Clever of you to predict how this conversation was going." Does a little more reading and stares to the box intently. Box seals itself more, "There was no intention that you would have gone alone. Assorted with more people to had prevented any over working." The intention staring over this box for words is me the a word of thanks on a small note.
"How do you cope with being in a included small space without food, water or light?" the apprentice with nosy questions with picking up the box to tilt it around gentle and putting it back down, "Or air. Don't damned need air like us?"
The damned are a alien sort of concept to them and there is nothing much explained to tell of everything. Thankfully a distraction of the door brought a delivery of thanks from many souls; four boxes of thing spilled by my room door.
"You got…." My mask curiosity with a knife to open the boxes, "Right. That can be terrifying to some, the whole invisible act." The lift of the knife with showing that I knew and then just opening boxes of things just needed shadow to be present in the boxes to sweep gifts to storage. Then implode the box into a folded flat. Moved to the next with the same methods, pause with a hand in my way. The refusal to hurt anyone. The sense of backing away and the knife put down.
"Listen, I can return your soul back into the body but you would be reborn. There will be a cases of being regressed back and I don't know the side affect of that would be on you as a shadow." And on offer towards my sort of direction, "You have to trust me to do this."
Given a glance about and step around were a light is turned off, to finally have a sort of appearance to myself. A creature at torture of itself, frowned of whatever it maybe keeping it and the sense of stare at myself. Weighting my chooses.
"It would be starting a new life, as clean a slate as I would imagine happening with you."
Tiny little me, no bigger then the palm of someone hands. I would be like the path again, when I died there and hatched new. I have somethings sorted out… the will of deeds under my current name to go to my reincarnated body. With it, I gave myself a new set of names. Such, is explained in one page of a diary, place with the box of wills and my own on stop. I worked as instant as I get with this. Seal locking my things that will kill me in a new life. Salt circled everything to further protect things. Locked and keys to box. The last bulk I had to trade dropped off to the stalls already to be opened as gifts overnight. Some much and so little. To much.
"You think he left or something?" the box of my corpse and soul unlocking clicks at a time, "Or was very busy undoing locks." Snapped seals and creaks of the wood veined through. The lid peeled open on my masks lid of it. The clay face place at the side like a place.
"I have to write your name in now." an act that turns a soul to dust and allows it to pour into the egg container of the empty body.
With that done, the mask too had crumbled. Vacuumed into the egg to like a vape under sun. picked up on inspection and listened to. The storage room opened itself on the turner I set to show it was converted into a bedroom with her own vaults.
A vault for the sythe and the other of personal use. My room was now the locked no touch place, sealed and locked. Only a shadow would get in and out but then it be about dealing with salt. They don't like salt around here. Everything not meant for the shop was in there. The birds were informed by letter of it being a complicated death with a likely rebound when reborn.
It just recovery and waiting to be reborn again really. for conditions to be met, body to form and organs to go through the cycles. A period of time I have no control, no senses or anything to tell other wise.