Mifa stood in her dorm room, trying to come to terms with the reality of her situation. As she looked around the room, she couldn't help but feel like an outsider in her own space. The place seemed different, as if her death had suddenly morphed it into something untouchable and alien. She could no longer see it as her own, but rather as if she had wandered into a stranger's room.
With each passing moment, Mifa's deep recollections of her life began to pour over her.
She looked critically at the books on her shelf, feeling a sense of disappointment wash over her, as she realized the many books she would never get to finish reading. The movies she wished she could watch one more time. She paused by the bookshelf and frowned at an empty shelf. She noted an empty line that lacked dust in certain places, notable for its contrast to the light layer of dust on the rest of the shelf, outlining that some things were missing. Mifa's heart skipped a beat as it dawned on her that her family pictures were gone. She reached out to touch the dust-free line where she remembered that a frame holding her family photographs had once stood.
"My pictures are gone," she said, with a tinge of melancholy in her voice.
"Sorry?" Ayana asked as she turned from looking at Mifa's movie collection.
"I remember, I had pictures on this shelf. Family pictures, my friends, my brother," Mifa reiterated, still trying to make sense of the situation. "But they're gone."
Ayana paused for a moment before addressing her speculations, "Perhaps your friends claimed them? Given how long they have known you it's very likely, they knew what your family meant to you."
"Perhaps your friends claimed them? Given how long they have known you it's very likely, they knew what your family meant to you." Mifa nodded, conceding her point as she looked around her dorm room again. She doubted anyone else would have come to her room to remove things.
As she looked around, she realized how true Ayana's words had been when she said 'I barely spent any time at my dorm'. She couldn't help but notice the contrast between the bare walls and bland furniture, which held little resemblance to a living and breathing human being. She didn't really have any fond memories of this place, even though she had lived here for one and a half years. On school days, she really only came here to sleep, shower, change, and study. On the weekend, she was at the dorm a little longer, but even then it wasn't by much. She would take her time with breakfast and coffee but then fill her days with things to do and head out to engage in various activities with friends. Ayana's words hit home as she realized how true her words were.
The dorm room reflected that too. As she gazed at the open books and the unmade bed, she realized that the room lacked personalization almost to the point of being unoccupied. But that was really the only sign the place was lived in. Otherwise, it could have just been an unoccupied furnished dorm room. without her family photos, there was little to no personalization. Her brow furrowed as she looked around again and realized just how sparse the place was.
"Is something wrong?" Ayana asked as she watched her.
"No, just..." she said, trying to find the words.
"Saying goodbye?" Ayana suggested.
"More like realizing there is nothing here to really say goodbye to," she said.
Ayana nodded and crossed the room to Mifa, holding out her hand. "Then perhaps we should head over to your academy?" she offered. Mifa nodded and took her hand so she could teleport them.
The dorm room appeared to swirl and blend, reminiscent of a watercolor painting left to the elements. It seemed to spin and blur, with colors streaking across the walls and floor. Suddenly, the room solidified, and Mifa found herself standing in her classroom, beside her desk. The windows reflected the inside of the classroom as the night beyond them rendered them into mirrors, adding to the magical feel of the moment. Despite the late hour, there were several students still present in the room.
As Mifa approached her desk, she noticed numerous sticky notes covering the surface. It was like a tradition in the school to write farewell messages to the departed, and Mifa's desk was overflowing with touching notes from her friends and classmates. The gesture brought a smile to her face as she began to read through them.
"That's a nice gesture," Ayana said as she read some of them as well. Noting how thoughtful and kind the tradition was. Mifa nodded in agreement as she continued to read the heartfelt messages.
As they stood there reading the notes a student with the name badge stating "Shalu" came up to the desk, clutching a sticky note in her hand. She looked drawn and her eyes were red-rimmed and tear-stained, and she looked as though she hadn't slept. She had noticed her when they arrived, one of her friends.
"How could you leave so soon, Mifa," Shalu said, her voice sounding rough. " Why, just why." She frowned deeply and the note she placed on the desk was simple, yet poignant. There were only 3 words written in black ink on the orange square of paper: "Pʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ."
Mifa's heart went out to her friend, and she wished she could console her in some way. However, she knew that wasn't possible. She was no longer of this world, and she'd never be able to return.
Another classmate, one who must not know what happened, came up to Shalu looking puzzled. "What's with all the notes on the desk? Is it some kind of prank?" He hadn't been there long enough to know.
"Shut the fuck up," Shalu yelled.
The boy looking confused leaned forward and read some of the notes. "Woah, wait. She died?"
"I said STFU," Shalu said. "If you have anything you wanted to say to her, write a note and put it on the desk"
The boy looked a little shaken. His face turned white with shock that someone he had just seen that morning could be dead a few hours later.
"Wow, look at his face. it's so funny", Mifa whispers to Ayana.
"You don't have to whisper, they're not going to hear you," Ayana said.
"Oh, right."
A murmur of hushed voices filled the room, as Mifa watched the scene unfold from a distance. Due to the noise, she hadn't bothered with trying to be quiet. She stood there for a few minutes just watching everyone in the classroom.
"Are you saying goodbye, Mifa? Or putting off our final stop?" Ayana asked if Mifa was saying her final goodbyes to her old life, or if she was just avoiding facing the inevitable. Mifa opened her mouth to protest but then closed it when she realized Ayana was right. She wasn't lingering at the school because she was going to miss it. To her, the school represented a part of her life. She wasn't going to miss it but instead, she was holding on to a part of her life that was no longer sustainable. there was no pretending she was saying goodbye to it. Ayana was right. She was putting off their final stop.
"Fine, you're right. Let's go," she sighed, reaching over to put her hand in Ayana's so she could transport them once again.
Mifa sat alone, immersed in her own grief. Ayana, who had been observing her concernedly, reached out to her with a gentle voice,"Are you okay?"
"I'm dead. What do you think?" she replied dryly.
"I think seeing the grief you leave behind can just about kill you again if you let it."
"I'm fine," she replied, her voice harsher in its insistence. "Were you always a ghost, is that how you are such an expert on this crap?" trying to change the subject.
"This crap as you call it is the very fiber of our existence. Understanding it can be very fundamental, especially when your job entails dealing very heavily with haunting spirits or curse spirits."
"And processing newbie ghosts who need to make afterlife decisions?"
"Yes that too, as they do tend to have more questions than a toddler."
Mifa took that in stride and calmly stuck her tongue out at Ayana. "You didn't answer my question."
"Sometimes I hate dealing with newcomers," she sighed.
"No, I have not always been a ghost. I was a human. I killed myself in 1891. And when I died I was given the same choice you have been presented with."
"Wait, what. you killed yourself, but why?"
"Save that question for another time and We can't stay here any longer," she said gently. She knew Mifa needed to deal with her grief but she was afraid that if she let her dwell on it too long she would lose her to desolation. She knew that dwelling too much on her grief and pain would not be healthy for Mifa and would instead lead her to a possibly destructive emotional space. That emotion had the potential to twist, corrupt, or even obliterate curse spirits. Ayana didn't want that to happen so she was gently trying to refocus her.
"I know," she said and angrily tried to get herself under control. Then, more calmly, she repeated herself.
"I don't know how to feel right now. but I have also lost my family and friends," Ayana said and hoped to ease her nerves by letting her know she had been there too. "So I just want you to know that if you need help with anything, you can always come to me."
She needed to just rip the band-aid off and let things heal. And somehow if she could keep moving and doing and thinking, she would be okay eventually. It's how she had gotten through her family's deaths before. Just because she was on the other side of death's coin didn't mean she had to approach things any differently. She nodded and moved over to Ayana. "Alright, let's go."
Ayana smiled softly at her and offered Mifa her arm to escort her out.