"Wake up. Wake up"
The only sound Jason could hear was the echo of this voice. He didn't know how long it took him, but he finally lifted up his lazy eyelids, the image of a familiar but annoying face instantly appeared in his point of view.
"S-Sofia?" his vision was initially foggy however with time they became more clearer. So was the laxness he was feeling
"Sofia?" Jason repeated, jumping up on his feet.
"The sleepy head is finally awake" Sofia who was previously squatting besides Jason, smirked as she rose up.
"Where the hell are we ? What the hell are you doing? why does my body feel so.. funny and different?" Jason had so many questions in urgent need of answers.
"One question at a time " Sofia placed her index finger across her lips in a shushing manner.
"We are currently trapped in.. The Phantom Plane "
"The what now?"
"The Phantom Plane?" Sofia frowned in disappointment when she didn't see the reaction she was expecting.
"That was supposed to make you gasp in shock and fear.. gosh, you are no fun " she rolled her eyes.
"What the hell is the Phantom Plane?"
Boom!!
Before Sofia could reply this question, they were interrupted by the sound of a heavy collision.
"Don't worry about that. It's a common occurrence here" Sofia shrugged her shoulder.
"Is that supposed to comfort me?" Jason scoffed as he glanced around..
His current environment lacked a certain vibe he usually felt back at his original world. The atmosphere was very bleak and the soil was charred while the vegetation appeared malnourished. It was like the place was cursed with pestilence and famine.
"What exactly is this Phantom Plane?" Jason mused.
"Think of it as the place where all Spirits of the dead go" Sofia replied.
"You mean Heaven?" Jason's eyes dimmed.
"Shouldn't it be more cloudy and bright with little babies with wings playing harps and blowing trumpets?"
"Funny. This isn't heaven at all.. there are some things that is better you don't know. C'mon we have to keep moving " Sofia beckoned to Jason.
"Why?"
Boom!
A fast object suddenly dropped from the sky in front of them, creating a large crater as well as a cloud of dust. Loud footsteps echoed slowly as a large figure stepped out from the cloud of dust.
The newcomer was of a towering height with the physique of a Bigfoot monster, except its furs were like shadowy stylish flamy congealed ectoplasm. There was a pair of purple colored horns protruding from both sides of its head and when it's crimson colored eyes fell on Jason, it released a beastial growl, pouncing towards him.
Bang!
The ground underneath the strange monster split apart as it reached Jason in almost an instant, stabbing it's claws towards his chest. Strangely, Jason suddenly felt an extreme cold sensation grip him. He could no longer move his body!
Just as Jason closed his eyes in defeat upon noticing the claws of the other party was merely a few inches away from his chest, a petite figure suddenly appeared in front of him, smacking the strange monster on the chest.
Bang!!
A clear and deep palm print appeared on the chest of the strange monster as the force of the collision knocked it flipping through the air, vanishing from sight.
"You!!" Jason stared at Sofia in shock.
"Don't look so surprised. We are currently within the Phantom Plane brimming with ecto. I'm like a freed fish within the ocean " Sofia clicked her tongue as she wriggled her fingers, observing the wisp of ectoplasm dancing on the middle of her palm.
"Now you see why we should make a move? the Phantom Plane is a completely lawless place with several desolate souls running around. Since they trapped in an eternal boredom, they've grown this habit of devouring each other, doing so increases their connection with the Phantom Plane, allowing them to weild more power " Sofia explained.
"What the hell was that monster just now?"
"That was Liath. Liaths are usually the deceased souls of Yokais.. you know what Yokais are right?"
"Tch. I killed one remember?" Jason clicked his tongue when he suddenly thought of something.
Closing his eyes in concentration, he suddenly opened them up, his lips curled into a relieved smile.
"I can still connect with the system " as soon as he said this, he suddenly noticed that a particular item was no longer present in the system inventory.
"If you are looking for your daggers, they are in the outside world" Sofia informed him, causing memories of his battle with the Dark Wraith to flood into Jason's brain.
"Wait a minute.. am I dead? shit! I'm dead! that must be why I am in this Phantom Plane!"
"More of less. However I can tell that your friends are trying to bring you back.. you just have to survive till then " Sofia was taking every bit of control to not burst into laughter.
The paranoid look on Jason's face when the realized he was dead was so.. priceless!
"Wait! does that mean I am a Ghost now?" Jason's suddenly held up his hands in front of his face.
However to his disappointment, they were not translucent like Sofia's. Apart from the slight nauseousness and the floaty vibe he was currently feeling, his body didn't seem to have experienced any change.
Before he could move his lips, Sofia suddenly grabbed his wrist as a cloud of Ectoplasm appeared underneath them, bringing them into the skies that were literally clouds of materialized Ectoplasm.
"You can make contact with me now?!" Jason blurted in shock when he noticed he could feel Sofia's touch on the skin of his wrist.
"Duh. Like I said, my connection with the Phantom Plane experienced a boost--"
"Now that you are in the Phantom Plane. Got it " Jason scratched his head as he began observing the scenery below them.
His eyes suddenly fell on two Liaths duking it out. After a long time of an intense physical brawl and causing large pitholes on the ground, one of the Liaths finally got the upper hand, grabbing his opponent by the neck before smashing his head on the ground.
Before his opponent could recover, the winning Liath stomped his right foot on the neck of his opponent, pinning him to the ground while a pair of ectoplasmic clawed gauntlets wrapped around his meaty arms. Grabbing the two horns of his opponent, the Liath gave it a strong pull, ripping off the head of his opponent, causing his corpse to transform into a thick purple colored mist that was about to disperse.
However, the victorious Liath suddenly opened its mouth, sucking in the purple mist before letting out a victorious roar.
"Wow" Jason whistled as Sofia's floating ecto cloud passed that region.
Jason didn't know how long had passed but if he were to make a rough count, he had watched about twenty battles. One thing he found in common was that after one side won, they would kill the other side, watch them transform into a purple mist before sucking them into themselves..
According to Sofia, this purple mist was actually something called Soul essence. Thanks to Sofia's floating cloud, they were also able to observe these battles without being spotted.
"Huh?" just then, Jason suddenly noticed that his body was slowly beginning to fade. Before he could yelp in alarm, Sofia beat him to it.
"Relax. Your friends must've found a way. You are returning back to the real world"
"Finally" Jason breathed in relief.
Although he enjoyed the front row seat he had observing the battles in the Phantom Plane, the whole place was just too bleak and hopeless. Not to mention, he didn't quite feel comfortable with that nauseous sensation and floaty vibe he was feeling..
"However I must warn you that returning back from the Phantom Plane is going to result in some changes.. so brace yourself for that" Sofia suddenly warned ambiguously.
"W-Wha.." before Jason could ask what she meant, his whole body eventually faded, returning back to the real world.