I was by no means a good person in life. In fact, I think it would be fair to call me bad, if not downright evil. The blood of many people coats my hands. Both from those I had personally killed, as well as those that had been killed by what I had created. So it came as no surprise that I met an untimely end, and now stood in a sweltering hot throne room of what I could only assume was Hell.

Dark black stone was the main building material of the majestic and intimidating room I had found myself in, though the red accents of both cloth and the screams of tortured souls really brought out the ominous feeling. 

On a raised area was a throne that seemed to be made from bones. On it sat a fierce, yet beautiful woman. She glared at me with clear disdain, like one might look at someone who littered despite a trash can being only a few steps away.

“Vellen Arcturus, truly one of the filthiest pieces of scum to enter my palace, I trust I need not recite your crimes, the list is quite long and would keep us for quite awhile.” 

I wanted to reply, to make a snide remark, only to find that I couldn’t. It wasn’t that my mouth was sealed, but rather, I had no body to speak of. I was a formless wisp simply floating before the Queen of Hell waiting to be judged.

“Normally, you’d be sentenced to the lowest pits of Tartarus, where you would be tortured until your evil Karma faded.” She paused a moment, as a thick black and white tome appeared before her. 

“The Book of Fate records all the actions a soul has done, whether in their most recent life, or in one of their previous lives. This is not the first time your soul has stood before me, but I do hope it is the last.” The book opened, its pages flipping quickly before stopping what appeared to be about a third of the way through. 

“For some reason the Book does not judge you, as such both I and my siblings have had little choice but to let you reincarnate immediately, an injustice I refuse to perpetuate further. Your soul is darker than the deepest level of the Abyss, clearly indicating to any Divine that you have committed a great amount of evil, and caused excessive amounts of suffering.” Her voice shook with anger and malice. 

She glared at me as she stood from her throne and descended in front of my formless soul. “Originally I planned to sacrifice my existence to erase you, to break my Divine Vow and rend your soul into nothingness.” I could feel her hand squeezing around me, threatening to shatter me like a glass orb, yet she didn’t and the pressure eased.

“Because my sister did not want to see me die, she came up with a compromise. Rather than destroy you, we will use you. There is a world that has long been out of the Divine Court’s influence. Ruled by seven Outsiders, beings from beyond the known realms, who do not conform to the rules of Fate. Technically that world is also their prison, preventing their influence from spreading. You will be reborn in that world, and you will defeat the Outsiders, otherwise, the next time your soul finds its way here will be its last.” 

Her sharp and commanding tone suddenly shifted as she released her hold on my soul. “This is not without its merits. Unlike a normal reincarnation, you will slowly regain the memories of your past lives, granting you knowledge and skills, something very useful in the world you’ll be going to. In addition, should you defeat the Outsiders, besides your Karmic value rising, you will also be given a reward from the Divine Court.”

The woman took a few steps backwards before making some strange motions and speaking words that I couldn’t understand. As she sped up further and further, a sensation of being pulled backwards enveloped me before I was violently thrust back and lost the sense of my surroundings.