“Be you a monster, a heathen, or a devil, Mother will always love you. She won’t let you down like…” Renska mumbled to himself as he ran his finger up and down his wooden nameplate. 

“You saying something…” Nomli leaned over to read the nameplate in Renska’s hand, “Renska?” 

Renska smiled and shook his head. “Ugh… No, I was just mumbling to myself. Just trying to sort thoughts out and everything. You know like about all of this.” 

“Do you mean about our deaths or us waking up in the middle of a forest covered in gunk or the men in metal who have us surrounded?” asked Nomli as he listed each of those things on his fingers. 

Renska let out a sigh and looked over his shoulder at the guard standing by the tent’s entrance covered from head to toe in intricately engraved steel plate armor. “You’re making the guards sound like they are hostile.”

“Hmph, I know only a handful of people who would describe men equipped with chains, swords, and halberds as friendly.” Nomli diverted his attention to the blonde boy glaring at him in revulsion for quite some time, “Though they do seem friendlier than Ramlig over there.”

Radlig leaned forward in his chair with his fingers interlocked as his hands rested between his legs. “I  am a friend to only those who don’t walk the path of criminality. And as I’ve said before my name is Radlig.” 

“Oh Bidlig, I told you in confidence that I’m an ex-criminal. It’s rather rude of you to go around airing other people’s dirty laundry over and over again,” Nomli wagged his finger at Radlig as he spoke like a disgruntled grandmother, “Besides, I haven’t done a single crime since I came here, Wadwig. I might have been a naughty little thief in my previous life but here… here I’ve caused far less trouble than either you or our local molester.” 

He turned leftward and waved at the burly brunette girl with a bloody nose who was bound to her chair in chains on the opposite side of the tent. The burly brunette licked clean the blood dripping down her philtrum while locking her eyes with Nomli’s. Upon licking the blood clean, she gave the ex-criminal a murderous smile. 

Nomli smiled back mischievously and even blew a kiss at her. 

“As I’ve said before, it’s Radlig.” Radlig’s tone shifted from being irritated to a more mournful tone as he started to speak to Renska, “Sir Renska, why is an honorable man… nay a hero such as yourself, keeping company with a thief like him? You are a man who lost his life trying to stop men like him. For all you know, the man you are sitting next to and befriending might be the one who slayed you.” 

Renska sighed out loud again, the blonde boy was starting to get on his nerves. “As I’ve said before Mr.Radlig, I’m not befriending him. This is a just waiting room and I’m just sitting in a random seat like everyone else waiting for the administrators of this whole… afterlife thing to tell us what to do next. Besides, for all we know, none of us might ever see each other again.”

“What makes you say that we will not see each other again?” Radlig inquired with a concerned look. 

Just as Renska opened his mouth to answer his question, someone else spoke out first, “It’s a fair assumption if you look at the diversity of our group. We come from cultures that seem wildly different from one another, our backgrounds differ wildly, and even our mindsets vary far too much for us to end up in a similar spot. The clothes that we wear and the way we speak are evidence of that difference. Mr. Radlig is in white robes, and Mr.Renska is wearing an outfit akin to the masked men who have guided us here to the tent. The only person whose fashion choice is familiar is Mr.Nomli. Everyone else’s choice of attire is too dissimilar to where I was raised and died and I’m pretty sure that many share that feeling of unfamiliarity.” The green-haired boy paused to momentarily massage the bridge of his nose before continuing with his thesis, “With the difference laid out all that matters now is figuring out which theory of afterlives one applies to our situation. Luckily for this statement, it doesn’t matter whether we go with infinite divine realms or reincarnation theory when discussing this… afterlife. The results would likely result in eventual separation. It is quite evident that our paths will eventually diverge to a certain extent. Sin and the virtue-based system would definitely cause us to separate. Though if we factor in simple reincarnation… it's still highly unlikely that most of us would be keeping company with one another considering how different our lifestyles are. If you factor in all of those facts then forming a hypothesis that we might not see each other again is rather logical.” 

The room fell silent for a moment as they stared at the skinny green-haired boy seated in the righthand corner of the tent. The only person who looked like they understood the boy’s words completely was Renska. Half of the group zoned out in the middle of his speech and the other half that earnestly listened couldn’t fully grasp what he said due to his fast-paced but monotone speech patterns. However, nearly all of them were left in awe that the boy spoke at all since most thought he was mute.

Four out of the nine people in the tent, excluding the guards hadn’t spoken a word to anyone since they entered. One of them was a red-haired woman who sat quietly away from the males in the tent with her hand covering her mouth. The other was a blonde girl with a hollow look in her eyes. The last two silent people were the boy with silver hair who looked like he was in mourning and lastly, it was the green-haired boy who had just gone on a rather lengthy monologue. 

The boy noticed their shock and began to blush. “I’m sorry for rambling on for that long. I have an ill habit of turning conversations into lectures.”

The green-haired boy might have vexed some of the residents of the tent but he piqued Renska’s interest. For the first time since Renska had entered the tent, a genuine smile formed on his face. “You don’t have to apologize. I would have probably explained the whole thing in a more confusing fashion with weird analogies. I’d say you saved the group from that. To be honest, no offense but you did sound like a professor or researcher.”

The green-haired boy blushed as he rubbed the emerald-colored brooch resting underneath his adam’s apple. “I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not but thanks. However, I must inform you that I wasn’t fortunate enough to be a researcher or professor. I passed away young, as a rookie engineer.”

Renska perked up again upon hearing the green-haired boy’s reply. “Dang! That’s cool. I mean your job not you dying young… Umm… My brother was an electrical engineer. What type were you?”

The green-haired boy got excited as well as he found a kindred spirit in Renska, “I was an automaton engineer. What about you? What sort of engineering did you-”

“They say that scholarly boys usually have tiny sweet-tasting cocks!” the burly girl interrupted the green-haired boy as she looked up and down his body while licking her teeth. 

Most of those seated inside the tents winced as they heard her vulgar words. While others winced, Radlig was on the verge of punching the foul brute in her face. Though if he did assault her, it wouldn’t have been his first time either. 

Unlike Radlig, Renska chose the pacifist’s approach and quietly moved his chair forward to block the barbarian girl’s view. He then continued the conversation as though nothing happened, “I wasn’t an engineer. I was a rookie artist and a novelist. I liked writing fantasy novels but kind of died before I got to publish anything substantial.” 

The green-haired boy silently appreciated Renska’s choice of action with a smile and continued their conversation nonchalantly as well. “Well, it's too bad that I won’t get a chance to read anything that you wrote. I usually preferred my casual reads to involve a bit of fiction in them. Either way,” the boy leaned forward till his body was just off his seat as he extended his arm towards Renska for a handshake, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Renska. My current name is Igka.”

Renska smiled and leaned forward to accept his handshake. “Thanks, man. My name is Renska which I just realized you already knew since you called me by name. Uhh, either way, it's a pleasure to meet-”

“Igka, I bet your cock would taste like a warm sweet dripping bag of milk,” the chained brute interrupted them again with viler remarks. 

Having lost his patience with her, Radlig immediately jumped out of his chair, ready to put a beating on the brute but one of the armored guards walked up to block his path. Radlig didn’t bat an eye and stood defiantly before the guard, who was thrice his size. The threat of violence was not going to make him back down. A wide smile formed on Nomli’s face as he silently prayed for Radlig to cross a line and get a good thrashing. 

However, Nomli’s wish was denied as the guard initiated with a pacifistic approach. “Young boy, I know your spirit yearns for someone so vile to be put in her place but I request that you let us handle in your stead. Violence from you will instigate others to follow suit. Please lead them to have faith in us.”

Radlig bit his lower lip in frustration and nodded his head. The guard responded by placing his hand on his chest and taking a small bow. Radlig bowed back, his cheeks turned red from blushing. “Please do not bow to me, sir knight. I will have faith in you and your kindred to be just and -”

“Oh come on! Let the blonde babe come at me!” Yet again the barbaric girl interrupted a pleasant exchange within the tent with her obnoxiously loud voice. 

The armored man standing between Radlig and the brute looked over his shoulder as he gave her a warning, “This is your one and only warning girl! Either speak well or remain silent! If you chose to speak ill again then -”

“I’m just asking you to let me have a piece of him. You don’t even have to untie me, I’ll just use my hips to-” 

This time it was she who was interrupted but not by words. The brutish girl was silenced by a disembodied umbrous floating hand that wrapped itself around her mouth. Most of the occupants of the tent were left in awe at the sight but Igka was the only one who audibly shrieked. He did so because he was the first to notice the guard’s right hand had disappeared and only a black mist remained at the base of the guard’s forearm. The guard seemed unfazed by this and needed a moment to realize why most of the occupants were horrified. “Worry not, my arm returns the moment I undo my gift. If my gift had a price as heavy as losing my arm, I doubt any of you would be seeing me use it over someone as trivial as her.”

Most still remained horrified despite the guard insisting that no harm was done to him and that it wasn’t something they needed to be worried about. Renska on the other hand burst into laughter after an odd thought crossed his mind. 

Nomli was the first to respond to his odd behavior, “If you’ve gone insane dear, please do tell. I wouldn’t blame you considering our… interesting circumstances but I think do deserve a warning at least.”

Renska waved his hand as he wrestled his laughter into submission. “I’m laughing because I thought… pfftt… I thought that maybe we’d get to see a new power every time she sexually harasses someone.” 

His laugh started to slowly fade away as no one else found the joke funny. Being flustered with the situation, he tried to elaborate, “I mean because you know like the first time, the other guard did the whole chains going all flying mode thing, and this time it's a ghost or phantom hand thing. So like maybe next time she does her usual thing and then someone I don’t know… turns her head into a goose or something.”

The only reaction he got from his explanation was a chuckle from Igka. Everyone else remained apathetic to his odd joke. Embarrassed, Renska puckered his lips and wallowed silently in his embarrassment. Luckily for him, a man wearing a porcelain feline mask soon arrived to announce that everyone will be heading to another area. The masked man’s attire was akin to a modern-day military uniform. While his outfit did not have complex camouflage patterns that are often associated with modern military gear, the overall color combination of his full-sleeve shirt, combat trousers, and boots would aid him in camouflage in a forest environment nonetheless. 

“Attention!” he roared as he entered the tent alongside two men covered in steel plate armor and a female teenager with long black hair who was ogling at a wooden nameplate in her hand. 

The announcement allowed Renska’s mind to let go of the embarrassment and embrace the anxiety of the unknown instead. For him, overwhelming anxiety was much easier to handle than embarrassment.

Everyone in the tent was asked to line up while the masked man called out their names. Most people followed this instruction immediately except Sdyvi and Nomli. Nomli joined the queue after a few seconds of eyeing the guards. 

Meanwhile, Sdyvi was having her arms bound by a different set of chains while the ones that bound her to her chair were being removed. Even her mouth was gagged in order to ensure that she wouldn’t provoke anyone. Unlike the others, Sdyvi was going to walk alongside the queue rather than join it. The new chains that wrapped around her were going to act like a leash for one of the guards to safely shepherd her to the next location. 

Out of those that willingly joined the queue and weren’t bound in chains, Igka and Renska decided to stand close to one another during the lineup and decided to stand toward the end of the queue. “I didn’t think I would have to line up like in school after dying. Did you, Igka?”

Igka shrugged, “Well, we do occupy the bodies of young teens.”

“Yeah, I get that but-” Renska discontinued his sentence for a moment in order to respond when the masked man called out his name by raising his hand and calling out, “I’m present!” he then continued his previous conversation, “like why aren’t we physically adults?”

Igka stroked a non-existent mustache on his philtrum as he replied, “The answer to that would vary based on whether this afterlife is similar to a divine realm scenario or reincarnation scenario. It would also vary based on whether everyone who dies comes here as a child or only a select few and if there is an intelligent being deciding this or whether it's just a phenomenon. There are far too many variables to make any assumptions with the limited data.”

  

Renska shrugged. “Fair. Fair.”

The group followed the masked man out of the tent. As they stepped out of the tent, they all squinted as sunlight stung their eyes. It was refreshing for most to be outside the stuffy dark tent and finally get a taste of fresh air and sunlight. Renska was most delighted to walk in Mother’s garden. He could feel Her warmth much better when walking under Her shadows. And oh how he relished Her warmth and words. 

As the group was shepherded to the next location by the masked man and a squad of armored guards, Igka spoke out about the forest around them. “If you fellows don’t mind answering, is anyone else extremely uncomfortable about the size of the trees around us?”

“I’ve often traveled among many woodlands and am usually quite comfortable traversing them but I do share similar sentiment to you in regards to this forest, scholar Igka,” Radlig replied.

Igka rubbed the back of his head and blushed at being called a scholar. “As I said before I’m not really a scholar but I do appreciate you calling me one.”

Nomli rolled his eyes at Radlig’s and Igka’s wholesome interaction.

“Just because the trees around us are much bigger than the ones we saw in our previous lives doesn’t mean it's something to be uncomfortable about.” A hint of irritation spawned in Renska’s tone.

“Well, Renny most of these trees look like they are tall enough to fuck the sky and at least half of the trees have trunks nearly as wide as Widlig’s mother,” Nomli said as he grinned.

Radlig immediately spun on his heel and lunged at Nomli. His fingers dug deeply into the vexatious ex-con’s collar. “What did you say about my mother, you filthy rat?!”

“MR.RADLIG!” yelled the masked man from the front of the line, “We would appreciate it if you please show some patience towards Mr. Nomli. If you pursue violence, we will be forced to stop you by physically binding you. Please do not force us down this path and let us handle this disturbance.” 

Radlig gritted his teeth as his golden eyes burned with rage at the sight of Nomli’s smug smile. The veins under his temples pulsated with rage. 

“Mr.Radlig, the longer you keep this up the more you will delay our ability to give you the answers that you all seek. I am sure there are answers that you desire that are far more important to you than the insults from a stranger.”  

Radlig clicked his tongue and released Nomli’s collar upon the masked man’s request. As Radlig made his way back to the front line, he spat his wrath onto the ground.

“Thank you, Mr. Radlig. Your patience is greatly appreciated,” the masked man then diverted his attention towards Nomli, “And Mr. Nomli… if you antagonize anyone again, I will have you gagged and bound similarly to Miss Sdyvi.”

Nomli looked over his shoulder at the gagged brute, chuckled, and replied with a curtsy, “Of course, m’lord. I promise not to tease our beloved blonde prince.” 

The masked man quietly stared at Nomli for a moment and then quickly turned around to continue guiding the group. 

Igka sighed loudly as the altercation concluded. “I really do wonder if we’re going to be able to go through half a conversation without some unnecessary altercation.” 

“Considering that these guys are as reactive as cesium and water, I doubt we are gonna have peaceful conversations until this group splits up a bit,” Renska commented as he stroked his nonexistent beard.

Igka was confused by his statement and asked, “What’s cesium?”

Renska raised his eyebrow as he was slightly surprised that Igka wasn’t aware of cesium. “Oh, it's a liquid metal that explodes the moment it comes in contact with air or water. Extremely reactive. Folks need to store it with special containment procedures.” 

Igka stroked his phantom mustache with his right thumb. “That’s interesting. I might not have heard of it because I wasn’t a chemist.”

Renska shrugged and then looked at Mother’s many tall appendages. They were a pleasant sight for the sweet child. He yearned to slumber in Mother’s garden, resting his head on her limbs, wrapped in her hair. However, the sweet child’s desires were to be postponed as Mother’s older children had brought them to their destination and Her newborns had become riled up.

“Before any of you get riled up, please let us explain what this –”

Radlig uncharacteristically interrupted the masked man, “What sort of dark magic do you plan on casting here?! Are you accomplices of a gelrio?”

Renska and Igka walked up front to figure out the cause of the commotion and it took them only a moment to realize why everyone was so shocked and scared. 

“Please, calm down. We understand how this looks and we will explain to you all what this is.” 

Renska was the second to verbally protest, “Dude, you’ve got a long wooden pole with handcuffs attached to it which is in the center of a circle drawn in what looks quite frankly like blood. Moreover, you have creepy guys in owl masks and military suits standing around a blood circle. Not sure how you are going to explain this.” 

“I am hoping that a demonstration of how our instantaneous transportation system might help quell your doubts regarding it,” the masked man explained. 

“No. We don’t care about your demonstration, we demand answers about where our families are, we demand to speak with the gods,” Radlig’s stern response rubbed the masked man the wrong way.

The masked man chuckled, “Mr. Radlig, you seem to have the misconception that your consent is required for us to do our job. The civility we display is not mandatory, we are allowed to tackle and restrain each of you and have you forcefully handcuffed to the pole.”

“Civility?” Radlig scoffed, “You have left us all in the dark over the simplest of questions. You bar us of any knowledge pertaining to our loved ones and leave us in the dark while dragging us from one place to another and you speak of civility? How is this civil treatment?” 

The masked man let out an exhausted sigh, “Mr.Radlig, as people who have died and have been reborn into this world just as you, please trust us when we tell you that a straight answer is not going to help you. The veil of ignorance that we provide you is a gift that you will long for when you eventually learn the truth.” 

“Are you saying that we are too feeble to bear the truth?” Radlig rebutted.

“No, we are saying that we want to reveal the truth to you in the kindest way possible. That means that we will feed you the truth a drop at a time, which sadly creates certain periods of time where you will be left in the dark about certain matters.” the masked man’s tone sounded more mournful as he continued to convince the group. 

Radlig took a moment to ponder while biting into the second knuckle of his index finger. After a few moments, he spoke, “How are we to trust that you speak the truth? What evidence do you possess that you and your ilk are the same as us?”

The masked man turned his head rightward and gazed into the distance, “There are no simple means by which I could prove to you right now about my claim, not without pointlessly lying that is. The only thing that would remotely prove to any of you that we had experienced death once would be to describe our immediate experience after dying and describe how we were lured here,” he turned his head back to face Radlig, “The problem is that nearly everyone has a unique experience with death. Some wait for the calling while seated at a long dining table, others on a beach. There are those who describe it as swimming through an endless abyss while there are those who felt as though they were part of the night sky. Even the purgatories that are similar end up varying in different ways. Whether its the color of objects or the weather. If any of you have had the chance to discuss your experiences directly after your passing with one another, you would know that this phenomenon is true.” 

Radlig and the others were left awestruck. Upon regaining his composure he looked over his shoulder at Nomli and then back again at the masked man, “Fine. I shall put faith in you and your lot once more. I shall willingly bind myself to your ominous pole. But please know that there is a limit to the amount of faith I have left to give you.” 

“Wait, I thought we were first going to let them show us a demonstration before we agreed to anything,” Igka, who had remained silent till this point immediately spoke up.

“What’s the point? Whether they show us a demonstration or not at the end of it all we still have to attach those shackles to our hands. Even if we manage to accomplish the neigh impossible task of escaping these hulking men, I doubt any of us would survive long in these woodlands without proper supplies and a map.” Radlig asked as he raised his left eyebrow.

This time Renska was the one to provide a rebuttal, “The point? The fucking point is that we get to know whether they are bullshitting us or not. I mean they could have gotten the information about the afterlife bullshit by interrogating people before us or maybe some of these guys have the ability to read minds. If either of those happened then –”

“Psychics or mindreaders are unwanted by our people, Mr.Renska. We do not ally with those kinds of people. They are undesirable. Beings possessing such sorts of abilities have broken our trust far too often,” the masked man quickly interrupted Renska.

“Wow, so you are willing to talk about your relationship with fucking mindreaders but not give us a tiny clue as to where our family is? Okay.” Renska chuckled bitterly and began to push his tongue against the back of his bottom lip. 

“The only reason I am telling you such a thing is because accusing someone of being a mindreader is a dangerous allegation among our people. It is an allegation that bears the same weight as being accused of being a cannibal or a kinslayer.” the disgust in the masked man’s tone was enough to let anyone know the scorn he felt towards psychics. 

“If we are done bickering, can we please proceed with the ritual?” Radlig’s voice started to have hints of exhaustion. He noticed that those in the group still wished to argue more so he decided to simply march on quietly to the wooden pole.

Renska did not approve of this. He did not want to leave. He quickly rea

Sweet child, do not be afraid. This separation will only be a breath long if you will it. Yearn for Mother and She will always guide you back into Her embrace. And My sweet child, never forget, be you a monster, a heathen, or a devil, Mother will always love you. She will never abandon you like the woman who bore you in her womb.  

Renska had mixed feelings but decided to follow in Radlig’s footsteps.

Temska, the stoic blue-haired boy called out to everyone after the quiet blonde girl whispered something in her ear, “Excuse me, everyone!” 

The group turned their attention to him. He pointed at the silent red-haired girl who was still covering her mouth with her hand, “Miss Narga asked the yellow-haired girl to tell me that we shouldn’t so casually accept their claims just because they have some unnatural abilities. They could still mean us to harm if they wished.”

“Why is she asking the blonde to tell you to tell us? She has a functioning tongue under that mouth so why is she silent and covering her mouth like an idiot?” Nomli asked in an exasperated tone.

The masked man pulled out a tiny hourglass from his jacket. The bottom half of the hourglass was a few minutes away from filling up, “To answer your question Miss Narga, my men will gladly drag you to the pole if you do not comply by the time the sand in this hourglass does not empty.” 

Most of the people in the group had no intentions of being manhandled by the brutes in armor. Which is why they all, except Igka, Narga and Sdyvi made their way to the pole one by one. Sydvi had yet not been bound to the pole since they wanted her to be the last person attached to the pole. They wanted her to be unbound for the minimum period of time. Narga didn’t approach the pole as she remained paranoid that it involved dark sorcery. Igka on the other hand stayed behind as he requested a small demonstration from the masked man for the sake of understanding the mechanics behind the transportation system. 

As Nomli handcuffed himself to the pole with a wide grin on his face, Renska wondered what sort of misdeed the sly fox was cooking up in his head. His attention quickly shifted to the blonde girl as she just stood in front of the pole petrified. After seeing her still standing in front of it like a shivering statue while others casually walked up and handcuffed themselves, Renska tapped on the blonde’s shoulder. The girl jumped back as he caught her attention, “Hey, don’t worry about the handcuffs too much, they have a latch that allows you to uncuff yourselves.”

He then discretely demonstrated the latch’s ability to release the handcuff’s grip. After the quick demonstration, he offered him her hand to hold onto, “If you’re still uncomfortable about this, you can hold my hand until it's all over.”

The blonde girl got visibly angry and swatted his hand away. “I’m not scared! I don’t need your hand,” she then quickly snapped the handcuffs on her hands. 

By the time she had put on the handcuffs, the hourglass that the masked was holding had nearly run its course. As the hourglass continued to run its course, the masked man started the demonstration.  

The guide had one of the owl-masked men draw a circle with red wax chalk on his hand while he drew one on his own hand. After making the circles, the guide placed a bullet in the middle of the circle while outstretching his hand for Igka to see. The owl-masked man with the red circle on his hand stood a certain distance away from the guide and then snapped his fingers. Just as he snapped his fingers, the bullet instantly moved from the circle on the guide’s hand to the other circle. After a second snap, the bullet teleported back into the guide’s hand. Igka was satisfied with the demonstration and willingly headed toward the pole after thanking them for showing their ability.

Meanwhile, Renska noticed that the blonde girl’s whole body was shaking and that she kept clawing at her restraints. Renska discreetly moved towards her, “By the way, the reason I asked for your hand was that I was actually the one who was scared and I didn’t want to admit that,”  he smiled at her gently while offering his hand again, “if it's okay with you can you please help me feel a little braver?”

Her eyes darted between his hand and his smile. She knew he was lying but didn’t understand why. Her mind screamed at her to reject the offer again but she denied its commands and accepted his offer. Her hand shot towards his and latched on. Her slender soft fingers dug deeply into his skin. His hand held hers reassuringly and made the fear more tolerable. 

As the hourglass ran its course, Narga and Sdyvi were escorted to the pole. Eventually, the two of them were handcuffed to the pole as well. Despite Sdyvi’s temperament, even she wasn’t wild enough to try to pick a fight while being surrounded by eight-foot-tall men covered in steel. 

After the guards made sure that everyone had their restraints on properly, they stepped outside the circle. All those dressed wearing the owl mask and military uniforms stood around the circle with their hands stretched out in front of them. Before they began the teleportation, one of the people in owl masks spoke some final words, “The moment we all clap our hands you are going to see a quick change in scenery. I would advise you all to not freak out when that happens. To ease you all, our squad will do a countdown and then teleport you. Please do not panic on the other side.”

So the countdown began. Three. Two. One. CLAP.