"Looks like you're the last one then?" Trinity questions the woman, despite clearly seeing they are the only ones left in the green line. The little girl still clings to her mother's leg beside her.
"Yes, I want my child to have a chance to live in the human realm. I'd like to go there with her."
Trinity sighs. "You killed yourself while pregnant with her, didn't you? She was born here, yes?"
"That's right. I killed myself, but I did it for her sake. The doctors told me that due to some bad pregnancy complications, she was going to be born with a fatal disorder. They have ways to test for such things now, so they discovered this fact around my 34th week. They say she'd last no more than a few days to weeks if she was very lucky. I couldn't allow that to happen, so I did the unthinkable. I drowned myself, so I'd end up in this realm, and she could be born with a chance."
"So, you believed that she could be saved by being born in Limbo, because she has no true sin?"
"Yes. I'd heard from a friend who works in the occult, and they explained it to me. They told me that those who commit suicide are damned to Limbo, where their souls will wander endlessly until they are released. However, if a child is born without their own sin here, they'll be reborn."
"You are correct, I do believe this child will be allowed rebirth. However, you understand that you can't go with her, don't you? You say you want to go with her, but you're already damned."
Her timid demeanor begins to crack. "Yes, I understand that those are the rules, but you also claim to be the Death Sinner Queen of this realm. If this is your domain, then you can change the rules, can't you? I killed myself for the sake of my child! It was a selfless act, so can't I be given mercy? Shouldn't that count for something? She's my child! She shouldn't have to go alone!"
Her face is red with anger, but her expression is one misery as tears fall from her eyes. The girl beside her clings even tighter and begins to get teary eyed too from seeing her mother in distress. Trinity looks at them apologetically. "I'll do what I can Miss." She kneels down so that she can face the girl directly. "May I take your hand?" She nods. "Thank you." She guides her to the scythe and helps her grip it. It glows as before, and Trinity observes her memories. 'Rebirth.'
"She can be reborn, yes?" The woman asks her desperately. "She'll get a second chance at life?"
"Yes, she will." She holds up the scythe to her now. "Please grip the handle" The woman grips it tightly, and Trinity observes her memories too. She was a good woman, with a good life, good family and loving husband. She lived righteously. She was kind and compassionate to all. She was enthusiastic about becoming a mom, and her love for her child's undeniable. Yet…'Death.'
"I was a good person, you see it now, right? Surely I'm worthy of a second chance? Please!"
Trinity says nothing. Instead, she allows the process to proceed. The girl begins to shimmer in a white light, and she has begun to appear translucent. "Mama? What's happening? I'm scared!"
"It's ok baby, you're ok. We're going home now. You'll finally get to live as a human. You'll get to see such a beautiful world! Oh, I can't wait for us to start over together. I'll be coming right after you. So just wait for me baby. My darling Anya. I love you so much! So much!"
"I love you too Mama! Please come soon. I'll wait for you!" She finally disappears fully.
"Ok, it's my turn now, right?" She continues to grip the scythe and stares expectantly at Trinity. "So, when is it going to start for me? I don't want to keep her waiting too long. I'm not sure where she's going to end up, but she'll be scared. I need to be with her. Why am I still here?"
"Your daughter will be ok. Surely the family she's reborn into will love her just as much as you did." Trinity watches as the woman's face shifts, the realization hitting her like a knife. However it wasn't a knife, but the gold steel of Shiori's blade swiftly piercing her heart from behind. "I'm afraid you won't get to take part in it. Sorry." The woman sputters blood from her month and falls against Trinity as her life quickly comes to an end. Her body finally slumps to the ground.
Trinity steps away from the body and proceeds to the blue line now. However, before she can speak, a sharp voice calls out. "Are you really carrying on, business as usual after seeing that?" Trinity looks back and sees a young woman in a classy dress scowling at her. Her silvery blonde hair falls to her waist in smooth waves, and her green eyes stare scornfully at Trinity. "Why couldn't you save that mother along with her child? Are you really the true ruler of this place?"
"The rules of this realm are not negotiable. I didn't make them, nor can I change them. Sorry."
"Sorry? Is that all you know how to say? I've been watching you all this time as you judge these souls, and only ten souls were granted rebirth, most of them children. Were all the others truly so bad that they couldn't be redeemed? You didn't pray for them or offer any comforting words."
"Where do you think we are Miss?" Trinity replies dryly. "This isn't Heaven. Everyone who is sent here has sinned and cannot be so easily redeemed. There's no prayers to be said in a place like this. It's a realm between, where souls are sent to reflect and eventually be judged. I hold the tool, but it's not my decision in the end. Or do you think I liked seeing them all suffer in pain?"
"You could've fooled me with how coldly you killed them all. You looked horribly detached!"
"Eirys, that's enough!" Another woman with an equally thin and nimble frame steps out now. "I'm sorry about my friend, she means no harm. She just gets passionate about souls passing on peacefully." Her raven hair falls gently down her back, and she pleads with gentle green eyes."
"Shut it Ravenna! I don't need you to speak for me. I'm not scared of her just because she's the ruler of this realm. She seems like she's doing a piss poor job of it. Even that woman said so."
Trinity approaches both women, a visible crack in her previously neutral face. She doesn't frown but her lips are pressed a bit thinner. "You both are in the red line, so clearly you've already given up on yourselves. So why do you care so much about how death comes for others?" She stares the woman named Eirys in her eyes, unflinching, and soon she averts her eyes away from Trinity. "I get it," Trinity says smugly now. "You're afraid of death, despite wishing for it so deeply. You want to believe there will be peace in it, so when it comes to you it won't be so scary. You could've stepped up at any point earlier if you were concerned with my demeanor. But no, you only speak up now that it's nearly time for your own death. Tell me I'm wrong."
Eirys grits her teeth but says nothing. Instead, Ravenna speaks up. "Your Highness, I apologize for my friend's forwardness. You're correct, we are a bit nervous about what awaits us in death."
Trinity softens her expression. "Then why choose it? You can join the blue line and I'll decide. The truth is, I'm going to send everyone there to intake. If they can't decide, then they have time to figure it out. I always meant for it to be a placeholder to let them think it over more. So why?"
Ravenna glances at Eirys, then finally says, "We're choosing it because…we want to be Gods."