The moment the sword pierced straight into his heart, Val fell to his knees.
He felt the pain that took his breath right before the instant weakness lay claim to his body.
From his head to his toe, a sudden cold gripped him, numbing every sense in him.
He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't speak, and he couldn't feel.
He was just in a state of floating... Alive but not alive. Just there in a still state...
Until the light came.
A very bright light that exploded everything he knew, and everyone he knew, causing him to shriek in confusion.
All his memories began to play out.
In a very fast motion, everything he had done in his life, every battle he had fought, his every moments with his family, with his parents, the day he was beseeched as captain of Astheimoth, his first victory, the day he met Hannah, the day Johan was born, his last battle, his death.
His whole life played out before his eyes.
Then as though a movie had ended in a theater, everything went completely pitch black.
Where am I?
He couldn't grasp a single light, or even feel a single thing. Not even the numbness he had felt earlier.
Nothing.
Nothing but plain silence.
He felt as though he was no longer a person... as though he was just a consciousness staring at nothing but darkness.
So he was really dead?
Was this what it felt like?
But where was that peace everyone kept saying you would find in death?
Where was his peace?
Where was Hannah?
Where was Johan?
Where were his parents? His sister?
Weren't they supposed to meet after death?
He couldn't tell how long he had been there or how long he was meant to stay in darkness or when the shift began to occur, but when a sudden single star appeared out of nowhere, getting brighter and brighter until it was right in front of him, he knew a time for something had come.
But what?
And why was he staring at a star?
Suddenly, a very high pitched wave which resembled a scream, but the scream of a thousand voices, passed through his mind, breaking through the silence he dived into.
It started with a Hmm, as though adjusting comfortably like an entity who had all the time to waste. If anything, it was time itself.
And then without any warning, it spoke out clearly in words he could understand.
Valentine Reynolds.
Calling out his name in a voice that sounded as though it was five dimensions away, yet it was present. Right there.
Do you know why you are here?
It asked, but Val couldn't speak. Because he had lost the ability. All abilities.
So in other words, he wasn't meant to speak from the start. He was only there to listen even though he was being asked questions.
You should have ascended by now. You should have been in the light.
It sounded as though it had seen it all. As though it knew that it was supposed to happen that way, confusing Val even more.
He had a lot of questions...
Questions like what was it?
Where was he?
If he wasn't meant to be here why was he here?
Questions that were ignored because nothing he would say mattered.
But how can I allow your ascension when the cries of the millions you murdered have clug chains around you?
Murder?
Millions?
The lives you massacred without remorse cry eternally that they get their vengeance. Their bloods left spots on your soul. And because the vengeful cries of these ones have drowned you in darkness, you cannot be redeemed without paying for your sins. Hence, you cannot ascend.
But he didn't kill them on purpose. He killed them in course of trying to defend their kingdom. He fought for defence not for the sole purpose of killing.
And even though there were times when he fought with revenge in his heart, this was unjust.
The so-called ones who cried that he should not ascend also sought to take his life in countless battles. Just because he got to them first doesn't mean that he was the terrible one.
If anything, he fought those wars and killed those people to protect innocent people.
This was unjust!
Valentine Reynolds.
It called his name again.
For the lives of those you took, for the seizeless blood spills and for your unremorsefulness...
Your punishment is deemed fit for...
It took its time, as though searching for the right punishment for him.
Immortality!
It passed its words strictly.
Just like he was with Hezekiah, he was ignored again.
Being judged unfairly after having suffered all his life.
You will be cast amongst your kind to live all your days in a world with no boundaries or laws until all your sins are paid for.
Then, after you have been redeemed, only then will you ascend.
It passed it's order, giving him a moment to process them.
A world?
His kind?
What was this?
Wait...
Doesn't he get a say in this?
One more thing, Valentine... It said finally, in conclusion, sounding as though it was a warning.
On no account should you fight back no matter what. You are being sent there to be redeemed, so you are to be on your best behavior.
The moment you feel offended, or retaliate, or fight back in any way, you will never ascend. It said it's final warning in dismissal,. going silent after passing its message.
Before Val could understand his conflicts, everything began crumbling.
It wasn't everything in that dimension, no, just everything about him. Because the star watched still.
His time was up.
He was in a spiral and an endless one. Like being flushed in a toilet, drifting farther and farther away from the star.
Then before he knew what was happening, he was in a collision with something else. As though time was colliding with space and emotions were colliding with his senses, falling seizelessly.
He was beginning to feel again.
He was finally breathing. He could finally talk. All of this were happening during his free fall.
The pain from the piercing of sword in his chest came without warning as he screamed into reality with all his might but was blasted with a very loud deafening sound that shook him back to consciousness like a quake in his mind.
The sound did not stop. It kept thundering in his ear, almost causing him an ear bleed.
At this point, had stopped falling, landing with a spin, before being gradually left alone in stillness.
He stayed that way for a while.
Then softly, his lashes began to flutter. His orbs moved inside closed lids, up, and then down, before a little opening below.
Slowly, his lids slid open.
His reality...
... It felt so real.
It was real.
"I'm not dead?"