Chapter 2: Welcome To The Promised Lands

Once Nissa awoke from her daze, she felt as if she had been put through some sort of torturous nightmare. Her mind raced with thoughts as she attempted to process what had just happened to her. Was she dead? No…she could feel the beating of her heart. So she wasn't dead. Then what had happened to her? How was her body still intact? And more importantly where was she?

With a groan, Nissa managed to slowly raise her head from her lying position on the hard floor, only to find herself inside a small stone room that appeared to be lit by several candles set about her vicinity. It had an eerie aura around it like no other place she had been before. In fact, there were no windows and the only door was locked tight with a simple steel gate secured to its surface.

She could hear a faint voice echoing throughout the chamber, but was not quite able to pick it apart. It sounded unfamiliar to her ears and carried a haunting tone as its voice bounced off of the narrow corridor.

Standing to her feet, Nissa walked over to the bars, squishing her head against them in an attempt to see who was walking about. But all she could see were shadows moving inside a dimly lit hallway.

*Well, that's not very helpful.* Nissa muttered under her breath as she placed her hand against the cold surface of the bars. * I guess I could try and get their attention...maybe. I hope they're friendly. I don't want any more beatings if I can help it.*

poking her mouth out through the narrow gap, Nissa called out for anyone to hear.

"Excuse me...can someone please come and help me? I seem to have gotten myself lost in this cell and I would love some help getting out of here." Nissa shouted out into the barren halls.

"Well good morning to you too little lady. Did you just wake up?" A voice rang out from somewhere beside her cell, making Nissa's heart skip a beat as she jumped away from the bars with a shriek.

"Ow!" She cried out as she clutched at the throbbing pain in her rear. *That hurt!*

"Hoho, sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare ya. My name's Baul by the way." The man spoke with a hearty laugh. "I'm guessing you don't know where you are, considering how calm you are. Either that or you have a death wish. Either way, I'm glad to meet someone willing to speak up in this dreary place."

"What do you mean? Where are we?" Nissa inquired, still holding onto the pain that radiated through her lower back area.

"Wow, you really don't know? We are currently within one of the rebel prisons. Where we will await our disastrous fate or whatnot. At least that's why I'm here. I'm guessing that you wouldn't have any information that they want. So tell me? How did you end up down here?"

Nissa paused for a few moments before answering. "I don't exactly remember…I woke up in some desert, met a little girl with demonic wings, then she took me to some fantastical city under fire from some guys called Reapers. After that, I can't remember anything. It was like I blacked out or something."

"Aha! Now I get it. You're a wanderer aren't ya?"

A..wanderer? I think that's also what that girl called me as well. What does that mean?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this little lady, but you're no longer on Earth. This place that you've found yourself in, is known as Revenant. The afterlife. And if you've found yourself here, that means that you're already dead."

The words were almost too much for her to handle. It felt as if someone had ripped open her insides and was pouring lava inside of her body.

"Dead." She whispered in disbelief as she looked at her body with confusion etched across her face. "You can't be serious…"

Baul hummed in a manner to acknowledge that indeed, he was being entirely truthful. "Yes, you are dead. You must have died quite recently to boot. Those rebels wouldn't waste an opportunity to add a fresh naive wanderer to their army.

"Wait for a moment! I can't be dead. I...I mean there has to be some mistake." Nissa insisted on the possibility of her death as she tried desperately to deny it. "There has to be another explanation…some mistake."

But Baul wasted no time in shutting down any attempts of denial, "Listen to me carefully little lady." His voice boomed out with such intensity that she couldn't help but listen intently. "There ain't a soul in the world that hasn't gone through that same old song and dance. And I would know, I've already spent multiple lifetimes in this land.

But this is one thing that I guess you could say I was incorrect about. This isn't exactly the afterlife, but instead the realm between life and death. And unfortunately, there is no longer a proper way of passing on unless struck down by someone like me."

"What do you mean, someone like you? How are you special?"

"Oh, you're going to make me blush little lady. I'm not what's special. It's our weaponry. Passed down from the Creators themselves, tools that can force a soul to pass on without needing the Creator's aid."

She stared blankly ahead as he spoke. "And this is something you can actually use? Can you show me?"

"Of course I can...not. I am in a prison cell you see. Although, you're taking this a lot better than I expected. Most people freak out when they find themselves stuck in this limbo-like world?"

Nissa looked away from the bars and sighed quietly, "Will my life change if I choose to freak out?

"Ah! Now that is a great question. I'm not sure. I can't say anyone has studied that subject enough to tell you." Baul answered her with a chuckle.

"Whatever. So now what? Do I just wait for these so-called Creators to just send me to the real afterlife or what? How long does someone typically stay here?"

"Typically...Forever."

"Forever!" Nissa repeated in shock.

"Yeah ya know. Forever, everlasting, eternally, I think you get the point. I'm sorry to say but the Creators are no more. They haven't existed for millenniums. In fact, I've only ever heard stories of them from the most ancient of the reapers.”

"I don't get it. Where did they go? Did they just make this place and then abandon it?! What happened to the rest of you guys?"

"From what I know, it was less of them abandoning this realm and more or less a problem with their continued existence ya know.

"No! I don't know. Just talk normally!" Nissa exclaimed, growing more frustrated by each passing second.

Baul laughed and shook his head as he spoke again in a normal tone.

"Long story short, this Realm was created as a sort of waiting place to store the mass amount of souls so that everyone could peacefully and calmly transition into the afterlife. Unfortunately, some souls weren't the biggest fans of being forced to pass on. Personally, I wouldn't have minded but that's just me.

Anyways, these rebels started causing a ruckus, doing anything they could to destroy whatever they could get their hands on. Now luckily, we can't die in this realm so there were no casualties. Unluckily, in order to pass on, the souls actually needed to want to. The Creators wouldn't want to do anything without our consent it seemed. Pretty nice fellas, I heard.

This meant that the Creators had no way to quell the ever-increasing horde of rebels that were destroying the world." Baul explained as Nissa nodded along silently with each new detail.

"Eventually the Creators came up with a solution. They had made a new weapon, the first ever weapon created in this realm. But these were no ordinary tools. They were created with the intent to forcibly extract and deposit souls into the afterlife, whether they wanted to or not.

This was the beginning of the end for the Creators, but no one could have predicted it at that time. Using these new weapons, a new group of souls called the Reapers was formed to stop the rebels' path of destruction. And they succeeded.

Peace was returned to the realm once again and everything was calm until the day when those same weapons would be turned against the reapers.

After a while of peace, the now-formed reapers had locked away the Creator's weapons, vowing only to call upon them when needed if another rebellion were to form.

But they had no idea what dangers the next rebellion would pose. After the first war between the Reapers and the Rebels, the Rebels had managed to get their hands on some of the Creator's weapons.

And no one knows how, but not only did they obtain these weapons, but even reverse-engineered them to both mass produce, and redirect their functionality.

Rather than forcing a soul to pass on, they now simply erased the soul in its entirety. Kind of crazy right?"

"I don't think crazy is the right word for it," Nissa replied with a frown. "Petty is probably better suited."

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Laughing at her words, Baul continued his story.

"Where was I? Oh yeah. So after the Rebels were armed with these weapons, they launched an attack against the reaper's capital, catching them with their pants down. They barely had time to dip into that all-so-precious vault before being cut down, and not only that. There was apparently one rebel that stood above all the others. His power was said to rival not just one, but both of the Creators combined.

Leading his army against them, he was able to strike them down, and with his blades filled with pure destructive energy, they were no more.

At the very least this so-called legendary warrior took quite the beating himself and hasn't woken up since.

But as you can see, we reapers haven't given up the fight just yet. We may have lost the Creators and many of our forces that day, but we still haven't given up on setting the realm right. Or at least that was the intention at first. I'm not quite sure how our objectives of today stack up to those of old.

So what do you think? Was our story thrilling enough for ya? I'm not so sure about the accuracy, but that's the tale that all the elders tell us. Kind of like a cult, don't ya think."

Nissa was silent for a moment before answering. " I just don't get one thing. Shouldn't these roles be reversed? aren't the Reapers the ones causing trouble? I mean, I saw them attacking that poor city. And the girl that rescued me didn't seem nearly half as evil as you're saying the rebels are."

Baul chuckled quietly in response to her comment. "Well, I guess just hearing this story wouldn't be enough to convince ya. Although my time is limited, I'm sure that you will be released once your handler arrives. Just remember what I've told you while you're out there. You need to decide which side you will fight for, and you must do it soon. Though, I'm not sure which side is right and which side is wrong. But it’s already too late for me to figure out that truth. I’d say, whether one side is right or not, just pick the one where you can live your best afterlife.

Just be careful out there. If anyone finds out that we've spoken, you won't be safe.

Wait, Why wouldn't I be safe? What would they do if they found out?" She asked curiously as she listened to Baul shifting around in his cell.

But before he could respond, Nissa heard the sound of soft footsteps in the corridor. They had a rhythmic cadence and sounded as if someone was skipping through them. The skipping was accompanied by the soothing sound of humming. And a moment later, a small figure walked into view in the cell doorway.

"Good morning, little wanderer. Did you sleep well?" Her voice was bright and cheerful. It seemed to vibrate off of every inch of Nissa's skin. Her voice was so clear, that it almost felt as if she was whispering directly into Nissa's ear. It once again soothed her mind and eased the tension in her body.

She couldn't help but notice the other beings' wings were folded against her back in such a way that they hung gracefully down her back like a curtain behind her, nearly towering over the girl's small stature.

"Well, good morning to you too, little Ann." Baul answered with a grin, "Although it seems to me that you have been missing out on breakfast again. You won't grow if you don't eat properly ya know."

"Was I speaking to you, prisoner?" The still smiling girl asked in confusion, her hostility evident despite her demeanor.

"Oh, don't be like that, Ann. We're basically best friends at this point. Right?" Baul teased.

"That's a matter of opinion. If you consider your captors to be friends. But wouldn't a friend share their secrets with one another?" She replied, her expression turning into one of slight disgust as she glared at him.

But Baul ignored her comment as he continued. "There you go again with the secrets. You know my lips are sealed tighter than a Yagoroth's jaw. you'll be stuck with me forever so you might as well consider me a friend. You could even use my name every now and then.

Ann let out a deep sigh and stepped away from Nissa's cell and closer to Baul's. As she approached she began to speak again.

"One day, you're going to drop this little facade of yours. And when you do, I'll be there to pry your mouth open like a ripe tomato and devour all of that knowledge you keep locked away." She whispered harshly.

"You know, Ann. I appreciate the offer, but I'm a happily married man. Plus, you're not really my type. I like my woman with a bit more...meat on their bones." Baul said teasingly.

Ann's expression changed from anger to embarrassment and her cheeks grew red with shame as she stared down at herself.

"How dare you! You think I'm a lesser woman just because I'm small, don't you? I'll kill you! I'll tear you limb from limb and-" She paused as a thought crossed her mind and a smile came over her face, "Or I'll rip your heart out and feed it to you!" Ann exclaimed excitedly, her hands twitching with excitement.

"Ummm, have you forgotten about me?" Nissa asked nervously as she looked over and waved at Ann through the cell bars.

"Huh. oh, right. *ahem*. Your dear savior is here to escort you out of this dreary place and out into our glorious city. Let me just get this for you." Ann embarrassingly pulls out a set of keys and inserts them into Nissa's cell door before opening it and sliding the door along the creaky floor.

"Come on out, no need to be shy. Come to mommy dearest." Ann beckons to Nissa as she stretches her arms out in a welcoming gesture.

Nissa hesitates for a moment as her face turns a bright shade of red and steps slowly out of the cell and toward her. The moment she does this, Ann lets out a giggle and wraps Nissa up in a hug.

"You're just too adorable for words. Now come along, It's almost time for your initiation." Ann says gently while pulling Nissa by the arm.

"Initiation? Is it some kind of ceremony?" Nissa asked curiously.

"Haha, yes it is, little girl." She answers with a grin, "But you need to hurry, or else we'll miss it. I didn't expect that grouch of a man to drag you all the way to the prison. I didn't even get the chance to show you around the city."

*Gosh this girl is strong.* Nissa thinks to herself as she's dragged alongside Ann through the narrow halls, littered with the rusting cages of the other prisoners.

A short while later they arrive in front of a large double gate that towered over the two girls. A thin man is stationed in front of the gate holding a large metal spear with flashing red lights running down its sides in his right hand. He looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here and his eyes are bloodshot red, seemingly from lack of sleep or too much wine. He stares down at them both with an awkward smile and waves his spear at them as if trying to communicate something with his gestures.

*That guy is definitely up to some shady business.* Nissa thinks to herself as she watches the guard and his odd behavior.

"Cya later, Ronald. Looking good as always." Ann says sarcastically and gives him a friendly slap on the shoulder before continuing to lead Nissa away from the gate.

"Hehe, there's no need to be so wary of Ronald. Despite what he looks like, he's a pretty nice guy. Although, I can admit that he was a bit spooky when I first met him." Ann laughs jokingly as she unfurls her wings.

Nissa stumbles back at the sudden rush of wind from Ann's wings but is quickly caught by Ann. Embracing Nissa tightly within her arms, Ann begins to flap her wings rapidly as if preparing for flight.

"Hold on tight, darling. We need to move fast or else we won't make it."

With a quick hop, she launches herself off the ground and takes off like a shot, causing Nissa to let out a high-pitched shriek as she is lifted into the sky.

"Oh my? Are you going to be okay?" Ann asks worriedly, keeping one eye on Nissa as they fly over the bustling city below.

"No, no you're fine. I was just a bit startled by the sudden burst of speed. It's still a bit jarring to me. I mean, how does this even work? Don't tell me it's some kind of magic."

Ann lets out a laugh as she shakes her head at the question, "Unfortunately no. I wish I could use magic but this is all I've got. Don"t worry though. You will learn to unleash your wings soon. Then you can fly alongside me rather than under me."

"You're saying that I can do this as well?!" Nissa exclaimed excitedly.

"Of course you can. It's only a matter of time until you learn to control your wings. If you're lucky, you might even earn yourself a variant." Ann replies happily.

*A variant? That sounds magical to me.* Nissa thought excitedly as they flew higher and higher above the streets.

And soon their flight began to slow down as they were now above a large open courtyard. It looked to have been filled with countless others, or maybe not. It was a bit hard for Nissa to tell at this distance with her blurred vision.

Descending carefully with Ann, they land next to one of the many tall trees that lined the edge of the wide courtyard. The courtyard looked to be fairly big and full of people. And directly ahead of it was an unnaturally large building made out of what seemed to be a mixture of stone and metal.

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