Death.
A paradox that has been theorized for centuries. What is Death—where does it begin, where does it end, and who, if any, commands it?
It always ends in contemplation after contemplation. A concept so mind boggling that many a people lean into teachings of religion to try and grasp it. No amount of calculations or scientific research has presented any insights on its nature, let alone how to escape its clutches. All boils down to one experiencing it for themself.
"Ugh! What's taking so long??" rasped a voice shattering the tranquil.
"I dunno man, this line ain't budging an inch!" Another replied and the eerie silence broke as more voices rose in query.
"Gaddamit, it's been...what? A fucking week? What's that bastard doing in there??
"Maybe they got good Karma 'N the system tweakin'?"
"Some Mahatma Gandhi shit."
"It better not be some drama...why can't people just accept death as it is?!"
First a hundred voices, then thousands, then millions upon millions until the air itself trembled with their unrest.
Welcome to Limbo!
A realm of souls—the righteous, the damned, the lost—lined in a queue that coiled beyond horizons. No landmarks, no sky, no end. Only a marble road laid over a desert of silver sand that shimmered with cold moonlight. It pulsed like a heartbeat and the atmosphere howled with every interval glow. Any place other than the pathway was a restricted area. There were no guards to keep people in line...yes, the curious people found out the hard way. Anyone who stepped on the lunar sand was banished from existence in the most brutal of ways (if the screams of damnation were any indication).
The marble path could accommodate two trucks side–by–side but the dead had settled for a single file line. None wanting to take any risk; 'the dead fear nothing', unless there exists a chance of existential damnation.
The endless queue led into a vast, shifting dome of impossible colors; the end of everything, or perhaps the start of something worse.
Suddenly, the dome blazed like a newborn star. A ripple blasted outward, spanning infinity in seconds. There was a sharp toll of bells that made the souls shiver as the wave of power washed over the void like an aurora. In its wake, people lay sprawled on the ground with rolled eye–whites. Their features carved in silent screams.
Those of stronger will were reduced to their knees as the presence crushed them. The pain was excruciating. Another wave rippled and the pain kicked up a notch! More people dropped unconscious. Then another skull–shattering frequency until everyone was flat on the ground in submission and suffering.
"O..o–okay! We..We get it! We won't talk anymore!"
The waves ceased. Silence reigned again, broken only by groans as the multitudes dragged themselves upright. Inside the dome, whatever presence dwelled there seemed satisfied.
*** **** *****
The dome's interior was no chamber, it was an eternity of light. Walls bent and folded like living glass, horizons curving upon themselves, every surface humming with quiet judgment.
At its center towered three silhouettes of brilliance, massive beyond scale. They weren't figures but blinding shapes, pillars of light twisted into the faint impression of forms. Their radiance bled into one another, yet each was distinct:
One glowed with a warmth that scalded, as though love itself could burn.
Another shone in cold indifference, sharp as starlight on winter stone.
The last blazed merciless, a blinding purity that admitted no shadow.
Tobey stood alone before them—small, laughably so, a speck of ash in a storm of suns. The marble floor beneath his bare feet vibrated with every breath the titans took, though none of them moved.
"Soul 71,934,518,263,144," a voice thundered – not in sound, but within his very being. His bones rattled, his thoughts buckled. The presence was suffocating, absolute. "Prepare thyself".
Tobey inhaled shakily. His instinct screamed at him to kneel, to grovel like every other soul that had ever stood here. Instead, he raised his chin.
"Name's Tobey," he croaked, forcing a grin. "And I've got… some requests."
The lights pulsed—once, like a heartbeat. The pressure on him doubled. His grin nearly cracked into a scream.
"Requests?" the second judge intoned, colder, sharper, slicing through him like a blade of thought. "You stand in judgment, yet you presume to bargain?"
Tobey swallowed, his body trembling though his voice fought to stay level. "Well, yeah. I mean… if I'm going back in, I'd rather not be thrown in naked, y'know? A man's gotta have some perks."
The third light flared, blinding, and the dome shuddered with its fury. Souls outside the dome writhed as the echo rippled into the queue.
"Arrogance!"
Yet Tobey didn't look away. His lips quirked upward, a flicker of defiance in the face of eternity. "Nah. Just negotiation."
Silence. Cosmic, crushing silence.
Then—one of the lights dimmed slightly, as if leaning closer.
"Very well, mortal. Bargain, if you dare. But ponder this, every gift carries its price."
The dome vibrated as though the very laws of reality braced themselves.
And the game began.
Tobey licked his lips, nerves sparking. He recalled the many works of fiction he'd indulged himself in while on earth. The infamous DC and Marvel universes, literarure with a wealth of adventure and animes.
Damn, the options were endless, literally!
"…I wanna reincarnate in a world of magic. You know, swords, spells, dragons—"
Before he could finish, the warm light pulsed. "Denied."
"What? Why?"
"Such realms are fiction. Constructs of mortal imagination. They do not exist."
Tobey blinked, his dream crumbling. "O-okay, fine, fine. What about… anime world then? Naruto? Dragon ball? Bleach?"
The blinding light flared so harshly his soul nearly cracked. "Denied."
"But—!"
"Fiction."
Tobey's shoulders sagged. His head spun through possibilities. "Video game world? Superpowers? Cultivation? At least let me—"
Each plea was struck down, coldly and immediately.
"Fiction. Fiction. Fiction."
His voice broke in frustration. "Goddammit, what's the point of death if I can't even get a cheat start?"
The dome shook with dissonance—something between laughter and condemnation. The cold light cut through the hum:
"Karma dictates privilege. Yours is meager. What weight you earned in life could not buy the smallest of such illusions."
"...So you're saying if I wasn't living a mediocre life, I could've had magic?"
The warm light pulsed, burning. "Had you lived in virtue, your requests might have been weighed. But your ledger is empty."
Tobey clenched his fists, racking his brains for a thread of hope. "Then… just let me keep my memories. That's all I want. No cheats, no magic. Just me. Let me remember who I was."
The lights brightened as if to condemn him once again but then they dimmed,considering. The silence stretched until it scraped at his sanity. Finally, the middle light spoke.
"Memory is weight. Memory is curse. Yet… it is within reason. You may retain it."
Relief hit him like breath after drowning. "Thank you."
The cold light surged. "Do not thank us. Thank your stubbornness. You have garnered the attention of The Orphic."
Tobey blinked slowly. "Is...is that a good thing?"
The first light glowed violet as it answered him, "You have been granted your soul in the next life, but at the cost of another."
'Wait, WHAT?! What does s(he) mean by that?'
He wore his confusion on his face and one of the lights hummed as if to sigh.
"Thou shall be stripped of your humanity in compensation. By the Orphic's Will."
The dome shook once more, and the judges' voices wove together into one terrible decree:
"Tobey. Soul 71,934,518,263,144. You shall be reborn."
"Wait! Wait, WAIT! What do you mean I shall lose my humanity?"
The floor beneath him collapsed. Light consumed him, shredded him, remade him. He tried to scream but had no mouth. Tried to think but thought was fire. Darkness embraced him and he vanished from the cosmic judges' sight.
With another flash of light, a new soul appeared before them, it trembled when it lay its eyes on them and this soured their mood more than they would like to admit. Tobey had been slightly interesting, talking and bargaining up to them–superior beings!
A mighty snap resounded within the biome of light and the soul disappeared from sight, set on its way to reincarnation, hell, or heaven.