un: cantilena

[windsongs]

This might be a weird question but bear with me. I think some of us remember having a life before the one we've supposedly lived in Crane City or beyond. But does anyone remember dying? Literally dying or being led to believe you have.

I won't ask the specifics. You don't even need to tell me your name if you don't want to. Death is a very personal thing and one of the first things they teach you in my profession is to avoid asking direct questions about the event itself. But I've been turning the possibilities in my head and even the reincarnation angle doesn't really fit. If you've got any insights or ideas I'd love to hear them. Or if you know anything about the afterlife/netherworld in general. Either way, let's swap notes.

Comments

un: deku

[defendure]

I can't help with the first part, although I guess that's always a possibility, but my top theory was some sort of reality-bending ability? I haven't really narrowed down to one theory as of yet so there's a lot of possibilities still. I'm not sure how to test for most of them though.

[windsongs]

it's not really proven back home but I know more than a few people who believe that it's possible

reality-bending abilities huh?
that's pretty vague... what other theories do you have?

[defendure]

Yeah, it's a pretty wide range of abilities that would all work in different ways, but none seem to quite fit! As to other theories...

Does a head injury count? Because that's up there. Or oxygen-deprivation fueled fantasies.

[windsongs]

maybe for one or two people I'd believe that
but for a larger group? unless there's some way to cause mass hallucinations...

it makes me wonder though
this isn't the first time a bunch of people have suddenly found themselves somewhere else with little to no explanation
other than "you're dead so that's why you're here"
even if most of us doubted that was the case

un: lark

[appeale]

This makes Stygia even more confusing, huh Kiki?

[ CASUALLY TRYING A NICKNAME WHILE SWEATING ANXIOUSLY BECAUSE SHE NEEDS TO SOLIDIFY HER EXISTING LIFELINES!!! ]

We never figured out if we were really dead or not, and now we're suddenly here...

[windsongs]

[ She recognizes that user name, and mentioning Stygia cinches it. ]

it's frustrating! I mean I didn't completely buy the unseen death in a seedy alleyway angle
sounds more like something you'd see in a movie
but we're alive and hopefully never have to see that place again








and Kiki? is that supposed to be me? 😆
cute.......

[appeale]

Sorry, I hope it was okay to call you that!! 😖
I was trying to think of a good nickname... but I won't if you don't like it!

I'm really glad it seems like a lot of us made it here, though.
Even if this place is nicer, it would have been too sad without anyone else from Stygia.

[ although, she actually fucking hates this place and she wishes they had all stayed in Stygia, purgatory or not. ]

[windsongs]

I love it!
I dunno if I'm cute enough to be a Kiki but I don't mind you calling me that! 😊

and agreed. it feels like we're getting a second chance at things
or maybe a third?
it's still weird though. how different is this life from the other one you remember?

text ↪️ un: just.a.chef

[nagano]

Residence in the underworld isn't nearly as permanent as it may initially seem. That's my two yen.

Do you remember your "death," then? It's awfully unpleasant.

[ The first few hundred times, at least. ]

[windsongs]

you know, if you would have told me that a couple of months ago I would disagree with you
but I haven't ruled out something more sinister going on here as well

and yes and no. it's complicated
I remember heading home, catching a glimpse of something...... wrong before blacking out
next thing I knew I was in the netherworld fighting for my unlife

[ Wait. ]

you remember dying?

🔒 private

[nagano]

Don't tell anyone. I'm not usually so loose with my words.

I know Death better than almost everyone here, unless we've got a few deities in our midst.

I know what dying feels like. It's burned into my soul.

So I really, really hope the death you're recalling was false or an illusion.

🔒 private

[windsongs]

I promise I won't

[ And as far as he knows, that promise tally is only at 1, not the huge number it was back then. ]

burned into your soul?
I believe you just... I've never heard anyone put it that way
are you ok talking about it?

what I vaguely remember was it being very sudden
I still lean toward false memories than actuality
except there's one detail that doesn't line up with that theory

un: dreamer

[nightchild]

your profession?

[windsongs]

I help the souls of the deceased to help them move on to the afterlife
or I did until recently

[nightchild]

So you're like a shinigami? Or a medium?

[windsongs]

neither of those really fit
unless shinigami double as a psychiatrist and errand person
and I can't reach out to them after they've moved from our realm so I wouldn't call myself a medium either

think of me more like a social worker but for spirits

un: harukaze

[janescayre]

If you're referring to what I think you are, I don't think that place was what it claimed to be. I was told I was dead and couldn't remember anything about what killed me. Then to show up here with all memories of life and the afterlife in tact, in addition to this weird third set from Crane City? It's far too suspicious. I was never convinced I'd died no matter what creepy supernatural bullshit they pulled.

Also, all the dead people who should have been there weren't, and it employed a hodge podge of clashing mythologies and superstitions. There were too many inconsistencies all around. I think it's safe to say that most of us are still alive.

[windsongs]

that makes two of us. and for the record, I wasn't completely convinced myself
there were too many of us with holes in our memories related to our own deaths to buy into the idea that we were no longer alive

weirdly enough, it wasn't the mish-mash of mythologies that bothered me
believe it or not but that kind of thing is a lot more common than you might think

[janescayre]

[LOUD AND LONG SIGH. Speculative fiction is the most exhausting genre, help.]

Why? Were you also the son of Hades or something? Prince Rama's best friend?

The most that might have existed at home was ghosts, and even that was a bunch of hokey superstition. Now I've got to take everyone's hackneyed histories at face value? People could just make up whatever and no one would be the wiser.

un: abyssprincess

[unalign]

[ she hates her un but w/e, the word netherworld is much, much more important than the un this life of hers has created ]

Storms, rude home invaders, getting thrown into prison—

I can't say I'd like to do it all over again.

[windsongs]

[ Wait a second, she recognizes that name. From two different sets of memories. Well, that's unsettling. ]

that makes two of us
if I never have to think about that place it'll be too soon
it's bad enough I have a constant reminder to look at...

how much do you remember of that place?

[unalign]

[ that makes the two of them. lumine smiles wryly, her eyebrows furrowing. ]

Not a bad reminder, is it?

It's a little difficult to explain, to be honest. You could say that my memories of the Netherworld is sandwiched between my other memories of the world I was previously in.

un: rikarin

[heartshots]

so how did you die?

[ Rika you can't just ask people that!! ]

[windsongs]

that's not really something you just ask somebody
it's bad manners

[heartshots]

aren't you basically asking abt the same thing?