Death is cold and scary.
The emptiness that you feel when you enter the Void is frightening, enough to make grown-ups feel like little children.
It's as if your emotions have been taken out, repeatedly being washed until there were no more stains, turning you into a blank sheet of paper that someone can write on.
The longer you stay in the Void, the more emotions you lose.
In the first hour, you lose your happiness and love
In the second hour, you lose your anger and hatred
In the third, you lose hope and despair
By your fifth, you are already a blank sheet of paper, something that someone can write on.
(Kairo's POV)
As I fell into the embrace of death, it seemed like I was being teleported into another realm.
I gathered up the courage to open my eyes, and I saw a vast emptiness. I looked around, hoping to find someone else in the dark to no avail.
"Hello!!!" I shouted, "Is anybody here?!!?!"
I waited for a while, hoping to hear an answer from anything, even if it was from a monster.
Minutes passed, and there were no answers. I felt creeped out, hoping that someone would answer me, I didn't want to be alone.
Eventually, an hour passed. I felt something being ripped out of me.
I panicked and flailed around, moving my body to prevent whatever that's being ripped out of me from leaving me, but to no avail - whatever it was, it was ripped out of me.
I tried to remember the embrace of my mother, the laughs that I shared with my father, and the games I played with my brother. I looked at them in my memories, but I could not feel anything, not even a speck of emotion.
Another hour passed as I panicked and tried to feel happiness and love towards the memories that I have, but I could not feel anything towards them.
I lost my anger and hatred.
I accepted my fate as another hour passed, making me lose any hope and the ability to feel despair at my situation.
The fourth hour was the slowest one.
By my fifth hour, I was wandering around without a speck of emotion, walking around as an empty shell.
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years.
I have been wandering around for millennia's, accepting the fact that I would be walking for all of eternity. At least losing despair was good for something.
I tried to commit suicide. I tried it many times, but my ethereal body would just regenerate no matter what method I used.
One day, I was wandering, and I met another soul. I looked at her with an emotionless gaze, uncaring of her impressions towards me.
"Well, I did not expect to see a soul here... how did you get to this place, lost lamb?" She questioned me with an interested look in her eyes.
I bluntly replied, "I died."
Perhaps amused by my blunt reply, she smiled and asked, "Would you like to get out of here? It must be tiring, wandering around for millennia's, being unable to die."
I did not feel hope. I was incapable of feeling it. Even so, I did not hesitate to say yes.
"Well, the first order of business is to restore your emotions" She said as she snapped her finger.
It was magical. The feeling of having your emotions restored cannot be compared to any other pleasures in the world.
My eyes lit up, and tears started falling down my face, as I laughed with a smile on my face, trying to feel all the emotions that I lost at once.
I laughed and cried for hours, before finally stopping to thank her with a huge smile on my face.
"Oh no no no, don't thank me yet," she said, "I still have business with you."
I looked at her with a puzzled gaze.
"Now, since you were stuck in the Void between worlds for a very long time, I must tell you what the Afterlife is like. Normally when a soul dies, it will be transported to the Realm of the Dead where I preside, and I will choose to send it to Paradise, Hell, or the Reincarnation River, which are pretty self-explanatory. Today I was feeling bored, and I decided to look through the list of souls that died within the last millennia, and guess what? You never made it into my realm!"
"So you went to search for me?"
"Yeah, I mean it's not like you get to find a soul that's lost every day right?? So anyway, I decided to grant you a second chance at life, and I will personally administer to your reincarnation process!"
I was feeling thankful towards whatever made her feel bored enough to look through a list of souls that died within the last millennia, which must've been billions, if not trillions.
"Anyways, let's spin some Lucky Wheels!" She said as 2 Lucky Wheels appeared out of nowhere.
I looked at the first one, and the sign on it said, "Worlds", while the second one said "Perks".
"Come on, spin it already!" She seems to be rather hyperactive for someone who presides over the realm where dead people go, but I suppose that is what boredom does to a person.
I walked towards the first one, and I spun it.
The wheel kept on spinning for 2 minutes, I was puzzled as I was sure that I did not use a lot of strength, but I ignored it anyway. The wheel eventually slowed down, and when it seemed like it would land on "Naruto", it miraculously made one more spin and landed on my favorite show, "One Piece".
I was excited at the result because well, after wandering alone in endless darkness with no entertainment for millennia's, it would be a very welcomed change to adventure and explore the world with friends.
The Goddess looked amused at the results and told me to spin the second one.
I spun the second wheel, and I saw many perks such as "Regressor", "Double Devil Fruits", "Gamer's System", and eventually, as the wheel slowed down, it was about to land on "Double Devil Fruits", and I was excited at that, but then it landed on "Reincarnator".
I was feeling down at the prospect of missing the chance at eating two Devil Fruits, I had a lot of ideas on possible combinations, such as Mythical-Zoan and Logia Devil Fruits.
The Goddess burst out in laughter at the results I got from the wheels, and she said, "HAHAHAHA!!! You were unlucky today, Kairo. Anyways, I wish you good luck in the future. Don't give up and commit suicide when times are hard for you!"
A black hole opened underneath me and swallowed me, as I lost my consciousness, the last thing I heard was her roaring in laughter.
Hey, I know that I made many mistakes on this chapter, feel free to point it out in the comments!