A Strange New World

When that strange Omni-voice told Shikata that Purgatory will be both familiar but foreign, he meant it.

If the silver-haired ghoul would give a plain description of what he has seen within his short wander through the streets, he could easily make it seem like a mundane region. Some Buildings that were built are there, people walking around, and the sky still had clouds. Very generic components of any area.

But nothing sat right with Shikata, no matter how long he spent looking at everything he couldn't mentally move past all the differences.

The biggest one was the sky! Maybe all the entertainment media he consumed might've corrupted his expectations but he is having a hard time relaxing when the sky is light orchid and the clouds are all shades of orange. Not only did it feel like some doomsday event was going to happen any moment, which was unsettling, but he couldn't tell what time of day it was!

That was when a thought hit Shikata.

("Wait, is time even a factor here? As far as I know, it's always like this and the concept of day and night doesn't exist here. I could judge the traffic here to guess what time of day it is, assuming souls need to rest in cycles like in the real world. Mary did say souls could feel fatigued here when they first arrive. That means souls can experience exhaustion here, naturally that implies souls need rest to recover. I was in a bed when I woke up. But does that translate to this place having a day and night cycle?")

He was running in mental circles and he knew it.

("This'll be a lot easier if I just found someone friendly to talk to, hopefully someone who speaks my language,") Shikata thought to himself, not sure why he was wasting so much speculating and there was an endless stream of informants in front of him.

A stream of very different-looking people.

It seems he wasn't the only one who experienced a drastic body change entering purgatory. Many of the compatriots here showed similar changes. Numerous of them lacked the natural hair color than the usual black hair or even the rarer brown hair he sees in Japan.

Blonde hair and red hair, pigmentation he has only seen naturally occur in foreigners from other countries.

But the variety didn't end there, people with green, blue, purple, and even pink hair were walking around casually as well.

("I only ever see this kind of rainbow mixed batch with cosplayers and weirdos online, and most of the time they were either wigs or dyed,") Kokoro thought to himself, eyeing all the people. He would be suspicious that this may just be a strange trend here, but then he laid eyes on a middle-aged guy with light pink hair in a business suit running around as if he was late to an event. He immediately concluded, ("But something tells me they're not faking it because there's no goddamn reason an actual grown man would choose that color and go out proud of it.")

Those weren't the only features he noticed, people had noses, teeth, ears, and eyes with characteristics that were a biological impossibility for regular humans to have without some degenerate genetic mutations taking place. Yet, even from his analytical eyes, he couldn't see any signs that these were cosmetic add-ons.

He even saw someone who had the inverse change with their eyes, where only their black pupils could be seen.

Kokoro still felt he was out of place even though what they have is no different than what happened to him.

("Maybe a side effect of being in Purgatory is how it screws with our bodies. Well, souls since we're all dead here,") he thought, staring at the pale skin of his arm, ("And somehow, I still feel like I got screwed over here with this shit.")

While he was still looking at his arms, he reminded himself of another oddity he noticed with the residents here.

Many had chains wrapped around their bodies like he did.

("At least I'm not the only one with this thing, but why do some people don't,") he questioned, he was about to continue his distant watching when he felt a slender hand come onto his shoulder.

A chill immediately ran down Kokoro's spine. Snapping his neck around to look, he was faced with another fair-skinned woman, one without wings.

She had ruby-tinted brown hair that flowed down to her shoulder and her emerald eyes shined through. While somewhat startled from Kokoro's quick turn around, she gave a friendly smile as she greeted him with a wave, "Oi, sorry to bother you there mister. You just seemed a little lost, wandering around like you were."

Despite the warm greeting she internally commented, ("and it's kinda creepy with that glare of yours.")

"Not lost," replied the amber-eyed man in his usual monotone voice as he scratched the back of his neck, "Just doing a bit of a touring."

"You new here?"

"Hot off the oven."

"Thought so. The only time there's a 'tourist' this deep is if you just arrived in Purgatory."

"Why?"

"This place manages to be more organized with its arrivals, it's uncommon for souls to just appear in the streets."

"I see."

"How did you end up here?"

"I died," bluntly replied Kokoro, not even blinking when he spoke. Like a dagger, his comment staggered the conversation from how abrupt it was pulled out.

Taking a moment, the ruby-haired woman pondered to herself. She would tilt her head to the side with a curious look before asking, "That was a joke wasn't it?"

Kokoro nodded, still keeping his deadpan expression.

Letting a snort slip out, the young woman told him, "Ah, you got me. You're tricky fella, at least give me a hint that you were kidding around instead of that straight face. But what I was getting at was that most stragglers get caught at the outskirts of here. It's weird for a newcomer like you to be left alone on their first evening. "

"How do you know it's evening time!?" immediately asked Kokoro, so curious to learn what they use here to tell time here that he spoke quite swiftly in anticipation compared to his usual pace.

Hearing him, the ruby-haired slapped a hand on her forehead before declaring, "Wow, you really are new. I know you said you were fresh off the stove but I didn't think you meant you were red hot and a minute off the burner. Did the angel who introduced you here explain anything to you?"

The amber eyes of Kokoro slowly trailed away to not make eye contact as he answered, "I had an early departure with mine."

"Oh, well then, how about you take a walk with me?" the woman offered, nudging his arm. She couldn't leave someone who's out of their element when they can't even tell the time of day, plus, he looked like he needed to lighten up, "I'll give you a nice show around."

Objecting to this, Kokoro replied, "It would be appreciated but if you got any plans you don't need to waste your time. A few directions will work, I can figure it out from there."

"Don't worry about it silly, we're in Purgatory, we got plenty of time. I can spend some of it doing a little community good," she insisted, after picking up a few stones off the ground, she took up his arm and started pulling him down the street, "Now come along, let's make you look like less of a stranger."

"I'm new."

"That doesn't mean you have to actually look the part."

"... Is this because of my face?"

"A little."

"I woke up like this!"

The ruby-haired girl withheld any comment, being considerate by keeping it on the inside, ("Yikes, the fuck was his life to leave him like this?")

Kokoro gave no resistance to getting hauled off, thinking to himself, ("My expectations of what could've happened wandering around this place alone, this wasn't a bad result. I was looking for someone to talk to anyways, now I can get two things at once.")

While they were walking, the redhead gave a comprehensive explanation of how one can tell the time of day in Purgatory. Similar to the real world, it's all about the colors the sky displays. By her words, the sky changes between five colors which tells what time it is but he only needs to watch out for four. The one they're currently under, the orchid sky with orange clouds indicated it was currently evening time; there would be one more change that'll signal nighttime.

Throughout it, Kokoro was relieved this atmosphere was only a naturally occurring stage of the day. He just hopes the other stages also don't have such bizarre aesthetics.

"I'm Seodra, by the way," stated the ruby woman, looking back at the man she's tour guiding for, "What's your name stranger?"

"Shikata Kokoro, thanks again for doing this."

"Shikata?" the woman repeated to herself, "Oh, you're Japanese!"

"You would be correct."

"Aha, I knew it!"

"Impressive that you got it right on the first guess."

"I had a roommate who was really into anime and Japanese culture. She would always bring up some trivia so I guess enough rubbed off that I can recognize certain names."

"Is that why your Japanese is so good? I was surprised with how fluent you spoke when you greeted me."

"Huh?" Seodra looked confused at his comment before her face morphed as if a huge revelation had come to her, "Oh right, I should've explained this first; I'm not speaking Japanese right now."

…

Kokoro gave a blank blink, now it was his turn to look confused, "But, you're--"

"Check out my mouth," the ruby girl interrupted, pointing at the part in question with both her fingers, "Look closely, notice anything off?"

Leaning in, Kokoro examined the woman's pillowy lips as she spoke. Something abnormal was happening, her lips weren't forming the words she was speaking!

Seeing his intrigue, Seodra continued, "We call it Spiritual Communication here. Think of it like a device giving out a signal. When I speak, my soul is giving out a spiritual signal which yours can receive."

While she was saying one-syllable words, her mouth would move as if she was speaking multi-syllable words and vice versa.

"Languages are like frequencies," she explained, "Right now I'm speaking English since I was talking to my friend with it earlier before I spotted you. Do you notice the difference?"

The ruby woman moved closer as she spoke again, "Now I'm speaking my home language, Irish. Do you notice the difference?"

Even though Kokoro was hearing the exact same words being said, the pattern in which her mouth moved was completely different. The only contrast was the slight change in the pronunciation of her words but it was Japanese he was hearing.

"And now, I'm speakin in englesh boeht wit a very 'eavily Iresh accent. Do you nahtice de defference?" continued Seodra, she giggled to herself for having to speak like that. She hasn't spoken like that since she was a child or when she was with her parents, it was almost embarrassing doing the voice in front of someone else, "My words and the intent behind them are sent as one frequency but when you receive it, your soul automatically converts it to a frequency you know. Usually, it'll be whatever language you think in."

Witnessing the whole experience was so jarring that Kokoro's head started hurting staring at it so intensely.

"If you're getting a headache then you should stop paying attention to it," she advised, turning away from him before continuing on the path she was setting them on, "I promise, in a week or two it'll stop bothering you and then eventually you'll stop noticing it as well."

"So what language are you hearing me in?"

"Right now English, only because I was getting too much of a kick out of how strong your accent was in Irish. Don't even get me started on Gaelic."

"...I-is that bad? Because I know a bit of other languages, I can try speaking in those."

"I'm messing with you, don't worry about it," she told him, pulling Kokoro forward to get him moving again, "Overall it doesn't matter outside of specifics. While miscommunication can still happen in this world, just make sure you're always speaking with intent and there shouldn't be anyone you can't speak with. Now come on, let's make your first day here fun."

"And where exactly are you taking me?"

"You'll see."

With how vague the answer was, Kokoro replied, "Can it not be someplace loud. My head is still pounding not just from learning about spiritual communication but processing the whole thing about me being dead."

"That dampers my plan a bit," Seodra mumbled to herself, "Back-up plan it is!"

While the ruby woman had grand plans for the two of them, settled with leading them to a special area. When they had first arrived Kokoro thought of it as a simple marketplace, though it was set upon the weird landscape of purgatory, the people who constructed the area did their best working around it.

Stands were everywhere even on top of the uneven grounds, some in places that made Kokoro wonder if the owner was insane or made peace with the fact that his entire building could collapse at any moment. A variety of billboards had plenty of creative imagery hanging over each shop in some way as an indicator. The decorations still hung off of every tree and building with many fancy stones and displays of flashing lights he hadn't seen before; he wanted to assume neon lights but the sign they were put on was made out of wood and had no electrical equipment put around it.

The lively crowd also surprised him. There were people dressed in clothing he had only seen in books or history documentaries. A group of Buddhist-looking Monks politely passed by him before stopping to give way to a couple of Vikings and going to chat with a witch doctor.

Seodra spoke again after giving the white-haired ghoul a moment to take it in, "This is one of the many shopping districts here. As you can see, it got quite a diverse amount of attires and no, a costume party is not happening nearby. This is just something you'll need to get used to. But if you look closely, you'll see this place has a stronger base to your home."

On second look, Kokoro did get what she meant. Through all the different people he was seeing, he did notice there were more people of Asian descent dressed in more casual attire than any other group there, especially among the store owners. Moreover, the specific designs of the decorations seemed to favor the familiar base.

"I assumed you'll want at least one place that feels somewhat familiar so you don't feel too out of water here," Seodra told him, eyeing some of the shops, "I would've preferred going to the festival nearby I heard they were having today but that'll obviously be too noisy for you."

Kokoro gave a small apology, scratching his cheek, "Sorry, maybe another time."

"Oh is that a date you're offering?"

"No," was the cold immediate answer Kokoro gave, he didn't even blink when he said it.

There was an unprecedented silence for a moment before Seodra told the amber-eyed ghoul, "...You know, while I was kidding it still stings getting rejected that coldly. Flatter me a little, don't make me sound like a hellish option."

"It's nothing personal I promise," he defended himself, though he undeniably felt more liberated speaking the way he did since he's not on the clock. Masking one's words can be taxing at times, that's one of the benefits of being dead, now he no longer has to care about what he says to people, "It's more of a Me thing than you."

"If you say so," huffed Seodra, she'll swallow her damaged pride for now since it seemed like his words weren't tipped with malice, "Well if we see each other again, I wouldn't mind taking you to a district I'm more familiar with."

"It would be appreciated."

The duo had traversed the marketplace a bit, seeing all the common antics that take place. People arguing over prices, the quality of the good, not knowing what something does, and the classics of someone being way too entitled. But alongside them, there were people performing tricks, playing with fire, and doing whatever shenanigan they could to attract potential customers to be interested in what they're doing. It breathed in a nostalgic feeling walking through it all, back at a simpler time where things felt more lively. If the sky weren't a common reminder, he might've forgotten that this wasn't earth.

"Do you find it weird?" he finally asked as they were walking.

"You got to be more specific here," Seodra responded, he had no idea how vague his statement was for a veteran like her. That can be applied to a lot of things here that she wouldn't think twice about anymore.

"Purgatory, the fact that it exists."

"Of course, I don't think there's a single person who came here who wasn't a bit queasy about this place's existence. Few concepts really explore the realm of the in-between and even then it's more of a footnote to the big picture; a place meant to be moved on from yet here we are."

"Exactly. It feels weird that between the literal fires and misery of hell below us and the utopian heaven there's…. this. That's like being alive but isn't and I'm still trying to get my mind around it."

Seodra shrugged, "Relax, you're doing better than most people. My first reaction was, 'Oh fuck there is an afterlife' and then I spent my first month here living like a hermit contemplating my life."

"Damn," Kokoro commented, even his stone face showed cracks hearing her.

"What!? Do you blame me? Stuff like this makes you wish that maybe you should've taken different actions in your life," as she was speaking, the ruby girl looked at her wrist where there seemed to be a strange bracelet on her wrist, "Where if you had made changes in your life when you were younger then maybe you would have fewer regrets in your life and wouldn't have to deal with such bothersome things."

The white-haired man examined the bracelet she was eyeing, spotting that the chains were in the shapes of golden handcuffs that connected each other, between them were a rainbow array of gems.

("Is that what she woke up with?") he thought to himself. Compared to his own, hers seemed less gnarly but something was emitting off of it he couldn't put his finger on. It sparked Kokoro into asking, "So you have one of these chains too?

Holding up his own he says, "I've been wondering about them and now I'm even more confused seeing yours look so fashionable."

Seodra's body shuddered eyeing the chains attached to his arm, "Yeah, yours is certainly more bone-chilling to look at."

"Why do we have such things? And why does yours look like that?"

"Huh, mine?" She stammered, her voice seemed shaken from the simple question.

"Don't you at least know why we have it? If I hear why yours is the way it is then maybe I can get an idea of the reason behind mine."

Suddenly Seodra's face started turning red as she started running away, "Ah, you know what? I'm hungry for some ramen noodles, let's get some."

The Irish woman pulled out a small ruby gem, its vermillion hue being comparable to her hair, momentarily flashed it to her white-haired company before continuing on her hasty departure.

"Hey wait," Kokoro called out, about to chase after her. His confusion was only growing quicker by the second, ("Who drags a stranger unfamiliar with the land to the market of all places and leave him alone? And do all Irish folks say Ramen Noodles? Pick one! It's either ramen or noodles.")

His efforts to get answers were cut short, as well as his ongoing internal rant about unnecessarily expanding words. A black blur slashed through the air between them before crashing into the ground. clods of dirt that were knocked up rained from the sky and a puff of dust filled the area of the crash site.

Despite his vision being skewed from the dust, Kokoro found himself marching forward through the mess. Trying to make his way through, he called for Seodra to see if she was ok; whatever dropped from the sky landed closer to her than him. It was difficult getting his voice out to be heard, him speaking in a stagnant voice aside, there was an uproar among the crowd. While most of it sounded more like confusion than panic, it caused enough of a ruckus to drown out a monotonous person trying to call out for someone.

Through the chaos, a voice broke through that Kokoro heard.

"Shikata ___"

("That's Seodra,") thought Kokoro, he looked around trying to discern where it came from.

"Shikata r__"

Being in his head, he thought, ("It doesn't sound like she's in danger but her voice does seem… alarmed.")

"R__!"

("What is she saying?")

"RUN!"

("From what?")

A timely shout from the crowd answered his curiosity, "DEMON!"

Hearing such a supernatural concept being called out in real life, or whatever you can call his existence at the moment, was so foreign and off-putting that his mind couldn't process it for the warning being given. Instead, what came to mind were more questions.

Crossing his arms as he pondered over such obvious intentions.

His poorly timed thought session was interrupted when the low but ghastly sound seeped into his ear like an invasive worm, and an unsettling chill, one that wasn't felt in years, was felt in his bones.

Slowly Kokoro turned his head toward the sound's origin. He could feel a menacing presence nearby and a jitter sensation crawled up his chained arm.

The dust dissipated enough for him to see a silhouette of what crashed into the ground, and what he could see wasn't human. It was a creature that had a heavily grotesque form, with only the being recognizable as human-shaped, and its tall physique loomed over him by over half his entire body.

Whatever it was had noticed Kokoro's presence as well, glaring back at him with bloodshot eyes that pierce through the dust cloud; the intensity felt as though it was setting its sights on Kokoro's very soul.

All previous cognition noise was wiped out of Kokoro's mind and his face was left like a deer in headlights. Only a single thought remained, ("What the hell is that!?")