Chapter 10: Death

As mortals, it is simply our destiny to die at the end of our days. Death is inevitable. Those who have tried to deprive the Grim Reaper of his due always end up paying him their life and a little extra. Such is the way of the world, the bane of human life.

However, despite the stark inevitability of our mortality, we ignore it. After all, how can we survive without ignoring the fact that we shall surely die? It is impossible to go through life, day after day, with all its struggles, as we rush towards our dreams and still be ceaselessly conscious of our mortality.

Unfortunately, it matters not how well we ignore our approaching demise. On our last days, we are all forced to face the stark fact that we are mortal. Kia faced this fact as her consciousness receded. She had never been the religious type, so she had no gods to pray to. And how could she pray when the image of Baglor Bargaratti overpowered her thought, his blue eyes impelling her every emotion to flow towards him.

She tried to pray, a simple prayer.

"Save me from the tortures of hell."

It was all she dared to ask for. Demand paradise seemed like a reach. But the thought of hell was too scary for her to accept. Whatever was in between, limbo, purgatory, inexistence, that was sure to do just fine.

Kia remained stuck in the darkness, with Baglor being the only light, waiting for something to happen. It seemed like the universe was trying to decide what to do with this tiny little soul. Kia Imagined the universe weighing the good and evil of her life.

She was no saint, but she wasn't evil either. Yes, she wasn't religious, and she wasn't kind, but she fought crime, and that was sure to stand for something. However, she was lying down, surrounded by criminals, after fighting on the side of her enemies. Looking down from heaven, it wasn't a nice image.

As Kia tried to think through what was going on in the unfeeling, painless, empty darkness, one question kept springing into her mind, "But what the fuck is Baglor doing here?

He wasn't really there in person, for that would be crazy. Instead, a manifestation of him, like an aura of light, stood at the end of the tunnel. Even more strange was the fact that his features were nothing she had seen when she was alive. His features were beastly and fierce and yet warming and inviting, like a large friendly dog, inviting the touch and petting of a human.

Kia had heard stories of people seeing a white light during the final moments of their deaths. However, she couldn't remember if walking to the light brought them back to light or if walking to the light took them to heaven. Furthermore, she had never in her life heard of people seeing the face of their enemy shining like the sun rather than a white light.

Without waiting for an order from her conscious self, her subconscious propelled her towards the light. She wasn't walking as she had no legs or bodies. But she moved, and she kept moving until she touched him. And beyond touching him, she entered him into his silver light, merging with his aura, immersing herself in him.

It was so bright, and it grew even brighter until she was blinded by his light. And then it all went dark. Kia didn't know exactly what had happened. But she knew one thing, her life was over.