1 Prologue (The Beginning to an End)

I'm not what you would call an average human being. Now don't be like most people and believe that I'm not human, because I am... well kind of. I'm a half-human. I used to be more than just half-human, I was a full human, but that was before I died.

            The day it all happened wasn't anything special. It was a plain, normal November night; one where there were many clouds that danced across the skyline. Fog grew up, around the streetlights and alleyways. The fog grew dense and cast shadows, darkening the streetlights, which wasn't uncommon during the long walk from class back to my small apartment.

As if it were a warning, that day was worse than any other; the streets were empty and the sky was pitch black, completely covered in dark clouds. I believed it was fine, but I should've known that nothing good would come from that day. I never would have realized that a walk home could kill someone, until it did.

            As if by design or even fate from some higher being up above, I learned that it wasn't as bad as it originally seemed. It was bad at first, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, I got another chance. A chance to live my life for a better purpose, to better myself. It was a way to fix myself before it was too late. The only cost was to lose half of my humanity. The opportunity was very unusual and seemed to be something right out of a story book.

            This was a new path for me, and it was going to be hard, but the right path is never the easiest one. It's funny though that this new start came with such a strong cost. However, it's not that strong if you have already died, or on the verge of death. It would then seem like an easy choice, half of your humanity to continue living, it wasn't what I originally thought. I was granted the ability to escape death, but it was a trade. I took someone's place.

            I learned a long time ago that the trade was between two souls, one that is missing half of their humanity and one soul on the verge of death, or a soul that has taken someone else's life, a soul that has been bathed in the blood of others. This trade isn't what it seems, it wasn't made or created to give an advantage, but to create a protector of sorts. This trade came with a much higher cost, one that I could never imagine or completely comprehend.

            There were rules that came with this, position. Rules that were weird and unnatural, that seemed to defy reality and the human mind. They made it seem as though being in this position was the greatest gift and the most amazing opportunity that could be presented to any human, but in truth, that was all a lie. I discovered that when taking a closer look at the rules, there were hidden meanings. There were lies and lost meanings throughout each rule, that gave each Ghost Reaper a losing chance of gaining their humanity back.

One of the rules is that only those who follow a certain path in life will be granted this opportunity, or well option I should say. It wasn't until recently that I discovered what this meant, and to be honest, it was twisted in a way. It meant that only those who lived a life filled with blood or those who's lives are cut too short will be allowed to hear this opportunity.

The problem that was hidden within this rule is one that made it harder to find the people who qualify. As finding those who have followed either of these paths becomes difficult when there is a cloud over the Protector's eyes. The effect acts as a veil, hiding others to prevent the Protector from being allowed out of his role. With this hidden disadvantage, the chances of an exchange between the Protector and a soul is extremely rare. It also never happens, but there is a way. A very small chance. If the Protector slightly changes the time of someone's "path" in life, it could create a ripple that gives the Ghost Reaper a chance to do the trade, but only if he is quick enough. If the Reaper creates this ripple effect, then someone could lose their life early. This is one of the two ways to give a soul this position. 

            The next rule seemed to be the most important, it's the one that explains all the responsibility and it adds insight onto the first rule. This rule is one that stops people from "spilling the beans" to every soul. This option can be, in a way, passed down, but it also explains that there can only be one at a time. One life, One trade at a time. It outlines how I became "The Protector" of souls and the reaper of them.

            It wasn't long after I became a Ghost Reaper that I discovered the pain of this position and the many struggles, sacrifices, that I would face. That it would create. It was also when I discovered that the second rule wasn't' the most important, nor was it the worse of them all. In fact, it was the last rule that was the most troublesome. As it contains the worse hidden message, rule, blended within the lines of the rules.

            The last rule was, in a way, even more sinister as it put a, how should I say this, leash on the person who has this "role." It made it where they aren't dead, but if they don't follow an order, responsibility, or rule they would lose all their humanity and will be sent to the deepest, darkest, part of any world. I like to call it the "Void of all Existence", because it is an empty, timeless, and painful place. Anyone who goes there never returns the same, they became an empty shell, an abandoned husk of skin striped of their soul and humanity.

            The Void of all Existence is the fate of those who break the rules, as it is quietly stated in the last rule. It's a way to turn those who become a Protector into slaves. Hidden in between the lines, waiting to strike any soul that tries to go against the wishes of the chooser. The chooser is the reason for those who gain this position, the reason why it exists, and why there are hidden areas Protectors must find and explore.

            The Chooser is a being who is not at all human, has no soul or a physical body. It lives between the worlds, between life and death. Some believe the Chooser is the supposed ruler of our world. In reality though, that couldn't be farther from the truth. As I feel that the Chooser is here for evil instead of good, the creator would not make a way to escape one's fate, or a way to change someone's destiny. But the Chooser seems to make it as a way to stop certain parts of reality. The question is why though, why create a Protector, and what is it for?

This is the story of how I became something less then human. It is how I risk my humanity to gain back my life that was taken too soon. It is my story of how I learned to protect myself, others, and those who most can't see, those who have pass onto another phase, in between life and death. It is the time in which I discover why this position exist and why I was chosen for this task, and hopefully learn who this mysterious Chooser is.

It is the beginning to my end.