Mors Mihi Lucrum

There was a rather high-class house in the street, moonlight fell on it and lit it up, the sky filled with stars. The light fell on the second floor, inside a bedroom through a window and there one could see a child sleeping on his bed.

The child's head was bandaged and it seemed that he had hit his head somewhere before. It was quite obvious that the child was having a strange dream as he frowned and moved his hands around.

His Dream was very strange indeed...

He dreamt that his name was Dante, a young man who had a firm belief that life was pointless and without meaning; his every word and action reflected that to a certain point; In his every move one could see the hint of despair and indifference expected of a lost man.

The reasons for his beliefs were unknown but it is said that humans have two aspects, A physical one and a spiritual one; Maybe, Dante lacked the spiritual, and since he only saw life in the physical aspect, he became as such. Or maybe it is best not to speculate...

In any case, there was Dante and Dante alone in an endless expanse of darkness that stretched on and on and on... Till infinity.

Dante did not have a physical body, he was a human-shaped body of light. He was moving step by step and yet nothing was happening, no distance was being traversed and no change happened in the endless darkness.

His eyes, the only part of his being that was glowing different from the rest, were radiant, yet deep within, one could see endless terror...

The kind of terror one feels when one imagines himself all alone in the middle of the ocean at night, with no star in the sky and no sound in the world. The suffocating feeling of impending doom and eternal loneliness.

Dante stopped moving as his eyes looked at his strange body, despite the fear in his being, he tried to remain calm and thought to himself, 'How did I come here? I remember dying... Yes... I am Dead! And this must be the afterlife that so many talked about...'

He looked at the darkness around him with extreme disappointment, 'How pointless... as I expected... But why do I still exist? Shouldn't I also become nothing? Maybe I am not dead yet but in a Coma?' he argued with himself; His fear greatly diminishing as he was absorbed within his internal thoughts.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice interrupted him, it spoke to his very soul, "You are definitely dead."

He grew alert and looked around in fear, 'Where? Who?!'

A ghostly shadow appeared; It wore black cloth all around its being that shrouded whatever was beneath in mystery, Within one hand it held a black edgy scythe and a shadowy crow rested on his other hand.

"It is I who welcome all that enter this realm. It is I who guide all to their ending. It is I who shows the path to the beyond. It is I who reap everything that is given to all. I am Death and this is my Realm of Darkness." It said in a ghostly whisper that reached Dante's very soul.

Dante was frightened, Death waved its scythe and suddenly, Dante felt fear no more. "Don't be afraid... All life comes to me and through me, all Life is born. Your fate will also be the same... Follow me."

Dante felt himself following the figure as it moved in some direction. A short time passed, Dante felt no fear due to Death's influence but he was still uneasy and he felt sadness and grief.

Despite the fact that he saw no point in his life, he still cherished it, from the memory of being hugged as a child to the joy of food and even breathing... All that was gone so was his connection to everything he knew and liked. The absence of fear caused such feelings to erupt.

It did not take long before the darkness lessened and land appeared in front of them, it was a desolate and dark land with no sign of life in any shape or form, the only source of light a gloomy moon in the sky.

Death whispered more to itself than Dante, "Very rarely do I get visitors in this place, usually, souls go through the portal I created and don't enter this realm... This place is like my very own home."

A small cottage of black wood was in the distance, only a small flickering candle visible within, flickering due to the gentle yet dry breeze that entered it through the open windows.

Death continued, "My humble home... It's been many years since I invited someone in, sad, isn't it? 'sigh' Welcome."

Death entered the cottage and Dante, not capable of controlling himself at the moment due to Death's influence, sat down in a simple chair. Death sat in front of him, putting the scythe to the side and the crow flying to sit on the desk nearby.

Dozens of candles lit up in the room as Death said in his ghostly voice, "So, tell me. How did you end up here? What is your story? I will read your surface thoughts..."

Dante found himself free again, the feeling of fear was still absent, however. He tried to communicate, 'I don't know! I died and there I was, walking aimlessly in neverending darkness, feeling cold, alone, and afraid.'

Death nodded, "I see... Let's do this the traditional way then. I don't remember the last time I personally guided a soul... It was so long ago. Since the creation of the portal, all happens on its own and it is barely required for me to take a look..."

Dante couldn't help but ask, 'Won't that make you terribly lonely? Living here all alone in this gloomy place...'

Death seemed to chuckle, "Indeed, but what am I to do? I did some things I shouldn't have the last few times I entered the Living realms to alleviate my terrible boredom and was banished to my realm as punishment... Why would I bother creating a portal otherwise? It was a delicate situation you see..."

Dante was a little taken aback, 'Death is not what as it is portrayed to be... He seems to be a regular guy! But what could punish Death?! I wonder what he did...'

Death sighed, "God, that's who. The creator or whatever you want to call him/her. It doesn't matter anyway, let me start the real talk here. You have a choice to make."

Death stood up and gestured for Dante to follow him, he did, "Either get judged for your actions and by extension karma then enter heaven or hell... The 2nd choice is reincarnation; I will wipe your memory completely and you may go live again."

Dante pondered for a few moments as he followed Death to the basement of the cottage by his own free will, 'Won't I basically be erased if you wipe my memories?! I don't think I can go to heaven since I lived a very average life, doing neither good nor evil...'

Death replied nonchalantly, "Indeed, you will cease to be as you are now. It is a form of me, death, the erasure of memory..."

They entered a room, Dante saw a set of stairs heading down to an unknown place, he could see the red light coming from there, the heat made his being shiver. He also saw a set of stairs heading up on the other side of the room, golden light came from there and he felt calm and at peace looking there.

In the middle of the room was a scale, a feather on one side and the other empty. At the edge of the room, he saw a portal of sorts and behind it, he could see countless galaxies and stars.

He internally gulped, 'What is this? Egypt?! That is how you will judge me?!! I am sure my heart is heavier than a feather!'

Death shrugged, "It is what it is... Now decide. As much as I enjoy this conversation, I enjoy my peace and quiet more... Unless we go plot and scheme some things."

Dante was conflicted, if he could still feel fear, he would have panicked to the extreme. He could thankfully logically think about the situation as he ignored Death's second sentence, 'On one hand, there is a 50/50 chance of me going to hell and on the other, I will cease to exist... The 1st option seems smarter but I am not willing to go there. Death, Can one exit heaven and live again? What is it like there?'

Death answered him with a chuckle, "Heaven is a fixed place of absolute peace and joy, there is no other feeling... In your words, I can describe it as such, endless orgasms and peaceful sleep when you grow tired of orgasms. That's it. And no, once you go to Heaven or hell, you are there till the end of this cycle which is a very very long time even for me."

Dante was tempted but he was not willing, 'I have not experienced love, true friendship, and many other things in my life; I want to experience everything before I go to such a place... The possibility of eternal suffering is also 50% so this is out of the question. The other option is the same... What am I supposed to do?!'

He was lost and confused, but suddenly something occurred to him, 'Maybe a deal with Death can be arranged...'

Death laughed, "You want to make a deal with me? Me?! How amusing... What type of deal? I am interested. What can you offer me?!"

Dante couldn't help but remember Death's banishment, 'Maybe I can help you get a pardon and get back to work like before, you know, get back your freedom? You can destroy the portal and deal with your boredom...'

Death remained silent.

Dante thought fast as he continued, 'If someone were to fix some of the things you did then technically, you should also be free since those things are no longer causing trouble!'

Death's tone was very serious, "That might actually be possible but... I need at least 3 things fixed to get my freedom back."

Dante replied instantly, 'Then I will live 3 lifetimes fixing those 3 for you, and in exchange, you give me 3 things? This seems the best deal!'

Death began pacing around the room as it said, "Indeed... But I can't give anything to you before you fix it for me since the law of equal exchange favors cosmic entities like me... This is perfect!"

Death looked toward Dante with obvious excitement, "I haven't been this excited in many years! This is a great opportunity! Dante, right? I will give you 3 lifetimes, you will gain your memories somewhere along the way in those lifetimes and you will fix what must be fixed per our deal. After each lifetime when you succeed, I will grant you one of the followings: 1st, Your memories will be absolute, you will never forget unless you wish to and none may look upon your memories or touch them, you seem to value them so this must be exciting for you; 2nd, your soul shall be invulnerable to all damage and manipulation to ensure your safety since you will have proven useful by succeeding once; 3rd, I shall grant you the freedom to traverse the existence through my realm since you have granted me the freedom I had lost long ago."

Before Dante could respond, Death kicked him into the portal in the room and he vanished, his thoughts were, 'What the hell am I supposed to do?! You forgot to tell me!'

Death seemed to realize it had been too excited about the deal. The last thing Dante heard was Death shouting, "Just wrap it all up and burn it under the cloak, stone within!"

The Child woke up in his room, his body covered in sweat as he mulled over the dream he was having. The child looked at his hand and gawked, 'I remember now! Everything! I have reincarnated in this world to help Death and get rewards in return and avoid the choice... But what world am I in?! What am I supposed to do?!'

The child realized he had to deal with an existential and identity crisis as he had two sets of memories to go through and deal with the fact that he was on a mission from Death itself...

"Fuck..."

Meanwhile, Death froze a few seconds after he had thrown Dante to reincarnate in a certain world, "Oh shit... I forgot to restore his ability to feel fear due to the excitement of freedom... I can't go there to fix it unless he dies... Nothing bad can happen, right?" Death asked itself in doubt.

And thus the life of Dante the Fearless began in a world of magic and mystery...