Chapter 1: Death

Qiao Ai was never a religious person. Nor was she a philosophical one. She never thought about death, or an afterlife. She was a live in the moment kind of person, and while did have a plan for the future, she actively strayed away from thoughts of death and what happened after it. Perhaps her active avoidance of death is what made her own untimely, and concerningly unexplainable death so surprising.

"Qiao Ai, Western name Gracie Qiao. Australian-Chinese expat, age 29 at time of death. An avid lover of the present, with a flourishing career in agricultural development and abundant relationships, both family and friends. Despite never getting into relationships and instead hooking up with people, most of them stayed around and became friends with you and each other. You would make sure to only be with one partner, ending things cordially before moving on. There were very few people with a bad impression of you. Your karma is very positive, and you were on track to blah blah blah.."

I'm standing in front of what seems to be a sentient star, who is rattling off my life story, beliefs, and romantic exploits, completely stunned. Apart from me and the dazzling blob of light, we're surrounded by absolute nothingness. Completely dark, it's unnerving, giving me a sinking feeling in my chest. But hang on, I went to sleep, so is this a dream? I'm not a lucid dreamer though, and I seem far too alert. On top of that, my imagination isn't very good either. Maybe not. But then, what the hell is happening? I hadn't really been listening to the star, but it's probably the only thing here that could fill me in on what the hell is happening so I call out to it, seeing as it has no finished speaking and is just blanking hovering in front of me.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I didn't hear a single word of what you just said. Could you please repeat that?" It felt weird asking this thing, but funny enough it seemed to understand and respond.

"Qiao Ai, Western name Gracie Qiao. Australian-Chinese expat, age 29 at time of death. An avid-"

"DEATH?!?!" I can't help but freak out as I listen and talk over the star thing. The fuck does he mean, time of death?? Am I dead? All I did was sleep, how the hell did I die? "I'm dead?"

I stare straight at the star as I say this, and it shifts, almost looking uncomfortable with the intensity of my eyes. "Correct. Time of death was 2:05 AM of the 7th July, year 20XX."

I sink into despair as I hear this, sinking down onto the floor of endless darkness. Shoulders slumped and arms limp, I have no idea how long I spend in that position, mourning my lost life. I still had so much to give, so much more to do. I couldn't go to my sister graduation, couldn't advance my career, and most of all, I haven't had a kid. That was all I wanted, was it too much to ask for? I stayed there until my grief slowly lessened, and my mind cleared enough to think of what happens next. I picked myself up, and looked at the star who was still there now seeming very uncomfortable.

"What was my cause of death?" This was the last thing I wanted to know about the past. I thought it was a simple question, with a simple answer of a brain aneurysm or something, but the star started vibrating nervously once I asked, letting out a high pitched noise.

"So.. Um.. We, we don't... know." That small answer took a long minute to get out, and my mind blanked. "What? You were listing off all the miscellaneous details of my life just there, what the hell do you mean you don't know?!?!"

The star groaned, "It means we have no clue! this is a first for us too, I mean to begin with when living beings die, their consciousness is supposed to just melt into energy for us to collect, so technically you aren't supposed to be here at all! Do you know how awkward it is to sit here and talk to a sentient smart being instead of a blob of energy?? Never ever have I had to do this before! I'm nervous, so please don't yell at me!!"

"THEN FIX IT!!"

"HOW THE FUCK WOULD WE DO THAT?!?! ONCE YOU'RE DEAD YOU'RE DEAD!!"

By the time we've finished shouting at each other, we're both panting, I'm pointing at the star with once hand and about to physically throw hands with the other clenched into a fist. The star is spitting sparks everywhere and hopping up and down, with comical smoke coming off the top. It's an overall tense and weird situation, but the atmosphere cools down a little as another star appears next to us.

"Hey. %*O>^&!, are you done ye-" as the star looks up and catches our position and my glare of death, it hiccups and what seems suspiciously like a clipboard, which promptly disappears. The new star floats further away, and laughs shakily. "haha, it appears not. Please continue, I'll be here once you're done."

The annoying star in front of me turns to the newcomer, "no, we are indeed done with what I am meant to say here. She's all yours." It promptly turns, floats away while huffing in anger, and leaves. Instead, the new one comes over. "Well then, hello. I am one of the more technical beings in charge here, and I'm now going to explain to you what happens next." This is what's important at the moment, so I stop glaring, sit in the ground with crossed legs and listen. "go on."

"So, as you can probably tell, your, well, let's call it your soul. You're soul has not melted into energy like it's supposed to, even though you are dead. We don't know why or how you are dead. We can't do anything about this. We can't force your soul to melt, and we also can't bring your old body back to life. You also can't be put back on earth for some reason. Trust me, we tried rather desperately before you woke up." I raise my hand, and the star nods for me to speak.

"Who is we? What are you, and what is this place?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, the stars weak timid aura disappears to be replaced with an overbearing chill, and it says "that is not for you to know. If you don't want to stay here and be locked in the darkness forever, I would shut up." I did, though the thought crossed my mind that would it not be easier to do that to begin with? The star went back to how it was before, and cheerfully started talking again.

"So we have instead decided to send you to another universe, and get you out of our hair. However, humans do not exist anywhere else. Don't look at me like that, it isn't that hard to believe. Humans are weird to begin with, evolution shouldn't normally end up with that. Oh no, that's off topic. So, we can't just stuff you in a new random species, you'd go insane, be stupidly powerful because for some reason that's just how your soul seems to be, and cause us a whole bunch of trouble. Luckily for us and for you, we have the perfect solution! I've made a quiz for you, to find out where you should go and what you should become. Genius, if I do say so myself. You don't have to think too hard about it, in fact, don't think at all. I will be putting you in front of an endless row of doors. Close your eyes, feel for the energy that's the most comfortable and attractive, and go to it. This will repeat until we are finished. Understood?"

At this point he turns to me, and while I'm still slightly unconvinced, I do nod my head because in theory, while it seems very mindless and dumb, it also seems to be the best decision. The star says "good", and all of a sudden my senses are gone. I see nothing, hear nothing, feel not even the floor around me. Obviously, my first reaction is to freak the fuck out, nut that annoyingly chipper voice sounds.

"Don't worry, this is just me setting everything up. Soon you'll start feeling strange energies, just remember what I said and go for what feels the best for you."

It takes a while, and with each minute I go through a cycle of losing my cool, taking deep breaths and regaining that lost cool again, but eventually I start to feel things. They feel indescribable to me, and it ranges from an ominous ick that was screaming stay away, to a lovely calming pull. I walked towards the one that was calling for me, and eventually they all disappeared before more showed up. I repeated the process over and over, and the whole time I still had no senses. Eventually, I heard the star telling me to stop. I did, and my vision came back to see it in front of me, now in a purple nothingness. The star was nodding, seemingly satisfied with my choice.

"You've ended up at one of the most similar worlds to earth, although it isn't the most similar. It's much larger, along with many other differences. It doesn't have a name as the species inhabiting it aren't that advanced. I might as well give you some basic information, but first fun fact! This world is the one that inspired all of earths mythological creatures! It's atmosphere was a bit weird in it's earlier day, and while it's in another universe entirely, something went wrong and occasionally some creatures ended up on earth. However, don't let this cloud your judgement. The creatures earth have seen are not totally accurate for the whole race, and the races seen are just a small portion. Anyways, as you are already aware, humans don't exist here. Instead, lifeforms with ego's can be defined into three categories. Animals, beasts, and savages. Animals are the same as they were on earth, beings with an ego but limited intelligence, and no special powers. Beasts are different, in which they mutated from animals. They have higher intelligence, and have humanoid forms and powers-"

"Cultivate? Like in Chinese Wuxia novels?" I'm a bit lost, but this sticks out to me. "Cultivating for immortality, elemental powers, meditation, that shebang?" The star is annoyed at getting his explanation interrupted, but understands her concern and replies.

"Yes, kind of. There are no particular levels like how you humans perceive it, but that is the kid of cultivation I am talking about. Are you done?" I nod my head, feeling this to be a bit more familiar now. "Great, I'll continue. The savages are the last, they are troublesome. The have the intelligence of an animal but the brute strength of a beast, with several different grades. Their blood is a strong corrosive substance, and their nails/fangs etc are the same. Anything accidently touched by them will almost definitely die. Real ecosystem ruiners, those. The gems in their brain, however, are excellent so there is reason to keep them around. That's all."

"So which one am I going to be born as?" As a ask, the star looks down on me. "Are you dumb? You're intelligent, so obviously a beast. The question is which type. Hold on, I'll go get the results and be right back." The star zips out of sight, and instead the image of the planet I'll be living my second life on appears. It's huge, covered in green and blue and brown. The water on the planet seems to only cover around 40% of the world, while the rest is huge continents covered in plant life. There is no grey of modern cities, the world looks completely untouched by civilisation. I knew life there would be much harder then on earth, but the moment I saw that beautiful planet, I fell in love.

I'm going to live again on that planet.