STORY! START!
Sage woke up with a gasp, eyes wide with terror, jerking his head back and forth looking for his attacker. After not seeing anyone in his immediate vicinity, he closed his eyes to try and calm down. A few minutes later his heart stopped beating so fast and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Sage decided to take stock of himself and noticed something that confused him greatly, and that was that he didn't feel any pain.
The reason he was confused about this was that he clearly remembered his last memory before falling unconscious was lying on the ground missing a leg and bleeding out through a few holes in his stomach. Opening his eyes and looking down at his stomach he saw that he was wearing a white t-shirt, one suspiciously lacking in a bloodstain or bullet holes to match his memory, however...
"That's odd, I never owned a white t-shirt. Did someone dress me or something?" Furthering his confusion, as well as adding amazement, he saw his leg below the knee that should be a stump right now! Staring at the leg for a few minutes in awe, he started to wiggle his bare feet back and forth, as if affirming himself that the foot was real. He sat in disbelief for a short moment before joy overtook him. He wasn't missing his leg!
"I don't know whatever god out there let me keep my leg after it was shot off, but thank you!" He whispered to himself.
So happy at his continued bipedal-ness, he didn't take a look around until almost an hour had passed after waking up. Finally calming down and wrenching his eyes away from his - attached!- leg, he took a look around. Immediately he was once again amazed at his surroundings. White grass was beneath him, and to his left, and to his right! Soft white grass surrounded him, a field stretching into the horizon as far as the eye can see. Above him white clouds all light and fluffy also stretched into infinity. The world around him was white, No trees could be seen except the one he was leaning on which was of course just as white as everything else around him. Looking up though revealed a surprise, the leaves of the tree weren't white! Instead, every single leaf on the tree was a different color, and all of them were shining like gems under the light.
Sage's eyes went wide with wonder like a child witnessing a magic trick for the first time. The colors mesmerized him. He stared at the colors, shifting with breeze for what felt like hours before his eyes caught sight of one particular leaf. The leaf didn't seem any different from the other leafs in anything but color, a blue-violet like color, however to Sage it was like this leaf was calling to him in a way that nothing ever had. Without realizing it, his hand had stretched toward the canopy above him, as if to grab that leaf that held his attention so firmly.
"That is you, Sage, I wouldn't recommend plucking it off of the tree." A soft voice holding hints of bemusement spoke, shattering Sage's state of calm and making him scramble away from the direction the voice came from, before he remembered his training and turned to face the stranger, arms held tightly in front of him. Upon catching sight of the person that popped out of seemingly nowhere, Sage was dumbstruck.
The Stranger was a beautiful woman, with short black hair reaching to just below her ears. Her eyes were a brilliant green, as clear as water and bright like the sun, at the moment they were filled with mirth that was covering a huge amount of warmth. Her skin was pale though her cheeks held a healthy glow, and her lips were only just a bit darker then her skin. The Stranger held a small smile that reminded Sage of his mother's when she would watch old videos of him as a child. The woman's face was very beautiful.
Moving on to her body, she was short, at most five feet tall. Her neck was a tad bit long for her body size and it led into small sloped shoulders. Below that was an impressive bust with both of her breasts being almost as big as her head. Her waist wasn't much thinner then her hips, just enough to say she had an hourglass figure. Her hips held Sage's attention a bit longer than her waist. they were flared just right so as to draw gazes, and it worked. Her ass, from what he could see, was a decent size comparable to the few fit women Sage had seen nude during his life, muscled and tight. Below that was her legs making up nearly half her height, creamy skin going on all the way down to her dainty feet. All of this stunning beauty was covered by a form fitting simple white dress that ended at her upper thigh. Sage reckoned that if she sat cross-legged, he would be able to see her unmentionables.
"Oh...? Do you like what you see Sage? Perhaps I should let you see a little bit more?" She teased as she noticed his gaze move up and down her form. Her cheeks grew a bit pinker as well, though Sage didn't notice that. Her voice had snapped him out of his thoughts and he brought his gaze to hers, backing up a slight bit more.
"Who are you? And where am I, come to think of it? Last thing I remember before waking up here was lying on the ground in a pool of my own blood! Not to mention my leg. No surgery on earth is able to reattach a leg with no scarring like mine! Ho - how did I survive all the blood I lost? Please..." Starting off fierce, Sage started questioning the Stranger before him, though as he spoke, he grew quieter. He was starting to realize how shaken up he was about waking up in a strange place where color seems to be nonexistent except for in the leaves of the tree. That's not to mention the trauma from losing then regaining a leg as well as going through what Sage did in his final few hours. The stress from nearly dying then being in a foreign land was beginning to show. Only his many years as a soldier let him keep his composure.
The lady, upon seeing him quiet down, shot him a gaze filled with compassion as if she understood why. She decided she should answer his questions, and so she did.
"My name is Camilla, I am... the 'owner' of this place, you could say. The reason you are uninjured is because I healed you, the same with your leg. As for how you survived..." At this, the now named Camilla started to chew her bottom lip, indecision filling her eyes. Once she gazed back at him and saw the desperation for answers in his eyes, hers filled with determination. "Sage... this land you are in now is known by many names, but the most common one you know of would be..." She took a deep breath, "...Heaven. You did die, Sage, I'm sorry."
Sage heard her words and immediately wanted to dismiss them, but then a strange feeling assaulted him, telling his heart and mind alike that whatever this woman says was the truth. Sage felt his heart break as he realized that he was really dead. He'd never get to speak to his friends or family again! Tears filled his eyes and he collapsed to his knees, his arms dropping to sides as he started crying silent tears. Sage heard footsteps approach and looked up to see Camilla, whom he now assumed to be an angel of some kind, walk up to him slowly. Once in front of him, she opened her arms for a hug. Sage was in need of some comfort and gladly hugged her around the waist, burying his face into her stomach as he continued to cry silently. Camilla hugged his head as he kneel there, comforting him, compassion in her eyes. After a few minutes, he had run out of tears and slowly released his hold on the girl hugging him. She, in turn, let go of his head and instead kneel down beside him while taking hold of his hand; squeezing it to show him she was still with him.
As Sage settled down, Camilla started to explain about who she was and what happened to Sage. Camilla was one of many angels in charge of helping souls move along to wherever it they need to go. Sage had throughout his life saved many, many people and some of the people who he saved went on to help make the world a better place. The last person he saved before dying was a man who went on to indirectly save the whole of the human race by solving the problems of indefinite space travel, allowing them to continue to survive as a race long past their home galaxy's destruction. The action of indirectly saving Humanity as a whole, even if unintentional, made it so that Sage held the most good karma any human has ever had before, up until the man previously mentioned died many years later, this is.
Because of this good karma, the god governing this particular reality has seen fit to reward Sage for his efforts.
"And that's where I come in," Camilla said "I am the angel in charge of the cycle reincarnation for planet earth. Because very few people are able to reincarnate due to lack of good karma, I don't work very much." She points to the tree above him. "Every soul that has passed through here has a leaf on that tree. Sure there are a lot of leaves there, but in the end, it's at most a few thousand out of nearly 20 billion people to have ever been born on earth!" At this, Sage speaks up.
"So I get to reincarnate for doing good in my life? All those religious texts that talk about the cycle are right?" He sounded happy to be able to go back to earth, even if he wouldn't remember being Sage. Camilla, upon noticing Sage's thoughts, shook her head and spoke.
"No Sage, that's not the reward I spoke of! The reward granted to you, is that you will be able be reincarnated with all your memories if you choose! But more than that, you will even be able to choose where you will be reincarnated to. It doesn't even have to be Earth! I know you like anime, so maybe you'd like to be born into the world of Bleach? Maybe Naruto or Fairy Tale, or heck; you could even be born as a fish in Spongebob if you want!" At this point, Camilla starts giggling, and he joins in a moment later with thoughts of being a fish swimming through his mind. Soon, he starts to break down even further, laughter echoing through the endless field around them.
After calming down from his fit of laughter, he starts thinking about what Camilla has told him. On whether or not he really wanted to be born somewhere other than Earth. Sure being in the world of One Piece or Pokemon would be great, but it wouldn't be home.
Camilla sitting beside him seemed to notice his internal struggle and decided to offer some advice.
"Sage, I know that being on a foreign planet, or even in a whole different dimension would be a bit scary or lonely, but even if you decided to rejoin Earth, it be almost hundreds of years after you died. It would be just as strange and foreign as anywhere else you could choose. You shouldn't let this chance to live out your dreams go." With that she fell silent: smiling at him with kind eyes as she waited his decision. He fell deep in thought, pondering on his choices.
An hour has passed in silence, his thoughts racing and crashing against one another until finally, he's made a decision. Turning to Camilla he starts to speak.
"Camilla, I think I've made a decision. But first I wanna thank you for uh, for comforting me when I was- when I was crying..." Here, he blushed in embarrassment and continued." I don't think you know how much that helped, so... Thank you!" He looked to her a gave a closed eye smile. Because he closed his eyes, he didn't notice her eyes widening, nor the blush that took over her face. Looking back towards the ground, Sage kept speaking.
"As for reincarnation there's only one place I'd wan't to be put other than Earth. The show this world is from pretty much directed my whole life: from training the scythe to the level I have, and joining the army, even travelling the world was kind of driven by my love for it. The world is called Remnant. I don't know if you know it...?" Once he finished speaking he looked towards the angel sitting beside him, and once he did he finally saw her red face and wide eyes.
Confused, Sage asked what was wrong to make her so red but Camilla denied anything being wrong at all, even when pushed. Instead, she addressed Sage's first question.
"I do know of the world of Remnant, and you are able to choose it for a destination. Is that your choice?" Upon seeing Sage's nod and his resolute eyes, Camilla smiled and said, "Very well, then! I wash you the best Sage, I hope you live a long and exciting life. Oh! I've taken the liberty of giving you a little gift as well! Have fun~!" And with a wave, Sage's vision went blank and he fell onto his back. His last sight in this world of white was his little violet leaf swaying on the tree.