It was very dark. An unnatural darkness, it swallowed up everything and blinded Matthew. He found himself in this darkness very suddenly without warning. He was confused and afraid, and he didn't want to move for fear there would only be more nothing. There was simply no sound, no smell, no feeling, no taste to this place.

He blinked several times and moved his fingers and toes in attempt to relieve himself of his fear-induced paralysis. Eventually, he managed to shuffle his feet against whatever it was he was standing on. When he moved, he could suddenly feel a familiar sensation tickle his ankles. The sound of grass sighing as he stepped down filled his ears. Quietly, a familiar voice spoke out:

"Who's there?"

Matthew jumped at the noise. It sounded exactly like… but it couldn't be… could it?

"Gil?"

He took a step towards where he heard the voice coming from, to his right.

"Gil, is that you?" There wasn't an echo or any sort of reverberation that would indicate his being in a closed place, so he assumed that there were no boundaries wherever he was.

"Birdie?"

Matthew sighed in relief knowing Gilbert was with him. It somehow made the place a little more bearable.

"I'm here."

"Where are we?"

Matthew tried to look around, only to be met with more nothing.

"I have no idea."

Matthew felt around the darkness next to him and found Gilbert's hand. The threaded their fingers together and didn't let go.

"It's so dark," Gilbert whispered, sounding uncharacteristically hopeless and sad. Matthew squeezed his love's hand.

"I know."

"What should we do?"

"I guess we walk."


The pair traveled for what seemed like a very long time. They talked to each other about nothing, hummed, tried to sing songs, anything to fill in the unbearable silence that would take over should they stop. They quickly realized that their feet were bare. Gilbert asked if Matthew felt the grass, too. Matthew said yes, glad that he wasn't imagining things, when a thought struck him.

Couldn't he be imagining this whole situation?

The entire thing was a dream! It had to be!

"Gil, I'm dreaming!" Matthew exclaimed. "This isn't real!"

"Birdie, I don't think—" Gilbert tried to reason, but Matthew ignored him in his glee.

"If this is a dream, then I can do anything I want! I can control it!" Matthew rattled on. "I want it to be lighter in here!" he commanded.

The silence reigned once more as the two waited with bated breath for Matthew's command to become reality.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until finally…

Nothing happened.

"I…" Matthew muttered. "I don't understand… I should be able to…"

"Birdie…" Gilbert said. "This isn't a dream." Matthew took in a shaking breath as Gilbert continued. "It's really real."

Just then, to the surprise of both men, a soft glow of white light ignited in the distance. Matthew blinked to let his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness and looked over to where Gilbert stood, only to gasp in horror at what he saw.

Gilbert's entire right arm was missing. Ripped off and bleeding profusely, the wound looked like it had only appeared moments ago. The bloodied stump of his shoulder was all that was left. There was also a bullet hole in his chest that looked like it had gone straight through his heart, and his left ear had been cut off. Matthew could only gape in absolute terror at the condition of his beloved, while Gilbert did the same.

"Matthew… Your head…" Gilbert uttered. Matthew was confused until he lifted the hand that wasn't holding Gilbert's to his head to feel around. He touched something slick, and brought his fingers back stained with blood. "Somebody… shot you…!"

"But…" Matthew started, staring at his hand in disbelief. "I don't feel anything. It doesn't hurt…" He dared to look again at Gilbert's mangled shoulder. "Does that mean… your shoulder… it doesn't hurt either?"

"My shoulder…?" Gilbert said in surprise, looking for the first time at what would have been his arm before screaming out in shock and panicked anger. "MY ARM! MY FUCKING ARM! IT'S GONE!" he yelled. "HOW THE FUCK DID I LOSE AN ARM WITHOUT FEELING IT?!" He searched the rest of his body in a panic, finding out about his missing ear and the bullet through his heart. "That's not possible!"

He's right… Matthew thought. In any case, we shouldn't even be alive… The light got a little brighter as he thought that. Could it be… it was giving him a hint? Like in a game of hotter and colder? Does that mean… we're not alive? The light illuminated the area a little bit more. He now saw an expanse of tall grass and flowering plants all around them. Gilbert noticed, too, and gaped in awe.

"It's getting lighter! Matthew, how are you doing that?"

"We're not alive!" Matthew whispered, staring into the steadily brightening light. It was slowly becoming blinding, to the point where he had to squint his eyes as he quickly realized what the real answer was.

"We're… dead."

The light, for lack of a better word, exploded.

Matthew and Gilbert were suddenly thrown backwards onto the ground. Gilbert, without a right arm, had a harder time sitting back up, but Matthew helped pull him up. They squinted at the light that was rapidly getting closer. All too soon it was only a foot away from them, and Matthew and Gilbert could only stare in awe as a figure appeared from the center of the light.

"Matthew Williams. Gilbert Beilschmidt," a strong and clear voice called from within the light. "You have successfully rediscovered yourselves in spite of the events which have passed. For this, you shall be rewarded. You have three options." Two more balls of light appeared on either side of the figure. The one to the figure's right was a warm yellow. It glowed softly, radiating heat like a small, cheerful sun. The one on its left was a hot, fiery red. It gave off a dangerous vibe, and the core was dominated by a black pit.

"Option one: You may follow me into Paradise." The figure motioned behind him towards the white light. "There you will never hunger, never thirst, and never feel pain. There you will stay for the rest of eternity."

Gilbert and Matthew looked at each other, not believing what they were hearing. Paradise? For all of eternity? Matthew fidgeted in minor excitement. Isn't that what everybody wanted when they died? Wasn't that the goal of life? Eternity in Paradise? They looked back at the figure, which had continued speaking.

"Option two: You may be sent to suffer in fire and pain." This time, the figure motioned towards the red light. "There you will repent for sins and evils you have committed in your life which you feel cannot be forgiven. There you will stay for the rest of eternity."

Well… At least now they knew where they wouldn't be going… Matthew swallowed thickly, nervous about what the third option could possibly be.

"Option three: You may stay here." Finally, the figure motioned to the yellow light. "Here you may build your own land and create it to your desires. You may fill it with whatever you wish. You may rule over it as its rulers or gods. You may live as humans, but you may change that, if you so choose. Here you will stay for the rest of eternity."

Matthew's fidgeting ceased as he listened to the final option. A place all their own? Somewhere they could be truly free? Matthew knew, even Paradise had to have its boundaries and rules, but here… They could do anything.

"What do you call yourself?" Gilbert boldly asked the figure.

"I am Britannia Angel, guardian of these gates. The two of you, bound by fate, appear before me in your death. Choose wisely, for you may never change your mind."

"What do we…? I don't… Gilbert?" Matthew struggled helplessly for words, the two most obvious choices spinning in his head. On one end was Paradise, an eternity of bliss and beauty. On the other end was a land they could rule over all their own and change at will. They didn't even have to create other people if they didn't want to, Matthew suddenly realized. It was very tempting.

"What do you want, Mattie?" Gilbert asked. He was clearly having a hard time deciding as well.

"I want…" Matthew started, thinking hard. "I want… freedom. I want to be with you, without anyone to tell us what we can or can't be."

Gilbert nodded solemnly. "So… you're saying you want to stay here?"

"I… Yes." Matthew spoke with a finality that caused Britannia Angel to call out once again:

"Is this your final decision?"

Matthew and Gilbert both nodded in affirmation. This was a chance they were taking, both unaware of what was in store. But this was an eternity of possible adventure! Of freedom and beauty and control. It would hopefully turn out for the best.

"Then it shall be." Britannia took the yellow light from his right and held it in front of himself. Matthew and Gilbert looked on with curious awe as Britannia threw it high into the sky where it floated up and up and up until it reached its peak. Then it began to move down towards a horizon, where it dipped down just enough to shroud half of the light. It looked like a sunrise.

"I will repair the wounds that were inflicted upon you in your death, and then take my leave." With a pulse of light from the angel, Gilbert's arm was suddenly replaced, as was his ear, and there was no bullet through his heart. Matthew assumed that his head was fixed, too, though it hadn't hurt in the first place.

Caught up in their relief to see each other whole again, Matthew and Gilbert didn't notice the angel vanish along with the other two lights. Matthew could only cling to Gilbert as he registered what had happened to them.

This was their world.

An experimental idea struck him. Standing up, he stared down at the ground before him, covered in grass and wildflowers. Gilbert made a sound of surprise and confusion, and stood up, too.

"What are you doing?" he asked Matthew.

"He said we could make anything," Matthew explained. "I want to test it. Stand back."

Gilbert didn't question him and did as he was told. Matthew concentrated harder and harder on the patch of grass before him, then finally said:

"I want a big oak tree to grow in that spot," he commanded in his quiet voice.

At first, nothing happened. Minutes passed, and Matthew deflated, greatly disappointed. They'd been lied to… or perhaps he just wasn't trying hard enough…?

In any case, Gilbert became enraged, and started cursing at everything. "Why, that lying, cheating, fucking son of a—!"

"Gil!" Matthew interrupted, pointing. "Look!"

There, in the grassy patch before them, sprouted a tiny sprig of leaves. The sprout quickly grew into a sapling, reaching Matthew's knees in height. The sapling grew and grew and grew until it was a tall, strong, beautiful tree, towering over them. Leaves flourished, creating a thick, green canopy in the branches above that provided shade for the two standing beneath it. The trunk grew wider in proportion to the tree, so much so that even if Matthew and Gilbert both wrapped their arms around it, their fingers still wouldn't touch.

"Gilbert… I did it!" Matthew said. "I made a tree! A great, big tree!"

Gilbert's eyes widened in surprise. "You… but…" he mumbled, at a complete loss for words. "Wow…"

"I can do anything!" Matthew continued with his happiness overflowing. "Gil, you can do anything! This is our world!"

Gilbert was very quiet as he took in this information. He stepped back away from Matthew and simply turned in a complete circle, looking at the land around him. Finally, after he seemed satisfied with his observations, he spoke:

"It's ours for all of eternity."


A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. The ending was a bitch to write, and I'm still not very satisfied, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer!

For those of you who have read my other fic, Ringing Insanity, this will seem familiar. If you haven't read that and you're confused, it might do you some good to read it to clear things up. This is simply a closer glimpse of my AU for the afterlife. The rules are: once you die, you are sent to this dark place, and you forget one aspect of your life. In Ringing Insanity, Matthew forgot Gilbert. In this chapter, they are both unaware that they have died. The light in the distance, as Matthew discovered in this chapter, is meant to get brighter as you discover more clues about the thing you forgot. Once you remember, Britannia Angel appears and gives you the three choices he gave Matthew and Gilbert in this chapter. In Ringing Insanity, Matthew and Gilbert both found a loophole so that they could become ghosts on Earth. You cannot become a ghost unless you ask for it, because it is not an option.

That's pretty much it. If you have any questions, PM me or leave a review with your question.

I just started school, so if you notice that I'm not updating this story as quickly, that's probably why.

Sorry for the long A/N! Please leave some constructive criticism! Flames will be used to heat Russia's house~!

~Jel