Okay, so this story is kinda the official end of my particular alternate Loudverse (or at least the iteration posted on ). Stories set in my Loudverse are Lincoln's Twin Brother, The Things We Do For Love, Who Says 13 is Unlucky, A Magically Loud Christmas, A Date to Remember, Payback, and Pranks for Nothing. I had more plans for my Loudverse, but things kinda… changed (heheh).
From the moment his eyes sprang open, he was confused as to what was going on. The setting around him was completely unfamiliar to him. White sandy beaches weren't exactly places he tended to frequent, although then again at the moment, he wasn't sure what places he frequented. The sand beneath him with water washing over him was the first thing that he noticed with the second thing being the fact that he was clothed in a fancy pink suit. For some reason, this style of attire seemed foreign to him, as if it weren't something he'd wear on a regular basis. Once again, the boy had to stop and consider the fact that he didn't even know what his normal style of dress was. Heck, the Boy didn't even know what his name was right now. Every moment prior to him waking up was a complete blur. He could remember small bits and pieces of a life past, certain names and places, but for the life of him, his own name escaped him.
After shaking his head clear, the boy looked down into the foamy water of the ocean and stared at the reflection looking back at him. Bright white hair with black streaks, blue eyes, fair skin, and a freckled face stared back at him. The boy didn't know why, but something compelled him to open his suit jacket and shirt. When he did, what he saw caused his eyes to widen in horror. There was a gaping bloody hole in his torso, giving a clear view straight through him, with a few of his internal organs and rib cage visible. The boy felt the urge to throw up and dropped to his knees, staring off into the water. Who was he?! Where was he?! What the hell was going on?! Just as the Boy felt himself on the urge of screaming, he heard a gentle feminine voice speak behind him.
"Oh dear, it would seem that you've met a terrible fate,"
The boy turned around and saw an angelic figure with pink hair and golden eyes standing a few meters away. The girl looked like she was no older than 15 or 16 and wore a white top with a light pink skirt, and a pair of gold sandals. Naturally, he was startled by her sudden appearance and jumped in fright.
"Who are you?" The boy stammered as he frantically looked around, "Who am I?"
The girl frowned and asked "Do you truly not remember your identity?"
"No," the boy said, shaking his head, "I just woke up here with no memory of who I am or how I even got here in the first place. Can you tell me where I am?"
"I don't know why you lost your memories when you arrived here," the girl said, "but as I said, a great misfortune befell you… one that you tragically did not survive."
"Are you saying that I'm… dead?" The boy asked after much hesitation.
The girl sadly nodded her head and explained "Sadly, yes, for you see, this is the afterlife."
"The afterlife?" The boy questioned, "You mean like Heaven… or Hell… or even purgatory?"
"Not quite," the girl said, "souls that have lived fulfilling lives without causing harm to their fellow souls reside here, in an almost paradise. Souls who are deemed evil are given a new life in order to be rehabilitated and reform for their misdeeds. There is no purgatory so to speak. For you to end up here means that you were deemed to be worthy of paradise."
The boy didn't seem too taken aback by this and simply nodded his head, which caught the girl by surprise. Truthfully, he was more concerned with the details of how he got here rather than why he was here. Perhaps if he could remember who he was, he'd be a bit more upset or saddened by his demise, but right now there were still so many questions that needed to be answered. Such as the identity of this girl standing in front of him.
"I don't mean to be rude," the boy said, "but just who are you?"
"My name is Koriand'r, or Kori for short," the girl said with a smile, "and I was assigned to assist you in your transition from life to unlife."
"Kori, you say?" The boy asked, saying "No offense, but you look more like a Reimi to me."
"Who's Reimi?" Kori asked. Truthfully, she knew the answer, but wanted to test the boy to see if he had truly lost all of his memories.
"She's from a manga that I used to read," the boy explained, saying "I don't remember what the manga was called or why I enjoyed reading it so much, but I do remember that she was a character from it."
Kori was simultaneously satisfied and disappointed in the boy's answer. It was good that the boy still had some fragments of his memory remaining, but there was still the unanswered question as to why most of them had seemingly been wiped away
"Perhaps remembering the title of the manga could be a missing link to regaining some of your memories," Kori suggested.
"Link?" The boy asked, "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Are you recalling another detail of your life?" Kori asked.
"Yeah," the boy said, trying to wrap his head around what was so important about the word "link". "Link… link… Linc… Lincoln!"
"What?" The girl asked.
"Lincoln!" The boy said, "I think I just remembered what my name is! My name is Lincoln!"
"Close, but no cigar," Kori informed him.
"くそ!" The boy uttered, being surprised by his sudden utterance of the word. What was up with that? It was as if he'd spoken another language briefly. Even stranger, the boy could recall being fluent in whatever that other language was. Whatever the case was, he had more pressing issues at the moment. "Wait a second, do you know my name?"
Kori nodded and said "Yes, I do. Your actual name is Lio Loud and you were 11 years old when you met your fate."
"Loud, huh?" Lio said before he felt another surge of memories rushing to his head. Overwhelmed by this sudden surge, Lio dropped to his knees and clutched his head in agony.
"What's wrong?" Kori asked him frantically.
After a few moments of clutching his head, Lio spoke "Lisa… Leni… Lola… Lily… Lana… Lynn… Lori… Luna…Lucy… Lincoln… Luan!"
"Are you-," Kori asked, "Are you starting to remember?"
Lio nodded and said "Those names… they were the names of my siblings, right?"
"That is correct," Kori told him. "So do you remember now? Do you remember who you are?"
"Aside from the fact that I had 11 siblings, liked to read manga and could speak another language, no," Lio told her. "Could you possibly tell me who I was?"
Kori shook her head and said "Sadly, I can't as I don't know every detail about you aside from the basics…" Kori paused and said "however, I can tell you that your untimely demise wasn't meant to happen. That wasn't the plan that was laid out for your life."
"You know, you don't have to dance around or sugarcoat what happened to me," Lio said, "you can just flat out say "when you died"."
"Sorry," Kori apologized, "it's just that most people don't like their condition being explained so bluntly to them."
"Getting upset over being called dead won't do me any favors," Lio said, still holding his head, "and it definitely won't help me get my memories back."
"Whatever killed you must have been traumatic for you to completely forget about your former life," Kori said.
"So wait," Lio said, "you mean you don't know what killed me? I thought you could tell me how I got here."
"I'm afraid not," Kori told him, "the only thing I know for certain is that you died, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
"So you can't explain this giant hole in my chest?" Lio asked, opening up his jacket and shirt to reveal his chest wound.
"I could take a guess," Kori said, "but there's no guarantee that it'll be accurate."
"やれやれだぜ," Lio sighed. He didn't place any blame on Kori, but he was just so confused right now. First he woke up on a mysterious beach, then he found a gaping hole in his torso, then he found out he was dead and in the afterlife and that he left behind 11 siblings. Today was really a clusterfuck. "Do I retain my wounds into death?"
"Depends on the kind of wound," Kori said, "as long as it isn't decapitation or complete bodily mutilation, denizens of the afterlife retain whatever wound killed them."
"I just have one more question," Lio said, "could you tell me exactly how my life was supposed to play out before I died?"
"Does the name Kat ring any bells?" Kori asked and Lio nodded his head. The name brought about soft and fuzzy feelings, feelings of ecstasy and joy. Lio didn't know why, but hearing that name again brought him some sense of relief. "You were supposed to grow up and marry her. You were supposed to move to Japan and become a mangaka. The two of you would've had 12 children together. You weren't scheduled to arrive here for another 45 years."
Lio was speechless. Just like his parents and siblings, he couldn't exactly match a face to the name Kat, but hearing about the lovely life he would've had with her, the children that the two of them would've had and the happiness they would've shared made him a bit envious. The fact that he was robbed of that life only made him bitter and more determined to find out what had happened to him. Sure, spending the rest of his days in paradise was a nice consolation prize he supposed, but losing both his family and his future family on the same day was too much for him to take, even if he still had no clue as to who he actually was. Lio collapsed into the sand and began crying, sobbing hysterically.
"Oh dear," Kori said, picking Lio up off the ground, "I take it that this news was too much for you to bear?"
"I lost everything!" Lio exclaimed. "I lost my life, my identity, my family, everything!"
"I understand," Kori said, patting Lio on the back, "I know that this can be rather hard to digest, but this isn't the end of the world for you."
"It might as well be," Lio replied, wiping tears from his eyes, "I literally have no one right now. I'm alone in this world."
"I know and I understand your plight," Kori said, "but you will survive this."
"Well I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Lio asked. "Hey?"
"Hmm?"
"You said that I wasn't meant to come here for another 45 years, right?" Lio asked.
"That is correct," Kori said, "you were supposed to live to the age of 56 before dying, but something went terribly wrong and altered your fate."
"Do you think-," Lio asked, "do you think that could be the reason I lost my memories upon reaching the afterlife?"
"It is possible, I suppose," Kori said, "but something like this rarely ever happens."
"You mean, people rarely die before they're destined to?" Lio asked.
"No, that's nothing uncommon," Kori said with a giggle, "that happens every 1 out of 10000 people who come here. No, what's strange is that rarely ever do people lose their memories upon death."
"Maybe if I can remember how I died, I can regain the rest of my memories," Lio said, "or vice versa."
"It's worth a shot," Kori said, "after all, no one who's lost their memories loses them forever. Typically, they regain them within a year or two."
"I don't know why," Lio said, "but I feel like I can't afford to wait a year or two."
"Trust me," Kori said, "you have all the time in the world to remember. It's not like you're going anywhere."
"True," Lio said.
"Come on," Kori said, leading Lio along, "I know a great cafe where we can get a drink and I can explain more of this afterlife stuff to you."
Lio simply nodded his head and followed Kori. In his head, he repeated the name of his siblings as well as Kat. He couldn't remember anything about them, but slowly sparse details were returning to him. He'd piece together this puzzle and recover his memories if it was the last thing he did.