The Ninja has to apologize. She spent about a week writing and rewriting this chapter and she just couldn't make it work. / As a result it still sucks, AND it's late. There are also no chapters on backup because of the rewrite, so she's going to have to pull an all nighter or two. Hopefully there will be a chapter Monday ... hopefully.

On another note, some people think Garin stands a chance of winning Hannah back. Snicker Yeah. We'll have to see if he's man enough for the job in the next chapter.

Session 10: The Afterlife
Pain no longer had a place here, and his lack of pain was the first thing he noticed when he woke up. His body looked like it never been
touched. Not only where the cuts and gashes from today's fight gone, but all of his old injuries disappeared as well. Even the scar that
made him so easily identifiable had vanished. Looking down at his reflection as he learned over the railing, he looked like another
gelert. He still wore the same clothes that he did before, but he felt different. It felt like a great weight had been lifted, but he still had small springs of that all too familiar 'worried' feeling that plagued him in life.

Life ...

This place wasn't Krawk Island, so did that mean he died? The air around him smelled so crisp and refreshing, and the daytime light was just enough to illuminate without causing harsh glares on even the smoothest surfaces. The way the sun reflected off the city of white buildings about a quarter mile away from the bridge he stood almost made the place glow . But he had his doubts.

Did he really belong here?

" You want to know the answers, huh? " Then, there was her, the woman he thought he'd never see again in his existence. She sat on the railing just inches away from him, her legs kicking over the side with her tail wagging behind. Quite simply she's the most beautiful teal furred gelert that ever walked the face of Neopia, and her dark brown (nearly black) hair was a wonderful contrast to her brightly hued fur. " Do you wish to know what's going on? "

" I am a bit curious " Kanrik replied smoothly, not taking his eyes off the water.

Giggling, the female gelert leaned back to the point where Kanrik almost reached out to catch her. Much to his relief he found she was in no danger of falling, even at that extreme angle. The grace of a dancer and the skill of a gymnast, he mused. Strange. Did he say that sometime before? " I suppose you can call this a holding place for loss souls who can't ascend into the afterlife yet. "

So he had died, and right there in front of Hannah no less. He barely met the girl, but the mental image he got weighed heavily on his stilled heart. " So my time is up? " He gave a weak chuckle. " I guess that this nice place won't be where I'll be spending eternity. "

" On the contrary, Kanrik. " The female straitened up, sitting upright with one leg crossed over the other. " It is rare that a pet actually be banished to eternal damnation and all that good stuff, but I didn't tell you that. " She smiled. " Whatever lay beyond our vision thought that very few pets are actually evil, but are just influenced by a greater evil. Because of this they can't be faulted for their actions, or punished for that matter. "

" What lay beyond? " He questioned. " You don't know who's pulling the strings? I thought it was-"

She closed her eyes. " No one knows. " Not even the faeries. "

" Hmph. They work in mysterious ways . "

Nodding, she'd open one eye to look back at him. " But in this place pets can decide to either accept their fate or try to make a better life for themselves and those around them. "

" I'm being given a second chance? " The gelert girl nodded. " But why? I'm the last pet that needs to be given a second chance to screw everything up! I - " His ears lowered against his hood. " I'm better off dead. Everyone will be better off with me dead. "

" Is that really what you think? " Now the gelert girl slid off the railing to face him. " It is true that you've done horrible things in the past, but if you're given a second chance don't you think that you'd try and make amends? "

" Why should I? " For a moment Kanrik got a bit of arrogance. " Like you said, I can't be punished for my sins. "

" Just because you can't go to tell because of what you've done doesn't mean you can't spend the rest of your existence suffering. " This time, it was the girl's turn to grin. " There are two planes of existence in the afterlife. In one plane people who think like you live in a world parallel to his or her own in redundancy. Eventually you'll get the sensation that you'll just keep living on and on forever and completely
forget you died. " From there her expression grew serious. " In the other you relive the moments of your life that you enjoy the best with your friends in the prime of your life. It's paradise, but you'll never see it at this rate. "

Kanrik frowned slightly. " Either way I'll be sent back to Neopia... "

" You're just not willing to take a risk. " She shook her head, and then stepped towards him. " Kanrik, I'm not supposed to tell you this,
but you have to go back. This isn't only about you making amends for your sins, but this is about the survival of our Neopia. " Her dead took on a bright light for a moment. " You already know what this means. "

" Kamir .. " Kanrik sighed, turning away from her. " I thought things wouldn't play out like that if I just gave up now. "

Kamir reached out for him, grasping his shoulders with her tiny paws from behind. " The prophecy that struck fear in our people can go either way, Kanrik. It not necessarily what you don't do with your life. It foreshadows a terrible event that will occur depending on the decisions you make over the rest of your life. If you concede your life now, then it'd be the same as failure. "

Kanrik thought for a long moment about her words. For a moment, Kamir thought she lost him completely. Finally, he placed his gloved hands over her bare ones. " I thought what happened on Terror Mountain was the prophecy, but I can see that I was mistaken. I'm sorry for disappointing you, Kamir. "

Smiling, she pressed her body against his back in a tight embrace. " You can never disappoint me. I am proud of the man you've become, and I will continue to love you despite what the final outcome is. " Reaching for his chin, she pulled his eyes to focus on hers. " Are you going to try it again for me? " He nodded with confidence. " Then I'm afraid our time together has ended. "

Kanrik turned completely towards her, and held her by the waist. " Kamir, will I ever see you again? " He looked so hopeful .

" Our paths will cross again only if you've redeemed yourself in the eyes of the Great Spirit that watches over us all. " Her voice seemed so distant though she was 'physically' there with him. Taking his hands gently, she'd place a kiss on the back of each palm before pushing them back towards him. " I wish you luck, Kanrik. " She smiled .

He wanted to say something, but found that he couldn't. His hands went for his throat out of instinct, and that was the first place that was reintroduced to that all too familiar sensation of pain. Kanrik winced, closing his eyes as he took a step back. The pain that rushed over him was unbearable! He felt like screaming, but it lost its effect with the loss of his voice. How could he make that decision knowing he died in such agony?

Opening his eyes, he searched for Kamir, but found that she and the narrow bridge that they conversed on had disappeared an eerie void of darkness. Sound and light could not seep out through the shadows, and he felt himself getting steadily weaker due to extreme changes in gravity. I brought him to the 'ground' in the mysterious void, then to his knees .

H-Hannah? What are you?.

A voice! Even in his disoriented state he could knew that voice belonged to the female blue aisha that pulled him out of the water. Still, the voice was faint and he couldn't tell what direction it was coming from.

Thud. He couldn't keep his body up any longer, so he fell forward onto the ground and soon into unconsciousness. It was up to fate what would happen to him from there.