Title: A Journey Past Reality
Summary: Kasumi Katsuo died unexpectedly on her way to school on November the 5th 2000. Because of this Kasumi was given a choice: Rebirth or face an eternity floating in darkness.
Prologue
"Kasumi dearest! Wake up or you will be late for school!"
Kasumi Katsuo groaned and rolled around, thus landing on the cold wooden floor. Sitting up she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to get up falling a few times trying. Rubbing her behind she set her course for the bathroom down the hall.
Ten minutes later she was out the door, a half eaten sandwich between her teeth trying to get into her uniform jacket. Grey skirt, white t-shirt, grey jacket, and a red tie. The school board didn't have that much fantasy, let alone fashion taste.
As Kasumi passed a store she saw that someone was having a birthday party in there.
"Happy 5th Kumiko!" a proud mother said and kissed her daughters forehead.
'Fifth!' Kasumi thought and groaned. Today was the day for the math test, that she hadn't studied for!
She started to run. If she came early it might be time to have at least half an hour of hard studying before math class.
Turing a corner she heard someone screaming. This caused Kasumi a moment of thought. Math test or helping whoever had screamed? Oh HECK WITH IT! Turing around she ran towards the sound. The shop she had seen the happy family in was engulfed in flames. The shop keeper was busy keeping the mother back.
"My baby is in there! Kumiko, I have to get her!"
"It's too dangerous miss! You can't go in there!"
Kasumi ran through the chaos and into the building faintly behind her she heard someone scream "Stop that girl before she gets killed too!"
Kasumi continued through the house towards Kumiko's voice. The heat was intense. She inhaled smoke and almost choked, but continued. Eventually she reached little Kumiko. She couldn't be more than 4-5 years old. Kasumi pulled the little girl close to her and started to run for the exit.
The flames had started to engulf the entrance now. Kasumi picked the little girl- Kumiko? - and ran all she had. But she saw the roof was starting to cave in. As if in slow motion she almost threw Kumiko out the door. Then the roof fell over her.
For a moment, all Kasumi could feel or see was the heat and flames, but then it was as if it didn't matter anymore and her world turned black.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kasumi felt, more then saw, her world floating by. He mother telling her how proud she was over her first A in school… her dad's funeral… her last grandmother's funeral… the news that her elder sister had lost her first child… her friends in school… Kumiko's birthday… and then … the fire.
"Now, now dear open your eyes."
Slowly opening her eyes Kasumi faced a wondrous sight. If this was heaven it wasn't puffy and white clouded that everyone thought of when they thought 'Heaven'. It looked as if you walked on a floor of glass, the 'floor' was divided into many squares depicting, not down at earth, but many, many worlds. The one she was looking down on now was showing a scene where a giant fox was terrorizing a village.
Tearing her eyes away from the floor she looked at the person who had spoken. It was an old, kind looking lady. She had the same aura as you expect to find around your own grandma.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Kasumi blinked rapidly thinking that she had just lost her mind.
"Well dear, I suppose I am who you would call a death god. Or to be exact, one of them." She showed to the floor.
"Every world has several death gods receiving and sending souls. You see every soul have to go through a round tour through every world; one life in every world."
"Okay. I can understand that." Kasumi said now thinking that this was some sick dream.
"Now dear. Since you died early in your last world; you can have the generous choice of choosing if you want to pass on into darkness and rest for infinity, or you can pass on, beyond reality."
"Pass on beyond reality?"
"Yes dear. An entirely new sequence of worlds- the one you came from was called Reality. We have around 5000 different sets of roundtrip worlds. The one you have the possibility to be reborn in is called 'Beyond Reality.' This is the alternative for Reality." We give people who have died unfortunately, or too early the choice to be reborn there just as we give people with the same type of death a chance in Reality."
"I think I'll take the rebirth in the beyond thingie." Kasumi stated fast. She didn't exactly like the idea of resting in infinity. Besides; she had a weak phobia for darkness. And what harm could it be? This was just some sick dream from her fantasy anyway.
"Very well my dear. Now for erasing your memories…"
"NO! Please, please, anything but that!" The old death god-grandma sighed.
"You are going to regret it sweetheart."
"Please don't take my memories!"
"Very well then. But remember you chose this."
She turned around and bent down over the picture of the scene with the fox. For a moment it almost looked like something fought the fox…
Then once again she floated into darkness.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be up tonight. Feel free to review and tell me your honest opinion- though please keep in mind that though this is a well explored idea, it was just something my strange fantasy told me, and it might not fascinate you as much as me.
Thank you many times for reading!
Nat-tia
