Welcome to the Good Place

Tahani lead Lyra out of her office and outside into a picturesque neighborhood. It closely resembled a pleasant town that was modern but not overly populated or metropolitan in terms of appearance.

"So this is how it works… the Good Place is divided into distinct neighborhoods. Each one contains exactly 322 people who have been perfectly selected to blend together in a blissful harmonic balance." Tahani explained.

"This is incredible, is every neighborhood here like this?" Lyra asked in awe.

"Every neighbourhood is unique some have warm weather, some have cold, some are cities, some are farmland. But in each one, every blade of grass, every detail has been precisely designed and calibrated for its residents."

"Incredible, so what should I do now?" Lyra asked.

"Well normally, I would tell you to take a seat to watch the introductional movie, but given that the positive and negative effects don't apply to you and I'm assuming you're too young to want to try finding a soulmate?"

"Yeah, not especially. It's not just the fact that I'm 10, I've spent the last few years in limbo blinded by bloody vengeance and taking joy in making my family suffer. I don't know about you, but I don't think many boys will be impressed by that. Also, I think I've made enough people suffer so I don't want to force anyone else here into a relationship they're not gonna be happy with." Lyra explained.

"Understandable, if that's the case I'll just give you the concise version. Every action you made on earth had either a positive or negative response which totalled up to a determined amount and those with mostly positive amounts are admitted here, it used to only apply to the highest scoring individuals, but due to a little error I helped fix, now more people will be able to rest in eternal peace." Tahani explained.

"I see."

"Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way I can take you to where you'll be residing here."

"My new home?"

"Of course, right this way." Tahani said as she lead Lyra through a picturesque gardenscape until they arrived.

"Lyra, welcome to your new home." She said as Lyra saw her new house. It wasn't too unnecessarily extravagant but it looked like a nice place to live, especially for a ten year old. It was smaller than the Loud House granted since she'd be living there alone. But it definitely fit her theme perfectly being a shade of emerald green and looked to be only one floor, unless there was a hidden attic or basement she wasn't seeing yet.

"Isn't it just perfect? You see in the Good Place, every person gets to live in a home that perfectly matches his or her true essence. Ergo you have been given a house that reflects your favourite colour and as for your personality… well that's mostly reflected on the inside where no one else can see it." Tahani explained.

"I see, well thank you, I think I could like it here very much."

"Excellent, of course I always knew that I would make an amazing architect. My godfather was none other than world famous architect Frank Gehry." She explained.

"He must've been a bit before my time. I'm not too familiar with him." Lyra said.

"That's alright, shall we go inside and check it out?"

"No time like the present I suppose."

So they entered the front door up a few concrete steps. As she entered Lyra admired her new home. It wasn't exactly a mansion but it was better than either of her previous living quarters. The door entered into the living room which had an emerald green couch and matching chairs that looked to be made from naugahyde, along with a wooden coffee table and a flat screen TV sitting on top of a credenza. Instead of carpeting it simply had an elegant rug that looked like it originated in the Middle East.

"This is your new living room, and the TV is programmed with any show or movie you could possibly imagine, even ones that haven't been released yet. You can also view first person scenes from your own life."

She then lead Lyra into the kitchen, which was slightly bigger than the one in the Loud House with a fridge, sink and a microwave above the stove. She then took her down the hall where an average sized bathroom was set and further along, most special if all for Lyra: her own bedroom. A queen sized canopy bed with a soft white quilt and pillows accompanied by her own personal dresser and closet. Lyra was officially over the moon with her new room, which was far superior to her old quote-unquote "room" which was just the top of a bunk bed in a room that she was forced to share with Lynn and Lucy. She never even had any floor space for herself! Safe to say this was definitely an upgrade for her.

"So what do you think?" Tahani asked Lyra after she was certain she'd taken everything in.

"I think I'm going to like it here very much." Lyra spoke enthralled by her new abode.

"Well now that you've seen your new home I'd like to introduce you to your new next door neighbour."

"Okay, I guess." She said.

"Now I should let you know that most of the people you'll encounter here will be well-meaning, honest and friendly individuals who spent their lives doing good things for others. Whereas you….."

"You don't need to sugar-coat it. I was an amoral bloodthirsty psychopath vengeful spirit." Lyra said fully aware of her past life.

"Well, you'll be glad to know that not every individual here is perfect, this one young man I'd like you to meet that was far from perfect but redeemed himself."

"Okay, what's he like?" Lyra asked.

"He was a bit of an ill-reputed young man but ended up making the ultimate sacrifice to save those that he loved after he was fatally wounded battling demonic bat monsters." She explained.

"Really? Where do you even find those?" Lyra questioned.

"In another dimension called the Upside Down." She said ominously.

"Well, if it's anything like that limbo dimension I was trapped in, it must've been something awful." She thought.

"Yes it was. Anywho, he lives right here." She said as she lead Lyra towards the house next to hers on the right, a normal sized house that looked a bit dated but not fancy by any means it was painted white with a black roof.

Tahani and Lyra approached the door and after knocking, they were greeted by a young man about 19-20 years old with long brown hair in a mullet and a wimpy moustache. He wore a denim vest over an unzipped black leather jacket over a white t-shirt with black sleeves that most noticeably had "HELLFIRE CLUB" written on it above an image of what looked to be the devil in between a flaming sword and a mace. He wore dark blue jeans with ripped knees and white trainers.

"Oh hey Tahani, what's up?" He greeted.

"Hello Eddie, it's lovely to see you. I just wanted to introduce your new neighbour who just arrived and will be living next door to you. This is Lyra Loud. Lyra, this is Eddie Munson." She said introducing them.

"Nice to meet you" said Eddie extending his hand to her.

"Hello" she answered accepting his handshake.

"Lyra is a new arrival here and she'll be living in the house next door." Tahani explained.

"Oh that's awesome, well Lyra you seem like a pretty rockin' little lady, I look forward to getting to know you."

"Thanks, me too. I think we should get along well, when I was alive I had a sister who was into rock and roll too." She said remembering her sister Luna.

"Oh neato, is she here with you?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, Lyra here is all alone. She is a unique case so to speak because she was originally sent to the Bad Place for a punishment to pay for the misdeeds she committed, and that particular misdeed was trying to murder her entire family on Thanksgiving. As a result: all of her relatives living and deceased, have effectively disowned her." Tahani explained.

"Damn, sounds like you had a rough life and a rough afterlife so far." Eddie said sympathetically.

"You don't know the half of it. I spent the last 8 months dragging a boulder around a jogging track. I'd say the worst thing about it was that I couldn't stop until I finished." Lyra explained to Eddie.

"Bummer, well I bet things will be much better for you here."

"Hopefully they will, so are you here alone or do you live with anyone?" Lyra asked curiously.

"Yeah I live here with my mom, she passed away when I was 6 and my dad dealt with the pain by stealing from stores and gambling away his money, which landed him in jail. From then on I lived with my uncle Wayne in Hawkins, Indiana."

"Sounds like you had a rough childhood too. I can relate." Lyra told Eddie.

"Well there'll be plenty of time for you guys to discuss your traumatic pasts later on. For now I've got some important architectural work to do, so I'd better get Lyra home before I get back to my office.

"Okay, well it was rocking to meet you Lyra, let's catch up again soon okay?" Eddie asked her.

"Yeah of course that sounds great." She said before she and Tahani headed back to her new house as Eddie closed the door.

"Unfortunately Lyra, I really have to run. But I'll be back tomorrow morning to help you get introduced to the community. Until then you should spend the evening in your new home and get settled in."

"Alright." Lyra agreed since she didn't feel ready enough to explore the entire neighborhood tonight. "Have a good night!" Tahani said before walking away.

Lyra closed the door and took a deep breath. This was her new life now. Well, afterlife technically but she decided to make the best of it and settled in by making herself a late night snack, situating herself on the couch, turning on the television and watching whatever she could think of, since it was completely up to her! No more fighting over the remote, no more sisters ruining her life, no more parents ignoring, and neglecting her, she was finally free! Of course her mind wandered and thought about Lincoln: her one beam of sunlight on a cloudy day. No matter what was happening with him, she knew he was safe and sound. He promised he'd never forget her but knew she had to let him be free to live his own life with his family A.K.A.,her former family.

After a few hours, Lyra decided to turn in. Going into her new bedroom and conveniently finding an exact copy of the pyjamas she had used on earth in her signature colour. She tucked herself under the soft covers and fell into a heavenly slumber.

Although her mortal life was over, a new more fulfilling one had just begun…

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(Worth the wait? I think yes, I felt as though Eddie deserved to go to heaven for his sacrifice to save Dustin and the gang in "Stranger Things". Don't worry though, because Eddie's not the only crossover character that will be in the Good Place. If I can get 3 more reviews I'll work on chapter 3 more quickly. Until then stay tuned readers!)