Within the ACHTD universe and timeline, there's one thing that's always mentioned but never really touched upon; what exactly happens after death? Well, I'm here to finally explain that and more!
Some background knowledge first:
There are 4 classes of gods; the Great gods, the Settled gods, the Smaller gods, and Demigods. The Great gods are the gods that rule over the universe in its entirety. There are only two and always only two Great gods at most to avoid major conflict but still have the advantage of extra thoughts and opinions to help manage the universe. The Settled gods are any gods created by the Great gods and set to manage a certain planet. For example, the Settled gods that rule over Earth are Mila, Jean-Claude, Jackson, and Sabrina. Settled gods can create other Settled gods, however they're limited to only having 6 Settled gods per planet at most. Smaller gods, also called Spirit gods by some species, are gods created to manage much smaller things that Settled gods don't have the time to handle all on their own. For example, what people call "Mother Nature", usually appearing as a silver wolf, is considered a Smaller god who watches over the forces of nature. And finally, Demigods aren't technically in the god family, but because they have godly blood to some slightly major degree, they are considered part of the tree. Great gods and Smaller gods cannot make offspring with mortals, however, Settled gods can, and the product is a Demigod. Demigods are considered the weakest type of god to exist, as they have extremely limited powers compared to other gods and generally don't rule over anything like their predecessors. In fact, most Demigods that exist never find out that they're Demigods until the day they die, which just goes to show how minute and hidden their powers are.
All souls have color, and usually your eye color reflects the color of your soul (there is a rare chance your eyes could not be the same color as your soul, but like I just said, it's rare). If a soul has no color, it can either appear black, grey, or white depending on the color it had before. Color to our souls is what makes us the way we are, like how we feel about certain things or the talents we'll grow up to have. When a soul has no color, that means it is completely dormant, or, in a mortal's case, dead inside. This doesn't mean people with no soul colors are heartless or have no emotion, but it may be difficult for them to fit in because of the completely separate way they act compared to other mortals. Most dormant souls aren't completely dormant and still have some color to them, but they have less color than others.
Now onto the stuff I was planning on talking about :)
The universe is comprised of 5 layers, each of which are vital to all existence as we know it.
The Planes: We'll start here because that's where the living are! When a soul is created or when an already existing soul is reincarnated, they are brought to the Planes. Of course, since aliens definitely exist and any planet can have its own living life forms, the Planes are not just Earth; the Planes are every planet containing every soul-filled thing that is still alive.
The Void: This is where every soul ends up after they die. However, souls aren't meant to stay. The scary part about the Void is that it is the only place that gods cannot manipulate, making it extremely dangerous for even the most immortal of souls. Even worse, when souls stay in the Void for too long, they begin to deform, causing them to not only lose their color, but to also lose their sense of stability. When a soul stays for too long, they become what is known as a Void Creature, and Void Creatures are categorized in 3 stages; the Beginning stage where they've only stayed for a short time and can easily be saved, the Blackening stage where half of their soul is corroded and can be extremely difficult to save, and the Final stage, where the entire soul has lost its color and cannot be saved from its new, horrifying form. Thankfully, there are specialized Angels and Demons, called Angel's Guides and Demon's Guides, that can slip in and out of the Void to collect and lead souls to Heaven or Hell (depending on where they belong). These guides have some of the most durable souls right next to the gods themselves, making them decay much slower than a normal soul once they enter the Void.
The Heavens: This is pretty much like any generic Heaven you see in the movies. It is a calm and mostly quiet place containing souls that were deemed good. Some angels were born here, others were born in the Planes and died, and some are even souls redeemed from Hell. There are 3 ways to get to the Heavens; One, to be born in that layer, two, to be born in the Planes and die a good person overall, or three, to redeem yourself after being condemned to another layer. If you were born in the Planes and died, there are two ways to be let in automatically. If you were the perfect person (which has never been achieved before), or if you are below the age of your species's brain maturity. For example, human brains tend to be fully developed around 25, so if you are below 25 when you die, you are automatically let in. This age isn't the same for every species, which is why the rule is very non-specific. If you meet neither of these requirements, or if you meet the below brain maturity limit but have still committed some horrible things in your life, you can still get in, but only if you attend and graduate from a soul rehabilitation center. If you refuse to do this or fail to graduate, you will end up in Hell. Don't worry, though, the center only has a .02% failure rate, which is mostly made up of people who were either overconfident or didn't want to try in the first place.
Hell: This layer is comprised of 3 rings, unlike the 7 rings we usually hear of. The Upper Ring contains souls who could've gone to Heaven but refused or failed to do so. Most of the Demons here are civil, and even have a monarchy government in place with the Supreme Ruler (aka the gender-neutral term for King/Queen) being dubbed Satan. The Middle Ring contains souls that have done more dastardly things and were straight up denied the chance to enter Heaven because of it. The Lower Ring is the worst of them all, containing Smaller gods that have abused their power and are being punished as a result. More powerful gods can manipulate the layers (except the Void, of course), so they don't get sent to the Lower Ring because they could easily escape, but Smaller gods don't have this ability, which is why they are sent here. Regular demons cannot travel between the rings, however Satan has the power to send a soul down a ring when given the right materials.
The Stars: This layer is for people who have died outside of a planet. Each planet has its own gods, so if you die without a god overlooking you, you are brought to the Stars. You can also be brought to this layer by time-traveling too much, which can cause your soul to "ascend" or deteriorate in a way that doesn't necessarily harm it. The Great gods live in and run the Stars, and they can bring any others they want to the layer as well, though they usually only do this for emergencies and they have only once had to bring a mortal soul in.
That's all I can think of for now, will most likely be coming back to re-explain some things better because I am on the verge of falling asleep rn but I don't feel like waiting until I wake up to read over and post this, so that's not what I'm gonna do. See you next time! :)
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