Afterlife

• Chapter Three •

The weird energy in the room didn't go unnoticed by Celestia.

The door closed with a loud "thump" behind her, three sets of eyes immediately falling on her. An odd silence hung in the air as she awaited someone to break the silence, her only hope coming from Levi who undoubtedly wanted to talk about the event with the Queen.

Millie, who now carried a notepad in her hand, took a few steps towards Celestia, an excited grin on her face. "Number one: how did you die?" a laugh came from Levi's direction, "she's giving you a basic interview to get to know you, her excitement apparently made her forget to mention that... again." Celestia awkwardly gave a thumbs up, returning her attention to Millie who was visibly bouncing on her toes.

"Well, I don't actually remember how I died, so..." "Great! Number two: Uh... I haven't gotten that far. You returned too fast." A hint of pink appeared on Millie's face as she sheepishly giggled, tossing the notepad over her shoulder. "Enough wasting time, let's get down to business. How much do you know about Keepers?" Celestia hummed a little to herself before responding. "I know I'm supposed to help the kingdom with my gift I guess."

Millie's head nodded vigorously, " that's perfect! A Keeper's job is to aid the royal family and their people. Bring hope, peace, and protection. Oh! And every month Keepers and the head royal figure meet with neighboring kingdoms to discuss important things in this big meeting." Celestia nodded her head, feeling a slight hint of fear at the mention of meetings. "How do I help?" she asked, "I have no idea how to even use my gift."

Ethan was the first to speak up, "actually, that's the fun part about Keepers," he beamed. "We were chosen to have these gifts for a reason, you know? You know what you can do without actually knowing if that makes sense. For instance, I didn't know how to make flowers grow, but, when a family asked me to plant flowers around their house, I allowed my hands to move and flowers grew!" Celestia allowed the words to sink in, getting the basic message Ethan wanted her to get. Of course, she doesn't know what she can do, but her body does.

"So, I know more than I think I do," three heads nodded in agreement. "Is there any way I can... practice?" Millie jumped at the word "practice," immediately scooping up the notepad she previously discarded. The girl's hand flew through the pages until she landed on one that appeared to have a lot of words written on it.

"Usually I would have a new Keeper join an elder," her eyes sparkled mischievously as she looked over at the now fuming Levi, "but, I think you can handle it. Take this list and complete all of these tasks! If you do this you'll graduate to a full Keeper!" Celestia took the list from the girl's hands, her eyes scanning the words but were unable to process what they said. "Wait, I don't know where anything is-" Levi's hand was suddenly on her shoulder, "have fun learning how to grow plants!"

The world quite literally flashed before her eyes as she found herself outside the castle walls.

Here she was, a notepad in hand and a suit looking a little jagged from the sudden transportation. Her eyes scanned the bustling kingdom around her, filled with a variety of beings so unlike anything she'd ever seen. Despite being a little distracted, she took note of the glowing light now resting on her shoulder.

"Alistair," she looked over at her soul, its lips upturned in a toothy grin. "Aww, you remember my name! Such a shame they threw you out that quick. Well, not really actually. You did attack their queen, so." Celestia rolled her eyes. "I get it, I messed up. Can you just help me out here, or are souls just here to be annoying?"

It was Alistair's turn to roll their eyes despite the glimmer of amusement behind them. "Take a look at the notepad, m'lady. That'll help you better than I can." Heading its words, Celestia's eyes wandered over the paper, mumbling the list under her breath "one, explore the kingdom, two, have fun. What the? What is this? I thought I was supposed to be helping people!"