Xynar's reality

the cycle of existence

Alan manipulated the ground to make it move the Guenara rocks around and form a circle around him, his terraforming is getting incredibly good, and not only his terraforming..

"I have a suspicion I want to confirm, this will be my first time attempting Lathinsé, so be patient with me"

Alan closed his eyes, his Lathinsé energy pond immediately connected with his heart, he was getting good at controlling his magic. The guenara rocks created a dome around him that started getting flooded with green mist on the inside, which was actually the rocks' energy coming out of them and going into his body. After he absorbed the energy, the dome disappeared, and he went unconscious.

Alan's spirit just got projected into the Cosmic Underworld.

Gravel and rocks slopes creating paths between magma and lava ponds, all connecting confusingly, Alan looked around to see that he was at the start of the path, he was in a cylindrical carving on the ground, he figured that's where people who die first summon. Looking around, he saw cosmic striders crossing the paths, their heads bowed down, walking slowly and miserable, each one in a different path, there were seven of them.

"What is it with the number seven? Wait...is it seven paths because there are seven strider groups? Does each group has a different afterlife path? It would make sense since they do have a different life so the afterlife should be different for each group as well", he thought to himself

The bodies, or, souls, or bodies of the souls, walking, radiated such a heavy uneasy feel, and the sight became even more disturbing when Alan glanced at one to find that it fell midway through, into the lava lake, an ear-piercing scream followed that fall, and although it was a really disturbing scream it seemed not to faze anyone besides him.

Alan started making his way through the bridge, prudent not to fall off, and he made it, he made it to the other side.

There appeared a giant door that opened, revealing a very normal looking place; a giant plain with trees and flowers all over it, and houses spread all across, he saw cosmic striders and barterschzepos, talking, laughing with each other, participating in activities together, he was stunned, from the second he got projected here, he did not understand one single event.

"Alan?" He turned to face whoever called for him, it was Pi, the cosmic woman that recently died,

"Pi!", Alan ran up to her and hugged her, he didn't get very close to her in her lifetime but compared to those with him right now, she's the most familiar one.

"There's a lot of explaining to do

-there sure is, come with me to my home and we will talk there

...

I won't be wasting time, I'll tell you about everything from start to finish. You know, when I finally discovered this, everything made so much sense, and it will make sense to you too; after a cosmic strider or a barterschzepo die, their soul get teleported to the cosmic underworld. When they first get here they need to cross the path corresponding to their type, yes barterschzepos have seven types as well. Midway through the crossing, they will fall into the lava, which puts them in a place called "Gyandwakchama", in Gyandwakchama, souls get tortured with burning flames until they're cleansed of all bad things they've done in their lifetime, the worse you were as an entity the longer you get tortured, the more good deeds you've done, the less severe your punishment will be. Upon being fully cleansed, you get teleported to "Stipatyalsa", the opposite of Gyandwakchama, it is the place we're in right now, in here souls live peacefully, time ticks backwards, and on top of that it is relativistic, which means a second of my clock could equate to five seconds of another's, when your clock stops ticking, it means that time has come for your soul to get reincarnated in a new body, with the memory of your past life all wiped out.

-when does the clock stop ticking?

-a soul remains in the Underworld as long as three living striders or barterschzepos have one memory with that strider. Me for example, I could guarantee Tyl, Joul, Oppa, Labella, Anith, and others still recall memories of them being with me, the moment only two of the people still remember me, my clock will stop ticking, my body will vanish from the grave, and I will be reincarnated in the body of a baby strider on the ledge of the island, which explains why sometime you open a grave the next day and the body is gone, that strider probably did not have an impactful existence or memorable accomplishment, so they don't stay in minds for a long time, maybe as a name they do, but not as a memory.

-and...what's up with both creatures being friends?

-that's a consequence of being cleansed, the barterschzepo soul does not hold any grudge anymore, barterschzepos are un-taught what they've been taught their whole life, about how terrible cosmic striders are, and cosmic striders are un-taught to be extremely defensive in the presence of a barterschzepo.

-so...on a fundamental spiritual and existential level, both creatures still love each other?"

Pi nodded her head smiling, which in its turn made Alan smile as well. If we find a way to bring out the pure spirit of each creature and wipe their memory to remove that generational trauma from the cosmic side and generational hate from the barter one, maybe, both islands will re-collide, re-emerge, maybe their hearts will rekindle, maybe the ideology that opposition being a necessary condition for completion rather than a reason for bickering and fights, and that opposites were created to work simultaneously to achieve balance rather than live separately and fight endlessly for one half to try and conquer, disturbing the world while doing so, will be finally implemented.

"The cosmic underworld will perish from existence once the both halves stick back together" Pi said, and with that, she finished explaining the cosmic underworld to Alan, and his soul got teleported back to his body.

He opened his eyes so wide it almost felt like they were going to exit his skull,

"What happened?" Tyl and Lyt asked simultaneously, taken off guard by Alan's facial expressions

...

"Everything makes sense now..everything. I remember some time ago, I told you about the mysteries of the island that were unsolved: what happens to our spirits after we die, what determines whether a strider stays in their coffin or disappears, how new striders come into existence, how does the barterschzepo weaponry work, and how can we break the curse.
You, Alan, have single-handedly solved all of them, we know everything now, I cannot find any word to express how grateful all of Neris is for you.

-oh don't say that, makes me flustered to hear. Also, not to ruin the aura, but I believe I can help with one final thing, however, I will be needing all of the cosmic striders to trust me first

-We do, Alan, we do"

...

Alan's plan was a big gamble, it could either work extremely well or be nothing but a waste of more than three years

-Xynar intervention-

...