In Another World

The Final Dream

Angel woke with a start, shocked to find himself on a plush, comfortable, extremely white couch. He blinked several times, as he realized that almost everything in this room was a blinding white, except in the middle of the wall, up near the ceiling, there was a red neon sign that had the words "IN SESSION" written across it. Under there appeared to be another sign, but Angel didn't know what that one said. It looked like some sort of large waiting room, with plenty of couches and plush chairs to the left of him. There was a desk that looked like it should hold a receptionist, but nobody was there. On the seats, there were plenty of people, but they all looked like they were asleep... or maybe even dead.

Dead. That's right! Angel died. In a fight with Chainsaw Man as one of Makima's tools. So, then, was this... No, this wasn't hell. It didn't feel or smell like hell. Was it heaven, then? Angel would have expected a little bit more fanfare if he was being honest. Besides, how the hell could a devil get into heaven anyway? He still wasn't sure it even existed.

Purgatory, he realized, as though he just had some sort of innate sense about it. This is purgatory. Why the fuck am I in purgatory?

Angel heard a shuffling noise at that moment to his right and he twisted around, only to see a back he was familiar with. The man was looking out a window that only showed more whiteness, having moved the white lace curtains out of the way, which was what had alerted Angel to his presence. Although the man was wearing white sweatpants and a white sweatshirt that matched what Angel was wearing instead of their usual suit and tie and his hair was down, out of that topknot he wore so much, Angel could recognize that man anyway. Angel had watched him become the Gun Devil, without being able to do anything about it because he was being controlled by Makima. However, there he was, with both of his arms. They both had both of their arms, Angel realized.

"Human," Angel said quietly.

Aki jolted a little, before turning halfway around. "You woke up."

"That's one way of putting it," Angel said dryly. "I think I died was what actually happened."

Aki nodded before fully turning around. "I don't remember what happened, but I know I died as well. I woke up from a dream I was having about my little brother and was just here. You were beside me, but you wouldn't wake up. I gave up and started looking around instead."

Angel closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath, despite him no longer needing to breathe. "Do you know where we are?"

"Purgatory," Aki replied.

"Mm, so it's not just me that can sense it," Angel replied. "Why are we here together, though?"

"I don't know," Aki replied quietly.

Angel blinked as the red light suddenly turned off before a green neon sign came on underneath that said "READY FOR NEXT SESSION" came on. A door that Angel was sure hadn't existed before swung open right below the sign. Angel glanced at Aki, who simply nodded and gestured for Angel to get up. Angel did so, sighing, following at a short distance behind Aki to go into the next room.

The next room was even more white, incredibly, since there was no red or green light, just a plain, white chandelier above them. There was a three-person sofa and two love seats, all facing towards a very white desk. There were bookcases along the walls that held all white books that all looked like they were the same book, just repeated over and over again. Behind the desk there were three tall doors, which, from left to right, had a star carved into it, then a moon, and then a sun.

Shockingly, there was a woman at the desk who was not all white. She was wearing a red blazer with a black top under it. Her black hair was kept up in a messy bun and her lipstick perfectly matched the blazer. She was typing on a computer, but it looked much more advanced than the ones that Angel had seen in 1997. Besides that, she was typing impressively well considering how long her black and red nails were. She also was chewing gum, kind of loudly and annoyingly.