Evaline Academy Short Stories

#2 - ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᛖᛁᛟᚾᛞ

ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᛖᛁᛟᚾᛞ

#2 - The Beyond

Written by Celeste

Ernoth

Ernoth woke up with a start. There seemed to be a floor of whatever this place was, but it also seemed to be clear, leading to more nothingness.

Standing up, Ernoth looked around. There was a small wooden desk that had a pile of paper neatly stacked on it. There were two chairs, one on each side.

A few seconds after Ernoth had noticed the chairs, fiery text hovered above them, "sit on the chair" it read.

Ernoth tentatively sat on one of the chairs, the one closest to him. Only after he had sat down fully, someone appeared in the other chair. The person seemed to be androgynous, with his hair flowing in the air, even though there was no wind.

"Let's see..." the person said, flipping through the paper on the table between them. Ernoth felt a sense of nervousness overcome him.

"Ah yes!" The person said, the pages dissolving into dust that soon was swept away. "Ernoth of the Underworld, that is who you still are, is it not?" The person said.

Ernoth shifted nervously in his seat, "yep." he said, nodding.

The person seemed to jump, "I am so sorry! I've forgotten to introduce myself!" the person exclaimed, "my name is-" they stopped for a second before restarting, "people call me, The One. I am the thing that made all of Eoxitria, the realm in which you and everyone else that you've ever known lives in." they said, a slideshow popping up behind them, explaining who they were.

"And- uh- where are we now?" Ernoth asked.

"Right! Yes! We are currently in the Beyond! The place after death for souls." The One smiled, "this is technically outside of Eoxitria, so mortals don't really know about it."

"Okay..." Ernoth said, kind of following, "so I'm dead dead, and now I'm stuck in the Beyond?" he asked, for clarification.

"Yep!"

"What about the people I know, like... Morrtem?"

"Well Morrtem is also dead, so you will see him once you get to the main place, think of this as a preparation meeting so your head doesn't blow off once you get to the main place."

"Okay, does everyone come here, even non-wizards who don't believe in the gods n' stuff? How does that work?"

"Oh! Nobody has ever asked that before, good question!" The One said, a new slide popping up behind him. "Short answer yes, long answer no. So, yes everyone does come here, but no because they would see whatever their religion has them to believe is in the afterlife, people who don't believe in a god, just see the beyond as it is! A whole lot of nothing."

"Oh, one more thing." Ernoth said as the slideshow turned off, "what's your name, because you said that people call you The One, but what do you call yourself?" he asked.

The One seemed to get really tense and uncomfortable at this question, "well... When the gods first left the beyond and, with my help, made Eoxitria as it is, they kind of... forgot about me here..."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I don't really talk about it that much, I'm totally okay with it though, it was how it was meant to happen... it just... it... it left me without a name."

Ernoth nodded, "that's all the questions I have, thanks." he said.

The One nodded, "oh! One more thing, don't eat the fruit unless you need to forget!" They said as the desk and The One dissolved into dust and a bunch of trees appeared, grey and nameless people with them.

Ernoth wandered the grey forest for a while, before a bright light shone through the trees. Investigating the source of the light, Ernoth found the first person that actually wasn't grey and lifeless.

"Morrtem!" Ernoth said, tackling his husband in a hug.