Kirai opened her mouth to take a breath of fresh air, but found that there was none

Kirai opened her mouth to take a breath of fresh air, but found that there was none. Her eyes widened in shock as she flailed her arms wildly. She tried to breathe again, but came up with the same result. Wherever she was, there was obviously a lack of oxygen.

“You there!” The voice echoed around Kirai, but she couldn’t see anyone or anything nearby. “Stop squirming! Ugh, the Recent here are so annoying! Come on, relax. Breathing isn’t exactly necessary when you’re dead, dear,” the voice said. It was definitely female, though there was still no face to match it.

However, Kirai thought it best to listen. She stopped trying to breathe, and for the first time realized that she was sprawled out on the ground. The sky she was staring at seemed more like a ceiling made of stone, with carved shapes and scratches littering the surface. Just a moment after that realization, she came to a new one: did that woman just say that she was dead!?

“I know, it’s so shocking. You’ll get over it soon enough. You Recents always seem to have a way of bouncing back from this sort of thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Kirai asked, rubbing her head, still staring at the ceiling.

“If you’d get off of the ground and look at me,” the woman said, “I’d be just tickled to start explaining things.” Kirai sat up, revealing a taller woman with long red hair and green eyes. Her face was round, and her nose was very slim compared to the rest of her features. “Eh, close enough to standing. Anyway, like I said before: Due to some horrific and unfortunate circumstance, you’ve ended up dead. Now, before you ask, no, I don’t know why you’re dead. You probably don’t remember why, either, right?” Kirai nodded. “Right. That’s something that’ll come back to you later. Anyway, you ought to head towards the First City, which is right down that path.

“After that, you can go wherever you want. Doesn’t matter to anyone where, as long as you’re within the proper boundaries. You could always go look for someone else you know that has died. They’re all here! It’s like one big party. But with less punch and more depression.”

Kirai just stared at the woman for a long while, and then raised her hands to her face. “I’m…dead?”

“That’d be what I said,” the woman replied, an annoyed tone obvious. Her lack of concern was almost a cause for concern. “Also, you’re a Recent. This just means you’re the freshman to this high school, and that you’ll be adjusting to behaviors down here. Anyway, off you go!”

“Wait!” Kirai cried, watching the woman begin to walk away. “What exactly is the First City?”

“Ugh, if only I could remember why I picked this stupid job. You, newbie, are now residing in Gador, or as others call it, the Land of the Dead. Most Recents try to go looking or the meaning of life and stuff, but no one has ever come back to tell me that they’ve found it. Then again, they don’t often come back at all…” The woman coughed and looked away for a moment before continuing. She threw a small sack at Kirai, and started to walk away. “That’s all. I’d get moving, if I were you. You only have the rest of eternity to find something to do.”