Do you deserve paradise?
[[Yes.]]
[[No.->Wake up, Night.]][[Then there's nothing for me to teach you.->Do you deserve paradise?]]You sit up. Shaking. Pain. It's dim, a swirling haze of fog obscures your vision, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of you.
The sky is a [dim green-brown]<w2|.
(click: ?w2)[ (replace: ?w2)[[muddy red]<w3| ] ]
(click: ?w3)[ (replace: ?w3)[[a muted orange]<w4| ] ]
(click: ?w4)[ (replace: ?w4)[a dark mustard yellow, and so on] ]
[[Someone is talking to you.->???: Hey you!]]
[???: Hey, hey! You're here!]<w5|
(click: ?w5)[ (replace: ?w5)[[???: Congrats on being laid to rest, Night!]<w6| ] ]
(click: ?w6)[ (replace: ?w6)[[???: ...]<w7| ] ]
(click: ?w7)[ (replace: ?w7)[[???: The name's Shea!]<w8| ] ]
(click: ?w8)[ (replace: ?w8)[Shea: We're each other's ticket out of here!] ]
[[Night: Where is- Where am I?]]
[Shea: Look, I know it's a lot to take in!]<w5|
(click: ?w5)[ (replace: ?w5)[[Shea: It took me like, literal ages to wrap my head around it, but Calais said I should just rip the baindaid off!]<w6| ] ]
(click: ?w6)[ (replace: ?w6)[[Shea: You're dead, Night.]<w7| ] ]
(click: ?w7)[ (replace: ?w7)[[Shea: We both are.]<w8| ] ]
(click: ?w8)[ (replace: ?w8)[[Shea: Take your time. Or, well, not too much time. We gotta get in before sun down.]<w9| ] ]
(click: ?w9)[ (replace: ?w9)[Shea offers a dusty hand to you.] ]
[[Take her hand.]]
She pulls, pulls you toward something in the distance. A gate. A gate in a long wall, stretching in either direction infinitely.
The doors part under her touch and seem to welcome you into the hazy expanse beyond.
You realize that you're not ony dead,
[[You're in Hell.]]Does that surprise you?
That's what you would have wanted, right?
What you deserved?
You never really did much to help people.
You weren't a good person.
You weren't a bad person, either.
You were just sort of... there.
[[And then you weren't.]]You don't remember dying. When you try to remember, your bones ache, starting in your temple and rolling waves down your back.
[And everything went white.]<w2|
(click: ?w2)[ (replace: ?w2)[And then everything went black. ]]
And someone asked you what you [wanted]<w3|.
(click: ?w3)[ (replace: ?w3)[deserved]]
And then you woke up.
[[And there was Shea.]][Shea: I told Calais to wait for us by the gate, but that was ages ago.]<w5|
(click: ?w5)[ (replace: ?w5)[Shea: I hope they didn't move on without us.] ]
As you walk, buildings begin to appear on the horizon, scattered at first before populating into dense cities of rubble and rust.
Shea freezes.
[[And then she takes off, full speed towards one of the metal sheds.]]
The door she stops in front of has something scrawled on it in chalk.
It looks like it may have once been an angel, if you pretend like it wasn't half wiped away.
Shea: Look!
She lifts the side of her shirt up to reveal a tattoo, also of an angel, but more beautiful than the pictograph before you.
Shea: This has to be them!
[[She knocks.]]???: Who.
[[It's not a question, somehow.]]Shea: You know who it is, Callie.
???: ...
Shea: I found them.
???: ...
Shea: It's me, Shea! With Night!
???: ...
Shea: Look, I don't remember what your stupid password was.
[[It was 'Busy, busy, busy.' But you wouldn't know that.]]The door screeches open, and a pale hand darts out, grabbing Shea by the arm and tugging her inside.
Unfortunately, she still had your hand in a vice grip, and you tumble in behind her before the door can shut on you.
The room is dark. Too dark to see.
The person who brought you in speaks and you jump. They are standing barely an inch from your face.
[[???: This is Night.]]Shea: Yes??? Calais I wasn't-
Calais: Wasn't what?
Shea: ... Expecting to take so long.
Calais: ...
Shea: I'm sorry.
[[You should say something.]]
[[But you don't.]]Night: What took so long?
Shea's tone snaps into something a lot less apologetic and something a lot more placating. She runs her hand up your arm soothingly, and speaks as Calais interrupts.
[Shea: You didn't do anything wrong!]<w1|
(click: ?w1)[ (replace: ?w1)[Calais: You took too long to die.] ]
[[Oh.]]Calais: What is it that makes Night so special that you had to pick them over someone who was already dead?
Shea: ...
Calais: We've been waiting for so long, Shea.
[[Oh.]]The air stills as everyone falls silent. There's sounds of a fight breaking out outside, far from here.
Everything feels miles away in the silence.
Shea: How long has it been?
Her voice is small and dull compared to how she sounded when she met you. You can physically feel the anxiety bubble off of her. Sticky and black and grabbing your legs and lungs and you almost want to cry for her.
[[Calais: Six hundred and fifty-one days.]]You feel them move away from you, and moments later a lamp flicks on.
The room is lined with desks, cluttered with books. Mostly bibles, it looks like, or other sacred texts.
There's jars filled with watches and other valuables.
Calais is stuffing a rag in a crack at the top of the door jamb.
[[Calais: Are you just going to sit there?->Just sit there]][You blink]<w2|
(click: ?w2)[ (replace: ?w2)[[You blink again.]<w3| ] ]
(click: ?w3)[ (replace: ?w3)[[You blink again, and again.]<w4| ] ]
(click: ?w4)[ (replace: ?w4)[[[You notice now your glasses are cracked.->2]]] ]Shea: Where's everyone else?
Calais: ...
Shea: Callie?
[[Calais: Where do you think?->3]]You learn quickly that this isn't going to be easy.
At this point do you really deserve easy?
You had things too easy too long.
An average twenty-something that worked themself to death
in a dead-end entry-level job
who did nothing to impact anyone, or anything.
[[Calais and Shea are looking at you->4]]Shea: Are you ready, Night?
How can someone be ready for this?
[[Nod.]]
[[Shake your head.]]Shea nods back, and turns to face one of the many shelves and starts piling stuff into a [backpack]<w3|.
(click: ?w3)[ (replace: ?w3)[moth-eaten pillowcase]]
[[Help Shea gather supplies.]]
[Shea: Jesus, Night.]<w5|
(click: ?w5)[ (replace: ?w5)[[Shea: It's just... ]<w6| ] ]
(click: ?w6)[ (replace: ?w6)[[Shea: Sorry.]<w7| ] ]
(click: ?w7)[ (replace: ?w7)[[Shea: I've waited a really, really, fuckin long time for this.]<w8| ] ]
(click: ?w8)[ (replace: ?w8)[[Shea: Calais? Can we borrow some supplies?]<w9| ] ]
(click: ?w9)[ (replace: ?w9)[Shea: Not like you're gonna need them.] ]
[[Help Shea gather supplies.]]`//End Wip`