Soul Reaper

He sat there, waiting. Waiting for the sound he hated the most to ring through the semi-empty white room.

Beeee-

There it was. The sound he hated the most. The sound that indicated someone had died. He stood up, he hated this part and waited for the soul to materialize before him.

The young soul, blue in color, slowly began to form before his eyes. Beginning as a small orb and then slowly transforming into the small form of a human boy.

He waited for the young soul to open his eyes, not pleased at how young he died. But nonetheless, it was his job to guide him to the Gate.

The young soul opened his eyes and he was almost blown away by the brightness in them. Beautiful green. A Reaper's eye.

"Where am I?" The young soul asked looking around, the once white room now turned star-filled.

"You, young soul, are in the Astral Plane of Life and Death." He spoke, his voice soft and unwavering.

The young soul flinched back away from him at the sudden appearance and examined the black cloak covering his head.

"W-who are you?" The young soul asked, eyes filled with confusion but also wonder.

"You may call me Jay, as I have no name."

The young soul's eyes widen at the name before he spoke. "Everyone has a name."

"I have forgotten mine young soul."

The young soul frowned. "My name's not 'young soul', it's Matt."

"Then Matt, shall we go?" Jay offered his hand for the young boy to take. He did with a question falling from his lips.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Plane of Memories, and then to the Gate."

"Plane of Memories? Gate?"

"Oh yes. The Plane of Memories is where souls like yours visit to look back at your past lives and the Gate is where you will be judged on where you go."

"Go where?"

"I don't know, I haven't gone that far."

They walked in silence, the ground rippling with each step, observing as Memory Cores rushed past them. There weren't many but that was expected as Matt was a young soul.

One Memory Core, however, slowed to a stop before them. A memory of two young boys laughing and running around in a playground as their mothers watched over them, smiling.

Jay looked over at Matt to see his eyes were wide and glazed over. "..op it..."

"Young soul?"

"STOP IT!" Matt screamed and kneeled covering his ears as the laughter from the memory rang through the Plane.

Jay waved his hand through the Memory Core and it disappeared, leaving the faint echo of laughter after it. He crouched next to Matt, hearing mumbles. "Matt? Is there something wrong?"

"I don't want to remember that day, nor see it again." Was the small whisper.

"But you must. For a Memory Core to stop means it's a very important memory for you." Jay responded, gently taking Matt's hands from his ears and pulling him up. "May I ask why?"

The words that fell from Matt's lips made him freeze up and sway on his feet as something pounded inside his head.

"My best friend died on that day."

"I-" He coughed and tried to ignore the pounding. "I'm sorry to bring that memory up. I should have noticed the black tint on the Core's edge indicating a bad memory, and for that, I apologize."

Matt nodded wordlessly and they continued to walk through the Plane, watching the memories that passed. Yet something still nagged at his head.

Glass. Blood. Screaming. Crying. Pain.

A small hand tugged on his cloak and it took him a few seconds to realize he stopped in the middle of the Plane, Memory Cores floating beside him as if concerned.

"I'm alright, just recalling how long the Memory Plane will be." He waved his hand in a fluid motion and the Cores vanished as a light appeared and engulfed them both.

When the light cleared up they found themselves in a blank abyss. Without any words, Jay walked ahead with Matt following slightly behind as they made their way through the abyss.

"Where is this?" Matt's voice broke the silence.

"This is the passageway to the Gate." Came the quiet response. "This is also where many Souls are lost."

"Lost?"

There was no response making Matt look ahead to where Jay was supposed to be and found it empty.

"Matthew?" That voice...

Matt turned to the voice in panic as his eyes began to sting. There standing before him was his best friend.

"W-what? Jason?" Matt backed away from him as tears welled up in his eyes and slowly came down.

His best friend stretched his hand in Matt's direction. "Come with me, Matthew!"

Matt slowly reached over to take his hand but it was intercepted by another hand, making Matt look back at who it was. Jay.

Jay pulled Matt away from his best friend's figure and speed-walked through the abyss, ignoring Matt's complaints.

"O-oi! Wait! That's my friend! Stop!" He tried to release Jay's grip from his hand but that only made his grip tighten.

"That wasn't your friend. Those are Soul Hunters." Jay responded as he increased his speed when seeing more Soul Hunters approach them.

"Soul Hunters?"

"Indeed, they take the form of someone you miss dearly and draw you away from the passageway. They're also the reason why many Souls are lost here."

As they passed under a Grand Arch, the Soul Hunters disappeared and Jay seemed to relax. "I made it to you in time." He whispered to himself before he turned to Matt. "Let's go. We're almost to the Gate."

True to his words, after a few seconds of walking they came across a giant golden gate and Jay stopped, releasing his grip on Matt's hand.

"This is where I shall leave you."

"You won't come with me?"

"We Reapers aren't allowed beyond the Gate, even if I am a Soul Guiding Reaper." He smiled. "I wish you the best," with that he slowly transformed into a million black and red butterflies. "Matthew."

Matt froze at the name and stared at where the Butterflies began to fly to. He looked closely at the Butterflies and realized something. "Flame-Bordered Emperors... Jason's favorite Butterfly..." His eyes widen.

"Jason!"