One moment, there was the screech of tires, the sickening crunch, and then… nothing.
Not blackness, not silence, but a strange, humming emptiness that felt like the absence of everything familiar.
"Einar" wasn't breathing, wasn't feeling the cold asphalt against his skin anymore. He was just… a point of awareness in a sea of resonant energy.
Did I die? The thought echoed in his mind, devoid of the usual panic that would accompany such a realization.
There was a detached curiosity, like observing something happening to someone else.
His last memory was sharp, brutal.
A car, headlights blazing, then… the fade.
Now, this.
A world woven from countless strands of light, each vibrating with a low, constant hum.
It wasn't unpleasant, just… omnipresent. He felt himself coalescing, not back into his broken body, but into something lighter, something that didn't quite have form yet but was.
A gentle pull started, an invisible current tugging him forward.
He wasn't alone.
Around him, other indistinct shapes drifted, moving with the same unseen purpose.
No words were exchanged, but there was a shared sense of bewilderment, a silent acknowledgment of their collective departure from the world they knew.
Ahead, towering structures of pure light began to materialize, humming with an energy that resonated deep within his core.
They were massive, intricate, unlike anything he could have conceived. This had to be the afterlife, but it was nothing like the stories.
He was drawn towards a colossal archway of glowing amber light.
As he neared, he felt a sensation of being scanned, analyzed.
Not by eyes, but by the very energy of the archway itself.
A voice echoed in his mind, clear and authoritative, yet without emotion.
Soul identified.
Designation: Einar.
Imprint… unusual.
Potential… noted.
Proceed for Sorting.
Before he could even process the cryptic message, he was gently pushed through the archway.
The humming intensified, and the world shifted.
He found himself in a vast hall, filled with the same soft, internal light he'd sensed outside.
Beings of pure energy moved with serene purpose.
One of them, its form humanoid but made of shimmering light, approached him.
A guide?
The being projected its thoughts into his mind.
"Welcome, Einar. You have arrived at the Soul Society".
I am a Retriever. I will assist your initial transition.
Soul Society. The name felt… right, somehow. But "unusual imprint" and "potential noted"? What did that mean? He'd always considered himself ordinary.
You are no longer in the realm of the living, Einar.
Here, souls gather, contribute, and eventually… return to the cycle.
Return? Was this about reincarnation? He'd heard of it, but never given it much thought.
Come. There is much for you to learn.
The Retriever gestured towards another shimmering pathway.
Einar followed, a sense of both awe and confusion swirling within him.
This was just the beginning. He could feel it.
And somehow, the mention of his "unusual imprint" sparked a flicker of something unfamiliar, a sense that maybe, just maybe, his ordinary life hadn't been so ordinary after all.