Wouldn't you like a second chance?

Rain? Rain! Come on, we have...to get this...thing off!
Crystal, please, get out of here already. This building's about to collapse, you know, Rain responded calmly. He glanced back over his shoulder at the pile of rubble and wood pinning him down, and shook his head.
Rain's eyes softened, and he wiped blood from his mouth - what a mess to look like in front of the poor kid kneeling next to him.
He then looked up at Crystal and grinned with a small sigh.
She was being stubborn, as usual.

Crystal, listen. This is easy Rain paused and whiped his mouth again. He felt guilty every time he spoke now, every time he took a breath...Rain was lying to this girl. He was trying to save her life, and he felt guilty for lying to her...
How selfish, he thought, did that make him?

Easy, he repeated with a bit more determination, but lowering his head at the same time. Simplest trick in my book actually. Honestly, a vanishing act? What kind of magician would I be if I couldn't pull something like 'that' off?
Crystal wiped her eyes, flattened her ears...
She took a deep breath and glanced around at the building collapsing around her. The theater was their home, and she ruined it...no, the fire did. That's what Rain persistently insisted was true.
She looked back down at him.
Well, go on then.
I can't do the trick while you're here, silly, Rain laughed, wincing slightly at the effort it took.
How come?
Magician never reveals his secrets and all that jazz, right? Come on, give me some credit.
Crystal felt like slapping him, being so cheerful and optimistic at a time like this? Didn't he realize the situation around them? Who cared about stupid stage lines and what not?!
But Rain looked perfectly calm about the matter, and he wouldn't be calm if he thought he was about to die, right?
So Crystal slowly rose to her feet.
I suppose, she finally responded, shielding her face from the embers flying through the air as the ceiling continued to fall apart. She then nodded to Rain uncertainly and took a few steps back.
A simple vanishing act?
A simple vanishing act, Rain smiled, Crystal finally ran out of the burning theater...
And Rain was allowed to die in peace by the flames that consumed him.

R.I.P.
Rain Semitrius ("Starr")
January 6th, 1937 - November 10th, 1956


Act 2
A Bright Light


The "Oblivion of Light", "Kingdom of Life", "Purgatory", "Home of Seasons", along with it's other countless names, is complicated.
If you'd really like to learn more about it, you may kindly redirect yourself here.
For this story however, all you need to know is that the Light Oblivion is where Rain awoke.
Because that is more than Rain knew about the realm himself.

Rain awoke in the Light Oblivion.
What he actually awoke to was nothing but, as one of the realms many names implies, light.
That is, light, an inability to move for the most part, and exhaustion.

Rain sighed in his head (if one could consider that possible) and began to close his eyes until a sudden appearance of colours caught the edge of his vision. His eyes slowly moved towards the source, but unable to move his head, Rain could see only an oddly marked pair of bird-like feet.
They disappeared from view as the creature apparently began to walk around Rain silently, and so Rain waited silently as well.

Finally, a regal voice echoed through the empty void.
Rain, do you know how rare it is to receive a second chance in life?
Rain would have shrugged at that point if he could, not exactly seeing the purpose in such a question at the moment.
The voice continued as Rain spotted the bird-like feet again; the creature was circling around him, which Rain found slightly unnerving.
It is rare enough, that hoping to obtain one is more a waste of time than anything else. Now, he paused, would you accept a second chance at life?
The Korbat sighed. What a straight-forwardly difficult question - but quite a kind offer by the sounds of it.
Rain asked the creature to clarify.

It's simple, he explained, no longer moving. You either return to the mortal realm as a "ghost", or continue down this path of your death to what ever is past this realm.
He paused again, allowing Rain to process this. After not getting an answer for a few more minutes, he continued, My name is Jxen, I'm a gate keeper of sorts. Not everybody who dies comes directly here, but the ones who do often continue past without even considering this option.

May I ask why? Rain asked curiously.
Yes, you may. They may not be offered it to begin with, or they believe they've fulfilled what they want in life. Sometimes they don't think the circumstances that follow returning to life are worth it to begin with, or they're just naturally lazy creatures who don't want to go through what I must teach them.
Jxen began circling Rain again. There are rules, of course, if you decide to go back. Things will be different, and there is a lot to learn before hand. It is, however, as mentioned before, your choice. So...will you take the second chance you've been offered?

And of course, Rain did. For if he chose otherwise, there wouldn't be much of a story now would there?


Act 3
Putting Out the Spark of Life


Rain's "lessons" began immediately, but the clash of value in them, between Jxen and Rain, became apparent immediately as well.
Rain. Rain? Oh, for the love of - would you pay attention?! This is important!
Jxen narrowed his eyes at Rain who was currently distracted by the sky, changing colours of purples and blues.
He shook his head and turned back to the creature next to him. Sorry? I didn't catch that last part...
Of course you didn't, Jxen sighed, ruffling his fur in slight annoyance.
What exactly Jxen was still confused Rain. He has the face and front legs of a bird, the mane and hind legs of a horse, and he was covered in a combination of oranges, purples, pinks, white, and black.
Jxen once told Rain he was an Eyrie before his own death, so Rain sort of trusted him on that.

Listen, Rain, when you go back...there's things you have to be expecting. Things will be different, and if you don't understand exactly what exactly will change, you could end up making a mistake you'll regret.
Do you mean like...fading through floors and what not?
No, Jxen laughed, which was actually more frightening than his normal, serious tone. You're not going to be that kind of "ghost". Still be solid, still feel texture, discomfort, pain, bliss, and so on...you can still die, Rain. You're not becoming immortal - perhaps closer to it than most, but not immortal.
Rain nodded contently. That all sounded fine to him, considering immortality never seemed all that great anyways. Mostly out of curiosity however, he asked Jxen to clarify just exactly what he meant.
Jxen scratched his neck and yawned in uninterest, as this topic seemed fairly unimportant to him. There are limited amounts of ways you could die; Three main ones actually - plenty of others, but these are the basics. Your previous cause of death - that's fire in your case of course. Certain magic which is meant to be forbidden, but of course exists regardless...I hope you haven't managed to get on the wrong side of someone with that sort of power. And the last will be an object you will gain an unseen connection to. If someone destroys that, you will die.
What object exactly is-
Can't tell you, Jxen interrupted simply. Can't tell anyone. You either find it yourself, or forget about it entirely. If someone else finds it and destroys it...
Then I die.
For good, Jxen nodded while stepping away. His figure steadily faded away, meaning their lesson for that "day" was over.

Overtime, Jxen explained a lot of things to Rain. Returning from death was a complicated process, but living afterwards was even worse. He found certain concepts interesting however, like how a normally fatal injury would affect him...

Let's say somebody stabbed you in the heart with a knife, and-
Rain interrupted, raising an eyebrowWhy would somebody stab me in the heart with a knife?!
That's really not important Rain, pay attention to the actual concept behind it all.
Rain nodded, slightly to his own dismay, and Jxen continued once again.
Now, if someone stabbed you in the heart with a knife, and took the knife out, you'd become incapacitated until that wound heals normally. Do you understand?
Yeah, so it'd be like going unconscious rather than dying?
Basically. Now, if that same person left the knife in your heart instead, you wouldn't wake up until it's taken out, and you're able to heal normally again. Jxen waved his claw in the air nonchalantly, You'd be surprised at how many people end up getting stuck because of stupid things like that. Luckily, being left incapacitated for long enough brings your mind back here...but how much time will pass in the mortal realm is relative...


And there were other things, too, that simply seemed bizarre. How they were really connected to returning from death was beyond Rain.
For instance, Jxen tried explaining why his blood would be thinner after his return, or why he'd have a more immediate and stronger reaction towards heat and cold, but Rain just accepted the facts in the end.

And so many rules.
So many things Rain wasn't allowed to do, and even though they seemed fairly unimportant to him in specific, Rain was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep track of everything if an accident were to occur.
But, he thought, there was really only one thing he really wanted to make sure he could do when he got back...
So I guess I'll just try and hope for the best...


Act 4
Raising From the Ashes


You're ready to go.
Rain jumped, startled by Jxen's sudden appearance. He shifted in his spot to look at the large Eyrie staring down at him. Ready to go back, you mean?
Precisely, Jxen replied simply.
At this, Rain turned back to look off the cliff he was sitting on edge of - a much less enthusiastic response than Jxen had been expecting.
You do want to go back, correct?
Of course.
And what exactly do you plan on doing when you do?
Well, I was a magician before - ah, well of course you knew that, Rain laughed nervously. Jxen simply shifted the weight on his feet, not understand what was so funny.
And of course, not seeming to care either way, Rain continued up at him, I imagine I'll be continuing with that.

Jxen looked away and sighed, In that case, there's one more thing I need to explain to you - how the interest and abilities one enters this realm with, may not always be the same when they leave. Your little hobby of mirrors and card tricks wouldn't be what I'd consider dangerous, but recent events make me think it may be best to at least explain things to you.
Wait, Rain shook his head, What are you talking about? What recent events? And why-
Jxen raised up a claw to silence him.
I shall give you a simple example then, and you can save the worrying of everything else to me and leave this place afterwards...
Someone who enjoyed playing with matches, may leave this place with an ability of pyrokenisis. Obviously, one at risk of receiving those abilities would have been taught more about them before returning. I honestly didn't really consider you'd have a chance of gaining anything from your hobbies. He turned back to Rain, It comes from a new state of mind - some people leave this place with nothing because they don't see anything differently, or their hobbies and interests simply didn't lead to anything like it. It depends on how you think, Rain.
So Jxen explained to Rain exactly why he was explaining this now.
And to this, Rain didn't respond immediately. He took a deep inhale, leaning back his head with closed eyes. Jxen was reminded of someone ready to step off a building, but that's not what Rain was thinking about.
Rain was thinking that he was ready to go back, and he'd find Crystal to let her know she wasn't guilty of anything, and to see other people again, and live his life like nothing happened.
So he left, and Rain awoke in Neopia almost 50 years later.