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 girl kneeling next to him.
He then looked up at Crystal and smiled.
She was being stubborn, as usual.

Crystal, listen. This is easy Rain paused and wiped 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...


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 careless and optimistic at a time like this? Didn't he realize the situation around them? Who cared about stupid stage lines?!
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? You promise?
A simple vanishing act, Rain smiled.
Crystal finally ran out of the burning theater...


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


Act 2
Light is Blinding...


The "Oblivion of Light", "Kingdom of Life", "Purgatory", "Home of Seasons", along with it's other countless names, is complicated.
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.
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 people will sometimes waste entire lives waiting for one. 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.


It's simple, the creature 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 here. 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 anyways.