1 Henry

Henry was walking aimlessly through the dark space that he found himself in.

He did not know how he ended up here. The last thing he remembered was a bright light that invaded his room while he played games on his computer.

He has always been a little afraid of darkness, but now he had no choice...there was no exit, there was no light, there was no sound, there was no breeze...the only thing he could see was the dark space around him, the only thing he could hear was the sound of his steps and the only thing he could do was keep walking.

"Maybe I died?"- Henry thought with himself, but soon he shut off these thoughts.

Just the notion of death and the thought that he was condemned to live eternally in this kind of silent and dark place, scared the shit out of him

"Fuck, I need to get out of here"- Henry yelled as he started to run, wishing the darkness to end.

After what seemed an infinite amount of time, Henry finally spotted a sign of light.

"That should be the exit...I'm saved"- He said and ran faster, wishing to get to the light. The light meant that hope still exist, and he could get away from this place.

After what seemed like an eternity, Henry could finally see the source of light. It was from a small lamp that illuminated a big wooden desk filled with papers on it.

Behind the desk, there was a white-haired old man holding a feather pen and a white paper in his hands. The old man had a face filled with wrinkles, a dry-soil like skin and dark circles under his eyes…

When Henry saw him, he immediately remembered those scary old men he used to watch on horror movies, those which he has always been a little afraid of, and, now, there was one right in front of him.

But as much as Henry was afraid, he didn't run away...he knew that this old man was the only hope he had to get out. As Henry was about to open his mouth to ask if the old man knew the way out, he suddenly heard a croaky and old voice.

"Name?" - the old man asked and looked towards him with his scary and emotionless eyes.

When Henry looked into his eyes, he felt as if this old man would kill him and throw his flesh to the dogs

"Henry Mason" - Henry unconsciously said his name. Maybe out of fear or maybe out of habit, he didn't know.

"Former Occupation?"- The old man kept asking

"You can say that I was a professional Esports player" - And Henry kept involuntarily answering.

"Sure sure...a player…" the old man murmured while stroking his beard and writing on the paper. Henry didn't know why, but he suddenly got goosebumps, like this simple pen could decide his whole future.

"Name: Henry Mason. Former Occupation: Professional Esports player. Karma acquired: 3.000 (Average)...qualified to enter the Reincarnation cycle."- The old man said as he read the paper in his hand.

"Reincarnat-"

"Take this and pass through the door"- The old man interrupted him and waved the paper that came slowly flying towards Henry, who carefully grabbed the paper.

Henry looked at the paper, but it was all blank.

'This old man sure is insane. I should get out of here fast.'- Henry thought

"Hm...sir, there is no door here" Henry said, as he looked around for a door.

Although the old man seemed insane to Henry, he was his only hope to get away from this place. Henry thought that it was best if he kept his distance from this old man. Maybe if he went through the door that the old man said, he could find somebody else to ask.

The old man didn't say anything, he just raised his finger and pointed towards his right.

Suddenly, an arched white door with a luscious vine creeping over it appeared, brightening up the whole place...to Henry, the door seemed to lead towards the heavens.

"Now go. I am busy" the old man yelled.

Hearing him, Henry rapidly ran towards the door.

--------x--------

Henry was dumbfounded.

In front of him was an unimaginable huge river with thousands of images that kept changing, like the passage of time and calling Henry towards it, like a mermaid's voice. The environment seemed gray, and no trees or mountains could be seen, only a vast flat land.

"Lineup"

"I said…LINE UP!"- Suddenly, Henry felt a powerful punch on his head that sent him flying a dozen meters away from where he stood.

He got up quickly, slightly dizzy but with no major pain. It was quite fantastic…maybe one of the wonders of being dead. He looked towards the place where he stood, searching for the source of the punch.

It was a humungous man of almost sixteen feet tall, wearing a black plate armor and a conical helm, that left most of his face unprotected but showed two twisted horns. On the helm, there was a small drawing of a white whirlwind. He was like an armed demon.

"Stand up and wait in line"- the demon like soldier threateningly yelled while looking at Henry, making sure that this soul respected his words and follow the line.

Still a little dizzy, Henry hurriedly looked around and spotted an endless line formed in the direction of the river. As someone born in the era of technology, Henry hated waiting. Besides, seeing thousands of expressionless silhouettes already in the row, he was sure that it would take at least years to his turn.

He didn't want to go, but the image of the threateningly demon in front of him left him with no other choice. He had to line up.

"Yes sir" Henry obediently said and rapidly ran to take his place. He had no desire to infuriate the man.

Seeing the soul obedience, the demon nodded approvingly and walked away. There was always someone who got lost in the wonder of the Dimensions River, and his job was to keep them away. He was their Guardian.

"Last year a really powerful soul jumped inside the Dimensions River and was extinguished in minutes, so, if a normal soul jumped inside, it would die immediately"- the demon murmured, sighing to himself, before resuming his walk.- "It would be a pity, since it's quite difficult to see powerful souls such as his, able to maintain his rationality in the face of all Dimensions."

The Divine River was the boundary and the entrance to hundreds of planes, each one with different history, people, species etc. However, only the Gods responsible for the Reincarnation cycle were able to touch and submerge themselves in the river.

Even seeing the river was a difficult task. A weaker soul would lose their minds and become like those expressionless silhouettes in the queue. Just a few of them were able to maintain their previous appearances and rationality.

_x_

Henry had no idea how much time passed since he lined up. However, it was enough time for small lapses of memory to appear. Sometimes he forgot about his mother's face, name, and age while also forgetting about his own name and face. Everything was beginning to turn illusory.

But…one day, when he was about to reach the end of the line and his existence…everything changed. And it all begun with a loud explosion.

*BOOM*

The explosion was followed by a strong earthquake, enough to cause the ending of the world.

Feeling the ground beneath his feet trembling nonstop, Henry came to his senses. It was like awakening from a long dream, where he forgot everything about himself.

*BOOM*

Henry had no time to adjust his mind and put it in the present, as the ground trembled again, even stronger than before. He could feel that it was not only becoming stronger, but also closer, whatever it was. Furthermore, every tremble made the expressionless silhouettes around him fade away, like fireflies being extinguished.

Suddenly, Henry heard a powerful voice, followed by another explosion.

"Gods and Demons of the Underworld! I demand you to give her back to me!"

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It brought with itself a powerful wind that hastened the destruction of the silhouettes, fortunately Henry did not disappear together with them.

"Luriel! Go back! This is not your domain!" – Another powerful voice echoed. – "I won't repeat myself."

"Azazel!" – Luriel, the first voice, screamed – "I came here to take my child back, if you do not release her, I will break this domain! I will break the Reincarnation River and release the chaos."

The dialogue happened, but Henry could not spot any of these beings. They were like the wind itself, invisible but present.

Luriel threatened, but no response came from Azazel. It was like a cold war.

"It seems like there is no way out. I can not let her go." – Azazel said, initiating pandemonium.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Explosion after explosion sounded in the air. Henry felt that he was about to be extinguish. His soul could not face the winds and the tremors running amok in the environment.

He turned his head and focused on the river. The only way out.

"Fuck!" – Henry cursed inside his head.

He was afraid of the demon from before, but that fear small in front of this kind of threat. He had to jump inside. Luckily, he was already near it, and no one seemed to watch the borders.

*BOOM*

The last explosion was the sign he needed. He propelled himself forwards and with decisiveness jumped inside the river, letting himself sink.

The last thing he heard was Azazel desperate shout before his consciousness faded away.

"Luriel, stop your actions, Chaos can't be released.!"