Assistant Overseer

In a completely white room, that resembled an office more than anything else, a figure cloaked with a white mantle was sitting near an office desk and it looked like it was reading from a transparent screen that was hanging above it in the air.

It's face wasn't visible but Leon was staring at that cloaked figure from a chair in front of the desk as if waiting for something to happen. He couldn't speak, or move for that matter, and the questions he had about the immediate situation only piled up one on top the other, like bricks in a wall.

Finally, after what seemed to be ages to Leon, the cloaked figure spoke:

"Well this is interesting. I haven't had a case as difficult as this since the Great wars..."

Then it scrolled up and down on the screen once again and added:

"To indirectly cause the death of your wife over a material possession, and on the other hand heroically self-sacrifice for the life of your grandchildren, again over a material possession, yet there was no greed involved in both actions... difficult."

At that point Leon finally regained his ability to speak so he immediately sought some information:

"Who are you, and where am I!? What is all of this!?"

The cloaked figure lifted its head, and a border of a humanoid face, with distinctly male features could finally be seen.

"Ah, yes... Well let me try to explain. I am an Assistant Overseer in charge of the Earth realm. Usually you wouldn't be able to meet me but one of the receptionists got confused with where to put you. Annoying as it may be, he called his manager or, *khm*, me."

The cloaked figure then continued to contemplate over his decision, but soon he was interrupted by bewildered Leon again.

"Assistant Overseer!? What in the world is that!? I need some information here!" Leon yelled, almost losing his bearing.

"All in good time Mr. Swain, just recently you taught your grandchildren patience, didn't you? And before you ask, yes they are fine and the police managed to arrest your assailant."

'At least they are safe, or else Irene would never forgive me' Leon thought, letting a sigh of relief. His thoughts were quickly interrupted.

"I can't really let you move on to a higher plane, based on you previous transgressions, but you don't really qualify for a cleansing either given the recent circumstances" cloaked figure announced.

"Higher plane? Cleansing? What are those?" Leon inquired, his confusion only deepened.

"In Earth realm terms, those are Heaven and Hell. You've heard about those? The receptionist that should have sorted you is something similar to an angel, and you can consider me an archangel. Even though we hate that comparison as it is based on ancient work conditions we struggled to free ourselves from, it is still the easiest way to explain to humans what is going on..."

"Then what about God!?" Leon felt puzzled.

He was not a religious man throughout his life, and only after Irene's death did he start questioning the existance of a higher power, in order to numb his pain. Now, he was given an opportunity to find out the truth.

Unfotunately Leon's question only seemed to anger the Assistant Overseer for some reason.

"No, not a God, but a Supreme Overseer, and a pretentious shmuck at that. Useless drunk, I begged him for a promotion for an eon and that bastard is still not satisfied with my work ethic. Well who would have a proper work ethic if they had to deal with a bunch of whining office clerks and humans all the time!? Dragons and Elves are much more affable, and they speak only when there is an important matter to discuss."

The assistant overseer then turned its back to Leon and lingered:

"Well at least I don't need to work with those Goblins, they give me the chills whenever I see them. Or those Trolls, the noise, the smell *ugh*"

Leon felt that this was his fault so he tried to mediate "I offer my apologies, it was not my intention to upset you Mr. Assistant Overseer"

The Assistant Overseer snapped out of his rambling, turned to face towards Leon again and, as if he had enough of this conversation, snorted:

"Mr. Swain due to your circumstances, and my disdain for bureaucracy and paperwork, I can offer to personally cleanse your soul and return you to the cycle of life and death. That way you won't have to endure "Hell". Would that be acceptable?"

Leon didn't have enough information to know what was 'acceptable', in fact what happened now didn't really mater to him. He came to terms with his death. But there was still one unfulfilled desire left in his mind, the same one that followed him for many years.

"I just wanted to see my dear Irene again" Leon stated what was in his heart, looking down, as if the floor held all the answers.

The Assistant Overseer then checked the transparent screen again:

"Ah, yes, Irene Swain, a truly pure soul. She had amassed a plethora of karmic points, receptionists didn't even need to check the second time, she was sent straight to the higher plane. I am afraid your karmic points are abysmal compared to hers, and you won't be able to follow her there, I'm afraid."

"Karmic points!? Isn't that a Buddhist thing? How do I get those!?" Leon was devastated. It was as if he got hit by hope straight into the face.

"What did you expect? Just because I compared us to angels and mentioned Heaven and Hell, that there are no other elements from different world religions? How do you think those came to be? That pretentious shmuck of a 'Supreme' Overseer was just messing around for his own amusement. I mean, ever heard of a 40 day long flood? The bastard got drunk all the time back then and when his wife threatened to leave him, he cried on the Earth without paying any attention. Then I had to clean that mess up with an over the top myth! Do you know how many memories I had to alter? It took me ages and he didn't even bother to congratulate me on a job well done, no, he just created even more tedious work. Don't even get me started on what he did on Xeonus realm, Demons still curse him every day. Fortunately his wife manages to keep him in check or else the whole universe would be destroyed. Just look at his latest pet project ..."

The Assistant Overseer stopped there. It was one of those moments when the light bulb lights up above your head just like in cartoons.

"Mr. Swain, I can actually offer you a way to gather more karmic points, and even have your wish granted if not more. You will be able to reunite with your beloved wife but I have to warn you upfront, it will not be easy, actually it is bordering impossible.

Leon quickly demanded to know:

"I will do whatever it takes, just give me a path, thorny as it may be my scarred feet will know no rest!"

"That was unnecessarily poetic but don't get your hopes up before you hear about it. That being said, my offer is a recent project which that bastard created under the guise of 'Fair chance for everyone' so it slipped my mind previously, in fact it was created just a few centuries ago."

The Assistant Overseer then smirked and proclaimed:

"Its name is Soul war!"