The Realm's Delight

Chapter 1

Death is the cessation or end of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. It is the permanent and irreversible termination of life, leading to the cessation of all physical and mental activities of an individual.

That was what I had been told by an AI when I had asked it what Death was. An answer rooted in scientific research.

When I asked my father what death was, he gave me an answer rooted in religion. He told me that when our allocated time on earth was at an end, God would send the angel of death. The angel of death would then extract our souls through our mouths, painful for the wicked while peaceful for the blessed.

To me, death was both those things. It was the end of all biological functions because our souls had been pulled out of our bodies.

I was not an overly religious man. I was religious, I believed in God and his powers. I was also a man of science, who understood just how the world worked. I found connections between religion and science and used one to fill in the gaps of the other. The only thing I couldn't find solid answers for was what came after death.

Religion would have us believe that after death we would be sent to either heaven or hell depending on how we lead our lives in the living world. Science would have us believe that nothing came after death, that once the body died there was nothing more, a simple exchange of energy from one form to the other.

But I needed to know more, I needed to know what exactly was that welcomed people after death, eternal salvation or eternal damnation, or just unconscious darkness. What I did not know was that I would be getting that answer sooner than I'd have expected or have liked.

----

It was an odd sensation that coursed through my body. Every part of me was cold as ice, barring what I assume was my heart. That part burned like a raging fire, untamed and dangerous. It made me feel like the ice coffin of a burning body. It wasn't unpleasant, while at the same time, it wasn't that pleasant either.

I tried to ignore the sensation and diverted my mind to figure out where exactly I was. Darkness was all I saw no matter how far I tried to look. And then there was a small spark.

With a grand explosion, my surroundings ignited with white light that forced me to shut my eyes. When I reopened them, the darkness was illuminated by countless tiny blinking orbs of light. I was staring up at a giant ball now, one that was radiating a soft glow. But behind it, I saw the darkness, held back but ever-present.

A hand slowly emerged from the darkness and slammed onto the giant white ball. There was no sound from the impact, but I saw dust flying the moment the hand was impacted. Slowly an arm came into view as if something was pulling itself onto the giant ball. The arm extended to a shoulder, then to a head, and soon an entire body was visible.

The body was crouching on the giant orb and staring at me, at least I assumed it was staring at me. The figure had no eyes, nor did it have any features to it. It was simply a giant body that looked as if it was both male and female.

The figure was silent, as was I. It stared at me and I stared at it. Then it reached out and grabbed me.

Suddenly the coldness of my body seemed to vanish and the heat in my heart spread all across. I felt hot as if someone was holding me close to a fire. The darkness had swallowed me once more and I struggled to free myself. It was damp here, damp and tight. It was hard to move, yet I could feel that something was trying to push me forward.

I could hear voices suddenly, feminine tones that sounded urgent. They were instructing someone, almost begging this person. But that was hardly something I could care about, not when my entire body felt like it was being squeezed and contorted. It did not hurt, but it was very uncomfortable.

And then I was free. My skin felt cold for only a moment before someone had wrapped something around me, something warm and soft. I couldn't see clearly yet, the world around me was a haze. I saw shapes moving around me, humanoid shapes that were peering down at me. Was it more of those things that had grabbed me? These looked smaller than that one.

I was moving again, being handed over to someone else. I felt the covers around me being moved, and then I was held against something warm and soft, something that brought me great comfort and a feeling of safety.

"Hello..." a weak voice spoke to me. I whined as this being pulled me away from the comfort and could hear someone laugh. I stared above me and saw two faces peering down at me, much clearer than what I was seeing a moment ago.

The first of the two belonged to a plump man with white hair and purple eyes. He had a moustache under his nose and a neatly trimmed beard that matched his hair.

The other was a woman with similar hair but longer, no moustache or beard and purple eyes. She looked exhausted and from her eyes, it seemed she had been crying as well.

"Hello little one" the man spoke, his voice shaky and rough. Had he been crying too? Why were they all crying?

"A healthy princess, my Prince, my Lady" a third voice spoke, another woman. I could not see this one with how I was being held.

Where was I? Who were these people? What were they talking about? I tried to make sense of the situation but found that I was lacking in information. So I thought over what I had heard. The third woman was congratulating a Prince and a Lady for the birth of a Princess. That seemed to make sense. But what did that have to do with me? And why were these humans so much bigger than him?

Embarrassingly it clicked for me when I was left alone with the man and the woman. I was the Princess, they were talking about me. Did everything I feel up until I was staring up at these two was my own birth? But how? And why was I being called a Princess? I was a man last I checked.

All these questions began to give me a headache, and I did what came to me as a natural response to it. I wailed.