The Collector

Chapter 1

Heavenly Rule

[ translated from the Old Archzion language ]

All immortals who have been given the authority of the souls must handle their task accordingly. Willful failure to do the task will not be tolerated by those with high power.

Chapter 1

Lower City, Illumi.

Where it all began.

Strange feelings wallowed over me as I wandered through the moonlit, damp alleys. It shouldn't feel strange, it honestly shouldn't. I have seen how mortals die in the entirety of my life as a Soul Collector, yet my insides still form a knot whenever I see their destined demise. This feeling may have something to do with mortals' death increase in the past few days due to wars and sacrifices that the immortals most definitely do not need.

Being a soul collector isn't as easy as those depicted in the mortals' telltales. Oh, how I wish I could just collect the souls of the dead instantaneously but, that is not the case. Soul Collectors such as I typically get to the mortal right before their demise. It is to ensure that they get their destined end, and to keep record of their deaths. We keep those records in massive archives where the Angels and Keepers sort through them.

Us Soul Collectors were also named as Reapers, or more commonly, the Grim Reaper, in the mortals' little worlds of wonders. It is honestly an insult to the actual Reapers as their work is much heavier than us Soul Collectors. They hunt down immortals who break the sacred Heavenly Rules that are written in the Old Archzion language. Their task is much more taxing than just collecting and compiling souls. They get to fight—can you believe that?

As if the realms don't get enough deaths already.

Well, a death of an immortal is very different from a death of a mortal. A soul will not be collected but, rather, their essence will be dispersed and eaten by the Abyss. When eaten by the Abyss, an immortal's soul is believed to not be able to undergo The Cycle—and what is The Cycle?

The Cycle begins at life and ends at death. A soul will be born into the mortal realm, as a human, fox, mouse, or even a little fly. They will live their life as mortals until they reach their destined end—being a meal to a hungry lion, crushed by the palms of humans, or even sacrificed to their so-called gods. Their death will be recorded and their soul will be collected by Soul Collectors before being sent to the Angels to be sorted out.

The Angels are the one to finalize the compilation before it will be put in the archives for the Keepers to keep and review. Once deemed okay to go back to the cycle of life, the chosen soul will be guided back down by an assigned Archangel into the Mortal Realm.

The Cycle is such a long process but, we do not question it nor defy it—what would defying the cycle of life benefit one anyway? No one really knows why The Cycle was created in the first place—even us, the immortals. Only the creator knows the purpose of it, be it for entertainment or for something truly meaningful.

I hovered over a rough path before leaping from roof to roof to get to where I was originally headed. My black, ashy figure flickered as I did, blending in the darkness the skies had produced. Though, upon my arrival to my destination to collect marked souls, the skies gradually brightened as the roaring fires at the distance loomed over the huge wall separating the Lower City of Illumi from the main kingdom of this particular part of land.