Badboyhalo POV
I wake up, exhausted as usual.
It's not exactly uncommon for me to be lacking in sleep lately, and Quackity forcing me to wild parties that go into the early morning doesn't help either.
Checking the time, I see I have less than an hour before work, and promptly shoot out of bed.
Rushing through a shower and a quick breakfast, I slip into my signature black cargo pants and red striped hoodie before taking off.
Quackity is still sleeping on my couch, hungover from last night, and I leave a note with some medication and water for him to wake up to.
I usually end up walking to work, wanting to enjoy the outside and calm feel of the morning, even if all I get to see is black stone and lava.
After a little over 15 minutes, I see the large building marking the entrance to the Nether, or in my case, the exit.
It's a boxy office building, with hundreds of demons working.
Some have jobs like me, taking the position on my off shifts, some are meant to welcome new demons, some organize population control, and many more.
As I make my way to my work locker, a few people wave and wish me a good morning, me returning the gesture.
Finding my way upstairs, I stuff my house keys and communicator in my small locker.
Back downstairs, a security line stretches across almost the entire first floor of the building. Demons wanting to visit earth for assignments, newcomers being admitted into the Nether, everyone has to be frisked down.
I step into the shorter line for leaving the Nether, noticing my friend, Minx in front of me.
She has the same daily job as me, just for a different part of earth. Neither of us are allowed to know where, but there's at least one demon and angel for every country in the world.
"Hi, Minx!" I tap her shoulder happily.
She turns to face me, a grin spreading on her face. "Bad! How's your day been treating you?"
"Normal, I guess. I had to take a very drunk Quackity back to my place last night, though. He really needs to learn responsibility."
She laughs, lightly slapping my shoulder. "Oof, that sucks. You should invite me next time though!"
"Next time." I nod.
We chat for a few more minutes, before arriving at the front of the line.
It's a somewhat complicated process, but I've been doing it for a while now, and am used to it enough that I'm able to get through quickly.
A quick scan to find our profile in the database, a few questions about our business out of the Nether, and a check on any bags, packages, or containers we're bringing with us.
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My job is one of the more difficult and time consuming ones, as well as quite confusing, but I've learned to love it.
Every time a new soul comes through, the two workers have their brain's rushed with information. All of a sudden, we know every detail of their life, their rights and wrongs, and where we need to send them.
It doesn't work perfectly, though. It's always been a bit fuzzy for me when seeing a life. Some details distorted, a memory or two hazy. The high demon doesn't care though, as long as I know where to send a soul, that's all that matters to the higher ups.
In order to calm a new soul, we can also put up an illusion of a scene. A flower field, cozy living room, whatever we think would help that person. I usually just stick to the true world, unable to use that much energy so often.
The angel and demon working together are supposed to keep interactions to a minimum, but I always try to be nice and friendly with my partner. The angel I'm working with has always been the same, a hard working guy who seems to finally be warming up to me.
So you can see why I'm so surprised to see a different angel lounging on a grey cloud today.
He looks bored, one leg tucked to his chest, and the other swinging below him. I can't deny how pretty the angel looks, with glittering diamonds dotting his face and messy black hair blocking his eyes. Something about him is all too familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.
I approach him slowly. "Um, hi there! My name is Badboyhalo, it's nice to meet you."
He looks up at me with surprise, as if noticing me for the first time. "Hey," he nods towards me. "I'm Skeppy."
"Are you gonna be working with me from now on?"
"Yeah, seems boring. Are we ever going to actually get souls?"
I giggle. "Yes, Skeppy. The souls aren't usually sent in for another couple minutes. We need time to set up."
He groans, hopping off the cloud he was sitting on. "We should just ditch this place, you can show me the Nether."
"We can't ditch, S'geppy!" I whip my head to face him. "And angels aren't allowed in the Nether. I'd get in trouble for both those things."
"Worth a shot." Skeppy shrugs, before flopping on his back.
I study him closely. "Aren't angels supposed to be good muffins? You should want to follow the rules."
"Guess I'm just different, Badboy." He takes a moment to process what I said before he bursts out laughing. "Wait a second- oh my god, muffin? What the heck dude where do you get this stuff!"
I glare at the angel. "You're a jerk."
"Whatever, help me up." He makes grabby hands, and I hoist him to his feet.
As I'm about to say something, the whole area floods dark for a second before flaring with light.
Skeppy clings to my arm, letting out a shriek. "What was that?"
"It means a soul has arrived. Please, at least try to be professional."
He grins. "No promises."
Both Skeppy and I glide towards the now dim light, rounding the corner to see a little girl.
Brain bombarded with information, I take a step back. Her name was Lilly. She was 8 years old, she died to cancer after fighting it on and off for years. I can see hundreds of memories, playing with her family dog, laughing with friends, crying in her parents arms. She's meant to go to heaven.
My heart aches with concern and sadness for her, but I put on a bright smile. Skeppy is still clinging to my arm, I can tell he doesn't know what to do with all the thousands of memories flashing before his eyes.
The girl's eyes are tearstained and she looks terrified. Upon seeing me, she backs up quickly. "Who are you? Where am I?"
"My name is Badboyhalo, and you are right where you need to be."
She shakes her head, "No, I wanna see my mom. Please."
"You'll see her soon, but for now, we want to help you. The place you're going is really pretty with flowers and puppies and lots of friends. Doesn't that sound nice?"
She seems a little more intrigued now. "Really?"
I nod, "Oh yes, and there's no hospitals because you never get sick. You see my friend here?" I motion towards the boy next to me. "You'll get pretty wings just like his so you can fly all day if you want to."
Skeppy smiles at her, extending his feathered wings to their full length and fluttering up to hover a few feet off the clouds.
The little girl giggles, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
I sit down next to her. "Now, we're going to help you fall asleep, and when you wake up, you're going to be in the pretty place, okay?"
She nods, and the grayish clouds are closing in on her. It takes a matter of seconds before she's passed out cold.
"Skeppy, now you need to hold both her hands, close your eyes, and imagine her going to heaven."
He looks nervous, but does as I say. Once his eyes are closed, I watch as the girl starts to fade, her body transparent, her left arm not even visible. A moment later, she's entirely gone.
I put a hand on Skeppy's shoulder. "Good job, it's done."
He opens his eyes and climbs to his feet, looking a little shaky.
Once we're back in our small waiting area, I ask, "So, first soul, what did you think?"
He looks down. "It was really overwhelming, when her life flashed in my brain, and it's so sad. I guess I should've known that, we're dealing with people who just died, but still..." He trails off.
"Yeah, it's always a little harder at first, and younger ones like her can be pretty emotional. Just remember that they're going to a happier place. And the Nether isn't that bad either. People make it out much worse than it is."
"I guess. How many souls do you usually deal with in a day?"
"It's always different, but at least thirty or forty. Which seems like a lot, but we don't spend much time with each person, so it goes by fast. It all blurs together after a while, you'll see. We get short breaks between each soul as well, so it's not too tiring."
We're both silent for a few moments, before Skeppy speaks up.
"I guess I know why we have to lose all memory of our life, now that I have this job, but I wish I knew. Y'know? Apparently I fought hard to be able to do this job, but why was it so important to me? If anything, I hate it, you're the only reason it's even somewhat worthwhile to me. It's not like I'm ever getting those memories back, though, so I guess I'll just have to know that I'll never know. It's hard having to be aware that you know so little about yourself."
While I don't want to say it, I know what he said is true. I know even less than him about my past self, and sometimes I lay awake at night with a tearstained face knowing I'll never get to see anyone I love again. And if I do see them, I won't even recognize them.
The stretch of silence between us is delicate and painful. I'm not really sure what to say to that.
Finally, because I don't want to leave him talking to no one, I manage, "Yeah, I know what you mean." Because what am I supposed to say?
It should feel weird talking about deep stuff like this after knowing each other for not even a day, but it feels natural between us. It feels natural to have this angel beside me, to joke and argue with me. It feels good.
The world goes dark before flashing with light for the second time today, and I stand up, offering a hand to Skeppy.
"C'mon, let's get this over with."
And maybe it's good that we feel so natural together, that's how partners are supposed to be. It's just a little too perfect, having someone I'm not even supposed to interact with fit this nicely into my afterlife.
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*End of Chapter 8*
Uhhh idk what to say so just have a good day :]
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Remember to eat, drink water, and get sleep because you deserve it <3