Rio looks up at him and tilts his head slightly, His confusion clear in his eyes."Are these guys not worried about that portal?" Rio ponders curiously.Setting Rio on her lap, the group continues driving until the flashing light emanating from the portal fades."We made it. And just in time too" The woman says with a sigh of relief."We should be able to get back to the dorms before the chief starts his rounds.""Thank the Creators, I don't think I could handle another lounge lashing from the old grouch."I'm glad to see that you are all doing well." A voice echoes from the front of the car. "I was beginning to wonder if I had to come looking for you.""oh uhh, good morning sir. Why are you up so early?" The man driving the RV began sweating as he looked over to the man who had spoken to them.He was wearing a tightly fitted tan uniform with a tag and medal pinned to the chest. Rio was unable to read what it said as it was written in a language that he had never seen before."I could
Arriving above a long string of rooms, the group says their goodbyes before splitting off from one another. The three guys fly off on their own leaving Rio with the two women."You must be tired, so how about you come with me back to my room. We can get cleaned up and then get some much needed food and rest.""Nodding his head, The two women take Rio down into the dorm. They enter through a door with the symbol of a scythe on it and take him down a set of stairs. As they descend, Rio begins to notice the smell of freshly baked bread. He can hear the sound of people talking in the distance, and the sounds of pots boiling over in the kitchen."Wow, This place is amazing." Rio says as he looks around at his surroundings.The walls were made of stone and wood and the floors were made from hardwood planks. Everything was spotless and smelled fresh and clean. The dorms were well lit by the light from the windows and the lanterns hanging from the ceiling."Welcome to the Woman's Reaper dorms
"I guess we should start from the beginning. This world is known as Revenant. It is a realm located between the forces of life and death. Think of it as a kind of space between your Human realm and the underworld. This realm was created as a temporary storage space for passing souls. As the Human realms population rapidly increased so did the mortality rate, and as a result, There was a severe lack of space to hold all of the lost souls. To fix this problem, Revenant was born."And for a period it worked. Souls were able to wait in this realm until their time to pass on arrived. But something unexpected occurred within this realm that no one could have predicted.This realm was meant to only store souls until they could be processed but It also acted as a realm similar to the other two. This meant that as long as their state of soul hadn't changed since their arrival, There was no way to force them into the final realm.At first, it wasn't such a big deal. A quick talk with the souls
After explaining their situation, The two women finish their meal while Rio continues thinking of any way he could help them regain control over Revenant.After giving it some thought for a few minutes, a loud alarm rang out from Dawna and Nissa's pockets."I guess it's time we get to work," Dawna says as she stands up and pulls a small tablet from her pocket."Looks like we've got some fresh meat" She says while Rio looks around curiously. Dawna taps the screen a few times and shows it to Nissa.After taking a few seconds to look over the image, They both begin gathering their supplies and making their way towards the door. Rio follows close behind as the two women exit the room and make their way to a large metal box sitting in front of a wall covered in various machines and computers.They tinker with one of the computers for a bit as the box opens revealing two short daggers and what looks like a rifle.Dawna takes the daggers and holsters them on her waist while Nissa takes the r
"Wait! Hold on for a second. That can't be right."Nissa runs up to Rio grabbing hold of him tightly."Whoa, watch where you're touching!" Rio barks as she haphazardly flips and turns him all around. Rio is confused and annoyed but soon Nissa stops and lets him go.Flying away behind Dawna, Rio shakes his furs back into place as Nissa looks to be deep in thought.Chuckling to herself, Dawna steps behind Nissa and taps her on the shoulder."So what's got you in such a good mood all of a sudden?" Dawna questions curiously."Those rebels of course. Didn't you see what just happened! He killed them""Well, yeah. That's kind of what we do around here. Nothing out of the ordinary to me.""Well then, think a little harder. How did he kill them.""Hmmm, I don't know. Missiles?" Dawna looks towards Rio and shrugs a bit.Placing both of her hands on Dawna's cheeks, Nissa turns Dawna to face her."The only weapons that should be capable of harming one's souls are the one gifted by the Creators!
After a few minutes of walking, Rio came upon a small lake surrounded by large rocks that created a natural barrier around its perimeter, keeping its contents in.As he approached he heard sounds of movement, from within the body of water. He peered inside to see several fish swimming around in the clear blue waters below. He looked even deeper into the lake but he was unable to see the bottom. The moon light shining down from the gaps in the cave was not enough to illuminate the lake in its entirety.It was kind of creepy staring into the dark abyss within the lake, but that wasn't important right now. The only thing on Rio's mind was his next meal."New mission: Catch food for you and your team."[Reward +1 bookmark]"Huh, that's weird. The missions typically only appear when I'm in danger. I wouldn't really consider fishing to be a peril filled activity. But I definitely appreciate the free bookmark." he mumbles aloud as he looks around the room once more."Wouldn't want to give aw
Rio was now in the deepest parts of the water and was beginning to worry. He was tense as he awaited the return of the monster While continuously attempting to return Zack to his void.After minutes had passed, Rio began to feel something. It was similar in speed and shape to the last figure and Rio knew that he needed to keep an eye on the monster. He didn't want to lose track of it like last time. Dodging the tentacle like before, Rio formed his talons, Latching onto the tentacle as it swung by. As he plunged his talons into the monsters skin, It thrashed around the water spreading its blood all around the lake.As Rio was swung around on the side of the tentacle, He was able to catch glimpses of a much larger monster residing within the lake. And soon, The monster began approaching him fast.Or rather, He was approaching it fast as the tentacle that he was riding on belonged to the Monster."Zack has been sent to your reserves.""Phew, At least that's taken care of. Now I just need
"What's wrong? Do you dislike talking with me?" Lynn asks while giving off a disappointed vibe.No,No. I was just surprised. I don't think there has ever been a moment that someone in the void had actually spoken to me." Rio answered. "Well, besides Alberoth." He added under his breath. "Speaking of, I wonder what he thinks of all this. I guess I'll know once he wakes up.""Welcome back, little guy. Did you have a good time exploring around back there....Where are your legs?"Shrugging his shoulders, Rio threw his haul onto the ground next to a fire that the girls had set up.Looking at the food, the girls began to laugh a bit before patting him on the back.Rio, looked up to see what they could be laughing about and noticed that they had already begun eating something. There was a large pot full of something delicious as its aroma began making its way into Rio's nostrils. He failed to notice it before as the smell of dead fish was more than enough to cancel out any other odor. Seeing