In Atlas' relatively short life, he had never seen a woman capable of getting such a reaction from him.
She was beautiful, yes. But she was the source of the enormous shadow he had seen moments ago. It would be unwise to let his wits abandon him at this moment.
"Who are you? And what is this place?"
The young woman finally stopped laughing and turned her attention to him, her rainbow eyes roaming over his figure.
She muttered something to herself that was hard for Atlas to hear, but from the little he was able to pick up, it sounded like:
"Stabbed in a toilet." Her words were followed by a light chuckle before she continued. "That's not very decent is it?"
When she turned to address Atlas, who now had a scowl on his face.
"This here…" she said, motioning to the endless white landscape. "Is a pocket dimension."
"As for who I am… well that is complicated."
Atlas rose a brow.
"Am I dead?"
She nodded enthusiastically as though it was the most peasant news she had gotten all morning.
Atlas frowned.
"So you're a god?"
The woman shook her head vehemently, folding her arms across her chest. Strangely, she actually looked offended by his statement.
"Of course not! Don't lump me with those annoying guys!"
"Hmmmm." Atlas was not convinced.
"What are you then?"
A pleasant smile appeared on her face, a smile that Atlas could see many men dying for just a glimpse of.
The woman slowly floated off the ground, hovering right in front of him, while Atlas was trying his best to prevent his eyes from traveling to her alluring frame.
Once she got close enough, she placed a finger on his chin and said:
"I am more like a guide for lost souls."
Atlas remained unfazed by her actions.
"So you're the grim reaper?"
She smiled.
"Precisely!"
Atlas coughed.
"Is there a problem?" She asked, looking slightly concerned. "You should be incapable of falling sick while here."
"Oh no, it's nothing really. I just never expected the reaper to look so ho—Uhummm!"
The reaper kept her gaze on him, looking completely lost as she asked.
"To look so what?"
"Never mind, never mind. Let's get on to business shall we? Heaven or hell?"
"Heh?"
Atlas rose a brow.
"What is it?"
"Oh, I just thought you already knew where you would be going…"
"I don't so be quick, I don't have all day."
The reaper's expression darkened and a ghostly scroll suddenly manifested in her hands. Without touching it, the ancient paper unraveled itself revealing text that Atlas could not perceive.
After a short glance at the pages, she then spoke, her voice carrying an unusual coldness. If Atlas did not believe that she was the reaper before, how he was very much certain.
"Atlas Naevesh…"
Atlas held his breath at the dramatic pause.
"HELL."
Atlas felt the blood drain from his face.
He knew had done a lot of questionable deeds in the past but never did he think it was deserving of hell.
He had saved countless people and fought for others at the risk of his own life, how then was this possible?
"Kekk" The reaper let out a small squeal.
"Kehahahahahahahahhaha!" Her laughter echoed through the entire space.
"You should have seen your face! Oh my goodness, you can't buy this kind of entertainment!"
Meanwhile, Atlas stared at her, dumbfounded.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
The woman's laughter intensified, only settling down when she began to cough.
"You aren't going to hell, at least not yet. Luckily for you, you are still in the circle of reincarnation but that would mean you get reborn into another world and all the nonsense that comes with it."
Atlas felt she was slowly driving towards a point but said nothing at first.
"How about I offer you a deal?!"
"Nope, never! I'm not taking a deal out of someone who pokes fun out of their wards."
"Come on! It's a really good deal, I promise!"
Atlas turned away from her and sat down on the white floor.
'Killed in a toilet only to be paired up with a clown reaper! How bad can my luck possibly get?'
"Are you really sulking? You're not a kid you know."
"…"
"Are you being serious right now?"
"…"
A few seconds later, Atlas felt a gentle tingling sensation behind him. Hlancing to his side, he realized that she had placed her arm across his shoulder.
Her arm felt weightless and had a certain warmth to it, it was like being embraced by the clouds as opposed the the deathly cold one often expected reapers to exude.
"Don't feel down, you'll be suprised by how many people die in toilets ever day!"
Atlas remained silent.
Her lips drew close to his ears, and then she whispered, her voice taking a salacious tone.
"Come on… I don't bite."
The hairs on Atlas' neck stood still and he jumped to his feet, giving some distance between himself and the girl.
"Are you ready to consider my offer now? Or will I have to spend the rest of my day convincing you?"
Atlas frowned, knowing that she was not going to give up anytime soon.
"I'm listening…" He sighed.
The reaper's smile broadened.
"How would you like to be reborn? You will get to continue life where you stopped, no baby life, no pooping on yourself… no reincarnation."
"Wait, are you being serious?" Atlas asked, taking a step towards the woman.
To continue life like he had never died, wouldn't that be cheating death?!
It was an offer that sounded too good to be true, and therein lay the problem. If something was too good to be true then it probably was.
Atlas couldn't help but feel there would be a very unpleasant caveat attached to it. And considering the person who was offering him the deal, he only grew more cautious.
After all, nothing came free in this world.
"Why help me? What do you stand to gain form this agreement?"
"Nothing much…"
The young woman hovered over to where he was, leaned closer to him and began whispering her terms into his ear.
It went on for sometime before she drew back.
"So? Do we have a deal?"
Atlas had fought to get to the point he currently was. His entire life had been a struggle but that was what shaped him to become who he was today.
He had no plans of throwing that life behind.
And there was the issue with his killer. Not only would leaving them be a danger to those he had fought hard to save—
He also had a little unfinished business with them… revenge.
"I accept."
The reaper smiled and suddenly, hot pain shot through Atlas' chest. The gory wound that had been dealt to him reappeared and blood spewed out of it like a flood.
Atlas could feel the pain as though the injury had just been dealt but he could feel something else.
A more subtle pain accompaniment by movements within his chest. His tissues were pulsing and the blood was slowly clotting.
The injury was healing!
As the world began to fade once more, the beautiful reaper observed his reaction with a curious smirk:
"As an added bonus, I'll leave you with a gift to help you navigate this new world."
"Thank you, I never thought you were the generous typ— wait…"
Atlas' eyes widened.
'New world?!'
"You said I would continue from where I stopped!" Atlas screamed, but it was already too late, the reaper was gone.
Atlas opened his eyes but this time he no longer saw the endless plain of white light, instead his senses were assaulted all at once.
There was the sound of chirping birds, a cool wind that played with his skin and a bright green landscape surrounding him.
'This Is not the StarTrekker and it sure as hell isn't Delta0791.'
"Where the hell am I?"