"Welcome to my Garden, Lord of Anima."
Even as he stood there, Luke felt like he was an ant to the stars hanging far above. There was an inexplicable weight in the air between him and the Reaper, yet even as he was greeted by Death, that weight did not lighten.
When Death spoke to him, it was more like he spoke in Luke's mind than vocally. He was taking a drink from his cup while giving him a greeting, but now, he set his cup down on a small tea platter perfectly sized for the base of his cup. A soft click-clack was heard.
"H-hello, D-death," Luke greeted back, stuttering. "W-what is h-happening?"
"You died," the Reaper replied in a casual tone. "Just moments ago, the leader of the Sycorax cowardly attacked you with his whip and murdered you right in front of multiple witnesses. This led to the Doctor punishing him and getting his right hand severed in the process."
Luke was a bit shocked that the leader killed him, but the shock lasted only a couple of seconds. That was when he took a moment to relax.
"So, I'm here because I just experienced my first death, huh?" Luke inquired.
The Reaper nodded lightly. "Unlike the humans, your soul is both stronger and more potent. Just like in Gielinor, godly souls have no afterlife to go to, so they dissipated. However..."
At the end of that, the Reaper paused in contemplation. It was like the words he wanted to say didn't fit the explanation right, yet Luke grasped the idea quickly.
"It's because of my power over Anima itself that I can retain my soul's structure despite being far more powerful than even Jas and her sisters?" Luke asked.
The Reaper nodded again. "You were originally human in your first life then your soul became infected by the Abyssal Sea. That alone should have destroyed your soul core, but the boon to generate and manipulate Anima nourishes your soul to the point that your very essence is a paradox in itself. Both being destroyed and healed at the same time."
Luke seemed to go wide-eyed from that. He did think about his soul's state during the time that Nine was interacting with Rose. Michael did not fully reveal what he had become as a result of taking on a small, near-infintesmal portion of the Sea into his soul along with choosing the boon for Anima, but the Reaper revealed enough to confirm Luke's suspicions.
"Then, my soul..?"
"Let's just say that you can't be reaped by any iteration of Death unless it is from the Primal Powers themselves," the Reaper answered. "Just like what a version of me said to Dean Winchester, souls are immortal."
What was left unsaid about what Horcruxes were, the better.
Just before Luke can talk more, the Reaper raised his hand to stop him. "Now is not the time to ask more questions, Luke. There is only a few minutes before you are sent back to your world, so I should explain more of how this will work going forward."
Luke immediately shut his trap as the Reaper began to explain this weird little system of dying and rebirth. He explained that any fatality from the physical world will not leave scars on his new body, but he will be exhausted due to the toxicity in his soul and the muscles getting reused. There was even mention that, for each death he will have, only bones will drop just like the player character from RuneScape and he will respawn in this Garden.
Then, he explained that some of his quests in the future will give him access to other universes. These universes would be carefully selected to give him more experience, but the difficulty increased exponentially.
"One more thing to note," the Reaper said. "You will encounter other transmigrators doing their own stories in these universes. This is due to these iterations being already under the purview of the Primal Powers."
Luke didn't know what that meant, but he would find out when one quest of his sent him into a version of the RuneScape universe set into Hell Mode. For now, he simply just nodded.
Then, Luke looked at a small previously unseen timer in the left hand corner of his vision. It read 01:30.
"A minute and thirty seconds left until I respawn. I wonder where I'll respawn at?" Luke wondered.
"You will respawn soon, but I will mention here that this particular respawn system you have is not like the one for the World Guardian," the Reaper mentioned. "It is more like a set respawn where you can respawn only in your own territory or in your Voidship."
Before the Reaper mentioned the word "Voidship," Luke was wondering if he was even able to respawn because all he had done so far was recreate Guthix and claim a Voidship. He hadn't even created Gielinor or any world from Anima yet.
"So," Luke began, "when the countdown reaches zero, I'll respawn in my Voidship?"
"Yes," the Reaper confirmed. "It is considered your territory or a mobile outpost for the System and is safe to come back to without fearing for UNIT or Torchwood getting their mortal hands into affairs not of their business to know."
Luke agreed wholeheartedly with that as he held a strong dislike for the Torchwood pre-Canary Wharf. He would prefer to avoid them entirely, but he knew that he would get involved in this battle.
"Oh yeah," Luke remembered just as the timer reached 00:55. "Will I encounter my future selves?"
Instead of the Reaper answering, the System answered.
[As you are the Avatar and literal embodiment of Anima in this iteration of the Whoniverse, you will not be able to encounter your future selves in person. In special instances (ex: Death's Garden, the Arcanum, or specialized dimensions), you may encounter a glimmer of a future self. The only allowed method of communicating with future/past selves are under a closed loop scenario.]
As Luke finished reading the notification, another popped up as the timer read a blaring red 00:00.
[Soul health has been stabilized. Physical vessel reconstruction has been completed at a safe respawn point. Soul transmission is now underway.]
[Beginning respawn protocols from Death's Garden to Vengeful Wraith (default respawn point)...]
Then everything dissolved into white particles around Luke.
=[DW:NG]=
Continued in: Invasion's Aftermath.