tushanshu | 1, video

[A pair of big brown doe eyes are peering into the camera at extreme closeup, like he's trying to dive into the lens and spot people on the other side. Finally, the eyes pull back, and the video focuses on the rest of the face to go along with the eyes. It's a teenager, with a really weird and ambivalent expression on his face. In the background are his new digs, still shiny and new and clean, and obviously a suite in the Earth sector.]

Wow, okay. This Skype connection is weird, it says I'm on but it's not giving me any user names or pings or anything. It's either broken or I'm doing it wrong, either of which is possible, I guess.

Um.

Yeah, so, I'm Stiles, I'm seventeen, I'm new here and I'm apparently dead. Or something, maybe not. Gotta love that whole hot mess. I thought the afterlife was supposed to be a bit more, you know, well-defined and concrete. ...For an ethereal possibility that's never been proven, except on bad basic cable "Reality" shows.

[Oh, the sarcasm.]

Anyway. Okay, this is a long shot, but does the town name Beacon Hills mean anything to anybody here? Maybe? Beacon Hills, California? 94166? Yes? Holla at yo hometown. ...Please?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not Skype, sad to say. Nor are you dead, unless you remember dying or something because--and take it from someone who's spent far too much time in the afterlife for a living thirteen year old--this isn't the afterlife.

Okay, okay. Seriously helpful, thank you! Those people back at that...place I woke up in earlier today. They said this was "between dreaming and death" and then after my absolutely understandable freak out, they said I 'might not be' a corpse. Which, yeah, can't remember dying, think I'd remember something like that.

Un-...less I wouldn't because I died of a massive brain injury. Crud, never thought of that.

The kedan aren't the most helpful of people. I've statues back home that answer questions better than they do, and the statues don't talk. I think they mean this is between realms or something but, honestly, all the dead people I've met tend to remember dying so. If you don't remember, safe to say your not dead or dying.

Oh my god, tell me about it! It's like they're going for the Olympic standard in cryptic, creepy stuff.

They've certainly won the gold for "Least Helpful People Ever". Even when you're trying to help them stay alive, they're not too keen on returning the favor by answering questions or generally not being difficult to work with.

[Bitter? Possibly.]

Ffft, no kidding. Frustrating. Um. Hey, do you mind if I back up our conversation a bit?

Did you say you'd actually spent time in the afterlife?

One of them, yes. The Egyptian one.

[Said completely nonchalantly since...yeah.]

[And, weirdly enough, Stiles looks honestly disappointed.]

The Egyptian one. Osiris, weighing a heart against a feather, eaten by a demon if judged unworthy. That afterlife, right?

Yeah, basically. Though Ammit really isn't that awful. He's rather cute, actually.

[Y'know, for a lion-hippo-crocodile demon the size of a poodle. Who's sex Sadie regularly gets wrong.]

Why'd you ask? [A pause] And why do you actually believe me? Only a few people seem to not think I'm bonkers right off for saying that.

[And that's because they're all demigods]

...I've been around some pretty weird and unbelievable stuff the last couple of years. My credulity is at an all time high. Just like the Ghostbusters, we're ready to believe you.

Oh, then you're going to fit right in here. This place is high up there on the "crazy stuff" list, and the only thing weirder is the people who get brought here by that cranky old Emperor.

[He smirks a little bit, but he still looks concerned behind that.]

I guess. I'm pretty good at crazy stuff. It's part of the fabric of my life, just like cotton.

I think being good with crazy things is a prerequisite to coming here.

[It'd make sense]

I'm Sadie.

Hey, Sadie. Stiles. Already said that.

I'm beginning to think that's a thing, yeah. I just hope it's enough of a thing to get some of my friends here.

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