the train to the afterlife meme.

[bottecellie]

The Train to the Afterlife Meme

Congratulations: You are dead.

 

Maybe you know how, maybe you don't. Perhaps the memory is fuzzy, or perhaps it's crystal clear down to the look in your comrades' eyes. Maybe it was your time; you've done all you wanted to. Or maybe you weren't at all ready to go, maybe you went out kicking and screaming - but none of it matters. You know you're dead, and the train is taking you to an afterlife. Perhaps an afterlife of your choice; you might've earned that heaven. Or perhaps you've earned something else entirely.

 

It'll be a bit of a journey, though, so you might as well take your time and talk to the other people in your coach. Death knows no place: most of them are strangers, even from faraway worlds. But death knows no time either, so who knows, some of them may be people you know, even if last you knew, they were alive - or long gone.

 

Oh look, here comes the snack cart.

 

All the usual:

 

• Post with your character's name and canon in the subject line.

• Said character is now dead for whatever reason - canon, AU, what have you. They are on a train with other dead people from many other times, places and worlds.

• Characters don't know for a fact where they're headed - just a general awareness that they're going to some kind of afterlife. Whatever they think it is is up to the player.

• This meme is built especially for cross-canon interaction, and potentially for threadjacking and group threading - if you're interested, may be a good idea to state as much in your subject line.

• Tag around and play nice!

• TRIGGER WARNING: Meme obviously deals with death and may deal with other unpleasant themes as a result. Please be cautious.

Comments

Kariya Matou | Fate/Zero

[vermicompost]

[loosethedogs]

[She can't remember where she should be or why she should be there, but Misaya is reasonably certain that a train is not it. And yet, that's where she's seated when she comes to, her head bowed and her dark hair hanging in her face as she stares down at her hands in her lap. Vaguely, she's aware that there is another person in the car along with her, but they aren't where her attention is focused.]

[She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be here, because she can't remember how she arrived here. If she closes her eyes and thinks, the last thing she can recall is—]

—Ah. I'm dead.

[Her voice is quiet, barely more than a whisper. It makes sense, now that she has realized. She leans back in her seat and lifts her head, her stare still blank as she gazes up at the train car's lighted ceiling.]

...So you couldn't come through for me in the end, huh, Lancer? What a useless Servant...

[It doesn't make her as angry as she would have expected. Maybe she had known in the back of her mind that her death was inevitable all along, or maybe she just realized there was no point in getting worked up about it now. Either way, she can't bring herself to look at her fellow passenger. They must be dead, too, and what are you even supposed to say in a situation like this, anyway? "My condolences"?]

[vermicompost]

[Kariya's quiet. At first, it's because he's confused. He sees so many images: there's Sakura and Rin and Aoi, all playing together in the park. The church... no, he doesn't want to think of the church. But he can't block out the memory of the basement, the worms, Zouken's withered face. What's real? Where is he? What happened?

He remembers Berserker, fighting Saber. All of a sudden, there'd been a great, painful wrench--as if at his spirit--pulling everything out of him. He'd felt so weak. Then he'd gone to the park with Sakura. No, that doesn't make sense...

When his thoughts start to clear, he becomes aware of the young woman speaking near him. She isn't familiar to him, but there's a familiarity in her words. Lancer. Servant. He turns toward her.]

Lancer's Master?

[He knows she isn't Lancer's Master. He's sure of that much, but before he can puzzle it out, he's struck by the other thing she said. Dead.]

No, no, I can't be dead--

[ Even as he says it, he knows it must be true. He's dead. His death, that was inevitable. That's not what he minds most. It's the fact that he might have failed, that's what matters. He can't fail. If he fails, then Sakura...]

[loosethedogs]

[She finally looks at him when he speaks. It's definitely not someone she recognizes, but she isn't sure she expected otherwise. After all, what were the chances? She keeps her expression neutral and speaks with an affected casualness, tucking some hair behind her ear as she does so.]

Yeah, Lancer's Master. A lot of good that did me.

[Unconsciously, she lets her fingers fall to the back of her neck. She has no idea if the Command Seal is still there, though she doubts it is. A dead person had no use for something like that, after all. Her gaze drifts away from him again, but then it snaps back in his direction only a moment later.]

If you're not dead, why are here?

[In the end, she doesn't have much reason to protest anymore. After all, that was what her frantic grasping for the Holy Grail had been — the last stubborn breaths of someone denying their mortality. She had already been dying the day she summoned her Servant.]

[vermicompost]

[She wasn't Lancer's Master, though... Still confused, he glances down at his right hand, as if to reassure himself of his own identity, but the Command Seals are no longer there. That makes sense, if the war is over.]

But you're not-- [She isn't who he remembers. His mind can't have been altered that much, can it?] I was Berserker's Master.

[He supposes he isn't, not anymore, so there's no need to hide the information, is there? He shakes his head at her question.]

I don't know. Maybe I am dead. I knew I was going to die, but did I lose?

[That's what matters to him. Wouldn't he remember winning? He remembers the ache in his body, the worms tearing through him when that final wrench had come--

Suddenly, he puts a hand to his chest, realizing something he should have realized at once. The worms are gone. He's still scarred, his hair still white, the vision in his left eye blurred, but he doesn't feel them any longer, moving through him. The pain is gone.]

They're gone.

[loosethedogs]

Berserker's...? [She stares at him for a long moment. The only similarity she can see between this man and Sancraid is the color of his hair. He's not even the right race. She shakes her head.] That can't be. You can't be that priest.

[Her eyes automatically follow his hand to his chest.] ...? What's gone?

[Her first thought was that maybe he meant his Command Seals, but the idea that they were located over his chest seems odd to her, too. That's where Sajyou's had been, after all.]

[vermicompost]

Priest? No, I'm not a priest. [He frowns, remembering Kotomine.] I'm not--not anything like that, just a person. I was Berserker's Master. [He repeats this because it's the truth.]

Lancer's Master was an Englishman. A lord.

[He hadn't cared about Lancer's Master. Tokiomi had taken up most of his attention. Tokiomi is dead now, too. He'd thought he would be happy about that, but he isn't. He wonders if any of the Masters are still alive.]

He died, too. I don't know if I won.

[He looks down at his body. It's only been little more than a year since he took on the Crest Worms, but he'd grown so used to their endless gnawing, and the pain. He must be dead, if they're gone. This can't be his life.]

The worms.

[loosethedogs]

Just a person... [She scoffs and leans an elbow on the armrest beside her, resting her cheek in her hand. She doesn't argue when he says that Lancer's Master was someone other than her, though. With her Command Seal more than likely gone, the only proof she has of as much is her own knowledge.]

If you won, why would you be here? [She can't imagine winning the war only to die regardless. She could accept a death brought about by her own failure, but to achieve her goal and still be denied the reward? Unacceptable. His next words don't make any sense to her, and her brow furrows.] What worms?

[vermicompost]

[He's not sure about her scoffing, but he nods. That's all he wants to be: not a magus, not a Master. Just an ordinary person. With a family... Well, he won't be that now.]

Because I was going to give up the Grail... I was going to die in any case. I could have won. Maybe. I almost--

[He frowns, his scarred brow creasing. He wishes he could remember what happened more clearly. He wishes he could believe that he won, that Zouken took the Grail and let Sakura go. But he can't.]

The Crest Worms. They were in here. [His fingers still rest against his chest.] The Matou Family Crest. [He looked up at her again. She would probably understand.] You're a magus, aren't you?

[loosethedogs]

Give it up? Why would you do that? [She sounds incredulous.] You could have used it to save yourself, if you had won it. Even if you were going to die, it should have had enough power to do that, at least.

[She straightens up, eyes falling to where his hand rests again. She even leans in a little, like that'll help at all.] Yeah. My name is Misaya Reiroukan. [She says this like it means something. It probably does, where she comes from.] Your Family Crest is worms?

[vermicompost]

Because I said I would. [He looks down at his lap.] That wasn't my wish. To save myself. [He had had a wish, but he hadn't been going to use the Grail himself.] I only wanted them to let Sakura go home. I promised I'd win the Grail for my family if they did that.

I'm Kariya Matou.

[He doesn't recognize her name. His own name could mean something to some people, although he wishes it didn't.]

Yes. They're--unique. They're familiars. They gave me the ability to fight in the war. But they're gone now. I'm free. [He says this rather sadly.]

[loosethedogs]

You shouldn't have had to give it to them. You could have used it to make them let this Sakura person go.

[She doesn't understand the situation, and she realizes that, but there was no way she would let someone take the ultimate prize from her. And, if they were willing to use someone this man obviously cared about against him, she's sure they would have deserved whatever they would have gotten that way.]

[His name means nothing to her, either.]

Familiars... [Her nose wrinkles. The thought of such a lowly animal as her familiar is not a palatable one to her.] And they were— Inside you?

[vermicompost]

That was the only way he'd let me enter the war. I had to agree.

I could have... [If he could have, he would have wished to have a life with Aoi and her children, but that wouldn't be right, would it, to use magecraft to make people do things.]

But I promised. I don't want anything else to do with magecraft!

[His voice rises, but he lowers it again.]

Yes, they were feeding on me. They feed on prana. They expanded my Magic Circuits, and they acted as Circuits. [He relates these facts dolorously. Even if the worms are gone now, the scars and the memories haven't.] The worms are terrible.

Re: Kariya Matou | Fate/Zero

[puppy_lancer]

[For the first leg of the journey, Lancer had quietly sulked, still remembering his failures during the Grail War. Now that his mood had cleared up a little, he turns to the man next to him and offers a greeting.]

Hey.

[vermicompost]

[Kariya has been sitting quietly, his hands in his lap, lost in his own thoughts and worries--his own failures. Things had gone so wrong. Death is supposed to end one's worries, but he's still worried about the people he left behind.

When Lancer speaks, he glances up suddenly. He hadn't forgotten that Lancer was there, but he'd been so distracted by his own thoughts, and the other had seemed to be the same.]

Hello. [If they're in this together, he should introduce himself, shouldn't he? There's no need for formality.] I'm Kariya. It's--nice to meet you.

[It's an awkward circumstance in which to meet someone, but the pleasantry comes out before he can stop it.]

[puppy_lancer]

Lancer. Would be a bit better if we weren't both dead.

[At least, he assumes that both of them are dead. Unless there's something going on with the train that he doesn't know about.]

[vermicompost]

Lancer? [He blinks.] You're a Servant?

[Though he's surprised, he nods, slowly, though if this man is a servant, they'd be enemies if they were alive, wouldn't they? Not that this is the Lancer he remembers, so maybe not.]

That would be better. To be alive. I'm sorry, that you're not.

[puppy_lancer]

Yeah, how'd you guess?

[He gives a bitter little chuckle.]

I'm not really needed in the world of the living anymore. Nor do I have any right to remain there. Would've hopped this train earlier, but I still had some business to take care of.

[vermicompost]

A lucky guess, maybe. [He almost smiles, but it's fleeting.]

I'm not anything.

[Kariya looks down at his hands again. He supposes he's a murderer.]

I'm not needed, either. But yes, you died already before. It's good you could finish your business. [He wishes he could go back, fix things.] Do you know--what happens next?

[puppy_lancer]

Well, I'd probably get dumped back in the Throne of Heroes with no memories as to my experiences on Earth.

[He shakes his head.]

Ugh, I'm gonna hate that part.

[vermicompost]

Oh, I hadn't thought of that.

[Maybe it's for the best that Berserker won't remember him, after what happened. He wonders why this Lancer is so different. Maybe there was another war. Maybe time doesn't matter here. At this thought, he looks up nervously, not sure who else might appear.] You'd rather remember what happened? It seems unfair that you have to forget, if you don't want to.

I don't want to forget, though it might be easier. I must be going somewhere else. I don't know where.

[He thinks he should be punished, but he doesn't really believe in things like that, so he doesn't know what might happen.]

Masters don't--go anywhere in particular, do they?

[puppy_lancer]

My Master...that little lady was a good woman. She deserves to be remembered fondly by someone.

[He scratches his head.]

You know, I never thought about that. Where do normal people go when they die?

[vermicompost]

I don't know. I wish I did. I've just been sitting here, waiting.

I should find out soon.

[He's not exactly looking forward to it, and he certainly looks crestfallen enough.]

You're right. I could try to remember her, for you. If you want to tell me. [Even if he'd failed so completely, maybe he could still help someone. Not that it would make up for what he'd done and what he hadn't done.] Even though I don't know her. Maybe it would help.

I think it's important, to have someone remember.

[puppy_lancer]

...Misaya Reiroukan. She was like my teacher, Scathach. Tough as nails, prided herself in her elegance. When she got pissed off, she was a crazy bitch. But she was a nice girl when she wanted to be. Loved dogs. She really needed me too, so I wanted to help her.

[He taps his chin, thinking more about her.]

She was a great magus too. Best of her generation. Came from a really prestigious clan in Fuyuki. Some of the shit she could do would make even the druids of my era balk. She wasn't just strong in magic. She remained so fucking strong, even until she...died. Man, I wish her dad was less of an asshole. Should've been content with what he god.

[vermicompost]

She does sound like an interesting person, a good person. You must have liked working with her. I'm sorry about what happened to her. I'll try to remember everything I can for you.

[He really is happy to help, although he's a little confused.]

I'm from a magus family in Fuyuki...

[It's a little confusing that he hasn't heard of her. It was true that he'd gone out of his way to avoid learning about magecraft, but how could he not have known about a prestigious family?]

My family was similar, but I wasn't a great magus. [Not at all.] Magi are like that. Once they have power, they always want more. They don't stop, and they don't care who they hurt.