Immortal Realm

The Archives—the holder of every information regarding souls.

Chapter 5

The Archives.

The great guilt.

The change of scenery was almost instantaneous upon stepping into the opened portal. The dark, dull buildings were replaced by blinding lights, which soon revealed enormous islands floating on the skies. Golden architectures dotted around, buildings as tall as they could be stood tall with the intricate details embedded into their walls.

The place is grander as anything could be.

But what stands out the most is the grandest structure of them all, the massive Archives. Pillars towered from the ground into the heavens. The golden roof reflected the everlasting morning light. The colored paned glass showed several depiction about the history of the immortals. The stairs that lead to the door are made out of marble, which is polished enough for one to see his own reflection.

It is where I am headed to submit my book of records, which I am a bit terrified about.

As I took my time to get to my destination, Archangels and Angels flew above, carrying piles of papers, books, files and whatnot, and Soul Collectors leave trails as they move from place to place.

Oh, how I wish I could move in peace without carrying heavy guilt of breaking several Heavenly Rules.

As I reached the end of the island where the portal to this realm always takes us, I took a deep breath and sighed. I almost fell into the clouds when someone from behind greeted me with a whack to my back. “What in the heavens—Levi! This is not amusing.”

I turned around and gave him a glare. His golden eyes disappeared as he closes them for a good laugh, clutching his stomach as he found the event comical. His strawberry blonde hair followed him as he bowed from his laughter. I then took a glance at his clothing as it seems like he had just come back from the mortal realm as a human. He sported a red vest over his black cravat and long sleeves. Gold buttons completed his attire, matching his black pants and black boots.

“Oh, that was funny…” He wiped the tear from his left eye before letting out a deep breath. “What do you think? I was granted a week off and I really think I like this style. The human I took inspiration for this was called a Noble. Stylish, right?”

I blinked at him, “Have you tried their beverage called coffee?”

“Huh?” He blinked back at me.

I shouldn’t have said that, it just came out of my mouth.

“Coffee?” He repeated, his eyes slowly lighting up with joy, “Coffee! Oh my heavens, yes! Coffee is so amazing, right?!” He grabbed my hands and shook them with his, “Especially the plain black coffee! The humans said I could put this thing called sugar cube but, without the sugar cube, it’s still good!” He cannot hide the excitement in his face. The joy is seeping from his features.

I think my life force is draining away from his unexplainable joy.

He then slowed down and stared into me, narrowing his eyes, “Wait, Azrail, “ He came closer, “where have you heard of coffee?”

“I heard it from the mortals while collecting souls, where else? I haven’t gotten any days off since my creation.” I muttered the last part of my sentence, and Levi ignored it.

“Of course!” It’s as though he flipped a switch in his head as he became bright and cheery once more, “But you should definitely try it when you’re granted a break, okay? Oh! Oh! Maybe I can even take you to the place where I’ve had the best coffee in the mortal realm! It’s very tasty!”

This guy is full of energy and it’s not healthy.

For me, anyway.

“That’d be nice.” I smiled at him as I took my hands back from him, tucking them into my ashy cloak.

“Oh, yeah! Where are you going? Maybe I can tag along to get my book of records back in the Archives.” He beamed, placing his hands on either side of his waist.

“I’m actually going there as well…” I told him, taking out my own book of records from my ashy cloak, “I’m going to drop off the new entries from my trip in the mortal realm in the last five days.”

“Then let’s go!” Without a warning, he grabbed my hand that was holding my book and pulled me into the edge of the island.

“YOU—“ I felt my very being leave my immortal body when he pulled me towards the edge before jumping, arms wide, into the clouds.

“HAHA!” He laughed as we emerged from the clouds, with his wings now appearing on his back. “Did I scare you?!” He raised his voice as the wind created loud noise around us.

“Did you scare me?!” I repeated his absurd question, holding on for dear life, “Oh—pfft—WHAT DO YOU THINK?!”

His laughter grew louder as he got amused by my reaction. “What? This is so much fun than just hovering around!”

When we finally got to the island where the Archives is, he finally let go of my hand and started to roll around the floor, laughing hysterically. Though we Soul Collectors can travel faster than Angels and Archangels, I’m not going to get used to Angels’ ways of reckless flying anytime soon—especially when I just suddenly get pulled towards the edge.

I prefer to fly alone at my own pace, thank you very much.

Levi finally got over the situation and finally stopped. Archangels and other beings alike already knew him as the crazy one so they completely ignored him—tried to, I mean. They still can’t help but whisper to each other as they talked about Levi. Why wouldn’t they? They think that he is the odd one in the bunch.

But Levi is one of the good ones I know. Despite his crazy antics, he’s very reliable… even if you feel like you want to send him into the Abyss sometimes, yes, he’s a great guy. He might be a little crazy, but once you get through that, you’ll realize he’s just too excited for everything and anything. He finds positivity and spreads it wherever he goes.

Once the others understand that he’s a source of happiness, they will learn to like him more.

But again, if there’s an opportunity to shove him off a high cliff, sure, I’m up to do the task.

“Levi.” I shot him a glare before patting down my cloak as it got a bit messy because of the unexpected flight.

Folding his arms, he released a chuckle, “Fine, fine. I won’t do it again.”

Throwing away the feeling of losing half of my lifespan, I rolled my eyes and started my walk towards the Archives. As my feet tapped on the marble stairs, I gripped on my book of records and pressed it hard against my chest. If this immortal body had a heart, it would probably be pounding like crazy. No one can fathom how anxious I felt. The feeling was horrible.

The image of the page that turned blood red appeared in my mind. If an Angel discovers that page, everything will fall apart.

I froze just before I took the last step towards the entrance of the Archives. I was too focused on hiding the child that I’ve forgotten to sort out things on my end. It was stupid of me to step into the portal without checking the page. I was in great hurry that it clouded my mind.

I refuse to believe that it will end this early.

A pat on my shoulder snapped me back into reality.

Levi stood in front of me as he had taken the last step on the set of stairs. He gave me a confused look before furrowing his eyebrows, “What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, hesitating, “I… forgot something.”

“What? That’s so not like you, Azrail. It’s not something important, is it?” He chuckled, blinking as he looks at me, “It’s not right?”

“Right…” It’s certainly not about me getting busted, no, no.

“What are you waiting for then, let’s go. Time is running.” He chuckled, gesturing me to come up and enter with him.

Ah, yes, Levi. Time is running—and it is making me feel like I’m at death’s door, as the mortals call it. It’s an unpleasant feeling and I do not want to have anything to do with it yet here I am.

As the entrance greeted me, I raised my head to look at the interior of the Archives from the outside entrance. The busy noise slowly filled me in as I breathed, trying to calm myself down. I didn’t think that the day where I’d be terrified to step into this very place would come.

I soon shifted my gaze at the row of desks separating the receiving area of the place from the actual archive inside the Archives. Every transaction is going smoothly and there’s no delay. Soul collectors and immortals alike just hand over their book of records and the Angels just open the book and skim through, using their abilities to transfer a copy of the written notes into their own book of records.

This is going to end really quickly. There’s no need for me to panic.

I breathed out and finally walked in after Levi. I didn’t realize that the walk from the entrance to the desk was a lot closer than I had thought. Maybe it was because of me focusing in my thoughts that I hadn’t realized that we already reached the Angels behind the desks.

Levi already got his book back and is currently having a casual conversation with Jhin, the Angel behind the desk we went to. Granted, it’s a pretty one-sided conversation.

Jhin just rolled his eyes, and when he finally noticed me, he gestured his hands for me to come over.

The Blessed One, please help me.

Oh wait.