Alls you need is a little Hope...

"Prisoners of Eden... awaken...." Hope stood on the water of the moat that surrounded the trees waving his arms as sticks of light danced in the night. As someone awoke Time handed them an apple after looking into their future to see if it held any possible value to Hope and time's plans. They went through a series of people as Hope's clones guided them out away from the tree, he was kind to them as long as they were compliant... but those who were defiant to him; he toyed with them of course. Challenging them to a little sport before dying.

Hope inhaled a deep breath of air, so deep that it nearly burned his lungs. But the burning sensation did not matter. He knew how precious air was. His ignorance of knowledge involving being mortal was the only thing making him nervous. To be honest, he barely knew a thing about them. Then again, there were so many versions of stories that he hardly knew what to believe. Was he supposed to be using the bathroom as often as he was, why did it make him feel ill when he ate specific things... and why did humans need to eat? He did not know, and that put him on edge, and an even better question was, if a Human did live in their future, how powerful were they? Surely death would not have fled unless in fear, or if some serious magic had made them. Or, if his negative thinking was getting the better of him, and there was no mortal strong enough at all. Realizing that his thoughts were tearing him apart, Hope cleared his mind as he attempted to relax and then he shouted “awaken!”

Sean's eyes shot open as he clutched his chest. He still felt the fading pain of the pole being shoved through his body. He hoped the kid was safe. After he went through his mental checklist he realized he was in a dark tight space. Opening the top, he sat up and looked around him.

There were a decent amount of people walking through the area which was marked by a giant tree in the center. He noticed quite a few of the people walking around looked the same which he found odd. In what afterlife did they mention clones leading people around?

A figure stood before Sean, looking at the young man before handing him an apple. He took it without uttering his questions and standing, he figured he could play along until he knew what exactly was going on. He looked down, "So is it customary for newcomers to be nude or am I getting special treatment?" Sean took a huge bite of the apple, choking it down after realizing the taste.

A groan slipped from her mouth as Erik's eyes fluttered open. A dull, throbbing pain began in her head, causing her to bring a hand up to her forehead in an attempt to control the ache in her head. Rubbing her temples, she noticed that she was not in the familiar alleyways of Paris, but instead in a dark cramped box. She opened it to see she was in a world unknown to her. Glancing quickly all around her, trying to figure out where she was.

"Où diable est Erik?!*" Erik shouted, in hope to get a response from one of the walking figures. Hastily she got on her feet. “Ou est Erik?!**”

Her eyes widen with fear, noticing that people that were walking around her did not look different from each other, but the same, causing confusion and fear to rise up in her core. Fear struck her as she had realized where she could be. Sighing slightly, she looked at the ground, seeing an apple laying beside her. Slowly picking it up, she brought it to her lips, taking a bite out of it.



Translation:

*”Where the hell is Erik?!”*
"Where is Erik?"**

Ayita awoke with a start, jerking forward and bumping her head on the coffin door. She hissed and brought her hands to her forehead, rubbing it gingerly. "Dukanshee..." She whined, opening her eyes. With furrowed eyebrows, and stared at the door in confusion before realizing that she was in a confined box, which seemed to get smaller and smaller with each passing seconds. She took in a deep breath and pushed the coffin door as hard as she could. It swung open and hit the ground beside her. She sat up straight, jumping as her eyes came across another human being, or so she assumed.

He tossed something in her direction, and out of reflex, she caught it. She looked down at the golden ball-fruit-in her hands and turned it over. An apple, a golden apple. He was giving her fruit? She brought it to her mouth without thinking, but stopped herself before taking a bite. She stayed in that position, kissing the apple and looking up at the man dumbly. She didn't know where she was, or why he was giving her fruit, or what she was expected to do. Also, if she bit into the golden apple, and despite it's weight it turned out to be real gold, her teeth would fall out.

Her eyes darted from left to right, in hopes of figuring out her first question. She was in one of many coffins that surrounded a huge tree. And the man in front of her was also, only one of many. This confused her even more. There were twins, triplets, and on rare cases, quadruplets. Any more of that just didn't seem physically possible. There were too many men, and each one of them looked exactly alike. She immediately assumed this man to be magic, and now, instead of looking at him with fear and confusion, he received doe eyes. Worshiping him without words is what she was doing, really.

The hope clones offered each those who ate the apple a hand, as he began to speak one would note that they could all understand him simply because the apple gave them comprehension. "So do you understand me is this thing on" Hope chuckled, to himself as he reached cautiously into his pocket. "No need to panic... I have some good news for you" Each clone spoke to them individually, that is except for Ayita who had not eaten her apple.

The Hope that had been with Ayita was slightly creeped out at first, at her sudden enraptured nature with him, but he dismissed it and simply took her hand holding the apple and brought it closer to her lips. He nodded, to her to see if she understood what he was trying to get her to do. He was actually kind and gentle in his approach revealing a side that cared for humans as long as they were not idiotic or in the way of his plans.

"So this good news is congratulations... you have been given a second chance at life, my name is Hope... I am one of many Avatars that inhabit this land... and I am the embodiment of Hope itself... that man over there" The hope clones pointed towards Time, as he was reading every person who exited the area's future to see if they had the certain spirit qualities they were looking for. "That person is the Avatar of Time... he will give you a glimpse into your future so that you may better prepare yourselves for the challenges that come... so if you would finish your apple and then head into the line so that you can begin your second chance at life, as you wait in line the other versions of myself will explain more"

The hopes all nodded in agreement waiting for the humans to do as they were told, but of course there was an outlier in the group, as he ate his apple he angrily detested. "I don't want a bloody look into the future... how about I just leave... or better yet... how about you just fuck off right then mate, some fuckin angel or some shit..."

The hope that had been speaking to him let out a sigh. "This is your last chance... do as you are told... or else" This hopes eyes narrowed as a slight grin appeared on his face, as if he was getting some form of high from the man's defiance.

"Bloody sadist," Sean mumbled before putting on a big smile, "Look guy, in the short of it, we're all in the same boat. We have no idea what's going on and I, of all people, dislike following people I don't know. I'm sure there's a point of time where we could easily go on our own ways if you wish but until then, this is our best option." He took the Hope clones hand stepping out of his casket. "You know, you may just be the first stranger I trust this much," he said to it, "Thank god you don't hide much least at first." Sean knew there was some ulterior motive and something was off in the bigger picture. Just looking around one could see what was going on.

He looked at some of the other newcomers a bit closer, "Well that answers that," he said smiling at his own little joke, "I understand you're in a hurry Hope, but can I stoop to help this French woman real quick?" Not even waiting for a reply he knelled next to the panicked disfigured person. He didn't flinch as things like that were more common in his time. "Hey, most of us don't speak French, do you know English?"

Ayita understood, sinking her teeth into the apple and closing her eyes tightly. Her face twisted inwardly at the bitter taste; there was no way in hell this was ripe. She raised one eyebrow and looked a hope, showing that she was a little uncertain about his harvesting abilities. Next time, she thought she ought to do it. If there was even a next time, that is.

She suddenly noticed she was in the nude, and noticed there were many other people around her except for the god (who, she shouldn't mind nudity around because they of all people would understand that clothing was really worth nothing more than the protection it gave you) and buckled her knees down into the coffin. She closed her legs tightly and adjusted her hair to cover her breasts, looking at those around her uncomfortable. She averted her eyes though, not wanting to shame them by gawking. In all honesty she couldn't if she tried-she felt a little nauseous. So she kept her eyes shamefully on her thighs, turning a bright red color. Her natural skin color did a fairly decent job and concealing it, but it was still noticeable.

What was even going on, anyways? She had died, there was no way she hadn't. She had been holding one of the children when it happened, she collapsed. She hoped the child was okay. On that long trip their immune system and pain tolerance drastically changed for the worse. They tried to make it easier for the elderly and young, carrying them. Their feet bleed immensely, so bad they wondered how they weren't dying from blood loss. She assumed that other than the exhaustion and hunger, and disease of course, that led to her death, that blood loss might be a part of it. She didn't doubt it, not for a second.

She furrowed her eyebrows. Maybe this was heaven? The empty feeling in her stomach and slow beating of her heart doubted it. It seemed too dark. The feeling was happy and uplifting. It was depressing at the very least. She looked up at Hope questioningly. She wanted him to explain, felt that he should explain, if he was the one that had brought her and so many others there. There had to be more people than just the ones around her, it felt too rehearsed to be new.