Rebirth Inc.

Aida

The employees that work at Rebirth Inc all had unexpected encounters with unfateful deaths. They died when it was not their time and instead of the grim reaper giving them a chance to be saved, they are brought to the doors of Rebirth Inc. Just so you know when there are positions available Rebirth Inc has interviews and starts looking for employees. That is how I got my job as a recruiter that leads people to the wheel of rebirth or I place them on the road of their next journey.

In my last life, I was killed and the grim reaper swooped down and claimed my soul just as I started to flatline. When I got to the white and blue door of Rebirth Inc the manager in charge pulled me away from the other newly departed and offered me the opportunity to receive my memories from my past lives and to work for them or to be reborn and start afresh. I literally just died and was brought to this extremely random place and ended up nodding my head and saying I would work for them.

If I was in my right mind I would have declined the job, I do not have a young soul. I have never lived past the age of thirty in all my lifetimes and I have lived multiple lives. Experiencing my death all those times was a nightmare, after I received all my memories it felt like I did not know who or what I am. It took me a while before I became grounded and was able to sort out all my memories and thoughts. I still don’t know why they offer us the chance to regain our memories and all the people working at Rebirth Inc are fools for accepting this job. I am still trying to figure out what employee benefits we get for working in this place.

“Aida, the next one is for you. The boss specifically assigned this case to you.” Leo, the oldtimer who has been working here for what must be one thousand three hundred and fifty years by now. He doesn’t look like an old man though, he has the appearance of a mischievous kid with long blueish white hair and amethyst eyes. In his last life, before he was assigned here, he was a descendant of a dragon. That is also why he has two horns on his head and pointy ears. If he had passed away when he was more mature he would have been extremely handsome, but right now he is still cute. I like to hug him whenever I can. but he always nags about it and then hugs me back.

I stopped daydreaming about the last time Leo threw a fit because I hugged him in front of the Ancients, those are the real oldtimers, the beings that have been here for millennia. The boss that Leo mentioned is one of the Ancients, he acts like a flirt but everyone calls him boss for a reason. It is not just because he is the boss, it is because of his demeanour and the fact that he has gained all of our respect. That is aside from the fact that he has a flirty side which I have come to dislike.

I should warn you, that the way I have come to make sense of my thoughts and memories is by rambling. Talking keeps me sane, everyone who works at Rebirth Inc has a coping mechanism.

I quickly collected the file from Leo about the newly departed. As I made my way to the blue and white door I quickly browsed through the being’s file. He goes by the name X and he is a Dark Elf from one of the Fae realms, he died by execution.

I wonder what he did to warrant his execution.

I stopped after reading the first line. Mass murderer, he was executed for murdering fae of all kinds and ages. I continued to read and it felt like all warmth disappeared from my body. It is not the first time I am dealing with a murderer I have dealt with souls that have committed all kinds of heinous crimes, but something about X’s file piqued my curiosity and left an ice-cold feeling in my chest. I started walking away from the door and told one of my colleagues to hold on to X when he arrives and to explain that I am a bit late. They can handle the whole, you died and have a chance to be reborn yada yada spiel.

I made my way to the Archives, I wanted to pull up X’s previous lives. Something about this being’s soul told me that I should be afraid, I have not met this being yet and already I feel like I might freeze if I get too close to him. I could only view the last three lives that X has lived and in all three he was a mass murderer or serial killer. I pulled up X’s previous incarnation history on the holographic screen and then sent through a request for all the information to be sent directly to me so that I could further investigate this. As I waited for the request to be approved, which is usually done in a few minutes I continued to browse through X’s information.

Why do they keep letting him reincarnate? Why has his reincarnation cycle not ended yet?

After pulling his previous files and getting my request approved I went to where X was. He was in the waiting area, which is an area that is rarely ever used since we just push people through to their next lives, instead of waiting for no reason. He truly had a striking appearance, even for a dark elf. His silvery-white hair was tied up and a beautifully carved stick was pushed through a metal clasp that went around his hair to keep his hair from falling on his face. His blueish grey skin had a slight glow to it, that was unnatural for dark elves and you could tell he had a strong physique. However, the most alluring part of him is his eyes. Those icy blue eyes that can draw a person in, I am not sure if his eyes are truly as cold as they seem or if his eyes are just a reflection of the predator he is.

I need to focus, now is not the time to be admiring a dark elf.

The one thing you should know is that although you get different kinds of elves, dark elves are not evil or some kind of creature of the night. The magic they use is just really archaic, not that they can help it. That is just the design they were given, not that the Ancients care for it. If they could They would erase all forms of archaic and arcane magic as it is not magic that belongs in any world. At least that is what they believe.

X was looking at me, silently waiting as I made my way to him.

“Hello, my name is Aida.” I greeted X and held out my hand for him to shake it. He stared at me suspiciously and then gently took hold of my hand and towards his forehead. Even though my hand did not touch his forehead, I could feel the heat radiating from him.

I always thought that dark elves were colder beings, it may just be that X is the exception to that. I did read in his file that he did not possess the same magic talent that all dark elves are born with but his skill with weaponry was truly something to behold. There was no magic that he could not cut through.

“Okay, then. X, usually we would take you straight to the reincarnation wheel, but it looks like we are not ready for you.” As I went over X’s latest file I noticed that this would be a very unusual case. “It looks like you will be stuck with me for some time.”

“I see, if I am not to be reborn, what is to become of me.” X’s voice sent shivers down my spine. This man should not be allowed to speak. His good looks and voice may be more dangerous than the weapons he has used in the past.

“I will let you know as soon as the higher-ups provide more information. For the time being, I would like to talk with you for a bit.” I said as I led X to one of our conference rooms.

“Is there anything you would like to drink?” I offered.

“Do the dead drink and eat here? ” X inquired, his expression remaining neutral.

I shook my head and gestured for him to take a seat as I took a seat opposite him.

“There is a very slight chance that you would, but I would like to confirm if you remember any of your other past lives aside from the life that you just lived?”

X tilted his head ever so slightly as he silently stared at me. “A kind smile and words that always haunt me.”

This could pertain to any lifetime.

“Can you tell me more about the words that haunt you?”

He nodded his head but did not say anything else.

“May I please hear those words?”

His expression still remained the same. “All that love me and all that I love will perish by my hands.” He did not blink as he spoke nor did he let out a sliver of emotion.

To me, it sounds like someone just cursed him, but he has been murdered through multiple lifetimes.

Is there more to his story?

“Is it because of those words that you almost killed everyone in the village you lived as an Elf?” I examined and took note of his every breath, movement and expression but it was not easy as everything he did was like that of someone who had no mind of their own.

What happened to this soul?

“Would you believe me if I said yes?” He inquired. His stare made me uncomfortable as he began to peer at me. “Aida, I feel as though we have met before.”

Those words sent a chill through me. “If that is true, was I someone you killed or someone who just passed by in that lifetime?”

I started thinking about all the times I died in my previous incarnations and there were indeed times I was killed or died an unnatural death.

Imagine being in the same room as your murderer. Now that would make an interesting story.

“You look different, but my soul recognises you and it is telling me that I cared for you.” His words were spoken with a hint of remorse, but his expression still remained the same.

“So that means you have killed me.” I am not sure if I wanted to cry or run out of the conference room, maybe I wanted to do both. I could feel the warm drops of my tears run down my cheek and I could feel a phantom knife piercing through my chest over and over again. The feeling of metal piercing through my flesh right to my heart. The ear-shattering screams and the warmth that quickly escapes my body.

Why does this pain feel so real? Why am I feeling it now? Am I the one who is screaming?

I could barely make up the silhouette of my boss as he rushes into the conference room and is right by my side holding me in his arms and trying to calm me down. My boss, Asherford shouted out for everyone to ignore what was happening and barked out commands to Leo to move X to another conference room. By then I was able to calm down and add that feeling of death with all the others I experienced when I first started here.

After I regained my previous memories when I started working for Rebirth Inc I thought that I would never have to experience my death again.

“I am fine now. I - I am sorry I lost my composure.” I could barely hold myself from stuttering. Asherford looked worried as he slowly let go of me. He may have been worried that I would fall over if he did not hold onto me.

“I am sorry Aida, I am truly sorry about all of this,” Asherford whispered, I think I was the only one in the room that could hear him.

By now I have regained my composure and was able to put my mask back on. I smiled at everyone and sat back down.

“If you are still worried about me, you are welcomed to stay for a bit longer,” I told Asherford as a look of animosity crossed his face as he glared at X.

“X, this is my boss, Sir Asherford. I apologise for my unsightly reaction. It turns out we truly may have met and you did kill me.” I calmly explained and did not take my eyes off of X. I wanted to see if he would have a reaction to what I said. A gasp or some kind of twitch, but his expression stayed the same and he showed no sign of remorse.

X bowed his head before me and held out his hands, his palm facing upwards. A sign to say if I wanted to I could kill him now and he has no weapons or ill will so he would not retaliate. “It is my past actions that have caused you distress. I ask not for forgiveness, but if it is my head you want, you may have it.”

Asherford looked ready to take X up on his offer but he held himself back and muttered something under his breath.

“You are already dead, I won’t kill you.” I placed a hand over my chest and took a deep breath. “There is one thing I remembered you looked like you were in so much pain and agony as you killed me. Why is that?”

“I do not know the life you speak of but taking away life has never been something I wanted to do. ” X replied and for the first time since we started speaking, I could see a flicker of emotion flash past his face.

“I see, Sir Asherford would you be able to take over? I am going to request a room to be prepared for X.” I slightly bowed my head towards X and Asherford as I left the conference room.

While speaking with X and that feeling of death It had made me realise something, not all of my previous incarnation memories have been returned to me. After organising a room for X to stay in while he awaits his reincarnation I went back to the archive. This time it was not to pull up information on X or any other souls, other than my own. I needed to find out what was being hidden from me, why allow me to regain the memories of my previous incarnations but hide a few from me?

When I was brought to work at Rebirth Inc it was Sir Asherford that pulled me towards the employment line for Rebirth Inc and gave a really good orientation speech as to why I should work at Rebirth Inc instead of being reincarnated. He also assured me that I would regain all my memories of my previous incarnations. Which in hindsight is not as great as it sounds.

After researching a bit I came across a handful of files about incarnations I have no memories of and I do not have clearance to view any of those files. All of them have been blocked by Sir Cedric Asherford. It just had to be my boss with the pompous name. He is a bit of a flirt, but I can’t imagine him doing anything that would make him lose my trust or any of the other employees who work for him.

So why is he hiding my memories from me and why has made sure that I won’t be able to access these few files? I started looking through X’s files as well and found that there is a handful that I was denied access to. The files coincided with mine when it came to date and location but other than that I could not find any other information. I continued to dig as much as I could and then tried bringing up Asherford’s files.

What shocked me the most is the fact that Asherford barely reincarnated. The handful of times he did reincarnate coincided with the location and dates for the files I could not access for X and myself.

“Just what are you hiding Asherford?” I sighed as I continued trying to find out anything more.

“You can always ask me directly, Aida,” Asherford whispered next to my ear.

Just how much was I focusing on this that I did not notice his presence?

“Would you tell me the truth if I asked?” I questioned him, he smirked and then looked like his usual friendly self.

“I think I should tell you a story first. Then you can decide for yourself if it is the truth or not.”