Ash-boss
Grey Valley, No man's valley

"Free all our curses!!"

"Bring the forbidden back..."

"Let him carry out his destiny!!!!"

"He must return to ashes!"

"He never existed. Her figure is not real."

"He took too many rights to life."

"Make him in the dark."

the black soul of the gray valley thrashed. Rebelling and making the state of the gray valley become uncontrollable in some time. The white and Grey souls just continued to circle the place without being affected by all the anger and hatred from the black souls in the gray valley. Each one moves in an uncertain direction. Something was circling around the place around him. Some just stay in their place. There were also some who cheerfully circled the old tree that became the center of the gray valley.

"What are you booming about!" the figure of the guard stomped loudly. Making the place tremble slightly and turning all eyes on his figure.

"You betrayed us!"

"You let the forbidden roam free!"

"You are the one who betrayed this place" said the guard.

His words echoed around the valley. Increasingly averted the gaze of all the shadows of ash and white on his figure who is now being judged by all the black souls in the valley.

"He just has to finish all his tasks. He had to finish his redemption time to be able to return."

The guard clenched his hand. Recalling how the figure of Laras with his sharp gaze. His bright red eyes showed as much destruction as could have happened that afternoon.

He refocused, lamenting to the two gray souls one of whom was consumed with vengeance and hatred, and the other had too much desire to be with that hateful soul. They make their figures ambiguous. Neither is white nor is it black but it cannot be firm. They would only be ash-colored souls with all the vagueness of their desires being here.

"That's a lot better than them." he stared at the black soul that was back floating around. And the white soul instantly incarnated into a human shadow-like figure that only displayed the intact parts of the eyes and mouth.

"Will he come back?"

"Is it true that they beat him?"

"Did he not rebel?"

"As it was."

All the white shadows point to the time on the stone that appeared after Laras' entry into the valley. The needle on the stone was spinning slowly. Very slow. Not worth the time that goes on in that place. It's different in the memory of the white shadows that come back to see how it all started. Why can't this gray valley be abandoned by them, black, white and gray souls.

//

There were many souls that came and went filled with excitement as they passed through the place. Although it was just a place for the passage of some souls, it envied some souls who had gone the wrong way after entering the place.

On the way, the souls passing through the place will find three doors for them to choose from. It was the last choice of souls passing through the valley. One door to ultimate happiness. The other door gives an opportunity to fix what is still not achieved. While the last door, brings each soul to endless darkness.

That day was an unusual day. There were so many souls suddenly passing through that place. Children, teens, adults, elderly. They were people who died in unexpected incidents. Maybe it was a natural disaster and the thing that made death unusual for so many people. Some parents walk alone quietly. Some others seem confused by holding the hands of their children, brothers, husbands, or family members.

Midway, a middle-aged woman stopped her steps in confusion. He was like frightened on his journey by holding a boy who was so innocent.

_Maybe he did not realize that he had died_the inner guard without wings at that time. He looked into the eyes of the boy who seemed as happy as he was in that place. The boy smiled softly and was replied by the guard.

"Miss! Do you know where this road ends?" ask the middle-aged woman. For a moment he strengthened his grip on the boy who was about to escape from his hand grip.

The figure of the guard did not pay too much attention to the question of the middle-aged woman, he just continued to pay attention to the little boy who was back struggling to break free. Moreover, this was also the first time for the guard to be accosted by a soul passing through this valley.

"Miss.." greet again the middle-aged woman while maintaining decency, he said. "Which path should I choose? May I know what Miss thinks?"

The guard stared meaningfully for a moment, before finally stopping the two souls' steps towards the crowd of souls before them.

"Will you also live here?" the guard stopped the woman's steps. "He.." accused the boy who was with the middle-aged woman, ". It seems he likes this place."

The middle-aged woman immediately grabbed the boy. Protecting the figure of the boy and looking at the guard with fear. The guard who did nothing, was only speechless with the expression the woman showed on her figure. The guard retreated slowly and something happened to the figure of the guard. It was already a thousand years for him. It was also the day he got wings for the first time. The wing was not perfect, it was just a wing-shaped bone curve encased in thin golden feathers.

Sensing something strong clinging to him, the figure of the guard lost his consciousness for a while. The wings made his soul become new and shiny. And as soon as his consciousness returned, the souls who had entered the door of the stone cave before them came out in wrath. Attacking and tearing apart the wings of the guard who had just awoken from his silence. The guard is unable to do anything. The pain every time one strand after another of his fur was uprooted made the guard again lose consciousness. Risen in wrath, the guard flapped the remaining of his wings. Making splashes of blood everywhere. About and touching every angry soul. Make every corner of the place filled with darkness.

"Every soul!" the sentence was blaring with a groan of pain and rumbling. The speed of the clouds became erratic, the wind blowing with its firmness. "On the wings that have been lost on my wings, any pain will pay off in this place."

Instantly the valley became dark. All colors disappeared along with the disappearance of the guard figure with droplets of blood circles that made every wrathful soul into an intangible shadow. Some other souls turned to ashes. More souls incarnate into gray souls. There were only two white shadows. They are the little boy and the soul of an old man who walks last in the company of souls. It was the grandfather's soul that was the only true witness of how the valley had become a dark valley called a gray valley.

//

"The darkness is coming again..."

One of those white souls pointed at the one black soul that was behind the stone of time. The new soul was first seen by the maroon-robed guard.

A black soul figure with his red eyes. The only black soul that wanders around unaffected by the time shaft. The only black soul that became the starting point for the creation of the gray valley.

"He.." the guard fell silent. A flash of memory flashed in the blink of his eyes.

...***...