For a moment I simply stared at him. The man had exposed my lie so casually that it almost felt insulting.
"You seem very confident," I said.
"Not confident." Augustus smiled pleasantly while looking between the two of us. "Experienced. I have spent a very long time dealing with both the living and the dead. Just because I serve as the Gatekeeper of the Null Realm does not mean I suddenly became ignorant of how the living think." He lightly adjusted his tie before continuing. "In fact, I would argue I understand them better than most living people understand themselves."
The lanterns lining the stone pathway flickered softly around us while the darkness beyond them remained endless and silent.
"People lie to me every day, Mister Ironhart. Some lie because they are afraid. Some because they are hiding something. Some because they believe they are protecting others." He shrugged lightly. "The reasons change. The lies rarely do."
I remained silent. There was no point continuing down that road. If he truly wanted to know why we had come here, he would have to drag it out of me himself. The strange thing was that he did not seem interested in doing that.
Instead he simply chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
"Fortunately, your actual purpose is not particularly important."
That surprised me.
"You just said it was."
"No." He shook his head. "I said your presence matters. Your purpose only matters if it threatens the realm."
He looked between Aurora and me.
"Which, at least for the moment, I do not believe it does."
I relaxed slightly. Then Augustus continued.
"Though I am curious about one thing."
"What?"
"Who exactly from the Prime Universe interests you enough to make you walk willingly into the Null Realm."
I ignored the question. Augustus sighed dramatically.
"I tried."
Aurora looked mildly amused. Then the Gatekeeper straightened his coat and finally became serious.
"Very well. If you are searching for souls originating from the Prime Universe, then your destination is obvious."
His cane lightly tapped against the stone path.
"The Prime Territory."
I frowned.
"Prime Territory?"
The Gatekeeper nodded.
"Every universe connected to the Null Realm possesses a designated territory."
I blinked.
"Every universe?"
"Of course."
The way he said it made me feel stupid for asking.
"The Null Realm receives souls from countless universes. Keeping them all mixed together would create administrative nightmares."
"Administrative..."
"Nightmares."
He repeated the words with complete seriousness. Aurora looked toward him.
"You separate entire universes into territories?"
"Initially."
He nodded.
"After arrival, souls may move wherever they wish provided they satisfy local requirements."
That caught my attention immediately.
"So the Prime Territory isn’t a prison?"
"Good heavens no."
Augustus looked almost offended.
"The dead have rights."
That sentence sounded absurd and somehow perfectly reasonable at the same time. I looked toward Aurora. She seemed equally unsure how to react. The Gatekeeper continued walking.
"Prime Territory merely serves as the primary settlement region for souls originating from the Prime Universe."
"And that’s where we need to go?"
"Yes."
He smiled.
"Unfortunately that is also where your problems begin."
My eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
For the first time since meeting him, Augustus did not answer immediately. Instead he turned around and started walking toward the enormous coffin doorway. The darkness swirling inside it shifted slowly.
"Come."
Without another explanation, he stepped through. Aurora and I exchanged a brief look before following behind him. The instant I crossed the threshold, reality disappeared.
For a brief moment there was no sound, no light, no sensation of movement. Then existence returned all at once and I found myself standing motionless while my mind struggled to comprehend what I was seeing.
The Null Realm stretched endlessly before me. The first thing I realized was that it had no sky.
Or perhaps it did.
My mind simply could not identify where it began or ended.
Above us floated vast silver oceans that drifted through space like celestial rivers. Entire seas moved across the heavens carrying continents upon their surfaces while waterfalls descended from their edges only to dissolve into glowing mist halfway down before reforming thousands of kilometers away.
The scale of it made galaxies feel small.
Floating islands drifted between those oceans, some no larger than cities while others rivaled entire star systems. Upon them stood civilizations. Towers pierced the heavens. Bridges connected distant lands across impossible distances. Massive structures rose from mountain ranges suspended upside down beneath the silver seas.
Everywhere I looked there was life. Not ghosts. Not wandering spirits but life. Countless figures moved through streets, marketplaces, harbors and settlements.
Children ran through gardens built atop floating cliffs. Merchants sold goods from glowing stalls. Ships sailed through the sky itself. Entire civilizations flourished beneath drifting oceans and rivers of light.
And then I noticed the lights. At first I thought they were stars.
Then I realized they were moving. Trillions upon trillions of luminous souls filled the vastness around us, traveling along invisible pathways connecting distant territories and civilizations.
The sheer number was incomprehensible. For the first time in my life I truly understood how many beings had lived and died throughout existence.
Even Aurora had gone silent. The Gatekeeper watched us calmly.
"Beautiful, isn’t it?"
I slowly exhaled.
"This is larger than a universe."
"Several." Augustus nodded. "The Null Realm has existed for a very long time."
As we moved forward along a floating roadway suspended through open space, I continued observing the countless civilizations surrounding us.
"How does it work?"
"Which part?"
"All of it."
Augustus smiled.
"A better question."
He pointed toward a nearby city floating atop a silver ocean.
"When a soul arrives, it enters the Settlement Process. Identity stabilizes. Memory stabilizes. Form stabilizes. Once complete, the soul becomes a citizen of the realm."
"Citizen?" I asked.
The Gatekeeper looked genuinely confused.
"Did you expect eternal homelessness?"
I chose not to answer. He continued anyway.
"After settlement, a soul may remain in its territory, travel to others, join civilizations, establish businesses, create kingdoms, pursue research, wage wars, become criminals, become heroes, become politicians or spend several millennia doing absolutely nothing."
Aurora frowned slightly.
"You allow wars?"
"Limited wars."
Augustus corrected.
"Existence without conflict becomes stagnant."
"What about reincarnation?"
"Available."
"Available?"
The Gatekeeper nodded.
"Reincarnation is a privilege, not an obligation. Souls may apply for it once they satisfy the requirements."
"And those requirements?"
"Different for every territory and soul."
As we traveled farther, the surrounding scenery changed continuously. Some territories appeared peaceful and beautiful. Others looked militarized.
Others resembled ancient kingdoms. Others looked so strange I could not even identify their purpose. I eventually noticed armed groups moving between territories aboard sleek vessels.
"Who are they?"
"Soul Hunters."
The Gatekeeper’s tone remained casual.
"Mercenaries, bounty hunters, explorers, artifact seekers, criminals, law enforcers. The profession varies. Hunt other souls and grow strong. It keeps things fun and interesting that way."
He smiled.
"Many visitors die because they underestimate them."
That did not sound particularly encouraging. Eventually the scenery began changing again.
The souls around us started looking familiar. Humans, Ferans, Demons, Nagas. Races from the Prime Universe and beyond.
My attention sharpened immediately.
Then I saw it.
A colossal boundary stretching across existence itself. Gigantic silver chains interconnected into a massive wall that extended farther than I could see.
Beyond it floated thousands of cities. The density of souls there was overwhelming.
Augustus stopped walking. His smile faded slightly. Then he raised his cane and pointed toward the civilization beyond the chains.
"The Prime Territory."
I stared silently at the countless cities stretching across the horizon. Somewhere inside those civilizations were the souls of every being who had died in the Prime Universe. Somewhere inside them might be the people I was searching for.
Then Augustus spoke again.
"Your people live there."
A brief flicker of hope rose inside me. Unfortunately his next words killed it immediately.
"Sadly," he said while looking toward the distant cities, "the Eternals have been living there for a very long time as well."
My eyes narrowed.
"What exactly does that mean?"
Augustus remained silent for a few moments while observing the enormous territory beyond the silver chains.
"It means," he finally said, "that the Prime Territory is not truly governed by its own people anymore."
That immediately caught my attention.
"What?"
The Gatekeeper lightly tapped his cane against the pathway.
"The Eternals and several organizations allied with them control the entire territory."
Aurora frowned.
"And the Wardens allow this?"
"They do."
"Why?"
A faint smile appeared on Augustus’ face.
"Because there is a contract."
I immediately looked at him.
"What contract?"
"An old one."
"That tells me absolutely nothing."
"Yes," he nodded. "That was intentional."
I stared at him. The man somehow managed to be helpful and annoying at the same time.
"The details are not mine to share," Augustus continued calmly. "What matters is that the contract grants the Eternals certain liberties within the Prime Territory. As long as they remain within the limits of that agreement, their presence is considered legitimate."
I looked again toward the distant cities.
"So we just walk in and look around."
Augustus chuckled.
"No."
The answer came far too quickly.
"You possess the key, which allows entry into the Null Realm itself. It does not grant unrestricted access to every territory inside it."
His gaze shifted toward the sprawling civilization beyond the chains.
"If you wish to enter the Prime Territory, you will need authorization."
"From the Wardens?"
"From the Eternals."
That answer immediately put me in a bad mood.
"And if I don’t ask?"
Augustus smiled pleasantly.
"Then you will discover just how difficult it is to enter a territory controlled by people who have spent thousands of years ensuring nobody enters without their permission."