The story of 4-C is as follows...
For months, Realmkeeper Astra has reserved the auditorium for his naming ceremony, reserved for one soul - now named "Maker" as a placeholder - and it has lasted that way for the entirety of the reservation. 4-C's attendance numbers add up to about 4,052 members of the audience. 65% of them are full amnesiacs, 23% are amnesiacs with placeholder names, and the rest are logged as miscellaneous entities.
Less than an hour before the ceremony, twelve entire ghosts are added to the ceremony's roster. Unidentified ghosts with no formal records from any official Death Journals, with the exception of a ghost with an arrival date of two days ago. All twelve ghosts following the Maker ended up awakening full identities, with multiple witnesses in the audience citing their changes to a "Miss Jolivette".
The description matches the credentials of Bonnie Yvette Jolivette, an individual with no other history with reformed amnesiacs. According to the logs, her total time on Nihil adds up to a cumulative five weeks. She became a Realmkeeper only two days ago. Her formal training is under the Grim Reaper, the entity in charge of all of Nihil, and the primary collector and courier of souls throughout the afterlife.
Many question her methods and doubt her procedure. No other Realmkeeper has done what she did, marking Realmkeeper Jolivette as the first in all of Nihil to achieve such feats. Her tenacity is to be commended, as she has somehow bypassed all bureaucratic procedures and brought forth the awakenings of a dozen ghosts all at once. Could it be possible that Nihil has a revolutionary new way to identify amnesiac souls? One is left to wonder.
The report has been sent to the desk of the Grim Reaper, to which he is also left to wonder about this method... and his comment is as follows:
"ARE YOU INSANE?!"
Yvette stares blankly at the Grim Reaper as he shouts in her face.
After what happened, hours after he went off to collect more souls, the Grim Reaper came back to Nihil and read the report. Every detail of 4-C has been put to paper for his review, every excruciating detail brought to his attention. After a thorough read to ascertain that he wasn't misreading anything, the Grim Reaper immediately summoned Yvette.
The two of them are in the Grim Reaper's... "office", as Yvette is currently sitting in a casual office chair and the Grim Reaper sits across from her. The entirety of the office is placed in an endless black void with a hanging lightbulb over them, dangling with pure white light shining down on the two. No sense of decor, no ounce of color (except the girl), and no shortage of distress.
So as the embodiment of death furiously shouts at her, Yvette's only answer to his question is: "I could be. Truth be told, I am feeling very dementia-coded right now, so-"
"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YVETTE?!" the Grim Reaper interrupts, slamming the bones of his hands against his desk. The echoing sound of hammers hitting against hardwood sounds out, kind of like judges' gavels. "YOU PREMATURELY PROCESSED TWELVE WHOLE SOULS THROUGH AN IMPROMPTU NAMING CEREMONY! WHAT PART OF 'just write what they tell you in the Death Journal' TOLD YOU TO BYPASS EVERY SINGLE STEP OF NIHIL'S INTRICATE INNER WORKINGS?!"
Okay.
So he's very, very upset, Yvette thought...
Yvette- clears her throat, no use in lying- she did all that stuff. "It- worked out in the end, didn't it? They got their identities, managed to work through their stuff, and got through their stuff. What's the big deal?"
"..."
This has done nothing but make the Grim Reaper even more angry, and he seems ready to burst. His hands coiling into fists, gripping at nothing. If this were any other person, any other soul, then...
... the Grim Reaper takes a moment to reach for Yvette's Death Journal, hand reaching out to snatch the book from her in an instant. He opens the freshly emptied journal up to a blank page and then places it down on the desk, ready to lecture her. "ALRIGHT! LET'S... say that these pages are an amnesiac's soul," the Grim Reaper begins to explain, his voice calming slightly as he begins writing and scribbling words onto the page.
Seeing this, Yvette lets out a sigh. She knows where this is going, the entire point he's trying to make, the point she found out already. "Okay, Dad, I know I asked, but you don't have to—"
"You know about the part where they, themselves, tell you what they recall," the Grim Reaper continues to explain, continuing to scribble. "You write it down on these lines, write what they tell you, and that's about it. After this, when you're out of pages- or, rather, whenever you feel as if you're out of pages, you go to the center."
"You already told me about this, Dad, you really don't need to—"
The Grim Reaper continues, disregarding Yvette's input. "So we accept these pages, collect them up, and- the spirit themselves can feel when they're ready to be named. We give them a placeholder," he tells Yvette as he writes the name 'Saleh' at the top, "and then they tell more of their lives. They speak more and help us pinpoint who they are."
Yvette holds a hand to her forehead. "I- I know this part, Death, you're just reciting stuff I already know."
"Okay, but let me ask you what you don't know," the Grim Reaper calmly, ever so calmly demands of Yvette, gripping the corner of the page. "Let's say someone... like you, for example. You proceeded to improperly put the soul through the Naming Ceremony—"
"Right, right, their soul gets torn apart," Yvette answers, twirling her hand. "They experience a full agony as they suffer and scream and stuff, and they have a risk of completely dissipating and perishing, ceasing to exist."
"Good, good, you at least know that now," the Grim Reaper asks, tearing the page out and putting it to the side. "Now, do you understand... what happens when they don't?"
"When they- don't?" Yvette repeats, raising an eyebrow at him. "Well, they end up fine? They get their identities back and can go on their merry ways?"
"No."
The Grim Reaper tears the page out and promptly dumps an entire bottle of ink onto it. The ink seeps through the page, getting onto the skeleton's desk in a messy sprawl. Completely covering and soaking the page in what was once there.
"... what you did was reshape their entire ESSENCE INTO A FALSE IDENTITY!" the Grim Reaper shouts, the entirety of his office void trembling and quaking.
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Yvette's eyes widen at this, as the entire office shakes and the ink covers the entirety of what Death scribbled. A cold chill goes down her spine as she has this revelation thrown down right before her. In essence, what the Grim Reaper is telling her is that-
"YOU COMPLETELY ERASED THEIR SOUL AND TURNED THEM INTO WHATEVER RESULTS YOU MADE UP!" the Grim Reaper shouts, his voice boiling with rage as he leans forward over the desk and stares Yvette right in the eyes. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE 'big deal' IS, NOW, YVETTE?! THEY DIDN'T REGAIN THEIR IDENTITIES, YOU GAVE THEM AN ENTIRELY NEW ONE!"
"Oh-!" Yvette noises, visibly uneasy as the ink seeps over the corner of the desk and- almost drips onto her shoes. Those drops of 'Saleh' just- uncomfortably dripping. "I- I see- uhm- well—"
"WHAT, IN ALL OF NIHIL, COMPELLED YOU TO DO THIS?!" the Grim Reaper shouts. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!"
"..."
Yvette opens her mouth, and—
"BEFORE—!" the Grim Reaper interrupts, before a word comes out. "Before you say anything, I think I have a good idea of why. You didn't want to do any of the work, and thought you could get away with it by making all of those ghosts regain their identities... force them out of your hair."
"That's not—" Yvette interrupts, shaking her head. "That's not what happened whatsoever."
"Really? Alright, let's hear this," the Grim Reaper comments, arms crossed. "Go on. Give your excuse."
"... it was only one guy," Yvette begins to explain. "One ghost. I wanted to show him around the center and dodge work like that. Show him around the center, do a bit of my errands, and that was it. He just started inviting more ghosts on board, I started- giving them a full-blown tour.
"What exactly did you say on this tour?" the Grim Reaper asked.
"Well, I—" Yvette begins to answer, before stopping right in her tracks. "... I just said stuff like how good the weather is."
"Yvette."
"Fine, I told them that the entirety of Nihil is made out of fairy dust and human milk and that you do art commissions of your favorite deities."
"..." The Grim Reaper rests his elbows on the desk, taking a very... very exasperated sigh. "... okay. Well, then. So this tour ended with you... signing twelve ghosts up for the ceremony?"
"Yeah, I- I wanted the tour to be believable," Yvette responds, sighing. "They- they were asking about getting tickets to see one, expecting one after I showed them around- and I couldn't disappoint them."
"..." The Grim Reaper holds a hand to his face. "Yvette... for future reference, asking for tickets to something- even if the shows are full... that's a lot more believable and reasonable for a tour guide than enlisting EVERYONE IN YOUR TOUR TO STAND ON STAGE."
"Right! Right, geez," Yvette noises, just clearing her throat. "In my defense, when I was asking for tickets, all the receptionists looked like it was an unreasonable request to ask for twelve- maybe thirteen whole tickets to a ceremony happening in the next few minutes."
"Which it is."
"So I panicked! Like, the tour was waiting for me to get their tickets and I just- I just... I just told them that the souls were ready, and that was it," Yvette explains, folding her hands on her lap and fiddling with her thumbs. Uncomfortably thumb wrestling herself, left and right sent in a spiral. "Everything from there was me trying to cover for myself... and that's all.
"That's all?"
"Yes, that's- that's- literally all that happened. From there, I just kept lying, because... b-because I didn't want- I didn't want you to find out and, like, destroy my soul or something..."
The Grim Reaper sighs. "If you were anyone else, I would have..."
...
And an awkward silence forms between the two.
Yvette sits back, and just... waits. Forced to wait as she awaits the punishment. Her lies have carried her so far, and she's expecting something horrible- something bad that the Grim Reaper will come up with to punish her for this. Something that she'll probably really hate, and can't do a single thing about, because- well, what she did was probably the worst thing she could have ever done in Nihil, only outdone if she added more ghosts to that baker's dozen.
The Grim Reaper sits back, now trying to come up with an effective punishment for Yvette in particular. Resting the bottom of his jaw on the back of his hand, really thinking about what to do. Destroying her soul is not an option for personal reasons... and yet, she's done something unprecedented. Something that holds intense ramifications, possibly irreversible ones at that. That doesn't leave a lot of room for proper, yet reasonable punishment... no room to slap her on the wrist or anything.
So the two are silent, lost in patient thought for the longest while.
... and Yvette is the one to break the silence.
"... Dad, can... can I ask you something?" Yvette asks, looking at the Grim Reaper with a saddened look on her face.
... the Grim Reaper lowers his hand and faces Yvette properly. Looking down at her and lending an ear canal to her. "Yes, what... what is it?" the Grim Reaper asks.
"I know I messed up. I know I completely messed up and probably ruined the afterlives of twelve whole people, but... when I was- when I was on stage," Yvette begins to speak, her eyes sparkling a little bit as she remembers that exhilarating feeling... being on stage with Saleh and the rest, having people applaud her. "I felt- I felt proud. When I thought I was helping with their identities, when- when 'Saleh' congratulated me and told me he couldn't have done it without me, I felt nice."
The Grim Reaper stares in astonishment at this admission, his jaw... dropping, ever so slightly.
"... is that what... all of this is for?" Yvette asks, tilting her head. The feeling fades as she asks, as she- as she dwells on it. "That- that feeling, that... warm, golden feeling?"
It takes the Grim Reaper some time to... respond. To come up with something that he could say to Yvette. He's upset at her, and very- VERY much does not condone what she did, the complete mess that she's caused, but... this... this is new. This is something new for Yvette, and- and he... and he feels... proud?
He feels proud that Yvette feels this, a taste of the responsibility her job truly entails, and... well...
"... Yvette," the Grim Reaper begins to speak, reaching his hand out and- and resting it on her shoulder. "That feeling is... simply, just you feeling good that you helped someone."
Yvette's eyes widen as she looks up at the Grim Reaper. "T-That's all? Is that what the glow is?"
"Yes. You... conceptually 'helped a soul regain their identity', and got to enjoy their moment," the Grim Reaper explains. "If you had done it right, you would have been with that ghost for a while. Helped him regain his self, helped him understand himself better, and- and the feeling would be stronger because you would know that you worked for it, that you earned it. The hard work is hard, but- you're helping people. You're helping ghosts with nothing else and nobody else to turn to, as a Realmkeeper, and- and that's what the job is for. Helping others."
Yvette feels this weigh on her shoulders as she looks down in remorse. "Oh..." For the first time in her life, she feels... regret. She feels guilt and sadness about taking a shortcut, about lying her way through all of this.
Maybe she would have grown to understand 'Saleh' better- or, rather, Sandy Ghost... since- well, what she came up with isn't real, it wasn't the truth. Maybe she would have grown out of feeling annoyed at his presence, and- and...
...
... the Grim Reaper eventually pulls his hand away and leans back into his chair. This admission has- given him an idea, one that works out wonderfully in the long term, one that- both firmly punishes Yvette, and leaves them both coming out of this in a win-win scenario.
"Now, Yvette..." the Grim Reaper speaks up, fully set on his idea. "As punishment, you are grounded."
Grounded... a traditional, human punishment when one's son or daughter gets in trouble. Usually, this means that they're kept in their room, or not allowed to leave the house- so on and so forth. The Grim Reaper has decided this to be the best punishment for Yvette.
"... grounded?" Yvette asks, blinking at this in confusion. Without a room or a house to stay in, she doesn't understand what he exactly means. "What does- what does that mean, Death? Where- where would I-"
And as she asks this, Yvette realizes... there are only two places that she can even think of that would make sense. Either he's keeping her in Nihil Center, or specifically to herrealm.
...
And... and since the realm only has a cafe and a hotel of ghosts, Yvette knows that the punishment will be the realm. Absolutely the realm.
Death is about to tell her that—
"It means that you will be banished and kept to your realm, and your realm alone," the Grim Reaper tells her. "For the entirety of your employment here, you are not allowed onto the train to Nihil Center- or the train to anywhere else, even. Your punishment will last until you actually, truly take the time to help a ghost out."
And Yvette, hearing this from his mouth...
... feels a chill going down her spine.
