BEN DROWNED X Reader-Passing Death pt.4

"______! _________! Where are you?!"BEN walked along the border of the outside wall to Clock town. He looked outwards at Termina field where you had run off to, but to no avail did he find you. He sighed deeply and continued onward.

"Man, her soul is beyond troubled. But at least she's out of the denial stage. Though I hope her anger isn't even worse."he grumbled. BEN continued to walk around in the field. He looked up at the moon, grimacing at it's face. Though he was searching for you, he couldn't get the HappyMask Salesman out of his head.

"There is still something holding you back… His voice echoed within BEN's head. The boy plopped down where he stood and hunched over.

"Something is holding me back, eh? What is it?"he wondered aloud, looking upwards at the moon as if it held the answers to his questions. He looked downwards at his hands. They were still stained with blood, but lightly.

"I don't understand..what's keeping me in this place? I've accepted everything. I've denied, angered, bargained, depressed, and accepted. I've gone through all the steps…so why…am I still here?"

The sound of sniffling interrupted BEN's slight despair. He looked up quickly and spied a figure a little ways away from him, sitting down with their knees pulled up to their chest and arms covering their face.

"______! There you are!"BEN called as he got up. He jogged over to your weeping figure quickly and plopped down beside you. "You had me worried. There are monsters out here you know, it's dangerous."

"Why do you care so much about what happens to me?"you ask quietly. BEN stared at you dumfounded.

"W-what do you mean?"he asks back. You lift your head and glare slightly at him.

"I mean, why do you care? Why are you following me?! I can't be the only dead person here! Go be somebody else's angel for a while and leave me alone."you snap at him. BEN frowned and moved away from you slightly.

"_____ I…"he tried to speak but what could he really say? He knew you were speaking out of anger, he understood that. It was a phase of grief. Another step closer to accepting death.

"Just leave me alone BEN…why are you here anyway? You seem pretty collected with yourself. Why don't you pass on?"you ask. BEN sat quietly beside you and positioned himself in the same way. His faded blue eyes gazed outwards at the field just like yours.

"I don't know why. I just can't. It's like I'm  not allowed to. I don't know, maybe god's abandoned me. He can do that you know."he tells you. You stare at BEN. "Maybe it's because there was nobody to tell me I was dead when I arrived here. It took a while before I figured it out and when I did, I found a way to reach out to the world of the living to prove my theory of my own death. Maybe I broke a rule of doing that and now I'm trapped..BUt you, you can still make it out of here, to the other side where there's peace."he says.

"BEN, why do you want me to go there so badly? What makes you think that god hasn't given up on me? That, that's not the reason I'm here!"you say. BEN shrugged.

"Because I know. I've been here a long time _____. Seen a lot of people come through and pass on before you. Many like you, trapped in deep denial. But they made it, thats why I know you can. I don't want you to stay here and risk being trapped as a wandering spirit like me. That is why I want to help you."he says.

"But BEN..I can't move on. Not like this. I just can't accept what's happened to me. It just doesn't seem fair. Its not fair that you're here too."you tell him. BEN smiled at you.

"I know. That's why I'm gonna help you. We'll go on a journey, just like how he did. I don't know but maybe, if you visit the four other temples, you'll find some enlightenment or something in each. Then..I'll play you the melody that will release your soul and you will be taken into the light."

"But you'll still be here."you mumble. BEN chuckled and rested a hand on your shoulder.

"Don't worry about me ______. My job is to help others like you cross over so you won't be like me. Now, lets go."BEN stands up, helping you to your feet as well.

"Where are we gonna go BEN?"you ask. The boy before you, lifts his arm and points outward towards a place behind you.

"There, towards the swamp. That's where he went first. If my theory is correct, he should've conquered his denial in Clock Town. Next is anger, which is the stage you are in. He must have conquered that at the swamp. I'm not sure what's there that will help you, but I have a feeling something is there that can help you."

You look to where BEN is pointing then look back at him.

"Alright..If you think it will help then..I'm willing to do it. But I doubt anything will be there."you say. BEN shrugged and grinned.

"It's worth a shot though. Really, what can you lose? Your life? Ha! Too late for that one, right? Right?"BEN jokes but you don't laugh. You simply turn away from him and begin to head towards the swamp.

"Lets just go and get this over with."you grumble. BEN sighed and jogged after you.

"Wait for me! ______, you have to be careful around here! There are dangerous monsters around."he calls as he catches up. You shrug.

"So? I'm already dead. What have I got to lose?"you ask him with a smirk but BEN gave you an intent look.

"Your soul. You may not have a heartbeat any longer but your mind is still active. Not in the living world, but it's not dead either."he tells you. Your brows furrow together in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"Think of it this way. Your mind is in Purgatory ______. It's what's keeping you here. Back in ancient times old tribes believed that the soul resided in the head of a person. Your brain. It's what holds your personality and emotions. These two things usually make up a person's soul, due to how they lived their life. This also is based on the choices you made in life. The choices your brain made. Now, a monster here can easily destroy that along with your mind. If you're attacked by the wrong kind of monster, it could be destroyed in one blow and if you are killed in this world, your soul becomes lost in darkness without a body nor a brain to return to. You'll be trapped forever between the world of the living and the afterlife in complete darkness."BEN explains to you. You nod, seemingly in understanding.

"I think I get it. But there's bound to be monsters in that temple right? How can we get through there without being injured or worse?"you ask. BEN smirked and pulled out a sword from a small sheath that had been tied to his side.

"With this. Just stay close to me. I'll get us through there."he says. You stare at the gleaming sword then back at BEN.

"But what about your soul? What if you get hurt?"You ask. BEN shrugged.

"Who cares. My soul's damned already. That's probably why I can't cross on. So it doesn't matter." he tells you. You stare at BEN sadly Nothing seemed to matter to him He was certain that god had abandoned him. It made you sad to see BEN striving so hard yet for what?

He was trying so hard to pass on but was stuck, yet here you are hardly trying to come to terms with everything and he was beyond confident that you were gonna pass on.

Why is he here? Why is he one of the dead ones? He seems so hopeful. He must have had a purpose in the world, yet here he is. It's not fair. Why was god so cruel? It infuriated you. But then…that was all part of the death process right? That's all. You weren't even certain that this feeling of anger was actually yours.

What did you truly feel?

As you thought about this, BEN was contemplating questions of his own.

He wondered why he felt such an urge to help you out. Did he really even care? Why was he doing this really? Was it because he really wanted to see you move on or was there another motive deep down? Maybe he really didn't care about you at all but wanted to look good in the eyes of god. Appeal to him and maybe he would be able to cross over.

BEN knew eventually that would lead in betrayal but what did he care? Friends? They don't matter in the world of Majora. All he really cares about is leaving this world once and for all, and using any means necessary to achieve that goal.

Even if it means using your own soul to pull his out of the darkness.