UF Stories Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: The Bridge of the Souls**

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[Elysium, U.F. Earth]

Underneath the Unity Force Academy is a place known as the Elysium, which can be only accessed through the Harmony Tower's elevators. It is a vast area where the souls of the deceased from all parts of the vast multiverse now reside. Every soul who has died now live in peace, not reliving the oain they have endured in the past. Within the middle of it is a river that separates both lands of the Elyisum, and a strange, ethereal bridge is to be seen within the middle of the river. It is known as the Bridge of the Souls.

And what is this Bridge of the Souls you speak of?

It is a mystical, spiritual bridge where the souls of the dead from the multiverse use it to cross to both sides of the Elysium and access through the Unity Force Academy through the Harmony Tower Elevator. The bridge is often considered to be the boundary between the living and the dead, as denoted between both sides of the Elysium. The souls are then asked upon about having a second chance to live again, before going through the process of being resurrected from their own bodies, thus completing the process.

That is right. One of the Unity Force students, Hidan, was resurrected here!

But the process of letting souls in on the other side of the Bridge is often controlled, in order to prevent any unexpected gridlock within the bridge from happening. It is often a wash, rinse, and repeat process and who goes into the Bridge, and who is allowed to enter the Unity Force Academy through the Harrmony Tower Elevator.

In the other side of the bridge, which is where the Harmony Tower Elevator is situated, we see two people standing guard while surveying the souls at the other side of Elysium. One is a girl and a middle-aged man with a scythe guarding the Bridge of the Souls.

The girl has brown hair with a red ribbon that reaches beyond her shoulders with matching tubes within her sidelocks. She is wearing a shrine maiden uniform, albeit it becomes little in common, as it now consists of a red skirt, a sleeveless red top with a white collar, tied with a red ribbon and a pair of white detached sleeves which expose her armpits and sarashi. She is seen holding a purification rod. This is Reimu Hakurei, one of Class 1 students, who works as one of the gatekeepers of the Bridge of the Souls.

The middle-aged man is a lean man with long gray hair—a part of it is tied in a single braid on the right side of his head—black fingernails, and a jagged scar across his face, neck, and left pinky finger. He also has eyes, but they are kept hidden underneath his hair. He is also dressed in a black robe, a long crooked top hat, and a gray scarf strapped across his chest and knotted by the hips. He wears black earrings; an emerald ring on his left index finger; a band of prayer beads around his neck. He is also seen holding a scythe, as well, giving him the impression of a Grim Reaper. This is the Undertaker, a former Grim Reaper.

"Looooooks like we got a few guests passing by." The Undertaker said in a strange manner while smoking a cigar, as he giggles in an eccentric manner while keeping eye on the souls passing by within the Bridge.

"Undertaker-sama." Reimu remarked. "If I weren't here, you would be experimenting on those souls for your absurd form of entertainment." She added in seriousness. "I'm a student in Unity Force, and yet I'm here to keep a lookout on you to see whatever nonsensical malevolence you are up to." She ended.

"Don't you worry, Hakurei-san..." The Undertaker said. "I'm sure they'll be fine wtihout you..." He added gravelly, even though his tone of his own remark has a tinge of sardonic tone on it.

"I highly doubt it, given your track record of using soulless, empty corpses for whatever murderous reasons to your amusement, according to Tennyson-sensei." Reimu responded, as she knows somewhat about who the Grim Reaper truly is.

Then, after much deliberation between the Undertaker and Reimu, the duo later let the three souls in, all of them male, to enter the other side of the Elysium through the said bridge. The three males later encounter what seems to be a male giant talking tree known as a Treant, standing a few metres away from the entrance of the Harmony Tower, before they stand up in front of him.

The tree creature is a tall moving Treant with leaves from his shoulders. He has barks that have sharp protrusions that act as a beard from his own chin. His wooden torso is covered with what appeared to be green vines and mushrooms. His right arm has some blue marking on its palm. His left arm and right leg has some purple-and-blue mushrooms grown on it. He has several black stones with blue engravings on it that can be found on his forehead, and his own hips. Some of his are also covered by what appeared to be moss surrounding it. This is Rooftrellen, also known as the Treant Protector, who acts as the guardian of the Elysium and the Unity Force. He often gives the final say for the souls who are given second chances to live again, which includes Hidan.

"I'm Rooftrellen, the Treant Protector from another universe and the guardian of the Elysium." Rooftrellen introduced. "State your reasons to live again a second life." He continued, albeit gravelly, as he looks at the three men.

The first man has slanted blue eyes and very long blond hair which he wears drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging down freely. One of his eyes is concealed by his bangs. Two of his palms have mouths. He wears the Akatsuki signature cloak, navy blue pants with matching shinobi sandals, and an Akatsuki ring on his right index finger, which bears the kanji for "blue or green" and is teal in colour. He also wears black nail polish on his fingers and toes. Under his cloak, he wears a V-neck, sleeveless, midriff shirt with mesh armour underneath it along with pants, stirrups, and sandals. He also wears a utility belt with two bags on either side. This is Deidara, a former member of the Akatsuki.

The second man is a tall man in his 30s. The man has a pale, blue-green skin, he has a pair of small, round, white eyes and blue-hair styled like a shark's fin, he also wears a forehead protector. He wore a black cloak, the Akatsuki cloak, with red clouds design, a brown sash across the front and back of his cloak that holds what seems to be his sword known as Samehada, dark pants and sandals. This is Kisame Hoshigaki, another former member of the Akatsuki.

The third man has onyx eyes under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs. He has jet-black hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail and his face is framed with centre-parted bangs that extended to his chin. He also wears the standard Akatsuki cloak and a slashed forehead protector. The cloak's high collar would obscure his ponytail. Under his cloak he wears clothes similar to the rest of Akatsuki: mesh armour with navy accents under an identical T-shirt with a simple white belt around the waist and dark blue pants. On his right ring finger is his Akatsuki ring, which is red and bore the kanji for "vermilion". He wears purple nail polish on his fingers and toes and a necklace that had three silver rings with red gems inside them. This is Itachi Uchiha, a former member of the Akatsuki and the teammate of Kisame.

Deidara, Kisame, and Itachi later respectfully half-kneel in front of Rooftrellen, as they begin to speak up in front of him, knowing that they are facing the Elysium's guardian.

"It is our duty to rectify our past mistakes, Rooftrellen-sama." Itachi said. "Hence our reason for living a second life." He continued.

"Whatever mistakes I committed in the past, it is our job to correct them." Kisame said.

"We promise, we will put the past aside and live our second life to the fullest!" Deidara said, being the less serious of the three.

"Very well, then." Rooftrellen replied sagely, before the former Akatsuki members stand up with their two legs, while watching at what the Treant Protector is about to do.

As that happens, they are later engulfed in what seems to be green, verdant light from around them, before they are surrounded by what appeared to be branches encircling them. But instead of a supposedly threatening aura that would entangle them for obvious, they are instead feeling the aura of rejuvenation that is omnipresent to the experience they had during their time spending in the Elysium.

"What is this...?" Itachi questioned.

"It's Living Armour." Rooftrellen replied. "While I mostly use this ability to protect and rejuvenate my allies who are in dire crisis in the midst of a battle, I've later learned and further mastered this ability of mine as means to resurrect any souls of the dead within the Elysium who have come crossed through the Bridge of the Souls." He explained gravelly.

"Amazing..." Deidara awed.

"I've never felt this rejuvenating aura before!" Kisame exclaimed.

Rooftrellen then does a finger snap gesture at one of his hands sagely, causing the living armour to disappear around Deidara, Kisame, and Itachi. After that process, the trio are later revived back with their bodies intact, once again, prior to their respective deaths in their original universe.

"We're revived back!" Deidara exclaimed.

"This is impossible..." Itachi only silently remarked.

"Before you head into the Unity Force Academy." Rooftrellen said. "You should refer to the Grand Headmaster of the Unity Force Academy first through the Harmony Tower Elevator." He added.

"And who is this Grand Headmaster?" Itachi questioned.

"It's Max Tennyson." Rooftrellen said. "He is always located at 216th Floor of Harmony Tower."

"Thanks, Rooftrellen-sama." Itachi said, as he gives the Treant Protector gratitude.

"We'll be taking our leave." Kisame said, as he wields his Samehada.

After that, Kisame, Itachi, and Deidara pass by Rooftrellen, as they reach the Harmony Tower Elevator. Meanwhile, with The Undertaker and Reimu, the two do their usual job of gatekeeping the souls from the other side of the Elysium.

"I'll be taking my leave and head to my class today." Reimu said, as she leaves, before heading towards Rooftrellen. "And Rooftrellen-sama, please keep a close eye on Undertaker-sama while he is operating the Bridge of the Souls." She warned. "Use your Nature's Grasp if you're seeing him acting rather erratically." She added.

"I'll be fine with this job...!" The Undertaker yelled, while smoking another cigar. "Oh boy... Hakurei-chan is something else of an interesting fella, but she is fun to be toyed with." He grinned raucously, as he knows it is the usual job of being the gatekeeper of Elysium's Bridge of the Souls, albeit he has become the complete antithesis of the saner Reimu Hakurei.