Ladies and gentlemen of Nihil, let it be said again that I welcome you all with open arms.

  I stand before you all as one of you, a being that has met an end. A soul that has, like many of you, lost his name. A soul that has worked his very hardest to make sure I may stand proud as my own man. And I thank you for coming here today to rejoice in this most momentous of occasions.

  Let it be known that I still feel my hands shake and tremble every time I think of my life and my... position. Seeing life crawl in the palms of my hands, idly going about as they travel from place to place, watching as they invent the most wondrous of things— many of the things I see in Nihil today, even. The power I wield in my hands felt... intense, heavy, overflowing.

  These feelings confused me for the longest while, until... until Astra, here, helped me understand: I am a fallen deity.

  I don't understand why I ended up in Nihil of all places, why my very existence is a subject of amnesia, but it does not diminish what my helper has done for me these last two centuries. Day after day of support, putting the pieces of my existence all together— and we've come to a conclusion that I am a being of a higher plane.

  Of course, as I have yet to discern my full, true identity... we will have to see if I am, in fact, who I believe myself to be... but, until then, I come forth before you all... as, "Maker".

  "... and I thank you all for coming today, to behold this most momentous of occasions for me—Maker—and my fellow souls here... thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

  A massive, formal applause is heard as people clap for Maker... as the massive crowd of an audience erupts and cheers for this soul's placeholder name.

  In discovering a name, even if it is just a placeholder, this soul, this fallen deity, this dead god is one step closer to fulfillment, of figuring out everything about himself.

  All the faces in that room were smiling, proud of this soul and hopeful for his future.

  Except for Yvette.

  Yvette has the most uncomfortable poker face as she stands to the side, watching as a spirit stands in center stage. Spotlights all on him, a really- REALLY intense aura emanating from his soul. He's not making this up, he's - in some way - a sort of deity. A deity soul.

  Fundamentally, Yvette is watching as this ceremony names a literal DEMIGOD. A partially mortal demigod at the very least, if not a full-blown actual god.

  And she is trying to cope with this.

  Apparently, gods can die somehow, and the ones that don't come back end up here?! Nihil, on top of being some amnesia fest for dead people, is also the AFTERLIFE OF LITERAL GODS AND DEITIES?!

  Sure, on further thought, Yvette thought that it was not that shocking... deities die all the time in mythology. They die and come back to life or whatever, and- and it's not like it matters that they die, it's whatever to Yvette. No repercussions that matter to her whatsoever.

  No, Yvette is internally screaming in her head about this, because of what actually matters to her: all twelve of her normal, formerly human (as far as she knows???) amnesiac souls have to come after THE LITERAL MAKER.

  Yvette doesn't know anything about their lives, she doesn't have a single clue! And here she is, having to announce to an entire crowd what she's supposedly discovered about these strangers! Like, a whole crowd of people having to sit through her blatant lies that have to outmatch a god somehow.

  The most insane part about this is that this ceremony only had ONE SOUL announced altogether, and it doesn't give Yvette a lot to work with! For all Yvette knows, these ceremonies have a theme to them, and there inherently needed to be a reason for why these souls got assigned to this ceremony in particular.

  Then again, what theme exactly is there if the ceremony only had one single soul with the essence of a god?!

  ... oh, man, it might have been a personal one, like an honorary special ceremony for this guy. Yvette just did the equivalent of photobombing God's quincea?era.

  And that's insane.

  So the bottom line is that Yvette is definitely crashing and burning right now. The only thing rivaling the unyielding stress that this lie has brought her is the absolute desire to not embarrass herself and make herself look like a bumbling idiot in front of this crowd and all of Nihil.

  Yvette needs to glow up these guys, to really emphasize their worth and make them collectively on equal footing to a fallen god. Shouldn't be that hard, Yvette thought, he fell for a reason.

  Of course, the one thing that's preventing Yvette from lying about all twelve of them being deities is that their souls aren't as godly or powerful as she can ever claim they are. They don't have a godly essence to them, so Yvette—for no reason whatsoever—could make up how they've discovered they're the gods of pancakes or lizards or whatever, and it'd have the same outcome as calling them all the generational soul reincarnations of Jumbo the Water Horse.

  No, no, she has to actually have her lies make sense, and... and to make them make sense, Yvette has to guess ALL TWELVE OF THESE GHOSTS' IDENTITIES IN THE NEXT TWO MINUTES.

  OKAY!

  Okay...

  ... okay.

  Yvette... can figure this out. She thinks to herself, it shouldn't be that hard...

  So, Yvette just... comes up with a plan, based on what she could tell of the ceremony, what she's watched with the Maker, and whoever this Astra guy is. She doesn't have time to take note of what he's wearing or what he even looks like, all that matters is that he's a bright orange and that's about it.

  ... enough about Astra, the person! Yvette needs to think about these twelve ghosts!

  Ignoring the whole pamphlet, Yvette is following the procedure based on how that Astra guy presented that deity. For each ghost, Yvette just needs to say recorded information to introduce one ghost at a time, bring them to the center of the stage, and stand back as the ghost is subjected to the magic spotlight thing that shines down on the ghost and devises a makeshift name for them. Once the name dawns in their mind, they're now branded with a name and can feel more- fulfilled, after all of that. Then the ghost has some makeshift speech thanking the audience and junk.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Simple enough, and... Yvette can totally do that for twelve whole ghosts she's learned nothing about.

  Well, not nothing. Sandy Ghost is probably the most straightforward case. He woke up in the sand and died immediately in the sand... and then, Yvette doesn't know anything else specific about his person.

  Think, Yvette, think... what can you say about this guy? He makes metaphors about him being cooked chicken, he woke up in a desert before dying immediately after...

  ...

  ... tch. This is impossible.

  Guy doesn't remember enough, and- and there's no way that Yvette can speak to the other eleven in time. Yvette's working with NOTHING here.

  And as this thought crosses Yvette's mind, her time is up.

  "Very well, and now. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Realmkeeper hosting this ceremony alongside me," the Astra guy says, bowing to the crowd. "Please give her a warm welcome, quite like the one you've given me..."

  And the auditorium fills with... far quieter claps, as it's now Yvette's turn to present her assortment of ghosts.

  Okay.

  Let's do this, Yvette thought to herself. Mentally patting her cheeks and prepping herself up before taking the stage.

  "Greetings, denizens of Nihil... I am Yvette," Yvette speaks to the crowd, copying and following the words of the other realm keeper who had to present the soul of a god. "I come before you as the keeper of the following souls."

  Yvette takes a deep breath and prepares to completely lie her way through this. She's done almost nothing but lie, and continuing to lie will get her out of this.

  Starting... with Sand Ghost.

  Okay.

  Okay.

  Okay...

  "... this fellow, right here. I have spent quite some time getting to know him," Yvette begins to explain to the crowd, gesturing to Sand Ghost. "His soul- cries out his story, a story that has moved me to tears inside."

  Yvette is mentally preparing herself for the next few words that are going to come out of her mouth.

  "... and his story is rather tragic. In his time, he grew up in a family of five, raised in a household of desert chicken farmers."

  The next three minutes of the entire ceremony were probably the most intense of Yvette's life.

  Three whole minutes of standing in front of a crowd, making up everything about Sandy Ghost.

  "Teased relentlessly by his brothers, this ghost here suffered from consistent mockery that he could not properly enjoy the chicken dinners. Chicken leaves him utterly repulsed, almost as if the meat itself is completely fowl to his taste buds."

  There wasn't much ground to what Yvette was saying. She's a new, unknown realm keeper with not a soul in her spiritual portfolio.

  "And when he left home for the first time in years to become a fish peddler, a man that sells fish, he distributed it all through the beaches. Fresh fish, freshly caught and to be enjoyed by the beachgoers. Unfortunately, his independent venture landed him in hot water..."

  At some point, the faintest of murmurs could be heard that there was an utter buffoon on stage. That this girl is clinically insane, that she's lost her mind and her marbles, that she's making all of this up. One would need to be insane to believe what this girl was going on about.

  "... and eventually, they found his family, they found the people that he sold the fish to, they found every single person in his life that meant ANYTHING to him... and they killed him. They made him watch as everyone he knew and loved, DIED before him. His soul crushed, spirit tarnished- he... he couldn't go on. And it was in that moment..."

  Sandy Ghost is utterly bewildered by all of that- shocked that Yvette figured all of that out when he couldn't. It astonishes him that Yvette holds that much insight into his being, his life, his... everything. The poor guy believes every single word that Yvette tells the audience, the innocent and pure soul subjected to this nonsense and accepting it as gospel.

  "This is why I stand proud before all of you, beseeching you behold these moments... as we prepare to let him accept this truth, as he is ready for this next stage of his continued existence. Please, join me in applause..."

  ... and once Yvette is done, she... she instructs Sandy Ghost to the center stage, and then steps back. Clapping her hands and taking a content bow, happily smiling in relief.

  All of that was utter nonsense on an unprecedented scale.

  The audience stared in bewilderment. The other 11 ghosts Yvette brought were left completely perplexed. The other realm keeper, Astra, and that apparent divine spirit, Maker, stare with the most flummoxed faces they could.

  Yvette's hands are the only ones in the entire auditorium that could even clap for Sandy Ghost, the rest of them feeling too uncertain that all of that was even true.

  This freaks Yvette out, making her wonder what parts gave her away, and what exactly causes them to think she's making this up. In her mind, she- made the perfect story up, a foolproof one. Every detail was meticulously crafted, how Sandy Ghost's family fell into hard times with the drought causing the chickens to lower in demand, how Sandy Ghost had his passion ever since he had a dream about a flying skyfish, and how the coastlines of Sandy Ghost's lands were owned by a monopoly of fish salesmen mafia.

  All of that should be solid, Yvette thought.

  ...

  Sandy Ghost is... disheartened... that he isn't receiving applause, but... looks over to Yvette, looks over his shoulder, and smiles at her. The only person who claps for him is the person who brought him on this tour and welcomed him to Nihil.

  He trusts Yvette... he trusts her with all his heart, believing Miss Tour Guide Jolivette and her kind words. She has faith in him, she was moved by his story, and... and Sandy Ghost is ready to face this truth.

  So he turns forward to the audience and faces the magic thingy. A spotlight shone down on him, making him bask in the vibrancy and warmth of the magic light. Everyone subject to witnessing the amnesiac with an utterly nonsensical memory just... face this light.

  It dawns on Yvette in this very moment, though, that it was easy to do all of that.

  Too easy.

  There had to be some catch, something that would throw a wrench into whatever it is that the machine's supposed to do. Worst case, the name wouldn't end up in Sandy Ghost's mind, and Yvette would have to make up a name.

  So Yvette spends her time, in between stepping away from Sandy Ghost and him being hit with the magic naming thingy, thinking about how she'll get through this. Maybe she could make up a name, call him something funny?

  Something simple like... Sand Guy? Dune, or something? Sanderson, if he gets a real first name? Yes, that should...

  ... as Yvette thinks this, the consequences of her actions suddenly present themselves in the most drastic way possible.

  Sandy Ghost is subjected to the magic name machine, and... and his eyes widen, eyes going wide and glowing brightly as his body morphs and mutates. Screaming his lungs out as the pure agony of the machine ravages his spirit, as a surge of utter garbage noise echoes throughout the auditorium.

  "AAAAAAAA-! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!"

  Yvette looks- looks visibly poker-faced, startled, and completely in the dark about what's happening. The only thing she understood was that the screaming was not good. Not good whatsoever.

  Meanwhile, the more... 'knowledgeable' crowd panics and screams at this, as everyone else on stage watches in utter horror. The agonizing process caused everyone except Yvette to freak out at this.

  By lying about the ghost spirit and subjecting him to the naming spotlight before his time, Yvette has caused his very spiritual essence to be set ablaze. The spotlight on his soul rips him to pieces and shreds because his soul has not developed the resilience to handle this.

  This is a consequence that the Grim Reaper never, for one single moment, even explained to her. Yvette probably (maybe not) would have taken her job seriously if she knew that this is what happens when she doesn't.

  So Yvette could only watch as her lie unraveled before her very eyes, and she cluelessly- cluelessly watches as Sandy Ghost is being subjected to utter torture, agonizing torture as everything compounds in his spirit, forcibly tearing his soul to pieces and mashing them back together. The magic naming spotlight is destroying his body, turning this ceremony into a gradual execution.

  The other realm keeper stares with utter tension as he... as he frantically looks around. Staring at the skeleton guarding the backstage, gesturing for the skeleton guard to go get help. Maker just... tenses up as he backs away, his godly essence left powerless at this most agonizing of sights. Watching a ghost being incinerated and tortured in ways unimaginable to him. Every other ghost screaming and panicking, their cries for help and mercy echoing throughout the room.

  And in all of this mass chaos...

  ... all eyes look back to the stage, watching as Sandy Ghost doesn't scream- but instead, shouts at the top of his lungs. His voice resonated throughout the auditorium, echoing outward the following words to all who could hear him:

  "... I- I REMEMBER- EVERYTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIING-!!!!!"