A Step from Heaven

Story Line
According to documents and even programs left behind, there were people here at this Afterlife High School before. We were told not to fall into the mundane routines of the people that looked like humans but weren't---NPCs as the ones before us called them. And the ones before us were known as the Shinda Sekai Sensen or SSS. They were known to have rebelled against God for the tragedy that occurred in their lives. I have read about how they dealt with the being known as ‘Angel’, believed to be one of God’s agents and the class president; a malfunction in Angel‘s program, a horde of clones; and mysterious shadows. We wondered what happened to them…and we can only assume they’ve been taken out or have moved on.

Either way, they have left their legacy to us. We cannot forgive the injustices in our lives when we lived and refuse to treat our misfortunes as if it never happened in this purgatory. So we have rebuilt the SSS, the Guild, and our ‘distraction’ unit. This new SSS is different from our predecessors as we have troubles unlike theirs. We face a mysterious threat known as Arcadia, a group of souls that believe to be God’s messengers--people that will ‘force’ us to move on. Arcadia are people that have powers that are based off the initial Angel Player existent here. However…we also aren’t without our own evolution from the previous SSS…and although we aren’t the same, we still have the same purpose:

To provoke God’s presence at Afterlife High

Unda Kesil
As one of the co-founders of the second Shinda Sekai Sensen, Kesil holds a great amount of responsibility. However, it appears that he never takes his job seriously. Nevertheless he's one of the more skilled fighters of the Assault Division of SSS. When he was alive, Kesil's real name was Orion and he worked as an assassin. His profession later got him killed and Afterlife High is to allow him to make up for the lives he hurt.

Primary Weapon: Dual-Wielding Baretta M9

Kooji Ishiguro
Ishiguro is the co-founder of the second generation of SSS, who actually does most of the business aspect of the organization. He's often seen finishing some kind of work or scolding Kesil for his irresponsibility. Ishiguro was once an aristocrat that often competed with his twin brother. He died of a diease and remains in Afterlife High until he came realize what it's like to be 'free', as his brother was.

Primary Weapon: Rapier

Usagi Kumo
One of the many newcomers for the SSS, Kumo, so far, appears to be withdrawn and timid. She took an instant liking to Kiri after her outburst between her and an older member, Chiharu. In her past life, Kumo fell sick because of cancer. She had a short time of recovery, but because she had been sick so long, she had missed school and was estranged from her family. As she describes, Kumo was a rabbit dying from lack of sociality. She was sent to Afterlife High in order to be given the school life she missed.

Primary Weapon: Poison

Nakani Aono
A new student at Afterlife High and SSS, Aono has shown to be shy and indecisive about joining. She tries to be friendly but is nervous about interacting with the other members. Aono, when she was alive, had a twin sister, Haruka, who acted more like her mother. She felt that her sister always was treated better and could never be Haruka's equal. Bullies, who felt the same kind of pressure, teased Aono. These bullies eventually led to her death as they pushed her in front of a speeding police car headed for the school because of the bullies. She was hospitalized but died form her wounds. Afterlife High was to give her the opportunity to live without bullies and make amends with her sister.

Primary Weapon: Needle Darts

Kou Kotone
Kotone is one of the new souls brought into SSS. She appears to be shy upon her firste meeting but she is asoon to open up. Kotone was formerly a young girl who saw her friend die when she was young but never reported it. The guilt eventually lead to her death as she bled to death. Her purpose in Afterlife High, probably unknown to herself, is so that she could be happy and to rid herself of her guilt.

Primary Weapon: Wooden Stake

Izuku Chiharu
Upon her first appearance, Chiharu comes off as cold and insensitive. However, to the people who have gotten a chance to know her, such as Ishiguro and Kesil, they know she is simply socially awkward. She is shown to possess an intense disdain for dark places, like the Guild, because of her fate when she was alive (she was tortured to death by her stepmother). Her time in Afterlife is supposed be to overcome her fears and experience the carefree childhood she never received.

Primary Weapon: Flamethrower

Tsuruga Akihiko
Akihiko is one of the more friendly faces of SSS. He's one of the few non-fighters featured in the organization. He's older than some of the members but came quite a while after Ishiguro and Kesil established the new SSS. Akihiko enjoys making others look beauty since he won't get killed for it like he was in life. However he hates Arcadia for supposedly obliterating his love.

Primary Weapon: N/A

Chevalier Dante (Raziel)
Dante is normally seen as an airhead to most people but in reality he's one of the more capable of the Arcadia members. He's known to be dangerous in combat, rivaling SSS's best fighter, Kesil. In life, Dante knew Kesil from both their experience as assassins and their loves, who were apart of the same organization. He was killed when he sought vengence for his lover's, Sasha, death. It is believed he's come to the Afterlife in order to make peace with himself.

Abilities: 

Overdrive--A passive ability to grant super human strength

Sonic Fire--An ability that allows Dante to fireballs that are almost as rapid as bullets.

"La Lluvia de la Savacion"--Where energy that mirrors fireworks are shot into the sky that rain down as shimmers in a 4 meter radius. The shimmers can either detonate on contact or drain the energy of what it comes in contact with. It's an ability rarely used as it saps Dante's energy and leaves him unconscious for a while.

Nakani Haruka (Cassiel)
One of the recent additions to Arcadia that is still learning the ropes and it shows in her personality. She's hardworking and earnest as she was when she was on Earth. In her time, Haruka took it upon herself to fill the role of the mother since their family lacked one. She overworked herself both at home and at school, often taking care of her twin, Aono, in place of their father. This eventually killed her as her heart was overtaxated. Haruka is at Afterlife High in order to live without worry and make amends with her sister, Aono.

Abilities

Hand Sonic Ver. 1 to 4-- 1)A pata-like sword that appears over the hands. 2)A longword that it longer than Ver. 1 with a diamond shape at the end. 3) A sai-shaped weapon. 4) A lotus-shaped form.

Distortion--An invisible shield that deflects any projectile but must be deactivated in order to strike.

Jusola Kiri
Kiri has made a splash on the scene as being a character that plays for both teams. She seems to enjoy Arcadia after a bad encounter with Chiharu. She also finds the SSS to be lifeless so would rather be with people that she finds more colorful as Ayano's murals. Kiri was in a circus when she was alive and she competed against her sister for a chance as the first tier. Her sister ended up killing her and stealing the glory. Afterlife is a chance for her to live without the discord of her life.

Mihara Ayano
Ayano is one of the few non-fighters of Arcadia. She spends much of her time painting fantastic fairy tales rather than the mission of the organization. She never thinks about where she paints because her inspiration is always sporadic. When she was on Earth, Ayano was well-liked by everyone which ultimately led to her death because someone wanted her to themselves and used her allergy against her.

Namesa Azel (Sofiel)
Azel, when in life, was a dancer that was unable to dance because her parents refused to let her go. Later she was in an accident that made her unable to dance as well as she used to. Azel later died at 17 under mysterious circumstances. She has yet to make an appearance in the the roleplay yet.

Tamotsu Ryota
Ryota was a runaway that struggled to make a living despite disliking having to change himself for approval. He eventually had a wife and child that he had to turn to drug dealing in order to support. However, Ryota was killed by his wife's ex-boyfriend. In Afterlife High, he went to Arcadia as he couldn't deal with loud personalities of SSS and goes by Hamon.

Prologue
A 'prequel' to the A Step from Heaven. The story centers on the meeting of Kooji Ishiguro and Unda Kesil, who discover the remnants of the SSS and decide to rebuild it. It also shows their meeting with Arcadian leaders, Greyson Irvine and Miyazaki Rei

Just Another Obstacle
A side roleplay from A Step from Heaven that centers on Kotone Kou.

Natural Colors
A side roleplay that was triggered after an incident in A Step from Heaven. It centers on the aftermath between Kooji Ishiguro and Mihara Ayano after he 'kills' her. It explores the contrast between Ishiguro's hardened, logical stance and Ayano's creative, free spirit.

Change in Style
A roleplay that centers on Jusola Kiri that occurs around the same time as Natural Colors. After Ishiguro 'kills' Ayano, Kiri wanders on her own and meets Tsuruga Akihiko, a non-fighter in the SSS ranks. He 'beautifies' her while he answers her questions about the afterlife she entered.

Ongoing Road
This is the only side roleplay that centers on only Arcadians of the Afterlife High. So far it only involves Nakani Haruka, Chevalier Dante, and Tamotsu Ryota.

Setting
A Step from Heaven takes place in the Afterlife High, basically purgatory, where souls who have died with misfortunes in their lives. It appears like a normal high school with multiple wings and two floors. There is also a track with a football field in the middle. There are also mountains located nearby that are used for training. Underneath the school are two Guilds--one from the former SSS and the one that was established by the founders of the second SSS. All the souls present are of a high-school age--even if they were older or younger when they died.

Trivia

 * The title, A Step from Heaven, was inspired by a song since the writer got the line, "I'm walking a stairway to Heaven" stuck in her head.
 * The plot was inspired from the anime, Angel Beats, even with references to Otonashi Yuzuru, one of the protagonists of the show.
 * Arcadia refers to an utopia based off a Greecian place by the same name.
 * This was the first Free Roleplay roleplay introduced on the site.