Agonizing pain simply washed away as I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar room. A massive hall lined of pure white walls stretched as far as the eye could see. Framed papers in alien languages littered the walls, evenly spaced between one another. Below every frame were majestic-looking golden doorways.. Immaculate red and gold carpeting stretched down as far as my eyes could gaze, as if the floor itself were made of the threads.
“Where…hrk!” I began to wonder just as my head began to ache with unmitigated pain. Memories flooded into my mind, memories of shattering glass, scorching flames, blaring sirens, and endless moments of agony. Wincing, I spared a quick glance down towards my own body, only to be shocked at what I saw.
My body was completely normal. I mean, my clothes were burned and ripped to the point where I felt as if I would be better off without them. But other than that, I was completely fine.
“What the hell happened…” I wondered aloud as I rubbed a singed part of my shirt, only for it to crumble under my touch, sending ash falling to the carpet below.
“You died of course. And please try to not get ash on my carpet. Its a pain to wash out.” An calm voice spoke from behind me.
“Buh?!” I cried out, spinning around to see just who had spoken to me. A man taller than myself sat at a large desk in the middle of the hallway that was overflowing with papers. Well defined muscles were poorly obscured from underneath his professional black business suit. Short, cropped black hair matched the small pointed beard that struck forth from his chin. Twinkling silver eyes stared directly at me as if he were enjoying my reactions. The man chuckled as he set down a pen he had been twirling in his hand atop his desk. The brief sound of a chair being pushed backwards filled the hall, followed closely by the echo of snapping of bones as the man stretched.
“Greetings Randall Wesson.” He politely bowed his head towards me as he finished stretching and held out a hand in greeting. “I am Theraius.”
“H-hello…” I managed to utter as I grasped his hand with my own and gave a firm shake. A brief moment of silence passed between us as he stared directly at me with sharp, unblinking eyes before he retracted his hand from mine. “Um…where exactly am I? The last thing I remember is-”
“Burning to death, yes? A terrible way to go for sure.” The man nodded solemnly with closed eyes.
“Death…” I sighed, feeling the weight of his words crash down upon me. “Am I really…I mean…I don’t feel dead.”
“Of course you don’t. Death is only experienced by one’s physical manifestation.” The man explained in a factual manner. “The ‘you’ as you currently are is merely your soul’s reflection of what you remember yourself to be. Ashy clothes and all.”
“So if I’m dead…does that makes you God?” The man chuckled at my question.
“I forget how backwards you Earth-dwellers have become in recent years.” The man sighed. “The short of it is, there is no singular ‘God’ as many of you believe. There are in fact, a great many of them. And I am but one of their number.”
“Then-” Theraius held up a hand before I could continue my thought.
“Walk with me. I always find it easier to settle one’s mind when one is doing something after all.” He said simply before striding forth down the hallway.
Together, the both of us walked in silence down the pristine halls. Every now and then,a small piece of the remnants of my clothes would crumble and fall onto the carpet. If Theraius minded, he made no notice of it as we passed doorway after doorway. Yet, no matter how far we walked, the end of the hall never seemed to come into sight. It was as if this immaculate structure reached on into eternity itself. ‘And what of these doors? To what and where did they lead?’ I pondered as more pieces of my clothes crumbled and fell to the floor. ‘He said that I’m a reflection of my memory…so could I…change myself?’
Willing to give it a shot, I thought of what I was wearing before my demise. Blue jeans that fit in a relaxed manner, gray socks that reached up to my shins, white running shoes tied snugly to my feet, and a white tee-shirt underneath my black hoodie. Bright light surged from my feet and sped up my entire body, blinding me for a brief moment. When my vision returned, my clothes had returned to their former glory, as if by magic. The sound of clapping filled the hall as Theriaus stared at me with a smile.
“Excellent! I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that out.”
“Well…you said my current body was merely a reflection of myself.” I shrugged, “So I figured it best to stop leaving ash piles on your floor.” The man laughed in a good-natured manner.
“That’s why I like you Earthlings. A bit backwards in certain areas, but surprisingly quick on the uptake. If you wanted, you could change your current form into anything you could imagine with enough willpower. Its far easier to use what you’re used to.”
“So, what exactly is this place? What are these doors? And if you are a God, just what exactly are you a God of and why do you look human like me?”
“And now we get to the meaty questions.” Theraius’ smile proved infectious as I grinned along with him. “First off, this place is my realm. Every God has one, even your own God has one. His is rather tame though, nothing but clouds and singing and happy times. You’d probably go insane after the billionth sing-along that they have everyday.”
“You could offend a great many people with a statement like that.” Theraius merely shrugged.
“Its the truth. As for these doors…first you need to know exactly who I am.” The man bowed formally, “I am Theraius, the God of Oaths, Bonds, and Contracts. And these doors lead to rooms for each and every world where my name carries weight enough for people to form contracts and oaths in my name.”
“So all these strange markings and letters…”
“Are from worlds not your own.” Theraius nodded, “I find it easier to organize my contracts world by world and label each by their native language.”
“It would certainly make things less of a headache…” I chuckled as I glanced at the multitudes of doorways. “Seems like a lot of work, managing countless contracts for countless worlds.”
“You get used to it after a few eons.” Theraius shrugged. “Thankfully, I’m not too well known, only a few thousand worlds use my name seriously. Some of the other Gods are known through billions upon billions of worlds. Even I would have to hire help to deal with that much work! As for why my appearance is that of a human, us Gods find it easier to deal with mortals when we take on an appearance closer to their own. At least…most of us do.”
“So.” I began while staring at the chuckling God, “Why exactly am I here?”
“Now that is the big question isn’t it?” he chuckled before snapping his fingers. In an instant, Tharaius’ desk appeared between us. “Take a seat.” He motioned towards a cushioned chair that had formed behind me as he took a seat of his own behind the desk. “You see Randall- do you mind if I call you Randall?” I shrugged,
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Everyone else does.” Tharaius grinned,
“Very well. Randall, I have a rather…interesting proposal for one such as yourself.” Tharaius began as he brought his hands together and leaned back within his chair. “I would like to hire you as one of my Ascended.”
“Ascended? Whats an Ascended?”
“An Ascended is any being infused with a small portion of a God’s essence. In short, you would become an agent of mine throughout a multitude of worlds, ensuring that oaths and other bonds made in my name stay unbroken. As the God of Oaths, Bonds, and Contracts, I grow in power as more and more of those are made in my name. Likewise, I am also weakened when said oaths, bonds, and contracts are broken.” Before I could ask another question, he held up his hand. “No, you would not become like one of your world’s missionaries…at least, not often.” He chuckled, “I may have you spread my name around on worlds where my name means little as a way of acquiring a better foothold in those places. Mind you, I won’t have you wandering around in robes carrying signs saying ‘Take Oaths in Theraius’ name!’ that would be a quick way of getting your physical manifestation stamped out.”
“So I would be back in my body if I accept?”
“Not precisely.” Theraius cleared his throat and sat up in his chair. “As an Ascended, you would go through a sort of…metamorphosis. Most notably, your musculature would adapt to better accommodate a piece of my power. Other Ascended change in different ways based on their patron Deity. Sometimes the changes are a bit extreme such as growing horns, having your body covered in metallic scales, tentacles replacing your appendages, and so on and so forth. As my Ascended, other than the shift in your body, your eyes would change from your current brown to a shade of silver like my own as a sort of marking that you are my Ascended.”
“I take it other Ascended won’t be friendly towards me if I choose to accept, will they?”
“It depends upon a great many things. Their God and goals may sometimes oppose our own. At that point conflict may become unavoidable. As one of my agents it would be up to you to determine whether or not to come into conflict with other Ascended.”
“And if I can’t beat them? What if I lose? What if they’re too strong?” More and more questions poured out of me towards Tharaius who merely smiled and nodded along to each and every question as if he had heard my concerns thousands of times before. A part of me found this thought reassuring, yet another found it to be unnerving at the same time.
“Ascendants gain strength through various ways, such as spreading the word of their God and doing acts that will gain their God power. Basically, it means that anything that increases my power will in turn increase yours. Eventually, even those that once proved too strong for you will become easier to deal with as your own strength and skill increases.” Theraius began speaking as my endless wave of questions subsided. “As for winning and losing…” he shrugged, “so you lose one battle. Hopefully you’d have learned from that experience and wont be caught as unaware in the future. Ascendants don’t feel pain, so when it comes to conflict, feel free to go as wild as you like.” His eyes twinkled, “in a way, it would be almost like one of those virtual reality games your people are quite fond of.”
“I see.” I sighed. “And if I don’t choose to become your Ascended?”
“Then I’ll give your soul back to the ‘God’ you are more familiar with and you can enjoy your eternal rest singing on clouds.” He shrugged, “Not that that would be my first choice, but I am rather biased in this choice.”
The two of us stared at one another in silence. My mind racing with the implications of his words…as well as the possibilities and negatives of his proposal. Other worlds? Other races? Gods in conflict with one another? It all seemed so much to take in at once. And yet, here I was, face to face with a being I had never heard of before asking me to become an agent of his. That thought brought forth one last question of mine. And the most important one at that.
“Why me?”
Theraius sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“Why does the God of Oaths, Bonds, and Contracts want you and not someone else? Its true that I could have any number of lawmen from many different worlds. Each seeking to uphold every contract made in my name to the letter. Each a master of law and legislation in their own right. If I were to do so, more and more worlds would come under my sway. My power would increase by leaps and bounds. So why you instead of a legion of others?” He sat up straight and stared me directly in the eyes. His face devoid of any joviality. “Because I prefer to recruit people that will keep their word.
“Sure, lawmen are good at following contracts to the letter, but they are also excellent at subverting contracts as well. If there is a loophole, they will abuse it. If there is an out, they will take it. And by doing so, they would mar my reputation among each and every world and God in existence. A reputation I have worked untold eons to uphold. I chose you, Randall Wesson, because of your commitment to your oaths. I know for a fact that you have upheld each and every promise you have made in your life, no matter what. You take your oaths seriously, and that is why you have caught my attention as a potential Ascended.
”So I ask you, Randall Wesson, will you become one of my Ascended?”
Theraius held out a hand over his desk towards me and awaited my response. His expression far more intense than any other he had shown before. ‘And why wouldn’t it?’ a thought surfaced in my mind. ‘He’d be giving me a portion of his own divinity. If what he said is true, I’d become something akin to a demigod! I’d be able to meet races beyond human kind and even wander their worlds! I’d be an idiot to not accept this once in a lifetime chance!’ With my mind set, I nodded at Theraius who sighed in relief as I grasped his hand with my own and gave a firm shake.
“Theraius, you’ve got yourself an Ascended.” The two of us grinned at one another as we finished out handshake.
“Excellent, excellent. However, there is one minor detail needed before I can actually accept you as one of my Ascended.”
“And what’s that?” I asked curiously.
With the snap of his fingers, a sheet of paper full of formal writing in english appeared atop his desk facing towards me. He pushed the document towards me with one hand and offered me a pen with another.
“Your signature of course.”
“Right. God of Contracts. Gotchya.” I grumbled as I took the pen and contract in hand and began to read. Seeing no obvious pitfalls, I signed on the dotted line and returned the pen and paper to Theraius who smiled amicably. With the snap of his fingers, both the pen and contract disappeared in a flash.
“Perfect, perfect. Everything is in order, now we can begin the metamorphosis.” Theraius jovially spoke as he stood up from his seat and walked over towards me.
“Anything I have to do?”
“Oh no, no. Just stay seated, this will only take a moment.” He grinned as he placed a hand against my chest. “By the way…this may hurt a bit…” He muttered almost below hearing as clear white light began to flow from his arm into my body.
“What do you me-ARGH!” I cried out as I felt my soul being torn apart thread by thread.