Another day of shopping in post Idiot America. The US is no more. The economic collapse that several bad presidents and equally bad congressional descions started ended in revolution and anarchy. The 'South' rose again to. Several states banded together and did their best to maintain order and re-establish themselves as a Confederacy.

I live in the Confederacy now. Over all my life has not really changed much. I am older, grumpier and warier but life is much like it was here before Trump. Healthcare system actually works, Corruption in government is down (not gone, never going to be gone).

People are not as friendly or as trusting now either. But I get by. Still one of the poor, still playing my games and reading my stories. Still shopping at the same old stores and following a pattern I set during the collapse.

These days I carry more 'survival' gear in my car. Nothing fancy, a grill, pan for cooking, coal. Not as much food and no real weapons to speak of. But then I am in my 70's now and don't have much anymore. Never have given up hoping the Magic would return.

Well one dark day it did. The magic came back, or the world got blown up by a meteor and what happened next is my after-life. Not really sure to tell the truth. Things are still a bit blurry on How I came to be 'here'. But I know, in my heart, that Magic was involved. No other answer makes sense. (well-being in a coma would, but I think I am alive as there are too many sensations otherwise.)

See I had been out running my errands, groceries, paying bills, and was just returning home from getting my weakly gallon of unsweet tea and my other groceries when the noon time sky went solid black, winds ripped through at speeds strong enough to flip cars and trucks (I was 'fortunate' to be going in to them and having a very aerodynamic car so it sliced around me without flipping me). Still I saw others who were not so lucky.

To this day I don't know what sort of 'gibberish' I spoke, but the air shimmered and then the world around me exploded and I and my car were no longer on or In my old world. I was driving / falling down a rainbow bridge, past many other worlds (not all earth and many not like anything I thought I could ever imagine), glancing around turned out to be a terrifying experience so I did not do that again. I just prayed not to die To horribly. I really did not want to be in pain for a long time before dying.

Well I got my wish, sort of.

A world rolled across my path, the bridge being insubstantial to the blue-green-and white marble with its 3 moons and dragon filled skies. I know about the dragons cause the bridge carried me right through a flight of them, narrowly missing a couple of the bigger ones on my one way trip to the Ground.

Strangely enough the bridge slowly straightened out as we came down and I was rolling, at high speed, down a dirt road, right toward a group of people who were just staring at the strange sight and Not Getting Out of The WAY! I hit my horn and then in order not to run anyone over I turned sharply, I missed them alright, but my car flipped. I screamed more and then I think I died. Actually I know I died, because of what happened next.

I don't really recall much of what happened after I died. Some beings asking me if I was willing to go back and my response, half joking, about being younger, healthier and a meta-human and having to explain what that meant. Then one of them smacked me on the head and I woke in horrible pain which did not last too long, only one or two life times. (probably closer to a half hour but it sure felt longer). When the pain subsided I found I was laying naked a few yards from my car, which was a twisted wreck with all the airbags deployed. I felt Weird and there were some really unpleasant odors in the air. Like some kind of cheap incense or the like.

The people who I had missed running over were still there. One middle aged fellow in a white robe and red and purple sash was looking me over from a safe distance, ie out of grabbing range. I really wanted to grab him and yell at him for not getting out of the road. Instead I moaned and held my head. I did not feel good at all.

And to add to my discomfort some of the people off to one side were arguing, pretty loudly, about something. Not totally sure at the time what as I came in late to the conversation.

Turned out to be about me and my fate, such as it was.

The man in the robe looked at me and spoke, "You alive in there ?"

I turned and glared at him, "why could you all not have gotten out of the road ?"

He smiles and turns to the others, "IT WORKED! I Brought him back from the dead!"

I see one fellow, dressed in leathers and a dark green and brown cloak face palm. To my mind, at the time, they looked like cosplayers or members of one of those Fantasy Larp groups. People who dress in pseudo medieval styles and run around playing at being hero's and such.

The one in the 'ranger' outfit, "GALLEN! I thought we told you to wait on that. Just because you managed to get that spell from your gods does not mean you should use it on any old stranger we run across."

The priest frowns, "Well it was our fault he died. Had we had the sense the gods gave an animal we would have gotten off the road instead of gawping at that out of control carriage."

Really short guy, maybe 2 and a half feet tall. "He has a point ya know. But it was the rainbow the carriage was coming off of that we were staring at and you know it. Don't see anything like that every day."

I groan, "could you all hold down on the noise ? Head hurts like I was kicked by a mule."

Snarky girl in a badly fitting outfit, "Would it help if I came over there and kicked you in the gut ya stupid wizard ?"

I fart suddenly and that at least made my stomach stop hurting, "Not a wizard." I moan.

Girl, still snarky, "Well who else would have such a dangerous contraption as that." pointing at the remains of my car.

I slowly sit up and stare at it, "my car" I start crying, "I can't afford to get another one."

Little guy, long beard, "Afford ? You bought that did ye ?"

I nod, "Cost me 2000 dollars. I don't have that kind of money anymore. Not since the tax hike."

Lots of looking at each other and shrugging.

The car suddenly flips over and on to what's left of its wheels. A large, greenish woman with a metal pole stands behind it, "Yah, that sure was heavy. I got it over though. This side not so smashed, yah." she nods, "Those white poof bags keep things from rolling around so much, is good, we can salvage maybe."

Snarky girl, "maybe not, Gallen went and brought the owner back from the dead."

Green woman looks over at me, "Oh Hello, welcome back. You want to salvage from this ?"

I nod slowly, "I should see what I can get out I suppose. " I slowly stand then wobble a bit as a wave of dizziness comes over me then quickly fades. The driver's side is coated in blood and the door is twisted to one side. I do note, off to one side is a pile of something with a cloak or sheet over it, but I ignore that for now, focused as I am on my car.

I walk over to the green and black hatchback. I got it used, but then all my cars have been used. Still it was a good car and definitely one of the safest I had ever owned.

In the ignition I find my keys. I manage with a bit of effort to get them free and to hit a button, that on a purely mechanical side, deflates the air bags. Well most of them. Takes a little work to deflate the rest. I manage to get out most of my groceries. Remarkably one entire carton of eggs remained unbroken. Out of 3 mind you. The rest are contaminated and thus no good to eat. Still I got most of the food out and my 'new' cooler is intact. It's a big one with a pull handle and large wheels. My old one was smaller, lacked wheels and in my old age, I could not carry it anymore. I get out many items then sort through what I have and what I should just leave behind. I keep the food of course. The stuff that is purely for the car, except the tow cable, I leave behind. I have had that cable through 4 cars now. The kit it came with is long gone, but not that. Besides I use it to tie my stuff that is in bags to the ice chest.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Through it all I have been ignoring a few facts. One I am no longer fat, two I can see perfectly despite not having my glasses, and 3 I am apparently very fit and young and naked. I put that down to shock and disbelief in what is happening.

That ends when I realize the sheet is one of my blankets and I go to get it, pulling it off the body of a fat old man in very stained clothing.

I look at the strange yet familiar face and ask, "Did I hit him ?"

Green woman shakes her head, "No, that old you. Before Gallen bring you back from dead."

I hear that and everything hits, then my eyes roll back in my head and down I go, in a dead faint.

When I come to there is an older man in a grey cloak / robe outfit with black belt, all kinds of pouches and bags and such around his person. He has a pile of clothes in front of him and seems to be washing them, without soap or water. After a minute I realize they are my clothes, off my old, dead body … not sure how I feel about that really.

Green lady, "Yo, he awake now." she tells everyone.

The priest, "Try to be gentle with him. Coming back from the dead is never easy and he was not expecting it so it was a shock to see his old form."

Snarky girl, "Yes yes stop with the endless repeating of that will you."

Ranger man, "I think he is repeating it to himself to calm himself for watching his creation pass out like that."

'Mage', "Not actually his creation. His Gods creation, made by the pantheon and put here then they put the soul in. All he did was ask for it to be done. I really can't blame him for it myself. Had we not been so spellbound this tragedy would never have happened. Besides it's not like he can't do it again at a later date.

Still we need to find the rainbow bridge and the wondrous items at its base."

I look at him, "The Bifrost bridge, also known as the Rainbow bridge connects the living, mortal worlds with the 9 worlds of the gods. Not a good way to travel if you can avoid it as passing from the mortal planes to that one and back again is no easy thing."

He thinks on that and nods, "I can imagine though I think we are thinking of different bridges. We are looking for a bridge made of crystal prisms that leads in to a dungeon where ancient magics were stored. We have been granted a bounty to retrieve some of those items for our king." I nod and he continues, "You sir are just an unfortunate bump in our quest and under different circumstances we would help you more. But time and such are working against us as agents of other kingdoms are trying to find the same place. Still I have mended your clothing and cleaned them and placed a one-time spell on them so they will reform to fit your new body. Only once mind you. So you won't have to walk around naked. We really can't help you more than that and it is too dangerous for us to take you with us."

Short dude, "No Galvistar, we don't know that. Tell us lad, what did you do in your old life ?"

I think about it in their terms, "I guess you all would call me a sage, well in my later years anyway. Studied a variety of things. In my youth I went to college, studied a few things but never got my degree. Worked in stores and restaurants and odd jobs. Drove people around in my car as a taxi service."

Snarky girl, "Unskilled laborer." she sighs.

Short Dude, "Do you know how to fight ?"

I nod, "Yeah, I trained in staff and some martial arts when I was younger. Can use a bow with minimal skill, meaning I usually hit an unmoving target. Learned to throw knives and such but it was just a hobby as there was not allot of need for such things." I nod at my old form, "I was born early see, always sick, fat even though I ate very little. Lots of health problems kept me poor from all the medical bills."

Galvistar nods, "Well looks like you got the better end of the deal this time. Your young, healthy and getting to start over."

I slowly put on the oversized clothing, only to have them shrink or stretch as needed to fit my new muscular frame. Even my shoes do this, and they feel 'new' again, which is nice.

I stand and stretch as the clothes shift, which worked out good cause they lengthened to the right levels to compensate and fit even better than before.

I am just getting used to the new fit when I feel something hit me. I turn and find my coins being pelted at me by Snarky girl, "These are worthless. Not enough silver in them to count for anything." she grouses.

Short Dude sighs, "Alza, why are you trying to rob him ?"

She growls, "Well how else are we to show a profit from this mess. Not that he has much of worth. I am keeping that blue chest though."

I look at her, "No you are not."

She pulls a knife and quips, "Want to bet ?"

I feel something inside me, something New, I raise my fist in a fighters stance and 3 long bone blades slide out of my arms, like a pre-adamantium Wolverine. I stare at them as does everyone else.

Galvistar grins, "Well it seems the gods decided to give you a way to defend yourself from cranky thieves. Alza, Leave the man his belongings, they are all he has in the world now that his carriage is destroyed."

She gripes and backs down, glaring at the mage.

The green one comes over, "Mage has point. You need more, this not much but it make pretty pictures. Maybe you can sell it or something." she hands me a large brass bracelet set with a grayish quartz crystal about 3" long and half that wide. I can see words 'floating' on its tiny 'screen'. She shows me if you tap a word a picture of the word appears in the crystal. I nod, "Ah sort of a language primer. Word then picture so you know what the word means." she looks surprised, "Huh, never thought of that. Still I can read, so you can keep." she nods. I smile at her, "Thank you." she grins and lightly punches my shoulder.

The little man comes over, "She can be surprising at times and I think puts us to shame. Here lad, it's not much but I hope it helps you get started on your new life." He hands me a small bag with several silver and gold coins in it. Waving me off, "It's just part of an emergency fund I keep, not all of it mind you. With her around, "nods at Alza, "I tend to have stashing's about to be safe."

I grin, "I thank you as well sir."

The priest comes over last, "Here lad. I wrote you a letter of introduction. Give this to anyone of the church and they will at least let you stay in the temple and maybe help you find some work." He shows me his holy symbol (a wheel with 12 other symbols on it). He pauses, "OH what is your name ?"

I blank for a moment, "Um, Rob. My friends call me Rob." he nods and adds that to the letter,

"Better to have a name on it than 'the one carrying this missive'. You understand." I nod. "I know it's not a lot but I do feel responsible and the guilt of not being able to help you would eat away at me."

I smile at him, "Bringing me back from the dead was very nice actually. Being Healthy is a real bonus to. Never been healthy before." I don't think about it, I just hug him. He jolts then hugs me back,

"Thank you for being so understanding my son. I hope your new life brings you good things." I let go, "Thank you sir. Um, no offense, but I don't recognize any of the symbols on your disk."

He shrugs, "The pantheon I serve is pretty much a local group for our country. So as you're not from our country I am not too surprised. Still. " he points to a symbol, says a name and gives me a short description of each faith. I nod and pay attention. A couple I actually know, just different symbols, "OH Tyche, Lady Luck. She has a following back home to, different symbols though." I state for one, Tyr was in the mix to, but with a silver hand for his symbol, still a god of Law and Law Enforcers though. Nothing for the other Norse gods, but a couple other Greek ones and of all things Sune, beauty and romantic love in this place.

"Sune Firehair, really ? Huh, I have heard of her in comparison of other gods and goddesses of love."

He nods, "Seems like almost everyone has a love god of some form or other." I agree and we would have spent the rest of the day discussing philosophy and religion but the others were impatient to go. It was only noon their time by the time they went on down the road.

Of me, they pointed me back the way they came and gave me verbal directions to a couple of towns I could try my luck at. Then they left. I stood there a while longer. Did a last search through my car and dug out a few things I missed.

Then patting the hunk and saying a fond farewell I turned and walked up the road.

Notes on Coinage: The gnome gave me 20 coppers, 20 silver, and 20 gold and 8 small blue gems {deep blue spinal - Est: 500gp} . Not sure if he meant to give me the gems but I am not going to forget his kindness.

[Author Note: The gnome misidentified the stones, thinking they are just a common blue quartz worth maybe 5 to10 gold each. He had never seen or heard of spinal before though so there is some reasoning to that. Had he known he would never have parted with them.]

The gold alone is more than the average person makes in a couple years here. Silver is the main coin and it's 10 copper to 1 silver and 20 silver to 1 gold. (so total would work out to 2sp and 21gp not counting gems)