----------------------------------------
Herman Cruz
I died...
Or at least I think I did, but it doesn't really feel like I'm dead, as I open my eyes it's clear I don't seem dead, I have my body complete with no injuries whatsoever and if I focus enough I can tell all my organs seem to be working, what makes me think I died is that everything around me is white and concerningly quiet, like not even the echo of silence levels of quiet, I know it's not a hospital, if it was there would be walls, which there aren't any, no walls, no ceiling, heck I don't even think there is a floor, I'm not really floating but I don't really feel like I'm on something either, it's like I'm laying on solid nothingness.
Okay first let's recapitulate how I got here, I was on my way out of the office when I suddenly sliped, I think I saw a 'Wet Floor: Caution' sign laying on a corner, probably someone kicked it by accident and was either to lazy or to tired to put it back up, not that I don't understand though, I was pretty tired myself to the point i didn't notice the obvious wet shine of the floor, though slipping to the floor wasn't really my cause of death, at least not directly, what happened was that while I tried to recover my balance in the wet floor I crashed into a support beam, my chest taking the direct hit from the clash, which caused my unlucky self to get a heart attack, unlikely for someone to have one early on but very deadly to young people, since it was pretty late and almost everyone had already went home nobody was around to help me or call an ambulance I guess, so most likely I died on the corridor of the office and my body is still there.
Back to the present, I decided waiting laying there wasn't really gonna do much for me so I stood up from the floor... or whatever it's bellow my feet and looked around a bit, what I find is absolutely nothing but the purest white as far as my eyes could see, for how white it's everything I'm surprised it doesn't blind me, still if i'm truly dead someone should probably come for... my soul I suppose, so I waited for a bit, I didn't have a clock or my phone to check the time but I'm pretty sure I spent at least 10 minutes waiting for something to happen, since nothing seemed to, I decided to start walking in whatever direction I was originaly facing, I don't really know how much time I walked but I'm sure at least half an hour passed while I walked, a yet still nothing happened.
At that point I started to worry, I've read enough novels and mangas to know a white place with no sense of direction and clear exit was an almost inescapable jail if need be, a few villian's punishment is to fall in this kind of limbo for eternity, never aging, never daying, just them with their thoughts, what if I feel into one of those limbos? what if I just never age? am I stuck here for eternity?
"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't be so cruel as to leave someone stuck in this plane of existance" suddenly said a calm and angelic voice.
I tried to look around to find the origin of the voice to no avail, still pure white as far as the eye can see.
"Try looking up" spoke again the angelic voice.
I did as said and sure enough, there he was, a pale and slim man, hair with that was the color of the sky, maybe even the sky itself since i noticed a few clouds moving arround the strands, he was dressed in white garments with shining golden lines all across a beautyful design, the man in question was sitting at a white marble table with gold details, tranquily sipping at a shining infusion of tea from what I could only call the most deatiled tea-cup I've ever seen, as from it's side a painting of what seemed to be an entire history of... something, probably some kind of legend or mythos.
Something that got me confused about the man was that he was... upside down, or maybe he was right and I was upside down, it was hard to tell in a place like this white limbo where there's nothing else to orientate oneself.
"I'd say you are the one upside down, every time I come here it's in the orientation I'm in right now, by the way, I suggest you brace yourself" said the man as he took another sip from his tea.
At first I was a bit confused about the second part of that statement, but then it hit me, quite literally, as I suddenly started falling towards his floor and crashed face first in it, it hurt a lot less than it should, but I paid it no mind as I was more focused in getting back up and questioning the man on exactly what was happening.
"Don't worry, all will be answered in due time, but first how about you take a seat?" As he said that a marble chair with identical to the one he was sitting in table suddenly materialized out of thin air in front of me, and without much else to do I took the seat offered, ending across the table from the man... or God? he probably is God from what I've seen so far.
"I am indeed a god, just not the one from any sort of religion you know of, anything I can offer you to drink, maybe a pastry to accompany it?" the ma- err, the god said in his angelic voice, honestly I'd like a soda right now, a bit silly of a drink in this situation maybe, but I hadn't drank anything since lunch at the office.
"Oh don't worry about that" Said the god as he moved his hand gracefully, and sure enough a cup appeared on a small plate and started filling with soda, once it was fully filled I picked up the cup and took a sip, it had a nice taste, maybe even tastier than any other soda I had drank before.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"It was made to suit your taste, so of course you'd think of it like that" Said the god of the angelic voice, still calm in his demeanor but this time with an undivided attention towards me, a clear sign I should do the same so I left the cup on a coaster that materialized with the cup and looked straight towards the god, his mien serene with a soft smile adorning it, he had the presence of a father, divine at that, like what you'd expect from the father of all things to be like, what most caught my attenntion however was his eyes, not only his iris were of a deep blue that resembling of a vast ocean, extending as far as the infinite horizon of space, but his pupils were different in a strange way, they were black as one would expect but the shape they had wasn't as circle, it was a cross, each tail moving sepparetly as if they were each seeing the world in a completly different light spectrum, maybe even something else entirely.
It took me a while to break from the trance of his eyes and finally focus on him as a whole, when I did he gave me a little nod of appreciation before speaking "First of all, I give you my most sincere condolences Herman Cruz, for your death was quite unfortunate, I think we can agree sometimes fate can be a bit rough"
Yeah agreed
"I'd prefer you speak with your voice rather than your mind for this" the god said as I suddenly realized all the talk we had so far had been him reading my mind, I guess it didn't register to me because of how foreign this situation is, as well as how natural his responses to my thoughts were.
After clearing my troath I spoke with a bit of embarrassment on my voice "Yes I can do that..." I paused for a moment before resuming more calmly, still a bit nerveous "So... you already said I died... but then, where are we, is this heaven, the purgatory?"
"It is neither, I think you already deduced what kind of place is this by yourself in that hour long walk you did before, sorry about that by the way, I was a bit busy when you died so it took me a while to come" the god said in a apologetic tone.
"Don't worry about that, I'm more interested on why you brought me here anyway"
"That is a bit of a long-ish story"
"Well... it's not like I have anything else to do" I said as i laughed a bit at the irony.
"You see, I was searching for someone, within a certain criteria of age, mentality and... let's say spirit, so I put a spell all across my domain to find them, I wouldn't dare to interfere in the flow of a mortal life, so the spell would only bring them to me after their death, and so I waited for them to arrive, the reason I was searching for them is because they were the descendant of one of my offspring, highly concentrated god's blood and talent, so I made the choice to give them a second chance, a new life as a demi-god for my pantheon, they accepted but..." The god made a little pause to take a graceful sip at his tea-cup before continuing.
"As I got too concentrated in training them to become a demi-god I forgot to turn off the spell, and miraculously for you, you happened to barely fit the criteria, so you were brought here by accident before I noticed, of course the moment you came I realized what had happened and turned off the spell, but what is done is done" As the god finished his explanation he took another graceful sip to his tea.
"I see, so that means I got lucky and instead of dying I got sent here alive?" I said, a bit confused about how the whole thing worked.
"You did die, it's more like you were revived in a fresh new body"
"I see... so, what happens to me now, do I die again and get sent to... wherever the death go?"
"You normally would, but I'd feel bad about having you revive just to kill you again so I have a proposal for you, the same way I gave the person I was searching for a second chance to live, I will give you a new life, whats more, it will be in a world of magic and sword, like the ones in the histories you mortals from aetherless worlds tend to imagine" As the god said that, he moved his hands in an exagerated fashion, creating a few flashes of what would await me in that second life.
"Cool, where do I sign up?" I said without hesitation at the idea of beign like all those protagonist I had read about in mangas and novels, saving princesses, defeating demon kings.
"I suggest you stop drifting to much in that path, for what awaits you on the other side won't really be as interesting as that, of course, I'll give you enough strenght to fare well by yourself and a access to mana, because it would be cruel to send you there without ways to enjoy your new life, but I have one condition for you to follow"
"And... what would that condition be?" I said a bit concerned this time, wondering if I agreed a bit too soon to something I shouldn't.
"You are to follow the Demi-god in training I mentioned before in his travels, and preferably comply with what he tells you to do, don't worry, he isn't one to drag you around against your will, but he has a strong sense of loyalty"
My face lights up yet again, now at the thought of being travel companion with a Demi-god, even if the god said it wont be as exciting as an adventure as most mangas and novels I've read, it's definitely a good deal, and I'm all down for it.
As I made up my mind I nodded at the god, who smiled more vividly at me now "So we have a deal then?" the god said as he extended his hand towards me for a handshake to seal the deal, which I gladly took.
"Great then, I'll send you to a grassland, it's a peaceful place where you should be safe while you wait for him, preferably don't move to much from where I leave you until he arrives" as soon as I shaked his hand a swirling light surrounded me, making be vanish slowly from the toes upwards "I hope you find your new life most pleasing, I would wish you god be in your favor Herman Cruz, but as god himself you'll understand I cannot, at least not until you prove youself worthy of it"
As half of my body was already gone and my hands start becoming shining particules of light, the god gave me a final nod "Farewell young one, may fate guide you towards a bright future"
As he finished talking to me I completly disappeared from the limbo, my vision blurry in a rainbow of colors from a range a human shouldn't be able to see as I feel like I travel galaxies of distance, a few seconds later my vision faded to black and everything settled down around me into sheer silence.
----------------------------------------
I started feeling things around me after a moment, the sound of the wind moving the grass and leaves oh so gently across the land, a few bird chirping around me, and the sound of a few insect close by, I could feel grass around me as I seemed to be laying down, moments later I finally opened my eyes, a tree covering me with it's shadow from the light of the sun, as I sat up and looked around I found myself in a peaceful grassland as the god had said he would leave me in, a clear blue sky streching as far as the horizon could see, a new world, a new life, soon I stood up and took a deep breath of freash air, exultant at the expectation of what awaits me from today onwards.