It's just my luck that my opportunities would come after death. I had always been the fickle sort. The world is just too interesting to be tied down by the anchors life would attach to you if you weren't careful. It started in school, then through the military. Eventually I moved from job to job, and house to house. It wasn't like I hated the places I found myself in. I just couldn't help but want a little bit more spice in my life. New things were meant to be explored, not through books but with my hands and eyes and feet.
It's this spectacularly unfortunate disposition that has placed me beyond the grave. You see, my coworker James and I had a rivalry that he wasn't completely aware of. James had always been an upright guy according to those at the office but I knew something sinister lurked beyond that facade he put up in the office. And when something or someone is able to draw my wavering attention I am forced to see it through. This past week I had fancied myself a detective. A lone gunslinger chasing my man in black.
My case to see the dark side of my coworker James turned out to be more than I actually thought. I had planned on catching him taking paper and staples from the office, but weirdly enough after following him after work one day I witnessed a murder. He stopped by a parking garage to meet with a woman but after arguing with her he took out a gun and shot her. My heart twisted into a knot and I tried to rush back to my car to inform the police of what I had witnessed. However, James had other plans. He shot out the tires before I could get away. I didn't have my gun on me so I rushed him as he reloaded after shooting my tires. We grappled for the gun, our arms over our heads and I kneed him in the ribs. He hunched over and I took the gun out of his hand. Before I could react he had taken out a knife and stabbed me in the chest. I fell to my knees which was enough for him to take me down. Now I am dead, I think.
Seconds after looking up at the fading image of James I was sitting in this chair in the middle of an endless white void. So if i'm not dead this is a very vivid dream. The chair is uncomfortable, just the worse. It was a straight backed wooden chair with thin wooden poles to connect the bottom and top. The wooden bottom left a gnawing pain in my lower back. I hope I'm in hell because if God is real, he would never approve of such uncomfortable chairs for heaven.
A small ball light popped up in front of me and floated around excitedly before falling to the floor. The little ball of light, is as small as fairy wings, the clearest eyes would have trouble picking it out. But the feeling of warmth it emitted couldn't be missed. It wasn't quite like a campfire or even the warmth of the sun on your skin during a warm day. I felt the warmth down to my core. It feels blissful, happy even. The ball spread and grew bigger and bigger till it began to take a shape. The light became distinct colors and shapes till an older woman, hair long turned grey, sat behind a desk with pencil and notebook in hand. She reminded me of a librarian or some old shopkeeper. Her glasses hung onto the top of her nose with beads connected on the end to keep them falling to the desk. She dressed in a warm cardigan and a simple button up with her hair tied in a bun.
"You are 37 Year Old Elijah Lupin I assume?"
I tried not to be startled but her voice was just as warm as the light she had emitted earlier.
"Y-Yeah. You are God I presume?"
"In some ways and in others no", she responded while flipping through her notepad.
"If your God wouldn't you already know who I am?"
"I do but it never hurts to check."
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"So this is heaven? I really thought there'd be more people here, but I guess not everyone can be as righteous as me."
"Based on your file you aren't very righteous but you've had your moments."
She didn't look up. She was fully engrossed in the page, licking her finger to flip to the next one when necessary.
"Does it really say that there?"
"Yes, right here it tells me how in the third grade you put gum in your classmates' hair or when you grew an unhealthy obsession with eating hotdogs for dinner. Every little detail is jotted down right here."
"I wanted to see if the rumors were true about gum getting stuck in hair", I replied with a fiendish grin. I couldn't help but smile, nobody was good all the time. I'm just lucky she didn't see my teenage years.
"If you're wondering, yes I did see your teenage years."
I jumped up out of the chair, pointing my finger at her, after the realization struck.
"Some things are meant for private, okay", I replied trying to hold back my embarrassment. She finally looked up from her note taking to give me a smile, and the warmth filled me again. I sat back down and put on a straight face. I'm too old to be getting embarrassed.
"So if I'm dead, why am I here? Is this some sort of judgement?"
"Finally you are asking the right questions." She put the notepad and pen down and pushed her glasses back up. She leaned in with her chin on her folded hands, her full attention now on me.
"As you are aware you were just killed by a murderer. Your coworker James. But because you took upon yourself to fight him, even if it was by accident, it stalled the time long enough for the police to arrive at the scene. The woman's life was saved because of what you did."
If I was alive right now I bet my heart would feel 10 times lighter. I wasn't always consistent but knowing something good came out of this makes me feel a little bit better.
"We have a rule that heroes will be rewarded after death so that's why your here in front of me instead of being immediately reincarnated."
My ears perked up at the thought of a reward from God.
"What will I get?"
"You will be reincarnated into the world of your choice and you will retain your current memories. The caveat is this world will exist in a completely different dimension then your own. Your own individual timeline will diverge."
"So the world will be controlled by me? Will I have special abilities?"
"The world will not be directly controlled by you; it will have whatever rules are usually set in the world in which you describe. Do you have any idea on what type of world you want to go to?"
"Any set of rules…" I sat back thinking about trying to decide where I should go. Obviously not anything like the regular world that would be boring and I have already lived like that.
"Just let me know when you decide." She went back to her notepad busy doing whatever Gods have to do. I stood up in the chair and began to walk around in the void pondering my options. The void in its emptiness gave no inspiration but a clear mind is all I need. I ran and walked back to the desk and chair my mind made up.
"I've made up my mind", I said sitting back down in the chair.
"I know", she said knowingly, "it's one piece isn't it. There was a surprisingly long chapter dedicated to your love of one piece on the notes."
"If I'm not going to be able to see what the one piece is then i'll go to the world of one piece and discover it for myself."
"Just so you know none of the characters will be the same. We will make a world like one piece with all the same structures, abilities, cultural, and social elements. The islands will be different because there was not much Information on most of them to begin with."
"I'm fine with all that, I just want to see what the one piece is."
"If you say so then I'll be happy to oblige." She took out a stamp and stamped the paper on the notes.
"You can bring an item with you on the transfer, is there anything I can get you?"
Without faltering I responded, "Can I get a devil fruit?"
She pressed another stamp in the paper and looked up to smile once more.
"With that everything is completed I wish you the best of luck on your journey Elijah Lupin."
The old lady began to turn back into the light she was when she first came. The little floated back up and beelined straight for my head, hitting me directly in the forehead. The warmth spread throughout my body and the void began to fade from my view. I guess I'm passing out again.