Prologue
Choice
Standing up slowly I looked around. I was in a complete void, nothing at all to see except for white. Pure white as far as the eye could see, not blinding or anything, just… white, the complete opposite of color. I wasn’t sure how I got here or where here was, but I felt like that was fine. For some reason I wasn’t able to think too hard about anything in particular. That should’ve bothered me but it didn’t.
After a while of standing there with nothing happening, without a sound or movement there was suddenly a woman in front of me. She was wearing a well fitted white pantsuit and a pair of black pumps. The pantsuit was so white that it was almost invisible as it blurred with the surroundings. The woman had black shoulder length hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen, so vivid it was almost impossible to look away. I wasn’t able to focus on any other defining features of her face as I was enraptured with those eyes.
After a few moments the woman gently smiled at me.
“Hello Nyla.”
I was so shocked by the resonant melodic tone of her voice that I just gaped for a while before realizing she was waiting for me to reply.
“Uh.. hi” I stated with a low hesitant voice. I got the feeling she was on my side but I was still cautious about my situation.
“I would tell you my true name but suffice it to say you would not be able to comprehend it without quite a bit of permanent damage to your psyche, so you may instead call me Szylithia.”
“Hi Szylithia … could you possibly tell me where I am and what is going on?”
“Of course, child. You’re in the between. You died.”
I should have been shocked but I wasn’t and it was confusing me that I was hearing I died and not reacting as poorly as I thought a person who learned that kind of information should be reacting.
“Oh I see. Do you know why I’m not freaking out about that right now?”
“Yes. You have been here in the between for quite some time now, and your spirit has finally accepted that you have left your previous corporeal incarnation.”
Her explanation seemed right to me though it brought a hundred more questions to my mind. I saw her smirk and had the distinct impression she could hear my thoughts, and at that idea she smiled widely.
“May I ask why I’m here? I mean if I died is this heaven? If not does heaven exist?” I was getting a bit nervous since this wasn’t anything I had heard of in any kind of religion or folklore before my death, if anything this felt more like the loading program from The Matrix movies with all the white, which was not a path I wanted my mind to wander down right now. Szylithia laughed, I assume at the direction of my thoughts.
”I assure you child, this is not The Matrix.” She said with a big smile. “This is in the between and as such there is not anything here but what I bring into it, such as yourself. Therefore as there is nothing here, there is nothing to see. As to why you are here… I do find myself in appreciation of certain mortals. You have shown throughout your life that you are a Good person, in both thought and action. While there is indeed a Heaven and you will certainly have the option to go there after we talk, I do like to bestow benefits to my favored. You are here to make a choice.”
Mind reeling at the revelation that Heaven exists and I could be on my way there after we finish our talk it took me a while to realize the other part of what she had said.
“Okay that was a lot to take in! I’m your favored? What does that mean? And what is this choice?” I tried to keep calm but this was a LOT to deal with.
“Does not everyone have favorites? Being a Supreme Being does not negate that. Even we are allowed to choose who and what we like most. It only means that I have had my eye on you for quite a while, more so than most mortals. And while almost all Supreme Beings are under strict rules not to interfere in mortal matters I do happen to have a bit more pull as you might say. The choice I will offer is one of recreation. I will offer you the chance at a second life in a new world.”
At that bombshell I was at a complete loss. A new life? What did that entail? Who would I be? What was this new world like? Would it mean I didn’t get to go to Heaven? I was running through a dozen things in my mind all at once. I looked up to see Szylithia watching me patiently.
“Would this mean I don’t get to go to Heaven?”
“You would of course get to go to Heaven after your life in this new world ended, so long as you continued to be a good person. There are many things out there that could tempt you or cause you to sway in another direction but I do not think it such a problem for my chosen. ” She smiled.
“What is this new world like? Would I be myself?”
“The gift I would give to you is a world based on many things you loved as you lived your life on Earth. You had an active and busy life before your passing. The world I have chosen for you is but one of infinite worlds in existence though particularly relevant to your main interest from Earth. You would also be whomever you choose to be. You would be in your physical form that you had previous to your passing so you would continue on as a nineteen year old woman. Your brown hair and eyes would come and you would stay the same height of 5 foot 10 inches. Your athletic build will also come, though that will only stay depending on your diet and exercise.” She smiled and looked me over slowly before looking into my eyes again “When I say you may be whomever you choose to be I mean it. While your physical form will be the same as you were on Earth and you will mentally be the same, who you choose to be is up to you. Stay the same, go by a new name, the choice is yours.”
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I wasn’t too sure what the world would be but the tone in her voice when she said my ‘main interest’ resonated with me and I flushed a little with embarrassment.
“When you say ‘main interest’ are you referring to my love of games?”
“Of course.” She smiled brightly.
How embarrassing to be called out by a God for your love of gaming! Sure, I spent a lot of downtime on RPGs, specifically turn-based, but admitting that in front of a God was not on my to-do list for today.
“So I’d go to this new world as me and I would get to live there. And this world is like games that I played? How so?”
“The world in question is called Savar. You would simply go there and live how you see fit. The universe Savar resides in lives by a certain set of rules, and as a gamer you would be well acquainted with that set of rules. Specifically the ability to gain STATS, SKILLS, and LEVELS.”
“Hold on so you’re saying if I choose to go to this Savar I can level like I’m in a video game? I could be an adventurer?!” This was sounding pretty cool to me!
“Yes. You would be able to LEVEL and gain STATS and SKILLS as you would in any such game. I am sure the system would be quite familiar to you. And as my favored I would of course give you a boon to make things easier for you as you are starting at the age of 18 and not newborn as every other human on Savar has. Be aware as this is not a game and is a real world that you will feel pain if hurt, and were you to die there would be no respawn. This is a single life offered on another world. ”
Okay the idea of pain was not one that I was happy with. After all I was going to have the option of going to Heaven, why would I choose something where I could be hurt? Because of the gaming aspect! What a big draw! Imagining myself as a master swordswoman or a awe inspiring wizard was pretty damn cool! I could have MAGIC! Ahh!! I would have to think on this. After all, Szylithia did say that as long as I continued to be a good person I would be able to go to Heaven after I died again. But what if Heaven was a game world anyway? What if I’m giving up immediate access to pain free game world for life on a world where I could be hurt again? I already died once and thinking on it I remembered the grim details. Murdered. Murdered by a kid I had gone to middle school with because he wanted my jewelry to pawn off to feed his habit. He had the nerve to say “Sorry” as I bled out, as if that made it okay to take my life.
Somehow that should really make me angry or sad but instead it was just factual information. I guess Szylithia was right in that my spirit had come to terms with my death. But still, did I want to possibly go through another death? Especially if the world was like a game world, then there was no doubt monsters aplenty and that would probably be a brutal way to go!
“Szylithia, how come you can do this for me, give me this choice? Am I right in that most people don’t get an option like this? Are the Gods okay with this? How many Gods ARE there?! I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth I’m just looking for clarity!”
“It is understandable and smart to ask as many questions as you can in order to make an informed decision. The simplest answer for why I am able to do this for you would be that I choose to. No one is going to stop me from making such a choice and thus I have done so. The other Gods, of which there are many, would not deign to tell me what I can or cannot do. There is a hierarchy to Supreme Beings and without going into detail I will say that none of them have the ability or force of will necessary to tell me what I can or cannot do.”
A chill went down my back as Szylithia’s voice rolled over me and I got the impression that no one anywhere was above her in this supposed hierarchy.
“So are you like THE God? Like the top God? Is that why no one could stop you?”
She smiled at me slyly while showing her teeth a little
“No. There are one or two more powerful but none would go against me anyway. Gods ARE because of the spirit of mortals. In the between is my domain and it is my duty to take the spirits of the deceased from all worlds in all the infinite universes and transition them to their final destination. Without my guidance spirits would be stuck in the between eternally and other Gods would BE less because of it. In an Earth analogy it would be like putting all of your money into a bank and then burning the bank down.”
“You transport souls to Heaven and Hell?”
“Amongst other places, yes. There are many similarities to Earth lore such as Kharon, though I do not cross a river. You could visualize in the between as the river Styx and it would be more apt. I am known by millions of names across infinite worlds but perhaps my most known would be the Arbiter Of Fate.”
“Wow.” I mean I knew she was a God already but knowing you’re in the presence of someone THAT powerful was crazy. And it was almost too much to know that I was her favored. I don’t think I really did that much while alive in order to be the favored of someone so powerful.
“Do not doubt yourself so much. I shall give you a few moments to think over your decision.”
“Oh okay.” Hmm. I knew it should be something I thought over for a while but I knew myself enough to know what I was going to go with. I was never going to be a bad person, I was raised better than that, so I had no fear that I wouldn’t eventually end up in Heaven after I died again. With the knowledge Heaven was waiting for me why wouldn’t I choose to live in a world of adventure where I got to live out my fantasy of becoming a badass?
“Okay Szylithia, I’ve made up my mind! I’m definitely willing to give this new world a try! Why not!” I said, fist pumping in the air in excitement.
“Very well, I wish you good fortune. I look forward to seeing what choices you make in the future.”
“I’ll be a good girl, after all now that I know Heaven awaits me why on Earth would I ever do anything bad!” I said with a jubilant smile, which was tempered by her next words.
“You will not remember that. In fact you will not remember any of this conversation. But I trust you to stay true to yourself. Goodbye for now, Nyla”
Shocked, I would have replied but at that moment I felt a tug in my stomach where my belly button was and at the same moment everything went dark as my consciousness fled.