The hallway Alice was walking through seemed like one that would belong inside of a castle. It had marble tile flooring, polished rock walls, and wall lamps made of gold and silver. Alice kept walking through the hallway until she reached the adjoining room. The room was small, with the same marble floor and polished rock walls aesthetic as the hallway. In the middle of the room, there was a single table with two chairs facing each other. On top of the table, there was a chess-looking set with weird-looking pieces Alice had never seen before. At the far end of the room, there was a closed door. Alice felt a strange presence in the room. Strange, but at the same time, with a touch of familiarity as if she had been in this presence for years.
Alice closed her eyes trying to focus on this feeling, but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, a man was standing right in front of her staring in her eyes.
“Well, this is a surprise,” said the mysterious-looking man with a grin on his face. The man had a pale-colored skin that gave a faint white, almost ghostly glow. He had long silky silver hair running down to his shoulders that. He was wearing black leather pants and a black linen shirt with a pendant around it. The pendant had a strange symbol on it.
“Sorry, I am a little lost. Did not mean to intrude,” said Alice nervously.
“Oh, do not worry about it. This is a… pleasant… surprise. You see, it has been ages since I got company,” said the man. “Can I interest you in a game of… chess, is it? That is how you call it back where you are from?” said the man in a nonchalant tone, as he gestured to the game Alice saw on the table when she first entered the room. As he gestured, the pieces and board warped into an actual chess set.
“Oh, chess is not really my game… sorry,” replied Alice.
“I see… how about checkers?” countered the man.
“Nah, never played,” said Alice shrugging.
“Just pick a game, Alice!” said the man desperately.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Fine… no need to get all rowdy,” replied Alice. “How about blackjack?” Blackjack was the only game Alice ever learned how to play. She was no expert, but at least she knew that the game’s objective was simple. Get to twenty-one or closer to twenty-one than your opponent.
“Blackjack? Sure, I can play blackjack,” said the man as he gestured at the table, and it instantly morphed into a blackjack table with a single stool for Alice to sit. “Please sit down,” the man requested.
Alice sat down and waited for the game to begin.
“So, Alice, you are from Earth. How remarkably interesting,” said the man, while shuffling a deck of cards before dealing Alice her hand.
Alice looked at her cards and said, “Ok a couple of questions: First how do you know my name, secondly, how do you know where I am from, and thirdly and most importantly, why are you dressed as a casino dealer?” Alice was in shock, as she noticed that the man had changed outfits instantly to look like a dealer.
“First, anybody with a high enough level of Identify can know your name, secondly, I know a lot of things and thirdly, well I wanted to look the part,” said the man, grinning.
Alice remembered the skill identify from when she looked it up at the library. That is how people would know your class, level, name, skills, spells, and race. The lowest level of identify could only identify the class of a person. The higher the level of identify the more information you would get. One thing that identify could not provide was the name of the planet of where an Alterterrestial came from. Alice was sure of this because she could not even see that listed on her character sheet.
“Ok, Mr. Mysterious man, do you have a name?” asked Alice, looking at her cards. “You look familiar. I feel like I have seen you somewhere before. Hit me,” said Alice as she did a brushing gesture behind her cards. Alice’s cards were a king and a four. The man’s cards were a seven and a face-down card.
“I have many names, and yes, we have crossed paths many times before. Well not me exactly, but other versions of me. The Earth version of me,” said the man. “You know, most people run away at the mere presence of me. People do not usually like the idea of me, but you seem to be okay around me.” He dealt another card to Alice.
Alice got a six, giving her a total of twenty. “I guess...” said Alice not really knowing what the man meant. “Other versions of you huh… so who are you? God?” said Alice nervously, chuckling thinking about all the different versions of God there were back at Earth.
“I am not ‘God’,” said the man. Alice instantly relaxed a little. “I’m a god, the god of death to be more precise.” Alice’s jaw dropped. The god of death flipped his face-down card to reveal a ten and said, “17, you win!” Alice was still in shock. She could not believe it, but at the same time, the moment he said it, it made total sense. She knew he was in fact the god of death.
Alice stayed silent for a few seconds. “What? No celebration? You just beat death at blackjack. That should be reason to celebrate, no?” continued the god of death.
“You are… the god of death…” murmured Alice.
“You can call me Joe,” responded the god of death.
“Joe?” replied Alice in disbelief.
“Yeah, I was called by that name in a movie once. I liked it. So yeah, feel free to call me Joe,” said Joe.
“Alright… Joe… nice to meet you,” said Alice.
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