"Life is not a Story."

- Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life, John Gray

It might have been a million years, or it might have been moments. Still, eventually, the memories stopped, and the darkness faded from my eyes. Is this hell, I wondered absently, before the sudden influx of light assaulted me. There was a figure standing little ways in front of me and a blurry field of weeds that stretched out behind them to the horizon.

"Welcome, Unbroken." The announcement came from the figure, still a blur in front of me. The words came in a feminine tone, but there was an edge of steel to them all the same. "My name, as it is known to your world, translates to Persephone. Allow me to be the first to welcome you here, to what we like to call 'The Metaverse.'"

She tried to speak, to ask her a question, but I couldn't seem to move my mouth. In surprise, I found myself trying to move my hand to my lips to check if something was wrong, but I discovered that I had no hands to respond to my directives. My immediate panic seemed to come and then begin to pass away far too quickly. By the time the woman continued speaking, I had found that I was once again able to focus on and understand her words.

"Please, hold any questions; you will not be able to voice them, and, I'm afraid, we are somewhat too pressed for time for me to address the issue." Resolving in front of me, a young woman, maybe in her late twenties, stood in front of us. She stood up straight, with her chin held high as she addressed us, and she wore a long gown of plain, shimmering white.

Glancing away from me, as though turning her head to look across a small group gathered in front of her, she continued. Try as I might, I found that I could not turn my head to see who else she might be addressing. "As I'm sure you will soon discover, your lives have changed forever, and there can really be no returning to the world that you once knew. Nevertheless, I am about to make, what I am sure you will eventually discover, is a pretty generous offer.

"Should you reject it, I will be happy to return you to your world with no hard feelings. Though I can't pretend like it would be a pleasant place for you to find yourselves in upon your return." She cleared her throat and flinched as she spoke, "You see, it may be hard for some of you to believe, but the world you once knew is currently weathering an apocalypse, the likes of which has been imagined only by the most deranged minds of your species. The Gods of your world, such as they are, are busily Rapturing their most faithful as quickly as they can. Those who remain have found themselves in something of a broken wasteland with no working power or heat.

"Whereas you, the Souls before me today, share a chance, an opportunity I would like to say, for both of us," she waved her right hand absently. A hovering set of boxes appeared in front of my vision, obscuring my view of her. "At considerable cost, I have stolen you away to make you an offer. I am sending the details of this offer to you now in terms of Divine Revelation - a process I'm sure you will quickly become accustomed to in your new lives. Please, take a moment to review the offer that I am making and consider how you will choose to respond."

The [Goddess] Persophanie makes you the following Offer: Represent her Affinity [Life (A)] as your first of two possible Soul Affinities and accept her as your sole Patron Deity. In return, she shall safely deliver you to the Axis Mundi (the center of your current Galaxy) and facilitate reincarnation in your choice of Vessel, including the option of your original [Human] body.

Do you accept this Offer: YES/NO

I considered what she had said, and I hesitated only a moment before making my decision. Lacking any other way to interact with the prompt, I looked at the option 'YES' and focused on it as hard as possible. After a moment, just as I was starting to feel somewhat silly, the word brightened and seemed to light up for a second before the entire prompt fell away.

The [Goddess]' eyes I found, now that I was once again able to see, were clearly scanning back and forth across an audience that only she could see. Her eyes did meet mine for a moment, and I could have sworn that I saw her nod subtly at me before her gaze continued its movement. As she did so, a new box appeared in my vision, once more obscuring the scenery.

Choose Second Soul Affinity:

UNAVAILABLE - UNAVAILABLE - [Death (A)] - [Fire (C)] - [Air (C)] - UNAVAILABLE - UNAVAILABLE ...

The list scrolled on and on, and I found that by looking at the end of the list and focusing, I was able to scroll through, offering an expanded list of options. Options that I had found only once I made it through a fairly long list marked simply 'Unavailable':

... UNAVAILABLE - UNAVAILABLE - [Joy (E)] - [Hate (D)] - [Spacetime (S: Legendary)] - UNAVAILABLE - [Artifice (B)]

As I was scanning through the options, I heard Persephone's voice pick up once again. As if reading my mind, she continued, "Those of you who have chosen to accept my offer, I thank you, but you now should be reviewing options for selecting a second Affinity, as are available only to the Unbroken souls. To those who still are hesitating to choose, I know it is a huge decision, with not much information to go on, one way or the other, but I must urge you to make your choice quickly. For I don't have time to explain this again, and for the newly Unbroken, every bit of information I'm giving you will likely end up being vital to your long-term survival.

"Anyway, for those who are currently viewing your potential list of affinities, many will be unavailable to you and will be marked as such, based upon your current potential. It may seem like there are quite a lot blocked off from you, and perhaps there are. Still, I can assure you that, as an Unbroken, born fresh into our Metaverse, the option to chose a second Affinity at all is something rare and exclusive to your kind.

"Next to each Affinity, much like [Life], you will see a letter grade. [(F)] is the least potent offering, and each letter gets progressively more powerful as the grades increase through [(B)] and [(A)], respectively. Above [(A)], you will, rarely, find a Special set of grades, marked [(S)], each with a rarity included next to it. The rarities run, in order, from [(Unique)], which is potentially more or less potent than an [(A)] ranking, but with the exclusivity of what's offered making up for any lack of raw power. After all, how powerful is one healer among many compared to a healer who is the only creature able to heal in the universe?

"After [(Unique)] comes [(Legendary)]; a power or item of legend, whose existence sparks stories and roomers across the occupied world. While not necessarily unique to the Metaverse, a Legendary ranking has the potential to create, well, legends.

"Then, the highest in power and rarest of ranks comes that of [(Mythical)]. Most will live their entire lives while never seeing or hearing about anyone who has seen a [(Mythical)] ranked being or item. This ranking is for a level of power that rivals and, sometimes, surpasses that of even Demi-Gods, and yet anything designated [(Mythical)] likely also comes with a not insignificant set of drawbacks or restrictions."

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I barely needed her to finish her explanation before finding my selection with my eyes and focusing as hard as I possibly could. A confirmation box soon greeted me, and I quickly agreed to take [Spacetime] as my second Affinity.

With that selection made, scarce seconds passed before I was given a new set of options, this one many times longer than the list of Affinities.

Persephone is offering your choice of a new Vessel. Choose one of the following options: *Search*

[Human (E)] - [Goblin (F)] - [Elf (C)] - [Dwarf (C)] - [Gnome (E)] - [Orc (E)] - [Ogre (D)] ...

The first line of selections were all names of races out of fantasy and fairytales. As I scrolled, I came across more and more that I didn't recognize until I shrugged and looked up toward what I assumed was the 'Search' function. It took longer for me to get a menu to open than before in selecting my affinities. Still, eventually, I was given a list of several options.

It turned out that I could filter by types, such as reptile or mammal, by common Affinity, and even by height. But what I wanted wasn't any of those things; instead, I scrolled through the search functions until I had found a function allowing me to search by Grade. Ignoring all others, I immediately set the filters to weed out anything below an [(S)] ranking.

Surprisingly, there was still a shortlist of options offered, and, even better, the search results presented not a list as it had been before, but an expanded table of offerings with not only the names but the descriptions of the choices in front of me.

[Chimera (S: Unique)]

Each Chimera is unique and unlike every other, created by combining a randomly generated list of parts and traits of other vessels. The whole of this creature is often said to be greater than the sum of its parts. However, there are not uncommonly problems as parts of diametrically opposed elements attempt to combine and become united.

[Dwarven Core (S: Legendary)]

In an attempt to emulate the most incredible creation of the great Demon Lords of the Netherworld, the greatest Artificers from among the Dwarves combined their efforts into developing these reforged and empowered Dungeon Cores. Often the heart of their greatest, sprawling cities, these cores are inhabited by a single soul that had been guided to within the depths of this living crystal. The souls contained therein cannot feel, taste, smell, or even manipulate their bodies and surroundings directly, except through the senses of their bonded creatures - but in recompense, the bound souls are protected by the ravages of time. Safe within the living crystal of this Core, a soul will be immune to the soul splintering incurred by branching timelines and, thereby, crystalize Abilities of greater power more quickly.

[Shoggothia (S: Unique)]

Formerly in the service of the Outer Dark, this creature has been held contained by the mortal races for years beyond imagining - and, having lost its mind and soul with the unending march of time, it is open to possession by an entity of greater weight or power.

[Devil Core (S: Mythic)]

Created by the ancient Demon Lords and blessed by the Dark Gods, these Cores represent the pentacle of artificial Core design in the Metaverse. Though no new Devil Cores have been created in millennia, those that survive rule their dystopian kingdoms with an iron fist. The Core is capable of housing a single soul to rule the powers of the stone. This soul then receives the Core's [Corrupted] abilities and houses up to 12 additional enslaved souls, bound to the Ruler for all time, to empower the Core's minions and assist with the trillions of subconscious calculations that are required to master the most advanced Abilities and Magics. This Core also comes with a heavy Curse upon all occupying souls - while the Core potentially can house a soul forever and all time, as well as preventing an integrated soul from splitting or fracturing, likewise integrated souls are unable to leave. Should the Devil Core be destroyed, so too will the souls it houses be lost forevermore.

While the Chimera seemed like something of a crapshoot, having the ability to be really good or really bad depending on pure, blind chance, the other options were considerably more interesting. My assumption was that a Shoggothia was a tentacled horror from beyond space and time, and, with my spacetime affinity, it was itself incredibly tempting. It would have been an absolute shoo-in, in fact, if not for the very last option presented to me.

Judging by how the Goddess had addressed us as Unbroken and seemed to place a great deal of emphasis on that title, it could be assumed that this title was likely what made us especially special to her. What an 'Unbroken' was was anyone's guess - but considering the only part of my being that appeared to exist at that moment in time was literally just my soul, it didn't seem like there were many options other than our possession of 'Unbroken' souls.

These Cores specifically would prevent my soul from fracturing at any point in the future. While I wasn't entirely sure what that would entail, I found myself wanting it desperately from the moment I read that preventing it was an option. There was a slight downside in that death would be, well, permanent in a way that it (apparently) might not be otherwise. Yet considering the possibility of souls being enslaved, as this Devil Core specifically appeared to be able to do, I figured permanent death might be a blessing in comparison to some of the fates that could befall me after a particularly unpleasant death.

So it was that, upon reading through that final option, I hesitated only briefly before staring at [Devil Core] and willing it to select.

The moment the selection was finalized, instead of once again seeing Persephone looking out toward me, my vision was immediately filled with a flashing 'WARNING!' message. This square box filled my eye and seemed to throb in time with my heartbeat. I may not have been able to see the Goddess in front of me through the prompt, but still, the metaphorical hairs on the back of my spirit-neck stood up on end as I felt her eyes fall upon me regardless.

I could hear her pointedly pausing, taking a breath, and my entire soul clenched as she began to speak. "Miss Frost," her voice wasn't angry. Still, there was a cold undertone to it nevertheless, "while I will allow you to select that Vessel if you so chose, mainly due to your second Affinity being a potentially exciting fit, I must warn you - to give you that Vessel, I will have to incarnate you into the Netherworld itself, as that is where the vessel reposes.

"I will, of course, send my most loyal Fae to retrieve you to the Axis Mundi, per our agreement, but it will likely take some time. A month perhaps, in the Metaverse, to retrieve you and bring you back. Which, due to the temporal conversion rate between the Netherworld and Metaverse, could easily feel like a thousand years to you in the Netherworld, subjectively."

With those words, she paused, and the 'WARNING!' screen melted away into a simple confirmation prompt: Accept Vessel: [Devil Core] YES/NO.

Warning or no warning, I didn't hesitate further. A thousand years to an immortal being? That sounded to me just right for a tutorial. Besides, considering I was about as familiar with the 'Netherworld' as I was with this 'Axis Mundi', it hardly seemed to make much difference to me which I ended up in. What mattered was power. What mattered was I would never have to go back to the unmagical earth and all of the mundane suffering it had gifted me.

"Very well, Miss Frost. I suppose you've made your choice." The somewhat flat tone of Persephone's speech brought my attention back around to the Goddess. Her eyes were looking off into the distance, more than usual, and she paused for some time before she spoke again. "I do see that many souls were harvested by my Husband from the area you were Raptured. I shall send them to you once you are incarnated if you should want to keep them. While broken and undoubtedly less powerful than some other options you could one day have, the company of some familiar beings might offer you some comfort."

Louder now, her voice resonated across the fields around us, "Unbroken that remain, I thank you for accepting my offer. I look forward to seeing your triumphs and celebrating your victories in the Axis Mundi.

"As my Champions, I shall always be watching and cheering for your success. I will personally keep watch over your progression as you Crystalize new or improved Abilities from your Affinities. I myself have a vested interest, you should know, as every Ability crystalized from my own affinity among my followers offers me greater hold over the world and power.

"Farewell, my unbroken. And good luck." The last words came almost as a whisper as I found myself falling once again, only then, as I fell, noticing that under Persephone's dress, instead of feet there were several long, thin lumps. And underneath, as my vision approached the ground but before my fall continued on, I saw the collection of hairy clawed appendages of an insect... or perhaps a spider... where she should have had feet.

Thankfully, no impossible memories continued to assault me and, despite the sickening sensation of falling, I found myself alone with my thoughts and finally able to process what had just happened to me. What was happening to me. And I found the darkness of the fall into an endless nothing somehow soothing in comparison.