Nova wasn’t particularly talented. He could solve problems, but it was always so damn stressful. What seemed effortless to some gave him sleepless nights and a hangover the next day. He was always worrying about other people’s problems, and he never got paid much for it. Middle-aged with no wife or children, and a straight workaholic. He’d never really looked back on his life until now, well, his past life. The absence of a body kind of did that to people. All he had for company were his thoughts in this abyss. Sure, it was terrifying at first, but after a while he realized there was nothing; literally nothing here. In fact, he was nothing, not in the grand scheme of things. He’d never been one for the spotlight, so that never really bothered him as much as the loneliness did. It was fitting, in a way. Here he was alone, and yet he was at peace. The small part of him that use to sadden, that desperate part of him that begged for companionship, had been suffocated for so long he wasn’t sure he could love anymore. No, he’d become cold over the years, almost heartless. A fact he was only now realizing.
A bright light pierced the nothingness and shone down on him like a spotlight. He felt the heat if nothing else but the light did not blind him. It just consumed him until there was only light. A deep voice boomed, shaking the very essence of his consciousness. “Welcome, other-worlder.”
An enormous marble statue stood in front of Nova. The human-like appearance of a Greek god towered above him, rippling muscles barely covered in loose fitting robes. It’s silver eyes glowed eerily within the thick haze that surrounded Nova, thickening like a camera lens set to blur.
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“Welcome, to the collapse of my world.” It gestured stiffly toward it’s side. The sound of grinding stone accompanying the movement. A plethora of distant stars burst into existence as lively as they would be if viewed from telescope. Toward it’s hand was a black hole. The edge of the circular black void dimly lit with captured light. “I failed them. My greed for companionship torn me asunder, and gave birth to this destruction. Now all that remains are the memories of the lost and forgotten.” The god closed it’s hand, and with it the stars and black hole vanished.
Nova nodded his understanding, or at least he thought he did. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was, but one thing was for sure, he wasn’t in his body.
The god continued. “While I cannot undo what has been done, I can intervene using another as a medium. If you choose to do so, I will give you another chance at life. However, only the most unfortunate souls can be supplanted from that reality. You will not have an easy life in that world, and your task may take you down a road full of suffering and misery.” The god paused for a long moment. “You can still return to your own god to face judgment. However, if you choose this life, you must dedicate yourself to stopping it’s destruction. If you don’t, you will share their fate, and my judgment upon my awakening.”
The temptation to live again was a powerful one. Suffering was nothing new to Nova. A chance to change how things ended up. Sure the circumstances would be different, but he would start with the determination that he’d built over the years. The unyielding mental fortitude that made him who he was now. Even this god fought against the clawing ache of his isolation, and the pain of his own regrets. Yes, this time he would have all of his accumulation experiences. This time, this time, perhaps even… His mind reeled with the possibilities. Nova confirmed his choice to the god.
The God gave a slight tilt of that stone that was his head. “Then so be it.”