Prologue

                The last thing I saw was twin beams of light approaching me at a deadly speed. I could not react fast enough to avoid the collision. I remember praying that this would not be the end. Suffice it to say, I think It worked.

                “Greetings mortal, welcome to the realm between life and death. We, as the executors of the wheel of reincarnation, have a few questions to ask you before you are sent to be reborn.”

                Those were the first words I heard when I realized I was not dead. I opened my eyes, only to realize I had no eyes, I could already see. I “looked” down at myself and realized I was not there. I had no body either I guess. I returned my consciousness to the speaker from before and realized I had seen nothing so beautiful in my short life before. An androgynous being was before me with smooth alabaster skin with dozens of colored lines running up and down his/her frame. The eyes were a swirling cosmos with stars blinking into and out of existence in the time I floated staring. Strands of their hair were made up of what I could only understand as incredibly fine strands of gold, silver, and many other precious metals. Some I had never seen before. Their form kept shifting forms, from a humanlike entity to a canine, to a fish, to an bipedal lizard and so on.  I realized they were waiting for a response and hurriedly answered.

                “H-Hello, I’m sorry I did not speak right away, I was a little disoriented and confused. What am I doing here? The last thing I remember was a truck was speeding out of control towards me as I pushed a little boy out of the way.  Is he alright?”

When I spoke, I did not have a mouth or a voice per say. Considering we were in what looked like the void of space it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, but it was like I was projecting my thoughts toward the entity across from me.

                “Oh, it is no problem, I have been given sufficient time to account for the proclivities of ephemerals. I will answer your questions in the order they were asked. First, you are here because you sacrificed greatly for a stranger and allowed him to live where we predicted he would not. Everything he will do now in his life will now add to the karmic debt the universe owes you and that child will indeed do great things. Now that you have died, the threads of fate have been set a spinning and no one knows where the end will lead. It has been a long time since anyone has seen such a momentous shift in the balance.”

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                The entity’s voice was melodic and shifted between the approximation of male and female of whatever creature its form was currently taking.  It was a little confusing but fortunately I was able to understand it as if the information was placed right into my mind. That was a little disturbing but what could I do, I was new here.

                “Therefore, we have a proposal for you. We wish to employ you for specific tasks that will be highly dangerous and just as rewarding.  We will grant you a limited form of immortality in order to further our goals. You will not age, but you will have the capacity to be killed. Should you die, you will return to this place to create a new body and then be born again. Each time you die you will need to start from scratch but all your memories will be in tact. The genetic limiters set on all creations will be removed and you no longer be subject to a strength cap. You will grow more powerful as you accumulate and absorb the energy of the universe, called mana.  In return, you will safeguard our creations against threats both foreign and domestic.”

                “This universe is but one of many and every 2000 cycles, Keepers across the multiverse must challenge each other challenge or be challenged by another Keeper and to the winner go the spoils.  We have recently ascended to Keeper status and have 30 cycles before the next multi-versal challenges commence. If we can survive this threat, we will no longer be on the back foot and can proceed to challenge and claim more territory for our creations.”

                I listened, stunned to the sheer magnitude of it all. I, a mere security guard for an engineering firm, would be chosen to be a protector for the entire universe.  I knew I was a great fighter, I did a stint in the MMA ring back on Earth and went without a single loss until another fighter played dirty and ended up breaking my leg in three places. That was my last fight, he of course got disqualified, but I would never fight again. I slogged through the rest of my life working as a security guard so I could at least put some of my training to use, but it was depressing. Until I saw a little boy, frozen in fear at the sight of a truck barreling down the road toward him, I snapped out of my haze and knew my life could be worth something again.

                Hope burned in my eyes, “I accept your terms! Where do I sign, and when do I start?”