Letting out a long-suffering sigh as the alarm went off after the third snooze button press Alex reached over and hit the off button. He stretched his length in the small bed and raked a hand through his dark hair. Sitting up he turned and placed his feet on the floor.

"One more and I won't be able to make it to work on time. I really don't want to go there again, but it pays the bills." He thought as he dragged himself from the bed and rubbed at his sleep-crusted eyes.

Mid-morning sunlight filtered through the shades on his bedroom window a further reminder of the time. It dimly lit the small studio apartment allowing him to move about without tripping over the clutter of clothes and pizza boxes that made the floor a minefield as he dressed and went through the various tasks of getting out of the door and on his way to work.

Slipping his arms into his jacket he rushed out of the front door of the apartment building and turned his collar up to block the brisk spring morning breeze from going down his back. Turning he walked down the sidewalk dodging other pedestrians with practiced indifference as he moved through the city toward Dynamic Systems Inc., his daily grind of cooperate monotony.

"Wish it was more like in the books. Hells, I would love to be able just to go adventuring instead of spending another day writing code." He mused his mind drifting back to one of the most recent books he had been reading. LitRPG had almost overnight become his favorite genre when he was not playing video games or working, he was pouring over whatever new series he could find, more than just a little jealous of the different characters in them.

"Hey Alex, good morning! You want your usual today?" The cheerful voice of Samantha rang through the air and pulled him from his daydreams. As he returned to focus on the world around him, his eyes alighted on the cute brunette barista behind the window counter.

"Oh, hey Sam, yeah that would be great. Gonna need it to get through another day of work. I swear they come up with the most monotonous tasks to be codified." He smiled at her as he placed a hand on the counter. She was a bright spot in his routine; he missed seeing her on days he didn't work. "Do you have any of those fresh croissants as well? I didn't get up early enough to eat today and my stomach is starting to tell me about it"

Laughing Sam set a small bag with the requested food on the counter and turned back to prep the coffee for him.

"I swear you never wake up early enough." She grinned at him. "Is this just an excuse to spend more time talking to me?"

"Well, not really but talking with you does make my morning better," Alex said. He wasn’t being facetious their morning exchanges did brighten his day. He knew their flirting was never going to go beyond just the playful banter but hey a guy could wish couldn't he? "You sure you don't want to get lunch one of these days? I promise I won't go creepy on you... well no more than I already am," he joked as he waved his phone over the scanner to pay for the order.

Tapping a finger against her chin as if in serious thought Sam watched him a moment before finally speaking with a grin. "Nope, still don't think it's a good idea. I promised myself I would never mix work life with my personal life."

It was the same answer she gave him every morning, just another part of their usual exchange. Subsequently just another part of his usual day. Same thing, same day, same week, same life. Alex sighed internally again at how nothing ever changed.

"All right, see you tomorrow then." He picked up his food and coffee then turned to continue his walk to work. A few more blocks and he would be able to get out of the crowded streets and ensconced himself in his desk.

Stepping off the sidewalk to cross the street he took a bite of the flaky pastry when a flash of color caught his eye. The brilliant vermillion hair distracted him for a moment as it disappeared around the corner of the building. A moment later the sound of a horn shocked him back to the present and he hurried across the road and into the office building of his work.

Making his way to his cubicle he quickly sat at his desk, powered his computer up, and then set his coffee cup next to the keyboard. His mind lingered on the hair he had noticed earlier as he pondered the likelihood of it matching one of the main characters in the book he started last night. "Must just be because the color was on my mind that I noticed it," he mused. "Just like when you buy a car and suddenly see the same car everywhere." Dismissing the thought, he turned his attention to the latest tasks in his queue and lost himself in the work.

Hours later he finally logged off the computer and rose. Throughout the morning his mind had kept returning to the brilliant hair color, something about it just stuck in his head and he could not shake it. Exiting the office, he hurried towards his usual burger place for lunch when once again the same woman caught his eye. That shade of hair was unmistakable, and he paused to see if he recognized her. While he looked closer at her she turned as if feeling her eyes on him and eyes the hue of evergreens in the deep forest locked with his.

Distantly he heard a horn again, along with squealing tires as the eyes holding his shifted from their mischievous mien to sadness. As his mind tried to process the sudden change his world erupted in overwhelming pain followed rapidly by darkness.

Wincing Alex sat up. His hands quickly ran over his body as the memory of the pain returned to him but nothing felt out of place or broken. He tried to take stock of what happened and remembered seeing the strange woman right before the flare of pain. Realizing he had stopped in the middle of the road the last sounds returned to him. A horn and tires...

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"Oh shit… where am I? Did I get hit?" He thought and once again he checked himself. Nothing was broken or even scuffed though. It was then he realized his clothes were different. Gone were the jeans and T-shirt he had put on that morning. They were replaced with what appeared to be simple woolen pants and a soft cotton shirt. As this realization settled in, he looked up and about the room. The silence was deafening, and it was not the bustle of an ER room or the back of an ambulance he would expect after a car accident. Instead, he found himself sitting on a small wooden bed in a simple mud and straw room. There were no decorations or other distinctive furniture besides the door in the far wall and the open window letting in light. Strangely he couldn't see anything besides that light through the window when he looked. Slipping from the bed he walked towards the door, pausing a moment he noticed he was barefoot and looked about for his shoes but there was no other clothing within the room.

As he placed a hand on the door it swung open to another room, this one had a table and two chairs though and one of those chairs was occupied. Alex stared slack-jawed as the same woman who had caused his distraction when the car hit him turned to look his way and motioned to the empty chair across from her.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake Alex Deegan." Her voice was silken and rich. The type of voice that one would expect to hear from trained singers or performers. The type of voice that one could listen to and lose themselves. "Please come join me, we have a lot to discuss before you make your choice."

That comment got him moving and he quickly closed his mouth and moved to the offered seat. Sitting in it he looked closer at the woman across from him. Her long hair flowed loose and wavy down past her shoulders and was the rich vermillion that had so enraptured him. A soft jade blouse draped her body demurely though it hinted at her form beneath. When she leaned forward placing her elbows on the table before resting her chin on her steepled fingers it drew his eyes up to her face. Full lips sat beneath a small slightly upturned nose creating a classically beautiful face. But even those features were subsumed by her eyes. Those orbs conveyed a world of emotions with just slight changes. The deep emerald drew him in and held him captive.

"Where am I?" He finally croaked after several long minutes of being pinned by her gaze. "Who are you? What happened? Am I dead? I was hit by a car! Wait, am I dreaming? And who are you?" His initial question broke the dam of his thoughts, and the others came out in a torrent. One question after another not permitting the woman a chance to speak or answer between them. Fear and worry started to build at the sudden changes to everything he knew.

The sadness he had noticed before the pain returned to her eyes and she nodded somberly. "You are in limbo, Alex. You have a choice to make. I didn't intend for your death so suddenly, but it confirms you are who I was looking for." She sat back in her chair and watched as the emotions played over his features at her words. "My name is Danu and I am here to ask you to help me."

"If I am dead, how am I supposed to help you? How does my dying help anyone? I mean sure I wasn't impacting anyone other than myself before but dying doesn't help anyone. And what is this choice you're speaking of? Kinda out of options being, I don't know, dead and all aren't I?" His tongue loosened by the situation his tone became more heated the more he spoke. "Wait what do you mean you didn't intend for my death suddenly? You were going to kill me eventually?" He pushed himself back from the table and moved to rise.

Danu reached out a hand and placed it on his. The warmth of her touch flowed through his body calming him suddenly and he stopped trying to stand only staring at her in a blend of awe and disbelief. "Peace Alex. I did not intend to kill you. Your time was fated though it would seem my presence hastened it. Even the Ixyl," She paused a moment thinking, "I think you would know of them as the Fates, cannot see precisely how the weave of time and fate will form. Just hints and possibilities, since knowing changes it." She leaned back once again and studied Alex closely. "Your choice is a simple one. Help me or move on. When you were struck by the car and dealt a mortal wound, I was able to intercept your soul as it left your body and bring it here to have our discussion." Motioning behind Alex she pointed to two dark doorways. "You walk through that one," she pointed to the one on the left, "to help me. And the other," this time she pointed to the right doorway, "will allow you to pass on to the afterlife."

Alex looked to the doorways trying to see beyond their darkened frames at what might lay in store. Seeing nothing but shadows and darkness beyond them he turned back to the woman. "Wait, you caught my soul? Are you a god or something? I mean I didn't think they were real but... No, I must be in the hospital, and this is a coma-induced dream. This can't be real."

Once again, she reached out and placed her hand on his, the calm sensation suffused his body at her touch. "Yes, I am what you would consider a goddess. One of many, in fact, in the world I am offering you. If you decide to help me it won't be easy, but I won't force you to do anything. The world is dying, though it won't be for centuries, the path can be changed now if someone, if you, are willing to try."

"Why me?" The weight of her words settled on Alex even as her touch calmed his mind. Everything he had known in his life had been upturned in a moment, but she was offering him a new start it sounded like. "What would I have to do? Where would I go?"

Her smile brightened and her eyes sparkled seeming as if endless galaxies swirled in their jade depths. "What you do is up to you to figure out Alex. You would be given a new life on Arath aware that the world is tipping towards chaos and failure. You could drive it further towards that end and speed the eventual demise of the world forward, or you could become the balance and pull it back from the brink. I did say I wouldn't force you to do anything. The choice is yours here and there." A mischievous glint shimmered in her eyes again, "You have always dreamed of an isekai life haven't you?"

Alex stared at Danu for a few minutes weighing her words and the possible choice. He wasn't ready to die and go to the afterlife, whatever it might be, yet. That left him accepting her choice. He smirked slightly; did she actually just try to use the potential of an isekai experience to tempt him? Rising slowly, he turned towards the doorways. "Alright Danu, say I accept what happens when I walk through that door?"

Her smile remained warm on her lips as she rose and walked to his side. "Through that doorway, you start your new life. The world is different from Earth, it's more like the games and books you enjoy so it should have a special appeal to you."

As he walked cautiously towards the doorway on the left and the potential of a whole new experience, he glanced back over his shoulder to see the room empty once again. Her voice filled his ears as his foot broke the plane of the doorway and he vanished from the room. "Thank you, Alex. Good luck and welcome to your next life."