I am a lawyer...or at least I was until I was killed at the back of the street while interviewing a client's witness. What have I done wrong?
Now, the reason I was targeted may be this recent case I took for a friend (who was on vacation) that dealt with a divorce between a wealthy and intelligent CFO and his equally cunning wife. It's a classic case of a mistress wanting to marry her man despite him being already married. This case was very different from your regular divorce negotiations though, as both parties possessed hidden wealth and income, and they accused each other of stashing money and evading taxes. Both wanted a larger part of each other's property and none was willing to give it. My client was the man and I may have taken part in some deontologically questionable maneuvers for his sake. In the end, we won the case. The assassin must've been sent by the wife to take revenge on me...
Enough about that. I think I died way too young. I mean, as 25 years old with a master's degree in law, I believe I did have the potential to go far had I been allowed to live longer. I spoke four languages, namely English, French, German and Spanish, some of the most practical languages to do business in the West . In terms of looks, I don't think I was too bad, as I had brown eyes and very blond hair. The only problem was that I wasn't too tall, but that happens when you didn't do enough sport when you were younger.
I was caught in a hurricane, I dare believe, and as the man shot through my mouth, and liquid, maybe blood, filled my throat and lungs. My eyes closed and my consciousness seemed to drift somewhere...somewhere dark. It was comfortable dusk, like a mother's womb. I felt protected. I felt like I was loved. It's been a long time since I felt like this. It was nice.
Peter...
Peter...
PETER!
Huh? What is it? A voice called me...whose is it? It feels familiar, like a long-forgotten memory coming back to me.
"Your premature death wasn't an accident."
Well, of course, it was that woman. Who are you, anyway?
"I am Chronus, God of Time. I see everything. The past, the present and the future are my domain. As for you, let's say that... there's a world that needs you more. Had you stayed in your old world, you would do great things..."
Um...so why have me die now?
"Great, but terrible things. Like Adolf Hitler before you, your experiences later in life will force you to bring disaster upon the world, a disaster that us Titans cannot overlook."
Oh great, so the world was overseen by Titans. I had always thought that there was this one God who ruled everyone.
"Hahahahaha! THAT God...Us Titans have been fighting for two millennia to become that one universal God you people believe in. Right now, it's me, but I foresee that in eight hundred years...things will change."
"Enough chatter. You will be sent to another world, a world where you will be able to flourish and maximize the use of your talents. The technological progress in this world resembles that of around the French Revolution in yours, though their societal maturity is lagging behind. They are still in a late Renaissance mindset."
Ok? Do they have toilets and running water? I wouldn't survive without.
"No. So your job is to live in this world and follow where your heart brings you. This is the only advice I can give you. You will be granted two abilities that will distinguish you from the rest of the people. First, you will be able to learn anything ten times faster than anyone else. Your brain's processing power will be improved to assess large amounts of information at once. Your memory will also be adjusted accordingly, including for what you've experienced in your past life. Your second "power" is to be able to have a bird's view of every battlefield you are in. That includes grand battlefields beyond thousands of acres. Your brain will have such a function, so don't worry. As I had to give you part of myself to grant you these powers, your body will be partially divine, about 1%, and you will age slower than anybody else in your environment."
Wait, you want me to be a military man or what? I'm a lawyer! And ummm... how long do I get to live? Like 100 years and I die looking like 20?
"You will live around 150 years and yeah, you die looking like 40."
Well, I guess I have no choice. I like the prospect of starting everything from scratch and having cool powers.
"Well anyway, here's my cue. Live well, child of the Gods. Enjoy your new life!"
And I fell.