My life had ended.
Was it possible to cognitively recognize that fact? From the moment I was impacted by that speeding car, to the exact moment that my brain entered shock and ceased proper function – it was a millisecond, but still enough time for me to reflect on anything that I had done. All the excitement, joy, embarrassment, sadness.
I awoke again at the foot of a gigantic marble throne, and sat upon it was an unearthly beauty with flowing gold hair and a white cloak that blew in a supernatural breeze. She smirked at my gaping maw.
"Rejoice mortal, you have been chosen by me!"
I clambered to my feet on unsteady legs and tried to understand where I was. An infinite void of white nothing stretched in every direction, the only landmark being the throne and two rows of marble pillar lining the sides of an invisible room. "Where am I? Who are you?"
She held a hand to her buxom chest and smirked, "I am Celeste, goddess of wealth, industry, prosperity and fertility! The patron deity of the mighty Laddite Church!" Of course – I didn't understand any of what she was saying. All of those titles were new to me. And despite her good looks and our surroundings, she looked like any normal person from back home.
"And why am I here?"
"Fufufu. Mortal, surely you already know! Tales such as this were very popular on your home world, were they not?" My mind travelled to several different places before settling on a vague memory of what she was talking about, one of my friends in school was really into those kinds of stories, but not me.
"…Uh. I was never really into that kind of thing."
"Hm?"
"I preferred more… traditional writing."
Celeste blinked, once, twice, before waving me away with a shift of her pedicured hand, "It is of no concern. I merely wish to bestow a second chance upon you! And for the small payment of becoming my avatar!"
"And that means?"
"Spreading the good word of the church, performing great deeds, slaying evil in my name…"
"I'm not much of a fighter, or a speaker."
She looked down upon me with frustration in her golden eyes, "Those are mere trifles, easily fixable by a deity such as myself. I am offering you the chance to become something greater than you are now, yet you reject it so easily…" She reached into my skull and retrieved one of my eyes, incinerating it in her palm with a golden flame. "As foolhardy as you are, and as liable as you are to reject my help – I will grant you a gift to ensure your continued survival."
"But…"
"I will hear nothing of it, young man. Consider it a gift."
Despite having one of my eyes torn from my skull, I felt no pain, nor was there any bleeding. Before I could consider her words any further, she summoned a golden orb in place of my old eye, and slotted it back into the vacant space. For a moment to new organ felt like a foreign presence in my mind, but after adjusting it proved to be even better than my old eye.
"This is the King's Eye," she explained, "It will grant you the power of rule. The common man's knowledge shall be yours, all you need do is ask."
An inhuman knowledge filled my mind like a screed of instructions for something much more mundane. The King's Eye. A godly power that allowed me to copy the knowledge of any living being and transfer it to myself or another. The eye also granted me enhanced cognition, and the ability to see through surfaces.
"Why did you give me this?" I asked.
The goddess smiled glibly, "If you so chose to be a mundane man, then the King's Eye will be nothing more than an inconvenience. If you chose to be the avatar I wish you to be, it will be an invaluable tool."
"That's not what I meant."
She finally relented with a sigh, "Listen child, the Laddite church is in a sorry state of affairs, no thanks to those bigoted nobles and their stupid false religions. My follows are expelled from the cities, our holy artefacts are looted and defiled, and moment by moment I grow weaker as the grip of our faith wanes.
"You can spend your time chasing tail for all I care, the only thing I ask from you in return is to remember this favour – and if given the chance, assist my followers come what may. Can you do that much at least?"
I didn't really want to sign myself up to be a prophet for her religion or whatever, but the prospect of a second life was an innately attractive one. I hadn't had enough of my old one, which had been brutally cut short by a careless driver. I mulled over my options for a moment, "What would happen to me if I refused your offer?"
"Your soul would ascend to the spirit world, but I must warn you, it is very very boring. So very dull those spirits." I didn't really have any idea what the spirit world was or what made it so boring. And to that, I concluded that the devil I knew was more attractive than the devil I didn't. I knew what it was like to be alive, and what was the worst that could happen? Short of dying again.
"I use this power you gave me to do whatever I like, and help out the Laddite church if I can?"
"Yes, yes. You aren't the first young mortal I've sent on a similar path."
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Wonderful!" she claps her hands together, and suddenly my clothes changed from my normal, casual outfit to something out of a high fantasy world. A long, navy blue coat with a gold trim, wool slacks dark in colour, and a rather uncomfortable white undershirt. My trainers had been supplanted for a pair of rough leather boots. "That should allow you to fit in a little better, and if you may – check your pockets."
I slipped my right hand into one of the coat pockets and pulled out two things. The first was a piece of black leather fashioned into a black eyepatch, not of the pirate variety – it was more of a headband that dipped down to cover one side of my face. The other was a small tome bound in red fabric. I opened a random page and found a dry history lesson about some place called the "Black Coast," complete with images of heraldry and military uniforms.
"What are these for?"
Celeste pointed to the book in my right hand, "That is a helpful guide to the place you are going. It contains all of the knowledge that your average adult living there would know. I suggest you study up if you wish to fit in."
"And the eyepatch?"
"Unfortunately, some people foolishly believe that they can steal our powers by retrieving our holy gifts. I've had many such cases where one of my avatars had an eye scooped out. Your eyes are now of a different shade to each other, cover one with the patch and protect yourself. And only entrust that information to your closest allies."
I shuddered to think. Heeding her words, I covered the King's Eye with the eyepatch and slipped the band under my messy hair. When I looked back up, Celeste was looking through some kind of magical portal zooming over a vast landscape, "Where to drop you? Hm. That seems interesting."
"What?"
"A caravan of travellers in neutral territory. Nothing too dangerous around, and surely you'll find your way with their assistance."
Before I could ask any further questions, she snapped her fingers, and a grassy field appeared under my feet in a circle. "Bye! Good luck!"
"Wait!"
I fell through the hole and flat onto my back. As the breath escape from my lungs, I could only wonder what was in store for me in this new world. My hands clutched the green grass and pulled it out of the ground, for a moment – I rejoiced in being able to feel and live again. I heard the sound of someone's voice calling to me. I sat up and twisted around, see a group of people travelling along a dirt road behind me.
Horse-drawn carts of all shapes and sized passed me by, but one had pulled over to the side of the road. An old man with a thick, rust coloured beard waved to me. I got to my feet and walked over, curious as to why he was so interested in me. It was time to make a first impression.