Akuro Zaizen stirred in his endless sleep, his eyes slowly opening to the void around him. It was cold and dark, his eyes took in nothing. It were as if they were still closed tightly shut.
'Well...' Akuro thought, 'shit. I'm dead.' He let out a frustrated sigh. 'I never even got to finish all my games! Or watching all my anime, how horrible! My pride... it hurts... I am guilty of not finishing my anime watch list...' Akuro thought back to when he was alive. 'How the hell did I even die?' He wondered, crossing his legs in the empty void, his body seemingly floating adrift. 'Ah that's right! That damn idiot driver...' Akuro died by a car accident when a drunk driver had crashed his truck into Akuro's pathetic little car, killing him instantly. 'How embarrassing... I didn't even go out with a bang. Oh well, too late to cry now. Wait... can I watch anime in the afterlife?'
Though he thought this, he felt that something was missing, a patch of memory that his mind seemed to block out, and every time he tried to think of it, he'd feel a sense of dread, guilt and depression. And so, he decided it better to just… not think of it at all.
"Yo, god man, do you exist?" Akuro called out into the void, but he was met with only a faint echo of his own voice. "Ah nevermind. Why would god answer to a low life like myself anyway? How stupid of me to think he would."
Akuro said, giving up. He was never one to try too hard at anything in his life other than video games. He was lazy and got bored of things quickly.
'What's going on... nothing is happening...oi.. it isn't working!'
"You really seem unaffected by the fact that you are dead, boy." Came a sudden, booming voice. By instinct, Akuro opened his eyes to see an old man with squinted eyes, dry, pale skin and long white hair with a long beard. He wore a silver, flowing cloak and a light seemed to emit from him, filling up the void.
"Yea well the whole thing really hasn't sunken in yet." Akuro replied.
"I can see that." The man grunted.
"Oi, so I'm guessing your god?" Akuro asked.
"I'm one of them, yes." The old man replied.
"One of them? You mean there are multiple?"
"Indeed there are, in fact there are many gods and goddesses."
"Oh cool, I bet the goddesses are hot." Akuro was putting on a tough, silly front, but he couldn't quite shake the discomforted feeling he had in his heart.
"Hmm it would seem you are quite immature." The man said in an irritated attitude. "I hope you are a better candidate than you seem."
"Candidate?" Akuro asked, now intrigued. 'I knew it. There is no way a god would come to me for no reason... so he wants something to do with me... I wonder...' he thought.
The old man smirked. "I see you aren't so stupid after all. You are quite like a Gemini, you have two sides of one coin. On one hand your an immature fool... on the other you are observant and tactful like a hunting predator. Maybe you are a good choice."
"Choice for what?" Akuro asked, his tone serious now.
The man's thin eyes opened slightly, revealing gold, all knowing eyes. "To become a deity."
Akuro's eyes widened. 'A deity..? What does he mean by this, does he intend to reincarnate me as a god or something?'
"Close. A deity is part god part human. And yes, I do intend to reincarnate you."
'I see you can read my thoughts. As expected of a god.' Akuro thought.
"Hah! Indeed. I am surprised as to how well you are taking all of this in. If I may ask, why are you so... unaffected?"
'Who am I to deny the will of a god and of destiny itself. I am dead. As soon as I realized this I accepted it, this is your realm, I have no liberty to deny you. I usually like to go with the flow and not much can get to me, other than the death of my favorite character. So, in simple, I'm unaffected because I don't care.' Akuro said mentally with a shrug.
The old geezer blinked a few times before he threw his head back in a hefty laugh that shook Akuro. "You are dead and in the presence of a god... and you don't care? Hah! I like you, Akuro!"
'I don't see what's to like, but okay. Whatever you say old man.' Akuro thought with a tilt of his head. 'Now may I ask, what am I a "candidate" for? You said it was to be a deity, but that's not quite as specific as I'd like. Can you explain further, geezer?'
"Geezer? Listen here boy, my name is Raijin, and you will address me as such!" The god growled.
'Yeah whatever.'
"Humph. You really could care less, I can't tell if it's a strength or a fault at this rate. No matter. As you request, I shall explain." Raijin sat with his legs crossed. "Every hundred years, we gods pick five souls to be resurrected as leaders of mankind. These resurrected leaders are the ones who decide the future of mankind, whether it be destruction or fame. We grant each of these chosen a single wish to gain any power they choose except for one: the power to bend reality, as well as any other power that would have similar effects, such as wishing for omnipotence, omniscience, as well as any power that could result in the end of existence itself. Though the power you wish for can grow to surpass that of a god, despite the low chances of it, your immediate power to begin with cannot be greater than that of I myself, for I cannot grant a power I do not have."
"Other than this, you can have any power you see fit, and with these powers they shape mankind's future. Think of it as us gods testing man's ability to survive on their own."
"So, basically, what you are saying is every major event in history, war, inventions, the birth of kingdoms, heroes, plagues, and the greatest event of all, the creation of anime, is caused by you gods and those you deem worthy of your blessings?" Akuro observed.
"The creation of anime is not one of the major events, but yes, you are correct for the most part. You are wrong in saying we are the ones who cause these events though, we only set the stage for these events, ultimately, the choices of mankind are what bring the events themselves about."
"The last time we chose deities, the choices they made led to World War 1, though that's not really the First World War, there were plenty before it, man's history is long. Ultimately, technological and scientific advancement and the growth of man's weapons, including nuclear weapons, were all the wishes of those before you. So, do you see how important this is? Maybe you should start caring, hmm? Seeing as most times when deities are selected, death follows."
"Yes... but I do have one important question..." Akuro said, his tone now more serious than it had been the entire conversation.
'Finally... he's getting serious.' Raijin thought with a slight grin. "Yes?"
"How could you say the creation of anime is not one of the major events! How can that be!?" Akuro growled with clenched teeth.
"The fact that you asked that with all seriousness disturbs me." Raijin sighed. "Fine, yes anime is one of the major events, happy now?" He lied.
"I knew it!" Akuro said with pride.
"Hmm the future of man is indeed in some... strange hands... no matter. Akuro, you are one of the five chosen to become a Deity. Do you accept this responsibility?" Raijin said, pressure emanating from him and his voice booming. Akuro straightened up.
'It seems he is not just some old geezer. Oh well, he is the god Raijin, I should of expected as much.' Akuro thought. "Sure, but I have one last question before I accept fully."
"Why me? And if selecting deities leads to destruction and death, why do it at all?"
"Finally, a serious question, even though it is two, not one. Well boy, sadly, this is a question I can't answer. I'm not the one who picks and chooses the candidates, I am just sent to do the bidding of the higher ups. And as for the whole death thing, as I said before, that is up to humanity and the choices you make. We do not cause the deaths ourselves."
'Oi, so even the gods have a hierarchy. Why am I not surprised?' Akuro thought.
Raijin was waiting for Akuro to say something when he shivered, realizing something. He could not read the human's thoughts any longer. 'Astonishing... within a few short minutes he was able to close off his mind to me... this boy... his potential is boundless if he already has this much aura control.' Raijin smiled. 'He was definitely a wise choice, your majesty!'
"Alright, old man, I accept." Akuro said finally.
"Good!" Raijin smiled, then turned angry, "wait! I told you to call me Raijin, not old man! Have some respect!"
"Actually you told me not to call you geezer, you never said anything about calling you old man." Akuro remarked.
"Well old man does not fly either, boy!"
"Oi... then what about gramps?"
Raijin sighed, his head bowed. "Whatever, I give up."
"Alright then, gramps, I accept. So... now what?" Akuro said, tilting his head. 'It seems he can't read my thoughts anymore. So steeling my mind seemed to of worked, who would've thought my meditations would have payed off in the afterlife. Anime rules!'
"Now, I grant you any power of your choosing before we join the others and reincarnate you." Raijin spoke.
'Others huh... I'm guessing this is more than some simple test for mankind... this could be annoying if there are others like me. He said earlier that five candidates are picked every hundred years, there is no telling what they could wish for. Meaning I have to dream up something better than all of them!' Akuro grew giddy, he felt like he was about to become the main character in an epic anime!
"Now then," Raijin said, his gold eyes gleaming like lightning against a black sky, "what... is... your... wish?"
Akuro bowed his head in thought. 'I can't be hasty in my decision. I can have any power I can dream up, other than the ability to bend reality. Oi, I have to be careful, if I don't pick something strong enough, I might just end up dead. Hmm... maybe I should wish for immortality and super strength? No. That's too cliche and insipid. Maybe I should wish for the power to control the weather? I could cause hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning. No... too weak, if I wished for something like that I should just wish to control all the elements, not just weather, and even if I could control all the elements there is always a weakness to that.'
'There are plenty of powers that could beat that. Ooh maybe I could wish for the power to control the tectonic plates! Yeah, then I could shatter the earth or make the oceans rise or fall, or I could make earth quakes! No... I could still die with a power like that, and I doubt I could wish for both immortality and that kind of strength. Maybe I could wish for the power to create life and even galaxies? Wait... wouldn't that kinda be like bending reality? I doubt that would slide. Hmm... oi this is hard...' Akuro's head started to hurt.
Raijin watched his deity candidate with intense eyes. He knew that the moment of the wish was crucial, if the deity's wish was not strong enough, they would surly die by the hand of the other deities... and the the god who is connected to that candidate would fail their mission and... Raijin shook his head. He could not let that happen... he could only hope his candidate made a good wish.
Akuro's dark blue eyes flashed open then in realization. 'That's it! I need a power that will make my strength immense, but also makes me immortal, and I know just the power.' Akuro met Raijin's gaze with his own. "Hey gramps, I know my wish."
"Hmm?" Raijin grunted, ignoring Akuro's lack of manners.
Akuro smirked, confident in his decision. "I wish... to become Death itself."