Toin de Prince woke up on a sofa. Those kind of sofa on the waiting lounge of an office. He was confused. Where is he? Why is he here?
The last thing he remembered, he was in a war.
Now, he's surrounded by people busily working in their own cubicles.
"Monsieur Toin de Prince?" He looked to his left. A woman in business suit was standing at the door of an office. "The boss is ready to see you now."
Who's the boss? He thought to himself. Reluctantly, he got up and went inside the office. The lady closed the door behind him.
"Greetings, Toin." Toin turned around from the door.
The boss, as she called it, was a man seemingly in his 50s. A full beard and hair, all purple. A warm, but exuding power, smile. He looked not that old. Yet, through his eyes, Toin could sense that the boss was significantly older.
"You're right. I'm way older than 50-ish."
Toin was shocked hearing the smiling old man's words. "Y-you can hear my thoughts?"
"Yes well...one of the perks of being a god, I suppose."
Toin was weak on the knees. He knew he recognized the man somewhere. Famous in his village, in his island country even. His statues, drawings, images on clay pots, Toin should've recognized him sooner. In his state of shock and confusion, he could only mustered to say one name. "Ahoana…"
"Ah, you know of me. I'm proud to have a warrior remembering a frail god from the old world such as me."
"Heh," Toin scoffed. "What a useless warrior am I." It hit Toin right then and there. "I must be dead now, right?"
Ahoana's warm smile deteriorated a bit. "Yes child. I'm sorry."
"And how did I die."
"Oh, bravely of course. You died protecting the village from the thugs of the mayor. Your death, among with others who stood with you, gave your friends and family, along with all of the villagers, a chance to escape."
"Huh, yeah right. Now they lost their homes, probably becoming immigrants to the western countries. Who'll probably inflict them with a myriad of humiliating 'screening' procedures. What sort of warrior am I, if I can't even protect my own small village. My own wife and kids."
"Then...how about a second chance?"
Toin looked at Ahoana in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
"I'm offering you a second chance. A chance to save your village. To save the entire country of Ratsy from the evil dictator of a president. What say you?"
All his life, having dealt with bad guys, have thought him to be distrustful. Especially when the offer was too good to be true. "And what do you want in return?"
"Hahaha, good man. You catch on quick."
Toin knew it. There must be something. Nobody, not even a god, do something for free. "So, what is it? The traditional human sacrifice?"
"Oh no. What good a human life is to a god. Human sacrifice is to feed the monster, not to appease god."
It's news to Toin. He's certainly glad that the ritual stopped, and they killed monsters instead of feeding them. He tried not to let his amazement on this new piece of knowledge shown on his face. "Then what is it?"
"You see, I'm dying…" Toin was too shock, and interrupted Ahoana. "Gods can die?"
"Oh yes, of course. We are all sons of Chronos, therefore we are bound by time. When the time come, old gods die, and replaced by a new god."
"Whoa…" He realized he's interrupting Ahoana so rudely. "Sorry. Please continue."
"Hehe, you're a funny man. Anyway, I am dying. Unfortunately, my death will create a chain of events that will destroy the world. As it had destroyed yours, unfortunately."
"How so?"
"You see, long ago, before humans, Earth was ruled by monsters. They can do as they please, and so made a part of this Earth their kingdom. Then, the gods put humans on this Earth. The monsters, not willing to relinquish control of their kingdom, decided to kill all of humans. So a war was fought. The very first war. Between humans and monsters. The monsters cannot be killed, so the humans came to me for help. And I, created prisons for these monsters, on the island surrounding the Nosy Loza."
"What? So the tales were true? Ratsy was...prisons for the monsters?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, since my magic was used to create the prisons, once I died, the magic will died with me. The monsters will be unleashed, and the world shall become their private kingdom once again."
"Then...if even you cannot defeat them, what can I do? You're a god! I'm...I'm just a human."
"Oh, but a fine human you are. And I won't just told you to fight the monsters without any plan. I may be old, but I'm not senile. Yet."
Toin chuckled at the joke, as do Ahoana. "Okay then, what is the plan?"
"So, the monsters, their power and immortality came from their magic."
"Ah, so take their magic, and they are vulnerable. Is that it?"
"You truly are a warrior. Yes, you're right. If you can harvest their power, they will be as weak as a human." Toin gave a sarcastic side eye to Ahoana, which made him chuckled again. "Oh right, sorry."
Toin ignored Ahoana. "Wait, harvest? What do you mean? I could just take it?"
"Yes, that's the plan. I shall bestowed your soul with my remaining power, and the abundance of knowledge I possessed. Your soul shall be equipped with the capabilities to harness their power as your own. But, things won't be that easy."
"Another catch. Such is the cruel way of the world, huh?"
"Unfortunately so, my child. You need to ready you vessel...I mean your body, to be able to contain all the power of the monster. If not, your vessel will crack, and you will die."
"Can't you...revived me again?"
"If I'm still alive, yes. But what if I'm already dead. And, I did gave you all my powers. It takes time for my power to be replenished. So be careful. You can't count on me to revive you again."
Toin was silence for a bit. It's a dangerous task, sure. A new kind of enemy. A new kind of war. Before he was only fighting his fellow humans. And he got killed by it. What chance did he have against immortal, magical monsters.
But then again, he was already dead. What did he have to lose. Worse come to worse. He'd just die again. And he got to fight monsters. His warrior blood was boiling, egging him to agree to the deal. And Toin was inclined to agree.
"Fine, I'll do it. But I don't want to just be fighting against monsters. I wanted to take down the dictator first."
"As you should. The dictator's also been taking orders from one of the monsters."
"Hehe, good. Easier for me to kill him."
"Wonderful. Then, if you could follow my secretary, she'll have everything sorted for you."
Toin got up, and the secretary was already waiting at the door. Before he stepped out, he had one final question. "By the way, what sort of powers do you have?"
"You've read the tales, haven't you?"
"I...I forgot."
"Well, then you'll have a fun time of reading and discovery."
Toin rolled his eyes, and stepped out of the office.