"So I was already dead by the time you arrived," I said with a slightly forlorn expression.
"You don't seem surprised. Care to share your reasoning?" She seemed genuinely intrigued.
Considering how she went for me specifically in that desolate area and how she has treated me thus far, Phaidra should've been after me from the start. Something along the lines of a background check except extensively detailed is what I should make of it considering the identity of the young lady before me.
She understands my character and has gone the extra mile to accommodate me thus far. It may be that she treats all mortals like this or that she's too carefree and easygoing to act according to her position. But, I'd like to believe that I'm a special case.
I had initially thought that she arrived just in time to save me from passing on but in hindsight, it appears to be more likely that Phaidra was waiting for something to occur before making her grand entrance. It could be that she had just been taking her time or arrived unfortunately late, leaving me to suffer longer than I'd like. However, what would be most probable based on my interpretation of her actions up til now is that Phaidra was only able to act after fulfilling certain conditions. The details, I'm unsure of but my death is undoubtedly one of those, that I am sure of now.
"Above all else, my sudden revitalization was a key point to consider. With the amount of blood loss in addition to several factors pertaining to my condition, it was weird enough that I didn't die earlier. I also had a strange feeling that those circumstances were rather familiar to me for whatever reason." I explained as best I could but despite its recentness, the details seemed vague.
Although I'm only really thinking about it now, at the time, I did have a peculiar sense of deja va but couldn't quite put my finger on it, not especially with the state I was in then.
"A strange feeling you say... What a pleasant surprise. It seems I've given your soul less credit than it's due. It works to both of our benefits anyways. Oh. I apologize. You must be confused. That hunch of yours isn't that far off but it'd be more accurate to say that your soul was reliving its final moments." Phaidra said with a grin admit slightly surprised eyes. I can take it that it isn't common in my case.
"My final moments?..." I pondered.
"Yes. Due to a prior agreement, upon death, your soul would come under my authority which would mean your fate, that is to say, your reincarnation was to be fully under my discretion. I've kept the overall framework and core of your soul intact which includes your memories and ego but due to a lack of a proper vessel, you must've been revisiting most of your memories." She explained while passing me a cup of hot tea she pulled out of thin air.
"I see. I still don't quite understand entirely but I have a general idea. I died but due to your circumstances, my soul fell into your custody and is set to enter this fantasy-like world known as Elara which you govern. A second life so to speak if I'm getting things right."
"Exactly! Glad you're so quick on the uptake. That makes things a whole lot easier for me to work with!" Phaidra exclaimed with contagious enthusiasm.
Ha. With her confirmation, matters were practically set. I took a sip of the tea as I recollected my thoughts. Refreshing, I thought for a moment.
A second chance for someone like me. Do I really deserve it? Rather, will I be able to do things right this time? Anxiety is starting to well within me. I'm apprehensive of how things will turn out but at the same time, I greatly anticipate seeking out what I couldn't accomplish in this lifetime. Whether or not I'll be able to find someone or something to cherish, a notion I wouldn't be able to fathom just a few moments ago. I'm incredibly grateful for such an opportunity yet can't help but fear messing up once again.
"Those concerns are something you have to resolve on your own during your journey. If you can't even do that, life will be cut short for you down in Elara." She added on with a sudden change of expression.
"I'd better start prepping myself as early as possible then." I forced a smile as I took a glance at the scenery once more. With creatures as large as airplanes flying about, breathing flames or summoning giant pillars of rocks as they fought, I could see my bleak future if I don't learn to do something about them.
"That you should do as a priority. Now to the crux of the issue with everything else out of the way. The history of Elara is as important as anything else. The details you'll learn of as you live amongst others." She put down her cup of tea as I prepared myself.
"You should take into consideration that there are multiple deities aside from me overseeing Elara whose differing positions often come in contrast with one another. Conflicts of all sorts were commonplace and they had escalated to destructive proportions, implementing the resources of Elara unnecessarily. Although we held back considerably, those battles were one among plenty. Mind you, this was several eons ago but had they continued, restoration would've been nothing short of a hassle." Phaidra recounted as she devised a cloud and reconstructed it to show some scenes like that of a play for better visualization of the matter and its severity.
The cloud showcased craters across the land, areas in ruins left and right, at every inch of space. Cities were leveled in instances, mountains uplifted, and launched across miles at astounding speed. They were walking natural disasters and they weren't even using the full brunt of their powers. It was like an action film that was escalated to insane levels of collateral damage.
"This went on for I don't know how long until a fellow ruling deity, the goddess of Justice and Order came up with a proposition centered around proxies to settle our respective disputes without getting our persons involved. These proxies became known as Apostles amongst the people of Elara and they hold significant influence, the strongest amongst them with enough authority to sway nations alike."
Terrifying. I thought. To think the deities would be so disharmonious and have so much infighting. Siding with one or the other during a divide in opinion will drive a wedge in their relations as time goes on until it's unrecoverable, at least amongst humans that would be the case. They know their limits and aren't taking matters too far but the continuous conflicts add up too quickly. It wouldn't be easy to settle them down peacefully without having them release some tension or frustrations. Having proxies duke it out in their place seems to be just about the best solution all in all.
"Wait, when you say these proxies known as Apostles fought in your place, how exactly was that done?" I was worried that their fighting had just about gotten as destructive over the years and that was what I needed to help with resolving.
"Those are needless worries. Our Apostles know their limits and they should act with the authority granted to them. We hand-picked them ourselves every generation and oversee them to the best of our abilities to embody our respective positions. Well anyways, going back to before, to help enforce the proposition, we all signed an agreement of our nonassociation or involvement in mortal affairs." Phaidra helped resolve my worries as she continued.
"We each followed that agreement strictly. That was until recently..." She said with a hint of fury.
"While I was away for a meeting for some official business, I also took some time off. I had been working quite diligently then and well, I just wanted a break. But that bastard took advantage of my momentary absence to cause some havoc. Can you believe it? Someone as old as he was acting so childish just because I embarrassed him in front of the others a tad here and there." She remarked with contempt.
"I feel like you're understating your antics here. I send him my sympathy." I added when I thought of Phaidra's personality.
"You only say that because you've never met that bastard before. I know you would have an immediate change of heart if you did." Their conflicts must go deep.
"It seems you truly find him unfavorable," I told her.
"Ha, unfavorable is practically a compliment to someone as detestable as him." She took a deep breath.
"Enough of that. Just know that he caused a lot of trouble for me in the past and continues to do so and I need your help in resolving those troubles. Naturally, that's not all but one of the crucial points. You don't need to know anymore lest I leave you with too many worries before I send you off." She stated as she began to sit herself up straight and brought some bags of popular brands of chips. Mentioning the guy who gets on her nerves has seemed to send her into a bad mood. Her unpleasant countenance said it all.
It'd probably be best to drive the conversation elsewhere. This helps anyway. I can resolve my concerns while hopefully improving my overall mood. I gathered my courage and clenched my fists. I was oddly uneasy.
"Why choose me of all people? Even if there were some conditions in place to filter out as many others as possible, what do you see in me that a few billion others don't have."