Plumes of smoke and ash towereing in the air in every direction for as far as the eye could see, craters and chasms as wide and deep as canyons; the land had been decimated by the most terrible battle the magical world of Atla had ever witnessed.
The Demon King had been far more powerful than the hero could have anticipated and as the downpour washed the evidence of warfare away, only one man remained standing, clutching his sword with a vacant expression in his lifeless grey eyes as he stared down at the final enemy skewered by his weapon and slowly fading away into particles of light and dust having exhausted his very life essence in the final stand against the hero.
He had not seen the sun in weeks since joining the war, his armour was torn and tattered beyond physical repair and his skin had gone pale from the overwhelming weather and eldless fighting; what remained of the person he once was now only a memory, this war had recreated him, he was born anew.
"You fought well, warrior, I am honoured to have died by your blade," The Demon King smiled, extending his one good hand and pressing it against the hero's forehead as white cracks slowly spread across his broken armour. "For what it is worth, I share regret for what I did..."
"You should have never attacked this world, you should have never come here," The warrior sneered back at the demon. "You bastard, you should have never existed, there is nothing left to salvage from either sides, you and your demons killed all the all of my people, and I have destroyed your race down to the last child, the last beast, everything is gone, but to what end did you even go that far?" The hero ground his teeth visibly bitter and unwilling to forgive the demon beneath him. "It was all for nothing!" He drove his sword deeper into the heart of his enemy sneering and hissing in pain as blood dropped from his eyes and nose. "You monster!!"
"I never cared for this world to begin with, I just wanted to go back home, but I made friends in this terrible war, after years of fighting by their side, I had allies... I found... I found love, and because of you, I now have nothing!" He released his sword and fell to his hands, kicking up mud as he grabbed the dead Demon King by his broken horn and started punching him. "Get up, keep fighting, you're all that's left here, don't leave me here to wither in the aftermath of your war!" The warrior sobbed, taking a moment to breathe and then looking to the skies and screaming with every bit of strength his tired bones could summon.
"What more do you want from me, Ikaris!?" He cried to the clouds. "I did what you wanted didn't I, they're all dead aren't they?"
"You did well, Hero," came a voice from beside him and with the voice a bright light opened the clouds and a woman clad in white robes with great wings on her back appeared like a flash of lightning, her skin had a slight glow, and she wore a glowing white dress and a crown of flowers atop her head, her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, and her hair was darker than any night could ever be, shimmering with traces of starlight.
"I congratulate you on defeating the Demon King, you have removed this great evil from my beautiful world and I can now start rebuilding once more," She went on her knee in the mud before him and gently cupped his cheeks, resting his face in her breasts as his wounds began steaming and healing.
"As I had promised, whatever you want I will grant it, riches, I can give that to you, all of Atla is yours if you demand it, if you wish to join me as a spouse or companion, or to have me beneath your heel, I will give you whatever you want, Sol, I am eternally grateful to you so tell me and I will grant you anything as the goddess of this world; as the ruler of this universe."
"Can you... bring my friends back, I miss them, and my fiance too?" Sol had his head in the goddesses bosom as he spoke.
"Your... fiance?" The goddess asked surprised, she was the most beautiful being of that world, the goddess, the peak of power, and yet this dull man had asked for the touch of another woman after being embraced by her.
"I am sorry, Sol, I cannot bring back the dead, your fiance's soul has long passed the great gates and gone to the afterlife where my power holds no-"
"That's some power you have there, goddess," Sol sighed and stood, staring at her shocked face, he had endured too much to become easily hung up on impossibilities.
"Whatever then, I did what you wanted, I don't care about your kinks, you can follow me around as much as you want it doesn't matter to me that's your choice, but if there's nothing else you can do for me here, just send me back home, I spent ten years fighting your holy war, I'm tired." Sol kept staring down at the goddess as she slowly took hold of his leg with a bright blush on her glowing face.
"...As you wish," She answered, and the next time Sol blinked, he was in a vast white space with no end in sight.
"What the hell just happened?" He asked shocked.
"You asked to return home, so, I am sending you back to your world," The goddess Ikaris answered.
"Wait, hold on, it's been ten years, nobody's gonna ...my life there has already been over!" Sol snapped, shocked that she was already doing what he asked, but he had no power to stop her, he could only watch himself dissipate into the white light around him helplessly.
"Do not worry, my lord, everything will be fine."
"Huh?" Sol asked after Ikaris said something weird and his vision blurred again.
The next time Sol could feel his body, there was a weight on his chest, and a nostalgic scent he had both hated and missed.
"Ramen..." He groaned, trying to move and failing when the weight on his chest started clinging to him.
"Ramen... Ramen?" Sol's eyes slowly opened to the sight of an old ceiling fan spinning over him, and to the sound of a car horn right beneath his window.
"Ikaris?!" Sol shrieked when he looked down and saw the goddess fast asleep on his chest, but even more shocking, that ramen was what killed him, he would never forget choking on his instant noodles and dying, he would never forget such a stupid death.
"Hmmm?" Ikaris hummed, snuggling onto Sol's arm. "Sleep, master, you have all the time in the world-" Ikaris tried getting Sol to go back to sleep but he shrieked again in shock and grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her until she was fully awake.
"What have you done, you stupid goddess, why am I back to this shitty place?" He asked, jumping to his feet and tapping himself again, but paused in shock, the last time he was in this tiny run-down student apartment he was skinny in his first life, but he was clearly not, he was also taller than ten years ago, and for some reason, he could feel his magic, even though he was on earth again.
"What did you do?" Sol slowly turned and looked at Ikaris who sat with a pleased smile after watching him realise that the only thing which had gone back to the past was his age.
"It was a long process, can I tell you later, I have not rested in Eons," Ikaris smiled and turned to lie down a second time.
"Get up and explain yourself, why did you send me back here, why do I have my magic, why are you here in this shitty apartment with me?!" Sol snapped, dragging the pillow from under her head and smacking her with it, gawking when the bed broke from hitting someone with a pillow.
"Owww..." Ikaris raised her head and looked around at him with a pout. "Fine," She blushed, causing his face to go blue as he withdrew his hand from her grasp.
"My lord, you wanted to return to your homeworld, that is what you said, I merely obeyed your will, you wanted me to be your concubine so here I am, forever in your service my lord, I used all my power to grant you your magic across space and time, so you can always be a magnificent warrior, this was all according to your will," She grinned with a bright red blush, raising her chin and showing him the tattoo of a slave collar on her neck as well as the contract on her tongue from her world dimension. "See, I am yours, forever," Ikaris grinned, hugging his leg with a blissful smile and lustful eyes.
Sol stood there shocked out of his mind that this woman had obeyed everything he had said in his depressed state, and even lowered herself from her status as the goddess of an entire universe to a slave in his service, he slapped his forehead; slave contracts from his understanding were soul bindings, she could never leave his side, and if she really did expend all of her power to grant him magic from a whole other dimension, then didn't that mean she was now much weaker, or even powerless entirely?
"Are you... an idiot?"