Chapter 2 - A gamble

'Am I dead?' He wondered. 

Sion felt as though he was drowning in a pool of flames, his body unresponsive, he felt no presence around him, all he felt was darkness, heat, slight pain yet an air of comfort around it. 

He felt as though he was falling in the depth of endless abyss, falling and falling with no proper destination, he could hear nothing, see nothing or feel, his eyes closed unable to open, as he wondered what happened after the explosion. 

He could not tell whether he was dead or alive, but one thing her knew for sure was that he was no longer the same, for he no longer felt the same way, the air around him was different, one which he had never felt before. 

He wondered what was going on with him, for that was not how he imagined death to be, he wondered what was going on with him, if he was dreaming or if he was not actually dead as yet, which confused him even more, for he felt when the blast engulfed him and everything else along its way. 

"'My, my what do we have here?" A strange voice echoed within his head as for the first time ever since the explosion, he barely managed to open his eyes, wincing slightly in pain. 

"Who? Am I dead..." He muttered as he saw a slight appearance before his eyes and a figure emerging from it. 

A woman, with long silky hair cascading down her back, she wore a long gold and blue dress with her eyes glowing gold as she looked at him intently with her eyes narrowed. 

"Me? I am a being not of this world and no you are not dead, not fully at least," She said. 

"Being? Is... Is this some kind of sick joke to you?" He asked. 

"Joke? I assure you that it is not, I heard your calls and you, my dear, have trespassed into something no ordinary mortal is supposed to pass through unless chosen by a more superior being which makes you, in my eyes an interesting little thing with limitless potential," She responded, with a smirk forming on her lips. 

'I do not want to believe her, but with the way I am feeling, the monster invasion that I witnessed, the way she appeared out of thin air, I can tell she is not lying, but where does this lead me? What is going to happen to me? Am I just going to die now and that's ir?' He wondered as she tilted her head, while looking at him, her gaze fixed. 

"I can tell what you are thinking, let's just say your fate is great and so is your luck to have trespassed on this line, a line of second chances granted to only a chosen few, yet here you are," She said. 

He listened to her carefully as he felt his life force being drained from his body, he knew that he had very little time, remaining until he fully died, a death which was something he could not fight against even if his heart ached him to. 

"You know, you did a noble deed in your final moments there as well, attempting to protect the girl, aware that death was inevitable for all. You offered her comfort in her final moments—a feat not easily accomplished, as most would selfishly prioritize their own survival. This selfless act shows great potential," she said, her eyes narrowing as they locked onto him. 

"Why are you saying... All of this? What are you getting at? It is... Not like I did it to hear praises," He replied and she chuckled as she wiped a bit of tears from the side of her eyes, she found his response hilarious and he got annoyed at her ignorance. 

"What is the matter with you? Do you have a few screws loose in your upstairs? What... Do you want from me?" He asked her and she chuckled then sighed. 

"Alright... Straight to business huh? Boring, but enough messing around time to get to the main part... I am here to offer you that second chance that you so wanted, except it is not going to be in the way you would expect, this is going to be something entirely different," She explained and his brows furrowed as he glanced in her direction, his body was growing even more limp. 

He felt himself getting weaker and weaker, he could barely pay attention to what she was saying as his eyes were constantly closing and opening, he was preparing for his final moments, and he knew it, yet he still tried to focus on what the strange woman before him, was trying to say to him, even that was getting hard for him to do. 

She glanced at him and her eyes narrowed as a bunch of small golden and green lights, almost looking like fireflies began forming around him, she knew that his final moments were near and she had to wrap up what she came to do. 

"You do not have much time left, though I think you already knew that quite well, my offer is one that only comes to a special few, things are going to change for you, you will be given another shot and sent away, but there will be many chances, one that you would never have even dreamed of before," She said. 

"What... What are you even talking about?" He asked. 

"You will see what I am talking about sooner or later, but what you need to know is that once all of this initiates, you will be neutral, you will no longer be the same, and everything about you and around you will be different you will have to adjust if you wish to survive, remember nothing you know will be the same." 

"This is just the beginning, once the changes begin happening, you will lose memories of the life you have lived so far, you will only remember the necessary things, this is a gamble on our part, let's see how well you play in it and if you have what it takes in a game of survival of the fittest, this should be interesting, let's see if you have what it takes to defy faith, choose your path wisely," She said, her voice hinting at a warning, with her eyes glowing. 

Before he could say or do anything, he felt as though his life force was being sucked out of him and his eyes closed. 

"Good luck." Her voice echoed as a giant door opened in thin air and he was sucked into the vortex within it and everything went blank once again for him.