Chapter 1: If at first you don't succeed...

Chapter 1: If at first you don’t succeed...

A blood moon covers the black skies, tainting the ground and a looming castle in deep red. Outside that castle lie the bodies of mangled creatures acting more as decorations than guards to whatever awaits inside.

A lone man in a cloak cuts through more of these monsters, each slice holding determination and rage even to those already fallen. Through hordes and countless steps, he eventually reaches the top, the great doors to the castle looming over him.

With bated breath, he removes his cloak’s hood, revealing his long black hair and sharp face, covered in cuts and bruises. Lurching forwards, he kicks the door open. The inside of the castle is just as grandly dark as the exterior, a torn purple carpet covers the floor leading past pillars to a throne at the end, where a man clad in steel and a crown of flesh waits for him, though his posture makes the belief that he has no interest here.

“This is who Theia sent for this round...” The man on the throne announces to himself as he stands and approaches.

“I just wanna go home, pal...” The other man declares, brandishing his thin sword of silver.

“You’re foolish to think she will grant you any salvation, on-...”

“Dark red night, I will bathe in the blood of the 13th and reign in a new era of corruption, blah, blah, blah.” The cloaked man interrupts.

In less than a flash, the crowned man appears in front of him. “Who are you to interrupt the King of Corruption?” He demands, hands raised to his throat.

“I’m your conscious, I’m here to remind you to brush your teeth.”

Without warning, a spike emerges from the ground behind the cloaked man, piercing through him and his armor, while the King of Corruption stands there, his face unwavering and devoid of emotion.

The man looks at his chest and the spike protruding out of him. he doesn’t scream, he doesn’t even react, simply grunting and letting out a soft “Ow” before immediately collapsing.

The world goes grayscale and all stops... before going in reverse, from him getting impaled, then walking through the door, and then fighting the horde, all speeds up until it is only a few glimpses, faces of other people, places, the road travelled. Eventually, it goes so fast it’s barely a blur, and then, nothingness.

The man opens his eyes and sees a glowing crystal overhead, bathing the dark chamber in a soft blue light. He coughs up some blood and gets to his knees. “New record, baby.” He pushes out with hard breaths before falling back.

??? Months/Weeks ago.

“Some- no dare I say a lot of people would say Arian Crante didn’t exactly have the most fortunate of lives. Heart problems since he was 12. Barely managed to scrape past high school. And now that he’s a lowly 18-year-old university student, he has to add finances to that, can’t even make up rent.” The soft voice of a woman speaks; her voice has an air of divinity, although tainted with mock.

“Fortunately for him...”

A dim monitor lights Arian’s room as he sits at the desk; he stretches before standing up. “Yep, 11 pm. Better get to bed, got that class and interview tomorrow.” With those words, he shuts off his PC and monitor, heads to the bathroom, and brushes his teeth in absolute silence, just him, the scrubbing and buzzing of the light...and a pain in his arm.

When he finishes and heads back to his room, the pain in his arm begins spreading to his chest. “Ah, crap...not now.” Groaning, more annoyed than pained, he walks over to a drawer and searches for a bottle of pills. It does not take long to find it, the problem being... it is empty. “There were like, 5 of those this morning...”

He sits on the bed and clutches his chest tightly, reaching to turn on the lamp, but his arm just falls weakly as he does. “Just gonna rest my eyes a bit.”

So he does, he closes his eyes and who knows how long it takes for him to open them again, but when he opens them it’s no longer his bed he’s lying on, but rather a soft leather couch on a wooden floor surrounded by a pure white void in every which direction, the pain in his chest having seemingly disappeared. Only one thought was on Arian’s mind.

“Is this heaven or hell?”

“Neither.”

Arian is startled enough by the voice to yelp and look behind him as a woman with long blonde hair and a white robe that covers her entire body walks around the couch, trying to look into her piercing eyes feels like staring into the sun.

He covers his eyes and looks to the floor. “Guessing you’re God?”

“Technically, but also not.” She speaks softly, her voice threads the line between cold and comforting in a way that makes the uncanny factor dominant, moving closer and removing Arian’s arm from his face, her bright eyes no longer burning. A chair manifests behind her, and she quickly takes her seat.

“I am Theia, goddess of light, fortune, and reincarnation.”

Following suit, Arian states, “I am Ari-”

“Arian Crante, human studying at university who just died of a heart attack and is currently sitting across from me in his pajamas.”

His mouth falls agape as he struggles to find something to say and raises his finger. “That is... correct, yes. But I did also have a job interview coming up, so can I go back now, ooor...?

The goddess doesn’t reply with words, but merely with a proud scoff.

“So, uhm, pearly gates or eternal fire?” With a shaky leg, he asks, looking for something interesting in the endless void.

Theia perks up, leaning forward as if to inspect him closely. Someone being so accepting, especially so young, is strange to her. “Straight to business, no tears? No crying about how you wanted to continue living and that you’re too young to die?”

“Eh, I lived an alright life, was happy with it, besides was bound to happen eventually with my heart. So lay it on me, doc.”

With a snap of her fingers, a table with several cards on it appears between them, and she stands. “You will be sent to a new world-...”

“Fancy. Alright, let’s go.” This time Arian interrupts and stands up, stretches and rolls his arm, feels gooood to not have pain there for once.

“I’m not done. You will be sent to a fantasy world, one full of fairy tale creatures, demi-humans, and kingdoms of old and new. Magic! Knights! Horse-drawn carriages!!! The world of RENOVARE!!!” For once, that soft and dull voice of hers is replaced with excitement, and dare I say joy, her arms raised high and face full of pure excitement.

Unfortunately for her, Arian doesn’t meet her vibe. “Heard this all before, what’s the catch, lay it on me.” He states as he beckons with his hand.

Her excited face and arms drop at his tone, with a deep breath through the nose, she continues, “The world is being overrun by corruption.” She admits shamefully.

With no words, Arian replies with a few simple head nods and scratches the back of his brown hair.

“Buuuuuttt! You can change that! You, Arian Crante, can be the hero this world has always needed! Fight through the corruption and save all that’s precious!”

“And what do I get?”

“You get a choice, my dear! Either you can choose to live in this world forever, or I can send you back to Earth, and using my goddess powers, I can solve every problem you’ve had. Health, money, education.”

“Save the world, defeat corruption, go home. Easy enough. When can we go?”

Once again, Theia lights up Arian’s enthusiasm, or what she believes to be enthusiasm. “In a moment, first!” She points to the table with the cards. “You must pick a divine treasure; these are gifts that will help you at the start of your journey.” Without hesitation, she points to the card at the very end of the table. “I recommend this one!”

Looking over the table, he slowly reads off the names of the treasures. “Scythe of the Rogue. Moon Blade. Infinite Magic...” He looks at the one Theia is pointing at. “Ashes of the Phoenix?”

“Yes, that one!” Without warning, she picks up the card and slams it into his hand.

His eyes dart between the card and the goddess, trying to make sense of anything as the room around him starts to glow brighter. “What if I want the scythe?!” He yells as a sharp buzzing takes over the room.

“You’ll get it later!!! You’ll be dropped off at the temple of my worship! Get to the nearest town and ask for the princess of Prima! Oh, and feel free to di-...”

For her, he simply disappeared in a flash. “Oooooh, I hope he has a strong mind.”

But for him, her yells are cut off by the room going pitch black and silent. Moments later, he is dropped onto the floor with a thud.

Slowly standing up, Arian finds himself in a room with a blue crystal floating and glowing overhead, the walls of this place are overrun with moss and branches leading onto a grass roof overhead, and the ground he lies on has a sigil engraved on it.

He stands off and brushes himself off, still in his pajamas, for safety, he pinches himself just to make sure it’s not a dream, but when he doesn’t wake up, he can only accept it. “Guess we’re doing this then.”

Two doors wait for him at the end of the hallway, which he walks to and opens. The cool and fresh air hits his face, and when his eyes adjust to the light, he finds himself overlooking it in the distance...

A sprawling city made of bricks and wood, encircled by fortified walls of stone, in the center lies a castle that dwarfs all buildings around. Behind the city is a line of mountains, to the right a winding river leading into it, and to the left, grass fields. She wasn’t lying about any of this.

It truly is a magical site, although one I trust will soon get tired of.

Chapter 1: end.