Reward and Reality

1

Eight portals leading to eight different worlds. Eight heroes chosen to save the universe.

The eight of us floated in space while the arbiter loomed above us, lounging in the air as if she sat on a comfortable sofa. It was immediately after we ‘agreed’ to be her pawns—her contestants—in the game she called fate. It was then that we learned each other’s names.

“Ryota Rutherford,” I said, after everyone finished introducing themselves. “I’m a university student, studying to be an engineer. I, um… I live in Toronto, Canada.”

The grey-haired man was Edward Bales, also known as Eddy. He was a student like me, who works as a part-time DJ at a club in London. When he learned I was half Japanese, he wouldn’t stop talking to me about his favorite anime.

The man with the glasses was Julio Hernando Fontes, who was in fact, an athlete. Apparently, he was an Olympic runner for Argentina.

The woman with braided hair and flower-patterned dress was, to nobody’s surprise, a florist, living in southern India. Her name was Maya Atreya.

The heavyset man wearing the tank top and camo pants was Allen Fitzgerald. He was a medical student from Arkansas in the United States, and contrary to what I thought, wasn’t actually in the military.

The blonde with the baseball cap was Jennifer Watson, an Australian woman who was currently living as an exchange student in Japan. Apparently, she also worked as a model.

The woman with short hair wearing a black suit goes by the name Virgilia. And just Virgilia. She didn’t expand more than that, and when Eddy pressed, well, the dude almost pissed himself.

And finally, the woman with the headphones and baggy clothes was Clarinet Li, or Clare as she preferred to be called, an art student from Hong Kong. She was perhaps as close guarded as Virgilia minus the menacing part.

We were obviously a diverse group, yet we all spoke the same language perfectly. When Julio asked about it, everyone said they all spoke their native tongue. When Maya tried speaking in English, a second language she was fluent in, the words came out accented compared to how she sounded before. There was some kind of translation magic at work here, which would normally be a shock to us if not for the fact that we were suspended in space staring at portals to other worlds.

“Adapting to the language of the local environment is but the first step in your integration in other worlds,” the arbiter said. “And in some cases, your strongest weapon.”

“Amazing,” Edward said. He hovered close to one of the portals—the one depicting a castle of some kind. “Do we just pick where we go? Can we all go to the same portal or are we each taking one?”

“Before that, the money is guaranteed, right?” Julio interjected. “We’re getting ten million American dollars using your magic?”

“Correct,” the arbiter replied. “It will come to you in the form of a lottery ticket. That’s part of the reason I chose you all from different parts of your world. I couldn’t have you all winning the same thing.”

“Wait a minute,” Clarinet said. “You chose us? I thought it was our fate to be here, yet you speak as if you’re a different entity from fate altogether. Which is it?”

The arbiter simply smiled, her eyebrows creasing ever so slightly.

“What does that matter?” Edward said. “Are we picking a portal or not?”

“Wasn’t there a mission involving each world?” Virgilia asked. “Perhaps its best if we know what they are before we make our choice.”

Everyone nodded to each other in agreement, but that’s when the arbiter hovered lazily towards the portals to intervene. “Everything is decided,” she said. “Each of you will be sent to a world most suited to your talents. When you reach these worlds, you will be integrated into society as if you’ve lived there all your life. People there will be convinced they know you, and to a certain extent, you will know them in turn. This will depend on the situation, of course, but considering the short term of your mission, it wouldn’t be so complicated. This much is certain.”

“I’m assuming this is also be done by your magic,” Julio said, fixing his glasses. “Going into the intricacies of that would only confuse us, assuming you’d even cooperate, so fine. I think it’s best if you just gave us the details of our mission so we can all go back to our lives as soon as we can.”

The arbiter looked at the others, but no one argued.

If I do this, then I’ll go back to my body on earth and win the lottery. Not much else I can do but trust what the arbiter said. The window she gave us to look into ourselves was gone now, but the last thing I saw was me getting into an ambulance. I should be fine. I was worried about what my family and friends would say about my situation, but I’ll think about that after completing my so-called mission. This wasn’t just about me, this was also about the universe.

Edward was going to the second portal from the left.

“Your mission is to infiltrate the Ruvel University of Magic,” the arbiter explained. “You will go into the Department of Alchemical Sciences and convince the current head of the department to pursue their research into a substance known as ‘Celis’. You have two days to complete this task.”

“Whoa, a world of magic?” Edward said, fist pumping the air. “Heck, yeah! And it has alchemy too? I am so ready for this! Let’s go!”

Without asking any other question, Edward jumped into the portal and vanished. “Good luck,” the arbiter said.

The others did the same except they asked more questions.

Allen was sent to make sure a herd of winged cows did not cross a river in his world.

Jennifer and Julio both had delivery missions where they to make sure a package reached a certain individual. Jennifer’s was much cooler though since she get to go to a sci-fi-like world with hover bikes.

Maya’s mission sounded tough, she was asked to help a noble family win against a rival faction in a bid for the throne. She spent a very long time asking questions about that.

And then there was Clare and Virgilia. They didn’t even get the full two days. Clare was sent to that world with the dragon. Her mission was to make sure it left the city alive within one day. Oof. As for Virgilia, she also had one day to do her mission but as for what it was… well, it was hush hush between her and the arbiter. At that point only Clare and Julio stayed behind before jumping into their portals and the three of us found it suspicious to say the least.

But honestly none of that mattered to me when I heard what my mission was. I should’ve guessed since that portal with the war going on was the only one left.

“Two hours, are you kidding me!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“I said two days or less, didn’t I?” the arbiter said. “Time is of the essence when it concerns this world.”

“No shit! This isn’t fair!”

The arbiter placed a hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. Her touch was cold as ice. “Worry not, Ryota Rutherford. Your affinity with this world is very high. I chose you specifically for this one because I know you have the highest chance in accomplishing it.”

Bullshit. Did she want me to fail? I looked at the portal and saw just how brutal the fighting was over there. She said fate chose me. Why? “How the heck am I supposed to do this?”

“I suppose an added benefit would help,” the arbiter said as she let go of me. “You integration to this world will be… stronger, let’s say. Of noble lineage and gift.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I expect great things from you.”

The last thing I saw was the others going into their portals. Clare gave me one last look of pity before going into hers. She mouthed something to tell me, but I couldn’t make out what it was. After that, I was sucked into the portal and found myself waking up in the middle of war.

2

“Is that Ryota’s world?”

When I came to, I saw six other people looking up. They were all staring at the portals, one of which, was imploding unto itself. A complete destruction of that world. We all just floated there speechless, until finally the portal vanished, leaving the other seven behind.

What the hell…

Wait, wait, wait.

Did I fail? Did I not stop the bridge from getting destroyed? What happened to the Mage Queen?

“Whoa, hold on a second, Ryota’s here!” Jennifer said when she recognized me floating next to her. The others all looked at me in surprise.

“Huh, how about that,” Julio said. “I was so sure you were the one who failed with the massive disadvantage given to you.”

I stared at the others for a moment, carefully taking in where I was and everything else around me. The darkness of space, the plethora of stars… this was definitely where I started.

“How are you all back here?” I asked. “I thought you guys had a couple of days to sort out your missions?”

They all looked at each other.

“I was curious about that myself,” Clare said with arms crossed. “It’s only been a day for me.”

“Wait, what?” Jennifer said. “I was stuck in that world for two days! Took me forever to figure out where to go!”

Allen, Maya and Julio confirmed they too spent two days, while Virgilia spent one.

“You’re the last one to appear,” Maya said to me. “So far, at least.”

“I, um, I was the first one to return,” Allen said, his voice meek. He was nursing his left arm for some reason. “Miss Jennifer appeared after me, then after some time, Miss Maya.”

“Right,” Jennifer said, “Virgilia was next. Then Julio, Clare… and finally you.”

Clare and I shared a look. We appeared back in the order that we entered the portals. But that meant… the first to leave, Eddy, still wasn’t here. It was fairly obvious what happened at that point. We all hovered in different directions, trying to see if we could find the grey-haired man loitering somewhere in space. At the same time, none of us wanted to stray too far from the portals. Come to think of it, two of the disks were purplish in color. They still displayed the other worlds, but it was as if the skies on the other side turned a different shade. Was it always like that?

“So, you were successful?” Clare hovered next to me. “You stopped this queen from destroying the bridge?”

“Oh, um… I suppose so,” I said. “Honestly, I’m not sure. But I’m here. And my portal is fine.”

The war raged on the other side of my portal, but the bridge held. So maybe I was successful.

“That’s good,” Clare said. “I was worried for you. Did your engineering background help at all?”

“My what?”

“You said you were studying engineering.”

“I—oh.”

Huh. I looked back at my portal. Was it because it was a bridge? Could my knowledge of architecture have helped somehow? I never even considered it. Maybe there was another way of solving that mission.

“Hold that thought,” Clare said as she gestured above us.

The arbiter of the universe, or fate, or whatever the heck she was, appeared out of thin air, her white robe and hair swaying from an unseen wind. Her eyes were as golden and icy as they had before, but this time her expression had become… warmer. Her lips creased more naturally, and her lazy disposition was a lot less forced. “My… champions,” she said, “I’m glad you all returned to me safe and whole.”

“I wouldn’t say all,” Julio said. “One of us is still missing. And one of the worlds… it disappeared.”

“Ah.” The arbiter looked to the direction of the portals and let out a sigh. “Yes. I was so enraptured by your overall success that I completely forgot about that man. Pity.”

“Forgot?” I said, hovering close to the woman. “What the hell happened to Eddy?”

“He failed his mission,” the arbiter replied. “Like I said, pity.”

“Wait, so, is he dead?” Maya asked in disbelief.

“You witnessed what happened to that world,” the arbiter said, feigning a distressed look, a hand over her cheek. “Failing his mission meant he missed his opportunity to return. As such he perished alongside it.”

And then, the arbiter clapped her hands with a big smile on her face. “This is actually a really good opportunity! As important as it is to reward your valiant efforts, it is equally important to show you the consequences of failure!”

The woman spun around, raised her hands above her head, and with a flash of light a new disk appeared. It was similar to the hologram she showed us of our bodies than the portals to other worlds. In the disk it showed—

I gasped.

It showed Eddy. He had a bruise on his cheek, and his clothes—which was similar to a classic wizard robe found in fantasy movies—looked disheveled and torn. He was running away from something, turned a corner, then entered a dark room. There he sat hidden in the shadows, out of breath and scared.

Then something bright illuminated Eddy’s face. He stood up, ran towards the window of the room and… witnessed a beam of light hit the land like a meteor strike. The destruction spread in seconds until it finally reached the building he was in. The windows shattered, so Eddy tried to shield himself, but then his clothes burned, and his skin started to mel—

I looked away and covered my mouth.

What the hell…

“Why?” I managed to say. “Why destroy… wasn’t his mission to convince someone to…”

“Pursue research in alchemy,” Clare finished for me. When I looked up the disk showing Eddy’s fate was gone and everyone except Virgilia had turned to look the other way, looking very sickened.

“Why would failing that destroy his world?” I asked. “Couldn’t there be other ways to pursue the research? If he had more time, then—”

The arbiter shook her head, then spun around to hover away. “The window of opportunity closed. After that point, that world would go in an entirely different direction, one that would be detrimental to saving the universe.”

“So, you just… destroyed it?” I almost yelled, but then the arbiter’s sharp gaze was quick to put me down.

“Yes,” she said, with every bit of finality in her tone. “That man, Edward Bales, did not even try to complete his mission. He derailed it the moment he stepped foot in that world.” The arbiter’s eyes flashed—literally flashed—a bright gold color before settling down. “He went off to… familiarize himself with the women of that world. We are all better off forgetting about him.”

What? Eddy did… what? I couldn’t believe what I just heard. I looked at the others and they all looked shocked.

We let that thought linger for a while until Julio spoke. “What does this mean for the universe? Did we fail to save it because of that idiot?”

The arbiter shook her head and slowly regained her smile. “Fret not, my dear champions. One failed world does not ruin our chances. You achieved five complete successes… and two near failures. This is a much better result than I anticipated. Course correcting the problem would be a mild inconvenience.”

Huh…

“Wait, two near failures?” I said as my heart sank. “Was it me? Did I—”

“Jeniffer Watson and Allen Fitzgerald barely passed their mission,” the arbiter said, then stifled a laugh. “I was so close to destroying their worlds.”

We all turned to the two in question.

“I—” Jennifer started, “I shoved that letter in that baron’s face! I delivered what I needed to!”

“You did,” the arbiter confirmed. “But the recipient was so close to tearing up the message because of your actions. You could almost say you were… lucky his subordinate convinced him otherwise.”

“Like hell was I gonna do any more of what that pervert wanted!” Jeniffer shouted. “A success is a success, alright? What did Allen do?”

The heavyset man jumped—in a way hovering in space would make one jump—at the call. “I-I did what I—” he stammered. “I stopped those animals from crossing the river! I swear!”

“A couple of stray beasts crossed after your… accident,” the arbiter said. “You knew this, yet you did not pursue.”

Allen’s eyes widened. He still nursed his arm, which probably had something to do with why he nearly failed.

“Your injuries should have healed upon your return,” the arbiter said. “You too were lucky. The strays did not get far before they perished.”

“Are these missions considered successful?” Julio asked. “Will the universe be safe?”

“It will by my hand,” the arbiter said firmly, then she turned towards Jennifer and Allen. “But I do not consider these acts successful on your part. Therefore, you will not be rewarded.”

“What?” Jennifer went ballistic, she charged the arbiter, but Virgilia was quick to hold her back. “That’s not fair! Allen and I worked just as hard as everyone else! And our missions ended in success!”

“Are we… are we not going home?” Allen asked, tears in his eyes.

The arbiter hovered towards the man and put a hand on his arm. He flinched at the touch. “You earned at least that,” the arbiter said, looking at Jennifer in turn. “You will return to your bodies as initially promised.”

Jennifer finally calmed down, though her expression remained sour.

“I cannot encourage such half-hearted attempts for your next mission, after all.”

The arbiter’s last words made my jaw slacken. Did I hear that correctly? “Next mission?” I shouted. “Are we not done yet?”

The arbiter laughed. Though we all floated in space, her laugh echoed, unrestrained and perhaps truer than any emotion she had shared so far. “Oh, dear champion. My poor yet sweet champion.” The arbiter moved towards me, hovering around me, hands on my shoulders, as if to console me—to mock my ignorance. “We’ve only just begun! Saving the universe is hard work.”

“You’ve been saying champion for a while now,” Virgilia said. “Exactly what are we to you?”

“You like it?” the arbiter asked. “I’ve decided it’s an infinitely better way to call all of you. But the situation remains the same. You’ve all been chosen by fate as people who can make a difference. A pity Edward Bales did not live up to such expectations, and two more nearly failed. But with your lives in my hands… I will save the universe.”

Her hands were like ice on my shoulders. I could not move nor say anything.

“I’m guessing we don’t have a choice?” Maya asked.

“In participating? No. But your actions are still your own. You can fulfill your mission and see the worlds you saved prosper.” In the distance the portals looked bigger. Brighter. It might’ve been a coincidence, but my world showed some kind of ceasefire between the Elesians and the Joreni. Maybe they found some kind of resolution. “Or you can fail, die in the process, and make saving the universe that much harder.” Or maybe the fighting had simply paused, ready to pick up again tomorrow. “This is the reason why you are rewarded for a job well done. Consider it my way of encouraging your efforts.”

“The money,” Julio said. “We’re still winning the lottery?”

“The five of you will,” the arbiter confirmed. “And when you return to me, an even bigger reward will await your next mission.”

Bigger? What else could she offer us?

I looked up at the arbiter as she continued to hold onto my shoulders. She met my gaze. “You, Ryota Rutherford, did rather well on your time-constrained mission. You were the MVP of this round, or so you humans like to say.” She cackled a laughed. “This makes me feel more charitable. Would you like to know what the next reward is?”

My eyes darted to the others looking expectantly at me, then back at the woman. I nodded slowly.

“Very well. My next reward… is truth. You can ask me one question be it a personal matter, knowledge that your heart desires, or the secrets of the universe itself. No matter what it is, I will give it to you. Honest and true.”

In the end, it was our fate to play this game. If we lose, we die. If we win, then our lives, which was ours to begin with, was the reward. But more than that…

Truth, huh?

3

When I came to, Ilyana’s beautiful face was waiting for me. I blinked several times as I watched her go from surprise, to happy, to crying. After a while, she took a few steps away from me then dashed out of sight.

I felt weird. Like I was having this really long dream only for it to be cut short just as I was about to do something important. And like most dreams I couldn’t remember what it was. It involved words and numbers, I think.

Before I knew it, two people I didn’t know appeared, a tired looking man checking my face with a flashlight, and a woman fiddling with something next to him. If I didn’t know any better, they looked like cosplayers playing the part of a doctor and a nurse.

Oh.

4

“They already contacted your parents,” Ilyana said, red-eyed and pretty. Her yellow hair and one-piece dress looked slightly disheveled, apparently from rushing over to the hospital I was taken in. “They’re the ones who called me actually.”

“Thanks for coming,” I said, feeling my face heat up. “Sorry you missed your classes because of me.”

Ilyana puffed her cheeks and mimed hitting me in the head. “Who cares about that? I’m just glad you’re okay.”

I looked away in embarrassment. I felt fine, all things considered. My right arm is bruised slightly, but according to the doctor I didn’t have any other injuries. Didn’t even hit my head when I fell, thankfully, so they think it was fatigue or a serious lack of sleep that knocked me out.

“Seriously though, Ryo!” Ilyana said, clutching the sheets at my bedside. "How careless can you get? First you get hit by some random cyclist two months ago, and now you slip off the hallway of the university! Is everything going okay? You seem… stressed recently.”

“A, the first one wasn’t even my fault. B, I’ve been stressing over my… feelings…”

And then it hit me. I was planning to confess my feelings today.

Ilyana stared at me, blinking innocently. “Your feelings?”

Believe it or not, the act of telling this woman how I’ve felt about her for years wasn’t what gave me pause. My face would normally be mega red right now, but that exact word ‘feeling’ lit up a memory in my mind.

And then it all came flooding back. The universe. The arbiter. The eight portals and eight ‘chosen ones’. My mission. My reward.

My mind had been a blurry mess since I woke up, but it wasn’t as if I forgot about it. Thinking simply took effort, and up until now Ilyana and the doctor had me distracted.

I looked down clutching my mouth with my left hand.

“Are you okay, Ryo?” Ilyana said, standing up. “Did something happen? Are you hurting anywhere?”

“Ilyana, do you happen to know where my phone is?”

“Huh?”

“My phone. Actually, my bag and things.”

“They brought it here.” Ilyana turned around. “It’s over there in the table. Want me to get it?”

“Yes, please.”

Ilyana placed my bag at the bottom of the bed, then handed me my phone and wallet. My clothes, including the brand-new shoes I bought, was on the table as well.

“Sorry, I just remembered something really important.”

I turned my phone on. I got a bunch of new messages from five people. The first was from my dad. He and mom texted me saying they got a call from the hospital, and they were checking in to see if it was true. Hours later, they texted about coming to see me as soon as possible. The second was from my sister. Same thing. Said she’d skip band practice to join our parents. The third was from my friend Alex. He apparently heard about what happened to me and was worried. I should probably reply to all three of these, but then there was a fourth message. Sender unknown. I clicked on it.

‘Hey Ryota,’ the text said. ‘It’s Clare. Hope I got your email right. I added you in ChatMe! as promised. I’m sending Jennifer a direct email next. PS. This message is auto translated to English. Hope it shows up correctly.’

Before leaving the arbiter, the seven of us ‘chosen ones’ all promised to contact each other by remembering two other people’s emails. Our hope was that we get at least one right and get connected.

I quickly opened my email and typed in a new message. In the recipient line, I typed ‘rainy-feelings@tmail.com’.

‘Hey, Maya. It’s Ryota. Sorry if this was a bit late. Hope you are well.’

Okay, that was one down. Maya said she could read English, so I wouldn’t need to translate anything, right? Anyway, the other one was…

I saw Ilyana peeking over my shoulder. She looked at me sheepishly. “Maya, huh? Is it someone I know?”

I quickly turned my phone away by reflex. Ilyana grinned.

“I swear this isn’t what you think.”

Ilyana patted my shoulder. “It’s okay, Ryo, I understand. I think it’s starting to make sense now.”

“No, seriously, it’s not what you think.”

“Fine, fine.” Ilyana turned around, and by sheer coincidence, her phone rang. “Oh, sorry, Ryo. I need to take this. I’ll be back soon.”

I watched her leave my room, then quickly looked at my phone again. That was one misunderstanding I needed to clear up ASAP, but I had to send this other email before I forget it. What was it again? “Rhymes… Allen?” I said out loud. “Allen Rhymes. Eighty-Eight. Something like that.”

‘Hey, dude. It’s Ryota. Sorry this message is late. Reply to me so I know I got it right.’

Done.

I looked at the door, but Ilyana was still busy talking.

I checked my messages again and saw the fifth sender. I was expecting it to be Julio, or one of the other six who might’ve remembered my email. But it was none of them. Instead, the sender sent a sticker of herself done in a cutesy anime drawing.

The arbiter—white robed, silver bracers, long green hair, golden eyes—was waving with one hand accompanied by the caption ‘Yo, you up?’

Beneath the sticker was a picture of a drawer—wait. It was my drawer back at my apartment. The lowest drawer, to be exact, the one I stuffed the cat plushie in. Next to it was a piece of paper that could only be described as a lottery ticket.

‘I had your reward placed there,’ the text said below the picture. ‘Recognize it? Nice plushie lmao! Oh, and congratulations you just won a buncha million dollars. Convert it to your local currency yourself. Use it wisely. Or not.’

Sticker of the arbiter doing a thumbs up.

‘Aaaanyways… good work on your first mission, champ! Hope you bring the same energy to your next one! Let me tell you, it’s gonna be spicy!’

Sticker of the arbiter in a ball of fire, all hyped up.

‘We’re going exactly three weeks from today at midnight... of your time zone! (Got your back, bro. Sucks for the others!) Be sure to stay home and in bed when the time comes so you don’t randomly collapse again.’

Sticker of the arbiter blowing a kiss.

‘Let’s all save the universe together!’