If you wake up and find yourself in a different place from what you remember, would you continue on your path, or would you rather sleep again in hopes of recalling something important?
I woke up and found myself in a rather unfamiliar place.
"I may have been warped," was what I said to myself, "or probably tricked again."
Moving forward, my eye chanced upon a stranger. I approached this person.
"Excuse me, do you know this place?" was what I asked this passerby clothed in a brown-plated armor.
"I believe we're on the same boat," he said in deep reverie, "Are you a n00b as well?"
"I beg your pardon?" I asked with much confusion.
"Ah, I see," he started to say, "What is the last thing you remember?"
"I…uhm…" was my struggling answer, "I…remember….a pretty different place from this."
"Any place is as different as this one!" he said with a loud voice. "Anyway, let me tell you the brief background of this place."
I kept quiet.
"This is the entrance to a holy land, a dimension that is unbeknownst to us. Even though it looks like an abandoned castle, this is the place wherein only those qualified can enter; and destiny determines your own path in this land," he said as if reading from a manual.
"If we enter, then what would happen?" I asked with a puzzled look on my face.
He answered me with, "Your world in this dimension will start and your world in the last place you remember will end."
At first I didn't understand what a beginning and an end meant, for it was all too suspicious for someone to pass a border like a fleeting dream; but, my ignorance led me to my dear fate.
"Will you enter through this place then?" I asked innocently.
"I'm afraid my destiny does not belong in this dimension. You can join me elsewhere if you desire, but I have no intention of staying here any longer," was the only reply I got.
"Where will you be going?" was my question.
"You see, there are different dimensions that lead to the same place, but it is the same only in the appearance of the cities and nothing more," he told me whilst looking at his watch, "This place is called Iris and the place I am going to is called Fenrir. Of course you are free to go anywhere; however, only when you have decided to end your new life in a certain dimension can you then transfer to another dimension. I do not have any more time to waste, so tell me, are you coming with me or not?"
I was overloaded by the information I just received from this man. I thought more and more of my future but ended up unable to move any further.
"Thank you very much," I was finally able to say, "I will be going to Iris now, I hope to see you in my next life in Fenrir."
"I hope you'll enjoy your time in Iris. This is goodbye then," were his final parting words.
He disappeared from my sight as I was filling up with regret. I waited a few minutes for him to come back, but he never did appear again. I approached the gates of the castle and noticed two guards standing beside them. I took a few steps to take a closer look, but found out they were merely robots controlled by the Gods from above.
"Welcome to Rune Midgard!" one of them said in a monotonous voice.
The other, however, looked at me from head to toe and then greeted, "Welcome! We are the guards of this castle. We are the protectors of this land."
After their predestined speech, as I figured, I walked on and entered the big castle. There were no doors, neigh, there was nothing at all, just portals that lead me to a queer room.
The room was dark and yet the walls were decorated with torches. It resembled an old-fashioned castle, but I could never be so sure.
Seemingly, the only options I had were to move forward, or to turn back and move through the portal once more. Looking back at the portal, I sighed. 'I have gone far enough to end my journey now,' was what I thought to convince myself.
I moved forward.
The torches dimly lighted my way until I found a friendly figure standing in front of me. I felt a sort of relief when I saw it, and I guess that's why I called it friendly.
Approaching the said figure, it spoke first, "Welcome to Rune Midgard! I am the keeper of this pass. I can take you to world itself, or I can give you an introductory lesson. Do you wish to take this course?" The keeper said this in a livelier tone, but I knew someone else controlled him.
He gave me a set of choices; and being the curious person that I am, I asked to take the course.
"Thank you. Have a nice lesson," he replied.
Instantly, I felt that I was transported into another room. This time four paths lay ahead of me and none pointed to whence I came from. This might have been what the passerby said about a beginning and an end. That once a precise decision has been made, no other can ever bring you back to your previous life.
Although, one thing continued to bother me, why was a guy like that wandering around that area where new lives were destined to fall? Why walk the path of another dimension if the place you seek does not lie in that place?
My mind scavenged for answers, and the only thing I conclusively thought of, was that people make mistakes. It was possible that that man previously lived in this world and reminisced the moments of his prime. Then after realizing everything was a mistake, he comes back to the beginning, to once and for all end it and start anew.