Chapter 1 - Talking to the Void

24 years...

That's how long I survived on this big 'ol rock we call Earth.

Falling off a cliff, strapped to a lawn chair is not the way I thought I was going to die. Why couldn't my death be cool, like an explosion, or even emotional like dying in the arms of your elderly wife who you lived with for 45 years...

But no. I died, screaming my ass off while hurtling down a mountain, tied to a chair. Not even a good chair too, just some crappy five-dollar one my friends bought at a retail store.

Now I'm in a black void, where I think I'm falling but I can't really tell. Life sure changes quickly doesn't it...

How did I get into this situation, I can't even remember. All I remember is a party, a bunch of booze, some pretty girl, more booze, a bet, did I say booze? I can vividly recall being absolutely wasted the hours leading up to my little "tumble".

I lived a good life, I would like to think. Had friends, a couple of girlfriends, read a lot of books, went to college, majored in Creative Writing, and had fun while doing this.

Yeah it sounds pretty boring when I remember it, but it was fun and was my life

And now I was dead.

"I wonder what the afterlife is like. Or am I just gonna stay in a black void for the rest of eternity," I say out loud, to no one in particular.

"Your awe fully calm for somebody who just died," said an oddly feminine voice.

Surprised, but only for a moment, I said, "I take it you're God or something. I was never a real big supporter of the whole 'die and go live in the clouds for the rest of time', but I suppose it would be better than this blackness."

"Hah! In a rush are we..."

"Yeah, just wanna get this over with."

"Well sorry to disappoint you, but I am not a God, and nor will you be going to the 'place up in the clouds' as you so eloquently put it."

This shocked me. I know I wasn't the best of people, but I didn't think I deserved Hell for the little bad thing I might've done once or twice.

"I know what you are thinking, but no. You will not be going to Hell either. Unfortunately, you are in a case where neither Satan nor God wants you. You are a perfect split between good and bad. A rare case to say the least."

"Well so if I'm not welcome in Heaven, and somehow not welcome to Hell, then where am I going? Am I actually just gonna fall in this void for eternity? And who are you? And what is this void exactly?" I say, rushing to get the words out of my mouth and solve my confusion.

"Who I am is not important. This void is but a place where we can communicate without interference from any outside force. And as for your future, you shall be reborn!" said the voice, sounding to be getting more and more excited. "Think about it. Having another chance at life, fixing any past mistakes. The dream for all who lived a mediocre life."

That sounded nice, but then I thought for a bit and said, "Will I even have my memories in this new life? I can't change my life if I don't have my old memories..."

"As this will be an entirely new world, you shall keep all of your memories, you should just remember that it isn't always the best idea to know things you shouldn't..." If that voice had a face, I know that she would've been winking at me right now, and that was making me a fair bit nervous. "Get ready for your new life to begin, and don't forget to live a good one this time."

"Is there anything else I should know before I, you know, get born again?" I ask, wanting to get a head start on my new life.

"I can't think of anything at the moment..." the voice said trailing off, "Oh, but there will be a surprise around your fifth birthday, don't forget that." Another wink. Now I'm really nervous.

"What is it?"

"I told you, a surprise..." Guess I'll have to wait five years, with a whole new life that shouldn't be too bad.

The black is starting to turn to gray, and even though I've never experienced this, I know I was about to be reborn.

"Well thank you for my new life I guess... can I at least get a name to thank you with?" I say, wanting to know who gave me this new chance.

"You can call me... Chaos".

And with that, my surroundings turned white and I began my new life.

I can't remember how long I was surrounded by the brightness of the new void. Was it hours? Days? Months? I wondered when in my life was I going to start. I would assume my birth, but that would be pretty weird for a 24-year-old guy to be completely lucid when being born.

Before I could figure out what to think, the lights subsided and I felt trapped. In my previous life, I was a claustrophobe. I hated being closed in (elevators would scare me to the point where I would walk up 11 flights of stairs to get to my apartment).

But surprisingly, this new entrapment wasn't bad. For the first time since my death, I felt safe.

It didn't last long.

Soon I was being pulled out of safety and into, what I thought, was the sun itself. I guess I had been in darkness for far too long because all of this light made me start to cry and scream, and over my yelling a heard a loud voice right next to my ear;

"Congratulations Ms. Rainer, it's a boy!"

It's been about six months since I was born, and I can't wait to get older.

I can't move without my mom picking me up. I can't make coherent noise. I can't eat any good food. And I can not stress enough how awkward it is for me to breastfeed.

I figured out who I am though.

My mom is Ms. Sarah Rainer, and although my new dad is not in the pictures, she is pretty great. Whenever I want anything, she seems to understand what I'm asking for, even though I can't speak anything that even remotely sounds like English.

She has beautiful brown hair, which curls at her shoulders. A really good-looking face too, with big blue eyes. She hides it though, as there is constantly hair being in her face, as I don't think she really likes to get a haircut, and I can't really blame her. It's some really good-looking hair. I don't seem to have a father figure anywhere in the picture, but it doesn't really matter to me, as I barely had a dad in my last life. He was constantly at his desk job at some building, and would only come home like once a week. But I do guess that having a dad once a week is better than no dad at all...

I for one, am Alex Rainer. I can't remember my old name, but I think it was Peter. Or was it Paul? Parker? It doesn't matter, because now I am Alex.

Life is good, and I can't wait to live it to the best of my abilities once I grow up.

"Happy fifth birthday Alex!"

I just turned five, and life couldn't be better. My whole family is here, celebrating me and my birth. For some reason, I feel like I've turned five before, but that doesn't make any sense.

"Alex, it's time to open your presents!", says Auntie Jessica. She always gives me the best presents, and I can't wait to see what she got me this year.

I grab the box she's handing over and tear it open. I see fabric stretched over a frame, in red and blue with a cross of green.

"It's a kite! Can I take it out mom, please..." I say giving mommy the strongest puppy eyes I can make.

"Sure, have fun. But let me get my coat on."

I raced outside with my new toy, ready to have the time of my life. I remember that there was going to be something else happening around my fifth birthday, but when I tried to remember I couldn't, so I just pushed the thought out of my mind.

I rip open the box the kite was in and started getting ready for it to fly. Laying it down, I then ran across the park, trying to get it to fly to no success. Staring down at it I begin to tear up, worried that I might have broken it.

"Woah, that's a pretty cool looking kite, can I see it?"

I turn around and see a boy my age looking at me and pointing at the kite.

"Can you get it to fly?" I say, hoping to have some sort of fun with my gift.

"Sure, just watch me," the boy says sticking out his hand. I wonder why he's holding out his hand until I realize he's asking for the kite handle. I give it to him, and he starts to run away, but this time the kite lifts up into the air. He stops and waves for me to come over, while I just stare at the diamond of cloth, flying in the sky.

"How did you do that," I say, staring at him in awe, and taking back the handle.

He puts his on his hips, and proudly says, "I just ran against the wind instead of with it"

Why didn't I think of that? It seemed so simple, and I feel like I should've understood it, but I can't figure out why.

I look at the kid and ask, "I'm Alex, do you want to be friends."

He looks at me for a little bit, then smiles and says, "Sure. I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

AN - Originally this was two separate chapters, but I decided to combine them cause they were WAY too short. For the future, my messages to you the reader will always be in bold, so yeah. Story starts off pretty bad, but I recommend reading until chapter 4, and if you don't like it then drop it. I would go and remake these earlier chapters, but I kind of want to keep them as-is for my own kind of reflections. Thanks for reading!