The Eternal Commander
Chapter 1
An offer
The mist was surrounded by darkness. The light was faint, and the room lacked any sort of apparent walls.
When Chris awoke, this was the first thing he noticed. That, and his terrible headache. It felt like someone smashed his head with a sledgehammer.
In his daze, Christian William Turner scanned his surroundings, which would help him deduce his current location, but the mist and the darkness made this more complex. Rolling to his side and dusting himself off, he inspected his body for physical trauma. Neither his black T-shirt nor his blue jeans showed any signs of notable damage. His jeans had a couple of holes on it, but it was from constant usage, not an accident.
Combing through his memory was difficult with the throbbing headache after rolling his neck to relieve tension from his body. The daze subsided, and one recent memory did not feel worth reliving.
However, Chris' train of thoughts came short when a voice stupefied him.
"Come forth, young one! You have a future to conquer."
It was deep but lacked any evident tone. It would have been fitting for a narrator in an old film or the voice for God. Although Chris did not consider himself a religious person, he was undoubtedly unfamiliar with Christianity's doctrines. A bodiless voice talking to him was giving him the creeps. It felt...unnatural.
Thankfully, the mist around the room started to relent, along with the darkness. But even after that, there were still no noticeable walls, and a throne appeared. The mist always surrounded it, however, and only the Entity's humanoid figure was conspicuous. It felt like staring into a person's shadow.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me where am I exactly, and how I got here?" Chris inquired.
"You are between the worlds, the final step before the afterlife," the voice retorted.
"And who are you exactly?"
"I have no name, for that, I don't need one. I am ageless and ceaseless. I stand between worlds and dimensions."
'Well, that not exactly helpful,' thought Chris. "Is that you, God?"
"No, I am separate one from that being. It stands before me in every aspect."
"Wait, if I am here, does that mean that I am dead?!" Chris felt a knot tighten in his stomach.
"Of course. Though I must say that your death was rather abrupt and un-heroic."
Sadly, the Entity was fair that assessment. Chris was just walking in the street to hit up the local night club for some quick action when a small white van ran him over. His driver was most likely drunk. It was relatively fast, and it was over before he knew it. Chris was glad that the Entity before him did not go into detail.
"Yeah, I agree. But now I am more worried about what will happen to me."
"Worry not. However, I must ask you a question: What was your paramount desire?"
Chris tilted his head, frowned, and crossed his arm.
"Honestly, that is not an easy question. I mean, I had a fair share of wishes throughout my life, and there were a couple, which was somewhat grander.", said Chris while scratching the back of his head.
"I am certain that you had a noble goal, which you always intended for. One, which permeated your beliefs while you were mortal."
Chris suddenly realized what he meant. "Are you talking about my Grand Dream?"
"Yes."
"Oh, give me a break! I had given up on that a long time ago. I was naive back then. And honestly, it was just a childish dream." Chris knew what the Entity meant.
Living in Chicago, Chris witnessed the worst of humanity. He always wanted to change the world for the better. However, soon he realized that he alone could no such thing, so he just gave up upon that dream a couple years back.
"Why would you give up on your goals? Most people live their life without discerning the bigger picture. They never think beyond their comfortable lives and just ignore the suffering of millions of others on the same planet. And some have the ambition and willpower to change the world through their actions and words. They are few, but without them, there would be no progress. And you are one of them."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives… So you are saying that I am some kind of special snowflake?" Chris waved downward at the Entity.
When Chris told other people about his dream, they thought he was a moron, a self-professed messiah, many laughed at him or condescendingly say his goal was impossible. Some even thought that he would grow out of his dream one day. Those people were right.
"In a way, yes. You have every attribute required to amend everything around. You just have to act."
"Whatever you say, oh Supreme Being, but there is one problem your little encouragement: I'M FUCKING DEAD! So unless you know a way to send me back to Earth, the only thing I can do is sitting on my ass and wait for your next little suggestion! Or maybe you can just send me God-knows-where in the afterlife, so I can finally rest in fucking piece!"
After that little outburst, the room fell silent for a solid minute. After a while, it was a bit awkward. Chris felt like he should apologize, he realised his outburst was unwarranted and uncalled for, but he lacked the strength to ask. Despite the disrespectful, profanity-filled sentence, the misty figure did not react to it.
"What if I told you that you can start all over, and you can prove that your dream is not an illusion, but rather a goal, which you can strive towards?" The Entity's voice did not betray him. It acted as the last minute, or two has never happened.
"I mean, why not? Although can't I just go to Heaven? I mean, I feel like that it would be better for me than just reincarnating somewhere else than trying again."
"Yes, this will always be an option. However, what if I told you that if you choose my offer, you will not be helpless. You will have companions, underlings, and armies who will obey your every order. They will look up to you and see you as their commander. You will be the one who will give them guidance and directions. Your orders will be the law to them."
"So, in short, I will have the power to lead others?"
"Yes."
Okay, thought Chris, this sounds interesting. Back on Earth, he wasn't exactly the leader type. And although he was never an outcast, he only had a couple of friends. They were nice enough, but making new ones was not exactly a cakewalk. Although they did not make fun of him for his dream, they did remind him that he should focus on something less vague and actually achievable goals. There weren't any leaders in the group anyway. They were just hanging around and having fun. So leading them was never really an option. Also, speaking in public was also a problem for him for a while.
But this sounded different. Having minions, who would listen and obey, would make things easier to change. After all, a single man can only do so much, but he can achieve more if he has enough subordinates.
"Well, in this case, then I would love to give this a try." Chris nodded.
"Good. Now there is in only one thing remaining."
Suddenly, a great rumbling occurred. It was so sudden that Chris almost fell down in surprise. Previously, the room was quiet, but now the sudden shift was deafening. It sounded like an old transformer powering up. It had a metallic feeling, too.
Then in an instant, the room became colourful.
A bright red and a light blue light started illuminating the place. Despite this, the walls were still not visible. The Entity's silhouette was engulfed by the mist.
Chris slowly turned around. He discovered two big, bright, and whirling portals, with the red one on the right and the blue one on the left. The strange sound quieted in the meantime, and it became barely audible.
Chris was amazed. They looked like something straight out of a Sci-fi show, more specifically, from Stargate.
"However, you have to select first between two dissimilar worlds, both different in the problems they endure." Spoke the otherworldly Entity.
"What do you mean?" Chris confusingly rotated his gaze between both portals.
"They are different about the types of injustices they are facing. The blue one opens into a world where oppression, corruption, and apathy. Slowly lead to an armed revolt in hopes of a better future. The red one opens to a world, where despite the creatures of darkness roaming free, most people are either apathetic or actively discriminates against each other while hoping that the problems fade away."
"And you say that I can only visit one of these places. But why? "
"Because they are different in every possible way, so they require two different sets of skill. One man can only save one world. So in your opinion, which one would fit your preferences? "
Chris scratched the back of his head. Suddenly, he realised that he forgot to ask one last important question.
"Do I have to give you something in return? I mean, your kind don't usually give out powers to mortals without asking something in return. Do you want something from me? " Chris turned around to face the Entity.
"No, you don't owe me anything. The only thing I ask you is that you stay dutiful to your convictions. If you fulfill your dream, your way into Heaven is guaranteed. However, if you fail, I can't guarantee your soul's safety." Chris suddenly felt a cold sensation stream in his back. There was no mention of stakes before this. Now he has to make that world a better place, or he will be damned or something. It was vague, but it made him clear that he has no choice but to do something about the other world's problems.
"This is why I want you to make a choice between these two worlds. Find the one that is the most compatible with you, the one that you feel is the most relatable to you."
With this knowledge, Chris slowly turned around and faced the two portals. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. Nodding to himself, Chris walked onward into one of the portals.
AN: Thank you for reading my first story. I have many ideas that I want to write about, and I think you will enjoy it. Still, if you have any thoughts, suggestions or constructive criticisms to share, please write a review or PM.
I admit, I am a bit nervous, since this is my first story, but I am still excited to share with you all.
Also great thanks to The95will for proofreading my story. He a was a great help