Setting: Magic the Gathering/Multicross
*This was a rewrite of my very first story, not available on FF.
Power Fantasy.
Chapter 01
The afterlife is a complete assault on the senses. There is nothing but multicolored sounds and singing colors; there are also a mindboggling number of stars in the far distance, and everything was filled with a thick strawberry smell for some reason.
"Well fuck," I said to the incredible sight. "I'm dead."
Am I dead right? I mean; I was walking down the street after having bought some beer from a convenience store near my house, and all of a sudden there was a speeding truck heading towards me.
Well, at least I didn't feel the impact.
…
Now what?
After waiting a couple of seconds, with no angel or devil coming to pick me up. I sat down on… whatever I was standing, and grab a beer can out of the plastic bag.
"…Damn!" I said after a few snips, "Those damn internet memes were totally wrong! Truck-kun didn't throw me into a new world!"
I chortled from my own lame joke.
Then I chuckled from it, and then I laughed so hard my belly began to hurt.
Funny…
"GODDAMNIT!" I screamed at the infinity, hurling the beer can with all my strength, the fucking thing disappeared as soon as it left my hand. "IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE!? IS THAT IT!? KILLED BECAUSE OF FUCKING BEER!? FUCK YOU!"
My throat contracted painfully in a choke, killing my angry rant right there. I put my hand over my burning eyes.
"…I don't want to fucking die." I said between tear.
I don't know how long I stayed there, feeling the weird dimension washing over me, letting out all my anger and frustrations over this fucking bullshit. Trying to deal with the fact that all my dreams and aspirations were gone, and all the effort I put on my life was meanness in the end.
I felt surprisingly better after it; I guess that 'good cry' thing holds trust even after death.
That good feeling lasted until I swiped my tears, then I noticed how uncomfortable I felt.
It was very, very weird; I was feeling some kind of discomfort that I couldn't really put into words, it was an odd type of oppression I never felt before; like a physical pressure mixed with mental uneasiness.
Well, fuck, now what's happening?
After a few moments of just feeling the discomfort persists, I moved to grab my bag again. If I have to deal with weird afterlife bullshit, at the very least, I want to be drunk.
The bag wasn't there, what the hell- Oh, I let go during my crying fit didn't I? Great, more bullshit.
I rose to my feet- and the feeling intensified- fuck now is getting very hard to ignore.
Okay, what can I do here?
I have my wallet… and my phone- no signal of course, but its kind of hilarious that still work; maybe I should place a game…Hehehe, Candy crush in the afterlife-
The discomfort intensified again, this time it almost brought me to my knees; it's starting to hurt a little.
The entire place felt different than before. Visually, it's still the same, but the pressure was making it… tighter somehow, like a giant, physics-defiant cage.
I have to get out… I blinked at the almost instinctive thought that crossed my mind.
Can I get out?
I don't see anything that could be an exit maybe- WOAW!
A single step, I only took a single step, and the whole place seems to bend around me, it was like the Star Wars' hyperspace effect, the stars and colors spread across my vision in an extreme impression of speed, and a single step took me light-years away from where I was.
… But still in the same goddamn dimension, with the same damn pain growing on my extremities. Only the stars were in a different position- there is one right beside my face!
I gazed incredulously at the speck of light, realizing now that they weren't distant stars like I'd imagined, but tiny dots of lights that spread across infinity, like an endless sea of fireflies.
And the pain increased again.
"Ouch! Owowowowow!" What was once an easily ignored pickle was now a constant stab over my entire body. I had to fight through it to focus once again.
Ok! Tiny dot it is! Is not like I have anything to lose.
I grab the dot with my finger- And they were sucked in!
My eyes widen as my hand, and arm quickly followed behind.
Oh, Fuck-
I open my eyes to see the blue sky and the soft waves of the sea. A gentle breeze hit my face bringing a salty smell with this, at a distance, I could hear the distinctive cries of seagulls dancing in the air.
It took a few seconds to process this, a few seconds of just feeling the world and hearing my heartbeats thumping on my ears. Soon a gasps came from my mouth, and the realization dawned.
"…I'm alive," I whispered to the wind, more and more the world became clearer, more and more everything felt more real. "I'm alive!" This time, it was a shout.
Fuck this emotional rollercoaster! Who cares if I don't live anywhere near the sea, or that it was suddenly daytime for some reason. I'm here! I'm back! I'm alive!
There was a crashing sound of something heavy hitting the ground behind me.
…Hm?
I turn to see a dock of some kind, it was built in what it seems to be a rocky cove, and there was a lot of weirdly dressed people around, all looking directly at me.
"Hum…" I pass my eyes over them; everyone looked like they came straight of a cosplayer competition if the theme were stylish wizards. I focused on the one closest to me, a heavy set guy who had apparently let the crater he was carrying fall off, revealing a collection of…Books?
"Hello?"
There was a blur-
And the entire left side of my body explodes in pain.
The world twisted and turned on itself; I could felt my feet escape the ground as my body flew in a twisting arc. Everything abruptly stopped when my back crashed on something, turning my vision into black.
A solid object brought me back to reality as it slammed violently on my chest, pressing me against the wall. With the world slowly coming to a halt, the pain finally catches up t my brain, prompting the best scream I could make with my lungs pressed like that. Another solid thing wrapped my limbs as soon as they began to trash.
Focusing was very difficult after that, but I was able to control my breaths somewhat, and the blur in my vision began to disappear- I did everything I could to not freak out when I noticed that I was held against the walls by a freaking stone pillar.
Seriously what the fuck is that!? Where the fuck this thing came from!?
Wait. Sounds! The ringing in my ears is fading.
"…I said. How did you get there?"
"What-" I gasped dumbly at the brown-skinned man striding towards to me, not because of his weird wizard cosplay that somehow didn't look stupid, but at the freaking book floating beside him.
I watched that transgression of the natural law for a couple of moment; then, my eyes drooped to the stone monument that had appeared out of nowhere and pinned me against the wall.
And the dots connected.
Oh fuck, OH FUCK!
That fucking truck really did send me to another world!
"Why are you wasting time talking to him, brother?" A second man approached, he also had a book floating beside him. "He's clearly a spy from the Kingdom, just kill him and be done with it." I never had someone snarl so hatefully at me before.
"He somehow passed through all the island defenses without raising any alarm." The first man explained emotionlessly, "This indicates a breath in the force fields."
"So? We'll be out of this hellhole by nightfall anyway, what difference would knowing that make? Better to kill him than wasting effort trying to get the information out."
"…Very well."
"W-WAIT-" I tried, but my voice was cut by the sudden pressure.
My bones rasped against one another; my body jerked in agony. I tried desperately to get out of my binds, but the cracking sounds send my mind into frantic despair.
And suddenly, the bounds loosen, making me gurgle in relief and spit a glob of blood over the pillar that was still pinning me. I could hear a faint conversation on the background, but I was busy trying to breathe without lighting my chest in agony.
I barely noticed when the stone pillar retreated, but I definitely feel my body falling the short distance to the ground.
"GUH!" My face hit the ground. The impact made me remember that while my chest was killing me, the left side of my body wasn't great either. I groaned over the wooden floor, trying to turn my fat-ass to a less painful position.
A pair of delicate hands gripped my torso and turned me to my back with no apparent difficulty, soon after, I felt my head being laid on something extremely soft.
"Oh you poor thing, I'm sorry about that, my men are just so jumpy sometimes."
My head was lying on the lap of the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I gawked stupidly at her vision; her features were gentle and inviting, her hair a healthy brown, tied into a thick branch, her green eyes showed nothing but love and kindness, and from the touch on my cheek and the direction my eyes inevitably went to, I noticed something more on her that was particularly blessed.
She giggled when she noticed where I was gazing; I blushed under the angelic sound.
"Ah, you're one of the naughty ones hm?" She actually pushes more of the wonderful softness against my face. "Do you feeling better now, darling?"
Oh yes, having a pair like these pressed on your face can make anyone feel better, I can't even feel the pain anymore… I actually can't feel the pain anymore.
"I'm- Yeah." I tried to keep my voice from squeaking. "I'm feeling better, thank you."
"Oh, it was nothing darling, nothing." Her smile lifted my entire world. "Now, can you do something for me?"
"Yes ma'am, anything." Anything for her.
"Close your eyes darling, and relax."
I did so; it was very easy to relax under her touch.
"Now let me in darling,"
Let her in? What does that mean?
…Whatever, I was too comfortable and too tired for everything to care about that right now. I just want to sleep.
"Yes darling, sleep now, you deserve it."
I did, by god I did, I never fell asleep so fast before, and never felt my sleep coming like that either…
"You're doing fine darling, now show me."
I begin to dream. Soft dreams full of warmth and peace, dreams that carried the impression of the woman I had fallen in love.
"Yes darling they all do eventually, but that isn't what I'm looking for."
The dream burst and I fell into an underwater stream that took me for a ride. I enjoyed the sensation of speed for a few moments before a series of scenes began to project over the water, scenes of my earliest memories.
"Already? Oh, darling, you have a remarkably open mind, I love it!"
Within the water current, I watched my life played out, scenes from my toddler years and my childhood, where I learned more about the world around me.
"Oh my…"
I saw my adolescence pass by, years where I wasn't burdened by my adult responsibilities, years where I could fully enjoy what I loved most in life. My friends, my family, my books, my video games, my anime and manga…
"Interesting, very, very interesting!"
I watched as I bumbled away into adulthood, making many silly mistakes that could have been avoided but thankfully could be fixed, meeting people and having experiences that shaped who I'm today. Then came the truck.
And I dreamed of that mysterious afterlife.
A land of shifting colors and dancing songs, where infinite tiny stars resided and smelled like strawberries
An image of it appeared clearly in my mind.
"GHYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
I woke up on the cold wooden floor with a shrill wail punishing my poor ears. I snap my head in the direction of the sound.
There was a woman trashing violently on the ground, screaming her heart out, a group of cosplayers was surrounding her, trying to help her somehow-Oh God, she is trying to gouge her eyes out.
What that fuck is happening?
With a grunt of effort, I push myself with my right arm to sit against the wall. Trying to pierce my thought back together, thankfully the massive headache I was feeling was quickly fading.
Okay, what that fuck is happening right now, I remember being hit by a truck- well, not hit, more like dying and going to the afterlife…Not, I was able to get out right? By that dot of light, and then…
And then…
"You…" A voiced growled out from beside me, so full of hatred it sends a chill down my spine. I turned to a blonde man dressed as a wizard- Is that book flying beside him!?
Oh… wait…Oh shit!
That woman! She was-
…Oh god.
"You dare hurt our beloved Lady," I remembered the guy and- OH FUCK there are swords forming over his shoulders! "I'll punish you for what you did!"
…Mommy.
-0-0-0-
It hurts.
Everything hurts; it was the first thing I noticed as I became aware again before I even opened my eyes. My entire body ached in places I didn't even know existed.
Slowly I began to test out my limbs. They cracked and popped back to place, but thankful I could still move them.
A small miracle considering what I've been through.
I bite back a choke. I had already cried and screamed enough over the last few… hours? God, it feels so long ago… I already let enough tears to last a lifetime.
Better hold on to the little pride I have left.
I managed to craw to the nearest wall, leaning my back against it. Every movement brought an explosion of pain to my nerves. Every centimeter made me bite back a scream.
And when I finally manage to focus on other things besides the pain, I had to bite back a scream for a different reason.
Corpses, slashed, burned, melted corpses. They're all around me, crowding the small cell I was thrown into, and the corridor outside, the smell of death was overpowering.
I'd have thrown up if I hadn't emptied my stomach before… and again, when they made me eat it-
Don't think about it…. Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
"FUCK!" I shouted, surprising myself with the strength I managed to muster, " WHAT THAT FUCK DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! I JUST WENT TO BUY BEER! FUCKING BEER!"
I kicked a nearby corpse to the side to emphasize my point; the movement sent a stab of pain up to my keen.
"Gah!" I pulled my leg back and tried to massage my pain away.
Fuck, even when angry I'm pathetic-
"Hey, Fatso."
I did not squeak by the sudden voice- it was a manly grunt of surprise!
I raised my head and my eyes focused on the other live figure on this fuck up dungeon.
It was a man; a bloodied, bruised man chained to the walls, but despite the injuries, he still exalted an aura of power and danger. He was only wearing leather pants, showing an upper body built in a way that would leave Spartans envy, he had messed black hair that spiked its way down his neck, his face was blooded and boated, but the only eyes he could open spoke of Asian heritage. He was looking directly at me with a weird intensity.
"…What?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that he most likely had seen my freak out.
His good eye moved a little to the side. "Over there."
I turn to the direction he was looking and took a deep breath when I saw the dead body sitting beside me. I drop my gaze to its hand… and saw carton of cigarettes.
"Throw this to me will you."
…Seriously?
Fuck it.
I grab the carton, still surprised that my arm wasn't broken, and throw it to him; he snatched from the air with his chained hands.
"Thanks." The chains forced him to bend to grab a cigarette with his lips; the tip lighted on its own when he sat back.
Another reminder that this isn't my world.
The silence between us dragged on for a couple of minutes after that.
"So." He buffed eventually. "Shitty day huh? Want to talk about it?"
…I don't know if it was the casual way he asked or the impossibility of the situation we're in or even if this was the last straw that broke my mind. But I began to laugh.
I laughed long and hard, filling my eyes water once again and giving my voice a frenetically edge.
"You know what?" I choke out; swiping the few tears that escaped- these ones don't count "Yes I do."
And I told him everything; it was a short, depressing tale, I noticed. Even if it carried some interesting parts. And yeah, I also told him about my other world situation, because if some mindraping witch managed to rip it out from me, what the worst it could happen in letting this random ass stranger know.
"Damn," He said after I ended my tale. "That's rough buddy."
I almost said 'fuck you' for meming in a situation like this, but he couldn't have known.
"So you believe me?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Sure, another world; it's the kind of weird shit I have to deal with on daily bases. It's almost part of the job prescription." He shifted, rolling his shoulder as much as the chains allowed. "What is your name anyway?"
"Anthony." I lean my head back on the back. I feel better now that I let it all out. "And yours?"
"I'm Yami, magicknight of the Clover Kingdom… Though you must have no idea of this means." The living fictional character let out a heavy trail of smoke from his nostrils, then he smiled. "Nice to meet ya!"
