Disclaimer : I do not own anything.
The world around was a captivating cacophony of colours.
There was something before me. It seemed human, almost.
Almost.
I stared at It for a long while.
The creature before me smiled.
"Pick a card."
A table existed between me and it. I knew it did not a moment before, but felt as if it did for long before I noticed.
It spread a number of cards on the table, each a uniform length from one another in one fluid motion.
I spared a cursory glace at the thing wearing my face. It smiled and gestured to the cards on the table.
"Go on. Pick one."
There was an affliction to it's voice. As if It knew something I didn't.
I focussed my attention on the cards. Each were the size of my palm and lay face down on the table.
"What will they do?" I ask it after a moment of hesitation.
It's smile widens imperceptibly.
"They decide your fate of course. You see death is a fickle thing. Either you exist or you don't. Once you do however.."
It's smile widened even further. "There is no going back."
It gestured again at the cards.
" If you don't like your pick, you may choose again. Now.."
The table now existed inches before me, and I knew it had not a moment before.
Choose
It's voice rang in my head, a combination of an unholy cry and a sweet whisper I couldn't place.
My hand drifted towards the centre of the group of cards, inclined on picking one. It said I could choose again after all. I risked a glance at It and It waited, that all knowing smile etched on it's face.
Spurned my whatever instinct, my hand rested on the leftmost card of the group. The surface of the card was hard, as if made out of stone
The card was gone and now it rested between it's fingers. It's eyes had gained a twinkle of mirth to them, even if it wore my face.
It revealed the card to me, a pitch black face with no markings whatever.
"You will choose again." It declared.
The cards floated up by whatever force held them. They shuffled themselves as if an expert were handling them. They finally came to rest in the same manner as they had done earlier with nary a sound.
"Again" It said.
Hesitating, I slowly hovered my hand above the cards. My eyes scanned left to right. There were thirteen cards in total.
This time I choose a card near the middle, the seventh from the right. It disappeared as it had earlier.
The creature held it. This time it chuckled openly and it was strange seeing your mirror image laughing when you were not yourself. The card was revealed once more. Once more I saw a pitch black face. The same I had before.
"There is no trick, I assure you." The creature said.
The remaining cards revealed their faces.
A glowing ball of fire. The sun. A heavily decorated chair inlaid in gold and gems. The Throne. A suit of armor and a sword amidst fire and rain. The knight. And many more.
"Now that your fate is decided."
The table and cards ceased to exist. They were not there as if I did not interact with them a moment earlier, yet I knew I did.
The creature was close to me now.
"I cannot guarantee your existence from here onwards. The void is queer and most primal. None who have tread before remain whole."
It slipped into thought, hesitating almost.
It touched me once and the world around me vanished.
Then pain hit me.
The world burned.
Shades of red shifted in my vision as I struggled to keep my eyelids open. I would not give up
Pain meant I still lived.
I tried to bring my arms to claw at the raging heat in my chest when I realised I no longer had the strength to do so.
Not Again.
I was somehow alive once more. My body seemed to realise it well, thrashing in involuntary defiance.
A cry ripped from my throat, tears spilled. My breaths came up short, dizziness accompanied with lack of vision doing nothing to help things.
I could hear laughter from somewhere around me.
"He's got a pair of lungs on him."
Something big was reaching for me, bigger than me.
N̶̢͈͌̓̃͛̈̐̾͊͗̾͐͗́͜ǫ̴̮̗̱̹̙̂͗̾̆̀͑̆͂̂͆̎͝͝t̸̡̧̡̪̪̯͔̹͙̻͕̻̺͉̗̝͈͐͆̔ ̵̧̧̻̜̠͔̖̮̹̗͕̮͑̏̃̑̓̓̌̂A̸͔͛g̸̞̓̔̐̑̂͒̑͆̌͒͂̒̅̕͠͝ą̷̦̬͇̥̦̹͓̖̇́̒͝í̶̡̨͖̭̪͕͕͉̟̱͙̤͉ͅņ̸̢̛̥̦̯̣̬̘͙͍̻̼̘͇̙͙͗̏̓̌̏͒̑̌̅̐̎́̈͠͠
Something shifted. The world buckled. I felt a sharp tug reaching into my chest.
There was a cry and a cacophony of sounds.
Nothing reached for me yet the pain remained, growing more pronounced by the each passing moment.
The colours were fading, so were the sounds, no matter how much my weak body struggled.
Ň̸̢̡̢̛̮̲̻̻͓͔̥̦̭̙͓̼̩̙̮̗̮͇̻͇͆̆̔̽̅ͅǪ̷̢̡̛̳̻̹̜͚̳̯̗̰̭͈̮̲̮͈̯̌̑̍̽̽͂̀̊̀̅͗͑̈́͋̽̊͋̍̉̃̚ͅ
There was another sharp tug and a wave of searing pain hit my chest. I felt the very air around me distort. Another set of screams, mine among them. My ears made out the distinct sound of an explosion.
The colours grew dimmer, the sounds were more faint now.
N̸̖̻̦̗̳̱̣̣͉̥͚̗̾̚͠ͅe̵̦͇̙̭͙͔̘̪͚͚̘̦̗͂̿̉͋̋̾̀͒͑̓̀̍̎̉͝͝v̶̢̛̲̺̭͇͇̺͎͓̮̼̈́̀̄̀̄͐̌̓͗̒̏͆̔̇̕͜͜͝e̴̯͌̿̊͐͗͒͂͝͝r̸̡̛̭͚̭͉̮̟̃̓̀͑̒̀͒̇͘
Another wave of pain, another explosion.
This time darkness claimed me, not waiting for the screams that would follow.
Author's note : That's the first chapter. Thanks for reading. Leave a review and any feedback if it was worth your time.