Huh... Guess I died, so this is what death feels like. Dark... nothing... and only thoughts, it's kinda freaking me out. Wait, It's actually not so bad, I can live with this, or should I say die with this. Hehe, I'm so funny.
An ethereal voice echoes from within his mind.
"For the record mortal you are not funny, not even in the slightest."
"Who are you, and you can read my thoughts?!"
"Of course I can, for I am a being of divine authority, a harbinger of all ends, a goddess of dea–"
"CREEP!"
"I BEG YOUR PARDON!?!"
"That's right, who gave you permission to pry into my mind you degenerate goddess!"
"Ok, ok! Enough of that. More importantly I have what you seek, the power to control life itself. But it would not be free of course, you just have to do me a little favor."
"You take me for a fool?!" The boy says with absolute confidence and a hint of mockery "How can you say that you're a goddess, you certainly don't act like one."
In a split second the boy's life flashes before his eyes in an instant, his body begins to manifest through sheer pain, a pain unlike any other, his bones hummed as it vibrates like strings, muscles formed on its surface, each fiber squirming violently as skin tightens vigorously covering them on the outside, his organs bursts to existence setting an explosion from within.
(MAKE IT STOP!!!)
Just then, steam is released from every pore on his body, along with it, a hissing sound that grows louder and louder. Until it went silent...
In a moment he finds himself wearing a white robe in a sea filled with water-like crystal on a seabed made of glass. As he looks down he sees the seemingly endless copies of the very floor he is standing on, repeating endlessly through the depths until it is nothing but a blur.
Confused but still trying to keep his composure, the man calls out to the goddess seeking for answers.
"Hello! You still there? Look, I'm sorry I said those things but that was going too far. That LITERALLY felt like hell!"
(Is what I would say, if you were an actual goddess.)
"Hey lousy goddess, where the heck did you go?! Got scared or something?"
A voice echoes through the sea as if the sound comes from all directions. The waters of the calm sea shook creating ripples on the water's surface.
"Awww, missed me already, how cute. And you know, I can still hear your thoughts. Guess I'll forgive you since you're sorry to your goddess."
Feeling hopeless, the boy remembered the offer proposed by the goddess "About that favor, tell me what I must do."
(If anything, you'd be closer to the devil.)
"Oh, and that reminds me, since you willingly refused the offer of moving to the Sea of Solace (Second Layer of Death: The place where souls that fully accept their oblivion remain.) I had to kill you in the Void (First Layer of Death: The place where souls that refuse to accept oblivion remain.) to take you here. I didn't want to do it since it would be excruciatingly painful, but alas you did not heed the warning of your merciful goddess.'
"Ok I get it, I'll take this seriously."
The man loathingly shows amicable behavior towards the goddess after hearing that.
"That's what I wanted to hear, it's not that hard isn't it. But before that, you must complete this simple ritual, this is old but it has been reliable for ages."
The goddess chuckled mockingly at the boy
Then the floor began to shake intensely as a monument-like structure made of glass slowly rose from the sea. The structure appears as a trapezoidal prism with stairs leading to the top where four pillars are found on its corners, these pillars suspend the crystal water in the air as if it were a sheet of cloth. And at the center of it all is a rectangular table with a throne on the end and a measly chair on the other.
"What are you waiting for, mortal? ascend the stairs and sit on the throne. Make haste and do not falter or you may lose yourself."
"What happens if I falter?"
"If I tell you that, you surely will. And I already told you, Did I not?"
("Lose yourself" is such a vague consequence though, it could mean anything.)
The boy looks at the flight of stairs with acquiescence. He lifts his foot from the crystal sea, the warmth of the water dissipates as it flows off his foot. The moment he made contact on the very first step, he felt as if his body was being pulled upward at great speed.
[Note: Think of a reverse drop tower]
He momentarily lost his balance but managed to recover.
(This is gonna be annoying)
"Oh and make sure to be quick."
[Mumbling] "I wonder how well you can breathe at high altitudes."
[Note: there are only fifty steps, each step being fifteen centimeters high.]
"What do you mean by that!?!"
[Silence....]
With a sigh, he continued ascending the stairs enduring the same feeling as before on every step. Half way through the stairs he grew accustomed to the feeling.
"I've gotten used to it by now, which can only mean one thing... chaos is about to ensue."
(Please don't jinx it- she did say something about altitude, I'm screwed either way.)
As he took the next step, he felt a chilling breeze through his body. His breath gradually grew thinner the more steps he climbed.
He paused for a moment
(I wonder what would happen if I just skipped a step. The effect would probably intensify based on the steps I skip.)
"Actually you are right, don't do that right now, you can do it when you're about to reach the top."
"Why exactly?"
"Let me ask you this, how many steps do you think you can jump? The last eight steps are especially difficult, you might actually lose your breath and faint on the spot."
His voice sounded rasp by the freezing air almost as if he was on the verge of collapse.
"So you're saying I have to jump the last eight steps. The best I can do is probably five steps."
"Ugh fine... " Three steps ahead of the boy, shattered to pieces. Then the very steps in which he is standing, moved forward closer to the top.
"There you go, now jump."
"Wait you can just do tha-"
"I SAID JUMP!!!"
Out of shock, he immediately jumped with all his might. In doing so he made it to the top of the monument while slamming his face on the floor.
"Argh!! Why couldn't you just make it like ten steps instead. What I went through better be worth it."
"HAHAHA how amusing! You were like chaos is about to ensue like the stairs are some kind of great evil. Well, maybe you ARE funny after all, you mortals never fail to entertain me."
(And... She completely ignored my question, I don't care anymore.)
"Anyways, by doing that, the spell I cast is now active, no one will hear our conversation no matter what, as long as it is in this monument."
"Wait a sec... Something feels off. Did I forget something somehow?"
He stands up looking back at the stairs, then a voice replies instantaneously.
"Well... I didn't want you messing up the ritual since you'll lose all your memories and fall to the deepest part of the Sea of Solace as an empty husk wandering in someone else's dead world. So by removing three steps you paid the price of losing a teency bit of your memory."
"What memory did I lose?!?" Yelling frantically while his hands clenched on his head.
Why don't you tell me your name for starters.
"My name...?" He asks himself rhetorically "Right. My name is Auren. Just. Auren?!?"
He then comes to a realization "The price is a part of my name isn't it? Huh, oh well. You can just tell me what it was." He raises his head into the estranged sky with confidence
"If I could, I would. But the way this spell makes you lose memories, is also by making other people forget about it so... In short, it's gone forever." [Awkward smile.]
"Ugh fine. No good from trying to remember something that doesn't exist anymore." He walks towards the throne of glass, you can hear a *Tink* with each step he takes on the glass floors. He stands in front of the throne mesmerized by the patterns etched intricately on the crest and the splat.
[Note: Splat is a part of the throne in the middle of its back support]
He sits on the throne as per instructed by the goddess. Soon after, a drop of water descends in the middle of the glass table.
"Hey goddess, are you doing this? Is this another crazy ritual or something?"
*Pop!* Goes the water droplet, as a bright light illuminates the area, blinding the eyes of whoever is in its wake.
"Yes. It is indeed another ritual thingy, still necessary as the first one."
From the bright light the goddess appears in the shape of a girl with a slender body, a white dress with glass shards symmetrically placed along its fabric. Her eyes were that of mirrors in which you could clearly see your reflection by looking through them. Garnished with deepsea blue hair flowing as that of a waterfall splashing on the air itself. With white marble-like skin polished to absolute smoothness. She stands upright and frozen like a statue on the table.
"It should work right about… Now." She says in unison with the puppet-like being on the table
Then a sound like glass shards being rubbed against each other is heard as the puppet sits down, legs crossed on the table.
[Talking through the puppet]
"Right about now my divine form would be talking to a mirror of you on the outside of this monument in relation to the deal we're going to make. But here, I would be telling you that and… something that's of my interest."
(In which the other gods are inevitably against it, cuz they're a bunch of dimwits.)
"So you're saying you forcefully dragged me here for something I didn't get a say on. Just because I pissed you off at the start."
She tried to give a reply, but was interrupted by Auren's realization, her mouth opened for a split second before closing it back.
"But heck yeah, go ahead and just tell me. I just realized I don't have much of a choice at this point."
"Is that it!?! you're not gonna argue or anything? A little haggling, bargaining maybe, a little quibble won't do harm, maybe a good ol dickering is more your taste."
"Please can you not, I'm just being optimistic for once in my life." His optimism dies down faster than a fish in a drought.
"I won't argue but can you do me a favor, and tell me your name. If we're doing this, we might as well get to know each other." He gives off a cold hard stare towards her
"Oh no, not that, we can't go down that path or else this deal would not work at all. Besides we just met moments ago, b-but if you're willing to we could give it a try." She covers her face with both her hands looking flustered by what Auren told her.
Auren's face cringed at the sight before him, truly a spectacle of embarrassment.
"Did you hit your head or something? I don't know what's wrong with you but do try to fix yourself–"
Before he could finish his sentence the puppet's head went off in an explosion turning into a pile of shards on the table.