What came out of his mouth next was a stream of the foulest language that the planet Earth had evolved after thousands of years of war. He let the giant faces know exactly what he thought about them, exactly what they could do with their giant mouths and exactly how long they should gargle after. The torrent of filth coming out of his mouth was so spectacular that for a moment the collective consciousness of Chaos stopped and thought, “What the hell? This guy really does give zero fucks!”
“Just kill me again!” Remy screamed after taking a deep breath. “I was already dead. I deserve to see the end of war! I will not be a slave! Not anymore! Never again!”
This time, a voice did respond. It seemingly came out of nowhere, but it was almost human.
~No. There are no slaves here, at least none that do not choose such a path. Those you saw are only being momentarily detained to improve their power and prepare them for what comes next. In either case your fate diverges from theirs, though in time they may become intertwined once more.~
“What, then?” Remy shouted. He was almost inside of the mouth, but even the idea of being eaten by some cosmic being didn’t scare him. He was too angry. Most of his personality had been stripped away, but what was left was the core of who he was: a desire for freedom, a need to improve the world, and fury!
“What?” he spat. “What are you preparing me for?”
His astral self continued to drift into the mouth of the face, now swelled to the size of a mountain range. There was no response for the seconds or centuries that passed as Remy continued into the black hole of his destiny. Right before he was consumed, the voice spoke again, and this time there was no mistaking the pity and sorrow it held.
~Godhood.~
Then Remy entered the maw of the Lords of Chaos and his mind passed beyond thought and time.
CHAPTER 2
Welcome, creature of Chaos! You will soon enter the world of Telos!
This is an old world that is on the cusp of a new beginning. The Cataclysm that destroyed its civilizations, plunged it into anarchy and laid low its old gods has passed from regret, to myth, to legend, and now almost beyond any memory. Be warned; forgotten or not, the sins of the past will always haunt both the present and the future. As is always true of Labyrinth worlds, however, danger and reward are close bedfellows.
Wait, what? Remy thought to himself. He’d been eaten by the giant face and now he was here, wherever here was. All he could see was an unrelieved blackness and the words that scrolled across his vision. Did the prompt just call him a “creature of Chaos?” He had a vague memory of someone else calling him a god, but as he reached for the memory, it dissipated like smoke in the night. More words blazed across his gaze.
Ages past, the Lattice, a unique and interconnected series of worlds and realities, was consumed by the Labyrinth. For immeasurable time the mana of the Labyrinth has flooded the Lattice, sinking ever deeper into it, until finally reaching the jewel at its center. This jewel is the world of Telos.
Dungeons have now appeared across the face of the planet. Locations of magic are reawakening as the ambient mana levels of this world increase. Like water on dry sand, the first drops of magic may be quickly absorbed, but in a short time this world shall create a magic system both akin to all Labyrinth worlds and unique unto itself.
At this pivotal time, you are one of an unknown number of creatures that have been seeded with Power. Demons, monsters, gods and more shall vie for survival in this new world. Each Being of Power shall have their own strengths and weaknesses.
You are a god!
A great number of rudimentary tribes have been brought to this new and dangerous world. They call out for aid!
Your first task as a Tier 0 deity is to choose a people to worship you. As you have a Sponsor, you have been granted a short amount of time in which to prepare. Your primary senses will now be restored. You may customize this space to ease your transition into this new phase of being.
And just like that, Remy could see, hear and touch again. He took for granted that taste was back as well, but he couldn’t smell anything. He stood in a featureless white room with curved walls. There were no doors or furniture. After pinching his skin and confirming that he once again physically existed, he checked the walls. Minutes later, he came to three conclusions:
One, it looked like he’d been reincarnated into the same body he’d had before.
Two, he was in an empty white room.
Three, it’d be nice to have a place to sit.
No sooner had that thought occurred to him than a short white stool appeared. It didn’t slowly morph into existence. One moment the room was empty, the next, it was there.
Remy frowned at it. It was about two feet tall and had three legs. Just your average wooden stool. Not exactly comfy, he noticed. That thought triggered another change, and it became a plush recliner. It even had a console on one arm for shiatsu. Just like the stool, the entire thing was pure white. He tried to change the color with his mind, and the leather turned a rich chocolate color.
After poking it a couple times, he sat down and turned on the massage function. A slight buzz filled the air and pure ecstasy spread through his naked body. He let out a faint croon of pleasure. This was amazing.
As he lay there in his birthday suit, he thought back on how crazy everything was. He’d died and been brought back to life. Now he was in a sterile lab environment, and he could manifest his thoughts. A normal reaction would be to freak out about all of this, but Remy had never been normal. There was a reason he’d gained the nickname Zero. When most people panicked, he stayed calm. It wasn’t that he had nerves of steel, it was just that he gave zero fucks.
He enjoyed the massage a bit longer before standing up and turning the chair off. Pursing his mouth, he thought about his situation. If nothing else, it was always a good idea to gather information. Testing out his new “power,” he summoned a mirror and examined himself.
The most obvious thing was that he was completely naked. He’d noticed that before, but after coming back from the dead, it just hadn’t seemed like a big priority. The lack of temperature, either hot or cold, had made it even easier to ignore. Looking in the mirror now though, he checked to make sure his oldest friend had made it through his reincarnation without injury. That act made him chuckle as he remembered a talk with an old ICU nurse.
She’d told him that after thirty years in the long-term recovery wing, she’d seen a great number of men and women wake up from comas. With a dismissive shake of her head, she’d then told him that every time a woman woke up, the patient would immediately ask if her husband and children were okay. A woman’s first thoughts were of the well-being of their loved ones. Every single man who woke up though, the first thing they did was frantically reach down to grab their package and make sure it was still there. That was usually followed by a huge sigh of relief, asking for some water, and maybe then asking about their loved ones.
Remy had always thought that story was a bit ridiculous, but now, seeing that the monster was still home and hanging, he understood the profound relief those men had felt. He chuckled again but the levity quickly fled. Thinking about that old nurse had triggered another memory, this one about his favorite nephew. Other than his sister, the brilliant boy had been one of his last living family even before the Forsaking.