100. Why Didn't You Tell Him

Shannon carried the flowers to the spot where the truck had hit him and put them there with a small picture of the two of them on their wedding day. They had been so happy and it seemed like a good picture. Of course if you were to look at the woman in the picture and the one that put it down you would probably not be able to tell that they are the same woman. Two years she had been fighting off the cancer but she could not fight a lot longer.

The physical changes had only really happened in the last six months as he body started tearing itself apart. Most people did not know until she told them. She was like she always was and did not want to be a burden on anyone. The only person that she regretted not telling had died on this spot a year before. How much had changed in a single year.

Shannon slowly stood up with a few tears rolling down her cheeks and headed back to the small apartment she was renting. She got rid of almost everything since she knew that time was getting short and she did not want to draw things out. She felt the cough coming on and covered her mouth with the small rag that she carried. The blood was a lot darker this time than before. They told her that when that happened she should come back to the hospital to get some pain meds to make her passing more comfortable.

The elder being was standing back and watching her. He did not make a habit of peaking into people's minds and memories but the picture that she put down was enough for him to take a look. He saw that she was who he thought she was and that she had faced it for a ling time by herself. He saw that the love was still there and that this soul was another one that could use the option of a second chance. But he also saw that he was not going to be able to test her in this life.

Shannon walked a few steps and started coughing again but this time she knew that it was different. She could not get any air in between the coughs. The break down was complete and her lungs were filling with blood. She tried to cough one more time but her vision started to fade and she fell forward. She did not even hear the screams of the people she scared. She was already on her way to another world.

Shannon felt like she was floating on a cloud. This must be what heaven feels like. The softness of the clouds was enough to convince her of that. But where was the judgement she grew up hearing about. She figured that she would get some type of here's your life and then judgement. She was not real keen on the judgement part but the here's you life might have been okay.

The cloud slowly moved her to her feet and she was standing there in a soft gown. About that time a man that she had seen twice in her life walked in. She had seen him at her husbands funeral and then a Joe's a couple weeks ago. She gave the man a funny look. "Are you death?"

"No, Shannon, I am not death. Although I have been called by that name a few times."

"Are you God?"

"Not in the context that most mortal beings think. Let's just go with the term that Alan and Joe used and if you need to call me something call me elder. It takes a lot of the names and things out of the equation." He waved his hand and table with drinks appeared between them with a chair on both sides. "Have a seat."

Shannon quickly sat down. "Elder, why I am here?"

"I have a couple of questions for you before you go on to the next phase of existence." He was careful about how he phrased the answer. "Actually, the main question is why didn't you tell Alan while he was still alive?"

Shannon's chin dropped. "I am not sure. I was scared. Not scared that he would reject me but, there is that as well. I was scared that if I made him pick that he would have picked his books. But then at the same time I was scared that he would pick me and then he would like the rest of his life with doubts and regret. If this hurt him in a way that made it so that he felt guilt for all the time he missed writing and never picked up the pen again."

"I know that asshole loved me will all his heart but that world of his would not leave his brain alone. I know, well I know now, that he was creating that world to deal with the things going on in his head from the war. It was his place to hide from the dark parts of himself. The parts of him that did what most people would call bad things. He did not want me or anyone else to see those parts of him so he put them into his world."

"I love that crazy man but I was jealous. Jealous of a book, if you can believe it. And the worst part is, now I know he was writing that book to protect me in his own way. If I could have stuck it out to the end then it would have went back to the old way."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can't say it for sure. A lot of the people that I have worked with over the last few years and I talked about it and most of them agreed that once he felt that it was finished that the darkness inside of him would be locked away. Of course he might never have felt that it was finished."

"He finished it the night that he died. He was completely at ease with it being finished."

"That is good to know. So, the reason that I didn't tell him was two part. Part of it was fear and the other part was love."

"Those are two very good reasons. You loved him so much that you would not take it away from him but also afraid that even if you tried he would not have loved you enough. But I think it was more the first one than the second one, don't you?"

Shannon could not look up she only nodded her head. "Now that I have got an answer that I think is as honest an answer that I have ever gotten from anyone I have two options for you."

"Options? Like heaven and hell?"

"Different being. Alan and Joe are not exactly dead."

Shannon jumped to her feet and glared at the man. "What?"

"As far as your old world knows they are both dead. As in they are no longer beings of that world. I talked with Alan the night that he died and found his passion a beautiful and wonderful things. So, I tested him and then created his world. The world in the books that he wrote. I created it and a system of sorts to run it for him. He is alive in that world as a different person. He designed a character and then became that character."

There was a look of shock and confusion on her face. "And Joe?"

"I talked to him as well and moved him over as well. With five ex wives it was not that hard to convince him to come over."

Shannon let out a little giggle. "He was always Alan's biggest supporter. Probably a better friend than anyone I know. So, what are the choices?"

"I can send you on to the next step in the cycle and you would face the eternity that you believe in. Which is the heaven or hell choice from the sound of it. Or, or you can create a character and go and like in the world that Alan created with him and I am sure that Joe will be around there somewhere."

"So, I can start over. I mean we could start over. That is, wow. Are you serious about this?"

"Yes, both Alan and Joe are there. We can take some time and make a character and send you over to join them. They are in the northwest of the country that Alan created."

"I have a slight problem with this option."

"And what would that be?"

"I have no idea how to build a character. When I played with them I would just tell Alan what I wanted to play and then he would hand me a character sheet and tell me write down how I wanted to look. He would take a game or two and teach me about the character and what it could do."

"Well, it so happens that Alan was not sure what he would like to play and put together several characters. You could look through them and pick one and then use the system to design what you look like and then it can imprint the information into your mind so that you know how to use things."

"Of course he did. How many of them did he do, five or six, right?"

"Yeah, and if I am not mistaken he did a mage that you might be interested in."

"I have always played a magic user of one type or another. Even then he was keeping me out of the way but still including me. Did he make a druid?"

"No. He made a fighter, a rogue, a ranger, and a wizard. He did not feel right making a cleric since technically he created the deities in this world."

"That sounds like him as well. He knows they are there and knows what they can do but won't use them to get things that he wants. Let me take a look at the mage."

Shannon started looking over the character sheet. "Hey what is this last stat? It was not on any of the ones that I even played."

"Oh, that one is how attractive you are."

"Seriously, that idiot made that one the lowest one. Why in the world? But you know what that does sound a lot like him. Looks were never his things. I could ask him if that girl looked pretty and he was huh, every time. And not the made up one that a lot of guys try but just he didn't see anyone else."

"So, did you want to move things around?"

"If I remember right a wizard is based on Intelligence right?"

"Yes. A sorcerer is based on charisma."

"Switch the strength and the comeliness. He was making a mage that would hit you with a spell and then hit you with a fist."

"Actually you know what. I made a trade with Alan about some of his stats when he first built the characters but, and please don't take this the wrong way, you do not have the extra knowledge of the game that he has." The elder snapped his fingers and the original stats that Alan rolled up appeared on the paper. "I would use his stats as a rough guild and then replace it with these higher numbers."

"Did he convince you to trade him for items or extra feats or something like that?"

"Yep."

"He used to do the same thing with Joe." She made a few adjustments and was a lot happier with these numbers. She knew the elder was right and she did not have the knowledge to take advantage of the situation. "What level am I going to be starting at?"

"You will be a ten so that you are close to the power level of the other two."

"That is good to know. Thank you. Will I need to talk with Alan and Joe to get gear once I am there."

"What kind of mage do you want to be. What kind of spells do you want to cast?"

"I want to throw lightning bolts and lightning spells."

"Okay then. I will make sure that the gear that you get matches what you want to do. I will also make sure that you are fully prepared with both offensive and defensive weapons. You will also have your own funds so that you don't rely on them."

"Wait as a mage don't I get a familiar?"

"You do. What type of animal would you like?"

"A ferret. I have always loved those little things."

"Okay. You will have a ferret when you arrive. The system will alter a bunch of spells that you should know to be lightning based spells. Also you need to know that Alan changed his name and he goes by Novum and Joe goes by Theren. Would you like to see them?"

"That would make things easier. So please."

Novum appeared in the air in front of her. "This is Novum."

"This big hunk of a man is my husband."

"He was."

"Okay then. Show me Joe I mean Theren." The image of Theren started floating in the air. "Okay. Can you show me what I am going to look like?"

The system made the image of her based on what it had heard and her comeliness numbers. Shannon looked over it and then reached out and made a few small changes that the system found were within the parameters of her numbers. She then adjusted the height a little and then smiled. This was much better in her opinion.

"This is what I would like to look like."

"Okay. Would you like to change your name?"

"You know what. No I will leave it the way that it is. I hated it when I was a kid but I grew to love it as I got older."

"Okay then. All we have to do it send you on your way. Enjoy."

Before she had time to even react her vision turned white and then the view of the forest appeared before her eyes. 'Wait here. Someone will be along to assist you shortly.'

'What in the world is that?'

'I am the system that will assist you in this world. Feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer them.'

'Oh, thank you. Could you please explain all my gear while I wait?'

'Of course.'

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Novum and Theren had just come out of the mines when they both got a notification from the system. Novum actually jumped as he had not heard from the system in so long.

'Travel to the spot indicated on your map.'

Neither of them knew what was going on but they both headed that way without any hesitation.