Of endings and beginnings
The cosmos.
A infinite expanse of darkness, the canvas of the gods, where a myriad ideas come to life and are graced by the lights of a trillion burning stars, some long extinguished, and yet more still brightly illuminating the vast darkness.
In a distant corner of the starry sky, at the edges of a spiral galaxy, a black hole lied. In the far off distance of the black hole lied a lonesome black planet, scarred and wartorn by whatever apocalypse happened on it.
Storms swept the surface as constant lightning struck around, and the dense black sand that was carried by the constant winds didnt make it easier for any living being. Whatever the original flora and fauna was like is a mystery, and only those who adapted to the circumstances and evolved into horrible creatures were left alive.
Deep under the dead sands of this world lied one of the last remaining bastions of humanity. The Arm of Orion - An arcology built to preserve the human species after the Great Upheaval was predicted by the seers of old. The start of this story lies here, more specifically at the tunnel linking the Arcology and the surface world.
"DAMN IT, WHY ARE THERE STALKERS IN THE TUNNEL, NEED BACKUP, I REPEAT, NEED BACKUP!" a young man wearing a commander class mech was shoutinh into his headpiece while trying to cut down the enemies that kept rushing his position. Green blood was slowly corroding the mech however and he knew he was in trouble. However he didnt seem to be getting a reaponse, and with worry on his face he looked around.
Around him were some of his comrades, some still fighting in their bodymechs and yet others lying on the ground as cold and lifeless bodies. Yet with every second passing the man grew more desperate, for every second meant bigger odds of his head being removed from his body.
Throwing one last glance at the people on the ground, he shouted "SQUAD, CHANGE OF PLANS, RETREAT, I REPEAT, WE NEED TO RETREAT!!!" The others nodded at his words and started retreating in a unified triangle formation towards the main entrance of the Arcology, knowing that they're leaving their comrades to die. The last few of injured pilots were heard screaming in the distance as they got further and further away from them.
Some of the abandoned ones had resentful looks in their eyes as their life was snuffed out by a quick bite to their head, others had calmly accepted their death knowing they were a lost cause as they were torn apart, and yet others had fear in their eyes as they were pierced by invisble stingers.
The creatures that remained, after they finished off the few vital signs they found on the ground quickly followed the rest of the pack, howling and skittering along the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling.
As silence enveloped the area and the smell of blood was getting thicker, a small crack appeared in space, like lightning frozen in time. A single speck of darkness came out of it and sunk into the body of a female trainee who had her chest pierced. As a black shimmering light spread accross her body her wound was healed at a lightning fast speed.
"HAAAAA..." The "corpse" rose gasping for air while clutching her chesy where the hole was, confusion visible in her eyes as she started taking in her surroundings. After a few seconds, the confusion turned into a blank look, that then distorted into rage.
"Congratulations! The host has been-" The system window before her eyes appeared.
"Stop." She interrupted the system, "Why did you reincarnate me? And stop taking that form, you devil."
"... Well, if you say so..." as the system said that It started morphing into a three dimensional shadow, resembling a human yet not quiet there, as if it wasn't in harmony with the natural laws, distorted."... Since you want to skip the formalities, thats fine, but the main reason i reincarnated you over others is that, well, this world has a very high death rate among reincarnators. So in a desperate gamble im trying to give you, a fully grown monster with sharp teeth and claws, a cheat, instead of a whelp that has not seen blood a cheat that will only make it die faster by making it think its a heaven's chosen or whatever. " the shadow said while making a very sour expression, slowly starting to seem more human.
"I never entered any contracts with your kin though, so how did you get to transfer my soul over here?"
"That's simple" as the shadow morphed into an old man with 2 scars on his fave that crossed over both eyes and met at the middle of his forehead he said "...heaven will repay you for all the things youve done, hero."
"So that was you? I see... i dont want to fight anymore, im tired, ive fought and fought for most of my life so the only desire i have left is that i want to rest. I want to be in the kingdom of my goddess to live a life of peace that i always yearned for."
"You say that, however, the truth is that youre still not willing to pass on, at least not completely, and Erasia, the world you came from didnt allow you to finish what you wanted to in that life. Im purely betting on your one desire that you have left." said the shadow, imitating what appeared to be a smile.
"Are you talking about the devils that invaded my world? They'll appear here?" with a slight interest and a suppressed anger she asked.
"Correct, but it wont just be them. But im not gona ruin your future surprise~." Said the shadow while smiling, however, the smile turned into a serious expression afterwards,"However, i have but one question, why do you yearn so much for death and for the eternal rest?"
"Because i have fought for most of the 800 years I've been alive, whether it was leading the Bloodsworn against the orc hordes or my kin against the demons. I just want... Peace?"
With an apathetic look the devil quipped "Oh you poor soul. Do you really think a soul that has been trough so much bloodshed and madness is going to be capable of resting? No. You would get tired. Maybe a year or two, but you would very quickly want to join a battlefield again." Throwing a quick glance at her the shadow continued seeing she was silent,"...then again, if you really do wish to rest i can send you back, while it is taxing even i am impressed by everything you've done and i would lie if i said i didn't have some respect for you." Suddenly the shadow changed his form, wearing a formal suit now and sounding as if hes trying to sell her something."However if you do stay you get to fight the infernal vermin later, aaaaaand i will give you a unique cheat in addition to you already getting to explore a completely different world, maybe even multiple worlds, and finding ancient secrets lost to time, while slaying new and-"
" OKAY OKAY I GET IT!?!" Sounding annoyed she quickly stopped the business shadow from talking, and then changed her tone to a surprised one,"... But where is the mother goddess? And why didnt she punish you for stealing a soul thay belongs to her divine kingdom?"
"i have uhhh... An appointment yes, i will see you later. Ciao!" the shadow suddenly vanished leaaving her to stare blankly at the spot where he was before. "...did i just get scammed?"
"No you didn't" the voice of the shadow, that had pretended to leave, resounded again, this time in her head. "She agreed to let me show you this world, and if you wanted to come back you would be allowed to. Both trips costs would be covered by me so she wasn't too opposed as even she saw that your soul was restless after everything."
"I see... So what now?" she asked.
"Live, enjoy your life and explore, learn new things... That type of stuff you know? Anyways, the cheat ive designed for you is still slowly being bound to your soul, it'll take some time to be finished. I will be going now, as the rescue squad is approaching this location. I do hope you enjoy your life here, and uh, if you do die, I'll still transfer you back. Consider it an apology for a rude invitation like this. Laters!"
And so she was left in the dimly lit tunnel alone, surrounded by corpses of monsters and men, and her thoughts being thrown into chaos once more.