Chapter one- Deaths embrace

We are often the creators of worlds that we so wished were our own reality...….

That would be something I would have said when I was alive. I had been a bitter, lonely writer clinging onto a dream, a dream that I had no hope of achieving, now that I thought of it.

I spent so much of my life chasing that dream, I squandered my life letting those precious moments amongst the living flitter away through the night breeze.

The dream that I would be an author that would capture the hearts of the world over. It was an innocent dream, dreamt up by a naïve child, but it was twisted over the years, corrupted by my ambition aided by my ever growing ego, as I became something I didn't even recognize. Pushing everyone that I held dear away in my pursuit for a small taste of the fame, the recognition that I so desperately pined for.

Then I died.

In that moment, my vision faded to black my body, shuddering to a grinding halt. My head falling through the air to the hard surface of my desk below, making a loud crack as my head thudded against my wooden desk. That was the end of my story, I had drowned myself into the throws of my writing , my work had consumed me as I strived to prove something and share something with the world.

I died how I lived isolated, alone with not a soul to wake up and find my presence lacking.

As my consciousness drifted into the inky abyss, I thought back to everything that had been my life. I was consumed by regrets, I had been so focused on writing a story for the world over that I hadn't really lived my own. Or atleast not a story worth telling if I was honest to myself.

I began to struggle as the inky black liquid that surrounded me invaded my lungs. My screams never escaped my lips even as I withered in pain. Was this the end, this was anything but peaceful. Maybe this was the price I had to pay for wasting away my life and treating everyone so horribly while I had lived.

Then it all stopped, jolts of pain coursed sporadically through my nerves, my muscles twitching as I lay flat on the cold hard floor beneath me.

Fighting against the phantom jolts of pain, I brought myself to raise my head, finding myself to in a dimly lit chamber. As my eyes adjusted to the dim surroundings, I drank in what I saw before me with an astounded gaze. It was beautiful and unbelievable. The walls encompassing the room seemed translucent, with the swirling depths of galaxies just beyond. Glowing stars and the planets that gravitate towards them slowly rotating against a background made up of an array of colors flawlessly blending with one another to create something truly magical.

The rest of the expansive chamber did not disappoint , it all felt vaguely familiar even though I had never been here before this moment. Spiraling towers of books that touched the ceiling were scattered throughout the room, with a healthy scattering of soft reading couches around to accompany them.

The spiraling towers of books piqued my interest as I noticed ancient looking books covered in leather bindings, books sealed with weathered wax seals that had been broken to get to the contents within, along with more modern styled hard covered bound books, some which I even recognized, having read and owned several off them at various points in my life.

I was brought out of my musings by the sound of a dry feminine chuckle coming from a shadowy corner of the vast chamber. It would appear that I wasn't alone after all. Slowly turning my head towards the source of the chuckle, I found myself peering into a shadowy corner of the chamber, I could make out a outline of a lone figure perched on a large couch with pillows and various books littering the floor around the sofa.

I should have felt fear at the presence of the unknown person in the room, even as goosebumps raised on my bare, tanned skin. I reasoned that I was already dead, so there was no need to fear, I already had nothing more to lose.

A lone candle burst into life, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes set against a bone white skull, glimmering in the shadows against the dancing lit of the candle.

The beings form, shifted from an ominous skeletal form, to that off a beautiful pale skinned young woman emerged from the shadows. She worn a pair of black tight fitting jeans and a white blouse, complimenting her petite curves nicely. A playful, smirk playing on her lips as she swayed her hips as she made her way towards me. Her pale white skin seemed to glow ever so slightly as her skin caught the star light from beyond the chamber wall.

Her long, thick black locks slightly falling into over her red eyes. Those fiery red were both terrifying yet enchanting at the same time. For the briefest moment I thought I saw a look of longing flitter through her gaze as she looked me over, I quickly brushed the thought aside, writing it off as me seeing things that weren't there.

There was something that persisted within deep within me. It was a primal instinct telling me that I should be shaking in fear, at the mere presence of the being before me. But something else in me reassured me that the woman before me would not harm and not to be afraid. I stayed silent, returning her, piercing her gaze, the conflicting feeling within the depths of my being fought for dominance.

"Welcome to Eternity..... 'Mortal'." Her silky voice hit me, with the force of a tornado bringing me out of my conflicting thoughts. The last part of her sentence seemed like a mere after thought, tacked on at the last minute, that raised more questions within my mind.

Her lithe form moved ever closer until she was within touching distance.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Those were the only questions that escaped the boiling pot filled with so many questions that resided within my overwhelmed mind.

Something akin to hurt, flashed across her red eyes before moving into a more serious look as she answered my questions.

Up close, I couldn't help but be stunned by her absolute beauty. Her red eyes simmered, her petite form emanated a quite strength that couldn't be denied.

"You are in the point beyond the world, Eternity my home. As for who I am, I go by man titles but I am most often called the goddess of death."

The implications off what she had just said rattled me. So I was really dead there was still a small part of me that didn't want to believe it but if standing before a being that claimed to be death was enough to convince me nothing would.

"Then why am I here, surely not all dead souls enter the home of death herself."

An approving smile crossed her features.

"You are quite right, but you are special. I chose you as my champion, I plucked your soul from the abyss. I hope for you too help me to bring about a positive change for the good of all living being across the realms..... For you to be my partner."

A light blush dusting against her pale features went unnoticed as he pondered his words.

Why would a goddess want his help, he was just a failed author. A waste of life.

"Why me? I am not anything special."

She averted her gaze, her eyes looking to the stars beyond the translucent walls.

"I have seen your soul, you are the only person I would trust with helping me."

A silence fell briefly between the goddess and her champion to be.

He thought hard, maybe this was fate giving him a chance to live a life worth living helping others along the way. There was little doubt in his mind when he prepared to give his answer.

"I accept."

Her eyes widened, she had thought she would have try harder to convince him but she had been wrong. The playful smirk returned to her face, as she peered into my eyes a slight embarrassed glint in her eyes.

"I the primordial goddess of death, the curator of the end of the cycle of life, choose Cyrus Reid Fredrick as my champion."

A magic shrouded the two as strings formed between the two, the frayed strings that were already didn't go unnoticed by Cyrus but that was a mystery for later on. They were bound as goddess and champion from now till the end of their days.

He was shocked to find himself in an embrace as soon as the magic that had enveloped them dissipated. Hearing the softest of whispers a smile gracing his face for the first time in a long time at the goddesses whisper.

"Partner...…"