The End of One Life

Kye was a middle-aged man who had dedicated himself to learning the in's and out's of magic devices since he was a youth. When others played in the fields he sequestered himself away in his father's workshop tinkering away with bits of machinery. When the other kids reached adolescence and began courting one another, Kye focused himself on learning magic rune inscription and when the males of his village were drafted for war for the Alioth Kingdom, he found himself being recruited into The Tower of Magos' at the capitol so that he could develop magical weapons for the soldiers.

Kye loved his work but found that he was too restricted by the narrow-minded thinking at The Tower of Magos' as he was constantly ridiculed for not being able to use magic himself. A dual arcanist and mechanist such as himself was a rare find but when both of your professions have no tangible effect on life in the current age, your existence is seen as a waste.

He continued his work at the tower until his late 30's when he disembarked from the tower to continue his research out in the field. Kye had discovered that a seemingly useless mineral that was quite abundant in the mountains of the Alioth Kingdom could be infused with a type of magical energy that, to his unique mind as both a mechanist and arcanist held unlimited potential.

Unfortunately for Kye, just as he finalised his research papers and was about to test his first arcane device, the workshop his father left him was broken into by a band of five thieves hired by some unscrupulous former colleagues from The Tower of Magos' who wished to claim his discovery for themselves.

Kye had never physically trained in his life, but he was rather well built from all the days he spent at the forge making casings for his devices, so when he found the thieves attempting to take his infusion device and his notes, he lofted a simple tool from his workshop and swung at one of the thieves and knocking him to the ground.

Seeing that their friend had suffered a grievous injury at the hands of some unknown pleb researcher, the four remaining thieves drew small daggers and attacked Kye. While he was fit, he had no training so Kye was easily overwhelmed by the thieves. Stabbed many times and bleeding out rapidly, Kye made one last gesture of defiance and slammed one of the infused crystals onto the ground, causing it to break and release its immense energy in an explosion that swallowed the entire village and left naught but ash.

These scenes were flashed before his eyes as if trying to elicit some kind of response from him. He already knew he had wasted his life, was it not cruel to display to him now how much he had missed out on? What purpose was there in trying to break an already broken man? Kye shook his head and sighed. His body lacked tangible form but still maintained its shape. The woman in front of him let out a slight giggle when she saw his resigned face.

"Ufufu, was it really that bad watching over your own life?"

Kye rose his head slightly and looked her head to toe. Her freely flowing blonde hair and shining emerald green eyes framed her perfect face beautifully, while her curvaceous body was draped in a white robe with gold embroidery that left little to the imagination. Despite this seductive look, she radiated this air of holiness that blew away all impure thoughts. Letting out another sigh Kye began to speak.

"Not so much bad but I can't help but sigh at all the things I missed out on. While I devoted my life to my craft, many others surpassed me in the more worldly aspects of life. A wife, children and family would have only hindered my work but now that it has all come to a close, I cannot help but wish I tried all these things."

Giving himself a sardonic smile, Kye scoffed.

"As some of my colleagues at the tower said, 'the wall always seems stronger on the other side.'"

At this, the woman gave a small laugh.

"Ahahaha, indeed, your life was by no means a wasted one but certainly lacked in aspects of what we would consider normal."

"So, have you summoned what must be my soul here to ridicule me before you send me to damnation, or have you something else in mind?"

The woman gave a small smile.

"What makes you think that is within my power?"

"Ha, do you really take me for a fool? I may not have been devout to any faith but I held my beliefs for long enough and read enough literature to know I sit before some holy being. Of what origin I have no idea but if what little belief I held counted for something, you should be a servant of one of the four goddesses, correct?"

"Aha, you really are an interesting man Kye. I am not a servant, but rather I am one of the four prime goddesses herself, the goddess of Life, Alayah. I have come to you not to ridicule you, nor to judge and send you to damnation but rather to extend the gift of a second chance."

"A second chance? Like a rebirth? For what reason would you offer this to me of all people?"

"It is rather selfish of me, but I had taken interest in you since you were born. I gifted you with many blessings yet you never found yourself in a situation where you could use them to their greatest extent. Just as you were about to test the device that would allow you to finally see you were meant for greatness, that you were to be my champion, you DIED!"

She puffed her cheeks up in annoyance.

"How could I just sit here and watch as my favourite human died like that!? It makes no sense whatsoever and I'm not having it! You were supposed to live a fulfilling life down there and then when you died of natural causes, I would guide your soul to me where we would live out a happy existence together for eternity in my Garden of Life and yet you died with so many regrets! How am I supposed to let you live here until you fix them?!"

Kye was utterly stunned. It wasn't exactly like he was extremely handsome or even had any particularly good traits yet this beautiful goddess was now claiming that she wanted him as a partner!?

"I see you're at a loss for words but did you know how many women fell for you in your past life hmm? Because I do, I counted every single one. One hundred and seventy-nine women! Do you have any idea how impressive that is? How many men cursed you under their breath because of your looks? No, you have no idea because you never had anything but magic on the brain! I swear if I didn't love you I'd smack you across the face and demand you apologise to womankind you unwitting womanizer!"

Kye was about to refute but the puffed-up cheeks of Alayah told him that keeping quiet and letting her vent her frustrations was the best option.

"So! I have decided, as the purveyor of all life, that you will live again and this time you have to ensure that you live this life with no regrets! When you pass on in this next life, I will call you to my side once again but until that point, I don't really want to send you down there without something of mine."

Saying this, she clicked her fingers and a blinding bright ball of golden energy appeared in her palm. Using one of her perfectly manicured fingers nails she sliced a sliver of this orb out and dematerialised the rest. Alayah began chanting words that Kye could not understand but before he could ask any questions, the shard of light began to morph into something familiar. The body proportions and features were the same, the flowing blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders the same what Alayah's did. Though in place of her shining emerald eyes, pale blue gems shone through. The other difference was the two white-feathered wings that grew out of her back.

"This is what we would call a greater angel. She will be your faithful companion through your next life. Her name does not exist, so please give her a good one. Though she looks like me, she will develop her own personality as you experience things with her, however, your will is her mission and she will never betray you."

Kye looked at the spitting image of Alayah and she bowed. The unnamed angel gave Kye a gentle smile and a small bow. He was still very slowly processing what was happening but decided that going with the flow here would be best as it seemed highly unlikely after this show that he could just say 'no thanks, send me to hell and let this be over with please'. Kye instead tried speaking directly to the angel that was formed for him.

"I don't really know what we'll be doing in my next life, I don't understand what I want out of it but I don't want a slave bound to me like that. You may have been created to serve me but understand that if you dislike anything I say or do, you should tell me."

Kye awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know much about human interaction but I hope we get along for the foreseeable future uh... right, a name."

Kye placed his hand on his chin and thought for a while before snapping his fingers.

"I got it. I often read books on mythology and legends when I was worn out from studying magic. In one legend, it was said that when the hero Janis was slain, two angels came down from the heavens to escort his soul up but one of the angels had fallen deeply in love with the hero throughout his life and wanted to keep him company in the afterlife but heaven wouldn't allow it. So the other angel gave up her status to Janis so that they could be together. The angel that went back with Janis was Veronica and the one that stayed behind was Vanessa. I will name you Vanessa in honour of her selflessness."

Vanessa smiled and a holy radiance poured out from her body.

"Thank you very much for naming me such a wonderful name master, I will treasure it forever."

Kye felt awkward being addressed in such a manner but let it go as he knew from her disposition that there would need to be a build-up of trust before they could be truly comfortable with one another. Alayah gave a radiant smile.

"Now that all this business has been done, I will be reincarnating you now. Live a fulfilling life darling so that you can come to me unburdened by your past self. She approached Kye and touched his chest with her hand. Then as Kye's body began to regain its form, she kissed him gently on the lips.

"I will always be watching and protecting you."

Then, in a blinding flash, Kye dissipated and his soul fell back down to the world. Alayah could only sigh before smiling at the thought that they had shared their first kiss at last and hummed to herself happily as she went about her duties. She would watch over and wait for Kye as she had done before. She just genuinely hoped that her beloved would finally live a fulfilling life.