1 Death, Fortune, Rebirth
'How long has it been? Days... Months... Years...?' A mind adrift pondered in it's solitary emptiness.
Emptiness was not a shade of color quantifiable by the work of an eye, no... it was only visible to those who sit within this state of nonexistence. It was peaceful, yet not. Silent, yet not. It was... nothing, yet it was everything. Pain as a concept did not exist here in the emptiness... perhaps this was Heaven. Others were not around in the vast abyss that surrounded Lucas, so perhaps this was his torture in Hell. After a time of pondering, he came to the conclusion that it was none of these things, and simply was... nothing.
Time was not a concept either, so his question to himself was... well, immense, to say the least. Even in this place of absolute vacancy, there was a comfort to this. If you existed in this plane, you would not have to worry about anything, not even a slight bit. Lightning... luck... it was all gone, now. Perhaps in this nothing, Lucas would find peace.
At some point, he had nearly stopped thinking, almost becoming one with the nothingness. He was awoken by the sounds of... laughter? He felt himself approach something that was different than the void, bright white against the endless horizons of nothingness.
He swiftly found himself inside somewhere, latched against something. He was stood straight up, and couldn't quite see anything around him, a strange blackness was around him, but a single light shone upon his position. Slowly, an organ began to play, and the light began to shift position to something a ways away from Lucas. A man in a masquerade outfit, complete with a cape and feathered hat was playing the booming instrument. The music sounded as if it were from a circus, or possibly some other form of entertainment, and made Lucas shiver. The man in the outfit had a pressure around him that made the entire area around Lucas tremble. Suddenly, the organ stopped mid-song. The light shifted away from the organ player to just a few feet to the left of Lucas, where he could see the man. The man stood like a giant, towering over him somewhere around 9 feet in height. Lucas desperately looked for a way out of his bonds, before realizing he was on a wheel, and bright colors covered it. It seemed almost like a wheel to choose something. On it were strange markings, which he couldn't understand even slightly.
"Ah, I see another lost soul has found it's way to the King's Court! Tell me your name, lost soul?" The man spoke dramatically, though his voice was strangely soothing and smooth compared to what one might expect.
"I'm... Lucas..." Lucas uttered out, not having talked in some time.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lucas! I am Fortunato, God of Fortune and Luck!" He spoke with intense bravado, though his mouth wasn't visible due to the shadow made by the light on the mask.
"What's... happening?" Lucas asked, still trying to form sentences after the time he was within the nothingness.
"Luck was on your side! Therefore, you exist, and I am here!" Fortunato laughed. He waved his hand as if he were revealing something when he said "I am here!", causing all the torches in the area to light up, revealing the area to be a massive colosseum. Hundreds of clones that looked exactly like the masquerading deity lined the seats, all holding different instruments and beginning to play.
The tent was filled with the cheers from reflections of Fortunato who didn't have instruments, and the music of those who did. 7 people stood out amongst this crowd. An old man with a monocle, a woman wearing a spiked headdress made of gold, and beside them was an intimidating man who held a scepter with a stone at the top blacker than an abyss. Beside these two was pair near opposites. A woman who had a laurel of leaves and green branches on her head, pairing with her braided hair, and a man who had armor on from shoulders to toe, holding a hammer that Lucas knew was heavier than himself man times over. A man stood beside them as well, small orbs spinning around his head, and a lady hovered above them all, laying lazily upon a cloud.
"You've noticed the rest, I see! Well, pay your attention to the wheel which will determine your fate." Fortunato said, barely holding back his excitement.
Lucas was slightly panicking, struggling to no avail. He looked around, finding himself on a massive wheel which was marked with hundreds of shapes and strange words. He counted at least 50, each different It than the last.
"SPIN THAT WHEEL! SPIN THAT WHEEL! SPIN THAT WHEEL!" The crowd chanted, filling the air with yells and applause. Fortunato caressed the wheel in excitement, before gripping it and spinning it with enough force to make Lucas' stomach rise to his throat.
"What will he be? A Cleric? A Rogue? Perhaps a Sharpshooter! Only time will tell!" Fortunato cried, causing the crowd to roar in excitement, and the orchestra of clones crescendoed to a near deafening blast of music. Lucas felt like fading into nothing, his senses were enveloped in a thorough madness.
As he spun, for a split-second he saw the 7 turn their backs and exit through a doorway. All that was present now was the hundreds of masqueraders that filled the seats. The crowd moved inhumanly, like a single entity, it shifted and twisted itself like a coiling snake. The arena was full of laughter, the occasional word thrown in. He felt as if he were the butt of a joke, especially because no one was acting serious. He didn't know what the mysterious God meant by "Cleric", "Sharpshooter", or "Rogue". He felt like he was in a river, flowing downstream no matter how he struggled.
Eventually, he felt the wheel begin to slow down, and as he felt this, he noticed the interest of the God had begun to pique. He almost felt the God's grin form as his tone changed.
"Oh! Unlucky!" Fortunato laughed, excited to have something so uncommon happen. He rubbed his gloved hands together, eagerly looking at Lucas.
"What are you going to do to me?!" Lucas cried out, almost unconsciously.
"That's unimportant. I have a simple question for you to answer, and if you answer correctly, nothing about you will change," Fortunato spoke ominously "now then. Heads or Tails?"
"Heads!" Lucas watched the coin which had appeared in Fortunato's hand. As he called his answer out, the coin flew from Fortunato's hand as he flipped it. It was almost like time had slowed... the coin seemed almost frozen in the air, flipping between heads and tails. He watched his life flash before his eyes, the times he'd won those games for his team... the few parties he'd been to... his parents... they all flooded to him as the coin was caught by Fortunato. He watched waiting for Fortunato to open his palm, which felt like an eternity for him to even open one finger. The palm opened up to reveal the coin being...
"Tails! You lose," Fortunato said, before following up with a strange phrase, "but luck favors the unlucky."
As Fortunato said this, he found himself in a dark space, being crushed from all angles. He felt his head escape the pressure, and was blinded by a bright light which dimmed after a moment. He was grabbed by a pair of massive hands, and hoisted upwards. He felt himself being wrapped in some strange cloth, and brought down again. He felt a second pair of slightly smaller hands hold him, and some strange words passed between a woman and two men.
He picked up a single word from this, which sounded less like a word, and more like a name.
"Lucinia." The gentle woman said, holding him with utmost care.
'What's happening? Where am I?' Is what he wanted to say, but all that arose from him was a shrill cry. He heard himself, only being further confused. He felt the woman's hand gently caress his head, attempting to sooth this cry. He stopped, allowing himself time to think. He looked around, his eyes having been blinded by tears. He looked at his surroundings, which were a small wooden room. He noticed he was on a bed of sorts, and beside him were two small tables, each one having a small crystal that shone bright enough to illuminate the room.
It dawned upon him.
Rebirth.
