Cold Cottage

Luck panted as he dragged his feet through the snow, normally he could've reached the cottage within 15 minutes but there was nothing normal about these circumstances.

Not only had he broken a few ribs after being tossed toward a wall but his ankle was burning from his "father's" grip as he dragged him down the stairs.

His ankle at that point was already worse for wear but the final rush toward that crack in the wall really messed it up. This 15 minute journey turned out to be a trip lasting an hour.

As he walked through the landscape he couldn't help but be amazed by his surroundings. It felt very mysterious and eerie but also beautiful...in an uncomfortable but peaceful manner.

There were pine trees here and there and multiple mountains and hills that were twisted in an unnatural way, appearing more like spirals and towers that stabbed the sky.

Had his situation been a vacation he would have sat down and admired its unique beauty, alas he was not in a vacation but a situation almost opposite of it. 

Luck approached the footstep of the cottage and leaned on one of the pillars holding its small roof up. The cottage itself was pretty small, with a smoking chimney and roof built with hay or straw or whatever that was on it.

Luck breathed out a sigh of relief "Huff...Huff...F-Finally, I made it".

He gazed at the wooden door with slight fear, hesitantly he raised his arm and prepared to knock.

"Why am I scared, the worst that can happen is I die. Isn't that what I want? In fact that the best thing that can happen! Its a win win scenario! If I knock and I die then I get what I want but if I knock and I don't die then I can just die later on! Ha ha ha ha!"

He laughed manically to himself before boldly knocking on the door. The second after he knocked...no...the second as he was knocking a smooth cool voice called out from inside, "Come on in.."

He opened the door and walked in while mumbling to himself "...I guess I didn't die. Yippee I suppose..."

As he entered he saw a woman sitting in a chair at a small table, she had white hair with platinum eyes. She wore a snow white dress that complimented her red lips and pale skin. Cupped in her hands was a small glass of water and on her face was a neutral expression devoid of all and any emotions.

'Creepy' Luck thought to himself.

"Hello Luck," She said while gesturing to a chair on the opposite side of the table from her "take a seat."

"Sure..." He said suspiciously, while he was weary of her motives he was in no position to refuse. Had he remained standing for another minute longer he would've collapsed from pure exhaustion and numbed pain.

They sat in silence for a good moment until the lady broke the silence with an abrupt statement. "2538"

"Hm?"

"That's how many times you lived through that life. And through out each and everyone of them, you ended up finding out something was wrong and had your memory wiped...each and every time."

"..."

"At first it was amusing, but as you kept breaking out stubbornly I found myself feeling irritated. It's not easy to make me feel something, but your stupidity actually managed it. It's somewhat surprisingly impressive."

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, "Thanks I guess?"

"It's not a compliment."

"Oh."

"Your trial was to live a complete and fulfilling life, a pretty simple trial if you ask me. I was sent here from my slumber just to watch over you and to restart your progress had you strayed from the path. And I did. I did and I did and I did and I did."

"I kept doing my job until I felt my mind numbing from repeating the same task over and over again. At first I was confused as to why you run away from this paradise, then I was frustrated, I just wanted it to be over and then I was curious. Curious as to why you keeping running away? Why do you refuse to live but at the same time fight death? Are you stupid, stubborn or confused?"

'...' Luck was stumped. 'Why did I run from the life I wanted...The life I wanted? What was that? What life did I want.'

"I-I don't know"

"Come on. We both know that's not true. No sane person would keep fighting to escape if they didn't have a reason to."

'Sane. Was I truly sane? I think so...I hope so...'

"Ugh whatever, I already have an inkling for what your reason could be."

He raised his eyebrow at her statement, 'How do you know when I don't even know? Why did I fight so hard, what was I hoping to accomplish? When I was faced with death my first thought wasn't to welcome it but to survive. I don't know why...'

"Before meeting you I didn't see it, but now that I can take a closer look at you I can see it. You've been cursed."

'Cursed? When, how?'

"A curse has been placed on your soul that impels you to live, it forces you to do so. Something that most masters place on their slaves to restrain them from killing themselves due to harsh conditions. I won't ask since I don't want to pry to much but just keep that in mind"

'A curse? Placed by who?'

"...I see"

The lady nodded.

"Well now that I got what I wanted, I leave this choice up to you."

She lifted her finger as if to present the first option.

"One. You can die here as the trial will calculate this as a fail. I mean you failed the simplest of win conditions over two thousand times, its to be expected."

She lifted up another finger before continuing.

"Or two. You break free of the trial despite failing. Normally you would be dead if you fail, killed by the system. However if I become your innate avatar then we can withstand the backlash, not without consequences of course. You wouldn't have the AI to back you up meaning no system, no hand holding and you'll be disconnected from the rest of connected world, an outcast of sorts. Well you would have a system but lets just it's an original created by me."

'I had expected failure, it was something that I wouldn't be surprised about. After all, I came here to die. But the reason I wanted to die was because I had nothing to live for. If I come out of this alive I can seek fulfillment, I've always wanted to explore this worlds possibilities, I just never had the means to do it. But with her power, then maybe, just maybe I can make myself better. Make myself comfortable and happy for once.'

"...I-I'll accept. I'm not sure why you're doing this but I'll trust you. It's not like I have choice." Luck said as he gazed outside a window of the cabin. The landscape looked normal but if you looked closely you could see glitches slowly moving towards their area.

"Perfect. All you need to do is hold out your hand then when I say so call out my name."

Luck did as she instructed and held out his hand with skepticism.

"Oh wait whats your na- akh!"

The lady reached for a knife resting in a sheath on her waist and used it to cut Lucks finger before proceeding to cut her own. A trinkle of red blood flowed from both of their fingers.

"My name is ευκαιρία (Pronounced as Ef-Keli-A). Call out my name and press your finger against mine."

Luck did as she said and pressed his finger against hers.

"ευκαιρία!"

The moment he said that all the light faded and the world turned black.