Chapter 2: Where Destiny weaves desire.

[Soul Integrity: 99.05%]

A stabbing pain spread from his heart followed by a short spasm, causing his hands to go to his chest, bowing slightly.

He was standing in a large crowd of varied races and ages, disoriented like many, with no memory of how he got there.

He stood on a grayish floating platform with unfamiliar engravings scattered about, written in spirals on the floor.

All around him was a space covered with nebulae, in the distance he could make out another structure of titanic proportions.

"[cough] As I was saying..." spoke a butler disinterestedly from a floating lectern while concentrating his gaze on a certain subject momentarily. He had a Doberman face with upturned ears and piercing stare.

"For the next week you all have the joy of accessing The Endless Pantheon in search of the Grace of the Gods, some lucky ones will be sponsored by powerful deities who will grant you powerful abilities and gifts to have a more relaxed journey. Most will screw up and go with the first thing they see along with a kick in the ass."

Several of the humanoids crossed gazes in disbelief of the slangy words of the sleek looking Demihuman.

"There's your advice, take it or leave it, I don't give a damn." He continue without giving it a thought. "Just, don't make their Excellencies too angry. Now... GO AWAY, SHUU!""

The robed, humanoid animal waved his hand, suddenly bridges materialized in pieces connecting an imposing structure in the distance. In the floating Hall where thousands of humanoids listened to the butler standing, several paths began to emerge.

An exquisitely ornate Arch could be seen from the place where the crowd gathered. Thousands of carvings and statues covered its imposing structure with golden and ivory finishes, projecting scenes of innumerable feats, battles and mythical stories as far as the eye could see...

A caravan began to advance perplexed by the titanic and refined structure, admiring as far as their eyes would allow.

A slight nudge on his arm brought the young man out of his abstraction.

(Clicking his tongue with a disapproving expression) "Time waits not even for the Gods!" Said the Doberman with a golden pocket watch in the direction of the pale man earnestly.

The boy turned to the dog his confused gaze, not even remembering his name caused him overwhelming anxiety, even if he tried only diffuse and intermingled letters approached from inside his memory.

As best he could, he sought determination: he took a deep breath, clenched his fists and set off, quickly, towards the marvelous entrance to the unknown.

Filled with eye-catching figures and engravings, he advanced, slowly filtering through the gigantic crowd that at times stopped his march and at others remained paralyzed, waiting in place for the portentous structure.

As he approached the final section of the immense Arch, the pale young man's ears picked up a string of noises from the other side. Soon the young man with black, unruly hair and pearl-white eyes found himself standing at the beginning of a long, wide street, lined at both ends with countless, endless stores. Some luxurious and glittering, others more modest and regular, people moved from one to the other as vendors tried to persuade newcomers to visit their domains.

"Who desires strength? Strength beyond their most fervent desires? For that I assure you."

"Here I have the solution to all your dilemmas! The solution to the biggest questions!"

"I can make your horniest dreams come true, come, come and look!".

Thousands of voices offered different promises, increasing in aggressiveness the further one went in.

"Young man, what is your Desire?" A bald, brown-skinned monk dressed in a black robe asked with kind expression interrupting his step.

"To be the best Kenshi!" The image of a smiling boy with bloodied hands as he held a bokken toward the heavens flashed in his mind.... a... memory?

"Ehh..."

"Riches, power, heart-stopping experiences that pump adrenaline into your body?! Try our new pills Sir. Anderson will put you in control!" said the monk with black glasses as he flashed a blue and red pill in each hand in the direction of the boy's face.

"I..."

"I can only show you the door, you're the one who has to walk through it." bringing his hands even closer together with an expectant look inviting the young man to take a "free sample".

"I think... I'll pass" muttered the young man.

"¡Don't be prude, you don't need such morality anymore! ¡Uninhibit yourself, try it!". 

"It's just that..."

"Nothing. The door was closed and now wide open invites you. You don't need to think, follow your desire. Come... with Morfeus.

The whitish-eyed boy, not knowing how to respond to the relentless chatter of the person in front of him only managed to dodge him, quickly escaping from the tent of the one called Morfeus.

"To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human!" shouted the escaping camel monk to then turn his attention to other newcomers.

"Though we can always dream..." he muttered before setting about his customer recruitment.

A little white-haired girl with eyes of different colors crossed the hurried and disoriented boy's gaze, for a slight moment, as she intoned a cheerful tune. The boy was running in the opposite direction.

He sensed he had seen her somewhere but his mind was a blank canvas.

After running for about twenty minutes, away from the hustle and bustle of the place, our guy stopped in an alley, took a quick glance behind him to make sure he wasn't followed, leaned against the corner of the entrance to catch his breath.

"Are you lost handsome?" A seductive voice asked the black-haired young man.

On the parallel wall, a few feet farther to the back than him, stood a gorgeous redhead, cigarette in hand. 

He looked up and down appreciating a curvaceous body of infarction covered by a matte black one-piece dress that highlighted her figure, a large matching hat with veil overlay and long gloves of the same color that made her look like a sexy widow. 

Her eyes shone like an orange sunset, long black eyelashes and freckles scattered like a bridge, under her eyes and between her cheeks, could make any man's heart skip a beat; topped off with full lips of soft pink.

Something tried to seep deep into the young man's breast but was extinguished on its way.

[Some existences watch with envy.]

[A powerful force suppresses the vision.]

"Is there something on my face, dear?" the beauty asked as she turned a gentle smile to him with a powerful gleam emanating from her eyes. Maintaining eye contact, she proceeded to place the cigar in her mouth and light it.

Something even more powerful struck deeper but again disappeared.

The boy, noticeably gawking, shook his head and with embarrassment in his voice, at the same time a slight blush on his face, spoke:

"I must say...I am still in shock with.... everything. I hope I'm not bothering you with my attitude." she expressed as she nervously rubbed her hands on her back, returning eye contact and trying to flash a smile.

"Didn't they explain the rules of the Pantheon to you?" she consulted quizzically at the boy who hadn't been consumed by her gaze.

"I couldn't pay attention." he acknowledged sheepishly with his eyes on the floor and one hand rubbing behind his neck.

"Do you even know where you are?"

The pale boy tried to remember something but couldn't.

"Dead?" he made up his mind to say.

An imperceptible grimace occurred on the lady's seductive lips before releasing the cigarette smoke between them.

"Well, you're not wrong."

"Those guys were Gods?"

"You could say yes although that street is crowded with hustlers trying to convince anyone with a weak enough will to serve them in their next life through bullshit rewards and trickery, that's not godlike if you ask me."

"What should I do, Miss?" he consulted somewhat hopelessly.

The tip of the cigarette burned a bright red as he gave it another puff.

"Just take your time, explore the surroundings and..."

"Follow your heart!" echoed in the boy's mind as the image of a blonde-haired adult winking with a commercial smile flashed momentarily as he smelled the scent of tobacco.

"...Maybe Fate will smile on you with a good Sponsor."

[A chuckle echoed somewhere in the Pantheon.]

As he continued to look into the lady's eyes a tear fell from one of her pure, whitish pearls before wiping it away with his forearm.

"Sorry, I... I don't know what's wrong with me." She said with embarrassment.

The beauty gave a giggle covering her mouth as she watched the boy with narrowed eyes. 

"It's normal to get excited about my unearthly beauty." The redhead said arrogantly with an ad oc expression as she shook her beautiful hair.

She watched him for a few more seconds before deciding to say:

"Well honey, this lady has some time on her hands, how about we have a date for a while to see if we can find out?" offered the peerless cutie as she winked flirtatiously at the redhead.

The lady's kind words surprised the boy who understood it as an outstretched hand. 

Part of his heart believed that he was the luckiest man to have the attention of a beauty of such mythical caliber, a dream come true. Another part believed that such loveliness could lead him to become a punching bag for the jealous men of the day.

"Thank you for helping me, I really don't know how to repay such kindness" the young man said, not misunderstanding the gesture.

"You can start by telling me your name" The beautiful redhead said with a smile that could melt even the hardest of diamonds.

Something snapped in his head, glitches, images and voices overflowed his brain making it impossible for him to answer the question of the beautiful woman in front of him. 

His expression denoted pain and soon became flat like a mannequin while his left eyelid kept spasming from the stress generated, tunnel vision followed, everything was getting darker and darker and blood was dripping from his nose.

"Oh, shit" she exclaimed in fright, dropping the rest of her cigarette rushing to the young man who was losing consciousness.

"I...I'm...?" He said between loud spasms in the beautiful lady's arms.

Lights out.

[Soul integrity 49.79%]

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