for gods sake

The feeling of darkness eventually began to dissipate. light flooded my vision like a shower of brightness, and slowly but surely I gained vision. after a few seconds, I saw what appeared to be an almost perfectly white background, the only thing which was not a piercing white were the clouds which seemed to make up a floor on which I stood upon. A few meters before us was a man, I would have guessed about eighty years old, wearing a traditional Japanese kimono and pouring tea. I approached him with caution,

"hello there, K3L13N."

"Hello," I said back, standing like a boxer scouting out his opponent.

"there is no need to be so cautious you know?"

"how can I be sure? besides I do not even know where I am"

"well, you died didn't you?"

"yes, doesn't mean I can't be cautious"

the person chuckled and gestured at me to come closer, using his hand in a motion which seemed human, although seemed somewhat inhuman.

"would you like some tea?"

"no, who are you?"

"straight to the point eh? well to tell you straight I'm god."

"oh really?"

"yes, would you like a proof?"

"no, I know that I have died so what would I encounter other than a deity upon death."

"Haha, I guess you are right. well then, how about I tell you why you are here then."

remaining silent I sat down as he poured two cups of tea, despite my refusal previously.

"you will be put somewhere, not necessarily reincarnation, more sort of a reconstruction." for some reason, he stared down wistfully into his teacup and the teapot from which he had poured the drink.

"it will be a grand place although I think you might want to know," he paused for a somewhat unnatural breath, breathing in as if the motion were alien to him "You will have to kill people there, they will seek you out as well, being told where you are. similar to a kodoku"

as he mentioned the kodoku he looked up from his tea, his eyes seemed to be fiery. the kodoku was a Japanese sorcery method, putting several different poisonous animals in a jar and waiting for a victor, using the animal which was left to kill people and be used for protection.

"you want me to be your insect?"

"no, I want you to be the most dangerous thing to exist." as he said this his mouth stretched into a grin, far beyond what is possible in a human. An uncanny creature. it stood up and I did the same.

its mouth returned to its original shape, rejecting the twisted conformity it had taken up prior

"you will learn lots you know"

"then I shall go" I responded

everything seemed to switch off, leaving me in darkness and surrounded by an empty void.

then several consciousnesses woke up.

"Hello?"

"hi there, where am I?"

there were several consciousnesses in my body. it appeared as though we had split up when entering the realm. my name, Kellen.

"what's all our names?"

[Doctor Tenebris.] came a voice from somewhere

[my name is Grey.] said one other although this one was the same, it sounded more tired.

[I'm Lucius.] The sound coming from directly next to my ear, sounding exactly like the other two although the words dragged out slightly, making it seem more lustful.

we talked for about half an hour, it was clear we all had the same memories

eventually, we set off, running till we saw smoke given off. about two miles we had travelled and we smelt food. it smelt like potatoes. before long we came across a village, compounds filled with people and children. many looked at me, staring. eventually, some people came up to me, a man and someone who I presume was his wife. Their deep and rich brown skin glistened in the light of the hot sun, their clothes were very minimal so as to withstand the heat. the man had scarifications on his face indicating his status, he and his wife gave off the smell of beautiful odored wood mixed with palm oil.

"Are you here as a trader from some of the other clans?" said the man. he was a fair amount shorter than us but still one of the village's tallest.

"I am lost, please may you help me?"

"oh my, how unfortunate," said the man's wife with a sigh.

"well, tall man, what is your name?"

"Kellen, my name is kellen. what is yours?"

"My name is Obeika," he said, grabbing my hand as I felt his callouses brush against my skin.

Just as I said that a young woman ran towards Obieka, not even out of breath from what appeared to be quite significant speed she was going. She looked us up and down for a few seconds, her golden brown eyes scanning like a hawk, eyeing us up in such a way as to judge whether I was predator or prey. I looked down at her, she was dressed similarly to her mother with minimal clothing which eluded her from overheating, on top of these clothes she had lines of cowries and small pieces of stone across her hips which were still swinging from her running. not just on her waist but these lines of shells and even bones could be seen on her ankle and wrist.

[a cautious girl huh? Or maybe just curious] said Tenebris with a sigh

[yeah perhaps but-] an interruption due to a yawn [maybe she is interested in the giant white person who just came to their village with no prior warning]

as the two spoke the younger woman turned to the Obieka "father, who is this man?"

"I am a traveller, I am currently lost and am asking for help from these people"

she looked at me, clearly not expecting me to answer her question. I looked at Obieka and asked him,

"Do you think I could work here? I do not have any cowries to my name and need help."

Obieka and his wife looked at us with something along the lines of pity but also as if they had been looking for something similar to this.

"My friend, I am aware that we may have just met but if you would, I am fully welcome to you becoming my apprentice and helping me on our farm."

"Father, how can you do this for a man who we do not know? it is even possible-"

"This man is an honest worker, I can tell. his hands are not that of a liar, I can tell he has worked before."

the young woman looked at us with confusion and caution, wary of us. We smiled back and began to progress forward towards Obiekas house. As we walked he talked about himself, he had an extremely high standing in the village with his title of Ozo, he had fought for the village many times. Even his wife said that this was a man blessed by the spirits. Eventually, we came to a large compound, the walls were a magnificent red and almost as tall as us whilst inside there were four Obis made of the same beautiful red. The walls were strong and the roofs of the Obi were magnificently well put together, preventing any inward-looking eyes yet still thin enough to let out smoke with ease.

"it is a large compound, my friend"

"it is, I built it from the ground with the help of one of my friends."

three weeks later, we were farming. the heat bounced off of my back every time I bent down to drive my farming too, an ogu, into the ground. My clothes were hung on a branch of a tree near the farming field.

[three weeks huh?] said grey

[yeah, it was kinda tricky but at least we got to see the oracle once] I said

over the course of these three weeks, we figured we could swap ourselves for control of the body. It took some time and the transitions weren't always easy on the mind but we all seemed to manage. the primary factor we discovered, after finding food and shelter was that we did not have our body's full functionality, for example, the missing wings, tendrils and various other parts were missing however we did have enhanced vision, movement and photosynthesis through the skin as well as other parts. we hadn't noticed it for a time but after we did, it began to get weary.

[you think maybe we can do some videogame type shit?] said Doctor Tenebris who was currently in control of the body

[you mean shouting "MENU" or "START" for three hours straight like two weeks ago?! I almost went deaf you twit!]

[maybe we just need to kill something?] said Tenebris

[oh shut it will you? we are going to be training with Obieka all of today after this] said Lucifer

[yeah, morning is almost done so we should finish up]

as if right on queue, we saw Obieka approach from the area of the central village.

as we saw him approach he shouted over to us with a booming voice "Kellen, come with me. you shall be meeting who will help train you"

"yes, uncle." i said as I ran over to him

he grasped me firmly by the forearm and looked at me "my boy, it is time for you to learn with a friend of mine."

"who may that be uncle?" as i said this i looked at him, he seemed joyous

"My friend has offered to teach you, she is one of the most powerful women i have ever seen. you are lucky to be taught by her my boy."

"how do you know her uncle?"

"she was one of the few people to best me in wrestling, I would argue she is one of the best wrestlers. I must warn you though boy, she does not go easy no matter who you are," he said with a pat on my back.

he leads us to a large area with several large circles on the ground, comparable to the size of a small boxing ring. a woman was kneeling next to one of them with her hands looking to be binding something. As we got closer, I could see her effortlessly coil ropes around her forearms quickly and the ropes flex and bend as she moved her hand. her ear flinched and she turned around, facing us she greeted Obieka with a firm handshake and then turned to me, staring me up and down as if I were simply a dead antelope in front of a lion.

"Obieka, you want me to train this boy?"

"yes, it is my wish for you to train him, I have seen him work in the fields and I think that he is fit for you to train."

"well then...if you are fit as Obieka says, then you will be training with me. step into the ring and fight me."

as she said this she stepped into one of the rings and beckoned me to join her on the opposite side.

Obieka tapped me on the back and said "remember, do not let your back touch the ground or be thrown out, although if you're going up against her i don't think it will matter."

we entered the circle and took up a low stance, spreading our arms to either side of our body and staring her in the eyes. they were almost on fire, they seemed to glow as Obieka took up a stance to the right of us.

"BEGIN" Obieka shouted

as he said this, her eyes glowed golden leaving an after image. the impact of being hit in the stomach and being thrown into the ground were almost instant. both impacted at the same time, flowing straight through my ribs and the rest of my body. I bounced up into the air as my body eventually came back to the ground to the crater which had appeared due to my previous impact. The dust settled and the hard ground had cracked where the woman was as she now stood on top of me now with the ropes on her right arm completely in tatters.

"the kid is strong, I give you that Obieka."

[I FUCKING TOLD YOU] said tenebris as a grey notification appeared stating;

{you have suffered a crushing defeat...}

the message of defeat cut off by unconsciousness as my eyelids began to close slowly.