Champion of Freedom

Silence overtook all sense that Terrance had. Wherever he was. There was a silence so great it was all he could focus on. As if the lack of substance pushed itself forward. Demanding to be recognized by him. It was the same sensation that came when someone shook him while asleep. 

He snapped awake as he felt a force tug on his mind like he hadn't felt before. As if someone grabbed his deep sleep and tore it apart with a single pluck of it's finger.

Opening his eyes he immediately stared down at an endless sweeping shot of space. Stars and swirling galaxies of all kinds laid bare before him. But he noticed most importantly that there was no floor below him. He rolled over to try and reach solid ground. But he fell despite his effort.

Going from laying on his stomach to on his back. He was slightly lower to where he was a moment ago. Reaching to his right. He felt an even lower stair. 

Looking left he didn't see anything solid. Just the distant universe that caused him to roll over just a moment ago. But he could feel his arm pressing up against something from that side. It felt like he was on a descending staircase. But a staircase to what? Looking up and to the left he saw nothing. Which made sense because that appeared to be the top of the staircase.

Looking up and to the right he also saw nothing. Again. Making sense. The stairs appeared to be going down in that direction. But he didn't want to take any chances with making assumptions.

When he turned his head down was when he nearly tumbled down the rest of the stairs. As his eyes looked to the right and down. He saw a soft blue light emanating from a cloud of cosmic smoke. Seeing the light he rolled over to sit on the stair.

The light was a misty blue. Just faint enough to be recognized as blue. But faint enough that you could confuse it for white if you didn't pay attention. The central figure in the light was a swirling cloud of gas. Thick purple clouds that swirled into a mass that had the shapeless form of a cloud from earth. 

The sight of the clouds circling in themselves and forming new shapes every second was alluring. Terrance's legs moved on his own. Walking down the invisible stairs with no falter in his movements. His eyes were glazed as all he could focus on was the cloud. 

As he stepped off the final stair. He was standing right next to the large purple gas mass. With him so close it floated towards him. The clouds began to open. Cracking the outer shell of it's form to reveal what had been hidden on the inside. A bright light poked through as more cracks formed. Once the shell of the cloud tore away he heard a faint chuckle. And a humanoid figure came out of the cloud.

An enormous woman. Standing around at least ten feet tall. Walked out of the cloud. And sat where the cloud was previously sitting. Her skin was pale white. So white that she reflected the light that hit her skin. Making her appear to glow. She wore a light blue dress that clung to the curves of her body. Glitter covered the whole thing. And her long blue hair draped down to her feet. The long strands of hair spooling into small pools on the floor. 

"Be not afraid, Mortal. You are in my realm now. And from here you will be given new life." Her calm and soothing monotone voice made Terrance's surrounding area vibrate just from the sheer size of her voice. 

It took a few seconds before the voice tremors cleared and let Terrance steady himself and speak his mind. He looked up into the woman's eyes. His scared confused eyes looked up into her steady and calm eyes. Terrance's voice was shaky as he spoke. "W-who are you? Where am I? I was supposed to be on a date."

Terrance could feel the eyes of the woman boring back down on him. It wasn't hatred or disgust looking back at him but annoyance. "You died. But do not fret. Your old life was insignificant. And I am here to give you purpose. I am Lucila. Goddess of Conquest. You. Terrance Devon. Have a spark inside of you." She reached out to him and pressed her finger against his chest. Causing a bright white light to shine. Terrance had just started to be able to start processing what was happening.

His now glowing chest ceased all thought once again. "Huh? W-what? What are you doing?" Lucilia pulled her finger away from his chest. Dragging the light with her finger. Slowly pulling it out of his chest. Leaving his body the light turned into a writhing liquid form. Flailing it's tendrils uselessly as it was clung on her finger.

The light leaving his body caused a squirmy sensation. As it clung to him while being pulled out. When it was wrenched out of him his body shivered from head to toe. He had to fight the urge to vomit. Terrance had never felt something so disorienting in his life. He now had a fuzzy feeling around him as he stood. He had a constant feeling of unease. And couldn't seem to shake it. 

Terrance felt like a piece of himself was missing. A hole in his chest that wouldn't let him ignore the empty feeling. "W-what did you just take? I'm gonna hurl..."

Lucila observed the light closely. Watching it struggle to justify it's own existence outside Terrance's body. Her eyes pierced deep past what was visible on the surface. Causing Terrance to feel the same sensation when she was looking at him with annoyance. Even though her eyes were focused on the white glob.

"Yes. This will serve nicely." She pinched the top of the goop forcing it straight. She then stretched from both ends. Making it longer and longer. Until it was stretched the entire length of her wingspan. During this process Terrance could feel his nausea becoming significantly worse. "This, Terrance Devon, is your soul." She pushed her fingers together. Making the two ends in her fingers press together.

"Oh…I-i think i'm gonna…" Terrance doubled over onto his knees. Feeling the urge to vomit intensifies. But he had nothing in him to vomit up. Seeing him attempting to throw up onto her nice galactic marble floor. Lucila took the drooping soul and began balling it up into a sphere. 

"And this soul will do wonders for the purposes of my needs." Now holding a sphere between two fingers. Lucila pushed the glowing white sphere into Terrance's chest. Forcing a breath out of his lungs as the nauseous feeling bubbled away with the return of his soul.

Terrance doubled over onto his knees. Wheezing as he held his stomach. He slowly turned his head up to look at the woman up above him. Looking down on him with an imperious gaze. Looking through him as much as at him. "What…what are you going to do with me?"

Lucila moved to lay on her side. Resting her head on her hand as she looked down at him lazily. Yet with enough power to give most men heart attacks. "Your soul will be reborn as a new entity in a micro world formed from a new universe created by another god. You have the potential to be exactly what I am looking for. Even though you were using less than nothing of your soul's potential."

Terrance stood slowly. He understood almost nothing of what she said. But he honed in on what was important. "Reborn? You mean I won't be able to return back home?" He then felt the full attention of Lucila after asking that question. 

"Fool. I see now how your people treat Special level souls. And you want to go back?" The large woman floated forward off the bed of ever changing clouds. Moving seamlessly forward through the air. No struggle or effort could be detected in her movement. Once off the bed she shrunk. Going from three times his size to three feet taller than him. Standing at the nine foot tall woman. With her hair still making contact with the ground.

"I have selected you for a higher purpose. I am Lucila. Goddess of the Moon. My sister is Bruna. Goddess of the Sun. We have a disagreement on what kind of force is best for the aspect of freedom. A conqueror to grant true freedom to themselves. Or a liberator. To bring freedom to all."

The pressure around the woman grew as she looked directly into Terrance's eye. Her stunning purple eyes deepend to look almost black. With only slight purple hues to it. Her voice deepens from the monotone drone she had. She had now an imperious weight to her voice. "I want you to be my champion of conquest. To prove me right in my assertion that a conquer on top of the world will be the best show of freedom."

Terrance gulped at the sound of her voice deepening in tone. He could hear in her voice that there was no room to wiggle what she wanted. He looked at her as he felt the possibility of going home dissolve like a napkin in water. 

As his hope dwindled while looking in her pitch black eyes. He felt something deep in his core begin to build. A feeling not embraced since he was a child. Like his life had a purpose. Looking down at his chest. He saw that it glowed a bright white light piercing out of his skin.

Intellectually he couldn't explain what the light was. Why was it so bright? Or what caused it to shine at that exact moment. He did however understand on an instinctual level what this all meant. "This…this is my purpose."

That finally put a smile on the goddess' face. "Good. You have learned some small truth." With a flex of her hand the light encased his entire being. Stripping him of what he had grown into on earth. Wiping the slate clean. "You shall be sent outside the normal channels. Instead of leaving your memories intact through a guide. You will be reborn directly. You will forget your old life. And your true path will be all that remains of you."

As the light reached its peak brightness. It shut off just as quickly. Leaving a void of space in front of the Goddess. The imprint of his former body left a burn mark in space. Now that she was alone her voice lowered. "Good luck, Champion."