A Strange Entity [Prologue]

Edric found himself in a strange abyss and much like a dream he had no recollection of when he had come to be here.

"Oh my, what a wonderful show that was," an amused voice called out from the darkness.

"Over here," it added, the voice originating from somewhere behind Edric's perspective.

Edric attempted to turn around but found he had no such ability. After all, he had no body to command.

"Ah, apologies, I suppose I should shift the world for you," the voice said, and right then, the entire void began to spin.

A window of light swung into view, however, it was too far for Edric to make out any details.

"Hmm, a little too far," the voice whispered —strangely though it was completely audible

An instant later the window began to expand at a rapid rate, or so he thought initially. In actuality, the window was speeding towards him at an incredible speed.

He wanted to move out of its way, but once again found he was glued in place. Body or not, he was certain being hit with that thing was going to be excruciating.

However right as it was about to hit him, it came to an abrupt halt.

"Over here," the voice called out, its tone musical.

Edric looked through the window of light, and found that it opened into an office room... his office room.

Sitting on his grand chair was a man made of pure gold, his eyes were emeralds and his hair seemed to be pure white silk. He was wearing a familiar suit, a Tuart Hughe, the most expensive in Edric's closet.

"Take a seat, Mr Edric, you've earned it," the creature said, and in that instant, Edric was sitting on a chair opposite his office table. It was an odd experience being in the position many of his employees used to be in whilst he spoke to them.

"I must say, I'm a fan of your work. Especially that finale, mwah, just wonderful," the creature continued. As it spoke it revealed glistening diamond teeth, that blinged so much that they blinded Edric with every utterance.

Edric was in shock, unable to process what exactly was going on.

"Ah, you don't have a mouth, allow me," the creature said, before snapping its fingers. With that, Edric felt a mouth appear on whatever vessel it was he was using.

"What is this place?" he asked, after taking a moment to figure out his new mouth.

"Hmm, I could say the name, but your soul would break from its utterance. It'd be a shame to lose something so valuable," the creature responded.

"Are you god?" Edric asked next.

"Heaven's no, or at least not the god you're referring to," the creature responded, before snapping its fingers. With that, two whiskey glasses poofed into existence.

"Care for a drink?" it asked.

"Then you're the devil?" Edric asked, ignoring the offer.

"Not exactly, but I suppose that's close enough," the creature replied before snapping the drinks out of existence.

"Now that we have the introductions out of the way, let's get to business. I'm here to offer a proposition, perhaps the greatest you've ever had the opportunity of being a part of," the creature added, its voice now serious.

"You want me to make a deal with the devil? This sounds unwise," Edric replied, instinctively switching to negotiation mode.

"Again, I'm not the devil. And this isn't exactly something you have room to negotiate in. I'm offering you a second chance at life, that's more than most dead mortals can hope for," the creature said firmly, none of its friendly demeanour left.

Edric thought about it for a moment. A second chance at life was definitely intriguing, and if it were anyone else they probably would've accepted it without second thought. But for someone who once had the money to buy whatever he wanted, it was a wasted offer.

"What's in it for you?" Edric asked instead. Even if he was going to deny the offer, he was curious as to what would possess such a powerful being to do all this.

With a snap of the creature's fingers, it created a floating globe about the size of a basketball. With a wave of its hand, fine details began to appear on the globe, it seemed to be some sort of planet.

"This is Merrum, a dying planet," the creature said once the details had fully appeared.

"All I want you to do is save it in my name. That's it," it added right after.

However, Edric's attention was still focused on the globe it had materialized. Though it was barely noticeable, he could see objects on the globe changing in real-time.

"Did you just create an entire planet?" Edric asked. He had been trying to hide it before, but now he had to admit, this creature's powers were beyond interesting.

He envied the god-creature sitting in front of him. In fact, it had been years since he felt this much desire for a singular thing.

He wanted... no... he needed this god's powers.

"I didn't create this planet, it's but a mirror image of an already existing one. However such feats aren't out of reach, at least if I try hard enough," the creature responded with a hint of satisfaction.

"So, will you take my offer?" the creature asked with a blinding smile.

"No," Edric replied blankly.

"Perfect, I'll give you your- wait. What did you say?" the creature asked. Edric could feel the void all around him shiver at those words.

"Save a whole planet in exchange for a second chance at suffering? That's a bad deal, find someone else," Edric explained.

With those words, he began to notice white cracks appear in the fabric of this space.

He was taking a big risk saying all these things to a god-like entity, however there were a few theories he wanted to test out, and this was the only way how.

"Fine, then I'll send you back to the abyss. Enjoy your eternity of nothingness," the creature said finally, apparently having calmed down.

With that, the office room began to fade away, and slowly Edric found himself engulfed in darkness once more.

Right as the god-creature was about to fade out of existence, it stopped.

"This is your final chance. Once I send you back to the abyss I won't be able to find you again. Think carefully about your answer," it added.

~It seems I was right,~ Edric thought to himself happily.