The taste of iron lingered in his mouth as the hazy covering his vision cleared. A long city street stretched far in front of him. All his memories seem to be foggy along with many thoughts... He almost feels sick about seeing this place. It's a chilly night with lights from buildings bouncing off wet asphalt.
It feels like another world, an ethereal space but that cannot be true, right? He takes heavy steps forward. He questions who he is at this point from the haze in his brain. Minutes? Hours? He doesn't really know the flow of time.
It doesn't feel long until he finds a restaurant with an amber glow from the windows. There's no real reason to head in but the clearing of haze from seeing that light pushes him towards the entrance. Confusion strikes him as memory and understanding replace that alien fog in a wave of clarity. The first breath to speak feels amazing. "Huh? Ah... Ah... Hello?"
A woman sitting at the middle table with a plate of steak, no sides or anything, just that. She slowly cuts into it with her utensils. She wears a pink suit which someone would have at a business meeting if they had weird tastes but also has this unique gold trim in the patterns of roses and thorny vines. Her gaze rises to meet him. "Good to meet you, Reece Ashworth."
Reece... Yes, that's his name but for what reason did he forget his own name? It doesn't hurt to think anymore. He takes sluggish steps to the chair parallel with this mysterious woman. He goes to speak, however there's a minor amount of difficulty about it.
"Yeah? Where... Where am I?" Reece speaks with a slight rasp to it like his throat is dried. He places a hand on it in a confused manner as that makes no sense. "Why don't I feel thirsty..."
"Sorry for all the confusion, Mister Ashworth, I have one answer to those questions." She has a nearly wooden face. Her gaze shifts to the side while studying Reece. "You're dead, simple as that."
"D... Dead? When did I..." Reece looks down at his hands. It's like reality strikes the back of his skull. He died, killed by something- No someone. Panic spreads across his face and begins to breathe rapidly? Was he even breathing!? "W-What happened to... to Reba!? Th-The person who killed me!?"
"Hush now, Mister Ashworth, she's fine... Your heroic sacrifice wasn't in vain." She gives him a playful smile. A chill courses through Reece's body at it. She continues to cut into her food but before raising the piece to eat it she speaks again. "That's actually why I called you here from the road into the afterlife, I have something to ask of you."
A relief hits Reece while processing all that information but that chill just makes him unsettled. He narrows his eyes towards this mysterious woman in distrust. "What do you want from.... Me?"
"Firstly, Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Penelope, the goddess of your world." She lets out a small laugh from seeing Reece's expression. It's like she's taking pleasure in his reaction. "What if I told you that I could give you another chance at life?"
"A... A Goddess?? What would you want for me!?" Reece stops himself from looking around. This place isn't a real restaurant, wherever they are currently is merely Penelope's domain. He can't run like a mouse in a glue trap. 'Damnit, I couldn't run from her even if I tried, outside is just pure brain fog '
"A-and why would you give me a second life?" He says putting up his guard. Whatever this goddess wants might not be good for him.
"Those two questions have the same answer, I have a deal to benefit both of us." Penelope seemed too casual about something dealing in Reece's life. He didn't like it at all but he tenses up waiting for the offer. "Each world has a different number of gods, those worlds require heroes but there's never enough hero material in them."
"So, worlds with a surplus of them send them off to those worlds who don't and they get paid for the services." She continued holding up a piece from her steak. This gave Reece an idea of what the future deal is going to be but a pit in his stomach says it'll be worse than that. "However, the hero material sometimes fails, needs guidance, even needing a strong ally which is where... That's when you come in!"
"So, this deal has to do with being a stock hero?" Reece leans in while trying to get a better read on this lady. Does that make him hero material? That fact makes him both curious and concerned about her views. "What do I get out of this? You're offering me a job, right? Not really saying the benefits."
"Have you ever read those stories about going to another world and getting great power? It's like that but you get to experience it with many worlds." Penelope places down her fork and knife to wipe her mouth for a bit. She's certainly enjoying herself more than Reece. "You even get a single blessing from your God that doesn't go away no matter how many deaths or worlds you cross!"
"I'm not really sure about what I will get out of that? Dying multiple times isn't exactly...." He pauses to really think about what she just asked from him. "What do you get out of this? This doesn't feel like a fair deal."
"I get many things from this deal and I'm offering you a job of a lifetime! Allow me to sweeten the deal, I help Reba with my divine authority in your world and you get this specific card." Penelope produces a card from her pocket and slides it towards him. It has this holographic sheen which lets out multiple colors. "It'll bypass a few downsides of world hopping."
Reece looks down at the card. It looks like a card from some famous game? There's a picture, title, and description on one of the sides. He reads the finer details of this odd card.
[Wonderland Pocket Castle] [Soul]
It has a picture of a grand castle from what could be a children's picture book.
[A castle-like space fit for a king. The owner of this card may store whatever they have ownership over or those who give permission to be pulled in. The "King" of this castle has unlimited authority over anything stored within a certain rule, this authority must not kill.]
[Progression Rank: 1/6]
"What... What is this?" Reece looks up towards Penelope with confusion. He might be talking with a god but this is pushing his beliefs. "Why would this even be helpful to me?"
"While you might've been totally unaware at the time, your world has an underbelly of supernatural cards and magic." She says as a different card with different effects appear in-between her fingers like she's showing off her collection. "The murder weapon behind your death was one of them! You two got really lucky with that card user, getting a common weapon card from a basic trial."
"... Is she still in danger? Is my sister still in danger!? Tell me!" Reece pieces it together, they might've gotten a target on their backs after that or worse been a target all along. 'I left her alone, if just disappear now then-'
"Relax, she's not in any immediate danger but I will say, Reba is a hero material like yourself and you know how heroes operate." Penelope picks up her silverware again and starts eating what is assumedly kinda cold steak now. She's too certain now like each glance at Reece is just looking at a book. "In fact, she's likely a card user at this very moment! Without my blessings then who knows what fate might befall her."
"So... That's your hook... If I help you and your clients then my sister gets whatever help you might spare for her?" Reece raises an eyebrow at the goddess before him. There's too much uncertainty to truly believe her word but there's not enough power in this moment on his side for demands. "I... Accept"
"Oh, really? I look forward to your work, Mister Ashworth." Penelope motions for Reece to grab the card before slicing the remaining steak in half and rapidly eating it. The display is kinda horrific from Reece's view as she manages to eat them easily. "Allow us to properly sign a deal."
As she stood up, a strange door opened towards the back of the restaurant. She moved with a quiet grace into it. Reece still not dextrous with his legs? Soul legs?? Moved in an unsteady way behind her into whatever space awaits past this door.
This is clearly the beginning of countless unforgettable events for Reece Ashworth.