章 1: Dying
As the last tether to his mortal existence was severed, he thought, no he demanded "This isn't the end, I won't just die here. I wanted to be someone." this decoration although faint, reached the consciousness of the angel Merca, and it made him smile.
Mora was a quiet kid, polite, and totally unremarkable, he did well in school and if you had asked any of his teachers they wouldn't have had anything negative about him. Basically, he was worthless, he often thought that if he just disappeared one day no one would notice. If he had tried harder at school he might've been able to get a prestigious job one day, or even if he slacked off at school more and had devoted more time to sports that at least would have been something. He knew he had immense potential, but he had wasted it. That's why he did it, "it" being saving Clair, she was a bubbly girl, the kind everyone liked, the one kid that could ask anyone for a favor and they'd help out but she was a bit of an air head. That's probably why she hadn't noticed the bus that had been barreling down on her.
It was a school bus, the driver Ms. Detrick had been working for the school since many of the teachers had been students at that very same school. While this meant everyone was friendly with her, it also meant she was old enough that it wasn't uncommon for her to be found sleeping on the job. This time, that job was driving nearly 20 tons of metal and children home, and it just happened that Clair was in the way.
Mora had managed to dart into the street and push Clair out of the way but, he wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the bus. The collision broke three ribs, hitting the pavement cracked his skull and the moment it took for the bus to finally come to a stop dragged Mora along the pavement all the while had left his entire right side of his body unrecognizable.
A multitude of thought raced through his mind as time seemed to slow,
I should have pulled her instead,
No, no, no this isn't real,
I never amounted to anything did I?
The one thought that finally bubbled to the surface however was:
This is it, I'm going to die.
but then he rejected that thought.
This isn't the end, I won't just die here. I wanted to be someone.
Then he opened his eyes, instead of a hospital, or even just the pavement under a bus all he saw was pure white. Sitting up incredulously he checked his body, chest, head, right arm. They were all fine, did he imagine it? no, that pain felt too real, was he dead? he reached up to trace the scars on his chest, no, those were still there. Then what had happened?
"You're mostly correct" a multitude of voices said in unison "You aren't really dead, but then again you aren't really alive, well at least not in the way you used to be."
Turning, Mora saw what could only really be described as an angel, but it was… slightly off. It was humanoid, it had wings more then one pair actually, and a halo, but it's face had 6 eyes and when it's mouth opened to speak multiple sets of human teeth could be seen within, probably contributing to it's strange voice.
"Ah, yes, your kind has forgotten our true forms over time haven't you? I am Merca, the angel of mercy, and your sponsor." Merca paused for a moment but when Mora said nothing he continued. "You died saving a girl so I brought you here. You see I like your potential."
Mora still stunned but finally finding his voice finally asked the questions that had been flooding his head since the angel had appeared. "So I'm really dead? and potential? Potential for what? and why me? How am I special?"
The angel raised half it's eyes at this outburst of questions seemingly surprised Mora hadn't already grasped the situation. "Yes, like I said, you died, more specifically your physical body on earth died. However you caught my eyes, and I decided to bring your consciousness here, and make a replica of your body a moment before the crash. You see I like that you're so pure, saving that girl and all. I also am interested in your ambition, I liked that you wanted more out of your life, so I'm here to give you that. " Merca moved forward as it said this placing it's hand on Mora's forehead. "Here let me show you, you wanted to be someone? Well I can make you a god."
Images rushed into Mora's head, Fighting, People using magic, all the while angel's and god's clapping and cheering watching their fighter's push through their competition to reach victory. Victory, defeat, blood, steel, god's, and human's all these images merged together in Mora's mind and as he watched, while the images were horrifying he couldn't resist getting excited by the chance for glory. Then they were gone.
Merca stepped away smiling, "So?" was all he asked.