At first, you'd never think that it could happen to you out of all people.
I could only freeze in the storm of the shot, my body hitting the cold floor as my attacker gazed down at me. He made a noise of dissatisfaction, smacking his lips. "Should've just given me what you had. Now we have to clean you up." He drawled, soothing himself as he rested the gun in his pants. My breathing became shallow as I stared up at the pale moon. I could feel my blood filling my throat, the cold taste of iron attacking my sense of taste.
I was dying.
I could catch him off guard, maybe even knock him on his ass to give me a chance to escape. He wasn't only stronger than me, but had a weapon on him as well. I could only think to myself that it may have been foolish, but there were things I couldn't let go of.
Pride.
I prided myself on making a decent enough living to get my brother through school and through college. I was a soldier in the U.S Army.
Trust me, that sounds way more impressive than it sounds. I was basically a glorified receptionist. Scheduling appointments, making sure things ran more on the professional level if anything. Work was mundane, ordinary. Though it never discouraged me from going every day.
It was because of my brother. I became his guardian after Mom and Dad died. A drunk piece of shit hit my parents' head on in a collision, going 85 at an intersection.
My brother was 13 when it happened. Which made 18-year-old me at the time a full-blown parent. So I joined the army, helping my brother through anything I could while he stayed at an apartment I rented off base. I was leaving a corner store with two full bags of snacks, ready to pig out and watch anime with my brother once I got home, but then I just had to get into this mess. Got stuck up, refused, tried to fight, and suffered the consequences for it. Everything in the world felt slow. It felt like sensation and time itself stopped. I couldn't hear anything except for the silence around me. My vision swam, light being taken from me.
It was darkness.
But I still felt... there. Like I existed still. I could still think. I could even remember certain things, but it was like pieces to a puzzle. Where am I? How could I know where I was? Eventually, I spent so long like that that I assumed this to be the afterlife. Just like how someone with no beliefs would envision death. An Abyss. The well of darkness.
Then, through an inconceivable amount of time, everything exploded. It was light everywhere, illuminating the entire abyss in a single colossal tidal wave of energy. A massive figure stood, a being so terrifyingly beautiful I couldn't fathom my being ever drawing near.
They dwarfed me in size, like viewing the universe itself as a grain of sand. Their solemn eyes gazed down at me, their mouth curving slightly upward into a ghost of a smile. A colossal being clad in golden regal armor, with a long, ornate white dress covering its lower body. A helmet adorned its head in the shape of a large golden bird. From the deepest depths of Divinity, it radiated the strongest light I've ever seen. They were beyond what we would consider beautiful, or words like perfect. I felt inconceivably smaller than what I thought I was the longer they stood. Unmoving. Eerily so. Like a statue in the agonizingly long minutes they took to dissect me with their gaze.
Horakhty, The Creator God Of Light
The fear I felt was like no other. It was more of a visceral reaction; I couldn't hold it in anymore. They stood there, unmoving, and their size struck an almost primal fear in me that I couldn't take it anymore. I considered making a run for it, spending my last few moments running from a being of pure creation. It would've been pointless, but at least I'd go out trying. The deity spoke, moving its giant hands closer to me. Its mighty wings unraveled, where dozens of crystals illuminated enormous feathers. I paled, instantly.
"A mighty spirit standeth before me; behold, a creature most fair, exceeding precious and filled with light. Their radiance may shine forth upon the faces of all men."
Its voice shook with power. Every word sounded like a gentle whisper, but carried the weight of infinite thunderclaps.
"Keep watch over all that thou lovest, and hold fast unto that which is dear to thy heart. Live thy days in the fullness thereof."
Suddenly, I started to feel. touch. It was almost hypnotic. To go without something integral for so long, to suddenly gain it all over again.
I welcomed the sensation of my arms and legs warmly. My body was being remade, which felt almost euphoric. I could feel myself blink rapidly at the assault of my senses, the dazzling light of the god enrapturing me. Then there they were. Three golden orbs of light circled me. The Deity spoke again. This time, I braced.
"Oathkeeper"
"Oblivion"
"Twilight Verdict"
One by one, they flew into me. I braced for the pain, but none of it came. It was painless. Images I could recognize and memories of my life seemed like they could never end. The only thing I could do was look up in this endless void, the god extending its hand toward me. Almost like waking up from a dream, I felt a normal hand resting on my cheek from a being of immense power.
My vision swam. I yelped as a massive torrent of water submerged me, encasing me in its wave. I held my breath instinctively, my body flailing helplessly against the current. When the current subsided, I desperately swam up to avoid being submerged any further.
"GAAASSP!"
It felt like playing tug of war with your lungs. I was in agony as my lungs burned; I clearly wasn't prepared for the sight as I slowly opened my eyes.
An endless expanse of sea and sky, stretching out to infinity in any direction I looked.
Violently, I was pulled again. This time, the sensation of being on something soft confused me as I opened my eyes to a small bedroom. Cluttered, but not necessarily messy. A voice boomed from the door to my right.
"LAZ!? c'mon man! we gotta go to school! You fell asleep!"
I couldn't freak out. Not yet. Just be patient with yourself, Lazarus. You're gonna be just- "YO!"
Ugh, damn it all.