Chapter 1

The gentle whirring of fans was the only sound in the mostly empty gas station. The clerk at the register fliped through a magazine, browsing for anything that caught his eye. An electric ding followed by the quiet rustle of sliding doors broke him from his browsing, and he looked up at the customer.

“Good morning Jake, can I get the usual for you?” he greeted the tall man that just walked in, or more accurately stumbled as if half asleep.

“Hey man. Yeah, coffee and a pack of smokes,” the customer, Jake, said, as he slowly rubbed his eyes trying to wake up. “I don’t get how you’re always so chipper this early in the morning.” This is followed by a small glare back at the sun peeking through the glass windows.

“Haha, yeah. You get used to it after a while, and I’m stuck on the morning shift for the next couple of months.” Shrugging, the clerk put down the magazine and goes through the motions of punching in numbers while Jake grabs a cup and starts filling it with coffee. After filling up on coffee, Jake walked up to the counter sipping his drink.

Jake quirks an eyebrow at the magazine. “What you got there?”

The clerk places a pack of smokes on the counter. “New game magazine, came out yesterday.”

“Can I see it?” The clerk shrugged and hands him the magazine, and finishes up with the order.

Jake quickly flips through the pages, muttering to himself, “New shooter, new shooter, no thank you. New Call of Duty reviewed as an amazing artwork, yeah right. New Fifa, probably the same as the last three. Nothing that interesting.” He handed the magazine back to the clerk, and grabs his wallet.

“Didn’t know you were a gamer Jake. And that would be $6.43, please.” Jake handded him a ten and waits for change.

“Yea, mostly RPGs and the occasional MMO, usually fantasy. Used to be pretty good at the PVP side of games, but nothing has really grabbed my interest lately.” He grabbed his change and walked toward the door. “Thanks man, have a good one.”

“You too, and hope you can find something soon.” The clerk gave a small wave and went back to his magazine.

Jake heaved a small sigh, “Would be nice. All I really want is a good old-fashioned Role-Playing romp while slinging spells and cracking in skulls.” He took another gulp and walked outside. As he did, the sun hit directly into his eyes, blinding him. A small voice seemed to whisper into his ear, “Heard, and accepted.” A violent surge of vertigo griped him, and his head felt like it was thrust into a running washing machine. Clutching his head, he couldn’t even cry out through the pain, and he collapsed.

The feeling stopped after what felt like a lifetime, and as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with white. A blank landscape stretched past what he could see, and looking down he was standing in what appeared to be fog. He was still holding his coffee and cigarettes, and as he stared at the slightly steaming beverage, he slowly poured it out onto the ground. “Never getting coffee from that store again. I’m too tired to be dealing with this shit, putting drugs in drinks just for laughs. That’s a crime for wasting coffee, even if it was mediocre.”

The sounds of gentle giggling could be heard, echoing off of seemingly nothingness to provide an eerie atmosphere. Jake slowly looks up and around, trying to figure out where it is coming from. “Ummm, hello. How are you doing… today, I think?” Another giggle, sounding a little less disturbing and a little more heartfelt. The fog rolling around his feet slowly disperses, revealing what looked like seamless granite extending past the horizon. Even the puddle of coffee was gone, leaving pure stone without a mark in its place. Pillars appear out of the fog, forming what appeared to be a temple out of ancient Greece, breaking the stagnant landscape. Jake heard another giggle, and it seemed to come from around the temple. Jake stared at the temple for a moment, before sighing and walking towards it, slapping his pack of cigarettes against his palm to pack them while walking.

The walk took longer than it seemed, as the pillars steadily grew into something gigantic, dwarfing Jake. He stopped before them, and looked at what they were protecting. A circular room, ringed by gigantic pillars spaced evenly apart. Within the circle, close to Jake, there was a small marble table. On the table was a lighter, similar to the one in Jake’s’ pocket. Shrugging, Jake walked up to the table, grabbed the lighter and lit up a cigarette. “Thank you very much, Giggles.” He inhaled the toxic smoke, feeling the nicotine enter his lungs, providing temporary relief.

“Giggles?” A childlike voice said from behind him. He turned around, and stared at what was before him. A small girl was floating above the marble floor, wearing a dress that swayed gently in nonexistent wind. The dress shifted colors with each ripple of cloth, from blood red to blue, to green, to yellow, all colors of the rainbow showing themselves before quickly being replaced. Hair as white as fresh snow cascaded down her shoulders, changing to black towards the ends of the strands, and reached down to her lower back. But the eyes are what captured his attention. Completely black, with irises of silver, and seemed to bend the light around them, creating constellations within the inky blackness. It was disturbing and enthralling at the same time.

The ‘girl’ giggled again. “Like what you see?” She said with a coy grin. Her teeth were normal, at least.

Snapping out of his stupor, Jake slowly drags on his cigarette, exhales and grins. “Sorry, still somewhat asleep. Giggles, yes. It seems to fit, don’t you think?” Her grin grows wider. “Anyways, my name is Jake. Nice to meet you.” He extends his hand to her.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “You seem perfectly fine with everything that’s going on right now.” She still took his hand and gave it a small shake though. “My name is Lilith.” She let his hand go and gestured around at the temple and the vast empty space surrounding it. “What do you think?”

“I like it. Very aesthetic. And as for why I’m fine, no clue. If I'm dead, then I guess there's nothing for it.” He shrugged, and took another drag. He exhaled while staring at the smoke rising from the cigarette. “So, I guess this is not some super drug that I’m tripping on right now, right?”

She cocked her head cutely at him. “What makes you think that? And thank you for the compliment.” Jake stared at her for a second, wondering how she knew what he was thinking. “Wait, mind reader. Got it.” She grinned again, and nodded at him to continue.

“Well,” Jake nodded his head left and right, thinking of the easiest way to express his feelings. “I can feel the effects of the cigarette, and I’m feeling far too aware for this to be a dream.” She waves her hand for him to continue. “If I were to guess by the architecture, unless this is normal for you, you are trying to put me at ease with something that I know. Also, since I think that you have complete control of this area, you are trying to tell me that you are a god, or at least what I would call a god.” He shrugs, and takes another drag. “Since the religions of Earth don’t have anything about someone matching what your appearance is, I have to assume that you’re from a different world, or are hiding your true appearance for some reason.”

She grinned again, and started clapping slowly. “Got it in one. I knew there was a reason why I picked you. Yes, I am a goddess. The main goddess for the world that I created, actually. I was offered a chance to choose someone from your world and bring them onto mine. I have chosen you.” Her grin turned into a full smile. “I based my world off of your world’s fantasy. The things that you humans can create are amazing, especially since you are the only sentient beings on your planet. Sure, you tend to be a warmongering species, but when you’re not killing your neighbors you are creating masterpieces.” She got more and more excited as she spoke. “We’ve got pretty much everything that you can think of on Laeris: Dwarves, Elves, Beast-Folk, Orcs, Centaurs, Satyrs, dragons and so much more.” The white stars in her eyes grew brighter. “I’ve also been fascinated with the games that you create, so I based my world off of it too! Levels, Skills, Attributes, basically everything an old-school Role Playing freak like you wants!” Even Jake was getting hooked on her excitement. “It would be your classic RPG romp through the wilderness, casting fireballs, swinging swords, crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you and hearing the lamentations of their women!” She’s jumping up and down with excitement at this point. “So, what do you say? You want to be part of this world?!”

“Hell yeah!” Jake pumped his fist into the air, letting his cigarette fall from his lips. “What do you want me to do?” He grinned to himself, already envisioning himself as some great magical scholar unlocking the secrets of the world, a white knight defeating a dragon and saving the princess, a hunter prowling through the wilderness with a trusty beast at his side.

Her smile grows even larger. “Simple! I want you to take over the world!”