A lone boy dressed in a school uniform was walking down the street. He was greeting everyone he passed. Eventually, he went to a grocery store, where he bought some groceries. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and was about to step into the road to cross it when the store clerk stopped him to tell him he forgot something. Just then, a car drove past that would've hit him if the clerk hadn't stopped him.
"Phew, that was close," the boy said nonchalantly as he took what he forgot from the clerk and was on his way.
He made his way back to his house, which was on the outskirts of the town. It was a run-down shack, not much of a house. His parents had died a long time ago and left him a small inheritance.
"It's not much of a house, but at least it's a roof over my head." The boy said to himself as he made his way inside the shack.
It was only one room, but it had everything the boy needed: a bed, a washer and dryer, and a kitchen.
He threw his groceries in the fridge and plopped down on his bed. He looked up at the ceiling of the run-down little shack, his consciousness fading in and out as the lights flashed and the fridge hummed weirdly.
When he awoke, he didn't recognize the ceiling. He wasn't in the little shack anymore. He sat up and looked around the room. It looked like a courtroom. There was a half-circle desk at the front of the room with enough seats for seven people, banners were hanging around with room with the words Chaos, Order, Choice, and Fate
"Must just be a dream." The boy said as he lay back down. He hit his head hard on the floor of the room, but it didn't wake him up. Then a deep, raspy voice boomed throughout the room.
"I can assure you, young man, this is no dream; it is reality. You were chosen to be an emissary who will end the war between Hell, Heaven, and the human realm that's been going on for centuries."
The boy just blinked repeatedly, not believing any of this was real. He then looked up to see six figures behind the seats at the half-circle table. Two of them had the word Chaos written on their tunic, two of them had the word Order written on their tunic, and two more of them had the word Choice written on their tunic. But the final seat was empty with the word Fate carved into the wooden chair.
"What is this? Where am I?" The boy shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls in an echo that reverberated through his own ears. The words of man didn't even register in his mind.
"You will end this war." The man repeated. His voice once again boomed through the room with authority.
"You've got the wrong guy!" The boy said restlessly, still not believing any of this was real. He pinched himself repeatedly, trying to wake up from this nightmare. Come on, wake up, wake up, wake up. But it didn't work. His eyes shot to the chairs, the banners, the people, anything that might be able to tell him it's a dream.
The man pointed to the chair that had the word "Fate" engraved into it. "I can assure you, Kai Mercer, you are the right person."
Kai flinched back, "How do you know my name?" His voice was trembling, he was still pinching himself unconsciously.
The man exaggerated his pointing at the chair. "Because it's fate that you are here now, and it is fated that you will end this war by any means." The man's voice was cold and detached.
Kai tried everything to calm himself down, but nothing was working. He eventually just accepted that this was reality, but a part of him still wanted it to be a dream.
"Fate? War? I have no idea what you're talking about." Kai said restlessly. He then continued, "And why did fate pick me?"
"Like I said before, there is a war between the three realms. As for your second question, we do not know why fate has chosen you, only that it has, and that's all the reason we need."
"I don't remember a war when I was alive?" Kai couldn't help the last words of his sentence turning into a question when he thought back to the little town he lived in.
I suppose there was a dome around our town. Is the war the reason why? He thought to himself.
"Seems like you've remembered the dome." The figure was still covered in shadow.
"So, am I dead, or was I just teleported here? And where is this?"
"Very good questions indeed. To answer your first question, yes, you are dead, but not in the normal sense. We simply stopped your heart so we could speak to you. You will be returned to your body when we are done. As for your other question, we are in a dimension separate from the three realms, it lies outside Heaven, Hell, and the Human realm, which you guys call Earth."
He seems to be willing to give me answers to any questions I ask, so let's see if they know my parents.
"Do you guys know what happened to my parents?"
"We do not." The figure answered simply.
So they don't know the answer to every question I ask, or they know the answer and just won't divulge it.
Kai sat up a little straighter with one last question in mind.
"Who are you guys?"
It was a simple question, but it took the figures a while to answer.
"Instead of telling you, it would be easier just to show you."
Starting from left to right, they all stepped out of the shadows that were obscuring my view of their faces.
The first one to step out of the shadows was a man. He had long red hair that flowed down his back, with black eyes and yellow pupils, and long horns that curved back his head.
"Hello, fate's chosen one." He said, voice smooth, but it carried an ancient weight. From his voice, I could tell that this one was the one answering all my questions.
The next one to step out of the shadows was a woman. She shoulder length black hair, black eyes like the first figure, but her pupils were red.
"So young. So uncertain. So naive. Yet fate chooses you. How intriguing." She said, her voice as smooth as butter.
The first man said, "We represent Chaos." He pointed to the banner that hanging in the room.
The next one to step out of the shadows was a man with short silver hair, with silver eyes. He had white wings that turned grey at the tips.
"I hope you're not as weak as you look." He said gazing at me. "Although fate chose you for a reason." He continued before going silent.
Next to step out was a woman with the same features as the last guy. Silver hair and eyes, with white wings that turned grey at the tips.
"With a bit of cleaning up, he'd be pretty cute." She said.
The guy before her slapped her on the back of the head.
"He's still only 17, pedophile." He said coldly.
"Are you jealous?" The girl said while waving a finger in his face.
"Disgusting." The main simply responded.
"Anyway." The first man with black hair and yellow pupils said loudly over the bantering that continued.
The next one to step out was a regular looking man. He had no horns nor wings. He was a plain looking man but he had a sharp gaze. Short white hair that barely touched his eyebrows and blue eyes. He didn't say anything like everyone else.
The next one to step out was another woman. She had long black hair the flowed over her shoulders with glowing gold eyes. She also looked human, but it was hard to tell what any of these people were.
The only seat the remained was the seat of fate. It was shimmering with a faint golden light.
"I see your eyes are glued to the seat of fate." The first man responded. "No one is allowed to sit there. Anyone who has tried…" He let his linger into the silence that followed, "Has had a fate far worse than death. Ironic isn't it?"
"What could be worse than death?" I asked.
"You're puny mind can't comprehend anything worse than death, so there's no need to tell you." The second man said.
"We've wasted enough time here. You were chosen by fate to stop this war. It was never stated how, so as long as you stop it, it shouldn't be a problem. We're sending you back to your body now. I've implanted magical runes on your body that will allow you to fight." The first man said.
"Make sure to stop this war or it will be the end of not only your realm, but all three." The third man said.
"Good luck!" The Second Lady said.
I wanted to ask one more question but before I could open my mouth I was back in my body, or at least I thought I was.
I blinked multiple times, I even rubbed my eyes, but all I saw was pitch darkness.