The only thing reminding Kyle he continued to exist was the echoing ticks from before, counting down each second that passed in the eternal abyss. 

Why me?

What did I do to deserve this?

Was I not a grateful enough son, all because I’d wished my parents would spend more time with me instead of working? Or that I wished I’d had siblings growing up? Was I too pathetic a student, with no prospects for a decent future to even give me a chance at it? Was it because of my hobbies? Is there something wrong with anime or airsoft, like everyone made fun of me and my friends for?

There was no answer.

I just wanted to enjoy one last summer… a final big send off with friends before we had to leave it all behind. Before we had to go separate ways for college, before we got busy with part-time jobs, before we had to go and start acting like adults… Was that too much to ask for?

Again, there was no answer.

Is it because I asked for this? For years, I dreamed of escaping my mundane life by being isekaied, of being given a greater purpose and having people rely on me, to be a hero like in some story, instead of living as some nobody without a reason for being… Is it because of that? Is that why I’ve been punished with this monkey’s paw of a fate? Did I get exactly as I asked for?

Of course, there was still no answer. Kyle knew there couldn’t be one, that there would never be one, and yet his mind continued to race. Questions compounded endlessly, and his anxiety ran wild as he wondered where everything went wrong and why, and if he would truly have to endure this tortuous existence for the rest of eternity. 

I know this series of events is exactly what I’ve fantasized about, but this just isn’t right. I get dropped in the middle of the road with no warning or help, all my stuff gets stolen, and then I get killed because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time… what was I supposed to do?

He looked up and wondered if he might be able to see the rings of white from where Khali might be standing, or see the red string of fate that seemed like it would stretch on forever. He couldn’t tell how far he had fallen, but both felt like they should have been close by.

And yet there was nothing.

I want to see my parents. To hang out with Nick and Tony. To actually try giving what I had a shot. I’m sorry I didn’t take my life seriously… I just want to go home now. I know I asked for this, but… I’m sorry. So please… Please give me another chance…

Kyle closed his eyes as he begged, but there was no difference in what he saw. There was no answer to his questions or pleas as his consciousness slowly faded; only the sound of seconds passing could be heard as his existence persisted on the edge of oblivion.

When Kyle came to, he blinked several times and began to panic. Without anything to see, he thought something had happened to his eyes before remembering what had happened to him. Of all the ways to sentence someone…

He was still stuck in the dark, helpless to do anything except endure his existence. Nothing had changed about his predicament, except–

Wait… it stopped?

Kyle looked around as he realized that the ticking from before had ended. Nothing else appeared to have changed, but the sudden realization of the absolute silence was deafening. 

Does this mean that Khali stopped time for some reason? Does time even work the same here–

Kyle’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sensation of falling. He could hear himself scream as he plummeted through nothing for several seconds, landing on his back with a thud. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. White rings were emitting from underneath him again, and he could see a long line of red softly glowing nearby; the string of fate. The ticking of passing seconds had also returned.

“I'm… back?”

“Congrats, you haven't gone completely mad from the deprivation of all your senses.” Khali slowly clapped as she approached, her hood and veil put back in place. Instead of offering him a hand, she gestured for Kyle to get up. Instantly, Kyle was pushed into the air and propped up as an invisible seat rose from beneath him.

“What the hell? Are you just toying with me or something?” he demanded. “You don’t find enough enjoyment sifting through peoples’ lives, you have to toy with them after death too?”

“Watch yourself. You’re on thin ice there,” she replied. Kyle bit his tongue as Khali sat herself down a short distance away, just like before. She crossed her legs and looked straight at Kyle as she spoke. “It’s been a while since I got any “enjoyment” out of anything, honestly. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like. That was, until I gave your memories some more… analysis. Seeing another world… I always figured that, even if we couldn’t see or interact with one another, there must have been other worlds to be found. Whether in other universes or dimensions, however it works, I always knew Callous was hiding something…” she trailed off, seeming to lose her train of thought.

“Glad I could scratch that itch of curiosity for you,” Kyle muttered, crossing his arms.

“Now this goes against my better judgment,” Khali continued, ignoring him. “But I've got to make a difficult decision. And I can't leave you on the edge of oblivion for it.”

“Are you going to send me back to my world?”

Khali chuckled. “I've got no powers over space or dimensions. I couldn't do that even if I wanted to, much less knew how. Not to mention, you're already dead,” she explained. “But unfortunately, I am running out of options regarding a… situation.”

“Situation?”

“I'll explain if you can answer my questions honestly, and to my satisfaction. If we can come to an agreement, I will send you back to How'lea. Are you following?”

“Umm… sure?” Kyle nodded, apprehensive about accepting such a deal from a Deity after what she had just subjected him to. 

“Good. Now, you came to How'lea with no warning. You didn't do anything special to cross transdimensional boundaries, and as far as you can tell, nobody in How'lea summoned you, correct?”

“You just said you analyzed my memories more, why are you-”

“Answer me, lest I send you back to oblivion and truly forget about you this time.”

“Alright, alright!” Kyle said, shrinking into his seat a bit. “Yeah, it's like you said. There was seriously nothing I did to come here, and as far as I could tell, nobody did anything to summon me. Or if they did, they did so somewhere else in the world. Figuring out how and why I came here was something I was hoping to get to the bottom of, but, well…” Kyle gestured emptily around him. Khali didn't so much as acknowledge his response as she continued.

“There was never any mention or reference to a How'lea back on your homeworld?”

“You make me sound like an alien. Which, I mean… I guess I am? I don’t know, feels weird…” Kyle scratched his chin as he pondered the notion for a moment. “But to answer your question, no, I’d never heard of any “How’lea” on Earth. Not by that name, at least. I mean, there are so many “other world” stories that exist that it'd be impossible for me to actually know for certain. But nothing reminds me of How'lea directly.” Kyle sat forward, resting his chin on a fist as his mind spun, trying to search for any possible reference, direct or otherwise. “Actually, as far as I can tell, the place I wound up in felt a lot like 1920's New York, with a heavy steampunk vibe. So it's more like How'lea reminds me of an alternative history of Earth, rather than anything from home directly reminding me of How'lea.”

“That’s… very curious.” Khali crossed her legs once more in the opposite direction. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure what to make of that. I may be able to do some digging of my own, but I doubt the other deities will be any wiser.”

“Can I ask you something about that?” Kyle asked, raising a hand. When Khali didn’t stop him, he resumed. “You keep calling yourself and the others “deities” instead of gods or goddesses. Except for Callous. Is there a difference?”

“It’s a long story,” Khali said. “The terms may bring to mind the same concept, but yes, a "god " and "deity " are different. While we are supernatural entities, we are not divine or holy, and we’re far from perfect, I can assure you. But all of us are responsible for some aspect of reality. Like I mentioned, I make sure that Time flows properly and is unhindered by any of the others, while also being responsible for the flow of souls after they have passed on How’lea. Others are in charge of the Sun, Space, the earth, oceans, and so on. We do our best to keep all things balanced and working properly in response to humanity. Once upon a time, humans used to worship us as gods directly, and would beg for favors or mercy. It wasn’t all fun and games, but much more enjoyable for sure.

But after a little fiasco some two thousand years ago, Callous… coerced, I should say, all of humanity into diverging from polytheism to worshipping him alone. In the end, it was for the better, but the rest of us were demoted to working in the background, becoming legends and myths that the masses eventually forgot about.

As for Callous, he’s as close to all powerful as an entity can be. In fact, I can’t quite rule out the possibility that he does possess an infinite amount of power. That is why he’s the only “god” among us. But he rarely uses his powers now; likely just a matter of him not caring, truth be told. Otherwise I imagine he’d have corrected the wild stories about him that sprouted from his influence two millennia ago.”

“Well, he doesn’t exactly sound all that good or benevolent…” Kyle thought out loud. “Is he omnipotent, by any chance?”

“Not hardly. But that’s a story for another time. Returning to my questions now: aside from winding up in How’lea in the first place, was there anything strange that you observed or felt? Like someone or something was trying to guide or direct you? Are there any gaps in your memories, a period of time that might not show up in what I’m able to observe through this?” Khali asked, taking out her memory-replaying pocket watch. 

Kyle was taken aback by the question. “No? How would I even be able to recall something like that if I’d forgotten?”

“I don’t know, I’m not in charge of the human psyche! My point is: you, as far as you can tell, have not been influenced by anything or anyone? No brain or ear worms, no voices in your head?”

“I mean, I can’t rule out that I’m not in the dumbest, most convoluted coma in history,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes. “But like I just said: no.”

“Tone,” Khali scolded, standing up. “Now, last question: how would you have stopped the car bombing?”

“Excuse me?”

“The car bombing that killed you and a dozen other people, and injured even more. How would you have stopped all those casualties?”

“How do you expect me to answer that? I haven’t got a clue how that happened, or why! And I don’t have any experience dealing with something like that, or powers to prevent it from happening.” Kyle waved his hand dismissively. “I’d have to find out who planned it beforehand and stop them or something, but even then I don’t know how I’d go about it. Give me a different question.”

Khali hung her head and shook it slowly. “Fine,” she sighed. “If you could do the whole of your time in How’lea differently, what would you do?”

Kyle paused to think before answering. “Well, first things first, I’d need to make sure I don’t get robbed. Without my backpack, or my inhaler specifically, I’m screwed. I wouldn’t be able to be very physical. Even then, I’d only have so many uses until I ran out, so I’d need to see if someone can recreate or produce similar meds to treat my asthma.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“I can already read and speak the language, so after that I’d look for a job, I guess.” Kyle paused again as he noticed the glow of Khali’s eyes through her veil as she stared at him. “If you’re trying to fish for another way I’d stop the car bombing, I’d probably just tell the police about it before it happened.”

“As if they’d listen to a child’s foolish prank.”

“Then I’d do what I said before! Find the perp and stop him first.” A girl’s face flashed in his mind as he spoke. “And if need be, I know someone who would be willing to help me, too. That work for you?”

They stared each other down for a few moments.

“Fine then,” Khali broke the silence. “You’re not my first choice, but I have nobody else I can ask. Kyle Concord, I ask of you to become my Herald, and to fight a war on my behalf.”