"What would you give up,
how far would you go,
to have everything you ever wanted.
Roland awoke to a world of black smoke clinging to the ceiling. Stone and cedar pillars dwarfed him, in what quickly felt as though he had shrunken and been placed in a luminous ethereal castle. Above in the fog of darkness, tiny shimmering blue lights hung in the air like dazzling blue flames.
There was enough natural light to shed a clear view of the incredibly wide hall he found himself enveloped in. An endless sequence of black and white diamonds covered the ground beneath his feet. As far off into the darkness he could see. This was the same.
His only thought was forward, his first step revealed the peculiar clothes he wore. He could call it an oversized gown drawn down to the top of his ankles. The ends of which were cut unevenly as though they had been torn away from a larger garment. Roland continued his walk watching the clothes shimmering like a shadowy grey being against his body.
'Omega? Omega can you hear me?'
Roland heard fracturing static directly against his ears. This drew a frown from him.
'Omega is being blocked.' He stopped trying to communicate with the system after that and proceeded forward. A few steps turned into a dozen and onwards he walked. Soft echoes covered the air like feet walking against ice. Cautiously and yet vigorously aware. After a short while, Roland found a tranquil peacefulness, with the underlining tones of danger just enough to keep him alert.
He reached what looked like the ending of the gargantuan-sized hall. Standing at the foot of an arch-shaped opening, Roland measured it likely stood 7 meters tall. The space of the doorway alone could fit a large crowd in one go.
Roland continued walking ahead, it took him a few minutes to pass through the arch-shaped opening. He arrived in a second hall. A surge of countless blue lights dazzled at the very top of the ceiling. Directly against the ground was a black and white tiled mosaic. Crafted into the pattern of a cyclone. Against the walls were empty giant suits of armour wrapped around an oval-shaped hall.
There was a moment of disbelief followed by a curious sense of marvel.
One swiftly drowned out by the arrival of a sudden voice.
"And but many have seen the great splendour of the cosmos, very few were deserving of its bountiful riches."
From above Roland saw a sizable, round glassed table slowly descending. He counted 12 tall chairs orbiting alongside the table. Once they reached his eye level Roland noticed a uniquely shaped golden symbol etched against the back of each one. A closer look told him these were shapes of strange-looking animals.
The furniture finally settled against the glassed floor and that soft-spoken voice returned on cue.
"Tell me, little child of the cosmos. Are you deserving of your grace…or are you an unfilial son? Wasting it all away in madness."
A final shadow descended down the same way. Roland unconsciously took a few steps back. A strange figure appeared in clothes Roland genuinely thought were living shadows, burning continuously in the guise of an overbearing robe.
Never had he seen a cloak like that before. But what of the fellow or creature that wore such a thing? The head or lack of it, was simply a bizarre giant glassed fishbowl, filled with water and a single long black reptilian serpent inside. It looked like an eel with hardened metallic scales. Wrapped around the top of the bowl was a ring of iron thorns depicting some crude crown.
It lightly tapped the cushioned red armrest. Two hands sitting in iron gauntlets fell away from the burning sleeves. And just from the sheer pressure alone, Roland assumed very likely that this being was the ruler of this place.
'How do I even answer that question?' He thought to himself. The chilling voice erupted again the moment those thoughts passed through.
"You've already answered it, child of the cosmos."
Roland felt a wave of fright run through his being. He could read his mind? Just the thought of that sent countless alarm bells racing through his mind.
But then the watery voice spoke out again. Its voice felt soothing enough to quell the anxious fire racing in his heart.
"The stars and all its glory.
The breath of the cosmos, and the life-giving power bending to the will of Gods,
"What would you give up, how far would you go to have everything you ever wanted?"
Roland was frozen beneath that question. What would he give up? His eyes lowered to his outstretched palms. Another twist of events was seeing his hands sitting in a pair of mysteriously spotless white gloves. He was alive? Regardless of which body or what consciousness he adopted. He knew he was alive. And wasn't that the answer to that very question itself? Suddenly he remembered his life as Zachary, the commander of the space fleet. Engineer, scientist, fighter, lover, friend, abandoned son.
Without thinking too much about it. He parted his hands ceremonially and almost comically laughed at the response.
"Every-everything heh I've already given up everything already!"
His voice lingered in the frigid silence. The figure moved and his iron fingers lightly clattered together.
"Oh-ho?...Fine." A guttural chuckle cracked against the frigid air.
"I, Lord Overseer of the Church of Cosmos, welcome it then…your raison d'etre."
With a flick of its iron glove, one of the seated chairs started to vibrate. Roland shifted his attention towards the round table again. A golden light began glowing from the backrest.
"From henceforth, you are a member of this fellowship, the crimson spider Lillie's greet you and you will wear the face of the one who Mocks, the head... of the Black Goat."
Roland felt a sudden rush of adrenaline followed by a continuous incessant rattle from the chair hovering in the air. A sudden pain ran through his left hand. Roland twisted his hand over and glared with bewilderment at a red stem forcing its way out from the palm of his hand. The glittering stem weaved countless thin threads into a thicker root and the root became a thin spider lilly.
Before Roland could say anything, the sounds of wood being ripped apart echoed. Against the floating chair directly above him, he saw a larger spider lily flower blooming away from the backrest.
"Good, it is done. In light of our newly formed union. I present to you a single opportunity. Never again will you see a chance like this. A chance to ask me anything you desire. My knowledge spans across the timeless belt, where even the third eye of Guardians fails to reach. So then I, the all-knowing will grant you the answer."
Roland stood there drowned in his countless thoughts.
'One question? Wh-what do I ask. Who is he? Where am I? Can I get back to my old world? Why was that goblin so strong? Is he a demon? Am I a demon? Wizard Grey? Alyssa is dead! I'm scared! I'm excited…die-die-die I'm going to die I'm going too.'
The sounds of a gavel slamming down jolted Roland free. He remembered the judge who slammed down the rhinestone gravel, moments before he was sentenced to die.
His eyes unconsciously fell towards the divine-looking figure held up in the air, behind which was a stitch of glittering blue stars. Somehow that very sound revealed countless things to him. Who he was before all of this. His goals and dreams. Nothing has actually changed when he thought on the matter deeply like this. The day that gavel was struck he was fated to die. But in the same breath, hearing it again now, with the promise of life.
Roland found clarity and slowly readjusted his slouched posture. He held his head high with a newfound strength.
"I…I would like to know what your intentions are Mister...I mean, sir overlord. What's the purpose of all of this?"
The question leaving his mouth sounded even absurd to his own ears. Roland had 100 other more pressing things he could've asked. But somehow, in this moment beneath what felt like a power far beyond what he could comprehend, only one single question mattered.
His answer arrived soon enough, first, he listened to the chilling soft heckles and watery-sounding laughter descend.
"Interesting…very well." It raised a single iron finger.
"My ambition…to ignite a flame of collective brilliance. To assemble a band of the most extraordinary souls. Guided by a shared vision towards the end of all wars. No more conflict, no more strife, but only a harmony of purpose. A mere flame in a world choosing darkness. That, child of the cosmos, that is our shared goal…for that is who we are. We are…"
Roland had never felt so eagerly charged to hear someone's response. His breathing had turned rapid and his heart was beating so fast he could barely keep still. And then the cool voice spoke again, with an answer which electrified his entire soul.
"Lightbearers! And we will shed away the darkness polluting this world. By any means necessary."