Chapter 1: New Player Joins
"My children…he killed you…all of you…*Sob*…" In a place far, far away, that couldn't not be accessed by any normal means. A woman was on her knees sobbing and mourning the loss of people, precious to her.
Not just any woman, a celestial beauty, whose face was hidden behind a veil, she had her eyes closed with a expression of sadness, as her tears rolled down her cheeks. The female was none other than Elaine, the goddess who gave Galahad his improved power.
She was currently in a heavenly garden, whose vastness couldn't be described, reaching as far as the eye could see. It was one of her dimensions, a safe-house so to speak. A place where she could hide from that evil man…Nixen.
Nixen had left her with a few simple words, last time they met. Describing her apostles, which she considered as her own kin, to be but mere toys and promising to kill all of them…which he did.
"Nixen…I swear…this sin you have committed…no, all the evils you have done…will not go unpunished!" Elaine stood up and wiped her tears and spoke out her mind, in a voice determined to bring justice upon the man who was known to have committed similar acts in the past.
Lifting up her hand, the sleeve of her long dress, revealed her skin, that seemed to be made of divine jade, as the light of the sun caressed it and glowed off of it. She seemed to be in perfect harmony with the world.
"With this last divinity I have left…I summon a soul forth…from the great unknown…serve me and I shall serve you…come my apostle!" Chanting her words, they affected the surrounding space, a strong gale blowing and yet she seemed unaffected by it. A small vortex opening just above her palm and ball of milky-white light came out off it…a soul!
Bringing her hand close to her face, she blew onto the sphere and it dispersed into particles, that started building the figure of a humanoid, just a few steps away from her. It didn't take long for a male to be formed,brown hair and simple features, his eyes shut.
"Awaken." Elaine spoke and her soothing voice reached the ears of the man, who did just that, he woke up. His eyelids opened in a drowsy manner and looked around curiously, not knowing what to think of the situation.
"...Tell me. Is this a dream? Or did I die…" His gaze landed on her, her divine looks or the unknown space didn't make him nervous or afraid, as he asked in a calm voice.
"Neither my child. I have summoned you, who was on the brink of death, to…help me." Elaine said, thoughts of her previous apostles running through her mind, worsening her mood.
"...What happened to my real body…" The man questioned, this time his tone a bit colder. He had noticed the sadness in her voice, but for now he didn't seem to care.
"It's still there, in your world. Where time has stopped for everyone and…everything." She replied. Snapping her fingers, a vision appeared in his mind, of him on a hospital bed and a woman sitting by his side, holding his hand.
"Take me back." He demanded, his words carrying a heavy pressure that would make any normal human being do his biding. Elaine, of course, retained her calm demeanor.
"I want to give you a chance. In return for your your help, I will heal you body and send you back to your world." Her simple words, struck the man like lightning, opening his eyes wide, as he clenched his teeth.
"Take. Me. Back." Taken aback by his attitude, the goddess was confused. How could he refuse such an offer, he was currently in a coma…bringing him back would only imprison him again, in a broken body.
"This…dream, I dreamt of this so many times…but I have accepted my fate! So don't…give me false hope…" Ah...so the man still believed that he was dreaming, that all this was an illusion of his own mind. The goddess sighed, she could understand.
Swiping with her hand she manifested a simple table with two chairs. On it was a tea set, ready to be served. Motioning for him to follow, she took a sit, the man staying still.
"This isn't a dream, my child. I can feel your pain…you have suffered. And I want to lessen your pain, give you a life with your…family." She knew that her words were manipulative, but true nonetheless. His breathing became heavy, as he stared at her.
"Why should I believe you? Why me?" He didn't want to run after a unreachable dream, but his heart stiffened at her words, at the chance of living with the only person he cared for in his life…his sister.
Signalling him to sit again, this time the man complied. He went ahead and drunk some of the tea, that seemed to have a calming effect on him.
"How you like it? Good tea, isn't it?…I can't prove that all this is real. I am not asking you trust me…trust your self, your senses." Elaine said, the man staring at his cup of tea. This taste, the sense of touch and smell, the slight breeze…all felt so real to him. He knew it was foolish…but if there was even a slight chance that this was true…he decided to believe.
"Explain to me what I have to do." Letting his cup down, he brought his gaze up and asked, a voice no longer unsure. The goddess smiled under her veil.
"I want you to be my apostle. An extension of me over other universes. Giving you a power of your choosing, I will send you to a world already known to you. There you will grow stronger and when you have enough power…I will summon you once more." Explaining the terms of her pact, Elaine, manifested a parchment that contained all her terms, a contract.
Picking it up, the man carefully read it and found that it contained the same conditions that she had just said. In turn for his service to her, he would be granted one wish of his choosing, it could be anything. He scanned it once more, in case he missed something and put it down.
"I just can't…I want to believe…for all I know you could be a devil in disguise…" And his reasoning wasn't wrong. After all, in stories,demons, did change their appearance to lure people like him, to give away their life in return for powers. (Ghostrider)
"Then…I will have to find someone willing…" Elaine bluffed, picking up the contract. She knew that if he left, then she could do nothing, as she had used all of her remaining divine powers to bring him here and form this contract.
Hearing this he reached out and grabbed the contract mid-air. They stayed like this, gazing at each others eyes, as if he was trying to find something. In the end he pulled and took the contract, opening it.
"A pen." He asked of her, to sign the contract. In return she gave him a small knife…of course, he thought, he was making a contract with a divine being.
Slicing his finger, a few drops of his bloods landed on the paper, absorbed by it and sealing the contract, that disappeared from sight.
"What power do you want? It can be anything." She asked, awaiting for his answer curiously.
"Power…Very good eyesight."…What? I mean…The man replied, causing the woman to tilt her head in confusion, did he think he was at a doctor's appointment.
"Eyesight?…Ah…I understand. You were after all a soldier." The goddess knew his life, a life of a mercenary. And so in his mind, a good eyesight could help him perform better, with what he knew how to do best, shoot a gun.
Approaching the man, she put her hand over his eyes and held them there, as a light shone from her palm. Removing it, his eyes had changed, the iris no longer circular but in the shape of a cross, violet in color.
"A very good eyesight, granted. Now go and grow stronger." Having given him what he asked for and maybe a little more, she grabbed his head and brought towards her. She leaned and kissed his forehead, his body dissipating in the air.
"Grow…for the whole creation might rest on you…and that man, Galahad."
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The sudden teleportation made the man disoriented, shaking his head, as he tried to look around. A loud voice came into his ears, almost bursting his eardrums.
"YOU MAGGOTS THINK YOU CAN JOIN THE STARFORCE OF THE KREE EMPIRE?! I WILL SWIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOUR BODIES!" Hearing this he knew, he had arrived in the Marvel Universe.