It was a long day.
I let myself relax in my armchair, my muscles languid and lazy from 12 hours of nonstop stocking.
"Jesus Christ, why do I even have to work this long again?"
My eyes wandered to the calendar, circles already marking the days before. If you could focus enough, you'd see a bright red star on what would be three weeks from now. The words "DREAM CAR" marked in bright red marker filling as much space on its square as posssible.
"Oh.. right" I put my hands to my face, reluctant to look at the calendar again. More work was in the future. I sighed. I pulled out my phone to check my progress.
[7816 Checking: 38,670]
The future was too close. I'm almost there.
I laughed as the tension left me. I decided to make myself comfortable, getting up from my arm chair to walk toward the kitchen.
"This house is small" I whispered, getting a heavy mason jar from the cabinet. I opened it as the smell welcomed me. The smell was pungent, making my nostrils flare up in glee."yup that's that loud" I chuckled, taking the green contents and grabbing my bowl.
I remember I had left my torch in the bathroom from yesterday, going off to get that too before I found myself to my precious armchair. I turned on the TV, turning it to a cartoon before I ripped, riding that familiar feeling that got me through so many night shifts.
That was when the bullshit happened.
I didn't know if it was the Skywalker at first, or maybe in hindsight, I should say it definitely was the Skywalker.
I started floating.
Out of all times to do this…
I admit, it was perfect after a rip.
I closed my eyes in bliss as I floated upwards, not even caring.
This is it. I've peaked.
Then everything went black.
…
"HUH?!" I screamed, a look of complete disbelief across my face as my vision came to me. A woman. Beautiful as she was unsettling sat across from me, her face was twisted up in amusement, as if she could break into a fit of laughter any second.
"You got so high off that Skywalker you genuinely left your plane of existence." She strangled out, her body shaking.
I looked around frantically taking in my surroundings. Nothing. I couldn't see anything. Just an infinite stretch of sky and sea, the water still as we sat at a circular golden table. I was enraptured in it, my eyes never looking away.
I looked back at the woman, her black hair and eyes contrasting rightly with this place of beauty. "Ain't no way." I said, my face contorting into a look of worry. That was it for the woman,
She absolutely lost her shit.
Her booming laughter echoed in this place as she started slamming her hands on the table, completely ignoring my response.
"This is gonna be an even longer day."
"So let me get this right. You're saying that I got so high I got transported into your dimension? And that there's no way back since you can't send things back, so I basically either have to stay here, or get… transferred."
She nodded enthusiastically, her eyes brightened. "What about my wi- wait. MY SAVINGS!" I felt a lump in my throat, my eyes tearing up at the realization. "My dream car. That super suped out S14 I promised to myself.. that car wouldve been mine one day. now it's gone!" The woman deadpanned, getting up from her chair in a fit of indignation
"Doesn't matter what universe, timeline, or planet. YOU MEN ARE ALWAYS THE SAME! YOURE GONNA ASK ME ABOUT SOME CAR OVER YOUR WIFE???"
I jumped back in fear, my eyes still teary.
"I saved FOR FIVE YEARS WOMAN! FIVE YEARS!" I screamed. The woman just rolled her eyes, a low chuckle escaping her lips.
"Besides, I know she's doing okay. She has all of my stuff there. Car, apartment, good job, my bank cards. She's strong, so I don't think she'll get too upset about it. She can handle herself after all."
…
From the day I was born, my mother had said that I was quiet. I came out with nothing to say, as the doctors immediately panicked, assuming I was born deaf or mute.
I was neither.
"Śūnya Netra" The doctors called me.
"You had empty eyes, but the doctors checked and there was nothing wrong with you. You just…existed. You were curious and driven just like any other child, you always asked questions. "
She said for a long while I didn't respond well to anything. Only giving slight smiles and small gestures that kept my mother sane. I teased my baby sister once in a while, but my parents argued constantly when I was little. Mother thinking that I needed to get checked for autism, while my father said something that stuck with me far into the future.
"I just don't understand it. I'm worried about him Lucius. He doesn't play with the kids outside, he hates riding bikes. He doesn't even ask me for anything else, He just wants to read books and watch car videos all day!"
I heard silence up there for a time, my father taking his time before speaking in a calm and measured voice.
" Oh Tia, I know what you feel about our son. But I don't see a problem with it. He talks, plays with his sister, eats food, he reads books. He's only 11 my love. He's just developing what he likes. Look, if he does have any issues we'll take him first thing alright? I personally didn't see a problem with his quietness. It's what makes him smart."
"Silence is the root of everything. If you spiral into its void, a hundred voices will thunder messages you long to hear."
My mother kind of changed after that. She started going out of her way to try and spoil me every way she could to get me to crack my shell. When I eventually got around to anime, she found out about it.
I don't know how she knew that I would like it, nor did I care. Coming home to a full collection of fate manga in a damn bookcase was not something I expected. I was hesitant at first, only ever reading thick chapter books on ancient history.
But alas,
It was like eating a Pringle. Before you know it, your eating over 700 chapters of cheesy shojou romance and geeking out over the characters.
I guess from that moment, you could say that I was totally and irrevocably smitten with fiction.
"A logical and compassionate man to his core, the love of my life, and the man I'd want nothing more than to spend an eternity of in your arms."
"A woman who has shown nothing but patience and love, the one who shed my exterior to form me into the man I know myself to be today."
I remembered the wedding day, the vows, and my mother in sheer joyous disbelief to see me ever get a ring put on my finger.
"My little genius."
Ah, that's when the tears came.
My mood began to darken, my thoughts trailing off.
"Time moves differently here. I don't know if this would comfort you or not, but I can tell you what happened after you left." My eyes shot up toward this strange woman, "I'd like to know. I don't really see anything that could worry me. It couldn't get worse"
"After you vanished, your wife went crazy trying to find you. She ended up trying every route, every way to find you. Ive never seen a human as driven as she was. She searched endlessly, avoiding anyone and everything until she reached her goal." I finished for her, my voice low. Quiet.
"She never found me. She ignored her life. She couldn't let it go. I knew we talked about a scenario like this before, but no one thinks it would actually happen. To think she would…" my hands started trembling, tears flowing from my face, quiet sobs echoing in a world too beautiful to put into words. The woman just let me process it, not saying anything as I wept.
"May I learn her name?" She asked softly, taking my hands in hers. I was more composed as I answered, her name feeling almost like a prayer.
"Imala. Imala Perez"
Her eyes deepened in contemplation.
"There is a way to still see her. Though you may not like it." I shot up in excitement. I didn't even let the woman finish. "Screw that! Anything to see her again!" I exclaimed.
She gave me a dirty look. "Oh? So she's more important than your car now?" she sighed, bringing out a large notebook completely out of nowhere. Before I could shout, the lady brought a finger to my lips.
"HOW THE FU-"
"SsSHHH!! anyway, your wife is fortunately a reincarnated soul. If I can use her soul as kind of a waypoint for yours I can most likely put you in the same world she's in. Since you never died, you'll be transmigrated. Whether or not you recognize each other or not is up to you guys."
I looked down in thought, this reincarnation thing being a little bit more recognizable by the minute.
"So I can go with her? Bet. Send me in."
The woman laughed, holding her hands up in protest, "woah wait wait wait Mānya. You gotta come up with a power first. The world you'll be reincarnated into is dangerous. You gotta pick something that'll make you strong. Would be kind of messed up if I sent you in without anything."
I was stopped by her word. An almost encyclopedic list of powers and characters lit up my mind like Christmas. Anything, anyone I could recall.
Something strong huh?
"I think I know what I want."
The woman tilted her head, her expression a mix of slyness and anticipation brimming under her eyes.
"A long time ago, I was told of a story. My worlds oldest story of surviving literature. Over four thousand years old from the ancient times of Mesopotamia. The first king… no. The first hero to ever exist. A great hero that lived and died. I hated his arrogance, I hated his pride. The way he treated lives as they were all beneath him. But in the end, he loved humanity. He believed that our greatest beauty was to defy fate. But his standards were too high, too impossible for a man who lived as a demi-god."
"I intend to do something better with this power. To bring people around me, to help the helpless with overhwhelming force."
"I want for the power of the first hero of mankind, the ruler of Uruk, the son of Ninsun, and the collector of all worldly treasures,"
"The King of Hero's"
" Gilgamesh."
The woman only smiled. A free one, that held no protest. "Some might be fearful for a mortal like you to wield such power. A human like you though? I wouldn't regret it for a second. Nice choice I might say. It's the least I could do after all. What I live for is nothing but for the benefit of my people." She stuck her tongue out playfully as she stood up.
The table and chairs disappeared, leaving me falling on my butt in the water.
"Now why the fuck would you do that! Now my ass is wet!"
A large and heavy torrent of wind bellowed around us as she laughed without a care in the world. Strong glows of light bursted from my skin, making me yelp in surprise as the woman's face grew serious.
"I shall tell you my true name. Don't ever forget it Mānya."
The wind picked us up, blasting us into the sky above as she spoke, every word like a trumpet of thunderstorms. Over my incesssnt yelling, she spoke.
"I, am Durga."
"The guardian of cosmic order"
"I make this soul a vessel for incomparable power. This soul will inherit divinity, as they continue over this harmony granted through cycles. Walk with humanity, and live on no matter what."
She smiled at me as her form changed. Like a mirage in a desert, her form faded into a force I couldn't fathom being that aloof woman from earlier.
A towering figure, one who had over 18 arms. Her radiance cutting me off from my tantrum, almost blinding me. Her attire changed into a traditional garb that I've seen all too many times on my grandmother. I could see stars within them, almost entrancing me before the goddess uttered a roar, using all of her arms to conjure and slam her mighty trident into the the sky.
"Tell Imala that I said hi! From me to her."
After that, I saw nothing.
Well, that couldn't have gone better. I thought, still disoriented from the displacement. The smell of stale air hit almost immediately. "Old rundown apartment. Nice." I deadpanned.
"I can't remember telling that goddess my name. That was Durga?! Now I feel bad for yelling at her earlier…"
"Durga, the goddess of strength. The guardian of cosmic order… holy shit.
I checked my pockets for anything useful, feeling my body in the process. "And it looks like my body has changed."
I was built good in my old world. Going to the gym with my wife was pretty good in getting us in shape, though it was nothing like this.
I went to where a room should be in this place, finding a small notebook in a dresser. I began to write.
Number one: locate Imala
Number two: celebrate
Number three: live?
I guess? I mean i dont know the first thing that comes with situations like this. From what i know, Imala was reincarnated. So she wouldn't look the same. Her honey brown skin could be lighter skin, her beautiful brown eyes could be green for all I know.
I'm completely in the dark. But if I could find out where I am, I think I could narrow down who doesn't fit in this universe. A face that looks more "OC" than actually belonging here. I remembered what the goddess said
"Whether or not you recognize each other or not is up to you both."
I quickly found the bathroom to see what had changed. Blood red eyes stared back at me. My face was perfectly symmetrical, as if my previous looks received a massive upgrade. I was still short as I remember though...
"Out of all the things to change, you couldn't change my height?"
Still 5"5. I guess height is something reserved for the other isekai protagonist's huh? I still looked like me… but better. Leaner and more powerful. As I took off my shirt, I could only look on in shock. My muscles were coiled like steel.
I admired myself for a while, seeing the red markings on my bare torso glowing faintly. They must represent my power. The power I asked for. Imperfections like bumps or scars? Gone. My brown skin was like silk, my face enhanced into a beauty i couldn't recognize.
"This… is me?" I muttered, "but divine. Oh I'm so going to mog my wife when I see her" I chortled.
I imagined I'd do the Usher move and do the sliding thing in the rain.
She'd probably smack me. Bad idea.
I let myself relax, getting distracted by a sort of mental pull. In an instant, a pain in my head spiked, forcing me to my knees as I tried to breath.
The treasury
The gate of Babylon
The key to the sword of rupture
Endless weapons
All of them flooded into my mind, my connection to the gate strengthening with every second of contemplation.
All of what the gate had to offer was within my grasp, but eventually that nauseating stream of information stopped. I could tell that this treasury held more. No, WAY more than what I had witnessed.
Gil's gate of Babylon was a paradox. Just a bit infinitely growing storage unit of human intelligence.
"Open." I muttered, a golden ripple in space appearing instantly. Reaching into it was almost like sticking your hand in water. It was effortless, and the cold sensation of it was almost addicting. I'd be doing this for all of my life now, and I couldn't be happier.
I could feel the object I wanted, pulling it out.
A golden mason jar.
Yeah, I didn't learn my lesson.
"It may not be Skywalker, but it's something strong alright. This that modern day Iraq flower baby. I think I'll call you… Ziggurat OG"