Ascension: Purgatory

Chapter 1: Afterlife

All I see is white light for... Who knows how long. It feels somehow like a second and a year at the same time... But eventually, I can start to make out shapes, and I realize I'm standing on my own two feet, on a white floor.

And then, I spot a blurry form of somebody in front of me. When my vision finally clears, standing before me is a tall man with long white hair and a thick beard. "Hello my child."

"Uh... Hi?" I say awkwardly. This can't be really be God, can it?

"I am the Lord Almighty, here to welcome you to the Afterlife."

Well that answers that question. "The afterlife, huh? And this doesn't really seem like down there so... I guess I'm going to heaven?"

God chuckles, clutching his stomach, "Oh yes, you have not been sent to Hell my child. You're destined for the Heavenly gates! But not just yet."

"Not yet? Why?"

"Well, it's not your fault, you should know that first and foremost. The real issue is that Heaven is unfortunately under attack."

"Under attack?!" I gasp.

"You heard correctly, my child. The lower realm of Heaven has been invaded by the denizens of Hell. They've come through a portal generated by Lucifer's black magic, and they wreak havoc on the lower tier of the Heavenly realm. And that means that I need YOU!" And the old man points his finger right at me!

"Me?!"

"That's right, my child! I need you to protect those already living in heaven! Your job is to kill at least 10000 demons! Once you accomplish your goal, then you will be accepted into heaven with loving arms, just like every other courageous soldier that came before you!"

"What?! You- you want me to kill demons?! What are you even talking about?! I can't kill demons! I'm just a fucking driver!"

"You will not be going into the fight without gifts from your Lord, however." God adds.

"Well I hope the fuck not, man! This better be good!" And then I slap my hand over my mouth in horror. I can't talk to God like that! He's fucking God! He's gonna smite my ass or something! Oh fuck, he can probably read my mind right now! But the more I inspect his face, he doesn't seem to be bothered by my comment in the slightest... How strange...

God waves his hand, and suddenly, I'm clad in shining, gold armour. I hope it's not actually gold... That would suck. Doesn't feel heavy enough for that, thankfully. Or am I just stronger now? I think he also just made me stronger! "Not only have I bestowed upon you improved physique and shining armour, but I will also give you two more useful gifts. The first is a set of wings that should help you traverse the undercity with ease, as well as mark you as one of my angels." And then, out of shining light, two giant, white wings sprout from my back! I feel full control over them, like I've had them forever. And I just know that one powerful beat of my wings will take me up into the sky. The urge to fly is so strong that I have to fight it just to keep paying attention to God. "And not only that, but I will allow you to choose a special ability from this list of curated options. Choose wisely, because you won't be able to choose again!" And a list of options appears before me. God stands to the side, waiting patiently.

I have some brief thoughts about how weird it is that he won't just give me all the powers, but then I start reading through them and completely forget about all of that! There's all the stuff you'd expect: Super strength, Flight, Super Speed, Telepathy. But I get real excited when I start searching through the other sections of less popular stuff. "Geez, there's so many options!" I say, rubbing the back of my head. "Why can't I just have all of them?" I wonder, the thought suddenly coming back to me. I look at God, and he just smiles back. Not saying anything. "Um. I guess that's a no?"