The Final Boss and Incarnation

This time, the office was something Mitchel would expect a CEO to have. Spacious, lacking in clutter, yet comfortable. Turning around, he saw the woman who had spoken. She sat upon her heavy desk, a martini glass in hand and several rows of alcoholic bottles behind her. Behind it all was a window, staring out into a black void. Her snow-white hair fell straight and silky, long enough to reach her calves. Her eyes were a fascinating green, and in the shadow of her hair and tilted head, they seemed pupil-less.

She gave him a small, kind smile. "I apologize for my subordinates, whichever ones it was you had to deal with. They're... effective enough, I suppose, but professionalism does not appear to be anywhere in any of their vocabularies, no matter how much I try. I hope they did not offend you overmuch."

Mitchel tried to reassure her that he wasn't offended - perhaps amused or put-out - but she waved her hand as she continued. "This last step is, perhaps, not what you would have expected, but I imagine you might enjoy it nonetheless. You see, while we can return you to your world if you so wish it, you bear enough Sparks to be granted another choice, to be permitted to enter another, different, world. Once you have made your decisions, simply float over to the Incarnation Chamber, and I will actualize the miracle you desire." She gestured to the side of the room, where a person-sized cylinder stood. At first it seemed made of glass, but a closer look suggested it was some sort of crystalline structure.

Wait, float? It was only then that Mitchel looked down and realized that he didn't have a body. He was, in fact, merely a floating orb of wispy, flame-like design, glowing a soft white.

"While there are innumerable worlds in the multiverse, only a dozen are available to you, given the number of Sparks you bear and the distance to each world. I can give you a preview of what awaits you at each destination, before you choose."

With a gesture, the window behind the woman filled with color and light, revealing a familiar sight.

"Earth. The world you once existed in. If you do not choose this one, we shall allow your mortal coil to expire. Otherwise, we shall restore to working condition, plus whichever changes will result from the choices you made. Your world is dying, dangerous, and empty. There is no magic, no gods that administrate it, no monsters that roam it. The danger is in its inevitable decay. That which you have been granted will not fight it off alone, but perhaps it will give you a place to start?

"Ah, for the sake of comparison - the impossibly average human who has graduated high school but not a college or university, who has no particularly strong convictions but is not easily talked into abandoning their morals, who has many friends but is not so charismatic as to have a following, and has achieved the age of twenty five has a ten in each of their physical and metal stats, but a zero point 2 in each of their mystical stats. The majority of actual humans diverge from this with a standard deviation of one, except for in their mystical stats, where the standard deviation is zero point one. This can be, and often is, negative - such beings are often entirely incapable of magic, and considering how many mystical stats exist, are all too common."

She gestured again, then again, then nine times more, each time giving a description of the world. A magitech, fantastical mirror of Earth. A dark, occult version, where monsters stalk the darkness. A world destined for eldritch apocalypse, where humanity would struggle for survival. A medieval, mundane world, most remarkable for how similar it was to Earth's past. A fantasy world one might find in a game, with a dark future on the horizon, and many possibilities. A world locked in eternal war between mortals and demons. A world where humanity coexisted and struggled against all-female monster races. A world ruled by machines. A mystical, cyberpunk dystopia. A potential look at Earth's future among the stars. Or a science-fantasy world ravaged by war.

"Keep in mind," the CEO cautioned, "once you've chosen a destination, you will most likely never leave it, at least within a lifetime - assuming you don't tamper with your reincarnation, you may end up anywhere in the limitless multiverse after each ****. While the possibility exists for you to find a method to traverse the multiverse without going through that cycle, very few accomplish it, and fewer still within a mortal lifetime. So, choose carefully."

Mitchel immediately ruled out the grimdark options. While he would be lying to say that he'd had a rough life, willfully subjecting himself to an apocalypse or endless war did not sound ideal. That already took out more than a third of the choices. He also discarded the mundane worlds - even Earth. Discovering magic sounded fun and all, but he knew he didn't have the patience or intellect to pioneer such a field, nor did he want to be the sole supernatural being in existence, likely condemned to flee from governments and secret organizations all his life. And while he did have friends back on Earth, there was nothing truly tying him there - his parents had died just a few years earlier, the rest of his family was distant, and none of his friends were truly close. He'd led a lonely life.

And that itself is what drove him to choose as he did. Living in a magitech copy of Earth didn't appeal, dealing with the same modern grind. Likewise, the promise of a dark, difficult future, potentially just as bad or even worse than the grimdark options was objectionable. And going into an active war was almost worse.

But the description of a certain world, and the promises that the CEO made - a peaceful start, numerous siblings, and a chance, but not an obligation, of adventure... it sounded perfect:

'A world overrun with numerous all-female humanoid species capable of interbreeding true with humans, these other species, known as "monsters", are often significantly more magically inclined than the norm. Beyond them, the world at large resembles that of Lyrda, where the significant magical presence has equally significant effects upon the laws of the world.

'The monstrous races have unusual breeding patterns compared to humans - the child of a monster and a human will be the same species as its same-sex parent, but a number of monsters theoretically 'default' to having broods, litters, or laying clutches of eggs. Oftentimes, such births are entirely female, while when they have male children, such children are born 'alone'.

'Because of this, many of the more peaceful or 'tame' monstrous races coexist freely beside humans, such as elves, cowgirls, and mermaids. Other monstrous races, however, such as dragons, oni, and hellhounds tend to prefer their own societies, often **** humans for use in breeding. Naturally, humans and their allied races tend to object to such things, and there is no small degree of hostility between such communities.'

The CEO's further explanation had only cemented that: "The world is pleasant enough, and you will incarnate into the village of Sarvas, a small hamlet on the border of the Kingdom of Starlight, where humans and monsters coexist freely. Your parents will be of no great status, being either a peasant man and a monster of your choice, or two human peasants, though either way, your father shall have multiple cowgirl, doggirl, and catgirl wives who will provide you with numerous sisters, and possibly a brother or two. In eighteen years, upon your eighteenth birthday a great opportunity will be presented to you, and you will be given the chance to adventure out into the great unknown, though there will be little consequence if you refuse.

"Stats among humans match those of your former worlds, but stats among monster races vary far more wildly. Naturally, if you are of an inhuman race, your mother shall be of the same race, and if you are male, will likely be quite surprised to find such a thing has occurred."

The CEO smiled kindly again as Mitchel's choice solidified with his recollection, her head tilting just enough for Mitchel to see that his initial impression was not wrong - her eyes lacked pupils, and were a sea of swirling green. "Euphoria. A good choice." The smile became an amused smirk. "And one suited to your... unique attributes."

"You're happy with your choices, then?" As usual, Mitchel couldn't respond, but his guide seemed to know regardless. "Very well. Step into the Incarnation Chamber, and find the future you wish to strive for." And just like that, she disappeared, and the office dimmed, save for a row of lights, leading the way to the Incarnation Chamber.

Mitchel walked over, and only after he was halfway there did he realize that despite being quite unable to walk anywhere, being an orb of soul-stuff, he still moved as he expected. A few moments later, he entered the crystalline cylinder, which closed behind him, and everything went black. But in his mind's eye - or perhaps his soul's eye? - he saw... something. Or rather, the potential for something.

Instinctively, he began to shape that potential, remembering Dude-Gal's offhanded remarks about shaping his future body in the Incarnation Chamber. And so he did, knowledge about what was available to him readily at hand, but also ephemeral, no doubt to be lost when he left... wherever it was that he currently was.

_An outsider, a being of magic, formed from the fabric of reality... _Mitchel mused. Given my 'weirdness,' there's a few options that seem appropriate.

As he went through the options, Mitchel found that the temporary knowledge he had access to also gave him insight on what capabilities each outsider species would have, which aligned with what Fude-Gal had said: angels tended to have healing and light Innage Magics, many fey species had illusions, demons tended towards darkness...

The familiar concepts of an incubus and kitsune were his focus at first, but then something novel caught his attention.

The hrafthi seemed like a distant cousins to both the tricksy kitsune - which was able to enter the dreams of others, go invisible, and create illusions - and the sexual incubus - which could also enter dreams, but also enflame others' lists and weakly drain their energy. Comparatively, the hrafthi could not only enter others' dreams, but could craft dreamworlds and bring others into them; they also could implant specific lusts in others, not merely enflame current lusts. The tradeoff seemed to be that they only had two innate magics, rather than three, and they appeared to start out much weaker than those of the other two races; but the hrafthi's magics' potential was as good if not greater than that of the other two.

The hrafthi were more similar to kitsune than incubi in appearance, given that they tended towards a very human base form (lacking bizarre skin colors or hooves instead of feet), with extra additions. The hrafthi had feathers - usually pitch black- that grew from their hair, while their eyes were dark, unique colors with mirror-like silver pupils. Aside from their Innate Magics, they also had proclivities for weaving and divining.

And for manipulating Sympathetic Bonds.

Mitchel decided, then played around with the details. Dusky, grey-toned skin, dark violet eyes and hair, and a tall, lean build, around 6'2". Since he would be the only male hrafthi, he was given quite a bit of leeway on the more masculine traits, and allowed himself the ability to grow a beard, randomized his body hair, and gave himself a sizable penis.

Satisfied, he was startled when darkness overtook even his soul's eye, eradicating the mental image of his future form, and washing away the extra knowledge he'd been lent while making his decision.

And then, a sensation of cold, and being wet. There was light behind his eyelids, and before he could even help it, his mouth opened and a cry split the air, mingling with the panting breaths and groans of a woman in labor and the murmur of a handful of others.

"Agd... agd varu!" a feminine voice right above him said, excitedly.

"Varu? Dir mol, hrafthi zuk!" another woman said, disbelief in her voice.

"Bernne... varu hrafthi..." the first murmured.

It was utterly silent, save the pants and groans of the woman behind Mitchel. Then a hubbub of doubt, shock, and awe. Mitchel felt his small, weak body be passed between multiple sets of hands, the owners of each murmuring and exclaiming amongst each other. But as grunts of the laboring woman began to escalate, Mitchel was swaddled and attention was turned towards his mother, as Mitchel realized he had just been born - or rather, reborn.

A minute later, his mother's groans and screams tapered off, and a new cry was raised. Everyone waited with baited breath.

"Agd pirlu! Pirlu hrafthi!" the first voice announced, and everyone seemed conflicted between between relief and more shock.

Given what the CEO had told Mitchel about this world, he wasn't surprised: he was a male hrafthi, an impossibility. He could guess that's what 'varu' meant, 'boy.' And his twin was a girl, a female hrafthi - something normal.

Except, male humans weren't born with non-human siblings on Euphoria. Which made Mitchel a double-impossibility. A male monster with a twin sister.

His mother sighed in relief, and judging by the way his twin's cry seemed to be moving around, he assumed she was being passed around to be oohed over and admired by their family. Then he felt himself be transferred, and the scent of sweat became strong. Then a nipple was offered, and Mitchel's infant body stopped crying and instinctually began to suckle, having his first drink of his mother's milk. A minute later, his sister's cry neared, then ceased as she too began to drink.

Mitchel felt his mother gently nuzzle him, and her soothing, soft voice said, "Ahsch." From the shifts he could feel, she was mirroring the action with his sister. "Ariin," she hummed.