Chance

Normal. Average. Ordinary. Jack Valent was often described this way, either to his face or behind his back. His hair was between blonde and brown, making it an incredibly uninteresting blend of the two. His face while definitely not ugly, was not quite handsome either, and he was of average height. While not overweight, Jack also wasn't quite in shape and didn't bother working out since it had no merits to him. His pleasant blue eyes were his only really redeeming feature, but nobody ever saw them since nobody paid him any attention. He had no skills, no real job experience outside of retail, and no passion for anything but reading fantasy books and writing in online forums on his tablet.

Jack's parents pushed him to get into college on account of both of his parent's never having gone so that they could brag about it to their friends. As soon as he got into a community college graphic design program his parents dropped off, ignoring his existence, and he fell asleep enough in classes to be kicked out of the majority of them. With no friends, real family, or any actual reason to continue his education Jack packed his limited belongings into his crappy car and drove it from Arizona where he grew up all the way to the east coast. He had an aquaintance from an online chat group that he knew in Connecticut, and stayed with him for a couple of months.

After awhile, Jack just couldn't bring himself to go back to the succesful man's apartment, and decided to just live in his car. He managed to get by on just the income from his part time job at a costume store, since he was often passed over for other jobs being so average. With a bit of work he could probably have been a handsome man with a successful career, but he had no drive, as if this world held no appeal for him. He opted to live in obscurity, waiting for the day when something interesting would reveal itself to him, and add color to his grey world. This is how he found himself sitting at a booth in a popular fast food chain, reading a story absentmindedly on his tablet.

The winter was in full swing and outside the booth window, the world was white as far as the eye could see, glistening in the midday sunlight. Cars passed by in a steady stream, and people walked around happily with their families or loved ones. Meanwhile, Jack had set down his tablet and was leaning his cheek against the cool glass of the window, staring out into the blue sky. A large shadow appeared there, and he watched in silence as it began to grow larger and larger at a quickening pace. Soon it was casting a massive shadow across the entire shopping plaza, and people were fleeing, screaming and driving away as fast as they could. Jack just sat and watched as the plane flew straight towards him, and just before it struck one thought went through his head...

"Well... That was pretty boring."

The unmanned plane smashed directly into the building, destroying it completely, and annihilating a good portion of the surrounding plaza. Fire, and shrapnel flew and the world was painted orange and red. Then there was silence aside from the crackling of flames, and the distant sound of sirens. Soon fire crews and rescue teams arrived to handle the accident and treat everyone who had been injured, and it was later reported on the news that despite the incredibly violent crash of an unmanned plane, only one person was killed in the crash. Jack Valent, 20 years old, part-time employee, and only child.

Jack awoke suddenly, breathing in sharply and trying to sit up. He found that he was unable to move and when he looked around there was only endless white, unbroken by any hit of color aside from his own form. He was entirely nude, and though he was slowly regaining the ability to move, he had nowhere to go, and from what he could tell there was no ground or directions so he was just spinning fruitlessly in the void. He floated there, for an undescribable amount of time, relaxing and retreating back into his own mind to think about his predicament. So, I died huh?... Just as well I suppose. What happens now?...

__

At the thought there was a soft sound from just behind him. It sounded vaguely like something coarse softly trailing along the ground and the quiet padding of footsteps. He turned slowly, and was both surprised and awed by what stood before him. It had a vaguely feminine humanoid form, but was comprised of what looked to be constantly shifting black shadows in various undefinable shapes, and Jack couldn't seem to focus entirely on the figure without looking down or away unconciously. He knew somehow, that whatever this figure was it wasn't something he could comprehend no matter how long he stayed in this strange place. The figure stopped just a few feet away from Jack and faced him, though how he knew it was facing him was a mystery to Jack.

A human from earth this time eh? Hmm, you've lived a particularly pathetic life... Jack is it? Incredibly short as well, and nobody to cry for you either, how unfortunate. Well you're in luck, Jack. I have decided to give you a second chance at life. Say one word and I shall deliver you to an entirely new world, complete with the thing you want the most. I shall even give you my blessing, and this time maybe you won't turn out so pathetic eh~?

All of this, Jack saw inside his head, and he briefly wondered how this strange being could make the soundless message make sense to him. Suddenly he realized that he was standing on solid ground. Well, not so much ground as it was just as white and non-descript as everything else here, but solid none the less. What do I want the most? Jack thought silently to himself, unable to keep from thinking back to all his time reading fantasy and stories about magic. If magic and monsters existed...

So that's your decision? Not too dificult... Anyway, just remember that you owe me one mortal. When you wake up you shall be in a new world, and you shall have my blessing. Sweet dreams Jack~...

And then everything went dark.