Reluctant Rebirth

The pain was growing every second, coursing through Fred's bone marrow like sticky, liquid fire. He roared and charged, heedless of the agony, concentrating only on the sword in his hands aimed at the Dragon's throat.

The Dragon's smirk began to fade as Fred bore down on him. "Holy sh*t!" he whistled, and leaned back to breathe fire, only to gasp and shudder in agony as Fred leaped forward to bury the sword in his jugular.

"Aargh... so fast... too fast." the Dragon gasped. "You've finished me... but you won't live to enjoy it! Curse you... I'll see you in Hell!!"

Fred screamed as the bracelet erupted with black lightning that surged through his body. He felt his internal organs exploding from the heat, one after the other, and then...

Fred floated in a smoky mist. He wasn't sure if he had a body or not - everything felt vague and undefined, as if in a dream. He had a weird sensation of falling, or perhaps floating downwards... or was it upwards? Nothing was making sense.

"I killed the Dragon." Fred whispered. "Did I die in the process? It doesn't matter. I fulfilled my Quest. I can die in peace."

"I saw that." came a female voice behind him. "That was brave, Fred!"

Fred spun to see a strange white wisp of light that giggled as it danced and flittered around his face.

"And what are you?" Fred inquired.

"Who I am is not important." the light said. "I'm here to ask for your help for somebody, and maybe save you as well, if you're willing."

And so the light proceeded to tell Fred a story. It was about a Princess who was the most beautiful woman in the entire Multiverse. She was so beautiful that an evil god fell in love with her, but despite all his gifts and threats and dark power she refused him, for she loved another. So out of spite, the evil god cast her into a dark prison between the dimensions, in a place so horrific that even he himself would never dare to go.

"You have to save her, Fred." the light concluded urgently. "Please. In return, I will give you your body back. I can do that, you know."

"So you would have me enter a land where even the Gods fear to tread?" Fred smiled. "To rescue the most beautiful Princess in the Multiverse, so that she can marry another? Why me?"

"I was surprised." the light said. "Your soul shines like the purest silver in the etherlight. I believe you can do it, Fred. But it is a long, hard path. It could take a year, or a thousand years, or until the end of time. There will be obstacles in your path. You could die again, and I would not be able to save you. You could face madness, and injury of the soul. You could be drowned, or skewered, or lost forever in the reaches of space. You could..."

"Enough!" Fred said. "I'll do it. Of course, none of what you're telling me makes any sense. But at least it won't be boring, right?"

The light suddenly flitted forward and touched his lips. Fred gasped as he realized it was kissing him, and that it was indeed a most passionate and erotic kiss, projected to him across the infinite cosmos by the Princess trapped in that dark prison. Her lips were soft and warm, and for a split-second Fred thought he had felt her, all of her, had touched her skin and seen her soul, had walked through the white-curtained hallways of her mind and smelled that incredible smell of flowers on the breeze, a smell that justified life and death and all of creation unto infinity's end.

He was falling through bright light. "Wait!" he shouted. "You haven't told me anything!"

"I'll be waiting for you, Fred..." he heard her voice, fading far away. "Forever..."

And then all of a sudden Fred was somewhere else, with skin covering his flesh and bone, and blood coursing through his veins. He also noticed that he had no clothes or weapons.

"Typical." he muttered. "Now, where am I?"

Looking around, Fred realized he was...

1. ...on a landing of a massive spiral staircase, leading up and down,
2. ...in front of two cave entrances.
3. ...floating in a body of water that stretched as far as the eye could see.
4. ...looking at stars float by in a viewscreen.
5. ...in a thick primeval forest, with night falling fast.

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