Daniel Voll was having an alright day for a nineteen-year-old college student. Classes were boring but when are they ever?
It was 2 pm and the young man was using his free time to read some manga while eating his favourite snacks. It was the newest chapter of Boruto: Two BlueVortex.
Daniel was a diehard Naruto fan, having been in love with both the anime and manga (despite their flaws) since he first got into anime at the age of 13.
And while he was a bit pissed because of how much Boruto was changing the series, he was willing to give it a chance and found it quite interesting—just in a different way from the original series.
With every turn of a page, Daniel got more into the story, wondering what would happen next and pondering if some of his predictions might come true; so into the story in fact that he did not even see the truck incoming as he crossed the road until the flashing lights were nearly in his face.
His eyes widened in shock, and he just barely managed to jump out of harm's way, his body acting instinctively, dropping the manga in his hand in the middle of the street as the truck swerved out of control, the skilled driver avoiding hurting anyone.
Unfortunately for the college student, what Daniel didn't expect was the incoming flight of stairs leading downwards into another part of the city, sending him tumbling down and resulting in a crash landing that definitely broke some important bones.
As if fate just said fuck you and did its best to off him...
So, as the young man lay limp on the sidewalk, his body burning with iron-hot pain as blood leaked from his skull, he couldn't help but wonder: 'Is this the end? What about my family? What about Naruto, what if Ikemoto ruins it?!'
...and it looked like fate—or some other force—succeeded in its mission.
Even in the face of death, this fan kept the story in the front of his mind.
The last thing flashing in his mind being his sick mother…
And that's how Daniel Vol met his end.
---------------------------------------------
Somewhere else
A soul—Daniel—floated in eternal darkness, his sense of time and space gone. He could feel nothing, neither physically nor emotionally.
He floated in this empty void without any of his five senses, without a body.
And for a while, he was content. 'If this is what death is like, maybe it's not so bad...' He thought. 'The silence… is almost comforting.'
But the silence cracked.
A distant voice called out to him—far yet close. As if attempting to breach through the fog that clouded his mind.
"…come to the light…" It called.
He tried to ignore it.
"…wake up…"
Yet Daniel did not budge, he did not feel a sense of salvation or joy. Instead, all he felt was annoyance.
And for the longest time, it continued, slowly but steadily becoming clearer and louder, increasing the young soul's irritation.
"…Daniel…!"
"Enough!" Daniel shouted, his eyes snapping open.
The bizarre sight that greeted him left him frozen and puzzled.
Before him were eight strange, almost alien individuals, sitting around a round table, each radiating what seemed like a unique golden aura.
"Who, no what the hell are you weirdos!?" Daniel loudly asked, then suddenly feeling very sluggish, questioned "…who the hell am I?"
Then, flashes of memories came back to him and his eyes flew open, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. He slowly touched the back of his head, caution evident in his posture.
"I-I died, didn't I?" The young man spoke but felt light headed, as if he was there but also not there, his mind still in shock.
"You did, yes." A comforting, motherly voice responded, coming from one of the only two woman among the group of eight. She was an otherworldly and beautiful black haired woman who wore an elegant blue kimono, littered with beautiful garments that were more reminiscent of the ocean than fabric.
That wasn't what lead him to label her 'strange', no it was the six arms that she possessed, somehow seeming more natural than my own, most hidden in her kimono with only three fully revealed, one of which held a traditional Japanese biwa.
Her appearance temporarily distracted Daniel from his panic attack and before he could even bring the thoughts to his tongue, the woman answered, "I am Benzaiten, the goddess of music, Daniel Vol."
Once again, he froze.
"goddess…?" He slowly spoke, trailing off. "You're kidding me... right?"
At the serious looks on the gathered faces, he let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, "You're serious. You really are gods and goddesses…"
After a moment of silence, what seemed like an old man with a long head and earlobes and a slit in the middle of his forehead (reminiscent of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's concealed third eye) spoke in a small, rusty voice:
"We are the Divine Council of the Great North-Eastern Realities. Seven of us are of the Shichifukujin and our leader is the primordial god of space-time, Amenominakanushi."
He motion to a beautiful yet stoic and cold man with long, silky, silver hair seated a bit further away from him.
That brief description was all the young man could see of the god. While on an instinctive level, Daniel could tell the deity was wearing clothes, maybe even armor, yet for some reason everything below his neck seemed hidden from sight, not invisible, just… prohibited.
He held a spear, wrapped in cloth, its colours a blend of white, silver, gold. It was a powerful weapon, I could tell even from afar.
"I am Fukurokuju, the god of wisdom." The old man's continued, voice was filled with… was that guilt? What for?
Once again, there was silence as they observed Daniel, as if awaiting some reaction.
Seeing their expectant looks, the young man eventually gave in, sheepishly confessing, "I- I'm sorry but… uh… I really don't know who you guys are. Um… I think you all look… kinda cool." He tried to smile, failing awkwardly.
Then, one of the deities, who had not yet spoken burst out laughing, holding his round stomach as tear rolled down his cheeks from pure mirth. The red prayer beads bouncing up and down as he chuckled.
He had a bald head, ruddy cheeks, and a gleaming smile so big it seemed to momentarily make Daniel pause.
"Hah! This one has guts!" the man chuckled between guffaws. "No reverence, no fear—just confusion and awkward compliments. I like him already."
"That is Hotei," Benzaiten said softly, "god of happiness. Do not mind his outbursts—he finds humor even in tragedy."
"Uh… I see." He scratched his cheek, "So, uh, god council, why you guys who are in charge of the north-east, want with me—an American?"
A pause.
Then Amenominakanushi spoke—his voice like layered echoes across dimension.
"Because, DanielVoll,"
The air thickened.
"you were never supposed to die today."
(Chapter End)