Xavier liked his life. He was happy and content. He was a fiction writer with the biggest hit novel series, "The Hero's Journey." (Yes, it was named that.) Xavier worked hard. He found love in a time where he didn't think he would make it. His wife, Nicole, came into his life at his lowest point.

  She read his early work and fell in love with it. He had a way with words. Xavier and Nicole's love bloomed just as quick as Xavier's exposure suddenly grew. The Hero's Journey grew into a big hit and Xavier and Nicole got married, had three kids, and Xavier spent most of his time at home, writing and being involved in his family's lives.

  Xavier had to go into the office for some deadline work with his manager. Christopher, or as Xavier liked to jokingly call him – Heirs – spent the whole day reviewing Book 6 of The Hero's Journey: The Hero's Call: Ultimatum. The book was the last book in the series. It would be the biggest "Ultimatum" for a long story that spanned twenty years.

  The car zoomed through the dark mountain road. Xavier yawned as he rubbed his neck. He felt stuff from going through the rest of the pages with Heirs.

  "Get some rest, Xavier." Heirs had told him. He was following the curving upwards road of the mountain road. The road was dangerous during the day, so Xavier took extra caution with it at night.

  "God, I can't wait to get home." Xavier mumbled. Music quietly played in the background of his car as he started to follow the curve of the road upwards. He began to curve when a car in his rear-view mirror started to grow close and fast.

  "Someone's going a little too fast. Slow down buddy." Xavier commented as he continued to follow the curves. The car quickly tailed him. Xavier felt anxious with the car being so close so he decided to pick up a little bit. Every inch he gave, the car behind him went faster.

  Xavier was panicking. The car behind him just wouldn't stop! He and the car behind him curved quickly up the mountain path. His focus was split hard.

  'I need to focus on the road. If this guy hits me, we'll both be dead, though!' Xavier thought. A car's lights illuminated on the other side of the bend. 'Crap, someone's coming.' He immediately tried to slow down as the car behind him sped up and hit his rear. Xavier's car lurched forward into the opposite lane.

  The car rounded the bend and smashed straight into him. He spun, screaming and holding onto his dear life. He spun as he hit the other car behind him. The car flew off the mountain cliff as his car began to spin straight towards the cliff-side.

  "No!" He screamed. The car lurched to a stop. It hung halfway off. The front half of his car on the mountain road while his back half was sticking out. He had seemingly stopped with enough balance.

  Xavier cursed and pleaded for his life. He hugged the steering wheel. Another car rounded the corner, zooming straight for him.

  "Shit, stop!" He cried. The car screeched, trying to stop. It slammed into the car that hit him head-on, blocking the path for the car coming at Xavier. The car swerved, hitting Xavier's car just enough that he felt gravity pull.

  "No!" Xavier cried. Everything happened slow after that. It felt like an eternity. Memories flashed about his family. His wife, Nicole, laughing and smiling at him as they embraced each other on the hammock and watched their kids run around in the yard.

  Victor and Sara, the twins, leading their younger brother, Damon, up the tree house. Memories flashed. The twins being born. Three years later, Damon was born. The twins' first day of elementary school. Damon making a mess in the kitchen and playing with flour.

  Memories continued to play as tears fell from his eyes. He wouldn't be able to see them grow and find someone to love… He wouldn't be the father that got to experience the jealousy of his daughter being with a boy.

  Xavier and the car slammed into the bottom of the mountain. All the memories suddenly stopped and everything went black.

  Xavier sucked in air as his body lurched up into a sitting position. He coughed and pounded his chest as he sucked in air. The adrenaline and panic of him falling had shocked him awake. He accessed himself. His arms were okay. His legs weren't crushed.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  ‘Did I live?’ Xavier let out a sigh of relief, soon realizing he was naked. ‘Why am I naked? Don't I usually wear a white t shirt and my boxers to bed?' He asked himself.

  A flashing light caught his attention. Xavier's eyes glued onto the light. He could feel an odd warmth radiating. It grew as he sat there.

  Snow fell all around him as the warm light grew closer. Sounds of bare footsteps echoed around him.

  "It seems you've arrived." A soft female voice spoke. Xavier watched the light dissipate and there stood in its place was a tall woman with blonde hair in a bun. She had pale skin and wore an all-white dress that covered her feet.

  'No, it couldn't be.' Xavier thought.

  "But it is." The woman answered. The man in front of her widened his eyes. She took a step forward, "Even your stories reach far here. I wonder where you got your magnificent stories from, Xavier."

  "Y-you can't be h-her." Xavier stuttered. "Y-you're just someone I made up in my head."

  "Or did you?" The woman asked. "Let me let you in on a little secret, Xavier." The pale woman folded her hands together. "Every story you have written has stemmed from some truth. Every word you wrote because you believed it to be true. Would it be shocking to think a goddess you wrote about is standing in front of you?"

  Palia, the High goddess stood in front of Xavier, poised in a specific position he always imagined her to stand in when she was being authoritative. She was everything Xavier had thought about. Down to the simplest mannerisms.

  Xavier began to stutter, blurting out nonsense that didn't make sense to him nor Palia. Palia waited for the human to collect his thoughts. She was curious about Xavier yet knew everything she needed to know about him.

  He wrote stories of the world she watched over with great pleasure. He wrote about a hero who would vanquish the evils in this world, but little did Xavier know, everything he wrote about was merely fed to him with little information.

  He was a good writer in her eyes. He wrote beautifully and she had watched him from afar, interested in what he would conjure up in his wonderful mind. Unfortunately for her, he died in a horrific accident and she felt pity for him so she decided to intervene with the soul.

  "I am here to offer you something." Palia told Xavier. Xavier's mumbling and stuttering came to a pause. He looked up at her. She knew he was interested. "I can give you a second chance at a new life in my world. In Estra."

  "E-Estra…?" Xavier stuttered. His face darkened. "So I did die…?" Palia watched the poor man start to cry. His last moments flashed in his eyes.

  "You have a chance to do it all over." Palia's calming voice reached his ears. It pulled his attention. He knew her powerful aura could do such a thing but feeling it felt exactly like he thought it would. "Do you want another chance to live a happy life in Estra? Maybe even meet the children you left behind and your wife?"

  "M-m-meet them again? A-are they okay?" Xavier scrambled to her feet. Palia let out a calm smile and nodded. She lowered herself down to his level and put a finger on his chin, pulling his attention to her.

  "If you hear me out, maybe I can pull some strings for you? How does that sound?" She smiled at him. For a moment, he saw Nicole in front of him. He knew Palia's effect made people see their loved ones. It was her way of speaking to people.

  He nodded at her. The scene immediately changed around them. His naked and spectral form sat in a chair. Food laid spread out on the table befor ethem. Palia, the High goddess, sat on the other side.

  "Please, have some food. It will be a long explanation." She motioned. Xavier picked through the food and set a lot of it on his plate. He starts to go at it. He always had a big appetite and he began to remember his wife always telling him, "For a guy your size, you'd think you would be fat from the way you eat." He ate his sorrows away, keeping them in check while Palia picked at some food.

  "Let's get to it shall we?" Palia spoke after she watched Xavier quickly eat a lot of the food.