Chapter 2: A Whole New World

Goddess Christina woke with a smile on her face. The best day of her life had quickly turned into the best night of her life. Todd was, simply put, amazing. He was an attentive and passionate lover who spent nearly an hour teasing her body and making sure she was good and ready...To which she had threatened to kill him if he continued due to her impatience and burning need...

Todd had just smirked at her and kissed her sweaty forehead before climbing on top and entering her gently. He exceeded all her wildest expectations in that moment, and after feeling him inside her, she realizes that the preparation was not without reason. He reached her depths and tickled her most pleasurable spots as if he knew exactly where to go and what to do. She realized that the foreplay had also been him discovering all of her erogenous zones so that he could maximize her pleasure. 

The first round, there had been too many to count, was soft and gentle as he kissed her lovingly. Scratching an emotional itch she had never known she needed to be scratched. Once that was done, however...she felt a bit disappointed that he was being so gentle. She wanted more. She needed him hard and rough, though she would never say that out loud. 

Todd, being as attentive as always, saw this in her face and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You better hold on to something. I am about to rock your world, babe." 

He did not simply rock it, he destroyed it. All previous experiences paled in comparison and she had to wonder who was truly the God here. He introduced her to positions that she had never dreamed of and bent her in ways that she never thought possible. All the while, he would kiss her and tell her how lovely she was. It was too much for one to bear and it had an obvious conclusion. 

Many, many hours later, she had passed out smiling. The same way she had woken up. 

'And to think I only met him Yesterday...I wonder what he will accomplish on...Gra'veil...'

She sits bolt upright in bed grabbing her face in a silent scream.

'Shit! Shit, shit, shit! This is not good. This really, seriously not good. I am gonna be in so much trouble...' She whines to herself as she rubs her face in worry. 

What was more, when she looked around, Todd was nowhere to be seen. He was not in her bed nor her room, and the door across from her was closed.

"T-Todd?" She stammers in desparation. Did he seriously leave her once the act was done? Was everything yesterday a lie to get what he wanted and leave!?! No...Where could he have gone? He doesn't even know where he is, how could he have disappeared? "Todd! Where are you-" 

Just then, the door to her room opens and a goofy smiling Todd walks in wearing a red bathrobe and carrying two large trays in his hands. 

"Aw, you woke up early. I was, like, gonna surprise you and stuff." He says as he places the trays down at foot of her bed and walks over to run his fingers through her hair. He leans in to give her a sweet kiss.

"Good morning. I brought breakfast!" Todd says excitedly, gesturing at the covered trays.

"B-Breakfast?" She asks, confusion in her voice as her heart calms down its wild beating.

'Why am I so hung up over him? What the hell is wrong with me? ...What the hell has he done to me!?!' She thinks as reality and reason return to her. 

"Yup! Have you ever had pancakes with maple syrup? I summoned a whole bunch!" He says with a smile and removes the lid on the trays to reveal a tower of 20 pancakes, a plate piled just as high with ham, sausage, and bacon, another plate piled with toast and many different kinds of jams in little plastic packets, and, finally, a pitcher of peach juice.

The smells assault the Goddess' nose and she eagerly accepts the breakfast in bed, pulling him in for a deep and passionate kiss before she digs in. Everything tastes wonderful and she is, once again, lost in the moment eating. When she comes back to herself, she shakes her head in derision.

'How...How can he control me so? I...I feel like I am dancing in the palm of his hand with every move he makes. He seems so plain...but he is actually so thoughtful and caring.' She takes a sip of the peach juice and can't help a small tear appearing at the corner of her eye.

Christina had mentioned ONCE in a passing comment that she loved peaches in the nearly 5 hours they talked yesterday, yet he remembered and made her juice from it. That was not normal. HE was not normal. 

"Todd, thank you for this. You are a wonderful man...but we need to say goodbye for now. I really need to send you to Gra'veil and explain a couple of things before that. Can you listen to me please?" She asks, feeling an ache in her heart at having to let him leave. 

"Whatever you want, babe. I actually have been up for a bit preparing myself. I found this totally rad library and searched for your name until I found your portfolio and precepts. As your Paladin, I need to live up to them, after all." He says with a chuckle as he sends the trays away with a wave of his hand and another summoning - or, rather, de-summoning. 

"You...Oh. Okay, that makes things easier then. Just to summarise, I am the Goddess of Transition, so my precepts are all about living a full life, moving on, and stopping those who taint the dead. You will be honor-bound to hunt down Necromancers as you find them, but other than that...Just live a fulfilling life." She says simply, once again thrown off by Todd's pace, 

"My life has already become fulfilled, now that I have you." He says with a crooked grin and a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Stop that!" Christina says, fighting a giggle, "You and your silver tongue..."

"You would know." He says, his smile becoming feral.

The Goddess, a woman of untold age and power, blushes like a schoolgirl and turns her head.

"A-Anyway, you will also need to think of a power, item, or ability that you want to take with you to give you a boost-"

"Already got that covered, beautiful," Todd says with a nod and holds out a bag to her. It is simple in design, looking like a modern fanny pack in a dark blue color with white thread - Her colors, she realizes but refuses to comment on it at the risk of blushing again - and a black strap that goes around his waist. She looks at it more closely and inspects it with the Analyze ability that all in Gra'veil are born with. 

Her eyes shake as she reads the item's details. It seemed rather simple, but the implications were beyond ridiculous. Broken, was a better word for it. She wanted to deny it outright, but when she got to the last line, she froze. 

Christina's eyes move from the item to Todd and she saw him grinning that goofy smile at her once more. The Devotion ability was very open-ended. Just as broken as the others, but favoring only her. She could demand anything. Any restriction. Any oath. He would have to do it or risk losing the item. The message was clear.

'I trust you, so you should trust in me as well.'

Sighing to herself, she flopped back onto her bed unceremoniously. "Fine. I give up. Just don't do anything too crazy, alright?" She says, rubbing the bridge of her nose and looking up at the ceiling. 

Todd chuckles and lies next to her, pulling her into his arms. "I just want to live a fun life there... The thought of never enjoying pizza, pancakes, Professor Pepper, or my weed pen again was too much for me. I mean, how is that not Hell, ya know? With this, I can have them all since I have already stored them. Plus..."

Here, he pulls an intricately designed ring out from the bag. It is pure platinum with a simple slim band and a moon at the top made of diamonds and sapphires. The moon is her symbol and blue and white are her colors. 

Her breath catches and her heart beats a mile a minute. 'No! This...This is happening too fast. I...I am not ready for that kind of-'

"Relax," Todd says with a laugh, "I am not asking you to marry me. This is another Godly item. I made it for you, babe. It will allow you to speak telepathically to me, teleport to me, or otherwise contact me anytime, anywhere. Pretty dope, right? I am not sure what your restrictions on interacting with mortals are, but this item should bypass them and let us talk all the time...Well, if you want to, that is."

Despite herself, Goddess Christina pouts at finding out this is not an engagement ring. Still...She is amazingly touched by it. It was already her proudest possession and she hadn't even worn it yet. Todd just laughs and kisses her with a promise to talk about progressing their relationship another time in the future. 

The next hour is consumed with them talking about the world and the area around where he is being sent, common sense and rules of the world, a quicky, and 5 or 6 last goodbye kisses. 

Finally, the time comes and Christina opens a portal back in the marble plaza to send him through. With one last wave and a blown kiss, Todd steps through to the new life he has been given. Meanwhile, the Goddess feels like a part of her is being ripped away. 

'This isn't normal. We are progressing too quickly. I like him way too much. Should...Should I talk to the others about this? I need to report to Jurst anyway...' Thinking that, Goddess Christina teleports to the Crystal Palace of the Gods of Gra'veil to have a serious chat with her peers.

* | * | *

Todd appears in the early morning sun and sighs as he feels like he left a piece of himself behind.

'I know THAT wasn't normal...but I just...really like her. She is the babe to end all babes, dude...I hope I don't fuck this up...' He thinks dejectedly. She was the most beautiful and most interesting woman he had ever met and he was gonna do his best to keep her. Having a Goddess on his side was only an added bonus in the equation, but what he really, truly cared about was her. 

'Oh well. I will see her soon.' He thinks with a smirk as he puts on his own matching platinum ring with the same moon symbol in sapphires and diamonds pressed into it.

"Now...Where am I?"

He looks around at his surroundings. He was on the edge of an enormous forest with a dirt road in front of him. Past that road was a sea of green as a field stretch on into the horizon. A sign just off the road said that the nearest city was 15 miles north of here. He could read it thanks to another ability Christina had given him.

It was the standard Isekai set of reading, comprehending, and speaking all languages of the world to make things easier, but Todd had no idea about anything like that. He had never read manga or seen an anime other than Pokemon, Yugioh, DBZ, Naruto, and Bleach, and even those he only watched in passing when he was younger. He had no idea that he was living a cliche and thus had no problem breaking from the common mold.

Sighing to himself, Todd summons his weed pen and takes a massive hit as he stares up into the blue sky above. Birds and giant flying creatures flew through the air at speeds that rivaled some early fighter planes. Mountain peaks reached into the heavens far off in the distance and the roar of beasts and the buzz of insects could be heard on the wind. The air smelled of grass and the nearby foliage. 

Todd looks down the road and shakes his head. 

"No way I am running or walking there." He thinks with a chuckle. It wasn't hot, maybe 80 degrees with a pleasant breeze, but it was still not the same as an air-conditioned car would have been. 

So, with that thought in mind, Todd stepped in front of the road and summoned a 2020 Lamborghini Diablo from his fanny pack, and hopped in to head to the nearest town in style. He pulled out a cigar, lit it with a 4 torch butane lighter, connected his phone via the 3.5 mm audio jack, and started blasting Thunderstruck by ACDC as he tore down the road. 

A brief explanation might be necessary here. See, Todd is often seen as incompetent or stupid based on the way he talks and acts, but in actuality, he is someone who can see a problem and come up with a solution others would never have thought of. He had an incredible propensity to think outside the box.

When he had woken up and started exploring the Crystal Palace, he quickly found he knew far less than what he thought he should about the world he was going to. Specifically, the thought of living in the middle ages held no appeal to Todd. He was a man used to the finer things in the 21st century and decided that he would not live without them if he didn't need to. With that realization, and remembering that he could summon anything he thought of within the Goddess' domain, the first thing he did was create a ring to stop time. With this, the mere hour or two he spent in real-time turned into months of frozen time as he perused the library and studied whatever caught his fancy. 

He was not a great student, but this didn't mean he didn't like to learn. He was enthralled by magic, items of power, and enchanting. So much so that he quickly experimented with them in a variety of ways. He had no idea that what he was doing could have, literally, torn the fabric of reality apart if he made a big mistake, but, luckily, he never tried anything too crazy...at least not anything that would be potentially world-ending. 

Todd had no desire to be the strongest, no desire to be an adventurer, no desire to conquer forgotten tombs and dungeons, nor did he desire to defeat great and powerful beasts. All he wanted was to live a fun and interesting life, meet new people, and spend time with his Goddess bae. That was more than enough, in Todd's mind.  

So, after months of making anything he wanted and, honestly, just goofing around, he was left with the realization he had no place to put all the stuff he had created. They littered the palace like a hoarder's wet dream. He had, however, long since found out that summoned heroes would be offered a powerful ability or item before they were sent over to Gra'veil. So, with absolutely no malicious intent, he made the fanny pack and stored all his shit inside. 

This may seem like a deception to his new girlfriend, but Todd had fully expected her to look inside of the bag when he handed it to her. In fact, he believed that she did and that her reaction was due to all the weird shit she had seen inside. He had no way of knowing that she was simply hung up on the half-assed abilities he gave it. This was a simple miscommunication, but one that would have profound consequences on the world of Gra'veil.

Consequences such as Todd's first encounter with other people from his world. 

Driving down the road and rapping badly to one of his favorite Eminem songs, Todd cruised towards his destination at over 100 mph. No one seemed to be on the road, but despite his seemingly distracted state, he was focused on spotting someone in case he needed to slow down. This proved to be a good call as a carriage suddenly appeared on the horizon in front of him. 

Todd slowed his sports car and turned down the music so that he could see what was happening. Two groups seemed to be at odds. One group, wearing mostly furs and leather armor, was currently fighting against the other group is mostly chain mail and some plate. The dead lay in pools of blood and the living fought desperately over them. The opulent black carriage with some sort of crest on the side had a broken wheel and what looked to be 2 women with their heads pressed to the glass of the window, watching the scene before them in horror. 

Every single one of them are frozen at the sight of Todd's Lamborghini pulling off the road and up near them. Todd, windows rolled down, still in his red bathrobe, calls out to the group with a wave of his hand.

"Yo! I'm Todd, Paladin of Christina. How you all doin'? Say, are any of you Necromancers?" He asks them curiously.

...

...

...

"...No?" One of the, obviously, bandits hedges. 

"Ah, okay then, my bad. Sorry to bother you. Can you make way so I can get around?" Todd asks politely with another wave at the carriage as he starts to pull his car closer. 

"...Sure?" Another bandit says, still obviously in shock. 

They start to move away from the road, slowly, and Todd maneuvers his vehicle around the bloody dead bodies. When he is past, he gives them one more wave and gets ready to leave when a female voice calls out.

"W-Wait! Great Paladin, can you assist us, please!?!" 

Todd turns to see the door of the carriage is open and a pretty girl of about 16 is yelling out after him. 

"Um...I guess. I am not really much of a fighter though..." He says with an awkward laugh and a shrug.

Todd steps out of his car and quickly ties his loose bathrobe as to not flash anyone. 

A bark of laughter comes from one of the bandits as he yells out, "You should have kept going, asshole. Now you die like the rest! Men, get back to killing. We can figure out what the fuck that thing is after we kill him and take it from him!"

A round of cheering starts as 5 men rush towards Todd, axes, swords, and knives flashing in the light of the sun. 

Todd tilts his head to the side in thought. He created a ton of weapons and tools that might be useful, now he just had to decide which one to use... 

"Ah! Okay, I'll go with that..." He mumbles to himself as he summons out a Glaive from his fanny pack to his hand. He holds it up to the light and it sparkles in the sun. Then, unceremoniously, he throws it at the men now only 20 feet away from him. 

"Krull, I choose you!" Todd yells and he feels a connection form to his mind. The blade shines in holy radiance as it flies, spinning end over end and sounding like the spinning of a table saw. He simply thinks of hitting all of them in the head and the Krull Glaive slices through like a hot knife through butter. They all fall limply to the ground as the Glaive circles back to land in Todd's hand, clean as if it had not just decapitated 5 men and blades no longer extended.

"Well, that was fucking gnarly," he says with a chuckle. Once again, everyone is frozen and looking at him in open-mouthed shock.  

*Cough* "Hey dudette, which are the other bad guys?" Todd asks with an awkward cough.

"T...The ones in fur and leather armor..." She says with a weak voice, her face turning slightly green.

"Alright. Let's see how you like...3 Krulls!" Todd says with a laugh and summons two more Krull Glaives from his fanny pack and sends them flying at the bandits with a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, fuck this! I surrender!" One of the bandits calls, throwing his weapons down and putting his hands up before being hit. Todd is not a douche that kills just because he wants to, so he nods and the blade headed for the man's head veers off towards another. One by one the bandits either surrender or find their skulls in two pieces. The bandit captain is also one that surrenders with wide scared eyes as the remaining knights tie them up.

"Cool. We done then?" Todd asks the teen in the carriage. 

"Y-yes. T-Thank you, that will be a-all-" The first girl starts, but another girl, a twin Todd realizes, sticks her head out and yells, interrupting her sister. 

"Our carriage is broken, can we get a ride in...yours?" She asks with excitement in her voice, but it dies at the end at the severe look from her twin sister.

"Uh...I'm going to Uralth, is that where you lot are headed?" He asks back.

"Yes! Please, we are the Twin Princesses of Uralth. Please take us with you! You will be rewarded for your heroism!" She says excitedly, ignoring the glare from her sister. 

"Oh. Okay then. Sure, hop in." Todd says with a shrug, taking another drag on his weed pen. If they were going to the same place, he didn't see an issue with it.

"My lady, you can't-" One of the knights in full plate near her starts but is interrupted by the same excited twin.

"He is a Paladin of Christina and he just killed all those bandits that you were unable to in mere moments. I think we are far safer with him than you, Reggie." She says harshly to the man. 

Reggie looks down in shame as the two women, one being pulled by the other, walk up to Todd.

"I'm Merra and she is Terra." Merra, the 2nd twin says with a giant smile. 

"I'm Todd, Paladin, and boyfriend of Christina," Todd says with a smile of his own.

Meanwhile...

Christina looks through her Godly vision at her Paladin and nearly has a conniption. 

"TOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"