“I swear on my family name, when I escape from this place the void will scream damnation onto your accursed souls.”

-Unknown Prisoner of Void Sector 11-42. Date Unknown.

-----------------------------

Stars decorated the void around him. Floating, spinning, falling, flying, all at once? Maybe none of them at all. He couldn’t quite understand where he was, or why he was here, or there.

Confusing? Maddening. Maybe we was drugged? Hurt head? He had been in a fight, he thinks. I thinks? You thinks.

“It Would be rather stupid to call it a fight, I got treated like a ragdoll. Why the fuck did I even try to fight her?”

The shame and regret he felt from the stupidity he’d shown were almost overwhelming, but they were quickly made the least of his worries when an echoing voice shattered through him like a steel rod through a glass window.

Y̶̡̼̫̽͑̿O̵̡̯͍̔U̸͙̻̐̓͜ C̷̣̪̥̍̍̕À̵̭̒Ǹ̵͚͔ ̵̣̭̏͂̇ ̴̄ ̸̪́̏̈́ ̸͎̏H̵̨̭̣͆E̶̛̤̽̀A̷͙͂̈͌R̵̻̰̼͛̆ ̴̰͂ ̴̱̮̿M̴̜͔͙͌̑̈Ē̵̫̤?̵̨͍͚̽̃̇

All at once his mind felt like it had been shoved into an industrial processor. The stars around him, as beautiful as they had been, swirled like someone had flushed them all down the cosmic toilet. It took him an agonizing amount of time to reorient himself, screaming mentally as the world around him twisted, tilted, and turned itself on its own head, in his own head.

What the fuck was that?!

Doing his best to look around him in the void he’d found himself in, he cursed when all he could see was the tapestry of stars around him.

Where the fuck did that voice come from?!

He was panicking, and badly. He didn’t know where he was, where the voice was, he couldn’t see nor could he even stop himself from spinning. For all he knew he was already dead, and he was dealing with Vira herself, coming to punish him for failing so idiotically… However the voice had been male, hadn’t it?

It wasn’t her voice!

“Show yourself you fuck! I ain’t gonna play this creepy uncle game, get out of your goddamn closet and get over here!”

His voice didn’t echo in the space, nor did it spread. It felt, or at least he swore he heard his voice travel a few inches from his body, before dissipating into the void around him. He was already panicking beforehand, but the fact his voice couldn’t even travel further than a few feet from him only made it worse.

What the fuck is this place?

Twisting his body to look around the void he was stuck in he felt an odd sense of unease. He couldn’t feel his heartbeat, didn’t need to breathe - yet did so anyways, and wasn’t sweating, even with how badly he was freaking the fuck out.

“I know you’re out there! Get the fuck out here, I ain’t playin’ games!”

Í̸͔̜̍͐͛́ ̷̣̩̤̚ A̶̤̅̈́͜M̶̓̒͜ ̴̜̮̤̟̄̃̾̑̈́H̵̱͍̙̞̍̈̑͘Ȅ̷͎͖̿̒͠Ṙ̸̺͚̪̕E̸̫͉̪̓͗?̶̛̘̜̱́̍̿

The droning, buzzing voice returned, sending shivers down his spine. The voice came from everywhere, and nowhere, all at the same time. He couldn’t tell if the voice was in front of him, behind him, or even inside his own mind.

I am here? What does that even mean?

He could feel icy fingers trail down his back, like the winter wind during a morning run.

I̴͍͑T̸͇̏ ̸͖͠M̷̲͆E̶̛̠Â̵̤Ń̸͕'̶͙̕S̸̩̋ ̵͔̑'̷̬̀I̶̼͊ ̵̠̌ A̷̗͐M̵̨̎ ̵͇̀H̸̲̃E̶̼͂R̸̬̈Ḙ̶̏'̶̗͘!̶͈̑

I didn’t speak that part.

Having someone stalk him was terrifying enough, having someone who could possibly read his mind and stalk him mentally was far worse.

“Where are you motherfucker?!”

W̸E̸ ̸A̴R̸E̶ ̴O̸N̴E̵,̵ ̴O̸N̶E̸ ̸A̴R̸E̵ ̶W̵E̶!̴ ̶S̵E̴E̵ ̷T̷H̸E̸ ̶T̶R̷U̸T̷H̵,̶ ̷K̵N̵O̷W̸ ̶U̴S̵!̸

It was running him in circles, ‘we are one, one are we’? What the fuck does that even mean? It helped that the more they spoke the less painful it was, less confusing. The first time had been like being smashed into by a meteor thrown by god himself, by now it was like having dental work done without anesthesia, still painful but far more bearable.

What do you mean ‘we are one’? Speak English motherfucker, you obviously know the language!

S̷Y̴M̶B̴I̴O̴T̵I̴C̷,̸ ̴P̵A̶R̸A̸S̴I̶T̵I̸C̷,̷ ̷H̶O̷S̴T̸,̸ ̷L̸I̴F̴E̵,̷ ̶D̷E̸A̶T̶H̴,̴ ̸C̶O̴N̴N̴E̴C̸T̸I̸O̷N̵!̸ R̴E̶A̸L̶I̵Z̷E̵ ̵T̴R̵U̴T̴H̴!̸ ̴

Another barrage of madness, another barrage of shit he couldn’t understand. ‘Symbiotic’, symbiotic meant a mutually beneficial exchange or whatever between two people right? What was he getting out of this?

Symbiotic… the only thing that made sense, that even barely fit that description was the parasite that had latched onto him! ‘Symbiotic, parasitic, host-’ They were symbiotic, he was the host, it was the parasite so to speak, it made sense.

But why was it talking to him now? Why had he been brought here now? It had been attached to him for months, practically as much a part of him as the rest of his new body. If it wanted to speak to him it could have done it whenever it wanted to?

Unless…

Unless it was a baby.

It was young, a gift from Vira, she had given him this parasite as a way to strengthen him, or keep an eye on him. It had been several times stronger than he was before he evolved, and even afterwards it sometimes exerted far more strength than he meant to use, or sometimes used far more than he was even capable of using.

The odd outbursts of strength, the vibrating, the humming, the cold tendrils that reached out before he attacked Lilliha, all of them were either abilities or attempts at communication. Strength, as a means of defense or assault, and the ‘communication’ attempts were an attempt to stop him from doing something stupid, or to reassure him.

“You’re like a puppy aren’t you? In a fucked up way Vira gave me a dog as a gift.”

NOT CANINE, VOID SPAWN! SYMBIOTE, PROTECTOR, DEFENDER, SCOUT MASTER. EVOLUTION PARAMOUNT, CONSUME, IMPROVE, PROTECT HOST.

HOST PROTECT US, WE PROTECT HOST.

WE ARE YOU, YOU ARE WE!

This time he barely winced from the feeling of it speaking. The pain was becoming lesser, the Symbiote was becoming more adept at speaking, or at least learning to lower its fucking voice.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“What is a void spawn? What the hell do you mean ‘evolution paramount’? And what do you want to consume? I ain’t eating people, regardless of how much stronger it makes me.”

VOID SPAWN. NOMENCLATURE FOR BEINGS EXISTING WITHIN VOIDS. VOID-SPAWN DANGEROUS. HUNTED. EXTERMINATED.

VOID SPAWN EVOLVE. CONSUME EVOLVED FLESH. INCREASED STRENGTH. MAKE VOID SPAWN INTELLIGENT. STRONG. SMART. EVOLVED!

He felt calmer the more it spoke, and he didn’t know why. He’d gone from a full blown panic attack to almost feeling like he’d woken up from a short nap in only a few moments. He was confused, more curious than afraid, until he realized the cause.

He was cold.

Just like he was before he’d attempted to hit Lilliha.

It’s soothing me, like a damn baby with a pacifier.

HOST SHOWED SIGNS OF EXTREME STRESS. HOST WAS PACIFIED FOR OWN SAFETY.

Can’t really argue with a switch that automatically makes me chill out. I know a few folks that could use something like this.

The idea of the Symbiote being able to affect his mind was worrying, but it didn’t seem hostile and he didn’t think Vira would give him something that would kill him… or at least he hoped she hadn’t. It would be counterproductive to spend so much time and effort on a guardian, only to kill him a few months later.

“Just don’t do it unless I ask, or unless it’s an emergency like earlier.” The last thing I need is for you to numb me into a coma when I’m trying to get my rocks off.

HOST DOES NOT HAVE ‘ROCKS’? HOST IS ORGANIC.

Oh great, this is going to be a thing now. This shit is why I never wanted kids.

Looking around him, the stars seemed to have begun to shine brighter since he and the being had begun conversating. He could feel a dull heat spread through his body, mingling with the refreshing chill that the symbiote had spread inside of him.

When I got here the stars were bright for sure, but it’s almost like they’ve doubled in size… wait a minute, where are we?

“Symbiote, where are we currently?”

WE ARE WITHIN OUR INNER REALM.

OTHER DESCRIPTORS FOR OUR CURRENT LOCATION INCLUDE: SOUL SPACE, DANTIAN, CORE, INNER HEART, MIND PALACE, OR AS COINED BY THE FOURTH JADE EMPEROR; THE NIGHTMARE PALACE.

All of those sound like some weeb shit.

He wanted to laugh at a few of the names, either because of how stupid they sounded or how weeb-y they sounded. ‘Dantian’,‘Inner Heart’,‘Mind Palace’, they all sounded like someone who had just read their first manga. The last one especially sounded like someone either taking the piss, or a schizophrenic off their medication.

“Lets just… lets just refer to this place as our ‘Core’, alright? The rest of those names sound like something a child would come up with… or a schizophrenic.”

Looking around him he couldn’t see a door, and the small amount of mana control he’d learnt over the last two months was almost entirely useless as he couldn’t feel diddly shit.

“Right, last question for now… symbiote, how do we- I get out of here?” I don’t even know if the symbiote can leave my body, rather not find out either.

HOST HAS BEEN LOCKED WITHIN ‘CORE’ BY OUTSIDE INFLUENCE.

THE ONE KNOWN AS ‘OVERSEER LILLIHA’ HAS DECREED THAT WE ARE TO ‘STAY THERE UNTIL I’M DONE’.

HOST IS RECOMMENDED TO FOLLOW ORDERS, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEFYING AN OVERLORD CLASS FORGOTTEN.

“That fuckin’ bitch!”

WE BEG YOU NOT TO INSULT HER.

SHE TERRIFIES US. THREATENS US. DANGEROUS.

Oh great she’s even broken my fucking symbiote. At this rate the only friends I am ever going to make are my right hand and whatever tutor she assigns me.

Spinning his body in weightless somersaults he closed his eyes and tried to let the motion take him to sleep, before realizing something rather important.

“Symbiote, will I be able to talk to you when we are outside the core?”

If he couldn’t speak with it, he’d have to rely on the vibrations and calming effects it gave out, which was better than nothing but still not ideal.

HOST CANNOT.

HOST MUST ASCEND BEYOND THE WARRIOR STAGE BEFORE COMMUNICATION IS POSSIBLE OUTSIDE OF CORE.

“Warrior stage? Fuck me, are you telling me theres a whole ladder here like some kind of cartoon?!”

Breaking through to ‘warrior stage’ or whatever he was currently on was a process he didn’t feel like ever repeating, let alone being forced to do it routinely. The sound and smell of melting flesh, the cleanup, the pain, he could go the rest of his life never going through the process again and be a happy man.

HOST HAS ASCENDED TO THE FIRST STAGE. OTHER DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE FIRST STAGE INCLUDE: FOUNDATION, APPRENTICE, SOLDIER. COYOTE, OR AS COINED BY THE ASURA; SECOND BIRTH.

Who the fuck is The Asura? Y’know what, I actually don’t care.

The odd names aside, he was mostly angry, with a healthy amount of fear added on the side, that he was definitely going to be forced under the evolution again.

The first evolution was horrid enough, how the hell am I going to get through the rest of 'em?

“Alright, so we have the ‘Foundation’ or whatever done, so what stages come next? How many times do I have to undergo that… process again?”

HOST HAS MISUNDERSTOOD.

THE ‘PROCESS’ THAT HOST HAS BEGUN TO FEAR ONLY APPEARS ONCE THEY ASCEND TO THE NEXT REALM.

AFTER ASCENDING TO THE FIRST REALM, INTO THE FOUNDATION STAGE, THERE ARE THREE STAGES THEY MUST ASCEND BEFORE THEY ARE TESTED BY THE UNIVERSE WITH A ‘REALM CHALLENGE’.

REALM CHALLENGES, ALSO KNOWN AS EVOLUTIONS, MUTATIONS, OR HEART DEMONS, ARE TESTS THAT APPEAR IN APPROXIMATELY NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF SPECIES IN THE KNOWN MULTIVERSE.

THE STAGES ARE BUT MINOR TRIALS, HOWEVER THE ASCENSION TRIALS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BREAK MANY PROMISING ASCENDANTS.

So they aren’t as common as I thought. Still, it’s shitty that I have to go through any of them again.

Floating through the void with a mind full of new knowledge that he was struggling to memorize, he felt a slight itch that he couldn’t scratch. It wasn’t for a few minutes that he realized what exactly was bothering him.

It’s basically a baby right? So how the fuck does it know so much?

“How the hell do you know all of this?”

Unlike before, when the symbiote would be almost eager to answer his questions, this time he felt hesitation from it. There was an uncomfortable length of silence as the being either deliberated telling him, or was trying to come up with a half decent lie.

Finally after what felt like half an hour the symbiote responded to him.

UNKNOWN.

It seemed scared, either it was worried what his reaction would be… or it was scared because it genuinely didn’t understand where its knowledge came from.

“No need to worry little buddy, if I am being entirely honest Vira probably just did some magic fuckery to give you the knowledge you have. ‘The simplest answer is usually the correct one’, as I always say.”

As his words ended the void filled with light. Warmth, breath, even his heartbeat returned to him as he struggled to understand what was happening as his ‘core’ was filled with energy and light, almost to the point he was worried he’d pop like an overfilled balloon.

“If you need anything, just ask alright? Last thing I need is you starving to death, or dying from neglect somehow. I can’t lose the only person I have willing to answer my bloody questions.”

He didn’t receive an answer, but he could feel vibrations spread throughout his body. They almost felt… grateful.

Guess we are going to have to learn how to communicate as best we can like this, won’t we?

More vibrations spread throughout his body, seemingly agreeing with him.

Time to face the music I guess.

------------------------

He’d expected to wake up in a basement somewhere, or at the very least within the broken ruins of the building he’d been thrown into.

He hadn’t expected to wake up from what felt like a restful sleep on his couch.

Looking around he could see he was in his apartment, and unlike what it most likely looked like before he’d been put under the city’s bedrock, it was in tip-top shape.

What the fuck is going on?

His confusion was mirrored by the Symbiote, a cold humming passing through his body in an attempt to help him think rationally. As he examined his apartment he could see that the apartment was practically in better shape than before, hell the walls had even been repainted.

Did she invite a remodeling company over while I was unconscious? What the fuck is this?

He could feel the sun hitting the back of his neck as he sat up, and turned around to look out the window. Where there had originally been a rather boring, cheap square window sat an almost ancient Victorian styled window. Painted, stylized and plated with what he was going to guess was real gold for once, he was confused why the apartment he’d lived in for so long had undergone so much work.

Wait, didn’t she knock me through this window when she ragdolled me halfway across the block?

The answer was obvious, thinking about it. She had damaged the building, and either because Donovan had issued a complaint or because she felt obligated to repair the damages done to the apartment.

I hope she used magic, because even if she mind-tricked a bunch of workers to fix all of this I doubt it’ll last forever, and that is a quick way to bring a drop strike team on our heads.

Rising from the couch he stretched his body out, receiving several satisfying pops as he did so.

I wonder how long I was out, hopefully not longer than a day or so, I really need to finish up with this studying shit and get another job. I can only coast for so long before I start to dip into my ‘savings’.

As he stood there, doing his best to pop every joint in his body, he felt a small rumble in his stomach, most likely from hunger. Most likely from not eating all day, I can make some food and find out where Lilliha is. Walking towards his kitchen he opened his fridge hoping to find a beer and maybe some leftover takeout. Instead the fridge was lined almost top to bottom with packages upon packages of expensive looking meats.

What the flying fuck is this!?

Grabbing several of the packages he examined the labels and brands that decorated them.

Groxco Meats; The Best Magical Meat Source For You!

Shojo Foods; For When Mortal Meat Isn’t Enough!

Fucking what? Why did she steal so many packages of this stuff? These are like five grand a steak for crying out loud!

On one hand, he was ecstatic because the meat was extremely expensive, and since she didn’t even understand how their online banking or credit cards worked, he knew she hadn’t paid for jack shit here. On the other hand, if a single camera caught her stealing all this meat they’d be dealing with grand larceny at the minimum.

Five thousand dollars a steak, four thousand dollars for this cut… two grand for this!? It’s like half an once for fuck sakes! By Vira if anyone saw her nick this we’ll have beater squads on our asses by tomorrow.

Holding a rather hefty steak in his hand that he had probably only ever seen on expensive cooking shows before most thoughts of ‘ifs’ faded away. He had expensive steaks and other cuts, why not eat a few?

He highly doubted she’d care all that much if he ate one right?

“I would, actually.”

Oh fuck me.