I had never been this hungover.

Laying there, I didn’t bother even trying to open my eyes or sit up. I could feel an intense light against my eyelids. Damnit, what's her name must have opened the curtains when she left. Evil little minx. Grabbing my pillow and shoving it against my face, I sighed and tried to remember the evening before.

I remember heading to the carnival. Caught some chicks eye, started walking around together. Had a flask, made us both a couple of drinks behind a ride with some lemon squeezes. Got those awesome foot long corn dogs that make you self conscious to eat in public. Made her get on the zipper with me, despite saying she hates rides. We barely got off in time for her to throw up some gin in the bushes. I smile thinking of it, before another jolt hits me between the temples and causes me to groan.

Giving in to the idea of having to get out of bed, I prepare myself. Throwing the pillow down by my feet, I open my eyes. And for some reason, my name is floating a foot over my head in an ugly square font:

LOCKES

Level 11 Nobody

“What the fuck is that? Why is that? Fucking what?!” Screaming, I try to roll off my bed, tangling my feet and falling face first to my floor. I kick at the blankets and scramble towards my bathroom, my name flying after me. I almost slam face first into my counter, climbing up the sink to the mirror. Closing my eyes and gripping my sink, I count to ten before finally opening them and looking at my wild reflection. My name is still above my head, and still facing the correct way. “How is it not backwards?” I’m not sure why that is what calms me down and grounds me, but it does.

I reach up and wave my hands, watching my arms go through the words in the mirror. I try to grab the letters, looking like a kitten swiping at some feathers. Frowning and looking up, the words float there. Am I still drunk, dreaming, or did I have a stroke? A sparkly bug flies up and stands on my shoulder.

“You’re not having a stro-” it starts to say.

“WHATTHEFUCKGETITOFF!” I scream, jumping back against my bathroom wall and slamming my hand down against my shoulder. I grimaced at the small squish sound of a cockroach smashing and a bit of glitter that erupted from under my hand. Holding my breath, I glance at my palm and the two inch figure of a girl bent at wrong angles. I gasped as she looked up at me, a look of hurt and anger on her diminutive face.

“I’m” arms pop back “Not” legs align “A COCKROACH!” she yelled as her tiny wings stretched out. She stomps her foot in my palm and crosses her arms. Pointing at my face, she scrunches her face up and shoots a small object at me. I flinch as it hits my nose, and immediately sneeze, sending her flying onto my counter. I just sink to the floor, wide eyed as she stands up and dusts her little toga thing off. I am now very sure that I’m still drunk and blacked out in an alley somewhere. Maybe that chick stole my kidney. I lift my shirt to look for a scar, but find nothing.

“Oh come on, you think you’d be healed enough to just have a scar if you lost an organ last night? You don’t even have a debuff for that do you?” the diminutive girl asked me. I just stare as she lands on my knee. “And like I said, I’m no roach. The name’s Bella.” She holds her tiny hand out to shake.

Slowly, I touch the tip of my finger to her hand and shake it up and down. “Bella? Isn’t that a little too much like Tinkerb-”

“NO, it’s Bella: not a nickname, not a shortened name. Just Bella. Though I am what you would call a sprite I guess.” Twirling like a small ballerina lets me see that she’s barefoot and only wearing a small green toga with a gold leafy circlet in her black hair. It was belted around her waist by a similarly leafy and gold chain. “And it’s a stola, not a toga. Jeez, not very speced for a Mind class are you?”

I just stare at her. I’ve never felt as full of questions but at a loss for words as I was at that moment. I put my face in my hands for a moment before looking up. “Um...I don’t know what’s going on. Was I drugged? Can you read my mind? Speced? Class? Drugged? What the shit eating gopher is going on?”

Now it was her turn to put her tiny face in her tiny hands, making a tiny little exasperated noise. "Wait wait wait. Didn't you summon me for help? What do you know?"

I shrug, and rub the back of my head. "I don't know. I went out drinking last night. Met a girl. Got wasted. Woke up to that" I point at my name. "And you."

Bella looks in my eye, and then looks down at my chest, and then back up at my name. Squinting, she laughs. "Oh god, you've been cursed into seeing! Now that is a new one! That is wild! I wonder how strong it is."

Frowning, I stand up and walk back to my bed, plopping down and covering my face with the pillow again. Annoyingly, I can still see my name about a foot above my face, as well as some other distant words. For the second time, I throw my pillow, looking at words through my walls. "Wait, my name isn't the only one I see. I'm starting to see other words. Again, what the shit eating gopher is going on?" I ask, my voice raising as more words are popping up, some nearer than others. I squint and look around quickly as letters and numbers start to fill my sight.

"Oh, that's strange. Usually it takes quite a bit of training to do that. Here, put these on and I'll explain," Bella said, pulling a pair of black sunglasses from nothingness and dropping them on my chest. I scramble to put them on, not really knowing what to expect but worried about my sight whiting out. The glasses seem to be completely black, and fit snugly around my eyes so I can't see any light.

"Ok, what am I supposed to do now, use a cane and blindly stumble around?" I ask, waving my hand and not seeing it in my face. Looking up, I smile as I realise my name isn't there either at least. Bella lands on my head. At least I hope it's her, it could be a roach.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"You really are stupid. Anyway, just try to focus your eyes. You know what your room looks like, as messy as it is. Now just look at it."

I think I roll my eyes before trying to strain my sight. I try to imagine my tv and consoles on their stand, my dresser with more clothes on top than in it, the cat crate I've tried to use to catch Pudding Cup a few times before giving up. Smiling as something starts to appear, I groan as I realise it was just my name finally coming into focus. "Well, thankfully I'll never forget my name and that I'm a level 11 nobody at least. Jeez, sounds like I'm a loser-"

"Did you just say 11?! How is that?!" Suddenly Bella was in my view, knocking on the sunglasses she just gave me. "Focus harder, we gotta get you up and moving and figure out why I'm here and how come your ether core is so advanced! That way we can see what your class is too!"

I sighed, brain on overload, and kept trying to look around as my room swam into slightly darker focus. "My class? What is ether? And what do you mean why are you here? You just showed up, I thought it was because you wanted to?"

"Normally, I would love to! We get called in when a rare human is awoken and can see to help guide them. But, I've never heard of helping someone who was cursed into seeing, let alone so powerfully. We come out and help level 1 and 2s usually. You seem to be thrust into the deep end."

Frowning, I look up at my name. "Isn't it a good thing? I'm level 11, that sounds rad! Though the nobody part seems lame."

"Jeez, maybe I'm the one who is cursed. OK, short bus explanation time! All things have ether. It powers almost all dimensions and the universe. Ether is literally everything. For 99 percent of things and sentients, they have the bare minimum. Level 0, just a sprinkling of ether at the core, not worth even bothering with. Level 1 usually means you can get a general feeling for ether. Then, you have sentients who have awoken and can recognize the minute differences ether has on reality. Ether is everything, and the more you have, the more powerfully you can affect reality. And the more attention you draw for those who want that power."

The glasses were helping my headache from earlier, but they did nothing to ease the pain of her prattling on and on. "Ether, ok. So again, I'm level 11, I must be a badass right?"

I think she's counting down from ten with a hand over her face before she speaks again. "Tell me, have you had years of training in some fantastical abilities straight out of a comic book I don't know about that would equal such a level? Do you have death defying abilities that will protect you from things that want your ether? Studied an array of lore about the history of ether and the beings you'll run into? Perhaps, some fancy form of concealment or illusion that only makes it look like you're a slightly overweight human in their 30's who is brimming with power?"

I look down at my belly and absently pull a shirt on. "You don't have to be such a jerk. WAIT do I get life bars and stuff like in a game?"

"No. Well, maybe. I mean, it will be a form you are familiar with, so it is possible. Wait, no no no, jumping a head and thinking about your status will kickstart your awakening before you learn more! You'll stick out like a donut on a salad bar and attract all kinds of attention!"

I wince, seeing a red and blue bar at the edge of my vision, with a blinking red exclamation point under it. "And, just being curious here, would an exclamation point denote something like a notification of some kind? Possibly? Perchance?"

Eyes widening, she flies forward and disappears as she gets close to my glasses. In my head, she gasps. "What have you done?"

LOCKES

Level 11 Shadow Warlock

I can hear the worry in her voice. "This...is unexpected." She exits the front of my face, causing me to sneeze again, and lands on my bed. "Nevermind what I said before, focus on your status! We need to see what you have."

I roll my eyes and wipe my nose, concentrating on my bars and the exclamation point.

!Forced Awakening!

Your ether core has been opened against your will. Lack of focus and training starts you as Level 1 Nobody.

Good Luck!

!Divine Intervention!

You've attracted the attention of a higher being, either through deed or accomplishment. Ether core expanded, starting you as Level 11 favored class of Patron Lydel.

Bella gasps, seeing what I see. "Mistress Lydel is a long forgotten, extremely obscure deity from the higher realms. You've done some favor to her to be given a boon such as her unique class!" Tilting her head, she looks at me. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

I stare at my outstretched arm, straining and pointing across the room. "How the hell do I cast a fireball? Being a warlock means I know magic right? Havada alacazam!"

Pinching the bridge of her nose and breathing out harshly, Bella stands there. "No you fucking dolt. What you think of as magic is such childs play that if I were Miss Lydel, I'd be pissed right now. She is the patron of shadows, knowledge, and reality itself! Casting magic is nothing compared to learning the intricacies of the universe and being able to manipulate reality! Since ether is literally everything, attaining power and growing means being able to do anything you can think of. It's why I am shocked nothing is rampaging here right this moment to tear your core from your chest!"

"Oh, I've been fiddling with stuff in my head, and I seem to be able to do this!" I grin and point up.

LOCKES

Level 3 Nobody

False Info(Rare)

Level 3

This trait allows you to change what is seen by anyone with Ether Sight <3x False Info level.

"So if I understand this, something would have to be pretty powerful to see my true level, right?"

Her mouth hanging open, she nods and shakes her head. "That is an amazing trait! In fact, I've never seen it before. All awoken have the ether sight trait, but few are able to level it and are stuck with what they get. It's what helps you see through the illusion of the world that separates the reality of the blind and the reality of the awoken. I have a rather impressive level 21, and it is very rare to be above 30," she says, rather snottily in my opinion.

"Hm, let me share my traits with ya."

Ether Sight(Common)

Level Max

This trait allows you to see reality as it truly is. Level of this trait measures how difficult checks are to hide information.

Shadow Meld(Restricted)

This trait allows you to mold constructs from pure shadow.

Knowledge Is Power(Restricted)

This trait allows you to identify any non-sentient object.

Reality Warp

???

"Holy hell, that's what's wrong with your eyes: at that level, you can't help but soak up all unfiltered information! Normally we have to train awoken to see other's names and stats, not to block everything out! And that reality warp, I've never heard of anything like that."

I grin. "So, what now?"