Simon trudged through the rapidly thickening snow, barefoot and shirtless. He'd left his clothes somewhere around here, but the falling snow had covered most of his tracks. It took another fifteen minutes of searching before he tripped over a soggy, black leather boot.

"Just another day," he whispered.

Not that he didn't enjoy helping others. He genuinely did. Though he wished it involved less public displays of his nudity, he wasn't able to exorcize a ghost without touching them. The stronger the entity the more he needed to touch them. Thankfully, the only things around were a few squirrels, a stray cat and the ghosts. Even the victims of the possessed man's attack had left. As had the ghost of the man following him around town. Simon was still unsure of who that man was, but if he was gone now, he guessed it didn't really matter.

Simon crossed his arms and braced himself against the cold, but, of course, he felt warm. Every time he received a blessing from another spirit, his body felt like it was ready to explode. A warmth washed over him and he felt able to sense everything for miles. This would only last for a bit longer, though. He never got what the big deal with blessings was. They hadn't changed or helped him at all. Just a warmth and extra senses. It was the same as having his powers active, but without him having activated them. It seemed like someone or something else was behind the wheel.

The park wasn't too close to his home, but with his newly found energy, Simon ran all the way across town. Wet and sticking out like the sun on a dark night.

His house wasn't the biggest, but the monthly checks from his father kept his mother and him comfortable. Simon entered the brightly lit house, tossing his clothes into the washer.

"Oh my God, what happened?" His mother gasped.

He waved a hand and put on a secure smile. "Tripped into a puddle. Nothing too crazy."

She squinted her eyes and took him in slowly. Unconvinced yet not looking to press him any further, she instead went back into the kitchen. His weirdness was nothing new to her, and she'd learned not to bother with questioning every little happening in his life.

"How was school today?" his mother asked.

"I'm in college. You don't have to keep worrying about me." He smiled at her, but her raised eyebrow let him know it was best to answer. "It was alright. Took that biology test and got every question right."

"How do you know… Oh, right."

She stopped herself before finishing the question. There was no way he'd fail. Tests were usually nothing more than memorization, and he forgot nothing. It was one of the few perks of being a psychic. Though his mother didn't know about that last part.

"Your father called." She added in while pulling a lasagna from the oven.

"Was it him or his publicist?"

"Cherry is a delightful woman, Simon."

"Mom, I'm pretty sure he only hired her because she was a stripper."

His mother took a second to think, then shrugged. "Well, you know how he is. Show business is his thing."

There was a long pause as they both thought about those last words. Show business wasn't his thing. It was his everything. It's the reason he'd left them to be a tv psychic. The idiot didn't even have any powers. He would've never been where he is now if it hadn't been for Simon.

After dinner, Simon sprinted to his room. The energy from earlier hadn't dissipated yet, and he was unsure if he'd be able to sleep in such a state. He sat on his bed and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to roam freely, taking in the psychic energy around him. Emotions and intentions flooded in from everyone in the neighborhood.

A sudden craving for candy, followed by anger at the husband that wouldn't pick his clothes up off the floor. Pride at having completed a painting. The need for money and food. The desire for the person you can't have. Each feeling was another person nearby.

An overwhelming worry washed over him and a fear that he couldn't explain. Amid that, a disgusting amount of lustful intent.

"You might wanna calm down, kid. You might let the wrong thing in doing that."

The sudden appearance of a voice caused Simon to leap up onto his feet. The face of a middle-aged man, slightly wrinkled, with an enormous nose and thick eyebrows protruded from his ceiling.

"Who the heck are you?" Simon whispered loudly.

"Me?" the man descended, revealing a short, thin body dressed in white robes. "Call me Chang."

Simon pulled himself together and sat down. The man didn't seem threatening. Even though his aura felt gross.

"Listen Mr. Chang, I'm tired. I've had a long day, and I can't help you with whatever else you've got going on."

"Help me?" The man wagged a ghostly finger. "No, no, no. I'm here to help you. I saw your fight earlier, and I think you need me."

Simon crossed his arms and glared at the man. "Were you the one following me all day?"

"I admit I followed you." Chang said. "I see a great potential in you and I just want to help you achieve it. I can take you to the zenith of your power, elevating you to a new dimension of power. Beyond anything anyone has ever seen. So what do ya say to that?"

"No, thanks. I'm good."

Simon sat back and let his head sink into his pillow. The older man's face darkened.

"What do you mean? Don't you want to be powerful?"

"Nah, I'm alright." Simon responded.

"What about rich? We can be rich?" Chang said, while rubbing his hands together. "Money was no issue for a psychic in my time."

"Definitely not. Plus, you're a ghost. What do you need money for?"

Chang's expression puckered. "Is there something wrong with your head? What kind of man doesn't want power and fame?"

The older man took a second, then clapped loudly. "Ah, it's a girl you want, right?"

Simon turned to the man, his face flat and uncaring. "I'm a eunuch."

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With that, Simon put his back to the man and prepared to sleep. He focused his breath and his thoughts until all he could hear was his own voice in his head. No intentions, no feelings, no random Chinese ghost. Just his own thoughts and silence.

In the darkness behind his closed eyes, a small light flickered into existence and from it sprang the image of Chang dressed in a black pinstriped suit standing on a mountain of gold. Coins and crowns tumbled from the top of the mountain. Jewels sprang from the darkness beneath Simon. The ghost was inside of his mind!

"How'd you get in here? Were you a psychic in your past life or something? No one should be able to enter my mind."

Chang smiled creepily. "Nah, I wasn't a psychic, but I am very old. Old enough to know some tricks which could come in handy to someone like you. I'd even be willing to show you some of them. For a price, that is."

Simon raised his hands and pushed the man away. Then, grabbing onto the surrounding space, he pulled until Chang found himself and his illusion crushed into the size and shape of a baseball. That wasn't so hard, Simon thought. With a single touch, I can exorcize him out of my mind and then I'll have to fortify myself so this doesn't happen again. He wasn't sure how to do that second thing, but it must be possible. As he reached for the warped ball containing the man, Simon felt a wetness run over the tips of his fingers.

"YOU LICKED ME?" Simon yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

A yellowish light erupted from the sphere in front of him, and Chang was once again free to roam Simon's mind. This time, he wore golden armor and wielded a blade larger than his own body. Simon paused for a moment. He knew that armor and that weird curved sword. It was the weapon he'd imagined for a superhero he'd drawn as a kid. Chang was in his memories!

"It's called a distraction. It makes the enemy hesitate, and it clearly works." Chang said happily.

Simon Pushed off of the ground, or rather he pushed off of the darkness that would be the ground. Chang's appearance hadn't given him time to form an image of any place yet, so for now, they fought in a world of darkness. In less than a second, he was behind the golden armored man. Simon struck out with a right hand, but Chang's body turned to mist. Behind!

Simon turned, kicking toward his opponent's chest. Not even a budge. This wasn't possible. They were in his mind. There was no way for Chang to overpower him.

Chang grabbed him by the ankle and swung him around. The sheer speed of the movement made Simon want to puke. Finally, the ghost released his grip and sent him flying.

"Maybe you should start stripping. Apparently, that works for you," said Chang.

"Yeah, you would want me to undress, wouldn't you, you creep?"

The ghost pointed at him with a furious glare. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Simon sank into the darkness below and reemerged under his enemy, taking the old man by the boots. This time Chang didn't just budge. His knees buckled from the strength of the pull. Not giving him a moment to think, Simon wrapped his legs around his opponent and began wailing into his face. Each punch enhanced with an explosion of brilliantly colored fire. Anything was possible in his mind, as long as he was creative enough.

A gauntleted hand shot forward and grabbed Simon's face. "You seem angry, but you could've ended this fight at anytime by leaving this place." Chang spoke confidently.

Simon stopped for a moment. What could he do? He kicked at the ghost's chest, morphing his own foot into a sharp, curved blade. A deep muffled thunk was all that came out of his attack. Air shifted and spun around him as he inhaled deeply. His form warped along with the wind, growing in size until he was raging a tornado.

Chang snickered, his armor tearing off of his body, leaving only the white robes beneath. Simon spun towards him, but Chang countered with the massive curved blade. Each strike against him brought Simon closer to the brink of losing his new form.

The golden blade doubled in size, and he prepared for the oncoming slash. Chang swung the thing with all of his might. Flames trailed behind it. All Simon could do was force his new form to spin faster and hope that it would be enough of a counter. The blade reached the middle of the tornado before vanishing into a brilliant mist.

"You're not curious about my offer?" Chang asked. "I really could help you."

The swirling column of air dissipated around Simon. He grabbed the few remnants of the surrounding winds, concentrating them into a spear the length of his house. He aimed for the intruder and released a blast with every ounce of his strength behind it.

Woosh. That was it. The only sound the spear made as Chang smacked it out of existence. The ghost materialized in front of Simon, raising him high by the collar.

"Are you curious now?" he asked.

The smile that crossed his face was more crooked than any Simon had ever seen. Even his father's. He wasn't wrong, though. More knowledge of his powers was always welcome. It had never been easy teaching himself how to use his powers, and he felt there was still a lot more for him to learn. He nodded, and the man lowered him to the ground.

"What can you teach me?"

"Well, first, it was good you didn't leave me here alone or run away. If you had, I would've taken control of your mind."

Simon's heart skipped a beat. He didn't know that. This wasn't his first fight in his mind, but this was the first one in which someone had forced their way in and had the power to change things.

"Second, you aren't using your powers effectively. There's a lot of energy here and you aren't even using half of it. I mean, just look at this." Chang held his right hand up and a meek yellow flame spawned above his hand. Moments later, the flame grew slightly and turned red. Then white, blue and finally it changed into a soft violet. It expanded into an orb large enough to consume Kenta's entire street. Beneath the two men, the sight of Delphi city came into view.

Simon watched as hundreds of thousands of people walked, ran, and drove around a perfect recreation of the city in vibrant color.

"Ya see? I'm not the bad guy here. I just want to help," said Chang. "In my past life, I was a teacher of sorts. Together, we can bring out your full potential."

Simon waved it all away. "I told you I don't care about any of that. I just want to not be invaded again."

The ghostly man floated around him, the color in his face fading as it returned to its ghostly pallor. "I can do that. All you have to do is trust me."

"No, I don't think I can do that." Simon muttered.

"Fine! All you have to do is listen. I'll help you learn about your powers."

Simon shifted his weight as he thought. "What is it you get out of this?"

"Who? Me?" Chang pointed at himself with a bewildered look. "Well, I get to mold another young pupil. I haven't done that in centuries."

"I'm not buying that," said Simon. No one gave anything for free in this world. "But I'll let it go for now. You help me and I'll listen. Just know I'll keep my eyes on you."

Chang made an extravagant nod. "As you wish, dear pupil. For now, sleep. We commence in the morning."

Simon woke up rubbing at his temples. A throbbing headache was the least of his worries this morning. He looked around his sunlit room. The annoyance from the night before seemed to had vanished, but he could still feel that gross presence nearby.

"Good morning, sweet child." Chang said, floating up from beneath the floorboards.

Simon raised a hand. "Alright, ground rules. One, don't call me that. Two, no talking to me when we're out in public. I don't need anymore people thinking I'm insane. Three, if I notice anything off, I will exorcise you from this world."

"As you wish." Chang twirled a hand and began writing in the air. "Exorcism, strengthening of physical attributes, spiritual sight. I'm assuming you can sense auras since you knew I was following you?"

"I, I can." Simon responded.

"Hmm." Chang stroked his beard, reading over his list. Each smoke-like word floating in its place. "What else can you do?"

Simon thought back. So far, he'd stumbled through life using his powers every once in a while, discovering a new power or use for the old ones from time to time.

"I think I can heal? There was a dog when I was younger. I swear it was limping and after I touched it, nothing. It started running and jumping like normal. But I swear I felt something move from me to the dog. Same thing happened with Mrs. Carnegy down the street. She'd been sick for a while with something that kept her in her house using a wheelchair. After I gave her a hug, she started leaving her house again. Even stopped using a wheelchair. I might be overthinking it."

Chang tugged on his beard tightly. His ear to ear grin somehow extending farther.

"Healing you say? That's good. Very good indeed," he chuckled. His hand waved through the spectral list. "I know just where to start your training."

Simon felt an excitement bubbling in him. Maybe learning everything he could do would be a good thing. It would certainly keep him from using his powers out in the open. He might even learn how to turn it off. It would be nice to not have to see ghosts anymore.

"Four hours of meditation."

"No…"

Chang wagged his finger under Simon's nose. "You can't say no. I'm the master. You're the Student."

The ghost reared his fist back and swung at Simon's face. It shouldn't have connected, but it did. Pain and a little blood shot through his nose.

"How did you do that?" Simon groaned.

"I told you, I know quite a bit. I've lived for way too long," Chang said confidently. "Now, would you like for me to do that again, or can we get on with your training?"

Simon nodded before sending a kick that struck at the ghost's throat. "Yeah, let's start."