Adam was in a void. He was unsure how he got there, and more than a little afraid he had died. After searching his memory he found that he didn’t remember his arrival in this place, nor a possible death. In fact, his last memory was lashing out at Harold, although there were some oddities about the memory. Why had he been on all fours? And when did he get so tall? Regardless, he was hitting Harold, and then he was here. A sensation of time having passed, but no idea why he felt that way. Also no sense of waking up, just hitting Harold then existing in this space, fully awake and upright.
He also was a little weirded out by how not weirded out he was. Rationally he was concerned about having died, being that he currently resided in a blank void, but emotionally he felt… comforted? It was like the void was a giant blanket, wrapping him up and keeping him warm and insulated against whatever was outside of it. He didn’t feel danger from what was outside the void, just discomfort, much like a cold night. He wouldn’t be harmed, but he wasn’t particularly looking forward to going out there.
The void wasn’t black at least. More like a very thick fog bank, but with no ground and the fog was just out of actual reach. Not actually cold either. It was all very confusing, so he decided to let the void know that. “This place is as confusing as women,” Adam announced. He had limited interaction with them, but firmly believed that women were confusing for all males, birth to death. Probably after death too, he thought to himself.
Despite his feelings on the confusion of the opposite sex, the last thing he expected was the void to agree with him. “You got that right, kiddo. Even the after death part.”
Adam’s head whipped around in all directions trying to locate the voice. “Who said that?” The void still calmed him, so he didn’t stammer. He did miss that the man had read the part of his thoughts that he didn’t speak out loud.
“Hold your horses, kid. It takes a bit of time to manifest in someone’s mind like this without harming the host. Just about done.” Partway through his statements a man began appearing off to the side of Adam. He was still translucent, but some details were starting to show. He was human with a long face, and a thin frame. Shoulder length, limp, brown hair and a scraggly beard of a slightly lighter color framed a face that looked worn and tired. It was filled with character, the polite version of wrinkles, lines, and crags. His eyes were the white orbs of the completely blind, but he still seemed able to see Adam just fine. Loose fitting vest and trousers of leather but no shoes, with a large number of bracelets adorning his wrists. Adam thought he could be some form of druid, or possibly a monk, but was most likely a beggar of some kind.
The man chuckled, “A bit rude, but I guess it’s understandable. I was aiming for spirit guide, but that doesn’t translate well across different cultures.” This time Adam caught on that the man was responding to something other than the words spoken. He would have asked, but the man beat him to it. “Yes, I am reading your thoughts. It’s kinda hard not to when I am standing inside your mind.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Adam didn’t think a single thing. He entered the Zen like Nothing, which is the natural state of all teenage males. The spirit guide continued, “So, call me Szellem. I actually am your Spirit Guide, or at least your System Guide. Most people don’t get them, so it’s unlikely that you know anything about them. I certainly didn’t until after I died and was offered the job.” Suddenly the man’s still translucent form flickered, as though appearing and disappearing quickly before settling back into its former state. “AHHH! Shit! Forgot about that.” Szellem rubbed his chest and arms briskly, looking like he was trying to warm himself up. “Not supposed to talk about that.” He shook all over, then coughed into his fist, rubbed his hands together, then pointed the first finger of each hand at Adam. “Right. Moving on. You’ve got problems.”
Adam didn’t say anything. It seemed pointless to argue the point when he was stuck in a void that he had no idea how he had gotten into, yet alone how he could get out again.
Szellem chuckled again, saying, “Fair point. First things first, I guess. This isn’t the afterlife, it’s your mind. That’s why you find it comforting. You went through a tough time, and then blew WAAAAAAAY more energy than your body had, so it sort of shut down. To protect itself, your mind pulled your consciousness here.” He looked around, then frowned. “Not that here is very nice at the moment, but I’m sure you’ll spruce the place up a bit as you get older and more used to coming here.” He looked around some more, muttering to himself.
Adam considered his words. They felt right, resonating with the comforting sensation of the void as well as his odd memories. The only things still confusing him were how he spent so much energy, and why the weirdo showed up. Maybe he’d gone completely crazy and the weirdo was his mind’s way of easing him into complete insanity. He’d have to be nuts to think up that outfit.
“Hey! I’m not insulting you, am I? I’m here to help you and all you’re doing is insulting me? What kind of childhood did you have? That’s just rude! Show more respect for your elders!”
Adam didn’t respond verbally. Instead he simply thought over his “childhood”. The murder of his parents, the virtual automatons that “cared” for the kids at the orphanage, the lack of schooling, and the need to flee from Harold.
Szellem sighed morosely. “Well fuck me with a cactus. That’s some brutal shit, kid. I’m sorry. All that goes a long way towards explaining what I am doing here though.” He nodded a few times, saying “uh huh, uh huh, uh huh” to himself like a broken audio device.
“Still don’t know why you are here,” Adam reminded him, breaking him out of his odd trance.
“Oh! Right! That’s why!” So saying he pointed above and behind Adam.
The boy whipped around to see a giant wall of words.
Name: Adam (no surname)
Age: 13
Class: Mother (C)
There was a lot more to the text wall, but Adam stopped at his Class. He had a Class! Finally, he’d gotten his Gift and was an Apprentice. He could work and get paid, making it much easier to support the other boys. He just needed to figure out what kind of work his Class of Mot- “Why the fuck is my Class Mother!?!?!”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”