A Voice in the Darkness

Time continued to tick away as the young man waited for the final seconds of his life to pass. Yet with his mind becoming so blank it took quite a while to realize he had yet to lose himself in the darkness. He could no longer feel his body but he could still think and was aware of his...was presense the right word? The young man tried to touch his face yet felt nothing, not just a lack of contact but he couldn't feel his limbs moving for that matter. Yes presence seemed to be the best way to put it as he was unsure if his body even existed right now.

Of course it took only a moment for panic to overtake his mind, who after all wouldn't start to worry if the world was swept away and they were thrust into a place so void even their very being seemed to no longer exist? He tried to scream, tried to move, tried anything and everything until finally he simply had to stop. Many people would give up entirely at this point, some might consider the possibility that they had been thrust into hell and would suffer this nothingness for all eternity, but not him. No something deep inside his very soul kept him from succumbing to this darkness.

He tried to recall what memories still existed of who he was but what was left over could barely be described as useful. He remembered days spent training in martial arts, a kid who wanted to be like the heros on television while the older he got the more he just wanted to see how far he could progress. He remembered games such as chess which required a lot of thought and reading opponents. He even remembered things as small as being bad at cooking fancier meals but managing to make due with simple ones, albeit his taste buds had not always been thrilled. But none of the faces in those memories could be seen, no voice could be heard, and names for places and people were gone. Whatever had taken these things away had left him capable of being able to take care of himself but made sure to strip every bit of his previous identity.

It was after combing through what was left of himself that the young man noticed a sensation surrounding him, it was like sensing his own self but whatever this was happened to be on a scale far greater and with each passing second it only reached further levels of grandeur.

The darkness did not give way but he could feel that whatever it was had arrived, in fact if he could move it felt as if it would be close enough to touch. He tried to gleam more from this ridiculous presence but in the end his inability to interact with anything kept him from learning more. Was it there by chance or had it come for him? And if it had indeed come for him, for what purpose? He could only wait in that mind numbing silence until finally something happened.

It felt as if something had just bumped into his presence. Probing, as if searching for something. Of course the only thing he could guess is that whatever was there with him in the void was finally investigating him. Hopefully it had no ill intentions, but what really could be worse than absolute nothingness?

A vibration was felt and waves seemed to crash over his awareness, that was the only way to describe it since he couldn't sense his own body. The vibrations continued and altered for a good while until finally he recognized a particular pattern. The vibrations slowly molded themselves into words and he felt them with every fiber of his being, as if it was speaking into his mind and soul.

" Ah I see you finally understand. Quite interesting..." The other presence could be felt moving around and around, circling his own while brushing up against him a few more times. He wanted to ask it what was happening but had no way to speak. However when he thought about it, the presence seemed to notice as the voice invaded him once more. " Ah yes I so often forget lesser beings can not follow such matters. To put it plainly, you have died. Or you are in the process of dying. "

He died? The news was shocking but the memories of the ship and the storm were all there. He never recalled dying but it was a logical conclusion that sinking into the ocean when he wasn't a fish would have that sort of result. He felt the presence give a small chuckle as he thought in that manner but there were no words from the presence. It seemed to be able to read his mind, so going off that basis the young man formed words with his thoughts to try and interact with the presence.

" If I am dying then where am I? This is certainly not heaven but if it was hell then why do I have company to ease the suffering that void put me through? " He imparted confusion and mild anger through his words, upset that he had been subjected to the torture of the void in the first place.

" To be exact you now exist outside of the realms just as I do, a cruel place which is void of all and yet by being between all realms it has certain advantages. For example, one such as myself can monitor what goes on across multiple realms at once, allowing for a greater understanding of existence as a whole. For you however, being unable to see beyond the extent of your senses would make it akin to hell as you put it. '' As the presence spoke to him something started to happen. He felt that his being was getting pulled along with this presence, moving about in this Between as it had been described. They eventually came to a halt and the presence went silent, as if waiting for a response or merely contemplating something.

" So then I don't understand, how did I end up here? Is this where we all go when we die? " Though he might lack knowledge of who he really was, that had not changed the core of his being. Save for exact knowledge of his life,  the young man's personality and way of thinking had survived. His mind had been working together to try and piece together this myriad of fragments so that he could understand what was happening, yet too many key details were just not there.

" Another simple answer, I brought you here. Most who pass on go to their respective afterlife. So dawdle about and are reborn. But to end up here...no, one must be sent here or be taken here by one who already exists between realms. " The presence seemed to be quite patient with all of his questions, meaning it was most likely not some divine being. Add to that it had told of other afterlife and the fact that the Between was not one, it could only mean that this being had been sent or brought just as he had.

" But why was I brought here? You said it yourself that I was dying. What good can a dead man be? " The presence could be felt chuckling once more. This time it waited to answer and started to do something...well it was hard to describe really. It felt as if it was trying to invade the same point of his own existence but that merely put pressure upon his own. It grew and grew until he was certain that he would be crushed or absorbed by this presence until something finally clicked into place and he could see...though see was not right, perhaps it was better to say he could now understand and that painted a picture of the place he was in.

The darkness was still there in this Between but scattered throughout it were spheres which pulsed with a variety of lights. Wisps and tendrils expanded out into the void as if the edges wished to reach out and claim more, some even intertwined and caused spheres to  revolve around one another. Some were vibrant and bright while others had dimmed and seemed to be on the verge of collapse, the pulses like a dying heartbeat. Dots of light swirled about in each of the spheres and the impression of life was given off from each of these various pinpricks of life. It was like he could see all of existence laid out before him, such a beautiful and awe inspiring scene.

It was for a moment as he glimpsed the Between that all questions were forgotten as he watched the glory of what he assumed to be the various realms. But as he thought to see what this other presence looked like that previous sensation of awe became lost.

What was there to compare to the being he was near, so massive than multiple spheres could not even reach its magnitude? It radiated a black glow that held light in its depths in such beauty that it was impossible to think of anything else. The being had said it was not divine but how could that be true? It moved as he watched it and finally something happened to shock him free of the wonders which he was seeing. The being opened a single eye, and stared down upon him.

Nothing divine would have such a gaze, one filled with such unbridled raw strength that had a layer of weakness lightly painted over its glory. There was wisdom for countless ages in its sight and it felt that this being could view so much more than he would ever be able to comprehend. What would this place that was so beautiful seem like to it he wondered. Finally he felt the vibrations it had sent off before and realized it was about to speak.

" I did correct myself and say you were dying. You have been allowed to view the realms and to see me so that you will understand why it is that I brought you here. " Something swept through the Between that seemed like a limb and when it stopped the young man realized that it indeed was. The being was uncomparable to the realms surrounding them, but its words kept him from becoming too distracted. " I can no longer interact with these realms. My time in fact is coming to a close and with it I see that the realm from which I emerged has shown signs of corruption. I do not know if it is from another such as myself or if the divines are causing these ripples to emerge but I have been unable to protect it from my place here. What I need is for one to be set upon my realm and protect it from within. " The eye had looked off towards one of the largest spheres that was floating about, however its color did indeed seem tainted and the pulses it gave off had a shakiness to them as if something had begun to sap their strength. Now that it had finished speaking it returned attention to him and the young man could only sit there in silence as he tried to understand the situation. Be that as it was, he was not silent for long.

" I'll do it. "