This fucking sucks. She thought to herself as she curled up in her bed, having just finished her lessons with a creature named Funa, the great dark spirit.

It had actually gone pretty well, and learning to use her magic had been a welcome distraction, but now here she was, alone with her thoughts again.

Who’s incredible idea was it to split us all up after the second day? How am I supposed to deal with all of this by myself?

The queen and her husband had been genuinely kind, letting her make a home with them and providing some stability to her life, and her teacher was more than accommodating, but when the day was done and she was left to her own thoughts she couldn’t help spiral.

How was she supposed to help fight some world-threatening invaders? She had been planning her move for university only a couple weeks before, all prepared to finish high school and start her new life, enjoying a final trip with everyone she spent the last four years with, and now here she was. Dead.

A part of her would wonder if this was all a dream, while another questioned if it was hell. Sure it seemed kind enough for now, but maybe it was all leading up to whatever monsters would be coming to destroy everything, and taking her false sense of security with them when they did. No one seemed to know what the invaders did to anyone that didn’t escape their world, but given the savagery she’d heard from different accounts as she was being taught it was undoubtedly bad.

Even if all of this was real, wasn’t the thought of being brought back to life specifically to go off and die again just too cruel? What sort of gods thought this was a good idea, and where did they get off deciding this on their own without even asking any of them first?

A small part of her knew that even if they did ask she would have chosen to go, it was better than being dead after all, but being given the illusion of choice could have made all the difference to her.

“What? Who said that? Who’s there?” She pulled her head from her bed and looked around, trying to find the speaker.

The voice said with a sigh.

“Wait, are you in my head? Is this Glob? If it is stay out of my brain you slimy little jerk or I’ll beat the crap out of you!” The only skill she knew her fellow otherworlder had was barrier magic, but it was undoubtable he had one or two more.

The thought seemed to cut off, and for a few moments Karly was left in silence.

She was still suspicious, not willing to give the mystery voice in her head any trust. “In that case who are you then?”

It cut off again, longer this time, and when it came back seemed filled with annoyance.

“You expect me to believe you’re my fairy godmother? And who else are you talking to? Is someone else there?”

It said, not convincingly, but more like it had come to resign itself to the role.

She couldn’t exactly deny that, given everything else she’d learned in her time there so far, with things only continuing to get weirder. “Fine, whatever. Who else are you talking to then?”

Did it look into my memories to make that comparison? The world didn’t have anything as convenient as phones or computers in it. To keep in touch with friends she’d needed to start sending off letters, and even though hers were given priority treatment she still hadn’t gotten to hear back from anyone yet.

“No offense, but I don’t want some random creep in my head.”

Karly wouldn’t bite, opting to ignore the voice and sit in silence instead.

“You don’t score any points for being able to see the obvious.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” She all but yelled. “I’m dead! And I’m stuck in this world just waiting to die again! How am I supposed to make things better?”

The voice grew softer after her outburst, kinder.

“I swear if you’re telling me to befriend Glob-”

“Oh my god are you really suggesting a playdate?”

“...I’ll think about it. At the very least I like the idea of traveling a bit to see some of the friends I already have.”

Karly did feel a bit better. Talking about her problems and working on a plan to try and make things better was nicer than spending the night sulking anyway.

“What? Spaghetti I guess. Why?”

With what felt like an ominous goodbye, the voice was gone.