Stumbling to my feet, I faced the figure approaching me.

"Who are you!"

Time seemed to slow as white light bent around the figure obscuring it from my sight. Water droplets I had just kicked up glistened, slowly falling to the ground.

In an instant, the being was upon me. Lifting me up by my shirt, the being made no moves to attack me, as it seemingly froze.

Dropping me to the wet ground, the figure crouched down and addressed me.

"Who am I?"

It laughed as if someone had said a funny joke.

"The real question is, who are you?"

I stumbled to my feet, dripping wet.

“Look, I don’t know what's going on here, or if I offended you in some way, but can you please kindly explain to me where I am?”

The being shook its head as it crossed its arms.

“Do you really have no idea what is going on here? Surely you must have a least a theory. I’ll give you a hint, this isn’t heaven.”

“So hell?”

The being scratched its head.

“Look, Dominic . . . no, I will call you Nathaniel. How can I say this nicely?”

It looked around as if to make sure no one else was listening.

“Your not funny. I get that it is a coping mechanism that keeps you from completely freaking out right now, but, please, just stop. No one else enjoys it. Maybe once in a blue moon. Maybe. Not really.”

I shuffled around awkwardly.

“My bad, it is a bad habit of mine. I will try and rein it in.”

“That’s better. Now Nathaniel, take a seat. It is time we have a long, healthy talk. ”

I looked around me for somewhere to sit. Nothing had changed, so not only were there no chairs, I was still standing in a never ending pool of water.

“So want me to just-”

“STOP! What did we just go over? Look, sorry for kicking you earlier. Actually, I take that back. You one-hundred percent deserved that earlier, but we will get to that in a bit.”

The being waved its hand, and some of the water to the right of me began to ripple, and then bubble. The water rose softly till it fell back to the ground, leaving in its place two white chairs.

“Now, please, take a seat Nathaniel. It is about time we had a long talk.”

Walking over slowly, I took a seat in one of the chairs, which remained steady as I applied my weight to it. I still don’t know if I can trust this being.

Taking the other chair, the white being crossed its legs as it stared at me. It didn’t have pupils, but just more accented white lines that served as a substitute.

“Now, Nathaniel, I know that you are confused as to what is going on. Ask me any two questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability.”

“Where are we?”

“Good question, Nathaniel. We are currently in your xetral core, which is located right below your belly button.”

“Wait . . . what? How is that possible?”

“. . . . . . Look, forget the two questions. I wanted this to not be a one sided conversation, but whatever. I might as well just tell you about the mess you brought upon yourself”

*******************************

“So your saying I am in a coma because I reached Tier 4!?!”

“Not only that, but your currently being treated by monks in the Acutalis Mountains.”

“Acutalis?”

“Far north from where you were growing up in Cree.”

I sighed.

“So, my conscience separated from my brain and is currently in my xetral core, all because I didn’t create my own gamic to harness my deviant?”

“Yes, I literally just told you all of that! Was it really necessary to repeat that? It’s not like there is anyone else here.”

“Sorry, I have been out for what feels like a long time, maybe a month or so. This is a lot to take in.”

“Nathaniel, you haven’t been in a coma for over a month, it has been over a year now.”

“Holy shit.”

“So, Nathaniel, any immediate questions before we get to the meat and potatoes of this discussion?”

“Yeah, I actually do have a question. How did you know where my body is and everything else that has happened?”

“Prosarmozo mainly informed me about what was going on when I got to talk to him.”

“Prosarmozo?”

“He was assigned to your friend Lufis.”

“Wait . . . ”

“You can do it, connect the dots. If Prosarmozo was assigned to Lufis, that must mean I am ? . . .?”

“My familix?”

“There you go! Finally, it took you long enough.”

“Well, I know that my familix is a cheetah, so that's why I didn’t connect the dots. You look like a generic 3D white avatar, not like the fastest land animal.”

“Nathaniel, you do know the reason I look like this is your fault, right?”

“How would that have anything to do with me?”

My familix sighed as it readjusted its seat.

“Look, I couldn’t have you dying so young on me after the Spirit King assigned me on a mission. I used a lot of energy disconnecting your conscience and storing it here. The only reason you are conscience and talking to me at the moment is because the Monks working on repairing your xetral currents have made some excellent progress, and now you are producing more xetral than just what you need to stay alive. Long story short, I am like this because you fucked up. However, I am not mad at you because of this, but rather your decisions so far. ”

It stopped for a brief second before continuing.

“Let me ask you something, Nathaniel. What is your father’s favorite color?”

Think . . . Think . . . Think . . .

“Well, I have been out of it for a well so my memory is a little off-”

“Stop dodging the question Nathaniel. Just answer the question.”

“Well, uh, I don’t remember then.”

“That's because you have spent little time interacting with your family. Now you have made some bonds, but your lack of questions about life and the world really bothered your parents, did you know that?”

“No, I … I had no idea.”

“Next question. Why did you assume humans are the same here as on earth?”

I scratched my head, confused.

“What do you mean by that?”

“First, I should let you know that I have gone through the liberty of going through your memories, even the ones when you were Dominic.”

I cringed as old memories resurface.

“I know that you just wanted to fit and “be strong”, but you messed that up from the beginning. Did you know that your parents nearly took you to a doctor because they were worried you were mute or even mabye mentally disabled, though that was probably them overreacting. Nathaniel, humans develop faster here than earth, due to their a survival instinct. This world is very dangerous. Their minds develop faster so they can hid from monsters even at a young age. Your friend Lufis started talking when he was seven months old. Not well, but you get the idea. Your “laying low” did the exact opposite.”

“Really, I . . . I had no idea. Wait . . . how do you know?”

“I talked to father’s familix. In fact, I had already talked to him before. Your dad is one of only certain humans who have figured out how to converse with their familix. He came and talked to me the night after I was assigned to you(through his familix). He was worried because you had passed out at school after receiving your familix. He was probably waiting for you to tell him about yout familix. And don't ask how Arthur communicates with his familix or how spirits communicate amongst each other, that is off topic and I am still lecturing you.”

“Another problem with you is your attitude. You think you can become strong because you have read and watched a lot of stuff where the protagonist was reincarnated or transported to another world, and this has come back to bite you. This is real place Nathaniel. You can’t just blindly stubble around trying to get stronger. If you had just talked to someone, like maybe your skilled father, this mess would never have happened because he would have instructed you. You should have mabye figured this out when Lufis broke his wrist because you were trying to materialize high level gamic with zero experience.”

My familix sighed before coming to its feet.

“Nathaniel, I know I was harsh on you, and you really only have the maturity of a seventeen year old, but it was necessary. This big-shot attitude will get you killed and I have seen it happen too many times. Now, come on, stand up. I think you learned this lesson the hard way.”

I had nearly forgotten that my familix was one of the Spirit King’s four great generals, the cheetah. It must have had a hard life in the wars and conflicts between the demons.

“What is your name by the way? I don’t want to keep calling you "my familix", after all.” I said, taking the outstretched hand as I stood up.

“My name? You can call me Acinonyx.”