Within the City lord’s manor Daelos found himself surrounded by white space. Laying on the floor, he felt his entire body ache and drained of energy.

What happened?

Where am I?

Am I dead!

Did God answer my prayers?

Countless thoughts raced across his mind.

After thinking about a lot of pointless things, he felt his conscious slowly slip into a bleak darkness.

Not knowing how long he’d been sleeping for, he woke up with a start and rexamined his situation. unfortunately this didn't last long as he was quickly dragged back into darkness once more.

This cycle of waking up and falling asleep eventually became a daily routine.

Everyday he’d wake up, think about his situation then fall unconscious. On many occasions he'd try to stand up, talk, stretch, but discover that his body lacked the energy to even move a finger. let alone his other body parts.

At times when he got bored and had nothing to think about, he’d just stare straight at the blank sky without blinking waiting for the darkness to claim him.

Of course he could have tried to estimate how long he was able to stay conscious for, but he quickly gave up after realizing that there was no pattern.

He had no idea where he was or what happened to his body. The last thing he could remember was running towards Carn’s laughter before waking up here.

After debating with himself for a long time, he came to the conclusion that he was dead and was currently waiting to judged.

He'd had already mentally prepared himself for death before meeting Carn, so the current situation didn’t have too much of an impact on him. However he never thought death would be so boring.

Is this what happens after death? My god I’m bored out of my mind! If I knew it’d be like this I wouldn’t have wasted my life studying so much! Sigh to think I missed out on so much… As Daelos silently wept out tears of regret he once again felt his consciousness slip.

…

After falling into darkness once more, he felt completly hopeless. Compared to being held captive in Carn’s prison he considered this hell. At least in prison he could somewhat understand his environment and circumstance. But here… he had no idea what was going on. He even started to miss the warden’s abuse.

Lamenting on his wasted time, he thought back to the days of his childhood. He’d always thought himself just below average. Never standing out, never in the spotlight, just a passenger in his own life. If a book was written about him, he reckons it’d be a dull tale where he couldn’t be considered the main character. That was just the kind of person he was.

Compared to others his age he really was trash. At the age of 5 his peers were already able to build miniature nuclear reactors from their toy box, power low level primitive cities and turn most harmful substances into renewable materials. Daelos on the other hand found himself struggling to even understand the periodic table. Because of his low intelligence he struggled to be accepted into school and when he was, he faced daily rounds of bullying. He eventually found friends but even then he felt like an outsider trying to break down an intellectual barrier that was far beyond his comprehension. He could feel that he and his friends were working on completely different levels. They would cruise through life whereas he would find it hard to even survive.

Remembering the countless nights he stayed up studying and the head-splitting lectures that went over his head, Daelos somehow managed to score within the top 200 and get accepted in a good university. But instead of feeling excitement, he felt nothing but dread. Considering how hard he had to work just to get into a decent university, the road ahead looked bleak.

If he was being honest with himself, he knew that not everybody took the university entrance exam seriously. If they put in any effort then he wouldn’t even rank in the top 900.

Laying down in the empty space a single tear escaped his closed eyes.

…

A warm sensation prickled his skin, waking him from his slumber.

In front of him sat a teenage girl poking his cheek. The mysterious girl wore an extravagant, yet simple robe covered in a myriad of strange symbols. Her beautiful purple hair was pulled up into a ponytail giving her a look of childlike innocence. What stood out about her was her long, sharp pointed ears and bright purple eyes.

She looked down at Daelos with a dazzling look in her eye. “Yo you gonna get up anytime soon.” Despite her elegant look, her tone was quite crude.

Daelos looked up at her with confusion.

“Who are you?”

“You know its rude to ask someone’s name without first introducing yourself.”

“…” After not speaking to someone for so long, Daelos felt his brain short-circuit. “I’m Daelos.”

With a look of satisfaction the young girl stood up and stretched out her hand “I’m Lyla.”

Out of nowhere Daelos felt a sudden surge of strength enter his body. Using this new found energy he managed to lift his immobile hands from his side and grabbed onto Lyla’s hand.

Pulling himself up from the floor he discovered that his body felt completely normal with no signs of fatigue nor discomfort.

Standing at the side lines Lyla watched him stretch and pat himself down while she giggled to herself.

Realising how ridiculous he must look, Daelos quickly stopped his stretching exercise and walked to where she was.

“Miss Lyla can you tell me where we are?”

Lyla replied with a tone of indifference. “Hmm.. We’re in your mindscape.”

“… I see.” After spending so much time by himself he had managed to slightly mature. “Why is it so empty?” Could it be that I’m truly an idiot?

“You think it’s empty?” Lyla tilted her head as a look of confusion surfaced on her face.

“Isn’t it? There’s nothing here.”

A mischievous smile imprinted itself on the young girl’s face. “Aren’t you and I both here.”

That’s a good point

“Okay then… besides you and me what else is here.”

“Potential.”

Where does she see that!!

Massaging his head Daelos continued questioning the cheerful young girl.

“Why do you think there’s potential in here?”

With a jolly attitude, Lyla spread out her hands and dance circles around him. “Because its empty that means it must have the potential to be filled up.”

Isn’t that the same as saying my head is full of air!

Daelos almost wept at the innocence of the young girl.

Shaking his head he put those unpleasant thoughts away.

“If this is my mind then why can’t I control what happens?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well before you came here I couldn’t move.”

“Ah… That’s simple. Its because I’m here you can’t do what you want.”

Daelos start to eye her with suspicion. “Actually… thinking about it now how did you get in here?”

Lyla stopped dancing and looked at him as if she were staring at an idiot. “You invited me in.”

“Huh” this time it was Daelos’s turn to be confused. “When did I do that?”

“When you touched the Agnos Requiem.” She spoke as if this should be common knowledge.

“…” WHEN DID I DO THAT!!!

Regaining his wits, he sat down and started to sort through the information he had. “Okay I pretty much understand that I touched the Agnos Requiem which allowed you to enter my mindspace. What I don’t understand is your connection with the Agnos Requiem and why you being here affects what I can do.”

“That look on your face is funny.”

Ignoring her last comment Daelos asked her to explain who she was.

“Hmm… I guess you could say I’m the spirit of the Agnos Requiem.”

“THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE.” Daelos instantly refuted Lyla’s explanation.

What!” Backing you a little Lyla glared at him. “What do you mean impossible! I’m pretty sure I know what I am.”

“No, no, no, no, no, spirits aren’t real! There’s no scientific proof that they could ever work.”

What the hell I’m arguing over the existence of ghosts, GHOSTS!!!

“What’s scientific proof mean?”

“Don’t get off topic!”

Letting out a lazy stretch Lyla answered unenthusiastically. “Geez, calm down would ya. I am what I am, no two ways about it.”

“Okay assuming your telling me the truth then do you have any evidence to prove you’re a ghost.”

“I am a S.P.I.R.I.T not a ghost.”

“There’s a difference?” A look of shock appeared on his face.

“That face your making makes me want to punch you.”

“Hmm…” Catching him off guard, Lyla’s small hand formed into a fist and shot out towards his face. Feeling like he’d been hit by a train Daelos found himself being swept off his feet and launched through the air.

Watching him disappear into the distance Lyla started to glow purple and emit small twinkling particles out of her body before fading into nothingness.

…

Lying face down on the blank floor, Daelos felt his body hurt all over. What made him confused was that the pain wasn’t caused by crashing into the ground but originated from the area where Lyla had punched him and spread all over his body.

WHAT THE HELL IS HER PROBLEM!! WHY’D SHE HIT ME?

Taking deep breaths in order to withstand the pain Daelos felt the space around him start to tremble as a distorted figure covered in purple light appeared in front of him.

IT’S HER!!

“Hey! What the hell. Why’d you hit me!!” Unable to get up and teach her a lesson, he had to settle for shouting at her in one of the most unthreatening positions possible.

The figure covered in purple light turned its head towards the man lying face down. “Who are you?” The look of confusion was evident on her face.

Not in the mood for jokes after getting hit for no reason Daelos wasn’t polite in his response. “Its me retard! Daelos, and I swear if you do not remove this weird curse inflicting me with pain right now! Then god so help me I will carve you up into the smallest pieces possible and feed you to a Nikalearean hound!”

Staring at the faced down Daelos spouting curses and threats, the look of confusion didn’t disappear as she started to mumble to herself and stare at him blankly. “Daelos…Daelos…DAELOS!!” The initial confusion disappeared as if it was never there in the first place and light returned to her dull eyes.

“DAELOS!! YOUR NAME IS DAELOS HAHAHA I REMEMBER!” Unconcealable joy covered her face as she shook Daelos’s defenceless body. “I remember.”

Seeing her shake him with such vigour and delight one thought echoed in his head. Why is it that only the crazy ones are ever happy to see me?

“Oi! Stop shaking me and help me stand up.”

“Huh… oh I forgot about that.” Wiping away her tears she placed her hands on his back.

After placing her hand on his body a gentle current could be felt entering his body. Regaining the ability to move again he quickly got to his feet and hit Lyla on the head.

“Oww! What was that for?” Rubbing her head, tears welled up in her eyes making the hearts of anyone who saw her melt.

Sadly he wasn’t one of those weak hearted fools! “That’s my line! Why’d you send me flying for no reason?”

“Eh… I told you I was going to, it’s your fault for not being ready.” She spoke as if what she did was justified.

How can you say that so innocently!!

Feeling like it’d bring him more trouble if he delved deeper into this conversation Daelos decided to change the topic.

“Hey Lyla.”

“Hmm.”

“You said the reason I can’t do anything I want here is because of your presence right?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m the Agnos Requiem’s spirit.”

Not this shit again.

Deciding to entertain her whimsical fantasy, Daelos decided to bite the bullet and continue the conversation.

“Okay you’re the Agnos Requiem spirit but why does that affect what I can do in my own mind?”

“The Agnos Requiem is an artefact used to collect mental energies of all kinds.”

Daelos nodded his head in confirmation “From Carn’s description, the Agnos Requiem is simply an energy storage device that can convert and transfer its properties into another container.”

“Err give me a second.” Glowing purple once more clarity settled on Lyla’s face.

“Okay this should be the easiest way to explain. Imagine that your mind space that we’re currently standing in is a pocket dimension. Now imagine that the Agnos Requiem is a bomb capable of blowing up pocket dimensions. As the spirit of the Agnos Requiem I’m basically the person with their finger on the detonator. Although I have yet to push that button, the Agnos Requiem or the bomb in this scenario is constantly leaking radiation into its environment leaving side effects such as loss of control of your mind space.”

“…” A look of disbelief wrapped itself on Daelos’s stone face.

Seeing the confused look on his face, Lyla touched her face to check if there was anything on it. “What’s wrong?”

Snapping out of his confused state Daelos couldn’t help but stutter. “Y…y-ou sounded intelligent!

“…”

“I thought you were just some crazy chick stuck in your own delusions! Hahaha this is great! You’re not crazy!”

“…”

Unable to comprehend how he got to that conclusion, Lyla stood there dumbstruck. Shaking her head she decided to ignore the insult disguised as a compliment. “I read your memories.”

Ending his nonsensical ramblings Daelos felt the world around him shatter once he heard her words. Closing the distance between them rapidly Daelos gripped her shoulders and stared at her straight in the eyes. “What did you see?” Although he tried to play it off, the worry in his voice couldn’t be hidden.

“Huh” taken by surprise Lyla was unable to speak for a moment.

“WHAT DID YOU SEE!!” Shouting out in anger, Lyla felt the grip on her shoulders tighten.

“I-I didn’t see much only some flashes.” Forgetting that she was in control of Daelos’s mind space Lyla felt fear overwhelm her.

“Only flashes…” Releasing her shoulders, Daelos stumbled back before dropping to the ground and laughing.

What the hell is wrong with me? Memories? Hahaha she doesn’t even have a memory storage device how can she read my memories. She thinks she’s a ghost for God sake, now she can read memories, what’s she gonna do next discover a get rich quick scheme.

Laughing to himself Daelos completely forgot about terrified girl standing 5 feet away from him.

Unable to snap out of her stupor, the image of Daelos’s vicious eyes staring down at her kept her frozen.

Seeing Lyla just standing there, Daelos stopped laughing and went to check on her. As he got close light flashed in her eyes as she quickly stepped back in retreat.

Seeing the fearful look in her eyes, a feeling of guilt started to swell-up inside him. Realizing that he’d scared the young girl Daelos profusely apologised “Hey Lyla… I’m sorry… its just… my memories are very precious and… I don’t want you to see me being such a loser.” Seeing that his apology was falling flat, Daelos took a deep breath and slowly approached the shivering Lyla.

Seeing him approach Lyla looked down at her feet and kept shivering. Feeling his hands on her shoulder, she shut her eyes tight and braced for the worst.

Pulling her into his arms, Daelos gave her a hug.

“I…I’m sorry for looking through your memories. I…I just c…c-ouldn’t understand what you were saying, and I thought that if I looked through your mem…memories I could be of able to explain better.” Stuttering through her sentence while crying she held Daelos tight as if to make sure he wouldn’t leave.

After calming down Daelos let her go and wiped away her tears. “Lyla I’m sorry for scaring you but you need to tell me what you saw in my memories.”

What am I doing, going along with her fantasies isn’t going to help her.

Not daring to look at him in the eye, Lyla stared down at her feet and simply nodded. “Okay.”

Letting out a breath of relief Daelos felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

“I saw you… but you looked very different.”

“Different?” Realizing that the current him in the mind space and the him that came out of Halthor prison looked different Daelos understood her confusion. “You probably saw me when I was locked up in the prison.”

Shaking her head Lyla looked up at him “it wasn’t only you. There were other people who looked like you but weren’t you.”

Looked like me but weren’t me?

“I see… what else did you see?” Not willing to divulge any more about the topic, Daelos moved the conversation into a different direction.

Not feeling that anything was wrong Lyla carried on the conversation. “I saw you crying.”

Hearing this, a memory that Daelos thought had long been buried resurfaced.

“…”

“?”

“Daelos” feeling that something wasn’t right Lyla called out his name.

“…”

“Daelos.”

“…”

“DAELOS!” seeing him unresponsive Lyla started to panic and wildly shook his arm.

“Huh” returning to his senses Daelos found Lyla on his arm. “What are you doing?”

Realizing that Daelos was looking at her questionably, Lyla let go of his arm. “You weren’t responding.”

“Oh…” Turning away from her a gloomy expression covered his face but was quickly replaced with a cramped smile.

“Hey Lyla.”

“Yeah” feeling that Daelos’s actions were weird, Lyla hesitated before she answered.

“Where are we really?”

“We’re in your mind space.”

“Can we leave my mind space?”

“Huh” surprised by his question, it took a moment for her to respond. “We can leave whenever you want.”

“For real!”

Nodding her head in confirmation, a wide grin plastered itself on Daelos’s face. “What are we waiting for! Let’s go.”

Seeing him become so enthusiastic, Lyla felt a warm feeling in her chest. “Okay.”