Damien woke up to the calls of seagulls and the sound of water lapping on a shore along with the heavenly feeling of a very comfortable bed.
He almost wanted to go back to sleep, content on remaining there forever, but was held back when his brain caught up to the fact that he was on a bed when, instead, the last thing he remembered was being in a cavern.
His brain was still woozy and he somehow had a mild headache. He frowned, he shouldn't be having headaches at all. Strange.
Damien massaged his temple, his memories coming back slowly. The last thing he remembered was hearing a voice just before he lost consciousness, probably the world spirit. But the voice was different, so maybe I was hallucinating from getting chucked so bad, he thought but frowned again as he remembered that his mind couldn't have been easily tampered with at his level, and certainly not from a mild headache.
That was when his mind caught up to the fact that he wasn't alone in the room.
Sitting up, he finally took in the room. He was in a massive luxurious room, with walls painted of bleached white. A black and white motif hung from the ceiling in a beautiful display alongside a chandelier with hundreds of bulbs. A look through the open windows gave him a breathtaking view of an ocean that went on endlessly, complete with the smell of the calming ocean wind.
"When you're done admiring the room, you can then tell me how you're feeling."
Damien jolted, looking over to see Keilan sitting on a chair on one side of the room, an open book in his hands. He smiled when Damien turned towards him, but Damien could see the concern in the other man's eyes.
"Aside from this woozy feeling and the strange headache I have, I think I'm fine," he assured.
Keilan only looked more concerned. "That's strange; you're not supposed to have any sort of naturally occurring mental illness. let me call in one of the healers to come have you checked." He stretched his hands to a set of runes drawn on the wall that would instantly alert a twin placed in another location, probably the doctor's office.
"No, no no, I'm sure I must have gotten thoroughly checked when I was unconscious," Damien said. "Judging from how undressed I am." He looked at the other man with a raised eyebrow.
Keilan was unconcerned. "They had to remove all your clothing to be thorough. You don't know how strange and alarming it is for a Spirit lord to suddenly lose consciousness."
Damien sighed, he did know how worrying it was. The moment one began their path, they were eventually on the path to immortality. As they climbed higher in the realms of power, so were all their mortal faults stripped from them. The brain wouldn't require sleep ever again, and the body's stamina would be vastly upgraded alongside its fortification to new heights, increasing eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, and touch. Hell, even the mortal need to excrete waste would be removed as any food taken in would just be transformed into energy.
At the rank of spirit lord, Damien was already halfway through to becoming something beyond the capacity of a world to contain. He should have been incapable of having any sort of natural illness, his body regeneration was too much for any sort of illness to take hold. So it had to be spiritual.
"I remember unlocking those runes in the cave and the wave of energy that followed, I was about to teleport away, thinking you were going to follow, but I was stopped by..." White hot Anger flared through him as he remembered the world spirit's success at trapping him at that moment, holding him down with gravity and space.
"Yes, I remember that too," Keilan said, an undertone of anger in his voice. "But there's nothing we can do about it."
Reluctant as he was to admit it, he had to accept that Keilan was right. What the world spirit did was immoral to most sensibilities, but in the world of the truly powerful, it was viewed as their right. It was a universal rule that the strong ruled, everyone knew it. If you didn't want to be subjected to the whims of others, you just had to get stronger
"How did you bring me here? I thought for sure that we were dead. The last seconds before I lost consciousness was of the wave hitting me and then stopping short, which was strange. When it touched me, I felt something search through me, looking for something.... I don't remember the rest, my head still feels woozy."
"Something intruded in your soul?" Keilan leaned forward, eyes narrowed.
"That wasn't even the strangest thing that happened. Was it only me? Or did you also hear the voice?" He asked.
"What voice?"
"The one that spoke to me before I lost consciousness, bypassing all my mental defenses straight into my mind. I don't remember what was said."
[I said 'Hello Damien, nice to finally meet you.]
He froze. "Who's that?"
Keilan raised an eyebrow, looking around the room. "Damien, there's nobody here. Are you sure you're alright? Maybe I should call in a healer."
"No, I'm alright. I just heard the voice again and I'm definitely sure that it's real and not a figment of my imagination," he said, stopping Keilan from voicing his obvious thoughts.
"Show yourself!" He said aloud. "I'm not afraid to blast this room to kingdom come just to flush you out."
[Peace! Peace! Don't blast! I come in peace.] Something flashed out of him, eliciting a scream from him that definitely was not manly.
[I like this room, it would be a shame to see it destroyed,] The thing said. Damien looked up and saw a small man-shaped thing floating in the air, with its hands raised in a sign of surrender.
"What are you?" Damien asked.
The thing was shaped like a human, except it was grey from head to toe and seven inches tall. It was dressed in a tiny grey suit with grey hair that drifted slowly in the air like it was being caressed by the wind. It was practically looking sculpted, except its body was made of a grey glassy something that definitely was not clay.
[I'm your multi—] It didn't get to finish its answer before it was slammed, flying to collide with the wall. Damien looked over at Keilan who was standing where the man-shaped thing had been, a raised book in his hands.
"What did you do that for!?" Damien said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I not the only one seeing the strange GREY THINGY THAT CAME OUT OF YOU AND IS NOW FLOATING IN THE AIR, EVEN TALKING!" by the time he was finished, his face was red and his eyes had widened.
[Hey! Who are you calling a grey thingy?]
They both looked over to find the thing hovering behind Keilan's head, hands on its waist as it glared at its aggressor.
"Ahhhh!" They both screamed, looking between where it had been slammed on the wall a moment before.
"Okay, okay, everybody, calm down," Damien said, waving down Keilan, who held his book up like a weapon, ready to swat the thing away mortal style. He had apparently forgotten that he was a Spirit lord and could bring down this entire building with a simple power flex.
They both calmed, turning to look at Damien.
He breathed in, calming himself also and switching his mindset to that of a spirit lord, as he should have at the beginning.
He looked at the grey man. "You were about to tell me who you are."
[Yes! I would have explained if not for this egg-headed being who attacked me without any reason! I mean, who does that?!]
"Who are you calling egg-headed? You pipsqueak," Keilan replied, the air quivering as his emotion began bleeding through.
The man thing gasped. [Did you just call me pipsqueak? I'll have you know that it isn't by height but what is within us." It waved its little fist at Keilan.
"Oh, wha—"
"Enough!" Damien shouted. "You guys aren't children. At least, some of you."
[I'll be mature and refuse to answer you for that. That's me being mature.]
Damien ignored that. "What are you?" He asked for the second time, his tone conveying his seriousness.
[Hmm, how do I say this? It's complicated, and you might not completely understand, but I'm your... Let me call it, your minder.]
"My what now?"
[Your minder,] it repeated, drifting slowly through the air to float in front of him. [And also many things.]
"I don't think I need a minder, and definitely one in your size. Don't take it personal. I don't understand the rest of what you just said."
[Don't mind my current size, my entire mass is In a spatial vault.]
"Wait wait," Keilan interrupted. "Damien isn't asking the right questions. What he should be asking is what you are and what you meant by being his minder. Since you both just met and I don't remember him ever giving you a job."
"That's a good question," Damien said, turning to the thing.
[Okay, where should I start? Hmm, I am a being that was specifically created to be of any assistance to you, from giving you advice pertaining to your paths and helping you avoid getting yourself killed.]
"What about the 'utility' part?"
The thing sighed. [Usually, you are meant to have known this by now since we were supposed to have been together since before you awakened, but I can be anything for you.] it changed its shape from a humanoid into a small house and then a mounted animal. [See?]
But that wasn't what Damien was focused on. When it was done, a shiver ran down Damien's spine. "What do you mean by being specifically created for me?" He asked, anxiety running through him.
[What I said, I was created to be of any use to you,] it replied.
Keilan then asked the question Damien should have asked. "Who created you?" His voice tense.
It turned to face Damien. [Oh, your father.]