He hesitated to open his eyes. Slowly but surely, he could feel his own brain begin to hum to life and his senses growing more sharp by the second.
Lapsing his face was the repeated waves of heat, and crackling in his ear was the chaotic sound of tamed fire. The notable scent of nothing yet everything all at once began to permeate through the cold air, giving an odd sense of void.
And yet he hesitated.
Only when that stubbornness began to fade could he see — directly in front of his gaze was the sight of dark, rusted metal bars and the rough texture of the cavernous walls — a lonesome gate being the only way out. He had known the moment he saw:
He was in a prison for a reason completely unbeknownst to him.
He couldn't see much on the outside; The cell being placed along the side of a cryptic hallway. With that in mind, his gaze naturally shifted into his own cell.
It was oddly long yet depressingly narrow.
That was the first thing which caught his eye. He pictured the space to be about the same size as your average bedroom, though obviously stretched out into a slim line.
It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the row of bunks lining the back wall. This was a cell designed not for him alone, but a mass of criminals — all of which were currently laying right beside him on the floor.
Now, he could tell two things; He was in a prison and he was brought here with others. He was simply the first to wake up.
It wasn't due to pure coincidence, either. While he sat under the warm glow of the fire, a subtle and slightly robotic female voice began to ring out in his ear...
[Wake up]
At first, he tried to ignore it. In his adolescent mind, it was nothing more than an odd form of illusion.
The voice, however, was persistent.
[Wake up] [Wake up]
It was only until its twentieth repeat did the boy finally chose to speak…
"Who are you?" He asked calmly.
As if to process the question, a brief pause followed. Once the disembodied voice returned, much to his pleasant surprise did it speak something new.
[I am nothing, just as you are nothing]
"What does that even mean?" He queried, giving a slight tense on one of his eyes. In some sense, however, an odd form of understanding began to form in his mind. "Are you saying I'm not real?"
Once more, a brief pause. [You're as real as the others who surround you, though your composition is different - you're the same as me]
"And what are you?"
[I am magic]
A slight hint of confusion latched onto the boy's face. "I thought you were nothing? Now you're something?"
[In some sense, both are correct - I have no physical manifestation, though I am practically all your eyes see - It'd be more accurate to say that I am everywhere yet nowhere all at once, thus making me everything and nothing]
"…That doesn't make any sense."
[It will - Simply give it time]
By now, the boy had grown to expect the unsettling and awkward delay between its statements. For the same reason, when he sprung his next question, his eyes naturally glared around the room so as to occupy the space.
"So, mysterious talking magic, where am I?"
[You are where you need to be - Fate has-]
"Stop with the damn riddles," He interjected, "tell me where I am."
It's voice shifted to sounding almost defeated. […You're at the top of a mountain - A small prisoner mining camp by its peak…]
"See~? Was that so hard??"
It didn't respond.
The boy opened his mouth so as to speak his next question, though a voice just off to his side stopped him. "Are you insane?"
His eyes peered towards his right, only to see the other group of convicts just beginning to open their eyes.
A stern man, skin slightly darker under the flickering torchlight and head without a single hair present, critically peered towards the boy. "Why the hell are you talking to yourself?"
Before he could form a response of his own, the magic began to speak:
[He appears to be bald.]
'Well no shit…' he thought to himself.
For a brief moment, he wondered how he could cover up the fact he had a mysterious devil — or perhaps an angel — in his ear. 'Maybe I could plead insanity,' He triumphantly suggested.
Instead of using his own excuse, an abrupt and sudden question began to plague his mind.
"Wait... Are these guys nothing too?"
The silence was deafening. Even Mrs. "Nothing Yet Everything" gave an audible sigh.
The man's face was what only could be described as flabbergasted. "W- what did you call me?" He gasped.
The boy shook his head before turning it back towards the hall. "Nothing- never mind."
'I'll take that as a no.'
[You don't appear to be the brightest, but that's fine - And yes, that is in fact a 'no']
His eyes widened. 'Wait- you can hear my thoughts?'
[I created you, of course I can]
'You were being serious?'
[I already told you - I exist as magic, and you're a derivative of my power]
'Magic, huh...'
[I know it's a lot to take in, so allow me to inform you of some customs of this world - The inhabitants view me as nothing but a tool to abuse, most unknown to the fact that I have a consciousness of my own - In their eyes, they refer to me as something 'special...']
'Which is?'
[To them, they call me the System - and now you exist, in some sense, as my firstborn - You're the first to be given a magic core - Core 01]