Chapter 1: So many Questions

"Where am I? Why is it so dark? Why can't I move?" She tried to look around, but everything was so dark she might as well have had her eyes closed. She tried to remember how she had gotten here, and tried to figure out just where here was. The girl, who's name happened to be Mya, was so lost in her thoughts of how she came to be here, she was startled to hear a voice around her.

"So many questions you have. They are quite stupid too." The voice sounded bored, but not threatening.

"Wouldn't you ask questions if you found yourself in a predicament? I don't think my questions are stupid. And by the way, who are you?"

"Such a sarcastic tone, and they are stupid because you should know the answers to all of them. Except for maybe the last one. I don't suppose you would know me."

"I just woke up and here I am. How would I know the answers to those questions?" She was beginning to feel irritated at the person she couldn't see and her inability to move and see were causing her to panic slightly. She managed to keep control of her mind.

"Well, that's a question that is more stupid than the first three. You are here. It is dark because you are not looking. And you cant move because something is stopping you."

Mya could hear the smirk in his voice. It was infuriating.

"If my questions are stupid, then what is with the answers? I didn't learn anything useful!"

"But those are the answers to the questions you asked." The voice sounded bored.

"Those arn't the answers I want!" She yelled out at the unseen person. She tried to move, but she couldn't even lift a finger, move her eyes, or move her.... mouth?

Wait! How had she been talking just a second before? She tried to form words, make sounds come, but nothing would work. It seemed to her like hours before the voice spoke once again.

"If you would like to communicate with me, do it like you did before."

"Well how did I do it before!?" She thought despretly.

"Like that." The voice seemed ammused.

"You can read my thoughts?"

"No."

"Well, how am I talking to you?"

"You arn't."

"But I am communicating with you!" She was almost loosing her patience.

"Yes you are." The voice was becoming exasperated.

"But I am not talking?"

"Ooh, you are becoming smart!" The joy in his voice was hard to miss. "And I said there was no hope for you."

"I am smart! I don't need to become smart."

"If you think so. I am surrised you feel so naturally into communicating in our way. That is a plus for you. But you are by no means smart yet."

"I am too smart! The smartest human alive!" She was convinced of this.

"If you would like to think that."

"Well, I do think that. Cogito ergo sum."

"Well, you arn't smart because you think..."

"Whatever... Now for another question, where am I?"

"Here."

"So you have said!" She was beginning to loose her patience. "Why won't you tell me what I need to know?"

"I answer the questions that you ask." The voice said pointedly. "I can't help it if your questions are stupid. Maybe you should try asking other questions, such as 'who are you?'"

"Ok then. Who are you? Or what, I cant really see you."

"You arn't really looking either... I am me.

"What is your name? What should I call you?" Mya was getting exasperated.

"Call me Hermes. Yes, the messenger. That will do. You couldn't possibly pronounce my name."

"Why are you here." Hermes couldn't possibly miss the sarcasm on "here."

"I was told to come here. They said you would be here."

"Who said that?"

"Those who told me to come."

"Who are they?"

"Even I do not know that, but we must listen to them. Did they not call you?" The voice's interest was peaked.

"No one called me here."

"Strange... yes." The voice had become thoughtful.

"What are you? Are you human... like me?"

"No. There is no word for what I am in your language. English is very restricting to thought, at least for me."

"Well, speaking of being restricted, I cant move, or see. You haven't told me how to move!"

"You haven't asked."

"Yes I did! I asked why I couldn't move or see!"

"You did ask that. And I answered."

"Oh." Realization began to dawn on her. "I haven't asked how I do these things. Fine then, how do I see... When I am here" She added the last part as an afterthought. She was trying to make sure Hermes couldn't make any more smart comments.

"Well, I have to explain some things first, so don't get all mad if I don't answer your questions right at first."

"Fine..." Mya was impatient. If he didn't hury, well, she didn't know what she would do. She couldn't do much.

"Seeing doesn't really matter. At least, in the Spirit Realm it doesn't. That is because when you are here, <iwhere</i doesn't matter."

"What matters?"

"You are not in the physical world anymore. You are in the world of souls, spirits, and thoughts. You are trying to use muscles that do not exist in this world. You are trying to look for things, not see them" If Hermes was planning on helping Mya, all he did was make her more nervous about her situation.

"Am I dead?" There was a nervouse edge to her voice.

"No, No, Of course not!" It was hard to miss the laughter in Hermes' voice. "You would be here if you were, but I can sense you are too involved with the physical world. Even the newly dead don't have <ithis</i much trouble."

Mya was about to retort, but Hermes quickly began talking again. "But enough about that, its time to teach you to see." His tone lost it's humour and he became serious, but Mya couldn't tell if it was a moch seriousness. "This will be hard, there are many things for which your human language has no words.

"I will start with an example. Right now, we are conversing, though we are not using the spoken word. You are not using your ears. You are also using a different part of your brain as well. You have to learn to see like you learned to hear. Try to see me."

Mya was busy processing this information and trying to see at the same time. She could tell she would be strainining her eyes in the physical world. She was trying to use the wrong muscles.

"Why is it so hard?" She whined as she paused to give herself a break.

"Thats just the way things work. There are certain things that are easy, and certain things that are hard to learn in this realm when you are not based in the spirit realm. Here it is easiest to exist without doing anything, as it is in all realms. Next its easiest to exist with others. Then its a bit harder to communicate with the others. Finally its hardest of all to see. Seeing is much different here. You have rested enough. Continue!"

Mya tried even harder, she thought she felt a flicker of understanding, but the thought slipped away. She became agitated, not only at her perdicament, but also herself.

'I am smart, I know I can figure this out.' she thought to herself. <iAll I need is to ask the right questions</i

"What will I see? What will you look like?"

"We are not in the physical universe, so you will see the spiritual universe. You will see me as I am, most humans see other beings here as human, however."

"I'll see you as you are, but as human?" Mya asked incredulously. "Your not making this any easier..."

"You should be able to tell whether I am bad, or good, and other certain inherent things about my personality. Try to feel; its more like a feeling."

My concentrated. She understood the voice was there.

'But where?... No! Not where. Where does not matter.' She thought about it for a minute more, and finally it was as if a light went on in her head, and with the light in her head it was as if a light was turned on for her in the spirit world.

"I can see! I can see!" Mya was ecstatic, she giggled in her happiness. She looked around her. It was mostly dark except for the bright forms around her. They looked like people to her, surrounded by light. The farther away they were from her, they more they looked like stars. One was very close, he seemed to be laughing at her. She could tell this man -or was he a boy?- was Hermes. All she could tell, was that he was someone in whom one could put their complete trust... and that he enjoyed laughing.

Looking around this new place, it wasn't long before Mya's mind was filled with questions again.

"You said where doesn't matter here, but why are some of these people further away than others?"

"I don't see people..."

"Well, what should I call..." She indicated all the others around her.

"Oh, those are essenses, conciousness of other beings. Some do not have bodies in the physical world, and exist only here. You can just call them stars, or spirits."

"Well anyway, about these spirits. You told me where doesn't matter, but I see these stars as if they were in a fixed spot." She looked around to make sure, and sure enough to her there was definately a left and a right.

"Well, where doesn't matter here, but since you are human and are so dependent on the physical world, your brain puts the stars in perspective like that. The ones closer to you are the ones you can sense the best, or the ones you are most aware of. The ones directly in front of you are the ones that you are most interested in, and the brighter ones are the people that are more aware of the spirit realm. That should answer most of the questions you had, or would have."

"I guess I understand. I guess I will... What is that?!" A shadow was approaching. It blocked out the light from the spirits and it moved slowly around both Mya and Hermes. "Will it..?"

"Silence." His voice was harsh, but Mya could sense it was from his fear. It seemed to Mya that he had moved closer to her, and that some connection was being formed between them.

Soon, none of the stars were visible, the dark shadow covered everything. She could feel something trying to enter her thoughts, her very spirit. She tried to push it away, but she could not. She could only hold the force at bay as her terror mounted. It was a terror she had never felt before.

She was not able to hold it off for long. It surrounded her, trying to bore into her mind and tear her away from Hermes. She wouldn't give up, she kept the connection with Hermes, but she felt her power draining. This was too much... too much...

"Hermes!" She yelled as she felt all her streangth leave. Everything was black, so black. Was Hermes even there? There could be nothing in this dark void. It was opressive. On all sides it tried to crush her, end her forever, make her part of the blackness. She would become part of the darkness.

"Hermes!" She let out one last scream before she started to fade.

She barely noticed the light that surrounded her before she blacked out entirely.