In the beginning, there was a handsome and powerful dark being floating in the void. This awesome and awe-inspiring being was clearly not boasting of its awesomeness and taking the narrator's seat when he wasn't looking, it definitely wasn't doing that….
In a world much like our own, one of many in fact, the void was vast and in it existed countless realities, some never to collide, parallel, men worshiped as gods, gods treated as men, worlds with genders inverted, where humans spoke backwards, worlds where people could fly and tear the earth asunder and even ones where there were no humans at all. These worlds were truly bizarre beyond all measure and understanding.
In that vast emptiness, of the countless worlds that could be selected, endless candidates and yet only one will be selected a lone human male who could be considered blessed, athletic, tall, smart, and good looking, his family was also rather well off, and with him being the only child, he had all and anything he desired, well, almost anything.
***
Lucan Grey was an outstanding young man, at least that's what others told him, but he didn't like to think too much about it; if there was anything that bothered him, it was something he wasn't sure there was a same solution to.
An ominous shadow trailed him. It had started small, a misheard name, a black shape out of the corner of his eye, but soon it became something solid, something almost human.
It didn't do much else but stand there and be creepy. The apparition was completely invisible to others; its body was like looking through haze, a visual representation of background noise.
It didn't interfere with his life, nor did it make itself particularly hard to ignore. Its presence reminded him of some familiar tropes in popular manga and anime; the difference? This was was real life; only the insane should be seeing things like this.
"I've told you plenty you aren't insane, so can you at least hear me out for a minute?" Over time, the entity had begun to speak; it was in hushed tones that could barely be called whispers, but now? It had become quite opinionated.
The moment it could speak clearly, it began to speak, to judge everything he did, all while attempting to get him to engage it in conversation; he never did, not directly, but it also never stopped trying.
'I wonder where it got that flyer, did he pull it out of his ass or something?" The apparition gave him an appalled look, as though it had just heard something absurd.
"vulgar creature, I most certainly did not pull this out of my ass, this…" The creature started to ramble about how excellent and how brilliant its flyer was, and something about another world, Lucan had already tuned him out in favour of staring at a group of birds.
Lucan had yet to determine if his rather noisy apparition was a sign of his failing mental health, producing an imaginary friend for him in the form of this hazy ghost or if he was an actual ghost. All in all, he didn't like that it followed him into the bathroom.
'Even a schizo ghost should know not to break the bathroom rule. He complained in his mind, and the haze shifted uneasily.
"Oh come now, it was literally only one time" Lucan didn't even spare him a glance, much less an answer. He had been having nightmares recently, a repeating one about falling from a high place while muttering something he couldn't quite grasp.
The more the dream reoccurred, the more vivid it became, and in turn, the shadow following him grew less and less hazy. At some point, he had sought someone out.
This had led him to therapy. Medication and through it all, the humble bastard of an apparition remained patiently or perhaps impatiently, waiting for something. 'I wonder what he wants'.
"You can always ask". It lay on the bench next to him with a bag of salted potato chips, a lazy expression on his face, before extending his hand with the bag, giving it a little shake, "Want some? They're onion-flavoured".
Lucan turned away from the ghost and continued to stare into the distance, causing the apparition to shrug, "More for me then". It then proceeded to start stuffing its face greedily.
It wasn't that Lucan hated potato chips or onions but simply the principle of taking food from something you weren't sure existed wasn't a very wise course of action.
Lucan had liked to think he was the kind of person who enjoyed constant company, but with this very friendly ghost of his, he was starting to reconsider if eternal silence might not be a better option to put on the table.
"Oh dear, I wouldn't recommend it, it gets ugly really quickly." . The spectre was digging into his stray thoughts unannounced once again.
It was an odd feeling, having an extra party be privy to your stray thoughts, but perhaps he wouldn't have been bothered if the other party in question didn't judge them.
'If I had known I would have been less of a nerd'. He mused wondering how his life would have possibly been without those things he enjoyed.
"I'm telling you, it would drive you beyond bonkers". Lucan rolled his eyes with the quiet yet insulting thought of who had asked the irritating charky the charcoal chimney ghost for his input, much to the spirit's offence.
"Is Charky the best you could come up with? Charky?". Offering the spirit nothing but a wry smile the apparition angrily disappeared in a puff of black haze without saying another word.
Lucan shrugged, this wouldn't be the first time he had pissed it off. Soon, it would come back, just as annoying as when it had left and just as talkative. With that being said all he could do was just shake his head.
Rising from his seat he picked up his bag and started to make his way home for the day.
Lucan lived in a fairly modest house, which had been a family home though there wasn't much of a family living in it these days, with his parents rarely home he spent most days alone.
After a rather lonely dinner, he moved upstairs and took a bath before changing into his pyjamas and tossing himself on his bed and letting out a tired sigh after spending some time scrolling on his phone and wanting nothing but to shut his eyes and get some peace. 'I forgot to turn off the light'.
As part of his daily routine, Lucan would brush, bathe and then head straight to his bed, a routine he was faithful to and just as faithful was his habit of forgetting to turn off the lights before lying down.
"Man, I really hate this," he groaned. Black haze had started to coalesce at the door frame causing Lucan to let out another tired groan.
"Want some help?". The spectre asked, which only made Lucan chuckle as he thought there would be no harm in indulging the spirit in one of its offers, after all, since he was staying in the house now he might as well pay rent "If turning on and off a light switch could pay rent I'm sure everyone would do it. Anyway, should I??"
"Sure, go ahead, in fact, you can feel free to get me some air conditioning as well". He laughed to himself and was about to toss his covers off and rise to his feet to do it himself when he heard a click, the lights went off and the ghost replied with a single word.
"Okay". A short ominous and listless response that made his hair stand on end, Lucan could feel that something very wrong had just happened. Cold sweat dripped down his back as fear sank in "Oh, now you're afraid I see".
The spectre's voice bounced all across the room sounding both near and distant, the spectre's tone made it sound like it had come as a rather disappointing revelation, like one would upon trying too hard to solve a simple problem.
"I should have done this sooner"
He could feel his now not-so-friendly ghost frown, but even then he felt that wasn't quite the way to describe it. He couldn't see the ghost's face, and even more so in this darkness, it would be apt to say he could sense its irritation.
"What are you?" The entire house rattled. And the ghost's voice resounded in his ears, almost sounding like a whisper.
"Do you really want to know?". Whether it was curiosity or fear he found himself nodding.
"Excellent" blinding light from its mouth filled the room in its entirety, the smell of moldy wood and gasoline assaulted his nostrils and his head started to spin, as he grew dizzy, images, knowledge of things, concepts he could barely grasp, words no mortal dared to pronounce where pressed into his mind and yet within the same time frame, the memories had been stripped away, popped like soap bubbles, crumpled like paper and burned to ash.
Slowly, his senses returned to him as he lay with a stupefied expression on a pristine marble floor bearing an odd resemblance to sheets of paper. In the distance, the sound of clicking, tapping, scribbling drifted into his ears followed by the sound of pages being flipped and torn, the intervals so short that it seemed almost chaotic.
Lucan felt like with every thought, every breath the vigours and various sounds only grew, as though every thought and action he had was being recorded, documented, stored.
He lifted his head and before him lay an entity no larger than an eight-year-old, sitting on a throne so massive it could serve as a bed to a full-grown adult. Black pendulums swung back and forth around the hovering gigantic throne, suspended by nothing and equaling the size of a human head.
Speechless, Lucan's mind struggled to process what he was currently experiencing when a mighty voice resounded throughout the entire space and made his body and mind tremble.
[Lucan Grey] Lucan's gaze was locked onto the massive throne where the small entity rested their head in their palms, propped up by the massive armrest of the throne.
The entity no longer looked like a small eight-year-old, but was now a towering giant that looked down at him from above.
'How Is that —'
[Mortal Lucan Grey, you are deceased]
His thoughts were interrupted as the entity spoke, slamming him with a revelation that hit him so hard his emotions had yet to rise to the surface only able to ask in confusion. "Did you kill me?"
The giant didn't respond, merely gazing down at him in silence, like he hadn't spoken at all.
"Did you kill me?!" he asked again, his voice much louder and his emotions much more turbulent making it closer to an angry yell but before he could go any further he felt something press down on him.
There was no malice in this force, nor did it bring him any pain; it was simply force, domination, primal fear that induced obedience. It was as though the very thing that represented Lucan Grey was being pressed down.
[Mortal Lucan Grey, rejoice, you have been selected to serve a higher purpose]. The entity continued to speak, and he could feel his brain melting, bubbling and turning into foam, despite that, Lucan's anger only seemed to grow.
"My life" He attempted to rise to his feet only to be knocked down by a new wave of pressure, the being looked at him with a look akin to how one would handle a small animal, it irritated him. "Why?"
[Because I'm bored, I told you, didn't I? Eternal peace and quiet can go bad very quickly].
Lucan was stunned, he was appalled, he was outraged, and was angrier still as the god sighed, its enormous size reverted back into that of a small child and the emotions within him dulled once again.
This entity was anything but benevolent, however it was not evil, it simply did not wish to end up like its brethren. They had been driven mad by their godhood indulging in perverse luxuries, creating entire universes to satiate their lusts and wicked delusions, unlike his brethren it had yet to completely go mad and therefore had no plans to allow what little sanity it had in its grasp fade.
This was the underlying summary that had been contained in its earlier sentence, a summary that would in no way reach the ears of the mortal before him whose soul was currently like a match stick in a storm.
[Don't be too upset, you may suffer but the rewards will be worth it] the entity shrugged [It wont come easy though]
It extended a finger towards Lucan and a mark began to outline itself on his skin, he screamed in pain and cursed under his breath, sweat dripping from his body as he struggled "S…Stop".
The process continued until he could no longer even move, blinded by the searing pain that permeated his vessel, when it finally ended, he lifted a teary eyed gaze toward the massive throne.
[From now on you are cursed, you and every child from your bloodline, shall inherit this curse] the entity spoke calmly, but every word it spoke felt like a jack hammer was landing on his skull.
[You will be unable to gain any special abilities from your new world] Lucan could feel the mark etched into his body pulse [It doesn't matter what you do, whether you dive into a radioactive vat of chemicals, get bitten by a vampire or drink a dead gods blood you and everyone after you will never gain any abilities native to this world]
The more he spoke the more distraught Lucan became 'I thought he said I would benefit from this too? How am I even supposed to survive where he's sending me ?'. Sensing his thoughts he could feel the entity grin.
[Now then, I hope your journey will be as entertaining as it is miserable] with that his body sank into the ground as his surroundings grew vague and the sounds faded into obscurity and his vision darkened.
"Somebody, help me" he said weakly as his vision faded to black, his journey had now officially just begun.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support