《Archetypical》


 Chapter One

    Every story starts with an apocalypse.


    Not the fire and brimstone variety, of course, but then, that wasn¡¯t always what the word evoked. In times gone by, it was used to describe the destruction of a world in general, and it wasn¡¯t always literal.


    A sudden betrayal; an unexpected opportunity; a goal found insufficient or misguided.


    A thing is assumed, and that assumption is proven incorrect. That is how every story begins.


    With a revelation.


    Lucas had expected death to come with more revelation. He wasn¡¯t dead now, obviously, but he knew he¡¯d died; he could remember it fine. Maybe he didn¡¯t get much out of it because it was so quick? He hadn¡¯t even heard the sound, just a glimpse of muzzle flash and then¡­ this.


    A darkness that extended in all directions that he could see. And he could see; he had a body, and all seemed normal. No gaping holes in his head, and all his parts seemed to be working fine. He could do with a piss, but he¡¯d been holding that before he died, too.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Suddenly, from the darkness emerged a¡­ something. Vaguely blob-shaped and mildly translucent, it hovered ¨C to whatever extent there was anything to hover above ¨C at about the height of Lucas¡¯s head. With it, a voice came from nowhere in particular that Lucas could discern. It was without inflection or accent, directionless and yet somehow perfectly audible.


    ¡°You¡­ are dead,¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Suppose that depends on what you mean by ¡®dead¡¯,¡± Lucas replied.


    ¡°It is true, you- what?¡±


    ¡°I mean, obviously I died, I remember that. Or the moments before, anyway; can¡¯t maintain awareness of being dead, or you wouldn¡¯t really be dead, would you? But, I¡¯m also obviously not dead now, since I¡¯m here, talking to you. Think therefore I am, and all that. So, if you want to say I¡¯m dead, you probably can, but you¡¯ll need to tweak the definition a bit.¡±


    Lucas grinned at the whatever-it-was. It had no mouth, no eyes, no face at all that he could see, so he just sort of stared at center mass and waited.


    A couple moments of silence. The voice sighed.


    ¡°So you¡¯re one of those. Great.¡±