I could hear an angel. She was weeping. She was pleading with someone, begging them… Who? I couldn’t see. An endless darkness was before my eyes. Were my eyes open? The darkness welcomed me, my first friend, my first guardian. It embraced me, it assured me. But the angel. I knew it was an angel, I knew I must be with the angel, but I cannot. Why?

The darkness stirred. The darkness shook, It called out. The darkness began to leave.

“Don’t go! Don’t leave me!” Did I call out to the darkness, or was it the angel that pleaded?

“Kage… Kageeeee…. KAGE! Wake up!” I opened my eyes, they felt heavy. My thoughts were jumbled, my vision was blurred, my ears felt muddled, my tongue was dry, my nose felt clogged. Slowly a landscape began to come into focus, a landscape that defied reason. It was everything, and yet nothing, indescribable, a plain of light, a mountain of darkness, a searing red inferno of flame, a numbing blue blizzard of ice.

“W-where… am I?” I said weakly.

“Dead, Kage. Geez, wake up will you? I am tired of waiting around, I have things to do you know!” The voice I heard earlier replied. My ears now becoming more acute, I glanced around for the speaker. I was laying down, yet standing. It was… indescribable. The place I lay and stood clearly existed, yet certainly did not. It was very confusing.

“I’m here! Here! Geez, newbies take so long.” The voice spoke again, but it came from all around, and yet I felt I could pinpoint its source. Someone began to come into focus in the orderly chaos in which I stood and lay. They were humanoid… but the form only went as far as that. The humanoid shape was made of a swirling vortex of flame.

“Ah, finally, you’re fully formed. You can see me now, right?” The flame asked.

“Ah… I think so…” I hesitantly replied. What is going on? Did the flame say that I died earlier? How did I…?

“Hoh, a darkness type, eh? Don’t get many of those. I was going to assign you a more mundane job, being a murderer and all, but I could…”

“Darkness type? Job?” The flame’s words were only giving me more questions.

“Hmm, but you did save that girl, so maybe it is possible after all… Balance does need to be restored, after all… Yep, that settles it! You! Sign here!” The flame held its hand forward and a panel of light appeared, in it were many odd symbols I had never seen.

“W-what is this?” I Reached my hand out whilst asking, and got a start. My hand appeared as though it were a smoky clawed hand. Before I could retract my hand to examine it, the panel of light flashed, and my signature could clearly be seen at its bottom.

“Great. Well, good luck!” The flame said before vanishing in a swirl of flame.

“W-Wait! You didn’t answer any of my questions!” I called out, stretching my hand out as if to catch the flame.

“Ah!” I yelled in exasperation, and the surprise of seeing my hand again unchanged. I examined my hand more closely. It looked as though it were a shadow permeating an aura that generated yet more shadow, looking almost smoke-like. My arm was the same, and I continued to examine my body. My entire body was like this.

Ah, thats right… I died, saving Aiko. I hope she's ok. She seemed pretty distraught, last I saw… That still leaves so many questions unanswered though… I need to find that flame person again…

Just as I was thinking this, another figure appeared, also humanoid in shape, yet it appeared to be made of water, calm, undisturbed, feminine.

“Ah, a newcomer. Hello, you can call me Tranquil. What is your name?” Tranquil said in a friendly tone.

“I am… Kage… no… Umbra… Scio Umbra…” I answered, struggling to remember.

“Ohh, so you remember your pre-spirit name? That is pretty rare. Although, you should probably refer to yourself as Kage from now on.”

“...Tranquil? What exactly… is going on?” I asked, desperate for answers.

“Hmmm, well I don’t know how much Tochk told you. He’s an impatient spirit, makes me wonder how he manages in his line of work. Well, I guess we should start with the most basic of the basics: You are now an elemental spirit. An elemental spirit’s job is to aide the gods in maintaining balance. Maintaining the balance can be done a number of ways. Did Tochk have you sign anything?”

“Yes…?” I answered, not quite sure of it myself. Tranquil’s response was to take my wrist in one hand, and tap it with her finger. I could not feel anything when she grasped my wrist, nor when she tapped it with her finger. After tapping my wrist with her finger, a panel of light appeared, angled toward her.

“Oh. Oh dear. Well, this is the gist of it: You are the direct secretary to a god. Your job is to assist them in whatever they need, sort of a jack-of-all-trades thing. So, from here, you should report to the Goddess of Darkness, Obscura.” Tranquil’s tone sounded slightly disturbed for a moment.

“The Goddess of Darkness, Obscura… How do I find her?” I inquired. The name sounded familiar…

“You just need to become one with your element…” Tranquil answered simply. Somehow, it made sense to me.

“Thanks for your help Tranquil. Ah, before I go, how do I find you again?” I asked just to be on the safe side. Being left with questions really bothers me, so if it happens again, I need someone to run to.

“Ah! Well, if you end up with time off, we can usually meet at the secretary spirit tavern! See, it's a place where direct secretaries to the gods can go to kill time, figuratively of course, because killing time would create one massive imbalance! You can get there by imagining your element surrounded by three or so other elements. Fortunately you don’t have to imagine them all.”

“You are also a direct secretary then?”

“Yep! To Goddess of Life, Pluvia! She’s a nice boss!” Tranquil said cheerfully. “Well, I need to get back to work, it was a pleasure to meet you. My condolen- I mean, good luck with your job!” Tranquil said as she vanished into a lingering vapor.

I nearly followed suit, when an idea came to mind. ‘I should look more presentable for Obscura. She is a goddess after all. But, how?’ Just as I thought this, I longed for my old familiar dark gray cloak. Oddly enough, it appeared, wrapped around me, slightly different from its old form, as it also seemed to permeate shadows, like my new elemental form.

‘Perfect.’ I thought, as I became one with my element. Darkness seemed to surround me, and I seemed to seep into the darkness, and the scenery shifted. No longer was I in an orderly and chaotic existence of many elements, now I was in some sort of structure soaked in absolute darkness. Although I knew there was not a spec of light, I could see clearly, as though nothing could hide from me in the dark.

The structure had a grandiose, yet somehow sad style to it. It seemed lonely and cold, yet I felt no change in temperature since waking in this place. I looked around, trying to find Obscura. What did a god look like anyway? There was no one in the room I was in currently, so I moved down the first corridor I saw. I didn’t feel like I could get lost in this place. It felt… Right…

I began to hear some peculiar sounds. Hopefully it was Obscura. I picked up the pace, reaching a swift jaunt. I should have been creating sound, my head should be bobbing… Oh, my feet aren't touching the ground. It was as though I were a specter. The sounds got louder, and I quickened my ‘pace’ yet again.

*BOP* *CRASH* *BANG* *THWACK* “Hahh! Got you! Your mine now!” I heard the voice of a young girl as I entered the room I sought. There sat a young girl on a black plushie in a simple white nightgown, a device in her hand, and a device with moving people on it before her. Some sort of scrying tool?

I saw two people fighting on it, A muscular man in white, with brown hair and red headband, and another equally muscular man wearing the exact same outfit in red, with blond hair and no headband. One or the other would yell something like ‘Hadoken!’ and ‘Shoryuken!’ occasionally.

“Wha! Pluvia, you CHEAT! Hey! Stop spamming the throws! Grrrr!” The girl yelled, grasping at a device placed over her head. “Damn you!”

“Goddess Obscura?” I chose then to interject.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA! WHO’S THERE!?” The young girl screamed, dropping the device she held in her hand, and flailing about in surprise, getting tangled in what appeared to be strings.

“.......... I am Sci- err, Kage. I have been assigned as your direct secretary?” I spoke stunned at her reaction.

She searched the room for a good ten seconds before her eyes steadied on me. “Whoa, you are really good… DON’T STARTLE ME LIKE THAT! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!”... Can gods even get heart attacks? “And… oh.. Really? I actually have a secretary?”

“Yes?”

“P… Pluvia! I have a Secretary!” The girl… No, Obscura, picked up the device that was on her head and almost screamed into it.

“....” I don't know what more to say… I am stunned…. What’s going on?