"What do you mean by going home exactly?" The sudden reappearance of the voice had startled Kael a little, but everything he had experienced over the last few hours left him too numb to care. "Oh? Are you ready to answer now? That's good." The muted, rhythmic sound of dress shoes on parquet drew his attention. Just a moment later, an immaculately dressed man arrived by his table and sat down. Short, black hair and rimless glasses framed an aged face full of compassion and disapproval. Clothed in a black suit and tie, the man looked familiar to Kael, though he could not place him. Not that his identity much mattered, but he would have liked to know anyway. "Well, well, well. This is quite the pickle you find yourself in, huh?" Thankfully, despite the ambiguous nature of his words, there was no gloating or pleasure in his voice. Instead, there were only reproach and concern. "Mh-hm. That seems to be the case. You would not happen to know anything about my current situation, do you?" The man nodded as if happy Kael had asked that particular question. "Ahh, yes. I do, in fact, know something about your current situation."

Soft clicks from the clock hanging to the side of the room filled the silence as Kael waited for more information. The satisfied and happy expression the man had adopted after his none-answer was starting to piss Kael off. "And? Are you going to tell me?" He finally can't take it anymore and speaks first. "Oh? Sure, what do you want to know?" - "Please," Kael sighed, "I have had a rough... day, time, whatever already. Does it have to be this difficult?" - "Tzk! You're no fun. Fine! But really, what do you want to know about?" His pout would have made Kael feel bad if not for the fact that it was an older man doing it. "Well, let's start with what you said in the beginning. What did you mean by me waking up? Oh, and where am I anyway?" - "Well, a detailed explanation would require a much, MUCH deeper understanding of magic and the human mind, so, in favor of expedience and my sanity, I'll stick with the basics. Right now, your body is unconscious. You came very close to death, and through various circumstances too complicated to explain, your mind ended up in a state of deeply connected mediation."

"Huh. Not what I expected, to be honest." Kael had expected this to be some kind of purgatory or a form of hell. Lucid dreaming was another possibility he had considered but discarded quickly. He was much too aware for this to be a dream, no matter how lucid. Should he have realized that it was his mind playing tricks on him? But then, meditation had never felt like this before. "Ah! What did you mean, exactly, by deeply connected meditation?" - "Nice! Good job noticing. The state you are in has many names. Some cultures call it communing with the spirits, some gaining enlightenment, some reflection. Basically, through intense and prolonged contact with magic, like when you lost consciousness while still using the stuff, a mind can form a connection to it. Then, as magic tends to do, it boosts your meditation, giving power and form to what you are thinking about." The answer, and all of its implications, took a while for Kael to digest. "So if I had been concerned about a, let's say, decision, it would have helped me decide?" The man tapped his cheek in contemplation for a moment. "Well, not exactly. You seem to think that magic has a will or intent. That is a wrong, and very, very dangerous misunderstanding. Never forget this: Magic is nothing more than energy. It is very potent and versitile energy, but energy nonetheless."

The man spent the next few minutes lecturing Kael about the dangers of labeling magic as anything more than energy. Stories of people believing themselves chose, by magic or a god, because of their powers and causing widespread destruction and death reinforced his warning. "Ok, so what are you?" The question had come to him after hearing the explanation of where he was. If this was based on his mind, how could a man give him information that Kael did not know? "Ahh. You could call me a phantom if you will. If you remember, you got your magic through a ritual, did you not? Well, the ritual transferred not only magical talent. It left some of the experiences and knowledge of the donor as a kind of residue. Nothing too impactful, mind you. Just an instinct here and there. The shadow also fades over time, so make the most out of it while you still can." - "So you are the Archmage?" - "Oh, no, no. The shadow has no personality. It is just an amalgamation of memory fragments and instincts."

Before Kael could ask more questions, the constant droning that had accompanied him through all of the different scenarios grew in intensity. "It seems that your time here is up." - "Huh?! What do you mean?" - "I mean that you are waking up, boy." The droning slowly changed pitch as it grew louder, sounding more and more like the beeping of a microwave. At the same time, Kael's surroundings started to fade into obscurity, quickly leaving him alone in a darkening void. The light faded, and he was in complete darkness, the beeping his only companion. Then there was a change, and he opened his eyes.