AN: This chapter is a bit...weird. But I promise we get to the good stuff soon, and introduce all those characters we're waiting for. Stick with me, pretty please with strawberries on top!

CHAPTER 2: The Guide

I was fascinated by the sights and sounds around me, but very determined to get to my destination. I was just about to ask a sweet looking older woman for directions to Gaius' when the world around me froze. It was as if someone has pushed a pause button.

It wasn't just the people either. A goat had paused mid chew, and a tendril of smoke was frozen in front of my face. I reached out to touch it then a...being...appeared in the way. It wasn't there, then it just was. The world around it grew fuzzy, so it was surrounded by a Monet, then just a kaleidoscope of colors.

I couldn't get my eyes to focus on it. I had the impression of something human-shaped, but I wasn't actually seeing it with my eyes.

"Well, you are a go-getter, aren't you?" I felt more than heard a voice. Like the hazy form, it somehow lacked any characteristics that I could put into words. Was it young, old, male, female, high, low? I couldn't tell you. "Most people take far longer to build a world, much less try to interact with it. And such rich detail! You have a very fine imagination."

"Um." Yup, that was my brilliant response.

"Let me choose a form. That will make it easier for you to converse with me."

The form shimmered nauseatingly, then suddenly it was a man. A man I'd seen before.

"Um...crystal cave guy?"

He beamed like I had remembered his birthday. "Very good! Taliesin was his name. Now I'm sure you are wondering a million things right now. I cannot answer all of your questions, but I will get you started. Yes, you died. But obviously, that is not the end. You get another go and, good news, it's a bit easier these subsequent times. Happiness is easier to find, and lasts longer. Sadness fades faster. There is more joy to be found in the mundane. You'll like it."

My brain tripped over itself. "This is the...afterlife."

He shrugged. "This is the continuation of life. Your mind chose you a scenario. If you like it, you can live it. I'll help you get started, then you live out this life."

"And then?" I stuttered through numb lips, idly wondering if it was possible to faint in the afterlife.

"And then you choose another, as long as you want. With an imagination like yours, I would expect you to go a very long time."

"What's...what's a long time?"

He hummed in thought. "Well, Homer is still at it."

My mind began to chase its own tail, wanting to reject his words, but knowing that, beyond a shadow of doubt, they were true. "Iliad and Odyssey Homer?"

"Oh, yes. You should read what else he's written."

"And we just go on forever?"

"No." There was finality in that word, and I knew he wouldn't elaborate.

"Will I, well, will I still be me?"

"Yes. You won't look exactly the way you did, and you won't have the memories of what shaped you into who are. But you'll have the chance to change and grow. 20 years was not enough time, was it?"

My throat tightened and I shook my head. But already, my life and memories were feeling more distant somehow. The apparition nodded encouragingly, and I tried to form words. "Soooooo..."

"So now you decide if this is the reality you want. Then I get you started and you live yourself to death and we do this again." He beamed again, looking slightly deranged. "This reality? Yes?"

"Er...I need to know --"

"No, you don't. It's simple. Now, I believe you want to meet Merlin, Arthur, annnnnnd," his eyes twinkled, "especially Gwaine. I can work with that. Let's make you fit in and give you a dramatic entrance. This may hurt a bit...