Hunter only had a moment to stare dumbly at the notification before a pure white light covered him and the entire world was reduced to that single flash of light. When it cleared, he found that he was no longer on Snodgrass.

He was in a place that looked remarkably like what he imagined heaven to be. Underneath his his feet a semi-transparent bridge composed of rainbow hued light stretched into the distance. Peering though the bridge, Hunter saw an infinite abyss filled with galaxies, nebula, and brilliant flaming stars. The sight made him woozy, so he quickly turned his gaze upward.

On either side of the bridge, gigantic white statues stood like watchful sentinels. The humanoid  effigies were garbed in brilliant robes and carried long golden swords clasped in two hands. The blades faced downward and Hunter detected an intimidating power radiating from their lengths. The figures themselves were uncanny. They rode the line between humanity and….something else. They were bald, and had no discerning features. They looked like the artist manikins that he had seen in his art classes. Behind their heads shards of brilliant metal slowly revolved like artificial sun bursts.

Hunter was so distracted by the figures, that it took him a moment to look beyond them. When he did, his breath caught in his chest. In the far distance, a magnificent city thrust into the sky. It looked like a god had reached down to earth and plucked up a stretch of it’s surface. Verdant life graced every square inch of the structure. Hunter could see rushing waterfalls that fell into the cosmos below.

The city itself matched the same material as the statues but each building had an iridescent shimmer that spoke to concealed power. There were so many of the structures that it looked several times larger than any city he had ever seen. In the direct center, a central edifice dominated the skyline. It was composed of a hundred gleaming spires that reminded him of something between a fantasy castle and a church organ.

“I must’ve died,” he sound aloud.

“No, you’re quite alive,” an rasping voice answered him.

Startled, Hunter spun around to face the source of the response. The owner of the voice made him stagger back in sudden fear. 

Before him, a strange creature with the same visage as the statues studied him. Hunter wasn’t sure how he knew he was being observed. The creature had no discerning features. There were no eyes, mouth, or ears. The shapes were all there, but they were smoothed over like unfinished clay. The skin of the creature appeared translucent and underneath its thin layer, nebula swirled around solar systems in every color of the rainbow.

Contrary to its stone doppelgängers, the creature was garbed in shimmering silver. Instead of a sword, it carried a beaten leather book. For some reason, Hunter couldn’t take his eyes away from tome. It had a heaviness to it that resonated throughout his entire being. It felt like a tuning fork that had been calibrated to Hunter’s soul.

With great effort, he pulled his eyes from the leather book and looked at the creature.

“Who are you?” He whispered.

The creature tilted its head like it was studying a fascinating insect.

“I am the Archivist.”

“What am I doing here?” Hunter wondered as he glanced around. Everything was starting to feel overwhelming. If he wasn’t dead, then he had no idea what was going on.

“You are a strange subject Hunter Gold. You have been proficient in nearly every task you’ve been asked to do. However, you still haven’t found a Path. The Celestial Archive is built upon Paths, but it requires each individual to pursue them.”

The creature spread its arms and hunter noticed only three fingers and a thumb on each.

“We cannot force you upon a Path. The Architect of the Universe granted you Free Will. You have its own spark of divinity resting within you. Yet, you have not committed to a single thing in your entire life.” 

The Archivist leaned in closer as if to get a better look.

“Who is it that you want to be, Hunter Gold?”

Hunter immediately felt a hot shame come over him. It was the same question that his mom had asked. The same question that his teachers and coaches had asked. Hell, it was the same question that he was asking of himself before he had been transported here. The answer then was the same answer now. He felt incapable of lying to the being in front of him.

“I-I don’t know,” he said. His shame was laced into every word. He felt like he was shrinking as the silence between the two grew longer.

“I see,” the Archivist acknowledged. “In that case, I cannot allow you into the Celestial Archive until you’ve found a path—any path. Truly, in my many eons, I have not seen an individual who legitimately had no sense of who they wanted to become.”

The creature gracefully began to stroke his chin in deep thought.

“Does this mean I have to die now?” Hunter said morosely.

“Don’t be foolish. The Architect isn’t going to destroy you. Your species does well enough of that to itself. No, I have a different plan in mind.”

The Archivist opened the leatherbound book in its hand. Brilliant white light shone from the pages as it carelessly flipped through them. 

“Let’s see,” it muttered to itself as it paged back and forth. “Ah, this will do.”

It hummed pleasantly as it traced a thin finger down the page. “This has a certain symmetry that I admire.”

The Archivist abruptly looked up. “You will either find your Path, or die trying. Those that fail to find a Path inevitable fall to darkness so it’s fitting that you’ll find one here.”

It raised a finger and began to trace glittering silver glyphs in the air. “I’ll even drop you close to where I found you.” The ancient voice sounded almost cheerful. Hunter wasn’t sure if dying or going back to see his grandparents was worse.

When the last glyph was created, the beautiful inscription hung in the air. Hunter watched it with a small amount of trepidation. 

“Good luck,” The Archivist said at last.

Hunter felt a twisting in his gut that wrenched through his whole body. He felt like he was being twisted and torn apart into a thousand pieces.

Error….System recalibrating…

Congratulations on passing your first….error….

…Revelation not detected…

…Welcome to the Snodgrass Rift!