Tea and biscuits.

"Good morning." A voice sounds, waking a groggy man from his sleep.

"…. Mornin…" He grumbles whilst rubbing the sleep from his eyes, looking around as he does so. "… Sorry, mind tellin me where I am? I don't really remember much of last night, hope I haven't caused any troubles."

A few moments pass before the previous voice slowly says while attracting the gaze of the sleepy man. "Well… you haven't cause any problems at all really, not much trouble you could cause here anyway. But I do have to explain some thing to you, said things are probably not going to be nice to hear. So I hope you can wake up a bit first, here, I'll go and get you a glass of juice? Water? Tea maybe? While you boot up, so to say." The now visible elderly man says, with a small frown.

"Erm… I'll just have juice if that's alright, apple if you have it. Thank you." The still groggy young man responds, as he rubs his face, still waking up and taking things in.

"Apple juice it is, one moment please." The older man responds as he stands and walks through to the next room.

Now alone, the young man takes a good look around whilst trying his best to remember anything helpful from last night. He sits up and stretches a bit, noticing the lack of anything very modern. "Huh? Seriously, what's going on. Why on earth does this place just feel… weird…" he mumbles with confusion clear in his tone, as his face gradually changes to one of sadness. "It feels like back then… the night dad passed, that feeling of the room after the paramedics laid him down in bed so we could say goodbye… that wrongness…" growing panic making it's way into his voice. "The air feels light… what is going on…" he breaths deeply, trying to catch his breath and calm down.

*clink*

The young man jumps a little and looks up in a slight panic at the sudden sound, to see the old man retracting his hand from the glass of what he could only assume to be his apple juice. He calms a little and nods in thanks to the old man.

"Thanks…" he mutters quietly in thanks to the old man.

"No worries son, take your time to calm down and sip on that slowly. We got some talking to do, but that can wait for now. Just calm down a bit, I'll be here." The old man replies.

Grateful, the young man nods and sets his head in his hands. Taking a few minutes to just calm down and think a little.

- A few minutes pass-

He looks up and speaks. "I'm Max, not sure if you knew that but yeah. Thank you for waiting for me, um… so what's going on?"

"Hmm, it's always difficult to do this… *deep breath* son you're dead, you passed in the night as you slept. There isn't any medical reason to it, there wasn't any accident… you just passed in your sleep." The old man's face scrunches up a bit in sadness as he continues. "I… *deep breath* I don't know what to say nor how to comfort you, I've met so many people after they have passed and it's never the same. I can say all of these words to try and comfort you, but I don't think it's right to do that… son, I'm sorry. But even with as much contact as I've had with death, it is still such a foreign concept to me…"

As silence fills the room, the young man, Max, just slowly sips his drink and smiles slightly, as if to say everything is fine. And the old man, seeing this slightly shakes his head slightly whilst letting out a heavy breath. He recognises this, he know pretty much everything there is to know about Max. He know's that this is exactly what Max did when his dad passed, he acted strong and smiled on the outside whilst the pillar that held the sky crumbled in his mind. On the inside he desperately denied reality, saying to himself that he's just in a long and painful nightmare and that soon he will be woken up by his dad telling him to wake up.

Every time the old man has had to tell someone that they have died, he has seen many different reactions. Some break down in a moment, some just freeze, some smile and put on a strong front like max, some just carry on as if nothing has happened and some are happy. Every single time, is always painful for the old man. It's not easy to watch as the world falls apart for these people…

"Son…" the old man takes a deep breath. "Look, I'm going to explain what's going on and what is going to happen, just take me as something to focus on so you can calm a little, I can't imagine what you are feeling… so this is all I can do. *deep breath* right, I'll introduce myself first, my name is Marc. I'm called many different things by many different beings, but Marc is the name I started with. I am basically the being who people meet when they die and I explain what happens after whilst giving a few option."

"I'm what some would call 'The God of Reincarnation', but In reality there is no real 'God' per say, just concepts, concepts that are personified by reality. If that is your definition of god, then we are gods. Now, what happens after death is a question thats as complex as it is simple to answer. Whatever you want. You could go to 'Heaven' or go to 'Hell' if that is what you wish. You could reincarnate as the prince of a kingdom in some random world. You could even 'time travel', as in transmigrate into the past or future of an identical parallel world. You could even go back to the moment you died and continue life. Just In a parallel world. The only thing untouchable is the world or more accurately the universe from which you originate, it's called the seed of all existence because all things originate from it, even me. In some ways, we are family. Depending on how broad you version of family is."

"But yes, you could do anything. Now, what comes next is entirely up to you and you have all the time you need to choose. I'm here for you to talk to whenever you want and if there is anything you want, feel free to ask. Take your time, I'm just going to go make myself a cup of tea and grab some biscuits. Take a moment once again to process, I'll be back with a platter of snacks in a few. I'll also bring a refill for that apple juice. Excuse me" Marc says before rising and leaving the room, taking a quick glance at the crestfallen boy.

The boy, still with a small smile on his face gradually falls apart now that he's alone. "Dead… I'm dead… what…" he mutters in agony, afraid of the fact he is dead. All the nights in tears dreading this very moment, dreading death. "This… what…" he quietly sobs to himself once again scared to accept the reality while also recognising the fact he can't escape it, he can't run anyway this time and he knows it…

- Some twenty minutes later -

Time passes rapidly as the boy attempts collect himself, slightly afraid to be seen so vulnerable even if the man who may see is a god.

*knock* *knock*

A couple of knocks cause the boy to frantically wipe his face and straighten up his posture, trying to school his features a little as he fails to put a smile on his face.

The old man walks in holding a tray and places it on the table before sitting down. "Here we are, just some snacks I think you'd enjoy, feel free to eat as much as you want. I know I will haha. *clears throat* anyway, back to what I was saying before, you've got all the time you want to choose what you will do. So take your time and feel free to ask question." He says whilst dunking a biscuit in his tea, earning him a somewhat strange glance from the young man. "What? Nothing wrong with dunking your biscuits in tea, they're better this way, in my opinion." Marc states with conviction noticing the glance and chuckles a little to himself.

Now a little calmer, Max thinks a little about what he is to do next. He's read countless novels and fan fictions, read however many manga and web-comics, and he's spend many many hours imagining this opportunity. Yet now that he's here… he doesn't have a clue what to do. He feels lost.

"I don't know…" Max says to the old man.

"Huh? Oh what's that, you don't know what to do?" Marc responds with momentary confusion. "I'm sure it's not easy to come up with something is it, just take your time and like I said, I'm here if you've got any questions."

Max looks up at the ceiling then back down at the old man and asks him with curiosity. "What would you ask for in my position?" Causing Marc to freeze mid sip.

"Hmm… now that is a good question that I don't really know how to answer." He says, "You see, because of what I am and how I've lived, my view of things is quiet different. Also, it's difficult for me to see things from your perspective. But I suppose just for me, I'd like to continue what I do, just with the added ability to understand people better. I'd like to be a better guide I suppose. I'm not an infallible being, over the many times I have done this I have made errors, saying things I shouldn't causing people to be upset. I just wish I could help people more, but sadly it's difficult for me to do so. I have the will to change but my thinking and experience restricts my ability to change. So I'd like it if I could continue to do what I have done for oh so many years, but with the added gift of being able to help people better in their time of grief and struggle." The old man says with a somewhat sad tone.

The young man whilst drinking his juice thinks about the old man's response. 'I just wish I could help people more' stuck out more than the already striking statement of what could be called a god saying he wishes he could be better at what he does. This short statement seems to strike a cord for Max, causing him to think more deeply.

"Would I be able to help people? I don't know if I can help people, I like the idea of it though. I've read a few novels where people go around helping people in different world acting like Uncle Iroh to Zuko, like a guide. It'd be nice to do that. I think…" Max says getting quieter near the end.

The old man Marc smiles a little and says. "I don't see why you couldn't do that, there are plenty of worlds that could use someone like that. And I think you'd be good at it. Maybe you'll struggle a bit at first, but I'm sure you'd find your pace very fast. They do say a teacher learns best as they teach. While you try and help others with their inner demons, maybe with time, you'll be able to face your own. As you help them heal, they will help you heal. Maybe you'll make friends across different worlds, maybe you could even make a place for the people you help and the people that have helped you to meet. Almost like a waypoint in the multiverse for those on the long road of healing. Haha, I really like this idea son. I think you should go for it, I think you'd love it." Marc exclaims with a bright smile and a happy tone. Causing Max to feel more and more exited at the idea.

"Yes, I'd like to do that I want to help people. That's what I'll do, I'll go through many worlds and help those who want or need my help. And I'll make a restaurant filled with food to warm the soul, or maybe a library filled with knowledge, or maybe an in with beds that soothe the minds of those who need rest. Or maybe I'll do all of them together and make a place for everyone to be happy. Haha, or I'll do my best to." The young man says, happy with the idea and with hope that maybe everything will be fine. Maybe he could finally do something meaningful, he looked forward to the future.