A voice interrupted the endless darkness.
"My child... what are you doing out here lingering within the Void?"
The gentle voice echoed through the infinite blackness.
No.
It echoed through me.
For a moment, the cold disappeared.
The Void had always been freezing.
Not the cold of winter.
Not the cold of snow.
This was the cold of nothingness.
The cold of a place where life had never existed.
A place where warmth itself had been forgotten.
Yet with only a few words, that unbearable chill retreated.
The voice was soft.
Gentle.
Motherly.
Every syllable carried a warmth that wrapped around my shattered soul like a blanket.
The countless cracks running through my spirit ceased their spreading.
The pain lessened.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough that I remembered what comfort felt like.
Enough that I wanted to hear that voice again.
"Your existence shouldn't be here."
I couldn't see the speaker.
Yet somehow I knew she was looking directly at me.
Not at my broken soul.
Not at the fragments falling away from me.
At me.
For the first time since my death, I felt seen.
Love.
Compassion.
Understanding.
The emotions washed over me like a tide.
I didn't know who she was.
But every instinct I possessed screamed the same answer.
A Goddess.
There was no other explanation.
The woman giggled softly.
The sound was beautiful.
Not merely pleasant.
Beautiful.
Like crystal bells ringing beneath a starlit sky.
Like the first song ever sung.
"My, my. Such a stubborn little soul."
The darkness suddenly shifted.
"Come, child. You should not be here."
A gentle force wrapped around me.
Then the world moved.
No.
The world exploded.
The Void shattered into countless streams of light.
Stars flashed past me.
Entire galaxies seemed to drift by in an instant.
Reality twisted around me as I was carried through existence itself.
Then suddenly—
Warmth.
I found myself resting in the waiting arms of a woman.
For a moment, I forgot how to think.
Forgot how to breathe, if I still could.
Forgot every betrayal and every wound.
She was beautiful.
Not by mortal standards.
Not by any standard I could comprehend.
Her silver hair flowed endlessly behind her like liquid moonlight. Tiny stars shimmered among the strands as though the night sky itself had become part of her. Her skin seemed carved from pale marble touched by starlight, flawless and radiant.
Her eyes were perhaps the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Ancient.
Wise.
Kind.
Entire constellations appeared to drift within those silver irises.
A crown of floating stars rested above her head, each one orbiting slowly as though reality itself acknowledged her authority.
The air around her smelled faintly of night-blooming flowers and rain.
Every movement she made felt effortless.
Graceful.
Eternal.
She held me like a mother cradling an injured child.
"Oh, you poor thing."
Sadness filled her voice.
"I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did."
Her fingers gently brushed against the fractures covering my soul.
"So many cracks..."
She shook her head.
Her expression softened.
"Let's get you to the River Styx."
The moment she mentioned the River Styx, a distant memory surfaced. Back at the Academy of Magic, mythology and ancient history had been mandatory subjects, though most students found them boring.
The name alone filled me with unease.
Was this judgment?
Reincarnation?
The afterlife?
Shouldn't I be relieved?
Shouldn't I want to move on?
Yet the moment the thought entered my mind, something inside me rebelled.
No.
I didn't want to move on.
I didn't want peace.
I didn't want reincarnation.
I wanted answers.
CRACK.
A piece of my soul splintered away.
The goddess gasped.
"Oh dear!"
She quickly hugged me closer.
"Let's hurry. This shouldn't be happening here."
The world shifted once more.
Before long, a magnificent river stretched before me.
Countless souls drifted peacefully upon its waters.
Some glowed brightly.
Others were little more than wisps of light.
All of them floated toward an enormous gate in the distance.
A gate so large I couldn't see its end.
"There we are."
The goddess smiled.
"Go on, little one."
She gently placed me within the river.
The cool waters embraced my soul.
For a moment, the cracks seemed to lessen.
Then everything stopped.
The souls around me continued drifting.
I did not.
The river flowed.
I remained motionless.
The goddess blinked.
"Hmm?"
She nudged me forward.
Nothing happened.
"That's strange."
She nudged me again.
Still nothing.
The river simply flowed around me as if I were a stone.
The goddess frowned.
Then she pulled a crystal from her robes.
"Persephone, could you come here for a moment?"
A few seconds later, darkness gathered at her feet.
Black mist spiraled upward.
Flowers bloomed from shadows.
Then another woman appeared.
If the first goddess was gentle moonlight, this one was midnight itself.
Long black hair cascaded down her back.
A crown of dark roses rested upon her head.
Yet despite her intimidating appearance, her eyes held kindness.
"Hecate," she said with a smile.
"How may I help?"
Hecate pointed toward me.
"This soul won't move through the river."
Persephone knelt beside me.
Her expression slowly changed.
Concern.
Then sadness.
"Oh my."
She reached out and gently touched my fractured soul.
"I see."
Her voice softened.
"Such hatred."
"So much sorrow."
"So much anger."
"I can feel his anguish."
Her hand lingered against my soul.
"But I can feel something else as well."
Something pure.
"Where did you find him?"
"The Void."
Silence.
Persephone's eyes widened.
"The Void?"
Even Hecate looked uncomfortable.
"The place beyond Limbo?"
"The place meant only for oblivion?"
Hecate nodded.
Persephone stared at me.
"How did this soul survive?"
"I don't know."
Hecate sighed.
"But his soul was missing fragments. He couldn't return to Limbo, so I thought the River Styx might heal him."
"It usually would."
Persephone stood.
"But not in this condition."
She snapped her fingers.
A massive tome appeared beside Persephone with a single snap of her fingers. The book was enormous, easily twice the height of a grown man, its ancient cover forged from black metal etched with countless silver runes that seemed to shift and crawl across its surface like living things. Thick chains wrapped around its spine, each link.
Pages turned on their own.
Eventually, they stopped.
Persephone began reading.
"Oh..."
Her expression darkened.
"Alexandria Margrave."
The name felt familiar.
Like a distant memory.
"Died two years ago on Eldoria."
Her eyes scanned the page.
"Betrayed by his companions."
"Poisoned by his lover."
"Possessor of the Cards of Fate."
Persephone blinked.
"The ability to alter fate itself."
She looked down at me.
"The Gods truly favored this child."
Hecate sighed.
"And look where it got him."
Persephone nodded sadly.
"He was once a very pure soul."
For a moment, neither goddess spoke.
Then Hecate quietly said:
"Two years ago on Eldoria?"
She looked toward the endless darkness beyond the river.
"That means nearly two thousand years in the Void."
Persephone's face paled.
"Two thousand..."
CRACK.
A piece of my soul broke away.
Both goddesses immediately looked down.
Another fragment drifted away.
"I don't want to move on."
The words escaped me before I realized I had spoken.
For the first time, both goddesses heard my voice.
"I don't want to forget."
CRACK.
Another piece shattered away.
"I want them to suffer."
Silence fell.
Finally, Hecate sighed.
"I'll take responsibility for him."
Persephone raised an eyebrow.
"You will?"
"It's my duty to guide lost souls."
Hecate carefully lifted me from the river.
"He won't survive otherwise."
Persephone looked unconvinced.
"You remember what happened the last time we interfered with a mortal soul."
"Yes."
Hecate's expression became serious.
"I remember."
She looked down at me.
At the shattered remains of my soul.
"But if we do nothing..."
Another crack spread across my existence.
"...there won't be anything left to save."