Abyss
This is a work in progress. Names, events, titles, etc. are subject to change
The soundless abyss creates an imaginary hum in my ears. “Where am I?” I could hear my voice ring out in the empty dark void. Attempting to look around feels pointless. I can’t tell which way is which, anyway. A sudden vertical beam of light rips through the blanket of darkness. After the pain fades and my eyes adjust, I notice a large crimson throne decorated with gold. Upon the throne sits a beautiful but ghostly woman wearing strange, wispy, black clothes.
“You’re nowhere! Well, to be precise, you’re in Nowhere. But… it’s also nowhere? I’m not very good with mortal words.” She chuckles lightly; her face shows what seems to me a genuine smile. The woman uncrosses her legs and leans forward a bit, resting her head in her hands. She hums an ethereal tune while kicking her feet. Her red eyes look me up and down. I think she’s appraising me. “What’s your name?”
I pull myself together and try to remember. Oh yeah, my name is-
“Pollux,” I answer.
She sits back, her brow furrowed and eyes closed. Her arms cross while she seems to ponder my name. “No, I don’t like it. Pick something else.” I have no clue what to tell her.
“Uhm, what?” I said confused.
“Pick a new name; it can be anything! Just not Pollux,” she says with a smile.
I’m annoyed. I resist grumbling. “How about you tell me your name, first?”
She answers enthusiastically, “My name is Castor! Cas is fine, though.”
“Mmmm, no. I don’t like it. Pick something else.” I turn my head and cross my arms. She giggles, shifts around in her throne, and then clears her throat.
“I can’t change my name. Everyone knows me by this one.” Castor makes a face that lets me know she realizes the irony in her words. I think she’s teasing me. Before I can say anything, she begins to explain, “Ok. Let’s get the exposition out of the way, yeah? You died.” I wince a bit hearing that, but I’m not exactly surprised; my neck still feels the cold steel. She continues, “You died and now you’re here. And soon you’ll be going somewhere else! You don’t need your old yucky name.”
I’m more annoyed than I was before. Having regained a bit of composure, I speak up, “Is this how it always is? This sounds like something that should be taken more seriously.” She sighs, crosses her legs again, and puts on a less cheery expression. Something between melancholy and seriousness.
“Not always,” she says calmly. She looks down at her lap silently. Her head raises and our eyes meet, “You’ve been given another chance. A chance to achieve what you’ve always wanted. You will be a new person with a new life on a new planet. A planet in need of a hero, someone who can save them from a terrible fate. I will also grant you power beyond your imagination to aid your endeavors.” This thin pale lady’s bright red eyes feel like they’re burning holes through me. Cas, I suppose, I should be calling her.
“Why me, Cas?” I force myself to ask. She looks as if she was anticipating the question. I didn’t want to be rude. The idea of starting over does sound nice. I’d readily accept if I wasn’t so suspicious of the whole thing. Power? What kind of power?
Castor beams at the sound of her name being said. “Because you deserve it! I’ve seen the good you’ve tried to put out into your world. It’s sad how unappreciated it went. I think you deserve another chance, no?” Her smile is different this time. Not like the genuine one I saw earlier. My suspicion grows. I ask her what it is she’s hiding. Castor acts offended, “Nothing! There’s no catch. New life. Big power. New planet. Big story. I can make good on all of these promises, ok?”
All the good I put out into the world? I’m starting to think she hasn’t seen one second of my life. I mean, I don’t even know what she is. A god? A reaper? A con artist? Should I be hiding my wallet? Anyway, there may not be any harm in doing what she says. I did actually die. Extraordinary abilities sound great. Worst that happens is I can’t do what she expects of me and she gets someone else, right? Then I can just be some powerful hermit or something… After enough silence, I finally give her a response, “Ok.”
Castor hops off her velvety throne excitedly and claps her hands together. The sound is somehow smothered by the darkness. “Excellent! In exchange for these wonderful abilities, you just have to become the strongest in the world!” I recall there not being a catch. She puts her heels together, stands up straight with a hand behind her back, and gives a quick finger snap. A ring of light echoes from the source of the sound and hits me like a wave. Before I can even ask what the hell she means by “becoming the strongest,” I am enveloped in a warm greyness. I couldn’t speak, nor could I seem to move. Rather, I couldn’t tell if I was moving or not.
The grey became black, which then became a deep purple. Tiny white holes poked through the haze like stars in the sky. After a few seconds, I start to realize they were stars in the sky. I can feel my arms again. Turning my head to my left, I feel there is grass on my neck. I’m lying down, it seems. I get up, stretch, and wipe the void off my clothes. Giving my surroundings an actual look around, everything seems pretty close to what I’m used to. Trees, flowers, grass, hills, stars, two moons, giant humming machine in the sky. Ok, that last one was actually strange. But otherwise, I expected more from a different planet, assuming Castor wasn’t lying about anything.
I take a moment to breathe. My body feels the same, but somehow different. There’s a fire in my spirit that wasn’t there before. When I close my eyes, I can see it. This must be part of the power Castor granted me. She never gave me any sort of clue what it means, but I am eager to try things out. Magic was simply a story telling where I’m from. Perhaps, after what I’ve recently seen, I can believe something like that is real? I wouldn’t know how to perform any sort of spells but it’ll be fun to try, I guess.
I open my palm and imagine conjuring fire. Not a moment later does fire appear. And a split second after that I am engulfed. Scared beyond belief, I flail like an idiot. It feels like it took me too long to realize that I wasn’t in any actual danger. I’m not burning. There’s definitely a cloak of flame around me. It’s definitely really hot. The grass and ground around me has turned to glass. I take a deep, hot breath in the inferno and calm myself. The flame extinguishes.
I poke at the thick crystallized rainbow below me. Crack. The whole thing shatters into dust. Perhaps I should be careful with this new strength. Seems dangerous.
Rustling from a nearby bush startles me. I turn to face the sound, revealing to me a small rodent-like creature with long ears. It’s cute. I take a few steps closer and hold out my hand, beckoning it towards me. The critter hops carelessly toward me. I wave my hand a bit and, not a moment later, I see my forearm fall to the ground. Before I can understand what’s happening, I find myself in a dark void.
“Welcome back!” a familiar voice greets me.
My hands grasp at my neck, I choke out some sounds something akin to words. I look up to see Castor smiling her genuine smile at me.