"In the Empty Void, there is a way to escape. Find it, and I will forgive you," the man on the throne said with an evil smile.
Jack's hope flickered. "What? I thought you were forgiving me now," he said, desperation creeping into his voice.
The man on the throne chuckled. "If you don't want it, so be it."
"Wait!" Jack said quickly. "I'll do it. I accept."
With a snap of the man's fingers, Jack was plunged into darkness.
Jack found himself standing on a cold, marbled floor. There was nothing around him—no walls, no sky, just an infinite expanse of marble stretching in all directions. The silence was deafening, the emptiness suffocating. Jack began to walk, his footsteps echoing in the void. Days passed, then weeks, then months, but there was nothing to find, no escape, no end.
As time dragged on, Jack felt himself breaking. The loneliness, the isolation, the endless nothingness—it was too much to bear. Two years passed, and Jack sat on the cold floor, his spirit crushed. He thought about the man on the throne, the evil smile, the promise of escape. "There is nothing on the floor, and there is nothing in the sky," Jack muttered to himself. "Maybe he was lying to me."
But then, a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute," he said, his voice trembling with excitement. "There is nothing on the floor, and nothing in the sky... but maybe it is in the floor!"
With newfound determination, Jack knelt on the marble and pressed his hands against it, searching for something, anything. As soon as he did, the world around him change into a dark room where a big gloomy red eyes
Staring at him.
"So, you've returned," the gloomy eyes man, his voice chilling and echoing.
Jack, still disoriented from the void, struggled to steady his breath. "What is this place? And what kind of game are you playing with me?"
"This is no game, Jack," the gloomy eyes man said, his grin widening. "This is your judgment."
"But I figured it out," Jack retorted, his voice a mix of confusion and defiance. "I found the escape, didn't I? What happens now?"
The gloomy eyes man grinning, his expression darkening. "You found something, yes. But whether you truly escaped remains to be seen."
The ground beneath Jack's feet trembled, and suddenly, the dark room started filling with light , revealing a deep chasm. From within, a thick, white mist began to rise, curling around Jack's legs. He tried to step back, but the mist held him in place, pulling him closer to the abyss.
"You see," the gloomy eyes man continued, his voice booming, "the Empty Void is not just a place—it's a test. A test of your will, your strength, your resolve. But the real question is: Do you even know what you're searching for?"
Jack's mind raced. He had thought that finding the escape meant freedom, but now he realized it was more complex than that. The mist coiled tighter around him, and Jack felt a cold, searing pain in his chest, right where his heart had failed him on the football field.
"You've been wandering, searching for something without even knowing what it is," the gloomy eyes man said, his voice filled with a cruel amusement. "You've been looking for a way out, but perhaps you should be looking for a way in."
Jack's breathing quickened as the mist began to seep into his skin, the pain intensifying. He wanted to fight back, to resist, but he felt his strength waning.
"What do you mean?" Jack gasped, the words barely escaping his lips.
The gloomy man's eyes gleamed with a sinister light. "The door you seek is not outside, but within. The true path to redemption lies not in escape, but in acceptance."
As the mist fully engulfed him, Jack's vision blurred, his senses dulling. He felt as though he was being pulled apart, every part of him unraveling. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a soft, familiar voice echoed in his mind.
"Jack," the voice whispered. It was a man with the kind eyes and a beautiful face, gentle and soothing, a beacon in the darkness. "Don't be afraid. You must look deeper, into yourself."
And then, he saw it. A small, faint light deep within his soul, buried beneath layers of pain, guilt, and sorrow. It was the love he had for Hana, the love that had driven him to the brink of madness, that had opened the gate to the forest in the first place.
With all the strength he could muster, Jack reached out to that light, embracing it, allowing it to fill him. The pain began to subside, the mist retreating from his body.
When Jack opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the palace. Instead, he found himself standing in the prison like place where that man standing, give him a dress of the slaves.