"I would give anything to see them one more time..."
The white void around me, strangely, began to darken. And with that darkness came an overwhelming sense of relief—a profound calm, as if the end I had long sought was finally within reach.
I had already accepted death—or at least, I thought I had. Perhaps this darkness was the key to ending it all, a final rest for my tormented spirit. I no longer had the strength to resist, so I let myself sink into it, arms wide open, welcoming the inevitable conclusion that now seemed so near.
Yet, amidst it all, an unusual peace enveloped me. I was calm—calmer than I ever thought possible. It felt as though the crushing weight of existence had been lifted from my shoulders. But deep within my awareness, something began to stir—a vibration, an alarm.
A cold dread seized me, a terror unlike anything I'd felt before.
"NO! NO! I CAN'T DIE NOW!"
My mind wrenched itself free from that tranquil abyss, panic flooding every fiber of my being. The thought of dying in that moment—without saying what needed to be said, without doing what needed to be done—was unbearable.
Somewhere in the recesses of my soul, I knew. Perhaps I was already dead. And yet, the mere fact that my consciousness still lingered made me believe there was something more. Some chance. Some reason to keep going. Something was binding me to this emptiness, this pain.
"There's still so much I haven't done... so much I haven't lived..."
The agony, the helplessness echoed in the words that reverberated through my mind.
Then, a silent plea welled up from the depths of my heart.
"Please... I... I would give anything just to be with them again."
It was the last thing I had left—the final wish my soul could muster.
But then, the darkness swallowed everything. The void consumed me, dragging my consciousness down into its endless depths until there was nothing.
Or so I thought.
.........
What felt like mere moments after being devoured by the void, a sound shattered the oppressive silence. A laugh.
It was loud and thunderous, echoing without a source, filling the emptiness with an indescribable force.
"HA... HAHA... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter echoed, warping the void itself. Amidst the darkness, a figure began to rise. Their hair seemed to defy gravity, lifted by an unseen force as they laughed with a surreal intensity.
"My king, the experiment was a success…" A voice broke through the air, filled with emotion—a mixture of euphoria and reverence. The soft sound of measured footsteps followed, growing closer. "We've done it. Successfully."
Another voice, calm and commanding, responded with deliberate authority. "Perfect, Leopold. I knew I could rely on you, the greatest archmage of the kingdom."
The one addressed as "king" spoke with a tone that conveyed both respect and unshakable confidence in the man he named. He waited, composed, as whatever was happening ahead of him began to take form, the swirling dust in the air slowly settling.
'What's going on? Didn't I get swallowed by that immense darkness?' Doubt clawed its way into my mind—a whirlwind of uncertainties. How was this even possible? Where was I? And who were these powerful figures speaking with such gravitas?
Traumatized by what had transpired earlier, I remained frozen, my thoughts an incoherent jumble, unable to process the strangeness of my surroundings.
"Congratulations, my king. The odds of safeguarding the kingdom's future have increased exponentially," said a third voice, younger and brimming with optimism.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Oswald. There are no guarantees… not yet," replied the first voice with caution.
Silence followed for several minutes. The dust hanging thickly in the air began to dissipate, revealing the scene. Something at the center of a massive circle, etched with intricate arcane symbols and shapes, was finally taking form.
Seven figures emerged, all appearing to be in their late teens or early twenties.
"Where are we?" a deep voice asked, shattering the stillness. The sound jolted me from my stupor. I knew that voice. I could feel it in my soul, the unmistakable timbre of Benjamin.
My eyes remained shut, but the recognition of that voice gave me the courage to open them.
As my eyelids parted, I was struck by the sheer grandeur of the place around me. The scene unfolding before me was nothing short of majestic, like something ripped from the pages of an epic tale.
The room I found myself in was immense, its towering walls stretching upward as if trying to touch the heavens. They were carved from stone, intricately etched with depictions of ancient battles and long-forgotten conquests.
The ceiling above was particularly breathtaking, adorned with colorful stained glass that cast beams of gold and crimson across the room. The light seemed alive, shifting and dancing, as if the setting sun itself had been captured within those panes of glass, bathing everything in a warm, mystical glow.
The very air felt different—charged. Every sound, whether the faint echo of footsteps or the soft intake of breath, reverberated gently, as though the room itself was sentient, listening, absorbing, and responding with whispers of a distant past.
This place, wherever it was, carried a weight of history so profound it was almost suffocating. Yet, amidst all that, there was one thing I knew: I wasn't alone anymore.
At the center of the grand hall, towering black marble pillars rose high into the dome above. The edges of the dome were adorned with an intricate network of symbols and runes, weaving a narrative of a forgotten kingdom. The flickering torchlight, mounted on walls and scattered across altars, cast dancing shadows, creating a dramatic interplay of light and darkness that made the space feel both ethereal and foreboding.
Looking forward, my gaze landed on a commanding figure seated upon a throne. He was framed by a luxurious carpet of deep crimson and gold that stretched toward the far reaches of the room, where shadows thickened like an impenetrable veil. His crown shimmered subtly under the torchlight, and his piercing gaze seemed to weigh everything in the room with unshakable authority.
But my attention quickly shifted downward. My breath caught in my throat as I focused on the six figures standing ahead of me. They were unmistakable—the ones I knew better than anyone. Elizabeth, Luca, Carlos, Midori, Nicole, and, most of all, Benjamin. They were alive, standing there, mere steps away. My heart ached with longing, and in that moment, the only thing I wanted was to rush to them and hold them tightly.
'Thank you…' A wave of profound gratitude washed over me, soothing my restless thoughts.
Leopold's voice broke the silence—a deep, steady cadence brimming with unshakable confidence. "Do not be alarmed. Welcome to the grand kingdom of Allytheón."
His words resonated off the stone walls, but they failed to pierce the fog of confusion that still enveloped us.
Benjamin, ever the first to voice his thoughts, erupted with his characteristic mix of frustration and incredulity.
"WHAT?" His voice rang out, echoing through the hall, a mixture of disbelief and anger. "A truck hits us, and in the blink of an eye, we're in some random place called Alireons?"
It was clear he was struggling to grasp the absurdity of the situation. His voice was sharp and forceful, but beneath it lay an undercurrent of fear—a fear of losing control in a world that no longer played by the rules he understood.
He said 'in the blink of an eye…?' A chilling thought struck me. Am I the only one who experienced that void? That endless darkness that swallowed my consciousness?
Leopold, unfazed by Benjamin's outburst, maintained an air of calm. His demeanor was that of someone who had faced countless challenges before and emerged unshaken. His tone remained gentle yet commanding, as though he were explaining something to a child.
"Allytheón, my dear boy," he corrected patiently, enunciating each syllable with precision. "Not Alireons. It is Allytheón."
Leopold's collected tone was like fuel to Benjamin's simmering frustration. Unable to contain his anger, Benjamin let out a furious cry and charged toward him. Yet the moment he crossed the boundary of the circle, an invisible force hurled him back with such power that he landed several feet away.
The room went still, the air thick with tension. Whatever force had repelled him radiated an undeniable sense of warning.
"BENJAMIN!" Everyone shouted in unison, rushing to help him recover.
"What the hell was that?" Luca asked, still struggling to process the sudden turn of events.
"It must be some kind of repulsion field," Carlos replied, his mind racing to rationalize what had just occurred. "But... that shouldn't be possible with the technology we have today. It's... materialized energy."
"Where the hell are we?" Elizabeth asked, her voice trembling with fear.
"According to Mr. Beard Mountain over there, Allytheón. Ever heard of it?" Nicole retorted with her trademark sarcasm, clearly trying to cut through the tension in the room.
Oddly enough, most of them seemed to hold onto a semblance of calm, except for Midori. She stood motionless, her eyes distant and unfocused. She looked as though she was still trapped in whatever nightmare had brought us here. She's shaken... maybe more than the rest of us, I thought as I watched her.
Before I could act, Elizabeth stepped away from Benjamin and moved toward Midori. Gently resting a hand on her shoulder, she said, "She's in shock."
Turning back toward the group, she added, "I don't know where we are either. But I do know who might have the answers."
Her words stirred something within me. Slowly, I rose to my feet, feeling an odd sense of calm wash over me—a bizarre contrast to the confusion and panic surrounding us. Despite everything, for the first time since our arrival, something in this chaos began to make sense.
"Dalton, don't!" Elizabeth's voice rang out, sharp and urgent, as she noticed me moving toward the edge of the glowing circle.
'How am I this calm?' The thought lingered in my mind, strange and disjointed. This level of serenity wasn't like me. Under any normal circumstances, I would've been as shaken as Benjamin—or worse.
I turned to her with a small, reassuring smile, trying to dispel the tension she radiated. The humor was for her, but in truth, it was more for me. "Relax," I said, my tone deliberately lighthearted. "I'm not as reckless as Benjamin."