The trio now found themselves surrounded by white. It was everywhere: below their feet, over their heads, and as far as the eye could see.
Hagan grabbed an arrow from his quiver. Following his lead, Lucas unsheathed his sword. Zoe never said anything about a void. This is so strange... I can’t tell where the ground ends and the rest begins!
Iris franticly scanned the area. “Who or what is responsible for this?!” Her voice echoed as she spoke. After her words trailed off, there was silence.
“Show yourself!” Hagan exclaimed, his words ringing similarly to Iris’s.
“Maybe we’ve stepped into some kind of trap?” Lucas suggested.
“Perhaps,” Iris replied. “I would propose that we investigate this bizarre new area if I weren’t so fearful of making any sudden movements.”
“Ear me?” All three of them jolted as the mysterious voice spoke.
“Ear me?” Hagan repeated, puzzled.
It spoke again. “Ca... ou hea... e?”
Lucas scanned the void, attempting to locate the source of the noise. “Who are you?” he called out.
A few seconds passed before it returned once more. “Can you hear me?” it said, far more audibly than before.
“Yes,” Lucas replied. “Who are you? Where are you?!”
“I am where you are,” it said. The trio was puzzled by this strange response.
“I don’t understand,” Iris replied. “What exactly do you mean?”
“You’re inside me,” it answered.
Hagan’s eyes widened. “Creepy.”
“So... you’re the void?” Lucas asked.
“I’m not a void,” the voice informed, “I’m a soul.”
There was another period of brief silence as the group contemplated this unexpected development. Hagan cleared his throat. “Let me get this straight. You’re a soul and we’re inside of you.”
“That’s correct,” it replied.
Iris stared into the blankness which surrounded them. “I would like to request an explanation as to why exactly you’ve chosen to place us ‘inside of you.’”
“Because I wanted to talk to you,” it responded. “The first living person I encountered was unresponsive when I tried to speak to them. That’s when I figured out that I could draw them inside of me by expanding myself. It proved to be the only way I could talk to them. I saw you, and decided to try again.”
“Let us go, we don’t have time for this!” Hagan barked.
“Why are you here?” it asked, ignoring Hagan’s demand.
Hesitating at first, Iris replied, “We’re on an expedition to gain knowledge of this dimension and its correlation with Damiano’s Disk. Perhaps you would be willing to assist us?”
“So you aren’t Spades?” it queried.
“Hold on,” Lucas interrupted, “you know about the Spades?”
“Yes,” it responded. “I’ve spoken to one of them before... They told me that I need to cross over to the Netherworld, but they didn’t seem to understand that I can’t.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
There was a pause before the voice replied. “I found myself in a rough patch in my life... I decided that I had had enough and... well, I hung myself. It was a horrible experience... but when the pain and fear had subsided, I started to see a bright light at the end of a tunnel... they always tell you, ‘go toward the light.’ But I was afraid... I didn’t know where it would take me or what would happen... so I thought, ‘what if I don’t go toward the light?’ So, I didn’t. The light slowly faded away... and that’s when I found myself here. I wandered for what seemed like an eternity. While I met other souls along the way, they were all just as confused about this place as I was. I learned that I could change my size and shape here... which is fun at first, I’ll admit. But the novelty faded. I soon felt as though I were missing out on something greater.”
The voice was silent for a few seconds. Then, it went on. “Eventually, I spotted a living person. I tried to communicate with them, but they were confused and unresponsive. I followed them around for a while, and soon figured out that I could speak to them in the same way we’re talking right now. When I finally managed to have my first conversation with them, I learned that they were a member of a group called the Spades. They told me all about their group, their purpose, and a man called ‘Lord Quinn.’ They said that they had arrived in this place, called the ‘In Between,’ through a portal from Aria. They went on to warn me of the green-cloaked men who wander this dimension called ‘Knowms.’ Apparently, these Knowms use forbidden magic to hunt and transform us souls into beasts, then enslave us to do their bidding back in Aria. I was told that I would only be safe from this fate if I crossed over to the Netherworld... but I think my chance has passed. I’m guessing it was at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t go... so now I’m stuck here. I can’t ‘just cross over.’ I have no idea where to go in order to get there. I’ve tried everything. I’ve even tried to go through some of the portals I’ve seen Spades go in and out of... but they don’t seem to work for me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Lucas as he sheathed his sword. Sounds like this soul has been through a lot. I wonder how it feels... He activated his ability. It was almost too much for him to bear as an intense feeling of despair and loneliness consumed him. He hastily deactivated his power. The story seems to be genuine from what I can tell. I’ve never felt anything like that... so alone. So lost... yet it doesn’t seem to show in the way this soul is speaking to us. The tone is so ‘matter of fact.’ It’s almost as though they’ve accepted this as their permanent fate. This soul must have been trapped here for a long time to feel so hopeless.
“Just how long have you been here?” Lucas asked.
“I’m not sure,” it answered. “Time means nothing here. I can’t tell how many days, weeks, months or years have passed. All I can tell you is that the year of my death was 2088... And there certainly weren’t any ‘Knowms,’ ‘Lord Quinn,’ or monsters in the Aria I lived in.”
“You’ve been deceased for hundreds of years,” Iris informed. “The current year is 2591.”
“2591?!” the voice gasped. “It’s been that long already?!”
“I’m afraid so,” Iris answered. “I’m certain there must be some method you can use to cross into the Netherworld. Perhaps one day you shall discover it... While I wish that my friends and I were able to assist you, our knowledge of this dimension and the Netherworld is very limited at best.”
“No worries,” the voice said. “I didn’t expect you’d be able to help me anyway. No one seems to know the answer. But then again... everyone who does know has already crossed. I guess I’m just trapped here until I figure it out.”
“That’s too bad,” Hagan commented as he put away his bow and returned the arrow to his quiver. “Look, we’ve really got to get going. If you don’t have anything to tell us about Damiano’s Disk, let us out of here.”
“The Spade I spoke to told me a little bit about that,” it replied. “But first I want to know why you’re chasing this thing.”
“We want to use it to reverse what’s happened to Aria,” Lucas responded. “It’s a mess back home. There are monsters everywhere. We know that the power it unlocks can be used to do some really destructive things, but we feel that the only way to stop it from being misused is to get it ourselves. We’re not going to wait around for Lord Quinn to get his hands on it. He’s responsible for the monster invasion, so we already know that whatever he has planned isn’t going to be good.”
“I see,” said the voice. “In that case, I’ll tell you what I know. The Spade I spoke to said this disk is the reason their group exists. Supposedly, this ‘Lord Quinn’ sent a group of men to the In Between to find the two pieces of Damiano’s Disk. When they finally found the first half, one of them ran off with it and formed the Spades. From what I understand, Quinn’s men eventually found the other half and are now at some sort of war with the Spades to get the first one back. I don’t know many details outside of that. I’m assuming that these men are the ‘Knowms’ I was warned about.”
“Interesting,” Iris remarked. She turned to Lucas. “It appears that the Spades were initiated by one of Lord Quinn’s former allies. It’s now evident why their members are so knowledgeable of Quinn’s inner workings.” Iris looked back toward the void. “Thank you for the information. I’m certain it will prove to be highly beneficial in our pursuit.”
“I wish you all the best of luck,” said the voice.
Slowly, the landscape which had surrounded the trio prior to entering the white void reappeared. They looked up to see a small glowing ball quickly rise into the air and take off toward the horizon.
“That was strange,” Hagan declared.
“Indeed,” Iris agreed. “Fortunately, we’ve acquired useful information from the encounter.”
Lucas gazed into the distance, where the soul had flown out of visible range. I hope they find their way out of here before any Knowms get ahold of them.
“I guess I was right about the Spades,” Hagan asserted. “The guy who ran off with the fragment and started the group had probably figured out that Quinn was just going to use him. I’m guessing he was going to try to complete it himself before the Knowms found the other one.”
“It’s possible,” Iris replied. “However, it’s also possible that he truly intended to do nothing more than keep it out of Quinn’s grasp.”
“I guess,” said Hagan, “but I doubt it.”
Iris noticed Lucas staring off into the distance. “Lucas? Are you alright?”
He turned around. “Yeah. I was just thinking about what it must be like to be stuck here. I hope that soul finds their way to the Netherworld somehow.”
“I’m certain they will eventually,” Iris assured him.
Hagan started walking. “Let’s keep moving. I want to see what else we can find here.”
As the group hiked back toward the field, Iris pondered what the soul had told them. “I find it intriguing that the disk fragments were originally located here in the In Between. I was under the assumption that they were discovered in Aria.”
“Me too,” Lucas responded. “Zoe said that the temple was on Nazareno Island. I wonder why the fragments were here.”
Hagan shrugged. “There’s no telling. All I know is that this whole thing just keeps getting more and more complicated.”