I opened my eyes to an azure sky. It was not the blue one usually finds in nature, but rather the vivid blue of a watercolor painting. If one stared long enough, the heavens appeared less like a firmament and more like a canvas.
I found myself in a boundless expanse of trees. They were colossal, looming over me at least ten times the height of an ordinary man.
Seeking life—or at least a sliver of civilization—I turned to the lore of my ancestors. I tossed a fallen branch and watched as it struck the earth. Its tapered tip pointed toward where the sun rose, and its thicker end toward where it set. Very well. I began my journey toward the sunrise.
Step after step, I forged ahead, yet the scenery remained stagnant. Only the grass beneath my soles and the towering giants surrounding me accompanied my path. Nothing changed.
Soon, the sky surrendered to darkness; twilight had passed. There was no light in the heavens, nor any luminescence from living creatures—not even an insect stirred. I decided to remain where I stood, waiting for the sky to clear once more. This place was unnerving; it felt as though life itself had been drained from the world. From dawn until the depths of night, no sound existed save for the echo of my own footsteps.
I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep while standing upright. Roots slithered from the earth, coiling around my body to hold me steady in my unconscious state. I knew I would wake when the world brightened again.
In the pale light of early morning, when the sun was but a sliver as thin as a strand of hair, I performed my divination again with a twig found near a tree. I threw the stick; it fell toward my right. I chose to follow its silent command and turned rightward.
The landscape remained an endless loop: trees, trees, and more trees flanking me on either side. The view persisted until the world was once again plunged into an absolute, pitch-black void.
Exhausted, I searched for a fallen log to rest upon. Suddenly, a pale green light flickered in the distance. Its aura was sickly, reminiscent of the undead depicted in classic films. Cautiously, ready to flee at a moment's notice, I approached the glow.
An extraordinary structure came into view.
It looked like a church—the kind one might see in a quiet countryside: rectangular, with a pitched triangular roof and a bell tower perched above the gate. It would have been normal, had its position not been so defiant of reality. The building was completely inverted. The peak of the bell tower pierced the earth, while the foundation of the building faced the heavens.
It was an upside-down church.
In any other tale, an ordinary protagonist would have entered the building to uncover its secrets. But not I. I began to back away, step by cautious step, distancing myself from that place. Once I had reached a certain distance, the building simply vanished.
In its place, there was only a barren clearing, as if the sanctuary had never existed at all.
I turned from that haunting spot and struck out in a new direction, veering to the right of the path before me. Yet, the journey offered no reprieve—nothing but the same monotonous guards of timber flanking my left and right.
Countless times, I froze and stared ahead. A vast, sprawling lake unfolded before my eyes, so immense it seemed to stretch to the horizon.
Floating over the dead center of these waters were creatures of breathtaking beauty. They looked like fairies, weaving through the air in a graceful, ceaseless dance. Untiring, the fae paid no heed to my presence; to them, it was as if I did not exist at all, a mere ghost on the shoreline. I stood anchored to the spot, captivated by their rhythm, watching them until the hands of time turned and the dawn of the next day broke over me.
Suddenly, the fairies shrieked, their cries twisted in agony. Their eyes snapped toward the heavens, and the fae thrust their hands upward, as though straining to hold back something catastrophic falling from the sky.
And just like that, the entire spectacle vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind. I resumed my trek, following the curve of the now-vacant shoreline.
Days bled into one another without incident, until my boots finally sank into the sands of a desert.
To find a barren wasteland pressed so closely against a massive lake and a dense, colossal forest was an anomaly—a defiance of nature. In this desert, I navigated by following a brilliant star burning in the heavens. It had sparked into existence the very moment my feet touched the dunes, its light refusing to fade even under the glare of the midday sun.
Eventually, as I descended into a valley cradled by towering dunes, another vision manifested.
A figure sat upon a crude, frail chair fashioned from cheap wood, its frame webbed with cracks. The stranger's back was turned to me, their head tilted back to gaze at the piercing star above. In their left hand, they held a sealed scroll; in their right, a chalice filled to the absolute brim with a crimson liquid.
Without warning, the figure rose from the chair. In one fluid motion, they downed the contents of the chalice while breaking the seal of the scroll. At that exact instant, they dissolved into nothingness.
I walked through the space where the figure had just been. Like everything else in this painted world, the sand held no footprints, leaving no evidence that anyone had ever been there at all.
Day had once again turned to night, and the brilliant star in the sky was gone. My steps carried me out of the desert and toward a vast expanse of snow.
There was nothing in this place but snow. Not even a single tree or a spire of ice existed here. It was a stark contrast to the landscape I had just left behind, as though the world had been cleaved in two by a blade.
I walked slowly onward, and eventually, all sound faded into absolute silence. I glanced over my shoulder, and the desert I had just traversed was no longer visible. No other noise could be heard—not even the faint whisper of falling snow or the breeze of the wind.
My eyes then locked onto a movement in the distance. I approached to see what it was.
A gathering? I watched as they moved in a bizarre manner. Their bodies contorted in unnatural ways, completely defying human anatomy.
Were they human? I could not be sure.
The figure in the center of the group looked human. Why the uncertainty? Because its body barely resembled one anymore. It was mangled and riddled with wounds, yet no parts were missing; everything remained gruesomely attached to its frame.
The figure in the center danced along with the creatures, and the creatures, in turn, mirrored its movements.
It was profoundly strange and unnatural.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out, and like marionettes whose strings had been severed, they collapsed one by one. The human in the center then violently exploded into a mass of blood.
I stood bewildered by what I had just witnessed; this apparition was far more vivid than the ones before.
Slowly, the scene began to wipe away, as if rubbed out by an eraser. It faded gradually, disappearing without leaving a single trace behind. In that exact moment, my body went completely limp, and a sensation of falling washed over me. I lost consciousness.
I awoke to find myself in someone's embrace. She was very beautiful. No, rather, she was breathtakingly exquisite—like something that brings you absolute comfort.
Every time I looked at her face, I was mesmerized; yet every time I closed my eyes to blink, her face vanished entirely from my memory.
I asked her, "Who are you?" She replied, "I am ######."
I could not hear her name, but her voice was incredibly beautiful.
I rose from her embrace and looked at her closely. She wore a dark green gown with a wide neckline, the collar resting only upon her shoulders. A white cloth covered her face, though her hair was left free, cascading down and covering her back.
It was truly bizarre. I could see her face, yet it was veiled by the white cloth. I could see her hair, yet its color eluded my sight.
My eyes drifted downward to her swollen belly. She appeared to be in the late stages of pregnancy. After I noticed her stomach, the woman leaned her face close and kissed my forehead. At that very moment, I fell back asleep.
The rustling of grass filled my ears, and my eyes fluttered open. Stars adorned the sky, twinkling brightly.
They glowed and dimmed fourteen times over. After their flickering ceased, the night sky abruptly shifted to day, and the grass surrounding me transformed into a vast plateau. A high plateau made entirely of stone.
I was not alone in that place. Countless people surrounded me, numbering in the millions. Each individual wore completely different garments; no two were dressed alike.
The massive crowd was kneeling and prostrating, weeping for a figure situated in their very center.
He was bound to a tall cross made of wood. His entire body was riddled with wounds, and blood poured continuously from them. His face was completely unrecognizable, yet he smiled as he gazed upon everyone gathered around him. There was no trace of pain or regret in his expression.
He, who was crucified in the midst of a weeping and worshipping crowd, lifted his head and met my gaze. Our eyes locked, and I felt there was absolutely no impurity within his eyes. After a brief moment, he spoke to me, "Go home."
And then, instantly, at that very moment, in that exact second, I saw ####.
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[SYSTEM LOG NOTIFICATION]
-{ Seven Miracles of ###### detected }-
-{ Data Retrieval Completed }-
-{ Welcome Back, ##### }-
-{ Receiving Return Gift sent by ##### }-
-{May the Eternal One pave your path}-