Darkness.
Not the kind you get when you shut your eyes.
This was… heavier in a way I couldn't describe.
It was the same void I'd woken to once before.
Back then, before I could even string a thought together, I'd felt it.
A presence behind me.
Looming, amused, and ancient.
With a kind of calm that only demons or gods wore like a second skin.
And then the whisper right at my ear.
"Say… you want a wish?"
The words crawled across my skin again, replaying like someone had nailed them to the inside of my skull.
And that's when my eyes snapped open to the sound of… chirping.
Not screams, not roars.
Birds.
For a second, that confused me more than the darkness did.
Light cut through the window beside my bed, pouring in gold stripes that painted the walls in their hue.
While dust motes drifted lazily in the air.
A blanket was draped over me, half slipping off my chest.
[Someone took off my shirt… Hope that's all they took off…]
I tried shifting to a more comfortable position, but with a jolt, every muscle felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, and the worst was in my skull.
A dull, pounding ache that made me wince came on suddenly.
[My head is killing me… what happened?]
The room smelled faintly of herbs and wood polish.
A small table beside the bed, stacked with bandages and glass vials sat in the corner.
And a empty chair pulled up beside the bed sat empty.
Except…
"You talk in your sleep."
The voice cut through, calm and dry.
My eyes widened that very instant. I knew that voice...
My head snapped toward it.
Leaning against the table on the other side of the room, with arms folded like she owned the place, was…
"Liora…" I whispered, weak enough that even I barely heard it while my heart rate instantly shot up.
There she stood… draped in a simple white dress, yet looking every bit of the goddess she was.
Tried to push myself up, but my arms felt soft like jelly.
Whil my breath was ragged like I had run a mile.
She stepped forward without a word, steadying me with one hand.
There was no fuss or hesitation.
Just… familiar.
Like it was the most natural thing for her to do.
I sank back against the headboard, inhaling deep.
"Thanks," I muttered. "Liora, I—"
"I just want to know one thing."
Her voice was flat, bereft of both warmth and malice.
She pulled the chair beside the bed and sat, careful not to let any emotion leak.
"Where's my daughter?"
The question landed under my ribs harder than any claw.
As a bitter smile cracked across my lips. "You mean… our daughter?"
And the mask of no emotion broke just as it had formed.
Her jaw tightened as she spoke through gritted teeth.
The air thickened with a pressure I knew too well, as a faint hue of gold leaked across her skin, not bright, just the barest shimmer in the cracks of her restraint.
"Just answer the question."
"Last I saw her, we were in a war," I said, voice still weak. "My companions—"
"You mean NPCs?" Liora's voice went flat.
My eyes widened as a shiver went down my spine.
Hearing her say it out loud was like a trapdoor opening under every memory we ever shared together.
Liora herself had been an NPC back in The Endlessness.
[How much does she know…]
"I know everything," she said before I could speak. "I know how I was just an AI in some game you players used to play for entertainment… how I was just a conquest. A side quest you did just to see if you could." Her voice trembled at the edges even as she tried to keep it flat.
I saw her hand quiver once in her lap.
"You've got it wro- "
"Just tell me what happened to Sera," she cut in. "She was one of your NPC companions."
I drew a slow breath. "During the last war, enemy high-mages popped a divine spell on me and my tank NPC's heads. Sera was fighting on the front line. I don't know what happened next…"
"Everything you owned came with you," she pressed.
"I know. My guess is, since the tanks died before I was… You know… they stayed dead."
"Just pull out your interface. You can see the status of your companions."
"I can't. The interface, the UI—it's all gone."
"You're useless…" she breathed out, slumping back into the chair.
"You're a goddess yourself," I said, biting off each word. "Can't you—"
"I wouldn't be here if I could!" she snapped. "My range only goes as far as my followers. I can't see anything beyond it."
"Then maybe she came here, beyond your perception."
"Or maybe she didn't come here at all." Her eyes shut, shoulders sagging in resignation.
"No. There's a high chance she survived that war. I made sure her build was perf—"
"Odin, she may have been an NPC to you, but she was my daughter! I tr—"
"For the last damn time!" My voice rose to a thunder as I flung the sheets away and stood up on trembling feet. "She was our daughter. And I loved her just as much as you!"
Liora's head snapped up. "Yeah, right! You loved an NPC - a piece of AI like a daughter. You loved me, another piece of AI like your - "
Her breath came ragged as her composer broke apart. "No… What you loved was the fun side-quest. The rewards. And a demi-god NPC companion that loves you more than the world!"
"No…" My voice came weak, as I sighed before a sad smile tugged my lips. "I really did love a piece of a greater AI like a daughter… I really did love another piece of AI like my wife…"
A snort answered me as she looked at me like I was some rambling madman.
Meeting her gaze, I continued, "And that's exactly how everyone looked at me when they found out that I truly fell in love with the NPC family I made in a video game."
Her gaze drifted down.
While I spoke on, "And it scared me, alright! There was never any falling out of love or a new woman like I'd said… Liora, I was logging in daily for more than twelve hours straight. Just to spend time with you two. I- "
- Knock. Knock
The sound tore through the room like a stone on glass.
I froze mid-sentence.
"Even back then," Liora said, softer now, "I knew deep down I was just an AI... But I liked to think I was a bit more than that… and you made me feel that way. But what you did…"
Her eyes flicked away. "I'll try to find Sera… I may not be able to reach her. So, I'll contact you."
Her frame began fading as light crawled up.
And before I could reach out, she dissolved into a wash of soft gold.
My hand rose, wanting to grab the light before it faded, but all I caught was empty air.
And a beat later, the door opened.