In the realm of the Between, there was no day and no night. Endless darkness consumed everything, and the only reason one could see at all was the sky above. It shimmered like northern lights, the Spirit Path winding through the endless cosmos, a road meant only for the dead to witness.
That very path stretched on without end, yet it carried the strange weight of a beginning. Nox's eyes traced its glowing arc across the sky while he stood upon a vast marble bridge that reached toward some unseen destination. Eventually, his gaze fell to a descent below, where a barrier of shifting grey waited. At first glance, it looked like a portal, something he had only seen in films.
This world is so silent… Why am I here? The last thing I remember was touching that skeleton… and then… what happened after that? Nox's thoughts tangled as he drifted in confusion, his mind struggling to piece it together.
His expression revealed what his lips could not. His jaw hung open, his gaze wide and vacant, his furrowed brows etched with disbelief. One detail stood above all—the color of his eyes had changed. Here, in this place, they burned crimson.
In this plane, Nox was not alone. Around him shuffled humans and beings unlike any he had ever known. They drifted forward in silence, aimless and hollow. Their faces were drained of life, their eyes dim and grey, their bodies limp as though dragged by invisible strings.
Am I… dead? The thought seeped into his mind like poison. He had never feared death, yet to watch his beliefs collapse so suddenly left him shaken. This reality was too sharp, too undeniable to turn away from. And yet, one detail made him think he might still be alive.
The others around him were pale and trembling, their bodies wracked with cold, teeth chattering as they shuffled forward. But Nox felt no such chill. If anything, his body felt stronger, healthier, as though the Between itself was fueling him instead of draining him.
Confusion gnawed at him, though fear never touched his heart. In fact, a strange calm settled over him, as if this path promised answers to questions he had always carried. The thought unsettled him more than the silence.
And so, without another word, he took his first step, following the pack. But not for long. Something deep in his chest began to pull him away. It screamed for him to stay back from the grey portal.
A black mist seeped out of him, twisting into the head of a wolf, manifesting into a dark creature that seemed to manifest straight from his heart. It snarled, then barked at him, the sound so sharp it knocked Nox onto his back.
His vision cleared in that instant. What the hell is happening to me? His eyes trembled, though only he knew it wasn't fear but excitement racing through him. To his disappointment, the wolf's head vanished as quickly as it had appeared. When he patted his chest, nothing felt out of the ordinary.
Looking around, he noticed that not every soul walked along the path. Some lingered at the edge of the bridge, staring downward. Curiosity tugged at him, and he moved closer.
The man beside him didn't acknowledge his presence, his vacant eyes fixed on the depths below.
"This is getting stranger by the second…" Nox muttered under his breath.
He followed the man's gaze and saw the abyss beneath the bridge. It stretched endlessly, yet something writhed in the dark. A mass of black miasma shifted as though alive, an organism vast enough to terrify those who stared too long.
Then, the unexpected. The man standing next to him turned his head, met Nox's eyes, and gave a slight nod before stepping forward. He plunged into the abyss willingly, his eyes suddenly clear, aware of what he was doing. Nox watched as the figure vanished into the seething black.
Before he could retreat, the same pull inside his chest surged again, urging him to follow.
"The fuck? You want me to commit suicide? Like hell I'm jumping—AHHH!"
Something shoved him from behind, and the world instantly lost its weight.
The sound of drums pounded in his ears as he fell. Sharp winds sliced against his skin, and the freezing air finally pierced into his bones. The black substance below locked onto him, its tendrils reaching upward. Black tentacles stretched out and began to coil around his body.
I'm so dead! I have to do something! Nox cursed in his mind, unable to speak as the pressure crushed him.
In that moment, something answered his call.
"AWOOO!"
An eerie howl burst from his chest as black mist surged outward, wrapping around him. It clashed with the tentacles, consuming them bit by bit. The two forces tore against each other on Nox's skin, filling him with excruciating pain. All the while, his fall grew faster and faster until he plunged into the black mist below.
He didn't know how long he kept falling after that. But at the very least, the wolf had devoured the miasma. A strange fullness lingered in his chest, as if he had just finished a heavy meal.
After what felt like a full day, he finally saw something at the bottom. He hadn't closed his eyes once during the fall, and now they burned as if stabbed by needles.
So what now? Do I just… die? Nox cursed in his mind as the grey ground grew closer.
At least, he had to admit, the world was beautiful in its darkness. Silhouettes of trees shimmered with bluish spectral leaves. Rivers glowed faintly as they wound through the land. Mountains stretched across the horizon, too flat and strange to feel real. Nothing here made sense.
Shit… shit! The ground rushed toward him—no, he was rushing toward it—and just before he could brace for impact, a deep voice rumbled inside his head.
"Call for me… my name… say it out loud in your heart… Maw…"
Nox didn't dare question if it was real. He gathered himself. Even if he didn't fully understand what it meant to "scream with the heart," he knew it had to be born of pure desire.
Maw! To me!
He roared in his mind, his heart lurching as if it skipped a beat. A strange force twisted inside his chest, pulling outward.
"Yes… Master..."
The voice's reply shook his entire being. Black smoke burst from within, wrapping his body. And just before he struck the ground, the world turned to darkness.