Albert woke up to the faint sound of crackling fire. The scent of burning wood lingered in the air, mixed with the faint dampness of the forest. His body felt heavy, while his mind felt dazed.
He found himself lying on a wooden bed inside a small hut. The walls were made of old planks—rough and uneven, with thin streams of light slipping through the gaps.
He also noticed the ragged clothes he was wearing.
He stared at the ceiling for a while before realizing something was off. His chest didn't quickly rise and fall the way it should. There was no heartbeat but only a faint warmth pulsing beneath his skin, centered where his heart should be.
When he sat up, a pain struck—not from the flesh, but from something deeper. He pressed his hand against his chest and froze. A faint red shimmer flickered beneath his palm, forming an intricate knot-like mark that disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Before he could think, a voice spoke behind him.
"You shouldn't touch that."
Albert turned his head. A woman stood by the doorway, holding a wooden bowl. Her hair was gray, and her face carried a set of wrinkles. She wore ragged clothes and wooden sandals. Her eyes, however, were unsettling—like they had seen too much.
"Where am I?" Albert asked with a hoarse voice.
"Somewhere where you shouldn't be, a place where the soul resides," the woman replied. Her tone was old and flat, but her words carried a quiet weight that made Albert uneasy.
She set the bowl unto the table and said, "You're lucky I found you before a Fallen swallowed you"
Albert lowered his gaze, his voice trembling. "W-What do you mean by 'swallowed'? And… am I dead?"
The woman looked at him, then shook her head. "Not quite. You're alive... But not in the way you know. The knot around your heart keeps your soul from dispersing."
Albert felt confused as the woman handed him a bowl of soup.
"Then why am I here? Isn't this supposed to be a place for souls?" Albert asked
"I don't know…" the lady said, seemingly confused by the situation as well.
Then she added, "What I know is that the Tenth Plane accepted your soul, but it also bound you here, preventing your return—unless your soul ascends to a higher plane."
"A higher plane..." Albert murmered.
"What about the first question?" He quickly added.
"Heh, it's best if you rest for now. Someone will come and explain things to you later." She responded.
He didn't reply. The flickering fire reflected faintly in his eyes, and for a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then his eyes caught something beside the fire—a small basket. Inside lay the same baby he had carried. The child slept soundly, wrapped in cloth, its face no longer dry as he remembered.
"The child will stay here. It belongs to this place." The woman said softly.
Albert looked at her, but she didn't meet his gaze. She turned toward the window, watching the trees sway under the cold light.
"I don't understand," he muttered.
"You don't have to," she replied. "For now, just remember this—you are still alive, but your soul has already crossed. You exist on the Tenth Plane, where only the dead should dwell. The living aren't meant to be here. The reason you still have your body is that the knot acted as a medium, binding both your body and soul. I recognise that knot, It's an artifact that prevents you from dying in a fatal attack, but it only lasts for a brief moment. Something or someone had deliberately changed its nature changing to what it is now."
Albert looked down at his hands. They were steady—too steady, as if blood no longer flowed through them, yet his pulse is still there.
"What's your name?" he sincerely asked.
The woman paused. "Names bear too much weight. But if you must call me something… you may call me Nara."
"Nara…" he repeated in a faint voice.
Albert turned his gaze towards the window. Beyond the glass, the forest seemed motionless. No birds, no rustling branches, no signs of life. Even the wind that had whispered through the cracks earlier had gone still. It was as if the entire forest had fallen asleep.
"By the way, once you step outside, you may never return." Nara said with a stern voice.
"But... you may try" she added.
He wasn't sure if he should be scared or relieved, but the heaviness in his chest pushed him forward. He needed to know where he was… or at least what was happening to him.
He slowly stood up and walked towards the door, He placed his hand on the wooden handle and pushed it gently as the hinges creaked softly.
The moment he stepped outside, the air seemingly changed. It wasn't cold or warm—it simply felt alive, like it was aware of his presence. The forest stretched endlessly in all directions, but it wasn't the same forest he remembered. The trees were the same shape, the same height, but their bark seemed to shimmer faintly, as if it's reflecting light that wasn't there.
He took a cautious step forward. The sound of his foot against the ground didn't echo—it just vanished, absorbed by the silence.
"Hello?" His voice came out strained.
No one answered.
Only the sound of the wind or something that mimicked it was brushing against the leaves.
He kept walking, one slow step at a time.
Each time he blinked, the forest seemed to shift slightly. A fallen branch appeared a few meters away, then disappeared again. It was subtle, yet apparent.
Albert stopped.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking maybe it was fatigue, or the aftereffects of the strange night he'd had. But when he looked again, the trees ahead felt… wrong.
They weren't standing still.
They were breathing!
Their trunks swelled gently, expanding and contracting, like lungs filling with air. The sound was faint but rhythmic—slow and deliberate.
Albert stumbled back as he realize what was happening, his heart began to race and started to become heavy. The warmth pulsing beneath his chest seemingly became more obvious.
He felt like his skull was splitting open. The air around him twisted, bending the light and sound as if the world itself was rejecting him. He clutched his head, falling to one knee as his thoughts scattered—memories, voices, and shadows tearing through his mind.
Just when it felt like he would be ripped apart, a calm yet commanding voice cut through the chaos.
"That's enough."
It was Nara!
The forest, once alive and breathing, now stood silent—as if holding its breath. Only the faint sound of his warm pulsing chest remained echoing, like a reminder that he shouldn't be there.
Albert gasped for air, his hands trembling as he tried to steady himself. The pain in his head lingered, sharp and unrelenting. Then, from the edge of the fading distortion, Nara stepped forward with a calm figure.
"Do you get it now?" she asked, her tone was still old and steady but heavy with meaning. "This... is the Tenth Plane, the boundary between the living and the soul."
Albert looked up at her, his eyes were wide and unfocused. The words sank deep and heavy. Everything around him seemed to calm down, yet his insides were still screaming.
"I understand..." Albert said with great effort.