Darkness, endless darkness surrounded Sander it was like he was floating in space, perhaps this was what the afterlife was, endless darkness, or perhaps this was hell. He couldn’t think of many things more torturous than an eternity with nothing but his own thoughts and endless nothingness. The first thing he felt was a sense of panic, he didn’t even realize the results of the failed ritual that brought him here. Panic quickly subsided, or perhaps slowly, it was hard to tell the passage of time like this.
He could flail, he could move his body but nothing he did made a difference so here he found himself. He had no means of changing his fate, changing his current circumstances or anything really. He thought of his life, of how he had lived it and how much he had lost. Admittedly he had hoped that perhaps he would see his loved ones in the afterlife, but secretly he had always believed the afterlife was endless nothingness, he just didn’t imagine he’d be conscious for it.
“Annie…” He spoke her words out loud, but he couldn’t hear his own voice except inside his own head, as if there was no atmosphere around him, he didn’t feel his heartbeat or the need to breathe, which confirmed that he was dead and not caught in some strange dimensional trap. You know it didn’t really matter what he thought, he internally sighed and reserved himself to his fate, until something more obvious came along at least.
Drifting endlessly, he wasn’t sure how long he had been here, he had tried counting and he counted to a million at one point. He remembered reading that it would take roughly twelve days to count that far, he wasn’t sure if that was correct, but he had been here long enough to be so desperate for something to focus on, that he counted to a million.
He never felt tired, yet never energized either, it was a strange state to be in, perhaps the only thing that made it bearable was that his awareness seemed dulled, perhaps as time went on he was just slowly fading in to nothingness, rather than sudden death, the mind is given time to come to terms with its own end. He figured perhaps this state was merely his mind working through the moments of his death, time could be perceived differently in his mind after all.
That seemed the right conclusion in his mind, accepting that perhaps he just had to come to terms with his life and when that happened it would truly end, however long that took.
He drifted on and on and though he doubted his own conclusion several times, as one does with endless time and only your thoughts to keep you company. That was, at least, until he was awoken from his state by the sound of a voice. “Inkor intoli dan, e igi undak dir fin bruke bahar si nukadem, e igi danur dir berakun.” He had no idea what they were saying or where it was coming from, the voice was in his head, perhaps he had finally gone insane, strange way to come to terms with death, that’s for sure.
The words did not stop, it went on long enough that he internally told it to shut up, mostly because speaking didn’t change anything, he had tried shouting but as every time had had tried it, he only heard it in his head. It repeated over and over endlessly. Every time he heard it though, it started to feel like he started understanding what they were saying until finally it clicked. “Awaken unworthy one, we have heard your petition and we will grant you your desire.”
He suddenly witnessed something in the darkness and what he saw were five pairs of eyes gazing back at him. He couldn’t make out any shapes, just glowing eyes in an endless darkness. “We have heard your petition and we will grant you your desire.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to their question, there was a myriad of feelings from fear to solace that all came together in desperation.
“Speak your desire.” One of the voices spoke, interrupting his train of thought. “Speak your desire.” Another voice spoke, and another repeating the same words until they started to flow together, it started to feel like his head was splitting at the sound of their voices. His mind could not comprehend everything that was happening to him and so he responded the only way he could, he screamed. The desire he had had for as long as he could remember, powerless over the death of all that he cared for and loved… Tears welled up in his eyes as he gazed at them with desperation.
“POWER OVER DEATH!” He shouted “I want power over death…” His last words trailed off sobbing, they were heartfelt and desperate, every death of those he loved flashed before his eyes as he spoke that fateful wish… He could have wished for all of them back, but that would not prevent them from being lost once more. The power to stop death once and for all, to not just prevent it but to stop it in its tracks so that he’d never have to experience the same loss again.
There was silence, not a word spoken for the longest time as he gazed between the eyes. Was it too much to ask of them? Was this entire moment a test for the afterlife? Internally he wanted to scream, but it wouldn’t change the fact that he gave words to the one desire that truly burned within him, so he remained steadfast, what’s been done is done.
“Your desire will be granted.” The words spoke in unison before his senses, his consciousness seemed to switch off, as if somebody flipped the light switch to his mind.
