The darkness came without warning, covering everything and anything in an impenetrable veil of vantablack. She gasped as her hands tried to fly to her neck, acute phantom pain still delineating the fingers she'd felt crushing her windpipe and squeezing harder and harder before everything ceased to be.

 

She flailed as she noticed that there wasn’t anything around her neck. In fact, she couldn't feel anything at all, except from an all-encompassing sense of mild warmth around her very being. A moment of quiet after the dwindling panic let her come to be aware that she wasn't a physical being anymore as she tried to look around and found that there was nobody at all to speak of.

 

As the memory of her maybe death faded away bit by bit, buried under shallow promises to deal with it ‘later’, the unreality of her situation began to sink in. A chilling thought ran down her spine. "Is this the afterlife? Just an empty void? Because then it sucks." She tried to move around a bit, maybe try to find anything that wasn’t endless darkness, but she was met with failure. Seconds later she gave up and kept staring at the starless tapestry in front of her.

 

"I can already feel my sanity dripping away — wait, I can talk?" And indeed she could, even without a mouth. She tried to talk again, but the sudden, asphyxiating presence of something enormous smothering her from all sides cut the attempt short, its presence crushing her own.

 

A bitter laugh would've escaped her, had she been able to speak. Was she going to die a second time, turned into a spiritual paste by whatever made its home in this black sea?

 

The pressure let up as a sense of disagreement slammed into her, and as her thoughts reassembled themselves, a box opened in the middle of her field of vision. She took a moment to read it after instinctively trying to swat it away, still shaken.

 

Welcome! Integration initializing. Please answer the questions truthfully. Do you wish to transmigrate?

 

She blinked, baffled and still off-balance. For the moment she decided to take the box at face value and push the sense of all-consuming dread into a neat little box labelled 'later'; it wasn't as if she had any other place to go nor any kind of entertainment here, and in her book, eternal boredom was the worst of ways to go insane. Never mind the crushing presence she could tell was watching her every move surrounding her completely.

 

Transmigration meant to… go from one plane or type of existence to another, right? So that'd mean that saying 'no' would probably land her in this nothingness, possibly for all of eternity.

 

Fear's barbed talons gripped her heart and squeezed. She could almost feel the very edges of her vision close in around her. Bit by bit, millimetre by millimetre, advancing inexorably until they wrapped around her and kept going, her consciousness nothing more than a mote of dust, infinitely screaming in abject futility.

 

She had to get out. Out out out—

 

"Yes."

 

Another powerful slam of emotion that wasn't hers, this time what almost seemed to be joy.

 

Marvellous! What are you? What is your name?

 

The first question puzzled her. Maybe it referred to her species? "Um, human?"

 

Disagreement coupled with exasperation mixed all around her, this time not slamming into her very soul, but flitting at the edges of her not-senses. A figurative lightbulb lit up in her mind and had she had pupils, they would've been wide as saucers. "I am me," she answered in a half-whisper. "I am me, and my name is Alice."

 

It felt good, saying it out loud for the first time without fearing the consequences; regardless of the situation she now found herself in.

 

A small light lit up in the middle of the blackness, and she reflexively tried to squint, only to shortly thereafter realize that the light wasn't blinding her. The small wisp expanded and bloomed into a humanoid figure, moulding itself into… her. Or, more accurately, the image of herself she'd always pursued. A small frame of five foot something, black hair and hazel, inquisitive eyes, pale skin and small lips.

 

When a new box popped up out of nowhere she swore she almost felt her heart beat itself out of her ribcage, never mind that she didn’t have one at the moment.

 

Almost finished! Is this you?

 

Yes, yes yes yes, a thousand times yes.

 

Bemusement came from the void-dweller, and the box blinked out, shortly replaced by another one.

 

Thank you for your time, and welcome to your new existence. The Integration is finalizing its last steps. Please wait.

 

The soundless void came back, lacking any of the screens. Alice flitted about, figuring after a couple of minutes of endless, boring darkness that she may as well try to learn how to move. The sensation of movement without a body was strange, but not unwelcome. Like trying to ‘push’ yourself with your own mind alone, and actually succeeding. Alice figured that such a trick would've been really useful on Monday mornings when willpower faltered and the reasons to stay in bed kept piling up.

 

She still felt the gaze of what she assumed was the creator of the previous boxes on her, and even if it wasn't suffocating anymore, the constant staring was getting really old, really fast.

 

The silent presence was nonetheless appreciated; it kept her from thinking too much. About her death, about the void, and about her supposed new life. For the moment, she just wanted to enjoy floating in this infinite sea of tranquillity.

 

Nonetheless, the novelty of the situation and of her newfound method of movement eventually wore off, and when it did, she 'turned' towards the entity, and spoke without thinking. "Don't you have some music in here or something to pass the time? This is getting dreadfully boring."

 

A moment of quiet pause stretched before her, and when she started to wonder if she had committed a deadly faux pas with something she definitely did not understand, the void filled itself with the soft tones of slow, electric music.

 

It took her a moment to recognise the track, her mind still muddled by recent events, but when she did she couldn't help but snort, half in disbelief, half in a strange mixture of joy and nostalgia. "Really? ‘The Perfect Girl’?"

 

As she moved around trying to follow the tempo of the music, she softly muttered to herself. "Baby, of course, I changed, a new Ryan Gosling movie came out…"

 

As a box that only said "Integration completed!" flashed before her eyes moments before she felt a monstrous pull drag her downwards, she swore to herself that she heard a snort from the darkness.

 

Welcome to [Aethas]!

 

—❈—

 

Human brains are hilariously badly geared towards changes in their environment that don’t have any measure of transition. Thus, Alice took a good ten seconds to figure out that no, she wasn’t still in an endless sea of black with only some unfathomable being to keep her company, but inside a large, spacious hall filled with other people. A quick headcount revealed around a hundred people with her from all kinds of ethnicities. all of them adults. Noticing the pristine white garb that everyone wore, Alice confirmed that she, too, had the same clothes. Strangely enough, they fit her perfectly and weren’t uncomfortable at all.

 

“Welcome!” Resonated a voice from the bottom of the hall, a small wooden door closing as a middle-aged man approached a raised dais made of pure white rock. Murmurs spread across the entire crowd of people, but the man’s voice carried across without an issue nonetheless. “Welcome! Yes, you must be terribly confused right now, but we’re going to remedy that just now.” He wore strange clothing, a kind of mesh between a clergy tunic and full plate armour, with chainmail underneath, but no weapons at his side.

 

“First things first. I assume that all of you accepted to be transmigrated, yes?” His voice booms with a cheery sense that sets Alice’s teeth on edge.

 

“Extroverts…” she mutters sullenly, and for a split second she could swear that her heart stopped beating the moment the man’s eyes momentarily met hers, his lips quirking slightly.

 

Everyone in the hall nods, be it reluctantly or enthusiastically. His smile widens, hands gesturing grandly at his sides. “Perfect! My name is Narum, and I will be your temporary guide into this new world of possibilities you suddenly find yourself in.” A few hands raise up, but he holds his palm towards them, forestalling any questions. “Let me finish first, yes? Any inquiry will be attended to the best of my abilities after that.” The people that raised their hand nod, and Narum clapped enthusiastically.

 

“Then let us commence. You are now in the border city of Mistfall, part of the nation of Aspen. A map will be available downstairs for those willing to dive deeper into that.” His expression hardens, and the whole mood of the hall plummets. “Now, this next step is incredibly important. It will decide how you will proceed into our world, and fundamentally change who and what you are.”

 

Someone to her right took one side step towards her, still looking ahead and directly at Narum, but speaking to Alice. “Hey, name’s Julian. What do you think he’s talking about?”

 

Alice pondered whether to answer or not, but a quick look around her made the budding creation of various cliques obvious, never mind the fact that she really didn’t want to take on whatever came next completely alone. That made the decision for her. “Alice. And… I don’t know. You saw the void and the messages, right?”

 

Julian nodded, almost lost in thought. “That I did. It was kinda creepy, especially having to roomie with whatever lived there.” He shivered, and Alice followed suit. “Yeah, not a fan at all.”

 

Narum coughed, loudly, and every conversation ceased at the same time, a blanket of silence falling over the hall. A small smirk graced his lips. “Well, now that you’ve speculated to your heart’s content, you should listen very carefully indeed, because I will not repeat myself.” That made everyone in the hall straighten up, Narum’s presence somehow filling the entirety of the massive space. “Close your eyes, breathe in, and look inwards as thoroughly as you can. Let your consciousness wash over your body, every nook and cranny, every fold and corner.”

 

Alice did so, enraptured by his words. She closed her eyes, and tried to look inward, her mind blank as she mentally checked every part of her body; legs, arms, neck, head, eyes, nose, thighs, hands, fingers. She went about it without an order in particular, and only when she reached her chest did she notice something… different. Something that, for lack of a better word, had a weight to it. A pull, a gravitas that she didn’t feel anywhere else. Reluctantly, and slowly, she extended her own attention towards it, focusing more and more on the small sensation that slowly took form inside her mind as a bright mote of reddish-white light. Oh so very slowly, that light grew to encompass her whole consciousness, until a faraway ‘click’ and a sensation of something opening within herself snapped her awake.

 

Narum was grinning ear to ear, and after whispering something to himself, he raised his voice, everyone snapping awake at the same time. Some stared at him in awe, some in fear or apprehension, and some with what could be called wonder. Julian wore a complicated expression, his face being a mixture of cautious awe and a dose of cynicism.

 

“Marvelous. All of you found it. yes?” A series of nods and yeses across the whole hall met him, and he nodded. “Good, good. Now, you only have to say or think ‘Echo’, or alternatively, search for that feeling again, whichever you prefer. The rest is completely on you.” A series of questions aimed at Narum was met with the verbal equivalent of a reinforced steel wall, and the voices quieted down immediately as a series of gasps and incredulous exclamations reverberated along the edifice.

 

Alice followed suit, and with just the thought of ‘Echo’, a screen completely similar in hue and presentation to the ones within the void met her as she reeled back slightly, not actually expecting anything to happen.

Welcome! Neither Class nor Profession has been detected. Commence class acquisition?

 

Alice stood still for a second, tried to visualize the implications of such a thing, and gave up halfway through, giving a small nod towards the interface.

 

The box blinked out, and she felt how she was being dragged… somewhere. Somewhere inside of herself, if such a thing was possible.

 

The whole trip was eerily reminiscent of her stay in the starless void, but thankfully the transition was short and painless.

 

Opening her eyes, Alice found herself in a small pentagonal room with greyscale walls and an unknown source of lightning. The only thing in the entire room that had even a smidgeon of colour to it were the four doors on the middle of each of the walls, leaving one of them bare and lifeless. Carefully, Alice approached her rightmost one, a door painted in the most beautifully pure blue she had seen, streaks of pure white crossing around it in strange and mesmerizing patterns. As she touched the handle, a prompt appeared in the middle of said door, instead of directly within her own vision for a change.

 

 

She stepped away, and the prompt winked out. Grabbing the handle again made it reappear, and so, Alice took a step back, again in the centre of the room.

 

“It’s clear I have to choose one, never mind the mention of Ether, whatever it is, even if it sounds suspiciously like magic.” She put a lid on that, and turned towards the other doors, this time going for the opposite of the one she just read.

 

This one was a fiery red streaked with lines of a deeper red that sometimes pulsed a beautiful yellow, almost golden. Entranced, she grabbed the handle, noticing how this one felt hot to the touch.

 

 

Alice mournfully stepped away, the warmth of the door calling to her like the embrace of a hot flame on a winter morning.

 

This time she didn’t take her time, and immediately stepped towards the next door to her right. This one radiated a purely white light that seemed to almost banish the greyscale that seemingly drowned the room, driving it back with the might of its purity. It almost felt overwhelmingly overbearing, a presence that took over whatever came near and made it it's own.

 

 

This one felt… right. It felt like a breeze of fresh air in a world that was oh-so suffocating. It felt like a moment of silence in the middle of a thunderstorm, the command of an absolute ruler towards its lessers. Domineering, encouraging, soothing, raging, right, wrong.

 

Overwhelmed, she staggered back and turned towards the last door, the one she had been actively avoiding since she got there.

 

It didn’t look like anything special; just a dark red colour, muted towards the top and gaining saturation towards the bottom until it was blood-red crimson at the bottom. What made her dread it wasn’t the colour or the downright mundane aspect in comparison towards the other ones, but the echoes that resonated from beyond.

 

From wails of anguish to agonized sobs, from choked gurgles to mad cackles that sent a shiver down her back, from frenzied scratching to what almost sounded like faraway chants and the ‘drip drip drip’ of what she was sure was freshly spilt blood, along with the muted ‘thud’ of a body hitting the floor.

 

Not really wanting to, Alice touched the handle for the briefest of moments she could get away with before stepping back.

 

 

Alice took a step back, face pale as a ghost, and took in each door, considering them carefully.

 

After a moment’s deliberation, the frustration of being tugged on from all sides wore down on her. Closing her eyes, she took a slow, unsure step. Then, another. Another and another, until she stood still in front of the door that felt… right, the one that most strongly called to her, to who she was, and to who she wanted to be.

 

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed ahold of the handle, and pulled.