Pain for Ria lasted for a moment. Confusion, numbness, pain and then nothing – she went through the process in that chronological order. After pain came serenity. The foreign movements all stopped, and stopped with them all the disorientations around, and feelings. The stench, the light, her thoughts, and everything in between were dampened and erased. Only darkness which had surrounded her since her first step in the sewer till her last remained behind. This thing around her was not the darkness of the sewer tunnels though, but endless pitch blackness with no opposite: Darkness akin to the nothingness offered by blindness.

But Ria hadn’t gone blind. Although her surrounding was pitch black like the vacuum of space, a lone star she could see whining golden an infinite distance away from; It’s light so weak it was but a mere speck in the void surrounding her.

She hovered calmly with not a sign of the struggles she’d been through visible from her guise. She could still think but the panic from her apparent death just wasn’t there. It was like she had been robbed of all emotions and provided with just enough to reenact thoughts and not feelings. She could think but there was nothing else: no feeling at her feet, no sensation over her body; It was like she was not alive.

“What am I?” Her mind seemed to have completely accepted her new reality as she didn’t spare a single thought about what had happened to her. She probably knew what had transpired in the Croc’s den. She remembered the pain and the suffocation she had gone though; it was a sensation she would never forget. Her calmness, however, betrayed the dread she should be feeling.

“I died…” she finally reached the conclusion; It didn’t take her a long time neither a short time. Time seemed to have lost its grasp on her because even though she pondered about her situation for an endless amount of time, she reached the conclusion at the very next moment.

That was one mystery solved, however, as for ‘where she was?’ the pulsating star being the only other thing around, Ria decided to take a look at it. It might have some answers or her. Just like before, even though it took her an endless time to reach the star, the moment she reached it, everything in between seemed to evaporate leaving her with the sensation of having teleported directly in front of the star. Perhaps, the journey was just a reenactment of her mind and not something physical. As for the star, it was none other than the marble she was the master of. It shone like never before; almost blindingly bright.

Above the marble floated certain glyphs which Ria couldn’t read but the meaning of which she unimaginably understood.

I can take you back to the past if you hold me. It said.

An understanding arose inside her heart as the meaning imprinted upon her soul. She held the marble in her hand and some familiar scenes went past her head.

Do you want to go there? It asked.

And, yes, she replied.

The darkness evaporated around her like clouds the moment she agreed. Everything which she had lost came in strides to fill her. First returned panic and the ghostly pain and feeling brought upon by suffocation. Then returned her sensations and with them returned her sight. She slowly opened her eyes and the world expanded around her. Light entered her pupils and a green world blinked into existence in front of her.

A sea of vines everywhere; the monster plant lay dead beside her; a ring-shaped mark was visible on the palm of her hand; the emptied monster core rolling away from her.

She was back in the garden.

“It really brought me back…”

Somehow, not only had the marble brought her back to life but also in time. She knew she had died. Somehow she wasn’t repulsed by the notion of death. She guessed it was the result of being subjected to the idea of death being everywhere, and now she was simply accustomed to it. Being brought back in time, however, felt odder to her than being brought back to life. Who hasn’t thought about being able to travel back in time to their childhood once again, to live like a genius, to rectify the mistakes of their past?

“But why here in the garden, why didn’t you take me back all the way to the time I was still in my home. Before I had stepped in this sewer? Why not that time when my brother first forced me? Why here and now?”

She wasn’t being angry or questioning her life, rather emptying her mind of the poisonous thoughts she knew otherwise they would keep haunting her of possibilities which could have been, even though she understood in her heart they never were.

Understanding that this fluke of a miracle she had just been thought was the act of her marble. And it had only brought her back to the time it had accepted her as its master. Maybe that was its limitation or whatever, but this was her end of the line. She didn’t have the resources to waste thinking about what could have been. Ifs and buts weren’t important now. She was given a second chance; it was her responsibility to make the best of it if she wanted to get out of the sewer.

Then the lines from the prophecy went through her mind reminding her that even the goblin didn’t know anything about the marbles huge potential; otherwise, he wouldn’t have given the marble to her, no matter whether it could provide him a strength of his desire or not.

It cages death, a cycle stopped; it can free life and bring you hope.

The marble really brought her hope. There is no doubt about that.

“Because the goblin never died thanks to his partial immortality, he never got to know the real power of the marble. He only knew it can give boons! …So stupid…”

Now that she knew her death wouldn’t have resulted in a happy ending for the goblin, a little understanding of fates fickleness grew inside her mind. The difference between her and the goblin was not just of seniority but also of knowledge and intelligence; however, even after owning the marble for decades the goblin understood next to nothing about the marble; while she, who hadn’t even had the marble for a whole day yet, now knew more about its capabilities than her counterpart.

“Maybe, there is a limit to how many times it can bring me back?” And her understanding of the artifact would now only grow with time, not decrease. As for the prophecy, she repeated it a few times then gave up on that front fairly easily.

“No need thinking about something I don’t understand. If prophecies could be decoded so easily they wouldn’t be made so confusing in the first place. I can think about the marble and its abilities later, but first I need to figure out what to do about the next some stages.”

With her mind free of useless thoughts and fixed on the mater, her progress rate skyrocketed. She knew the bastard whom she had saved from the Croc was waiting for her in the grave and he didn’t have good intentions. I’ll be swift with him. She thought.

Her first time with him had been rough because of his magical ability. One can basically say he surprised Ria and that made her hesitate. This time he would have nothing on her. Knowing the limits of his ability made him an easy target to dispose of.

Stolen story; please report.

She had noticed a few things about his ability the first time she had fought him. One was his need to point his palm in the firing direction. And another was his weak physique. Guns and bullets work out fine even though the bullet can only travel in the direction the muzzle is pointed, but not only did the man needed time to create the ball of fire, furthermore, the ball was slow to boot. And not only that, he could only fire three to four times- as demonstrated by his pleading at the end of their fight. If he could attack continuously then Ria wouldn’t be alive right now. She would have died to him once and then either died to the hands of the goblin or the Croc and how death a second time might have worked up for her only the marbles creator knew.

“That’s one done.” She said raising her index finger. “As for the goblin . . . I need to get him before he drinks his yuck. I have to say he’s one tenacious monster to be able to drink his own . . . Ah, right, he can’t be hurt until he drinks and starts transforming. I’ll either have to hack his body into pieces before forcing him to drink the glass full or bind him in one way or another. Otherwise, it will be the repeat of what happened previously.” Saying her face became solemn. “As for the Croc… ”

There were many things wrong the way she had died to the Croc. Not only was the water back in the tunnel, but she was ambushed.

“Do I have to defeat her too? Is that even possible?” There is no way to know for certain. Ria could bring torches with her to counter the darkness, but the sewer remains the Croc’s turf and it knew exactly how and where someone was supposed to come out from. That’s just counting the arena, as for its physique, Ria wasn’t even on the same plane with the Croc. It was too strong. A simple show of its anger had easily broken the square dinner table into two. Moreover, it had a few millimeter thick scales covering its whole body. And let’s not forget about a guardian’s partial immortal: making, killing it, nothing more than a daydream.

“No wait…” she muttered. “The door to the garden is already open. I’ll just have to distract her for long enough to slip through the door.”

She was right. The door to the garden was really open. Meaning, she wouldn’t have to fight the Croc. And it was a logical explanation. How would she, a human, win against an old monster? The goblin was one thing, but to fight the Croc in its natural environment, Ria had more chances of defeating the goblin in his crazy state ten more times than winning against the Croc once.

“About the distraction…” She made her plans. She took her time to repeat her plans until she had creased out every visible wrinkle. The marble did attract her with a net of safety, but she decided to take her new life as her last one. Because to rely on the marble to help her in case of a slipup would be like giving up before even getting starting. The marble, in the end, was just another variable which depended on a variety of foreign factors. Death might not be the only factor responsible for it to work. She probably had unknowingly checked a variety of hidden factors making it work out for her the first time; the same might not happen a second time. Hence, her decision to forget about the marble until its mystery remains hidden.

Although the Croc’s stage ruffled Ria’s feathers, the rest of the plan excited her. She tore a long piece of vine from nearby and removed all the barbs to bind the goblin. The vine was green and elastic, yet, strong enough to remain unbroken from her pulls. While Ria was at it, she also cut another decent-sized vine and worked at it before warping it around her torso to cover her breast. The vine rubbed against her skin but felt the protection a necessity. Once done with these minor tasks, she started walking.

But as she neared the tree stump her eyes fell on the fruits that grew hanging from the braided branches near the ceiling. Greed rose inside her heart telling her that she should bring them along. Her rapid breathing made it disturbingly difficult for her to consider the idea. It was only thanks to her experience that she somehow managed to control the emotions in the end and decided against stealing.

Even though the fruits could bring someone out of death with one bite and held the magical power to strengthen one’s body, she also understood their significance. Their number hadn’t changed since the beginning. There had been six of them the first time she had stepped into the garden and now only three remained hanging above her head. She had eaten two of the six; as for the one missing, she had no idea. the one she needed to end this stage. There was also the relation between the fruit and the grave to keep in mind; the door to which only opened after the fruit’s consumption. If she was to take the last one of them along then how would she leave the next time around?

Anyways, done with the garden, she bound the vine around her waist like a belt and took a few steps, when she heard a voice.

“Why don’t you take the fruits?” The familiar child-like voice said.

“Em… is that you?”

He didn’t answer.

“Very few invaders have resisted the temptation of the fruits. Why did you decide against it? Don’t you regret your choice.”

“Because I think I won’t be able to leave if I take more than one.” She said, suspicious of the voice’s owner. It sounded so much like Em’ but- “And I have already taken one. There I answered your question, so can I see you now?”

Em, however, ignored her request and spoke again.

“You are right. The fruits are the key to open the door to the next realm. But there are three fruits here and there is only one floor left after this one –as you already know-“It said matter of factly. “So why don’t you take one? Who knows where it may come in help.”

To tell the truth, she hadn’t thought about that. She didn’t know how many floors were left after this one. She knew from experience there was at least one more, but now that she was told there was only one floor left after the second, it will be wrong to say she wasn’t tempted, but she denied the request anyways. The deal felt too good to be true to her.

“I don’t think I’m going to take the fruit, now that you are insisting so much. Maybe the next time I come, I will. So thanks but no thanks. Anyways, you aren’t Em’ are you?”

“Oh!” It said in surprise. Then the voice changed into a heavy rumbling tone- like the world itself was speaking.

“How did you find out?”

“You didn’t answer me when I asked you whether you were Em’ or not.”

“You were able to make the judgment on such a simple basis?”

“I have always been an exceptional judge of character.” She said then remembered the man she had saved. “Or so it thought.”

“I don’t know whether to call you worthy of being a leader or simply stupid. I guess all leaders share the same qualities. They all recklessly believe in their stupidity.”

Ria didn’t know how to follow up with that. Was she reckless and stupid? She hadn’t thought twice before agreeing to drink from the goblins glass at his shallow promise of freedom and hadn’t wasted much time before splitting with her fingers, either. So yeah, maybe she was recklessly stupid.

“So… I should get going.” Ria finally said, breaking the silence, but was stopped once again. The mimicker seemed to have not talked with anyone in a long time because it surreally wanted her to stay for a bit longer.

Its next words, however, perked her ears in interest. “Don’t you want to see Emanuel?”

“You mean Em’? His name is Emanuel? That’s a nice name. Where is he, is he alright right?”

“He’s simply tired and sleeping.” It said and stopped talking again. It might be an omnipotent God of the garden for all Ria cared, but it was a lousy talker.

It was her once again who had to continue the conversation because the voice’s owner sure as hell was adamant about talking in turns. “And where is he sleeping?”

And the voice replied, “Inside one of the fruits.” Making Ria speechless.

“So…”

“He’s a good kid.” The vice said warmly. As for how Ria knew it was speaking warmly . . . because this time its voice didn’t rumble. “And I want you to take him with you the next time you come around.”

“Can a guardian leave the stage?” She knew that wasn’t right. If that was so then the goblin wouldn’t have cooked such an exaggerated plan to get out. But the voice removed her distraught.

“He’s not a guardian and neither am I.” It said and the light suddenly became brighter around Ria, as if the world was going to break, but nothing of that sort happened. The light also soon returned to its previous brightness.

“The roof?” she asked dumbfounded and the voice chided her.

“Not the roof. I am the spirit of the world tree.”

Ria looked at the tree in surprise.

“The world tree can speak? I don’t know why I’m surprised about that…”

“Yes and no. That thing is not me.” It said. “It has been transformed into something else, something dangerous. I feed on the world energy, while that thing feeds on the devil’s breath. The difference between us is larger than hell and heaven itself. Anyways, it’s about time for you to leave. But promise me, you’ll take Emanuel along the next time you come- No matter what.”

“Alright, I can take him then I definitely will.”

“One more thing,” The spirit said, very seriously. “The time will come when you’ll have to decide between yourself and a slim chance at hope. I hope you‘ll be able to see past the shackles of your life and believe then.”

“What?” she asked, but her query went unanswered. She waited around for a couple more minutes then walked through the hole into the world tree’s trunk.

This was her first and the last conversation with the spirit of a world tree; the importance of which she would only come to understand far in the future while making the biggest decision of her life.