I found myself in a pool of darkness. Thick swirling waters that curled and swam around my ankles. There was a shimmer of light among the ripples but no distinct source. No sunlight, no flickering phosphorescent bulbs that hummed and spat electricity, nothing. An infinite expanse of shadows, matte-black ink sky and shuttering mists stretched in every direction as far as I could see. A slumbering scent, like lavender and frothing ocean waves caressed my taste with every breath.

I stood alone in this unknown world. Theo and Tala were missing, the kitchen knife was gone, and I was no longer wearing my new windbreaker. I attempted to open my Codex but its red design refused to materialize. I was left to my own. Everything taken from me. No weapons, no armor, no Codex to guide me. I tried to think back on the lessons of the First Unlocked, to recollect whether they had talked about something similar to this happening to them. My mind was drawing a blank. In fact it felt like my memories were growing foggy and distant. I was even having a hard time trying to remember what happened before I passed through the walk of darkness.

Did that actually happen? Did I really enter into the shadows after Theo? Where was he? Where was Tala? I was sure that moment happened only seconds before I got here but… did it? The more I thought about it the further it seemed to stretch into my past. Everything that happened on my first day of the Trials no longer seemed real. The escalator, the eye of God in the sky, the countless creatures all trying to kill me. It was all a dream now. Not a dream, a nightmare that I could finally let go and sleep. Fall into a deep slumber to never wake again. A peaceful endless sleep to heal and release all the pain and anguish of the world. It would be wonderful to never feel the pain in my chest and the claw of anxiety that crawled from deep within me.

The horizon began to draw closer. The infinite line of shimmering black liquid grew faster and faster towards me. It ripped through the world causing a wave of nausea to spring up in my mind. I had to cover my eyes from the unnatural motion or fall from the whiplash of dizziness. I could feel sweat beading on my forehead, my throat cut dry, and my eyes grow hot. In an instant my body fell till the water came to my knees. The shock of the fall caused me to reach forward and try to catch myself. My arms sank deep into the black water till it came to my elbows. I tried to pull myself up but only sank deeper into the oily field.

I tried to call out for help, to scream at the top of my lungs. Someone could save me, I just knew it. I had someone with me. No two people. What were their names again? They had to be somewhere nearby. We had been together before I came to this place. If only I could remember their names, then I could call out to them. Ask them for help. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t remember their names. What was my name?

“To lose oneself is the greatest failure of this world,” A steady voice echoed from far away yet at the same time it whispered behind my ears. “Identity, self-worth, the ability to set forth a new future. Will you abandon these things in your path to power?”

Before me stood a figure. A personage of a darkness deeper and more menacing than my surroundings. At first I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Creating meaning from the forbidden shapes of shadows. A trick of the dark. I knew better when it moved through the water. It was tall, standing well over ten feet in height. It wore a black robe whose edges shimmered like the ripples around it. Where I expected a head, there was nothing but a black eclipse. A foul dark orb surrounded by a silhouette of solar light. The hood of the robe was laid back, the chest bare and open. There was no body inside the robe yet the sleeves moved as if arms reached out.

“Warden Pierce,” My mind began to tremble by the power of this creature’s voice. “To fall forever, to sink below the horizon of yourself and to never return. Is this the path you wish to travel?”

“What? I… I don’t understand,” My voice came low, weak.

The water rose, drenching my chest and sending a cold rush up my shoulders. The once sensitive smell of salt water and washed sand now turned sour and vile. A stench of rotting fish and damp undergrowth. Fear cut at my chest causing my rushed inhales to become shallow and sharp. The panic and anxiety of a forgotten life became all that I was. This… Being, gave me my name. It hushed it in a yell of unknown vocals that were human and beast simultaneously. Yet I could not hold onto it. It was fleeing before my eyes. My identity was no longer mine. My memories, my personality and self-awareness became a whisper in the wind. The darkness left me nothing but paper-thin skin, brittle bones, and jellified blood.

“Warden Pierce,” The voice grasped my attention once more. “I give you a line to the future. A future of verdant life, sunlit sanctuaries, and fateful foundations. You must take this future into your own. No longer guessing. No longer indecisive on your path to power. For power is taken but there is always a price. Do not let that price be what makes you… you.”

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“Please! Don’t let me drown,” I stretched my hands out to this angelic monstrosity. My eyes filled with tears, and I could taste blood on my lips. “I don’t know what you mean. Please don’t let me end like this.”

“Make your decision!” The creature’s voice was no longer controlled. It was violent, full of rage and finality.

“I want to live,” I called out, face wading just above the water.

“Why?”

“I’m afraid.”

“WHY?”

“I… don’t know,” The water started to swirl and rush all around me now. It washed into my eyes, pooled down my throat, and filled me with ice.

“You do know. You have always known,” I could barely hear its voice now. It was muffled against the rushing of the water.

“I’m afraid I won’t make something of myself. That I won’t be remembered. That I can’t make a difference,” I sank below the waves. Again I found myself consumed in nothing. No sound, no scent, no sensation whatsoever. It was a surreal moment. I tried to find myself in the darkness. Feeling for my arms, touching my shoulder, anything I could do. I swore I was moving my arms, but I couldn’t sense them. There was no weight to my actions and no reaction to my thoughts. My body was gone. All that was left to me was my thoughts, my feelings and my insecurities.

To be left stranded with nothing but your innermost self in a world where the self of a human was meaningless. It was an awful thought. A terrible image of a single entity floating in a never ending universe. Not even a speck of dust among the mansion of the cosmos. All those thoughts rushed through my mind in an instant. Beating down on me from every possible avenue of feeling and time. Then it all stopped. Peaceful. Quiet nothing. My anxiety, fear and questions also disappeared with everything. All that was left of me was my mind. So I thought about the questions from a former me.

What did I want with my life? What did I want the power for? What would I do with power?

I could feel the weight of my own indecision crushing down upon my own consciousness. Weighing down every fiber of how I thought, pulling me further and further away from existence. Even my own thoughts began to fade to a forgotten past that no one would remember till I became nothing itself.

“No!” I yelled out to the world. I don’t know if I actually made a sound because I couldn’t feel my lips, my jaw, or even my own tongue. “I know who I am. I know what I want. I want to grow stronger. I want to make this world a place people can actually live in and not just survive. I want to save humanity.”

The world came swarming back to me. The long skywalk. The crimson sky among the dusting of violet clouds. The shimmering glass windows that stood like sentinels on either side of me. The coffee and blood stained carpeting of an Older World skyscraper. I could smell dust in the air. It was thick in my throat and dry on my teeth. I stretched my fingers across the itchy flooring feeling it tug on my fingernails and scrap my palms. Sweat dripped from my forehead and stung my eyes. My chest felt sore and my shoulders ached. It was wonderful. To feel the world again. To feel myself again.

Taking a long breath, deep breath that was full of life and pain, I looked around. Tala and Theo were sitting on their knees on either side of me. Their heads were down, eyes wide open. They didn’t blink, only breathed.

“Tala?” I shook her shoulder. “Tala, can you hear me? Tala?”

She didn’t react. Her eyes just stayed down, pinned to the coarse carpeting. I turned to Theo and shook his shoulder as well. I yelled his name and even slapped him on the back, but no reaction. What was happening?

“In a world full of uncertainty. You must be certain of one thing,” A soft yet powerful voice spoke, the same before that called to me in the realm of nothing. Standing before me was a faded silhouette of the being from the darkness. It was undefined and shifting as if blown by the wind.

I stood up, my legs weak, my stomach growling. I gave the creature my best confident stare then spoke with as much bravery as I could. “What must I be certain of?”

“Yourself.” The entity drifted away like a shadow fallen to the rising sun. In the same instance it disappeared, I heard Tala and Theo gasp. I fell to Tala side and caught her just as she fell forward. She had tears in her red eyes and her hair was stuck to her face. She was panicking but looked too weak to let her body know, so she laid in my arms, motionless.

“Tala, can you hear me? I’ve got you. Everything is alright now,” I said.

It took her a moment to center her eyes on me and when she did a smile crossed her quivering lips. “Ward? Oh… Ward it’s you! You’re here. You’re real. I’m real. Aren’t I?”

“Yes… Yes Tala you are. Remember, always,” I brushed her hair back. “That you are real and you matter.”

“Where am I?” Theo spoke as he stood. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. I only know that it’s now over. I hope.” I helped Tala get to her feet. She was weak and her arms trembled. I held her as best I could and realized that I wasn’t the best support. My own legs and arms struggled to stay strong. I felt another growling in my stomach. I needed something to eat.

“She needs food,” I said to Theo. He was staring at his hands. His eyes looked deep into his palms. “Theo… She needs food.”

He let his arms drop to his sides, clenched his fists, and blinked a few times before nodding. “Let’s hurry. I don’t want to be here any longer.”