Jacob finds himself in a state of confusion, his mind reeling from the events that transpired. The last recollection he has is of Zyl embedding a sun into his chest, an act that resulted in his agonizing demise. Now, plunged into darkness, devoid of sensation, Jacob grapples with overwhelming uncertainty. Were all of Zyl’s assurances merely falsehoods? Had he been lured into a deceitful pact, only to meet his end at the hands of the trickster god? Amidst the chaos of his thoughts, Jacob searches desperately for an explanation. Yet, confronting the enigma of Zyl proves futile. How could a mortal hope to comprehend the motives of a god, particularly one shrouded in such profound mystery?

From the scant accounts found in ancient tomes, Jacob recalls one of them mentioning his relationship with mortals vaguely: “Zyl’s rapport with mortals remains a perplexing enigma, as he intertwines misfortune with unexpected blessings in their lives, leaving them to perceive him as a trickster, a liberator, or an agent of unbridled chaos”.

As Jacob pondered Zyl’s motivations with scant information, he suddenly felt a hard, stone-like sensation. Was he able to move his body, or did he even have one? Trapped in a void of darkness, Jacob struggled to discern anything beyond the sensation. Gradually, his sense of hearing returned, carrying distant voices on the wind. Tentatively, he attempted to open his eyes, if indeed he possessed them. With a newfound sense of control over his body, Jacob cautiously blinked open his eyes to a surreal sight.

Before him stretched a stone path, flanked by blocks adorned with red and peculiarly purple roses. To his left and right, the path led to what appeared to be an entrance to a cemetery. Glancing back, Jacob noticed the path extending beyond the cemetery, leading to a bridge where distant figures lingered, obscured by the faint mist.

Determined to unravel the mystery of this strange place, Jacob set off towards the bridge. As he drew closer, a voice addressed him. Turning, Jacob spotted a man seated on a stone bench, engrossed in a black book. The man set aside his reading material, fixing Jacob with a scrutinizing gaze.

"What are you doing here?" the man inquired, his tone tinged with an edge of impatience. Jacob studied the man's features, noting his striking appearance: medium length thick and wavy jet-black hair, dark brown almost obsidian like eyes, and a crown of thorns adorning his head. Clad in a black tunic and overcoat with intricate white patterns, the man exuded an air of mystery, like Zyl he was unnaturally handsome but unlike Zyl’s fair skin tone, this man looked unnaturally pale like he has never seen the light of day.

“I woke up here… I don’t know where this place is or why I’m here,” Jacob confessed, sensing an opportunity to glean insight from this enigmatic figure.

“Well, surprisingly, you are speaking the truth,” the mysterious man said with certainty. Jacob was confused why this man was so quick to believe him. Was he gullible or something?

“I’m not gullible, if that’s what you think. I can tell whether someone is lying or telling the truth, so I hope you will be honest with me, and in return, I will answer questions you have about this place,” the mysterious man proposed as a way for both of them to get the information they needed.

“Since you answered my question honestly, then it’s only polite I answered yours in return. This place you mysteriously woke up in is the afterlife, and you just woke up in Death’s private garden, and I am its gardener. You just so happened to be here when I was taking my break,” the mysterious man explained.

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Jacob was shocked; he couldn’t believe he was in the afterlife. He started shaking, his face sweating. He felt like his whole body was burning up.

“Why… Why me?” Jacob cried, losing breath with each word as he started hyperventilating. He felt hot, like the pain from being burned alive was coming back.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to react this way after finding out that they are in the afterlife,” the mysterious man soothed, trying to calm Jacob down as he noticed smoke starting to come off Jacob’s body. The mysterious man was now curious about why this was happening since usually, mortals that arrive in the afterlife can’t use any of their magic abilities.

“What an interesting mortal,” the mysterious man thought of the possible reasons Jacob was able to use his magic in the afterlife. He knew a few things that would cause this.

“I have figured it out now, can’t believe he has tha—” Before the mysterious man could finish his sentence, he saw that Jacob was on fire, but his body wasn’t harmed. Besides him having a mental breakdown, the fire didn’t seem to be harming him. The mysterious man saw Jacob muttering something; he tried getting closer to hear what Jacob was saying.

“Why me, what did I do? I can’t just end like this when I have yet to see the world outside of Lunethora. What about my family? My mom is supposed to give birth soon; what if she ends up having a miscarriage because of my death? My sibling won’t be born to see this world, and it will be because I was desperate and ended up dying as a consequence,” Jacob bemoaned as memories of him and his family rushed in. Despite their struggles, they still had each other’s support but it was very hard when King Nefarion made life feel like a prison. “Yes, this is Nefarion’s fault. If he was a good king, then I wouldn’t be going through this. I wouldn’t have suffered through cold nights, I wouldn’t have to know hunger, I wouldn’t have to see my friends be sold into slavery just because their parents couldn’t afford the taxes and feed their children, I wouldn’t have been desperate enough to pray to the gods, I wouldn’t have made a deal with Zyl, I wouldn’t have been burned alive, if King Nefarion were a good king.” Jacob having nothing to vent all these emotions he has bottled up inside him all these years turns them into feelings of rage towards Nefarion, the flames started getting hotter as they started turning blue, the mysterious man sees that Jacob’s flames are about to reach the plants decided to intervene before they destroy the garden “I suggest you calm down, I know that you must be going through an emotional breakdown right now but can you please do it outside of the garden and cool off” The mysterious man suggested before he put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder, the heat doesn’t seem to affect him in the slightest, not even his clothes are affected by the blue flames “you also have a chance of coming back from the dead surprisingly since they are very few ways to do that while leaving your soul intact” the mysterious man consoled in effort to calm Jacob down, all of a sudden the blue flames disappear “i… can come back?” Jacob looked at the mysterious man with puffy red eyes and tears drops falling from his cheeks, his youth showing fully as his portrayal of maturity broke revealing that he is just a teenage boy that had to go through so much in such little time in the dystopian kingdom that is Lunethora “yes you can… but it is gonna be a hard task for you because of what has given you this chance, are you ready?” The mysterious man consoled in a seemingly empathetic tone but it seemed more like he wanted him out of the garden then actually wanting to help him

“I am ready” Jacob agreed after wiping his tears and standing up straight trying to put up a strong front, he is not entirely ready but will have to do it anyway if he has a chance of coming back and getting his revenge on Nefarion since he wouldn’t be able to do anything to Zyl, he just hopes he keeps his end of the deal “what do i do?” The mysterious man then explains “you have to go through a trial, let me examine you, then i will know which trial it is” the mysterious man proposed, Jacob is cautious of why he needs to be examined for the mysterious man to figure out what the trial is but the desire to live outweighs his caution, Jacob assents to allowing the mysterious man to examine him, the mysterious man walks towards him and puts his hand on Jacobs chest specifically where the heart is, a purple light shines where Jacobs heart is and a card flies out and into the mysterious man’s hand, he looks at the front of the card and sees it is a tarot card of the reversed Sun, he recognizes the card and it’s significance “well kid, it seems like you have the trial of the Sun” Jacob is surprised by the revelation of the card revealed by the mysterious man, was this going to be a hard task, guess he will find out soon