Kaiya’s elbow impacted the sturdy glass, which gave out beneath the speed and force of her attack.

She quickly realized something was wrong, when instead of falling back, she ended up rolling into something familiarly unfamiliar.

The dark surroundings where she floated only had light from sparse windows, and she was able to turn and look into them, all glowing into her familiar void. The exact contents of each void weren’t quite what she’d put in her own, but it was clear they were lived in. By who or what though, wasn’t.

As she managed to control her own drift, pushing against the windows, she noticed something quickly coming up, in her path. The wall had arrived without warning, but when Kaiya nearly crashed into it, she noticed a ladder. It was rusty and seemingly unused, but she only stopped her head bashing into it by an inch.

A light shone from below her, the sole thing she could see, as the last window was a decent bit back. She decided to push herself down on the ladder, seeing what was up with it. Surely some inherent liminal place like this didn’t have workers, right?

Kaiya’s foot tapped down on a dark floor, gravity only seeming to take effect as she stood. The area here was pitch black, a ceiling a bit above blocking whatever slivers of light would’ve reached her.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Heat from an ember shone maybe a foot around her as she used whatever force she could to keep it afloat, clearly pushing hard to get even that tiny bit of fire. She stepped forward, but was interrupted by her own foot giving out on her, crushing the flame as Kaiya collapsed back against the wall.

Her vision blurred, as she made a sharp exhale into the void, trying her hardest to start a new flame. She couldn’t find the strength in her to do it, but when she finally relaxed her magic, she was able to barely stand again.

The blinding darkness inhibited her movement, but she was still able to somewhat walk towards the out-of-sight end of the hall. Kaiya had stepped maybe halfway there, though, when a weight seemingly dropped from her shoulders. She was able to keep walking, smoother and faster, and she could even start a new, tiny ember, which she threw forwards and let hit the floor. Instead of vanishing into nothing, though, the small light source barely kept glowing, illuminating the surroundings just enough to see..

The Broken Divine.

Of course. Of course it was them, this isn’t a real afterlife. She wasn’t dead!

But she was. She had to have been. Kaiya had felt herself die. None of the pain, but all of the feelings, for the split second before the block traveled from her head to the floor.

The somewhat clean logos on the wall, showing the all-too familiar emblem surrounded by the name, and the quotes from a… “Cornet”… the last name was scratched out entirely. For all of them, actually. Something didn’t want this name to be known.

She didn’t immediately mind this. Kaiya shockingly to even herself, didn’t freak out knowing that even after her death, she was still under their lock and key. From months ago, those days after days in the princesses room, meeting man in suit after man in tie.

Even after that. After they helped her recover, they didn’t hesitate.