Feeling as if an army of ten-thousand men beeting drums is happening in my head, i slowly open my eyes, but I'm not met with sunshine and rainbows, just darkness.

"Hello?" My voice echoes through and through causing a slight chill to shoot up my spine. I try to stand, but the moment I put any sort of pressure on my legs I'm met with great resistance and am forced back down. I turn to my left and right and giant silvery chains with glowing red markings are attached to my wrists and ankles. I follow the chains only to realize that they're bound to a small metal square that I'm kneeling on.

"What the hell?" Slowly I hear a humming sound coming from the chains that gets louder and louder with every passing second. Unable to cover my ears to block the noise I trash about trying to break free of the chains, my suffering echoing throughout this black abyss. Suddenly the humming seizes and the only sound is the clanking of the chains and my heavy breathing. I look around and in the distance I see a white sploch.

"Hello? Hey you!" I try to wave, but the chains seem to tighten more and more. Fighting as much as I can the chains pull back until my arms and legs are stretched behind me and I'm painfully floating within the air. I look to the white sploch again and blink. The moment I open my eyes the white splosh is infront of my face and I see that it's a white mask that's smiling ominously. It backs up from my and I let out the breath I hadn't know I was holding. The mask tilts itself sides ways and back up a few times as if it's trying to communicate with me or dance or I don't know what the fuck it's doing.

It does this for a few minutes until I realize that more masks appear each with a different expression on it's face, but all are white. The hairs on my neck stand on end and suddenly the chains let loose of their hold, dropping me to the ground harshly. Wincing I look back up only to be surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of white masks. I look on in both horror and amazement at the display before me. I shake my head and begin to rock back and forth.

"This isn't real. It's just a dream. This isn't real." I do this until I hear a voice or voices? It sounds like many-many voices ontop of one another both male and female, child and adult. The masks part a path infront of me revealing what appears to be a very giant frowning mask floating.

"Who-what are you?" All the masks turn to me and the big one slowly bobs it's way over to me.

"We are 'The Fallen'. " Annoying. I close my eyes and let out a breath. Calm down, think rationally. This isn't real. I open my eyes in the hopes that I would be back in my bed, but nope. I let out a sigh and sit in a sort of pretzel like position leaning against my arms.

Stolen story; please report.

"You say that like I should know what the hell that is?" The giant mask begins slowly floating around me speaking in it's creepy, ominous voice.

"Every great tale has it's mighty hero. Every great hero has his or her own mighty tale." Oh, great it speaks in riddles. "The Fallen are the souls of those that never made it to the Well of Souls. With no place to go we wind up here trapped, isolated and cold." I look around me at the many masks.

"What is the Well of Souls?" The Mask shimmies and what sounds like bells chimes off it.

"It is the birth place of all that is and all that ever will be. Outside time, space and reality. It is both constant and never moving. How it came to be is unknown, but it is a place of birth and rebirth. A place all souls seek, one we cannot reach." I look down at my hands and notice pink skin, instead of the molten rock.

"Then what am I?" The giant mask briskly appears infront of me and stares at me.

"You are us and we are you." More riddles.

"And what does that mean?" The mask floats into the darkness and flies around some.

"You are our way out, our way home." I ponder this information, if one can even ponder the impossible.

"But, that doesn't answer what I am? My memories their...fuzzy." The mask floats back down infront of me.

"Think. Remember. Focus." I close my eyes and relax. Sweat drips from my brow and small images flash before my vision. I'm back in my bed, but then I'm walking somewhere and then - darkness." A realization hits me.

"I'm dead." The mask seems to laugh.

"As are we all. But we saved you and with your memories and our own, we remade you. The motlen rock is and was us remaking you, a pod or a second skin if you will." I stare down at my hands, flexing and extending my fingers.

"What is my purpose?" The mask shrinks and begins to spin around me.

"To live, to love and to die." Ominous.

"What do you mean?" A black hand stretches from the mask and pushes itself into my chest. I suddenly grow cold, so very cold.

"You are us and we are you. You our are anchor to the realm of the living and you shall be our bridge to the Well of Souls. Your destiny is to die, so that we and any Fallen can have a future." The coldness continue and I begin to shiver.

"Wh-why m-m-me?" My teeth chatter as I speak.

"Because we are you and you are us. The journey is improbable, maybe even impossible and should you fail you will be stuck here with us. Each mask you see is a person that has failed this journey, time and time again." Emptiness, cold, darkness are the only things I see when I look into the eyes of those that surround me.

"And how do I do this impossible task?" The masks frown turns to a grin.

"You find the Tree of Life and you jump." A shiver goes up my spine and I shake. Suddenly the mask reaches out and taps me on the head, causing me to fall into the blackness. I jump awake to the sun shining and the birds chirping. Taking in my surroundings I rub my head.

"Just a dream."