I wait for the other players to speak, to draw more cards, or give them up. Do anything really other than stare at each other and me. The three, no, four of us sitting around a round table surrounded by darkness. I figured a game was in order since that’s what the cards laid out for us seemed to spell out. I checked mine in the way that the others did theirs, but neither the number, color, or symbols mattered much to me. There was no time for lengthy games in the village, even the ones everyone enjoys.
My name. The thought came like thirst, which doesn’t seem to matter here. Every time I try to touch my face, it goes through and I end up touching the base of my neck. Or is it the top? I felt a particular bone swivel whenever I turn my head left to right and right to left. It didn’t move when I tried to swing through my neck, which was as well since it seemed an impossible thing for a "head" to do.
“I can’t play with these cards. They’re fucked.” A man to my right spoke, throwing the cards he held on the table. I looked at them and tried to understand what he meant. There were numbers, symbols, and colors on the cards, but none was the same. I checked my cards to see what was on them. One of mine was like one of his, but a different color, and the man on it had a crooked smile. Are these good cards? I thought as I laid them out on the table.
“Fuck me.” The man before me spoke out loud, letting his hand fall on the table. The one on the left said nothing, but also did the same. Now all the cards were on the table, so to speak. There was still a deck of them in the middle of the table. An odd place to be, since it was too far for any of us to reach it. At least, not if we want to remain seated. A strange feeling crawled out from my gut, and I held it close as though losing it would mean losing myself.
“Can we play something else?” I asked out loud, earning a glance from my right, a sneer from the front, and nothing from the left. “Monster tracking is always fun for me.” Front and Right considered my words, while Left as ever remains stoic. Then a loud finger snap came from everywhere and I found myself blinded by a sudden rush of light. I rubbed my eyes and saw that we were now inside a great expanse of white. It seemed to have no end and feeling nauseous by that thought, I resumed looking at the others instead.
The name “Hosea Zai” now appeared when I looked at the man to my right. The man before me was “Carer Carran”, while the one on my left remains nameless. I wished for a mirror and saw “Sabine Moreau” displayed as clearly as a bar sign above my head. So I’m Sabine Moreau. I have a family. A twinge of pain brought a vision of a weary old man to mind.
Father? Is that my father? I thought with some urgency as the memory left my mind. I'm ... sorry. I'm so sorry it hurts. But why?
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“Everyone will have a chance to escape soon.” A voice spoke from everywhere and nowhere. I saw the others look around and felt a bit of relief that I wasn’t the only one that heard it. “You will feel it when it comes. Do not waste them, or you will be gone for good this time.” Something in what this voice said caught my attention more than the others.
Gone for good this time? Wait, did I die? I’m dead? The sudden rush of questions made me cringe and hold my head. Too many questions came, and nothing I could come up with made sense or was enough. A hand then came on my shoulder and I twitched at the touch. I turned and saw that it was the nameless man, looking as muted as ever, in expression and color. He patted me once, then returned to his seat, while the other two were lost with their own world. The simple gesture brought order back to my panicking mind, and I took a deep breath.
“Any of you remember how we got here?” Carer Carran spoke up. Hosea Zai threw his hands up, while I shook my head. The nameless man remained quiet.
“I think we’re dead.” I blurted out the thought I was brooding on. “Or something like it. It has to be magic.”
“Of fucking course.” Carer Carran groaned. “I knew this has magic written all over it.”
“Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.” Hosea Zai rolled his eyes. “It’d take one to understand what that voice meant though.”
The answer came unexpectedly when the nameless man raised his hand and pointed up. I followed it and saw flashes of light far off in the distance, blinking in and out of sight. The others followed suit, and soon the tiny event became a noticeable spectacle. Whatever it was, it grew bigger and was going to fall on us. The instinct to dodge it came, but I stayed as I felt something was off in what I saw. The flashes I saw clarified into burning tendrils of energy. They hissed and collided with one another in a destructive dance of oblivion. The fear from before came stronger than ever, but no one moved.
“Your chance approaches.” The voice from nowhere spoke again. “Ready yourselves.”
“Fuck this,” I said in frustration at rising tension.
“Fuck this, indeed.” Hosea Zai said in a more final tone.
“Screw this.” Carer Carran put his own spin on the collective agreement.
The nameless man crossed his arms and frowned.
Our “chance”, all the while, came hurtling at speeds too fast to even look at. One second I was waiting for it to come, and then the next it was upon me. What I saw turned out to be a pale imitation of the experience, as the energy utterly wrecked me. I was unmade in the feeble container that was my current self in whatever realm this whiteness was. At some point, my mind shattered completely and I felt a bliss beyond memory itself. But if destruction was all that was in store for me, I was in for a surprise.