Opening her eyes, an abyss surrounded her. Unknowing of the world around her, the woman looked around. Beneath her, a platform of asphalt crumbling at the sides. To her left, a sign that read “stop”, with tinges of a splattered red just in front of it, and in front of her was a closed door, not connected to anything but the frame it fit in. Everything else was an inky, pulsating black void. It was quite perplexing to the woman how such a space could exist. Where was she? Was she dead? Was this a dream?

The woman’s next problem was that she had no recollection of events prior. No memory of her name, the life she lived, the people she met. Nothing. Walking near the edge of the platform, below her was the same void as everything around her. She tried opening the lone door, to no avail. So, she walked around, with nothing to do, nowhere to go, feeling lethargic, her mind fogged over, her vision slightly blurry. It was after what felt like an eternity, the woman heard noises. All around her, she heard noises, loud, blaring noises, screams, indistinct chattering. No source to the noise, it was as if it came from her head, piercing her skull. Then, the door opened, a bright light piercing through the strange space, followed by a voice.

Come here, come closer. Come to me.

The voice called out to her. The woman strangely felt a pull, and as she got closer, she felt a cold hand caress her cheek, despite no one being there.

Come to me, walk through the doorway.

As if she were a moth to a flame, the woman stepped into the doorway, before everything faded to black. It was shortly after this, after she had entered Purgatory, that the dials of fate shifted for all who resided in this lost domain.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

The cold breeze kissed her bare cheek, the blades of grass caressing around her body. She opened her eyes, shielding them from the sun with her right hand. Sitting up, a tattered brown robe shifted along with her movements. Around her laid a vast field of grass, followed by the occasional tree.

The woman took a few moments to stand up and stretch. Though nothing around her felt familiar, it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. However, the main problem at hand was finding out where she was now. As she turned around to view what was behind her, she noticed a small gathering of trees. Not large enough to clear a forest, but more than enough for shade. Slowly, the woman made her way to the grove, taking in the serene environment she had found herself in.

As she entered the grove, nestled within the trees hid a small pond and a cabin. She wondered, if anyone was in the cabin, could they have an idea as to what’s going on? She approached the door of the cabin, and rapped on the door.

“Hello?” The woman called out. A few moments passed. No answer. Opening the cabin door slowly, it appeared to be empty, save for a bed of straw. Having decided to stay put for now in case someone came to the cabin, the woman sat on the bed, trying to remember. Though try as she might, she couldn’t remember anything. In her head, she could envision buildings of concrete, roads, cars, electronics even, but no memory of who she was or anything she did before arriving here. The woman sighed, and laid her head onto the straw bed, feeling lethargic, despite having woken up recently. Closing her eyes, she thought to herself that she’d come up with a plan of action when she would wake up.

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Wake up, search for Sybel’s tree. There, find the pendant buried into the tree.

Waking up, the woman felt groggy.

“That voice… I’ve heard it before.” She said quietly to herself. Seeing the sun peeking through the trees, the woman rose from the bed and walked out to the pond. Stripping her robe, she sat in the pond, cleaning herself the best she could, despite the chill of the water. There, she wondered to herself, why isn’t she scared? Why is she not going mad, despite having no memories of who she was, or how she got here? Why couldn’t she remember her own name? Sighing softly, the woman got out of the pond, drying herself with the robe before putting it on, despite the dampness of it.

“Sybel’s tree… I wonder why the voice told me to find it.”

With nothing to gather, the woman walked away from the grove, curious of why she was here to begin with, what her purpose was being here. Remembering where there was a road nearby, she continued to walk the direction she remembered it being located, until not long after, she was now on the road of dirt, forced to decide which way to go. One way seemed to lead towards a forested area. The other direction was still the barren plains. An easy decision, she thought. If she needed to find a tree, then heading towards the more forested area only made sense.

As she walked, she observed her surroundings a little more. There wasn’t much wildlife, an occasional blue bird with long tail feathers flew overhead, and something resembling rabbits with horns instead of ears wandered about from afar. As she walked with the cool breeze gently caressing her skin, she heard a sound behind her. Turning around, there were a burly looking couple of men with swords and leather armor, walking the same direction she was.

“Um… Excuse me. I-I’m looking for-” The woman tried to speak to the men as they approached, but was quickly met with one of the men brutishly shoving her aside followed by a scornful glare. As she fell, she failed to catch herself, tearing some of the skin on the palms of her hand over the course dirt. The woman winced in pain, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as one of the men spoke.

“Watch yourself,” the man said with a sneer, his eyes narrowing. “We’re letting you off easy, but not everyone’s so nice.”

The man who pushed her down laughs, and soon the two walk away. The woman, scared to continue walking while the men were in view, sat on the ground, looking at her scraped palms. As she waited, she heard another pair of footsteps. Another man, in mostly leather armor except for having an iron chestplate. The man approached the woman, and offered his hand.

“Don’t mind them.” The man said kindly. “Rather, are you okay?”

“Ah, yea. I’m fine, thanks.” The woman said shyly, still being shook up from the encounter moments before.

“Um… Do you know where a place called Sybel’s Tree is?” She asked the man, to which he gave her a confused glance.

“You don’t know where it is? Are you not from around here?”

“Ah, no. I’m not.”

The man nodded, then replied to the woman, “Well, I can take you there. It’d also be better so no one tries to kidnap you or worse. I’m Guille, by the way, and you are?”

The woman fell into silence, looking down at the ground for a moment, before finally answering Guille, “I uhm… I don’t remember my name. I… don’t even remember anything before yesterday.”