Archibald awoke to find himself in a river. A river located in an endless void. It was breathtakingly beautiful, the waters were a translucent white fog that forced countless specks of ethereal white light towards some unseeable destination.

Looking down at himself Archibald was briefly stunned at what he saw. No longer was his body made of flesh, instead, all he saw was soft white light. Weirdly amused by this revelation he let out what he thought was a chuckle, however instead of sound he only glowed brighter for a brief second.

Everything just felt so distant, so dreamlike and airy. Some tiny part of himself knew that this was a bizarre situation, but for the most part, he didn’t care. He simply couldn’t care for some inexplicable reason. All he felt was a dull euphoria that swept his mind in waves.

The waters of the foggy river were just so warm. So welcoming. The water seemed to wash away all his worries, all that angst created by worrying about this and that. Years of repressed emotion just washed away…away into the river and further away into the endless void.

Soon Archibald felt even some of his memories starting to fade.

Perfectly content and tranquil, Archibald sleepily thought to himself, “What was my name again…Archi-something…who cares, maybe I’ll just go back to sleep…” With this thought, his body began gradually sinking into the fog. All around him other ethereal lights also sunk lower and lower.

Abruptly, however, before he was able to sink completely into the river's foggy waters, Archibald’s body flashed in the full spectrum of light, awareness drove into him like a red-hot pike by something unknown.

Sputtering from the abrupt pain, Archibald felt his mind clear up. No longer were the waters of the river warm and inviting, instead, they seemed rough and harsh as they scraped against his ethereal body. It felt like some vestigial instinct within him awoke and was yelling at him to rise out of the fog.

“What…what was that,” Archibald looked around at the river, no longer sinking he realized that he was floating to the surface. Confused, Archibald tried to take stock of his surroundings but that only confused him more.

Above him was what looked like an endless void, within which were bubbles that held what seemed like galaxies within them. Even more baffled and hoping for anything recognizable, Archibald looked below him and was stunned by what he saw. Peering through the fog, Archibald saw what looked like distant stars, nebulas, and galaxies. However, that wasn’t the strangest part. Instead, it was the massive black mausoleum that simply drifted freely in the void.

Getting no answers from the void around him Archibald started to freak out. Trying to calm himself, he thought about what he was doing last. “Alright alright, I was…going to sleep right?” For some reason, memories seemed distant, like it took a monumental effort to recall anything.

Straining his mind with all his will, Archibald forcefully dredged up his memories, “Yeah…I was going to sleep, I had just enjoyed a night at the resort's lounge and…” Archibald once again pushed his mind past another invisible hurdle, “...and I somehow got this horrible headache and fear out of nowhere. I bet it had something to do with those nightmares I had, but what does me going to sleep have to do with this?” Archibald looked around him as his blind panic abated and harsh reality really started to set in, “This…this looks like space or something like it at least. How am I even breathing?! Jesus Christ, are those stars and galaxies?!” Archibald felt like fainting at the realization.

About to freak out again Archibald took deep breaths, “Wait, I can’t breathe in the first place out here.” Archibald looked down at his body and let out an inaudible gasp, “Oh my God! I don’t have a body. How is that possible? What the fuck is going on? This doesn’t feel like a dream, so what’s going on.” Instead of his body, Archibald was greeted by the sight of multicolored light. At this observation, Archibald whipped his head, or whatever the blob of light equivalent was, around him.

“I...I’m not completely white light like the other,” Archibald paused at a lack of words, “...things. Maybe it has something to do with this absurd situation. But how though, why am I different? It’s not like I’m some unique existence. Hell, I knew at least ten other people in situations like mine!” Exasperated Archibald exclaimed, or tried to as no sound came out and only his body glowed slightly brighter for a few seconds, ”So why am I different from the other lights, and why am I even here?! What even are the lights? Are they people like me? There’s a whole load of implications there that I don’t want to get into if those light are other people…” Realizing that this rabbit hole of questions was getting him nowhere, Archibald forcefully calmed himself.

Cooled off a bit Archibald mumbled to himself, or if his…body or whatever it was, was to be believed by its change in intensity, spoke aloud in the body-of-light equivalent. “There’s no use in freaking out,” Archibald took a deep breath, his body responding in tandem by dimming and then going back to normal. “...Alright then, at least I know that this body of light or something is mine. It responds to me and all that.” Archibald caught himself from getting off track, “Ah, no point in pondering the unknown right now, there’s no way I know enough to get any meaningful answers. No, instead I should just observe. I need more information.” The situation didn’t seem like a dream, he was perfectly lucid and everything felt real, or as real as the situation could be. As such, all he could do was wait for it seemed he would not be awakening from his current reality anytime soon. Against his conscious thought however, a large part of himself still believed this whole situation to be a dream. It was simply too insane to believe the contrary for now.

Archibald looked at the river around him, with the other lights as a reference point he could vaguely tell that the river was pushing him somewhere. “Well…I’m not in any danger it seems and it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere soon with how slow the current is...or seems to be. I guess that I’ll just have to ride it out to who knows where.”

Like this Archibald simply observed for an indeterminate amount of time. Time was weird in the translucent river of fog. Sometimes It seemed that years passed in an instant. Other times Archibald could have sworn it had only been a minute since he had awoken in this strange river. Despite this strange phenomenon, however, he never felt bored or restless. It was like time had lost all hold over his mind.

Thoughts wandering, Archibald decided to stare at the endless galaxies above him and the stars, galaxies, and nebulas below him. “Why are the galaxies in bubbles above me while below me they’re simply just floating in open space? Who knows what’s up with that mausoleum…at some point, it just vanished. Add that mystery to my already growing list…Hey, at least I’m among the stars I suppose. Although, I’m not in control of myself and I have no idea if they are actually stars in the first place…yeah, I don’t want to think about what that could mean.”

The situation being so fantasy-like, Archibald was able to remember, after considerable strain, some stories he read in his childhood about a river of souls and something about reincarnation. “Wasn’t reincarnation involving something with a river of souls or spirits or something or was it the underworld from Greek mythology? Wait if I was to assume the Greek mythology, to be…for lack of better words, real. Wouldn’t that mean I’m dead? Jesus H. Christ, am I in the river Styx!”

Archibald paused to reign his thoughts in, “Hah look at me, just assuming things. For all I know, this could be the wacky-fun-house of some god, maybe the God. Are gods real? Is God real? Is this even real? What the fuck am I thinking? Nope, I’m not going to guess any longer or I’ll just drive myself crazy with the possible explanations for a currently unexplainable situation. God I hope I wake up soon.”

Despite his thoughts however, Archibald couldn't hold himself back for long. “But hypothetically say I am dead, as horrible as that is. It is the most…well, logical explanation. After all, I passed out in mind-numbing pain and I have been having the most ominous feelings in my life the whole week before this ordeal. Maybe that’s what happened, my mind somehow predicted my death by some random aneurysm or something and that led to my…soul or mind or whatever, to float on some mystical river along with a bunch of other souls or minds.” Archibald paused his mental rant and sighed aloud, his body responding in tandem via a flash of light, “Yeah, that sounds really sane, totally. My worldview is crumbling around me and there are no answers in sight other than shots in the dark by my imagination.”

Thoughts on the subject of his nightmares, Archibald was barely able to dredge up a word that was shoved in the back of his mind. “That word…that word that tormented me. What was it again? Verdure…no, no it was…,” Archibald mentally scratched his chin as he had no actual arms, “It was Vardure!”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

All of the sudden, at that revelation, Archibald’s body started to let off blinding light. The prismatic light continuously gained in intensity and seemed to flood the river. Somehow blinking his eyes, Archibald's vision slowly regained focus.

Stunned, Archibald was amazed by what he saw. No longer were the foggy waters of the river absent of everything except other bodies of light like Archibald. No, the river was teeming with life. Dazed by the amazing sight, Archibald was only able to let out a quiet “Woah” that conveyed his lack of comprehension at the sight that just presented itself to him.

It was simply mystical, it was downright unreal and stretched the bounds of Archibald's imagination. The currents themselves seemed to be shimmering with specks of blue and white light. All around him tiny and large creatures intermingled among the ethereal bodies of white light and the shimmering waves.

Looking a little bit further down the river, Archibald saw a pod of whales breaking the river's surface. The whales themselves were like nothing Archibald had ever seen before. They were absolutely massive and had mirror-like skin that reflected the void. Their eyes seemed to be mini suns as the light from them radiated into the river and illuminated it. The light was so penetrating that it seemed like a lighthouse's light as it pierced through large swathes of the foggy river. The whales themselves seemed to be rounding up the bodies of light and devouring them in the thousands.

And not too far away, on what looked like the bank of the river was a massive illusory tree upon which an equally massive owl perched. The owl itself had two heads, one black, and one white. Around each of the heads, the owls had a crown of crystal-like horns that were adorned by what looked like the same ethereal lights within the river.

“What the fu…” Archibald’s exclamation was broken by a sudden movement from the owl’s white head as it suddenly pecked into the river and withdrew an ethereal light. Grabbing the light from its beak, the owl revealed that under its wings were human-like hands. Each finger was adorned with rings of all colors. Using its hand the owl took the ethereal light from its beak and placed it onto its crown of horns. Seemingly satisfied, the owl let out a silent screech before it flapped its silver wings and flew off before abruptly disappearing in a flash of white.

Stunned by these incredible sights, Archibald almost didn’t notice the massive shadow just grazing past below him. Relieved that the shadow didn’t hit him, Archibald took a closer look at the shadow as it pierced the water's surface. For what seemed like the millionth time Archibald was in awe of what he saw.

It was a turtle, a truly gigantic, mind-bendingly huge turtle. The turtle had a resplendent green body and a pitch black shell. If it was just for the size and color of the turtle, Archibald may have been surprised but he wouldn’t be in awe with all that he had seen already. But this was no ordinary massive space-faring turtle. On the back of the turtle were what looked like four elephants, their skin golden and with eyes of ruby, that held what seemed like a literal planet, complete with oceans and continents and weather.

As the world-bearing turtle passed by, some of the ethereal bodies of lights seemed to gravitate towards it before resting on the world. Staring at the turtle in awe of its beauty and utter ridiculousness, Archibald saw the turtle leap out of the river after fulfilling some unknown goal. Like the owl, it mysteriously vanished after traveling a certain distance from the river in a flash of white.

Tearing his gaze away from the spot where the turtle vanished, Archibald gazed back into the river and was barely able to make out what looked like a snake eating its own tail near the bottom of the river. Archibald was only able to make out that a large amount of the lights were being absorbed into the body of the snake that was eating its own tail. Briefly, Archibald was able to see its reflective silver and gold scales before it too vanished in a flash of white light.

Half worried about and half resigned to the amazing, yet insane happenings around him, Archibald started to piece together some things as he pondered to himself. “Those lights,” He let out an imaginary gulp as he looked down at himself, “and probably whatever I am are in high demand it seems. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”

“That snake though, I seem to have heard of something like it before,” Archibald willed his mind into motion as he dug through his memories. Fortunately, the process of dredging up old and long-forgotten memories had only gotten easier the more time he spent in this strange river. Murmuring in his heart, ”Whether that has something to do with the river, the strange light that surrounds me, or something else I’m just glad that remembering isn’t such a chore anymore,” Archibald was determined not to look at the gift horse in its mouth. He would just be content with the easier recollection.

Scouring his mind, Archibald soon recalled what he recognized that snake from. “It looked like an ouroboros, something from either Egyptian or Greek mythology…I don’t quite recall which. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that it symbolizes destruction and rebirth.” At this realization, Archibald's mind went blank for a bit, the revelation now all too obvious.

Elated at the revelation, Archibald excitedly thought to himself, his body growing brighter in tandem with his heightened emotions. “Of course…of course! It makes sense now, these lights. They’re souls, or at least some soul equivalent!”

“Of course, maybe that snake wasn’t ouroboros and it was just a coincidence, and maybe by some miracle I'm still dreaming but for now, that’s all the information I have and I’m just glad to have at least a barely acceptable answer. Anything to ground me at this point.” Archibald looked down at his prismatic body and was reminded of the question of why he looked different, “Now that brings me to what’s up with my soul. Every other one that I can see is pure white. Are they all conscious like me? Probably not? I really have no evidence to make any sort of logical conclusion.”

“There’s also the matter of Vardure…I know, somehow, that it’s a key part of all this. I just don’t have enough information. Maybe it’s a sort of…” Unbeknownst to Archibald, so consumed by his thoughts, he didn’t notice himself very gradually drifting out of the river until he was heading into what looked like empty space.

Finally realizing that he was drifting away from the river of souls. The river that probably led to some sort of rebirth or way out of this endless void, Archibald freaked out and tried in vain to force himself back toward the river. Near to imaginary tears, Archibald was dumbfounded by this development. “Does that mean that I’m going to drift in empty space forever? What the fuck is up with this!” In vain he soundlessly shouted out into the void.

Drifting further and further away from the river, Archibald nearly despaired. However, amid his briefly kindled despair, he saw something pop up in the corner of his vision. Snapping his head towards the thing, he was greeted with a tiny yet exquisite butterfly that hovered just above him.

Perplexed at the sudden appearance of the butterfly, Archibald looked closely at it. Half joyful and half nervous, he thought to himself “Heh, maybe this thing is my ticket out of here. Maybe it’s like those other creatures I saw that took those other souls somewhere”

Looking closely at the butterfly, Archibald noticed that its left wing was white and its right wing was black. The scales of the butterfly seemed to glint in a gray hue even without the help of light. With his view of the butterfly from below, Archibald could see that its body was translucent, near see-through even. The strangest thing that Archibald noticed, however, occurred when the butterfly flew below him for a short moment. Looking down at its wings, Archibald noticed that they had a vague skull pattern on them. On the white wing, the skull pattern was black while on the black wing the skull pattern was white. The contrast between colors combined with the vague, almost illusory pattern, was strikingly eerie yet it seemed to endlessly draw in his gaze.

Entranced observing the strange butterfly, Archibald didn’t notice when the second one appeared around him. Even broken out of his trance by the appearance of the second butterfly, he didn’t notice how the third one appeared. Or how the fourth one appeared. Or the fifth one. Or the sixth one. Archibald couldn’t even notice how they appeared even when they surrounded him in a veritable cloak of fluttering black and white.

Head swiveling around him, trying in vain to observe how these butterflies appeared, Archibald noticed that his prismatic soul was starting to glow brighter and brighter. At this sight, Archibald recalled the earlier phenomenon that allowed him to see the creatures that swam in the river of souls. “Wasn’t it exactly like this earlier? First, it revealed to me the river of souls, now what?”

At that thought, his soul erupted in a blinding light that even overwhelmed his sight to the point that all he could see was white. Somehow mentally blinking away the light, Archibald was stunned by what he saw.

In front of him, a blinding white portal that poured out grey fog revealed itself, the portal itself looked like those used by the creatures in the river of souls and was only visible as the butterflies had been scattered a distance away from him. Thoughts racing, Archibald muttered in his mind, “This may well be my ticket out of,” He looked around himself, still clueless as to where he was, “...well infinity in this void. Maybe, the portal leads to certain death, but even death would be better than an eternity of nothingness.”

Mind strangely calmed at the realization of his abject helplessness in this situation, Archibald couldn’t help but mentally smile. As crazy as this whole thing was, it was also an astoundingly beautiful and profound experience. Untroubled by his plight, Archibald even made an insane mental promise to himself. “One day,” He gazed at the white portal in front of him, the strange butterflies starting to close in around him, and at the mysterious river behind him. “One day I will be back. I promise, next time I will uncover its mysteries and secrets. One day I will be back.”

With that final promise to himself, Archibald was fully surrounded by the butterflies. This time, they no longer idly fluttered around him. No, this time they actively pushed him towards the blinding, white portal.

Archibald braced himself for impact, teeth mentally gritted, “Here goes nothing. It’s time to see what lies beyond death!” At that final thought, he crashed into the portal and all thoughts ceased.