Everything felt too light. There was no pain, no weight, no sensation.
It wasn't like I was floating. It was like I wasn't.
My body had stopped bleeding hours ago—or what felt like hours. I didn't know. I'd blacked out. But when I came to, I wasn't in the forest anymore. I wasn't even in myself.
There was only... voices, all of them women.
"She hasn't awakened, yet she has a 9.3 Flux rating?"
The voice was smooth like molten light. Every syllable was polished to beauty, like it had been born for poetry. It almost made me feel self-conscious just existing.
"How does someone endure this long in the Spooky Forest... unawakened?"
Another voice answered—more playful, coy, tinged with mirth.
"Because my subordinate was reckless and lazy. She was one of the 0.01%—the Unawakened Survivors of the ABR. I should've double-checked her file."
"Oh come now," said another. That voice made the air shift. It was low, cold and commanding but not cruel. She didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to. The other two quieted immediately.
"Let's not scold each other. We should reward her. Few unawakened ever make it through the first test, let alone survive a timed rupture zone in the forest without breaking."
A fourth voice. British accent... I guess? It was graceful and noble.
"She was one of the humans I pulled from the First Thauma. She was only a child. And now... look at her. Though I didn't expect her to wander into the outer edge of that zone. A pity. She's dead."
Dead? Wait what?!
"Her soul slipped outside time," she continued. "She had no biological anchor. Her essence held on far longer than expected, but in the end, her body failed. She isn't alive anymore."
"You're wrong, my Ladies."
A fifth voice some now. Not soft. Not teasing. Not royal but reverent and servant-like, like she knew her place here. Was that... Sera?
"She is still a human. Reviving her is within possibility. Death itself is more negotiable with humans than it is with us."
"She reminds me of Him," the beautiful voice murmured.
"The same blind endurance," the leader said. "Charging through hell for the sake of a goal. Never once questioning why. If He met her, I think… she'd smile. For the first time in years."
He?
I couldn't ask. My mouth didn't work. My lungs didn't exist but I felt the question.
"Yes," said the teasing one, "let's give her something. After all, she passed the threshold for the Second Thauma without even awakening. That's more than impressive. That's fate-woven."
"I'll awaken her Flux," the leader decided. "And give her a Utility Flux as well. She deserves that much."
"And her rating?" the British woman asked, curious.
"We'll let it stabilize with her mind," came the reply. "A direct awakening now could splinter her. Her mental focus needs to tether the Flux."
"Who will inform your master?" The beautiful one asked gently.
"I will," said Sera. "She's already watching."
There was silence. It was the kind that only came when people exchanged glances you couldn't see. It made the hairs on my nonexistent arms stand up.
The teasing one broke it first.
"You know, this woman is descended from ■■■■"
The name glitched.
I felt the wor but I couldn't hold it in my head. It felt lke it was too old for my soul to remember. It blurred into static in my mind. I clenched invisible teeth in frustration.
"She's a direct bloodline carrier. That's why the Forest tried to kill her personally," said Sera. "That's why my master had interest."
"Fair." The teasing one chuckled. "She's just like Him. No thoughts. Just vibes. Determined to die before turning her head."
That must've been a jab at me. I didn't care.
Wait, descendant of who?
"She's alive again," the British one whispered.
My chest burned. I felt something fill it like oxygen… only not. Like fire… only gentle. My body wasn't back yet, but my soul snapped into place. I could speak.
"Who… who are you?" I croaked. My voice echoed in the void like a pebble dropped into an endless well.
More silence.
"She can speak here?" the teasing one said in awe. "She shouldn't be able to."
"She's stable enough to interact," the leader said slowly. "That means her mind is integrating. And that... is rare."
"W-Where am I?" I breathed.
"You'll know us on the Seventh Thauma," the leader said. Her voice was soft this time. Almost… kind. "Or if you ever discover the truth behind the origin of Flux."
"The truth?" I rasped. "Wait—what truth?"
"We've said enough."
Sera spoke now, her voice firm but sad.
"Rest now, and return to the waking world. Tell no one of this unless your protector."
"You'll forget most of it anyway, but I doubt you'll be like other humans. I wonder how your life is going to be," added the teasing voice with a smirk I could feel.
"Goodbye," the beautiful one whispered.
"It was lovely seeing you again," said the tender British voice.
Hang on. Again?
My soul shook as their voices faded into the void, like candlelight snuffed out by wind.
And then I fell back into pain, hunger, dirt, and blood. Back into me.
And my chest rose for the first time in what felt like centuries. When I came to again, I wasn't on the forest floor anymore.
My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I saw was the back of someone's neck, buzzed short, scarred, tanned from years under a sun that didn't shine here.
Buzzcut.
I was slung over his back like a damn sack of broken bones. My arms dangled uselessly. Everything ached from the inside out. The motion made my ribs stab fire into my chest with every step.
I tilted my head to the side and saw Rythe pacing beside us, jaw tight, looking around with that twitchy paranoia that hadn't left her since the beginning. Sunglasses was muttering to himself like always, but he was here, alive, somehow. Baldie had blood all over his face, but he wasn't limping, just walking like we were all already ghosts.
I croaked out a sound. My throat was sandpaper dipped in acid.
"H-How…?"
Buzzcut's grunt vibrated through my back.
"She's awake."
"No way," Rythe said, instantly at my side. "You actually alive in there?"
"Define alive," I muttered, my voice barely more than a wheeze.
Sunglasses tilted his head toward me with a smirk. "You look like you lost a fight to a blender and a bear."
"How… did you find me? How long?"
Buzzcut gave me a sideways look. "Nine hours. Just like we agreed."
Nine… hours?
"I thought it… was days," I murmured. "I thought I… died…"
"You got there first," Rythe said, shaking her head, "collapsed and crushed, bleeding like a gutted animal. We found your sorry ass under a Synsiline-rich tree with two overloaded backpacks and the worst smell I've ever sniffed off a living person."
"And you didn't awaken," Sunglasses added, almost impressed. "Even I'm kinda scared of you now."
"We figured most of the others who came here were dead anyway," Baldie said flatly. "They didn't come back. So, we salvaged what we could and grabbed their packs. Between all of us… three tonnes of Synsiline."
"Each pack weighed over 600 kilograms," Rythe said, voice dropping. "Half of it from the forest itself. Forest's gonna remember us."
"Like hell it will," Buzzcut muttered. "We're done here."
I could see thickening storm clouds ahead and the pulsing electric horizon of the Endless Storm. It felt like a memory, like home after hell.
We were walking back.
I wanted to say something. Maybe thank you, maybe I'm sorry, maybe let's burn this forest down next time, I don't even know. But the black fog at the edge of my vision surged in like a wave crashing through glass.
And I just whispered, "Good…"
And the world disappeared again.