A Light After Endless Darkness

Chapter one

How long have I been here? Wondered Elizabeth, not for the first time, or the last. Days? Weeks? Months? Time had no meaning in this nonsensical place.

Elizabeth was once again, endlessly roaming the Twilight Realm. But of course, this was hardly surprising. After being banished here it seemed as if that was all she ever did. At this point, slaying the beasts that rushed her on a daily basis was all that kept her sane. Her sense of time had been completely stripped from her, as well as all of her happy memories. The dark went on forever, with no sign of ever ending, and the fact that it was not too hot or cold didn't help any. No way to judge the sun, if there was any in this awful place.

And dear god, the smell. A rancid reek of sulfur and decay filled her nose, as if she were walking through the remnants of a fire that had had no survivors.

When she first got here, she dreamed of Habe, or Hagen, or anybody cutting through the endless darkness, coming into rip her out of here and bring back the light. But that was so long ago. Now, she only thought of rescue when she wanted to laugh.. She knew the Twilight Realm was her reality now; fighting and surviving was her new daily task.

The worst part of all of it was that she couldn't even really hate her master. This was all her damn fault. If only she'd been able to summon the Sword of Legend (Blade of Legend, if you were feeling fancy), she would now be with Habe and Haden, and Zarix would finally be happy because he had the damn sword. But, despite being a Warrior of both Light and Darkness, she'd failed. And every day, she wondered why. Why had she failed at her only task? Why, after years upon years of training, had the sword refused to come to her? Why had she been trapped in this hole of literal hell? Why, why, why?

Something moved behind her. She looked over her shoulder; no monsters. In fact, she hadn't been attacked in what felt like forever, which was strange. She was, after all, in the world of monsters.

Elizabeth knew something was up. Something had to be going on.

"Child, can you hear me?" a masculine voice said.

Elizabeth jumped and her double bladed longsword was at her side so fast it would have appeared there. "W-Who's there?!" she demanded, remembering well the last man she was in contact with.

Standing before her was an old man dressed in a thick, grey, salt and pepper hair, dressed a dark blue trench coat and simple farmer's clothes. He had strong, warm looking hands and kind, blue eyes that were set deep in his almost translucent skin. Besides that, he was almost glowing some kind of soft, golden light.

Without so much as a pause, Elizabeth sliced him clean in half through his belly. It melted through like warm butter, but immediately his middle merged back together.

Elizabeth blinked. "Wha...?"

The voice chuckled. Not a malicious chuckle, like when Zarix would taunt and tease the girls, but a good natured sound, like when she would hand Habe a piece of paper that read, "your message is on the other side" on both sides. "My child, I am not physically there," he told her without really moving his mouth. "But I am your Light in this endless Darkness you are suffering."

"I'm not suffering," Elizabeth muttered.

"Of course you aren't," the voice said soothingly. "But do you wish to escape?"

"... yes?"

"Then follow my presence, and a way out of this dark realm will be presented to you."

"I can't sense presences anymore. It's all just so full of darkness, my senses are getting messed up," Elizabeth said dejectedly.

"Do not lose hope, child. It is what this world wants. You can still sense presences. Your belief will guide you back to the Dawn Realm," the voice said, and if sounded calming. Reassuring. Certain. Three things Elizabeth hadn't been in years.