A Light After Endless Darkness

Chapter 2

Elizabeth followed the ghostly form of Master Sydney, smiling for what felt like the first time in her life. Her face felt a bit sore, it was almost like she'd forgotten how to do it.

Though her time here had taught her to, she found herself not looking back as they walked. Not once. Something about this man, who told her as they walked that he was a "Sword Warrior Master," just demanded every bit of her attention and faith.

Some part of her wondered if she had passed out and was now dreaming. After all, after being ostracized by her peers as a child, abused by her mentor as an adolescent, and assaulted by monsters as (apparently) a teenager. Now some guy in a weird blue coat was just coming to her as a ghost-person, talking in her head and promising her freedom, love and delicious potato soup? Please. Her luck just wasn't that good.

Well, she had to admit that part of her had a point. But the other part of her told it to shut up and enjoy her rescue. She was finally going to get out of here! After countless hours of endless darkness and slashing the throats of beasts that wore the face of her sister, she was on her way out. Hope filling her, heart beating like a hummingbird on cocaine, she raced alongside her new master, feeling like a child who had been fed copious amounts of cake after being forced to eat nothing but grass. For once, Elizabeth didn't worry about the darkness that surrounded her constantly, constantly clogging up her senses to detect the Light and Dark. Nor did she even feel fatigued as Master Sydney led along the dark, winding path that was oddly devoid of monsters.

Suddenly, he stopped, and Elizabeth had to stumble to keep from falling. He'd brought her to a beach with black, coarse sand that scraped at the bottoms of her bare feet, and pitch black water that was so still, the only thing distinguishing it from the sand was its mirrorlike quality.

"Master Sydney, what is this place?" Elizabeth asked, gazing into the water at herself. Yup, that was her at 19 alright. And if she said so herself, she'd developed quite nicely.

"This is the end of the Twilight Realm. Walk into the water, and when you come back up, you will be in the Dawn Realm once again, in the embrace of a caring and devoted Master." Master Sydney's ghost said

Elizabeth hesitated. Gazing into the endless abyss before her, she couldn't help but feel her newfound faith in Master Sydney wane a bit. No matter how desperate one was, walking blindly into an ocean in the Twilight Realm was one of the dumbest things one could do. "How can I be sure you aren't trying to drown me?"

"What does your heart say? One's heart is the strongest in letting its owner know if there is harm, or if there is hope once again," Master Sydney said.

"... Seriously?"

"Humour a foolish old man, child."

Sighing, Elizabeth screwed up her face in thought. "Well," she began slowly, "one part of it says to go and enjoy the warmth of light again. But the other wants me to stay here, since, you know, I've lived here for seven year. I don't know if I'll be welcomed back in the Dawn Realm," Elizabeth paused. "Actually. That's a lie, I know for a fact I won't."

She had spent many long periods ruminating on what Zarix had told her before he banished her into the Twilight Realm. Whenever she thought of her failure in the Sacred Garden, she heard his scathing, angry voice calling to her.

"There is nothing left for you to do in this realm. If you are not here to fight, you must be here to destroy. I cannot allow you to stay."

Master Sydney's ghost form looked sadly at her, as if he was bitterly regretting the fact that she'd even met Zarix. "Child, you will be welcomed. Master Dabir and the other council members have been anxiously awaiting your arrival. They expect you to chose the Path of Light and return to the Dawn Realm."

"Will Master Zarix be there?" Elizabeth asked timidly, stepping back from the water. She didn't want to see the man who had caused her so much torment since she was a child. She knew that was selfish, but it was true. Even if she deserved it, had failed him in the worst way, she didn't want to feel that sheer hopelessness and pain Zarix had subjected her to for seven long years.

"No, child. Zarix was revoked of his title of Master once Dabir learned of your existence. A wise choice on his part if you ask me," he added in an undertone. All of the Worlds and Realms are rooting for your return; almost each and every world knows your story."

"All of them...? So I'll fail them all if I don't leave, right? So I have to go with you?"

"That is entirely up to you," Master Sydney's ghostlike figure promised. "But you must decide now; do you wish to stay here, or leave forever?"

Elizabeth thought about her options as she stared into the motionless black mirror. The dark part of her mind was screaming frantically that Zarix could well be out there, waiting to make good on what would happen to her if he ever saw her again.

That doesn't matter, she told herself. We've been doing nothing if not training while in here. All those monsters, the Dark Incarnations, all the raw monster meat devoured... she was arguably better fit to fight than she had been when she'd been banished.

With that comforting bit of knowledge, she took a deep breath, and said, "I'm going in."

"I'll be waiting," promised Sydney.

She nodded and walked into the dark water. But then she immediately wished she hadn't. Oh god, it was cold. Freezing cold, like just barely below the freezing point.

She gave a strangled scream.

"Keep going," pressed Sydney. "You can do this..

She swallowed hard and nodded, forcing herself to go in and allow the bitterly freezing liquid to continue to swallow her. The freezing, numbing sensation crept up her feet, then to her ankles, and up to her waist. Before she knew it, she was completely submerged in the inky black. It was supposed to get better, water was supposed to feel less biting the longer you were in. But this didn't. If anything, it got worse the longer you were in. But that wasn't even the odd thing. The odd thing was, she didn't feel like she was swimming. Sure, there was weight all around her, but she didn't feel affected at all.

Though Elizabeth could feel the weight ripple around her and hear the occasional glub or bloop from some horrific water monster, she couldn't see anything throughout her long, weighted trek back to a world with sunlight.

Sunlight.

That one thought kept her going. Back into the warmth. The light.

So she pushed forward. She kept going and going, pushing through the cold and the weight and the fear, until finally, she saw something.

There. In the distance.

A spec of light.
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And question time: Now that she's out, do you think that Elizabeth will be able to handle not having to fight for her life every second?