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Elayne walked down a long corridor in her new "ho," eventually reaching a door she opened slowly. Beyond it lay a small village built from black stone houses and glowing blue crystals. Each structure was covered in black mushrooms, dark blue moss, and patches of glowing dark green herbs. So flowers even had red, blinking eyes.
She saw that the nearly one hundred Undead she had rescued were all safe. Most rested their weary souls, while a few wandered outside, learning from her friends—those who had embraced the Nature and Spirit Magic Elayne had taught them.
So of the Undead were even attempting to awaken Nature Souls, a gift Elayne had bestowed upon her companions. This power allowed them to mimic one or two of her spells and manipulate the flora growing throughout the village.
"Mama, you’re awake...!"
A small voice echoed behind her. Elayne turned to see an adorable ghost shaped like a five-year-old girl, with short black hair and glowing red eyes.
"Ah, little Hope! Have I slept too long?"
"It’s been a week since we left... I’ve been moving us farther and farther away, but... I don’t really know where to go now."
"Right... we don’t have much of a plan, do we?"
Elayne had focused entirely on escaping. She hadn’t truly believed she could succeed, so she hadn’t planned what to do afterward.
But now, with a hundred survivors, a newly founded Demon Tree Religious Order, and the responsibility of leading those she had saved, she needed to think ahead.
"My main goal was to return to the Living World. But we have no clue where a Netherworld Gate might be. They open and close at random... and the only ’permanent’ one is controlled by the Demon King of Death. If I go there, I’ll die for real."
"Hmm... maybe we should gather resources. So of our people are hungry."
"Oh? They can’t absorb essence from the plants?"
"They can, but they say it’s not enough. They’re not Druids like us, Mama."
"That’s true."
Little Hope had grown imnsely over the past ten years. Once a skeleton with the mind of a five-year-old, she had beco a ghost with the intellect of a fifteen-year-old girl—thanks to Elayne’s love and guidance.
Elayne had taught her language, history, science, and mathematics, nurturing her into soone thoughtful and capable.
"Alright, gathering resources sounds like a good idea. Another thing we need to do is find my friends..."
"Your friends?"
"Yes, don’t you rember? I told you about them—Rita... um, Lily, right? Then there was the cashier girl... ahh, my mory isn’t what it used to be. What was her na? Janice? No... Jenny! That’s it. Even now, it’s hard to piece things together."
"Uh-huh. And who else?"
"Hm... my daughter and the kids managed to escape. And... the fairy—Kate? Katherine! That’s right. Ahh, it’s hard to recall. There was a cat too—wait, what happened to him? Kajithe, right? Where was he when everything happened? He... he vanished. Why am I only rembering him now? That’s strange..."
"...? Cat?"
"Yes, I had a cat friend. I think he’s still alive, thankfully. So Rita, Lily, Jenny... my pets Belle and Silver too—I think they died."
"Pets! Belle is the goat, Silver the snake!"
"Yes, yes, that’s right! You’re so good at rembering. Thank you for helping ."
"Heh!"
Little Hope puffed out her chest proudly as Elayne hugged her and kissed her forehead.
"I love you, Little Hope. You’ve always made happy and given purpose. Even if I’m not your biological mother, I truly don’t mind being called your mom."
"Mama!"
Little Hope giggled, hugging Elayne tightly and refusing to let go.
Her ghostly form could solidify using spiritual energy, making her feel like a very cold person. Then again, Elayne wasn’t warm either—except for the faint warmth produced by the plants living inside her body.
"Alright, shall we go wake up Mark? I want to introduce him to you properly. He’s the man I love—my husband... or, well, we were planning to marry," Elayne sighed. "But we couldn’t."
"That’s okay... we can celebrate marriage using Netherworld traditions," Little Hope said.
"The Netherworld has traditions?" Elayne asked.
"Uncle Sailor and Uncle Norman told about them! People here have their own customs and cultures. They’re fun!"
"I see..." Elayne nodded, realizing just how rich the Netherworld’s history was. "It really does feel like another world—so different from what I imagined."
She had always thought of the Netherworld as a bleak realm of death and suffering. And while that was partly true, it also held cultures, villages, cities, empires, kingdoms, palaces, sects, and more.
Ancient noble races existed, and the vast Netherworld was divided into territories and nations—so believed to be even larger than Arcadia.
Though she longed to return to the Living World and reunite with her daughter, part of Elayne sensed that her journey here was far from over.
And despite everything, she might as well enjoy it—if she could.
"Mark! Uncle! Papa? Papa..."
Little Hope hopped onto Mark’s body until the skeleton coughed.
"Cough...! Ack! W-What...?"
Mark stirred, his skull igniting with red and blue flas. Slowly, the fire shaped itself into the faint outline of his forr human face, giving him expressions he hadn’t had since becoming a skeleton.
"Wow! Face!" Little Hope exclaid. "Face! Face!"
"W-Who are you, little one?" Mark asked. "Where... where am I? Ugh, my soul still aches..."
"Good morning, Mark," Elayne said, appearing beside him.
"Elayne?! Elayne!" Mark cried, hugging her tightly the mont he saw her.
"Dear... it’s okay. We’re far away from that place now," Elayne said, gently caressing his flaming skull. "It looks like your flas can form a face now. That’s amazing."
"I-I can?" Mark blinked. "I think sothing happened to my soul when you helped recover my mories. These flas... they’re my soul."
"Oh? I see..." Elayne nodded. "Well, now that you’re awake, we have a lot to talk about. But I bet you’re hungry. Here—I made so mushrooms and moss juice. They’re packed with nether and ghostly energy. Eat up."
"Ah... hahah, salad in the Netherworld. Who would’ve thought?" Mark chuckled. "Thank you."
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