A headless, naked man and a headless, naked woman stood silently at the base of the mountain, motionless like statues carved from ash and sorrow.
Their ashen skin clung tight to human-shaped bodies, eerily flawless in form... yet sothing was wrong.
Instead of heads, dark flas roared and flickered violently from their necks, dancing wildly in the still air, as though whispering that these things were not only alive... but watching.
The path behind was silent.
Dust shifted underfoot as the soldier who had brought the group here stepped forward and bowed his head low in deep reverence.
"Soulwardens," he said with a tone that trembled slightly, "I humbly ask thee to permit the guests I’ve brought to restore the Cycle of Samsara."
The dark flas atop the creatures flared and swirled as if reacting to his words. Though they had no eyes, no mouths, no faces—sothing about the way their bodies shifted made it feel as if they turned toward the three of them.
Toward Aether... Mary... And Nyx.
Nyx’s eyes sparkled wide, full of curiosity and childlike glee. She wasn’t afraid—no, she looked delighted. As if already peeling apart the nature of these beings in her mind, examining their fla-covered necks and invisible souls like a curious scientist with sothing rare to dissect.
Aether caught her expression and sighed inwardly, lips twitching.
’Definitely not normal,’ he thought with a resigned shake of his head as the Soulwardens began to move.
They weren’t walking—not exactly. Their bodies glided across the rocky ground without a sound, flas burning hotter, brighter... focused directly on Nyx.
Their attention wasn’t on her expression or her playful excitent. It was sothing else. Sothing about her being itself.
The flas hissed louder. Their arms rose, long and unsettlingly smooth, reaching for her face with a kind of gentleness that felt too strange on things so terrifying.
Aether stepped forward instinctively, blocking them with a sharp glare. His voice was clipped, annoyed.
"She’s my wife. Please don’t touch her while you’re completely naked!" He frowned harder, then added with a snort, "Actually—naked or not, just don’t touch my wife, okay?"
Nyx blinked slowly and tilted her head toward him, confusion clear in her wide, glittering eyes.
The Soulwardens paused. Their bodies tilted at unnatural angles as if trying to understand what just happened. Then, slowly, they began to draw back. The flas flared briefly—then cald. But now... they seed to focus on Aether.
He felt it.
That weight. That heat. Like invisible eyes crawling across his body.
’Oh no. No, no, no—hell no!’
Panic surged up his spine, and without thinking, Aether snatched Nyx’s hand and practically dove behind Mary, using her like a living shield.
Mary blinked, startled. "What the...?" she muttered, frowning at his sudden cowardice.
But she didn’t get a chance to scold him.
The Soulwardens were already standing before her. And again, their pale, headless forms reached forward, hands rising toward her face as if they were seeking sothing hidden beneath her blurry aura.
As their fingers neared her, the mist-like shimr around her parted, peeling away like fog under sunlight. Aether caught the faintest, stolen glimpse of long golden waves—hair?
And below, the soft curve of hips that glead like moonlight wrapped in mystery. But before his eyes could fully comprehend what he saw—
"... Are you wishing for death?"
Mary’s voice was low, but it struck like thunder—cold, sharp, rciless.
The flas atop the Soulwardens’ necks exploded briefly, flaring upward like they’d been slapped by divine fear. In an instant, the creatures recoiled, retreating with unnatural, jerky steps.
The mist returned, concealing Mary’s form once again, like curtains closing over a secret stage.
Aether blinked, his heart racing. For a second, he was sure—he’d seen it. That silhouette. That damn beautiful hip wrapped in golden hair—no! No, no, no—he wasn’t going to be lured by this!!
Whatever she was hiding, it was dangerous.
Far more dangerous than the freaky flaming-headless things.
He gritted his teeth and kept his gaze down.
Mary gave him a disgusted side-eye, her expression flat and laced with disappointnt.
"Pathetic," she muttered, shaking her head before turning to the Soulwardens.
"Shall we proceed?"
The flaming creatures seed to nod—or at least, their neck-flas dipped slightly, as if in acknowledgent.
Mary shrugged lightly, her steps graceful as she walked forward and placed her foot on the stone stairway carved into the base of the mountain. Without waiting, she began ascending.
Aether and Nyx followed.
The path was narrow, and each step felt heavy beneath their feet. The mountain wasn’t smooth—it was jagged and raw, greenish stones. Stones jutted from the ground like the bones of the world, and their footsteps echoed sharply in the air.
Nyx clutched Aether’s hand tightly, practically skipping as she looked around with open wonder.
"This place is amazing!" she exclaid. "Look! Soul remnants!" She pointed to flickering sars of smoky light on the stones. "That ans souls fought here... but why?" She giggled to herself like a child who’d stumbled into a toy factory.
Aether didn’t respond. He only smiled faintly. At least... she was sweet right now.
Weird... but sweet.
Her cheeks were puffed with excitent. Her eyes sparkled like stars caught in candlelight. Her little fingers traced the stones and walls as they climbed, legs trembling slightly from the effort, but she never stopped looking.
’She can be really cute sotis,’ Aether thought to himself... Like Xara. Cute... but dangerous.
Mary glanced over her shoulder at the two of them, her expression unreadable, but didn’t speak. The silence stretched as they climbed higher.
"Co to think of it... where are the souls that usually walk on these stairs?"
Mary asked with a confused expression, she thought these stairs would be crowded with souls.
The Soldier sighed, "You will understand once we reach the top"
Finally, they reached the summit—the peak of the greenish marble mountain.
The top was as empty as the path had been. Except...
Two more of the headless, naked beings stood near the edge of the cliff—one male, one female—facing the great void ahead.
Mary and Nyx continued forward, following the soldier.
But sothing made Aether stop. He frowned, tilting his body toward the side of the mountain—and then saw it.
There wasn’t just one path.
Beneath the summit, at the base of the mountain... There were six separate staircases. Each one curved outward from the mountain in an arched pattern.
All but one.
The final side was swallowed in thick blackness, as if reality itself refused to touch it.
And at the base of each visible staircase... stood another headless, naked creature.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aether humd softly, a thoughtful look resting on his face, before finally turning to follow the others.
The group moved together toward the cliff’s edge, the air thinning as they ascended to the peak of the greenish mountain. As they reached the very edge, Aether’s fingers reached out to brush against the stone wall beside him.
It was cold... But not the usual kind of cold.
It crept into his bones.
The surface wasn’t just chilled—it was damp, like death’s breath had lingered here too long. A shiver danced across his skin as his fingertips brushed the stone again. Cold. Empty. Lonely. The feeling wasn’t temperature alone—it was fear. A suffocating dread. Sothing closer to grief... Or mourning?
Aether quickly withdrew his hand and exhaled, trying to shake the discomfort away as he stepped closer to the drop. The two headless, naked Soulwardens stood near the cliff’s edge silently.
Aether leaned forward cautiously, peering over.
His breath caught.
"Oh my goodness..." he whispered.
Below, there was no land. No valley. No forest.
Only a vast, deep whirlpool—an endless swirl of purplish-black energy that spun with a haunting grace. It wasn’t water. It wasn’t mist. It was pure, terrifying power twisting in slow, deliberate circles. [imgincmt]
A faint noise rumbled from within.
OOOOOOOOO!
The low, inhuman moan echoed through the wind, vibrating in his chest. A sound that wasn’t quite alive but wasn’t dead either.
It was a cry that had no mouth.
Aether stared, awe and confusion mixing in his voice. "Is this... the Cycle of Samsara?"
The soldier stepped up beside him and nodded. "Yes. That is the Cycle of Samsara."
Aether nodded for the first ti he was seeing the cycle of life... Interesting.
But Aether’s eyes squinted. Sothing wasn’t right. As he focused harder, his pupils narrowed.... Within the whirlpool, sothing moved.
Ghosts?
No! Souls!
Pale white, translucent shapes drifted in slow agony inside the vortex. Not floating peacefully—no. These souls were writhing. Twisting. Their mouths were open, screaming in silence.
Thousands of them. Screaming, but not a sound made it to the surface.
The soldier’s voice ca again, heavy with quiet grief. "Now you understand. Ever since the Grace disappeared, the Cycle has stopped allowing rebirth. The souls can no longer pass through. They are just... sucked in, swirling endlessly with no escape. If this continues, the—"
"It will shatter the Empire," Mary interrupted, her voice sharp as steel. She stood with arms crossed, her eyes locked on the churning vortex. "And when it does, those souls will break free... and chaos will follow."
The soldier nodded, lips pressed in a solemn line.
Mary turned toward Nyx, who stood near the edge, her gaze fixed on the whirlpool’s centre. She was unusually quiet.
"What do you think?" Mary asked.
Nyx tilted her head slightly, her glowing eyes flickering between blue and violet flas. She blinked slowly, then pointed downward.
"There’s a crack..." she whispered.
Mary and Aether both looked but saw nothing.
"There," Nyx said again, her voice dreamy, detached. "A long purple line... like a chord... sparking. It’s not whole. That’s where it’s breaking." She could see it clearly.
A hairline fracture within the whirlpool, like a thin lightning bolt coiled around the current—visible only to her.
Because Nyx wasn’t ordinary.
She was born from both death and life.
Mary raised a brow. "So if we repair it—will it function again?"
Nyx stared longer, silent. Then slowly nodded. "Maybe."
Mary sighed. "Well... I don’t think anyone sane would want to go inside that thing. I an, if you ss up in there, you’ll get shredded into soul-dust. I guess I could throw in so idiot soldiers to—"
"HYPPPIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!"
Nyx suddenly scread with excitent and leapt off the cliff with a huge grin.
"...."
Everyone froze.
For a full five seconds, they just stood there, processing what had just happened.
"NYX!!" Aether roared, rushing to the edge and looking down—but she was gone.
The whirlpool had swallowed her, and not even a ripple remained. His hands trembled.
"Holy shit... she just jumped?! W-What the hell?!
Is she i-insane?!"
He began pacing in panic, fingers clawing at his own hair. "This place is for rebirth, isn’t it?! Does that an she’s dead now?! Fuck! Fuck!! We have to do sothing—Huh?" He turned to Mary and asked for help.
Mary smiled gently and placed one hand on his chest.
Then... pushed him.
"Tata~" she sang as Aether’s eyes went wide in disbelief.
"YOU FUCKING BIIIIIIIIITCH!!!"
He scread as he fell, arms flailing, his voice echoing into the void as the whirlpool sucked him in.
Mary walked calmly to the edge and leaned against it, her arms resting on the rock as her shoulders suddenly slumped.
Then she scread.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT A LOVE~!!"
Tears welled up in her eyes, real or fake—it was hard to tell.
"Oh my god, oh my—what a love story!! In order to save his wife, that fool threw himself into death!
So pure!
So romantic!
I’m... I’m so fucking touched!"
She sniffled loudly and wiped her eyes, then turned to the Soulwardens and the soldier with a hardened expression.
"Let my daughter know how romantic Aether was—tell her how he died with his wife in his arms.
Spread the tale! Make it poetic~!"
The Soulwardens and the soldier stared at her in stunned horror.
She had clearly pushed him.... They all saw it.
Mary’s expression darkened suddenly, her smile vanishing as her voice dropped into a glacier-like tone.
"He jumped to save her... right?"
The soldier nodded instantly, face pale.
The headless beings’ flas flickered violently—sohow mimicking nods.
Mary’s grin returned, smug and wicked. "Good."
She turned back to the cliff, sniffing once more as if deeply moved.
"Oh my... sniff, sniff... such pure love~"
"My daughter... would be sad... sniff.. sniff..."
A grin curled on her lips.
What?
You thought she could be pushed around?
This—this was exactly why she brought him here.
He really shouldn’t have pissed her off.
Hmph.
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