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conditionaljewel · 1 year

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“Worry not, child.” Laudna could hear Delilah’s voice as they plunged into shadow. Complete and total darkness. Laudna was alone, but there was always Delilah. A unique loneliness. And even here, in death, long after Laudna’s last breath had left her, Delilah remained. “Death is but a waiting game.”

Laudna and Delilah’s spirits, entwined as though they were one of the same thread, traversed through the shadow, passing by nothing and everything all at once. Surreal, suspended animation filled the gaps as they drifted through the weaves of reality, gently gliding through space and time and other realms, alien but familiar all at once. Time made no sense here, neither did direction; there was no up or down, there wasn’t a north or south. There just was. And together, their two distinct yet similar purple auras mingled amongst one another as it traversed deeper, further into the shadow.

Surroundings shifted quickly here. Buildings became mountains became oceans became forests became more buildings became plains. They were in free fall, if you could call it that. Laudna couldn’t control anything, and while it didn’t seem like Delilah had control, she did seem to have some level of influence, and she was exercising it.

Laudna could feel Delilah’s spirit surging within hers at times, now more than she had before, sensing and seeing it much like she always had just out of the corners of her eyes. Now, in this alternate space of existence however, Delilah was able to truly exert her otherworldly capabilities, and she’d be damned if she was going to lose Laudna.

However, for a moment, as they continued to spiral through these realms and times and places, Laudna felt a pulse of arcane energy through the air. There was a very distorted, muffled voice calling out from beyond the void, seemingly from another realm. She could not make out the words clearly, she didn’t know who was speaking, she wasn’t even sure if it was a human speaking. She could only hear Delilah reply, “Poor thing. I would if I could, But I ask you to bring her back, too. For both of us.”

They continued to fall, spiraling, tumbling. Everything they past by them so fast, and yet it was endless. It just seemed to go on, and on, eternally. Had it been only hours, perhaps just minutes? Had it been a century? Time is a weird soup, she thought. Especially when you’re dead.

A piece inspired by a few scenes from the Shadow Whitestone / Laudna is Dead arc that I couldn’t stop playing in my head from Laudna’s perspective, from a dead perspective.

Full piece also below the cut.

Laudna was dead.

The blade had stuck through her, as she was held aloft by Otohan. The gruesome sight far too much for Imogen to behold, as Laudna’s body fell to the ground with a thud, dust kicking up from the impact. Imogen unleashed a torrent of psychic energy that filled the space, like a bomb going off. A devastating crater left in her wake. Otohan scattered to the four winds.

But Laudna knew none of this. She was already dead.

The dark embrace of the shadow within, the light extinguished in her eye. Laudna was gone to the outside world. Within moments, sure, she and the rest of the Bells Hells would reappear in Bassuras where they were, as they were, but that had no bearing on Laudna. She was already gone.

Though her body would not stir, her spirit began to move on. Rather, the spirits moved on, for Laudna was not alone in her body. Delilah had remained, just as she always had, entwined with Laudna as they began to move beyond the veil.

Outside these shadowed walls, the Hells panicked in trying to revive Fearne, needing her to ensure that at least one more of their friends amongst Laudna or Orym, who had also fallen, was saved. Were it not for a lack of energy and resources, the Hells would have saved all three of them, but the odds were against them this time.

A mournful, sorrowful group of friends surrounded their loved ones and held them close. Huddled together, frantic, panicking, they now had to make a choice. No one should ever have to make this kind of decision. It’s all that was left to do, or they would lose them both. They couldn’t bare it.

A coin flip. Time stood still.

A pregnant pause turns into impassioned sorrow, tearful despair.

The despair turns into a promise.

————

After quite some time, their momentum started to slow. The surroundings, once just blurs of passing realms and planes, starting to come into a bit more focus. The backgrounds passing them by of forests and valleys and gorges now shifting into more clear, albeit twisted, dark versions of themselves. Mountains steeped in darkness, forests and valleys bathed in shadow. All sign of any kind of life or civilization in ruin, tattered, destroyed. This was a wasteland.

Their momentum had now come to a near halt, leaving their spirits simply floating in the air now as a single shimmering wave of gold energy with a slight blue threading within and around it began to push its way toward and through the space around them. As their spirits floated high above what appears to be a city, this gold-and-blue aura washed over and past them. Laudna’s energy showed no reaction; however, Delilah’s spirit seemed to emit an energy burst that, at least for the moment, seemed to cease the surges of Delilah’s energy and magic that Laudna had been sensing.

As the wave of magic continued on its path past them and dissipating, the spirits slowly fell toward the city. As they crept closer and closer, Laudna’s spirit became aware that this wasn’t an ordinary city. There were houses with roofs shaped like boats, and a giant tree in the middle with barren branches. Upon getting closer to the tree, there appeared to be a cage strung high within its boughs. Laudna, still unable to exert any control over the situation or her spirit, lingered within Delilah’s as they both proceeded through the city’s ruins towards the tree.

As they began to encroach on the tree, Laudna could begin to make out more details. Massive roots bursting through the ground emerging from its base; its trunk scarred; its boughs empty and leafless. It was The Sun Tree, except it wasn’t alive. It seemed dead, decaying. And there in its boughs, as the two of them began to float back up into the air, there was a cage. Made of branches, tangled and entwined as deeply and knotted as tightly as Delilah had been trying to cling to Laudna.

There at the opening of this cage, Laudna and Delilah floated together briefly again for a moment. “In you go,” Delilah said, and it was now, as Delilah began to extricate her spirit from that of Laudna’s, that Laudna could hear her a bit more clearly. Delilah’s voice was now a bit more raspy and jagged, but still bearing the soft and artificial airs that her voice always held. It were as though Delilah were now another person talking to her face to face.

As Laudna’s spirit was forced into the tree, its branches and stems closed in place, leaving little gap or space for Laudna to make anything out beyond. The spirit of Delilah was now hovering just in front of the cage, and Laudna, through what form of vision she had now as a spirit and in this space, could see the face of Delilah flicker in and out of the spirit that opposed her. “We haven’t a lot of time, I must keep you safe,” Delilah said.

There was no sense of anything in this space. Laudna was locked in the cage within this shadow manifestation of the Sun Tree, in a deeply scarred, destroyed, alternate Whitestone. She sensed that this was of Delilah’s making and design, even if it was also her own afterlife that she was experiencing.

While she still couldn't see clearly through the tree’s branches that held her in containment, every now and again she could hear Delilah speak to her. She would call out to Laudna, trying to entice her and wear her down even further, demoralize her. “Your friends aren’t coming for you,” she would tease Laudna. “They left you, they don’t care about you,” she would continue. Laudna didn’t want to listen, but it is hard to block out the noise when it is surrounding you, and seemingly coming from within. That’s when it's hardest to ignore. “They don’t love you.”

Laudna was used to Delilah’s lies and deceitful tricks. She had heard her rattling in her head for so long, it wasn’t anything new. But now that Laudna was in this dark and twisted Whitestone, a place she hadn’t been in so long let alone this horrible, decayed and twisted illusion of the city she once called home, it hit harder. It hurt more, it hurt worse. All the remarks and comments that folks have hurled her way throughout life were now being directed at her by the one woman who bore witness to it all. Delilah knew exactly what to say and do to make Laudna feel however she wanted, or to get her to do her bidding. Now, even in death, she was still just a puppet, a plaything for Delilah to toy with for eternity.

Laudna closed up from this, and shut down within herself, as much as a spirit could at least. The sense that Delilah would torment her for the rest of her days, when she had always thought that maybe, once she died for good, she’d finally be free was slowly washing away. This was becoming Laudna’s worst nightmare, and she couldn’t escape it. She couldn’t reach out to anyone, she couldn’t speak with Imogen, there was nothing she could do. Laudna was stuck here.

————

Much time had passed in the waking world, in the light. However, here in the shadow, there was nothing to distinguish night from day, one hour from the next. Laudna wasn’t even sure if time were passing at all. Surely, in this forgotten realm of existence, this next plane of the life cycle, the afterlife as it were, time is a blur anyway. What may have been a matter of seconds could have actually been decades, even centuries.

She had to continue to hope that there would be someone to come for her. She’d woken up from this deep sleep once before, why wouldn’t she again? Even if it was because of Delilah, there was other magic in the world. She trusted Imogen, she knew that she’d do anything she could.

“But what if she can’t,” Delilah said. This being their shared domain, Delilah could still peer into Laudna’s essence and detect her thoughts without much effort. Her voice was thinner, like it had faded some. “But what if she doesn’t?”

“She will!” Laudna screamed back at her. This was the first that she was able to muster any strength within this form to say anything, not even having been sure she was able to. “She will.” This time, much softer, quieter. Was she doubting, now? Was Delilah getting through to her?

“Ah, but see my child, you know I’m right,” Delilah sneered at her. “She isn’t coming, no one is coming.”

Delilah got up close to the cage’s branches now, peeling them back the slightest bit, her face now flickering through the spirits flame-like body. “It’s just you and me.” Delilah’s voice was beginning to get slightly thinner, frailer, Laudna could hear now that she had gotten closer. It wasn’t a drastic change, but it was still noticeable in this moment.

Laudna attempted to scream “no,” but even with all the anger and rage that she was able to feel in this moment, what came out was a much softer, quiet, broken voice. Laudna felt weak, and she began to get fearful about the “what ifs,” just as Delilah had enticed her. She was right where Delilah wanted her.

Delilah closed the cage’s branches back up to their usual state, leaving Laudna with the slimmest of views of the surroundings once more. Laudna cried out to Imogen once more, her voice raspy and weak.

As Delilah left the vicinity of the Sun Tree, she suddenly felt an unexpected arcane pulse from deep within the shadows. Laudna, too, felt this faint but familiar pulse of arcane energy through the air, but she did not hear the distorted, muffled voice that accompanied it like last time. Delilah did, however.

“Whatever it takes,” she replied to the voice. “It won’t be long now. I’m fading.” Delilah let the pause hang in the air for a moment before finally adding, “And I’ll take her with me.”

Delilah continued to float away off into the shadows off into some unknown direction, while Laudna was left in the cage hung in the tree, puzzled and confused, even more scared and alone. She continued to try to call out to Imogen, reaching out with her mind, but to no avail. It seemed she was too weak in this spiritual state, or the tree’s cage was preventing her from doing anything, or maybe both; she wasn’t sure.

If Laudna could sit down dejected in the corner of this cage, she would have at this point. She was beginning to feel lost and hopeless, fearful that this was to be the rest of her existence in any shape. She kept focusing on Imogen, thinking of her as much as she could with what little energy she had until Delilah would decide it was time to tease her again.

————

Everything was dark and still. In the waking, living world, a handful of days more had passed. There was no telling what was going on from within the shadows, but Laudna was not giving up. Though Delilah continued to torment and provoke Laudna through the tree, Laudna did not let Delilah break her. Her resolve in these moments would be unmatched elsewhere. Delilah was not perturbed however; she figured she would get Laudna to crack sooner or later.

It was one of these moments, as Delilah was present before Laudna, that Laudna noticed a shift in the energy of the shadows. Something was new, fresh in this realm. As Laudna continued to withstand Delilah’s commentary, Laudna was able to pick up on a small, golden fleck that seemed to be floating through the space. It was tiny at first, so very minuscule in the grand scheme of things as compared to Delilah’s existence here. But as the fleck seemingly got closer, it began to get a bit bigger.

Laudna trailed it in what little perspective she had from the tree as it meandered about above the town until it seemed to settle in a space not far from the square where the Sun Tree was located, where she was being held. This spirit seemed noticeably smaller now, as compared to Delilah’s and even Laudna’s, and she was confused.

The gold spirit began to float up toward the tree, seemingly unbeknownst to Delilah. However, just as the golden spirit came up to what can only be described as eye-level with Laudna, the spirit vibrated and hummed, before completely dissipating with a snap.

Laudna remained puzzled, wondering what she had just witnessed. That was new. Was Delilah doing something? She hadn’t been listening to her crooning, having managed to tune her out for the moment. Delilah ultimately grew tired and disappeared once more, leaving Laudna alone as she was wont to do.

Now alone, Laudna had renewed her efforts in trying to reach out to Imogen. She wasn’t positive that the golden spirit was Imogen, but she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t malicious, either. She was so unsure of anything here, it was hard to even be sure of herself, and what this place was. Was she sure this wasn’t some sort of post-death hallucination, something she never experienced before? Was this something beyond death? She was worried, she was getting weaker, colder, just like Delilah was. She could see it, she could sense it, but she could feel it herself too.

It did not seem like a lot of time passed here, however, as suddenly in the far off distance of the shadows, Laudna saw that same gold fleck reappear. This time, it was stationary, it didn’t seem to be moving. That was odd, last time it was vibrant and at least seemed to hover.

And then several other colors began to spill out from the golden fleck. Each color emerged from this golden fleck at first a fleck itself before becoming slightly larger, yet still far out in the distance shadows away from the Tree. There was what appeared to be a long translucent strand that was attached to each of the flecks — one of emerald green, one of red, one of fiery orange, one of a forest green, one of yellow — but as they descended beyond the horizon and within the shadows, the flecks and strands all disappeared. Laudna was unsure if they were attached to this gold fleck or if it was different; she wasn’t even sure that what she was seeing was real. What were these flecks? Were they more spirits? Did more people die that Delilah had control over? Was someone coming to save her? All these thoughts ran across her mind as these colored flecks appeared, until the last colored fleck emerged: a very familiar, distinct, light-purple color fleck. Laudna would know that purple anywhere.

“Imogen.”

————

Delilah can be seen flittering about the space now as she has noticed this golden spirit floating in the air, and these other colors spirits progressing through the shadows, seemingly determined on making their way toward the Sun Tree.

These spirits emerge, just barely within vision of Laudna from her perspective within the tree. She can only see them overlapping with one another, weaving in and out as they traverse through this space. Laudna still cannot make out details beyond the immediate square that the Tree has resided in all this time, but those translucent threads that maintain their connection to something above them become visible for the briefest of moments every once in a while. Laudna starts to get the sense that, whoever or whatever these spirits are, if they are indeed Imogen and her friends, they are coming to rescue her.

Laudna continues to watch and sees Delilah’s spirit as she bounces from one part of the shadow to the next. One moment, there’s a flash and she’s floating from one neighborhood alley to a barn. A few moments go by, and another flash, as she sees Delilah float back across the city now to a house in a different part of town. She’s being pushed back, she’s retreating.

These spirits continue to progress, beginning to encroach on the Tree’s grounds. Laudna starts to reach out with her mind, trying to shout whatever she can through the cage, but she still cannot be heard or perceived by anyone. “Please, Imogen, save me,” she thinks.

“She can certainly try,” Delilah says to Laudna, as she suddenly reappears in front of the Tree. Her spirit now seems to be roiling more than before, her face flickering in and out more frequently. She seemed distressed, angered, but determined. “I will deal with this incursion, don’t worry,” she said as she seems to push herself off of the Tree and descends down below to the Square. The colored flecks have emerged from the city’s shadowy maze, and now stand before Delilah, the Sun Tree, and Laudna.

The six colorful spirits, all with their translucent gossamer strands ascending up into the space above and disappearing, stand before Delilah’s spirit and seemingly hold court. A parlay. Laudna cannot clearly see them from where she currently is within the tree, she cannot hear them, but she can just barely make out the pulses and vibrations as the various spirits are all talking. She sees a lot of vibrations come from the red one, quite a few from the orange and greens as well. Then she sees the light purple one, the one she hopes, wishes, assumes is Imogen’s spirit, begin to vibrate along with the red one.

Then, suddenly, Laudna hears Delilah’s voice call out clear as day, “Laudna, darling?”

Up in the tree, the branches that made up the cage containing Laudna’s spirit began to shift and open ever so slightly, just enough of a gap to let her friends see that Laudna was inside. To Laudna, however, having been watching through clouded view and muffled ears, things came into focus as the cage opened. She could begin to hear the ambient sounds of the ruins of the city scape around her, the brushing and creaking of the tree, and the vibrant colors of her friends’ spirits now sharpened.

As she looked out from the tree down to her friends, the spirit that had a light purple coloration began to emanate as a voice rang out. “Laudna?”

Imogen, having called out to Laudna in the Tree behind Delilah, its branches now peeled back exposing her spirit, seemed to react to this and emitted a similar resonant pulse. “Imogen,” Laudna said weakly.

“We’re going to get you home, we’re gonna get you home, okay?” Imogen cried out; her spirit vibrating intensely as these words rang out towards the Tree.

“I forgot how much I hate it here,” Laudna responded. A slightly stronger vibration came from Laudna this time, but still faint comparatively.

“Can you get out? Can you get out of the Tree?” Imogen’s spirit drifted a few feet closer, seemingly reaching out to Laudna.

Laudna’s spirit quivered before it pulsed once more, stronger still. “I think that depends on you, darling.”

Imogen’s spirit vibrated at this, though not from any verbal response. A second passed before she did finally reply, “I need you to fight her.”

“I haven’t been able to fight her for thirty odd years.” Laudna’s voice weakened slightly here, but still stronger than not.

Imogen’s spirit vibrated brightly once more. “We’re here now. We’ll help.”

As Imogen said this, Delilah’s spirit flashed the same familiar bright, deep purple and the tree began to close. Laudna’s spirit again became obscured behind the branches, the sight and sound of the proceedings again blocked out.

Laudna tried to call out to Imogen once more but was unable to reach her, it seemed. As she screamed louder and louder for Imogen, not a sound was heard on the outside. Delilah had her full control over Laudna’s ability to perceive, whilst assuming the focus of the rest of the Hells.

Laudna’s spirit shifted in space trying to find any way to peer out into the square. She couldn’t see or hear anything, until she managed to find a small opening in the branches where she could just barely see Imogen’s spirit squaring up with Delilah’s spirit, until suddenly Imogen’s spirit erupted into an intense, powerful reverberation that resulted in an audible scream, one that was able to pierce through whatever veil that this cage held over Laudna. Laudna knew that was Delilah’s scream, and she also knew in that moment that Delilah was in trouble.

Down below, battle had erupted as the spiritual forms of Bell’s Hells began to attack Delilah. Within moments of that scream, whilst the various other colors all leapt into motion and appeared to focus their attacks on Delilah, one spirit in particular appeared out of nowhere beside Laudna as she watched on. She could not hear any voices or yelling from within her cage now, but on the outside, it was Orym who had been flung into the tree in an attempt to break the cage open and free Laudna.

Meanwhile, Chetney and Fresh Cut Grass down below continued to aide Fearne and Imogen in attacking Delilah, absorbing the brunt of her spell attacks and trying to keep focus. At one point, several skeletons appear from the ground beneath their feet, appearing to Laudna as spectral black-and-white spirits, only to see them disappear one by one. Throughout the course of battle, they begin to attack the tree as Orym proceeds to hack away at its branches. As Laudna watches on, she sees Delilah’s spirit emit a massive reverberation, at which point the spirit she perceives as Fresh Cut Grass sees its leash dissipate, and their spirit vanish.

Laudna watches on in disbelief as this happens, and while the remaining party members continue to focus their attacks on Delilah, Fearne and Imogen learn that damaging the tree will also damage Delilah. They begin to strike out at the tree as Orym take another whack at a branch, when suddenly Laudna sees the tether tied to Orym’s spirit get snapped, and his spirit vanishes as well.

Laudna is fearful now, having watched two of her friends vanish from this space within moments. She is unsure what is happening, now unable to see anything as the battle has shifted, smoke beginning to pour from the trunk of the Sun Tree that’s been slowly catching fire thanks to Fearne’s pinpoint accuracy. Laudna’s spirit continues to flicker in the space as she tries to observe the fight, as she catches them coming back around a corner.

Just as that happens, Laudna gets a visual on Imogen as she sees a streak of lightning headed right towards the cage. In a panic, Laudna screams. Delilah screams as well, as the Sun Tree is split in two, its trunk parted down the middle, its boughs broken, the cage split. Laudna’s spirit was briefly free, out in the open, when an ear-shattering scream filled the space.

A bright white light filled the space, illuminating everything within the shadow for the briefest of instants, and then everything vanished. The colored spirits and flecks, all disappeared; Ashton, Fearne, Imogen, Chet, even Delilah was gone. Laudna was the only one here in this space. But this space wasn’t even Whitestone anymore, it wasn’t the Sun Tree. It was nothing, but this time, truly nothing. There wasn’t any ground to stand on, any buildings, any land, there nothing. Laudna, still as a spirit, was just floating in what felt like an endless vacuum of space.

She wondered what happened, did something go wrong? Are they okay? Where did they go? She continued to float, unsure if she was ascending or descending, neither, or both. Where was she supposed to go, was there anywhere to go?

All these questions filled her consciousness, when suddenly a familiar golden fleck appeared, only this time it was much larger. This fleck had the same makeup and flickering body as the spirits of Delilah and herself, and much like those of her companions. Upon getting closer to this spirit, she recognized it as the one that had been in the shadows not long before, guiding her friends it would seem.

As the golden spirit was nearly upon her, she could begin to see a face shining through. She did not recognize this face, but she thought it kindly and warm, friendly. Suddenly, the face disappeared and the golden glow began to take on a hue that which was forest green in nature, mingling in amongst the dominant gold. A voice then came through, one she recognized. It was clear, and it echoed throughout the space softly. She could hear it was Orym, and she could hear that he was trying to reach out to her.

“Laudna, I know I don't know you any better than the rest of the gang, but I know your history. You deserve to be more than a footnote in Delilah's story. There are people here who need you. They need your life and your heart. I don't know what Bells Hells will be without your darkness, Laudna. Or your light.” Laudna could hear the emotion in his voice, a slight quiver as he spoke. “We don't want to leave anyone behind, least of all you. I got to get that blood flowing through your veins again. Please. Come back.”

The golden spirit continued to vibrate with this forest green hue for a moment, and she tried to call out to Orym, unsure if he would hear her. The spirit pulsated and the color shifted back to just the gold. A new voice was coming through, and the gold had gotten more yellow, but this voice she couldn’t hear at all. She could only hear a very low droning, as though someone were talking into hands, and she were trying to listen from another room through a wall. She could not make out what was being said, or who the voice belonged to, whether it was someone she was familiar with or not, but after another moment the spirit’s yellow hue faded and was back to the gold it was initially.

Laudna called out once more into the void, her spirit still floating around this golden aura, trying to get within reach of it but still not quite close enough. As she used every bit of her essence that she could muster, another shift in the spirit before her, this time to a light purple color. Laudna focused, knowing without a doubt, that could only be Imogen.

But then, her voice. She could hear her! She could hear Imogen! But, she sounded distant, far away. Not quite muffled, but it wasn’t clear. Not distorted, but like Orym, her voice was echoing throughout the space, but with a much greater intensity that diminished the message, but Laudna could still pick up bits through the discordant echoes and reverberations.

“You know you saved my life right? If you hadn’t come into town when you did, I don't know how long I would have lasted.” The words rang out, echoing back and forth off nothing, an odd soundscape that would have otherwise driven any living person mad. The strangest cacophony, but Laudna fought through it and continued on. Laudna hurtled her spirit toward the golden aura with every bit of energy she could muster in this state, still unsure even now how this was happening, but she didn’t care. Imogen was reaching out, and this was Laudna’s only chance. Imogen’s words continued to call out through the space to her.

“These last few years have been everything. And through it all, through all the laughter and all the hardships, she was with you. She was choking you.” There was a pause, as the vibrations lessened for a moment. The gold still radiating the flashes and pulses of purple energy, the vibrations picked back up. Now, the purple energy was beginning to swirl more intensely around and within the golden aura before Laudna, lingering closer and closer. Laudna continued to chase the spirit down, not feeling as though she were making any progress but not relenting.

“If you come back, I don't know how you're going to feel. I don't know if you'll feel free, or if you'll feel empty. But I want you to know, whatever... whatever hole she's leaving, I'll be there to help fill it, all right? I'll be there for you.”

Imogen’s words were still clamoring for Laudna, as Laudna continued to try and reach out and give a response, a reply. No words could come out to her, she was so enthralled with the spirit before her, feeling as though she were being held back on a leash. It was so close, but so far. “Imogen,” she tried calling out, just a whisper.

“I'm not going to tell you to come back, I'm not going to try to compel you to come back, because that choice, Laudna, is yours now. No one gets to control you anymore, all right?”

Imogen’s voice trailed off for a moment. The vibrations from the now purple-and-gold aura before her diminishing and fading in color, before one last pulse was emitted.

“Imogen,” Laudna tried again, louder this time but her voice still raspy, jagged, cracking.

“Just know that I love you, and I'm here.”

Within an instant Laudna’s spirit, almost feral in nature if a soul could have such a state of existence in this realm, leapt at the aura as though it were suddenly unleashed. Freed from the shackles that held her, Laudna pounced into the purple and gold spirit, screaming out “Imogen!”

Laudna’s purple spirit began to infuse with the unknown gold and Imogen’s purple, creating an arcane twister than spun throughout this shadow. Light began to burst through pockets between the two distinct, separate purples, until suddenly everything disappeared in another blast of white.

————

Laudna’s body lay still on the ground, the glow that had been emanating from her during the Resurrection ritual fading. All of those sitting around Laudna looked at Pike asking if it worked. Pike reached out to check for signs of life from Laudna’s body. Unable to tell if she was breathing, Pike slapped Laudna across the face.

Laudna shot straight up, provoking a gasp from everyone else in the room. Ow, she thought, as she looked around and saw her friends, and a few folks she did not recognize, sitting around her. Fearne and Chetney at her feet, Orym and Fresh Cut Grass on either side of her a few feet away now, Ashton just off to the side standing behind Orym.

Her heart skipped a beat, which is saying something for her, when she did not see Imogen initially. At that moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Laudna turned around to see Imogen sitting there just behind her, nose bloodied. For a moment, it were as though time had frozen as they locked eyes on one another. Imogen was trembling. She was back. Was she back?

The silence broken by Fresh Cut Grass. “Laudna, you’re back,” only to be quickly followed by a puzzled, “are you back? Are you okay?”

“Say something only Laudna would know, quick!” Chetney blurted out.

Time stood still.

Laudna looked back and forth at each one of her friends, still in shock, now a bit of pain, and much disbelief. Wait, was this real? Am I alive? Quick, say something…

She took a breath, her voice cracked. “I… I don’t…” She looked from Chetney as he said this back at the rest of the group, before looking at Imogen, and put her hands to her cheeks, trying to muster energy, words, anything.

“Have you found anything else out about your mom?”

Imogen looked at Laudna as tears swelled up in her eyes. Oh, Laudna, Imogen thought into her head as she reached forward and pulled Laudna in for a hug, wrapping her arms around her tight and holding her closer than ever before.

Laudna squeezed Imogen back in this warmest of embraces.

A pregnant pause had turned into impassioned joy, tearful happiness.

“I’m so glad you’re back.”

The promise fulfilled.