As you awaken, you realize you are no longer in the cozy cottage you retired to with Aria. The quaint bedroom, the fluffy down bed, all of them seem to be little more than a dream now, despite what you see before you being infinitely more surreal. You're surrounded by dusk and twinkling starlight, slowly drifting around you. Your feet are steady beneath you, yet you can't see any floor to speak of. Frantically, you take in your surroundings, searching, until you spot her. As you dash towards her, you see Aria is sitting primly, on... nothing. The same nothing you're standing on, presumably.

"Where are we?!"

"We're in the Fae Realm, just as I promised. There's plenty to explore here, don't let The Void fool you. This is just where I go to relax."

"Explore... here? Wait, no, I want to go home!"

"I'm afraid that cannot be. A changeling has already taken your place there. Your friends were all so worried about them, after all."

The gravity of the situation pushes you down to your knees as you look helplessly, blankly at the Fae creature who brought you here.

A small, unkind smile cracks onto her face before she slowly and coolly continues, "I told you exactly where we were going. If you're unhappy with getting exactly what was offered to you, then that's your fault."



Artwork commissioned from  koveliana