A robed figure was approaching the cage, its face hidden by the deep cowl hanging down from the top of its head. Lareth braced himself, suddenly engulfed in darkness as he closed his eyes without thinking. He was wondering why it was dark until he realized that the darkness was of his own making. Slowly he opened his eyes back up, jerking backwards and banging his head against the cage in a futile attempt to pull back when he saw that the figure was standing right before the cage he was trapped in. His heart was pounding so fiercely that he was certain that if someone were to touch him he would explode, taking them with him. Several times he tried to speak and failed.
“W...W…where am I? Who are you? Where is Christine?” As if a dam had broken, the questions spilled forth as well as the tears of uncertainty, and Lareth could not stop them; the fear of what was going to happen held him in its terrible grasp.
“Who am I?” A deep voice emerged from under the cowl, raspy and cold, penetrating Lareth to the bone, chilling him as he shook in fear.
“I am no one. Just as you are now: no one, like all who reside here.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
The robed figure ignored Lareth’s question circling around him, measuring him by some unknown factor. It moved slowly until finally it was back facing him again. Slowly it reached up with its right hand, extending a finger to touch him on the forehead. It ignored Lareth’s whimpers of fear as he tried to pull back, closing his eyes tightly. Then a moment later it pulled back, its hand slipping under the robe as its arm fell to its side.
“Now do you see?”
Hesitantly Lareth opened his eyes, going still at what was before him. Billions of lights similar to the glowing orbs in the walkway were everywhere, floating slowly towards the center of the strange city to join with what appeared to be a huge mass of them gathered together in the center. He strained to look around as best as he could, as far as the eye could see the lights were there, all of them heading towards the center of the city.
“What are they?”
The figure turned a bit, motioning to someone out of sight before turning back to answer Lareth. “They are the souls of all sentient life forms. They are the life force that powers the universe as you understand it. When they lose the connection to the physical world they come here.”
Lareth still did not understand, was it saying this was heaven or hell? He did not want to know and yet he could not help but ask. “Am I in hell?”
“There is no hell or heaven as you understand it. All energy starts here and ends here. Like the rift that your ships fell through, all energy returns to the universe in the same manner when the time is right. If not for landing in one of the old grounds you would have come here immediately.” It stopped, snapping its fingers. The cage unlocked itself, releasing Lareth as it fell to the platform and then merged with it as if it never existed to begin with. Lareth just stood there wondering what was going to happen next.
“What do you mean by old grounds?”
“The world from when the universe first came to be, where all life started before being set lose. Once you arrived we began the cleansing program but it seems others before you found a way to avoid it by creating a place of safety. Still it does not matter. Now that you are here you cannot leave this place in your current state. However, knowing you cannot leave only leads to madness and instability. No life is immune.”
It snapped its fingers again causing Lareth to jump when a firm and utterly adamant hand came down on his shoulder and drove him painfully to the cold platform, his knees protesting at the sudden pain from the harsh contact. He tried to turn and look and once again jumped with surprise when another hand came down on his other shoulder, holding him in place; all he could see were robes similar to what the creature in front of him wore.
Yet another person approached, delivering the greatest shock yet, bringing tears to his eyes. The tiny slender form of a child wearing similar robes, carrying a slender band of metal in her hands. A child with silken blonde hair just like her mother, her eyes now blank and unseeing, unmoved by his pleas, no longer recognizing her own name. She ignored his desperate cries and tears, moving to place the metal band around Lareth’s neck.
“Christine,” He cried one last time as she placed the slim band of metal around his neck, a band that Lareth, upon closer inspection, realized she too was wearing.
Upon contact something changed in the way Lareth was feeling as he watched Christine simply turn and walk away. He tried to think about it, to understand what he felt. It didn’t feel any colder. But suddenly he felt colder, deep down inside, like he used to feel as a kid when he was coming down with a cold. It was a cold that, unchecked, could go all the way to the bone. It was chilling him, numbing him to his surroundings and he fought it will all that he was, one final word coming out.
“Why?”
“I told you, in your current state you cannot leave, nor can I make your time come any quicker. When one falls between the cracks as you have, all we can do is put you to use. Separating you from your memories is necessary. In time you will move on, but until then - this for your own good.”
Lareth fell forward landing hard on his hands when he was released. He tried to reach up to remove the metal band but seconds later he could no longer feel his body anymore. Then, as darkness took over, he mindlessly stood up and moved to join the others in their labors. All of his memories of who and what he had been were no more.
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Authors Notes: The inspiration for this short story came completely from a dream I had. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I certainly hope you enjoyed it.
