The Abyss Stirs

The Abyss Stirs

Diane's Perspective

The cavern walls were damp, the air thick with the scent of wet stone and something deeper, something old. Diane barely noticed. The weight of what she had seen in the Abyss still clung to her, like a phantom she couldn't shake. Her limbs ached, not from physical strain, but from the sheer force of will it had taken to drag herself back to this reality.

Tom. Stacy. Mike.

The golden roulette wheel.

The images burned behind her eyelids. They shouldn't exist. They couldn't exist.

And yet, she had seen them.

Her breath was unsteady as she leaned against the cold stone wall, grounding herself. Nisse was crouched in front of her, brows furrowed with worry, her hands hovering hesitantly, unsure whether to touch her.

"You were gone for too long," Nisse whispered. "I couldn't feel you through the bond. It was like you… weren't anywhere."

Diane swallowed, her throat dry as sandpaper.

"I wasn't."

Gar scoffed from where he stood, arms crossed, his ever-present scowl deepening. "Cryptic as ever. Just say what happened already."

Diane hesitated. How could she explain what she had seen? How did she tell them she had glimpsed a life where she wasn't a warrior or a rebel but a prisoner—an inmate shackled by the weight of her own past? That she had seen her son, her daughter, and the man she had once loved, all alive and thriving in a timeline that shouldn't exist? That the Abyss had shown her something so impossible that she couldn't tell if it was real or just another trick meant to break her?

She clenched her fists, forcing the tremors in her body to still. "I saw something," she admitted finally. "Something that shouldn't exist. Another version of me. Another timeline."

Nisse's breath hitched. "Your family?"

Gar's expression darkened. "They're gone, Diane. You know that. They were erased."

Diane forced herself to meet his gaze. "What if they weren't?"

Silence.

Nisse sucked in a breath, but Gar just stared at her, the scowl deepening into something unreadable.

"They were erased," Diane continued, voice measured but laced with something fragile. "Because of me. But… maybe not in every reality."

Nisse's grip tightened around Diane's forearm. "Tell me everything."

Diane exhaled slowly, then spoke. She told them about the cell, about the woman she had seen—herself, but older, worn by years of imprisonment. She described the visions flickering through the Abyss, the roulette wheel spinning in Tom's grasp, the impossible power it radiated. The way Stacy had stood beside him, full of life and strength, as if they had never been lost at all.

Nisse listened, her grip never loosening. But Gar… Gar looked away, jaw tightening.

"That makes no damn sense," he muttered.

Diane shook her head. "No. It doesn't. But that doesn't mean it isn't real."

Gar turned back, eyes flashing. "Are you saying they're out there somewhere? In another reality? What, you wanna hop dimensions and pluck them out of thin air?"

Nisse's grip tightened. "Why not?"

Diane blinked, stunned. "What?"

Nisse's eyes were blazing now, conviction pouring through the bond. "If there's even a chance they're out there—somewhere, in some timeline—we find them. We fix this."

Gar groaned. "This is ridiculous. Do you hear yourself? How the hell do you plan to do that? March up to the Abyss and ask for directions?"

Nisse didn't flinch. "Diane just left the Abyss and came back. If anyone can find a way, it's her."

Diane felt something stir in her chest—an ember, the faintest flicker of hope. She hadn't let herself believe it yet, not fully. But now, looking at Nisse's determined gaze, at Gar's reluctant frustration…

Could she really bring them back?

Would she dare to?

A whisper stirred in the cavern air.

Not from Nisse.

Not from Gar.

Something else.

Something watching.

The air grew dense, thick with a pressure that pressed against their skin. The shadows at the edges of the cavern deepened, twisting unnaturally.

Then, a voice. Smooth, rich, echoing unnaturally.

"A mother's love is a powerful thing."

Diane spun, her magic flaring to life in her palms, illuminating the cavern in a cold blue glow.

A figure stepped forward, materializing from the darkness. Cloaked in robes of flowing black mist, their face remained hidden, save for the glint of silver eyes—burning with amusement, with knowing.

Gar cursed, drawing his weapon. Nisse's hands moved toward her daggers, but she didn't strike. Not yet.

Diane held her ground. "Who are you?"

The figure didn't answer right away. Instead, they took another step forward, their very presence making the shadows bend and coil as if alive.

"You seek what was lost," they said, voice smooth as silk. "You seek what you destroyed."

Diane's breath caught.

A soft chuckle. "You feel it, don't you?" the figure mused. "The weight of your choices. The possibility that you might undo what you have done."

Diane gritted her teeth. "If you know so much, then tell me—is it real?"

The figure tilted their head, as if considering the question. "Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" she snapped. "That's not an answer."

The figure chuckled again, and suddenly, they were closer—too close. Diane tensed, but they made no move to attack. Instead, they reached out, the barest flicker of silver mist curling toward her before dissolving.

"You have potential, Diane," they said. "But potential means nothing if left untapped."

Diane's fingers curled into fists. "What do you want?"

The figure smiled, and for the first time, something hungry flickered in those silver eyes.

"Let's make a deal."

The cavern seemed to darken, the weight of the moment pressing down like a vice.

Nisse inhaled sharply. Gar tightened his grip on his sword.

Diane stared at the figure, at the shifting mist that clung to them, at the promise of truth—of answers—hanging in the air like a blade over her throat.

Her heartbeat pounded.

She had made deals before.

She had broken time itself for less.

And yet…

Her family.

Tom. Stacy. Mike.

Were they truly lost?

Or had she simply not reached far enough?

Diane took a breath, steadied herself, and met the figure's gaze.

"Tell me the terms."

The figure's smile widened.

"Oh, I think you'll find them… compelling."

The shadows deepened.

And the deal began.

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