One

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the white tiles that stretched across a large room. Immediately she knew that she had not returned to the pantheon.

A pair of polished white shoes entered her field of vision.

There was a person standing in front of her.

Only then did Itziar realize that she was kneeling on the floor, her labored breathing echoing throughout the room.

The man squatted down and gently lifted Itziar's chin. She tried to focus, but tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision.

The face in front of her was shadowed by the incandescent lights filtering through a colorful stained-glass window behind him, but his long white hair shone like the sun high in the sky.

Itziar looked away and blinked a few times, her tears sliding down her cold cheeks. Her eyes then focused on the white clothes he was wearing, which looked familiar, but she couldn't think clearly because of the unbearable pain in her chest.