A Trial of Feathers and Heart

"Were you in debt?"

Marius slowly shook his head, even the smallest movement making him flinch in pain. He didn't remember how he had died. When he opened his eyes, his body had long transformed into a water-like soul, drifting in an unknown place until a shadowy, towering figure had chained him and dragged him here, wherever he was now.

His past life was a blur, fragmented and distant, and he couldn't fully grasp what the man before him was asking. All he felt was an immense, suffocating sense of dread under the weight of those seated on the throne above.

Claudius's lips twitched at his dazed response. "I see. Our guest here seems to have forgotten a few things. Darag, please extend your care to him," he said, clapping his hands twice as he turned to the Wraith of Shadow.