The Unjustly Forsaken

Leriya opened her eyes to find that she was alone. She whirled around, taking in the vast expanse of space before her. She was suspended in a void swirling with translucent lights. Floating, weightless. She stood amazed, belatedly remembering that she had heard a man's voice inside her head.

Suddenly, a voice came: "You are awake."

It was not male or female, it lacked the emotions of a human's voice—almost mechanical and creepy. Leriya turned, searching for the source, but there was nothing—no figure, no presence to latch onto.

She hears a systemic whirring sound.

"Where am I?" she demanded.

Then she heard herself think, Now I have my voice.

"Yes, you do," This time a woman's voice replied. 

Taken aback, she jerked her head upwards. "I didn't say that aloud," she thought, testing the limits of this exchange. But there was silence. No reply. Images of Lyse's betrayal and her failure to protect her people flashed through her mind, jolting her to the urgency of her current situation.

"What is happening?" she muttered. It occurred to her that this question had escaped her lips far too many times in the last seventy-two hours.

"You stand before the border," the voice replied. "Before the border of the past and the future, before redemption and failure"

Failure? Leriya thought. 

The two syllables of the word so familiar. It sparked anger and frustration. Frustration of the powerlessness of her resolve, her anger and her desires. She balled her fists.

"I did not fail. Lyse failed me."

"Whose fault is that?" a man's voice echoed in the void.

The scape shifted abruptly. Leriya was now afloat on a calm sea. A ripple passed through the void, echoing in her mind, as a flicker of light danced like fireflies in the dark. The calmness brought a strange sense of relief to her chaotic thoughts.

"The past is like birth of a child, unchanging" the woman's voice said, "but the future is blank paper, to write whatever story you find fitting."

"There are thousands like you--chosen to reclaim what was unjustly lost."

"What irony!" Leriya scoffed. "Did you see how powerless I was in the face of my own death?"

The voice ignored her defiance. "Eight lives. Eight worlds. Eight threads severed before their time. Mend them, and you shall have a chance to take back what was yours."

This time, it was the man speaking.

Leriya narrowed her eyes. "I understand this is another chance, but…" She asked aloud, "Eight lives? Why me? Why should I care about them?"

The voice paused, and for a moment, the void seemed to breathe.

"Because you will find their stories to be a mirror, and the path forward is the only one that remains—for you, for them."

The absurdity of the situation weighed on her, but before she could protest further, a strange energy filled the air. A shiver ran down her spine. The space shifted, and images appeared in her mind. Of a woman thrown off at a cliff, a woman bound in golden chains, anger swelling in her eyes. Another, a gluttural scream that rocked the core of Leriya. She could not make sense of other stories.

The images she had seen were fleeting, but the heaviness of their anguish and suffering settled heavily in Leriya's shoulder. Her protest died on her lips. It felt as though their pain had been etched into her soul.

"Who are they?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"The unjustly forsaken," the woman's voice replied.

"Their lives ended by forces you know very well" The greed of human desires." The man continued.

"This is the mirror you must fix, the thread you must mend, the lives you must piece together" a child's voice added, soft and eerie.

"Only by saving them will you have a chance--," the woman said.

"Your revenge, your life, your freedom," the man finished.

The words hit Leriya like a blow. Revenge. It was the only thing that had kept her spirit alive after everything had been taken from her. The thought of finally making Lyse pay made her pulse quicken.

But her powerlessness loomed large. She looked away, her fists clenching harder.

"H-How?" she asked. "How do I save them?"

"By stepping into their worlds," the child's voice explained. "By finding the turning points of their demise and changing their fates."

"Your actions will earn you sympathy points," the woman added. "A currency tied to the emotions of those you save."

"Do not be greedy with the lives you create for them," the man's voice warned.

"Their worlds will not welcome you," the woman whispered. "Each realm is governed by its own rules, its own dangers. To succeed, you must learn, adapt, and endure."

The ground beneath her shifted, and Leriya felt her center of gravity shift. The ground pulled at her, and she glanced down to see that thousands of people were falling along with her. An idea bugged at her, but she let it go, focusing more on the ground which was calling her.

"This is insane," she muttered, but the pull was magnetic, irresistible.

"And if I fail?"

The voice was silent for a moment, and the void seemed to darken.

"Remember Leriya, you are at the threshold," the woman finally said. "Failure means inexistence, death--Not just for you, but for them. They will be lost forever, and so will you."

Leriya swallowed hard. The weight of the task settled on her shoulders and the fear of failure gripped at her. But somewhere within, a fire of determination sparked. She was willing to disappear some minutes? Hours? Years ago. She will reclaim her life—and her revenge. A malicious smile grew on her lips.

"Where do I start?" she asked, her voice steadier now.

She felt a tug and the void around her began to dissolve. The first world revealed itself in fragments: a stormy sky, jagged cliffs, and the faint sound of a woman's cry carried on the wind. A cold deserted building with withered trees in a quiet courtyard.

A man stood in the shadows, his piercing gaze following Leriya. Her heart pounded.

"Did we just make eye contact?" she wondered to herself.

The light surrounded her, drawing her into the unknown.

"Your journey begins now," the voices stated in unison before receding into the distance.

"Oh, I left you a gift" the woman's voice carried a giggle.Turning into twinkling melodies into the distance. With a final flash of light, Leriya vanished, leaving the void behind. The storm awaited her, bringing with it the first thread to mend.