The 13th Chime

Chapter 2: A phoenix wont shine bright In front of pure life

With the final branches of the trees snapping, the looming figure of that old oak started descending towards me rapidly, like how a god would reach their hand out to their followers to protect them. "Fuck me, why is my ending so fu-" I tried to mutter out but got cut short by the tree squishing me.

The scene of my death was gruesome, none the less my bones got snapped apart on impact and had instead pierced most of my vital organs before those vital organs got smashed as well, leaving barley anything behind but a stain on the ground, my entire corpse having been squished into the ground, my bones inlaid, and my organs now mulch for the worms and other insects, and it has been crushed into someone like what old people eat. My skin wasn't spared anything either, as my entire body got turned into sludge, with some extra chunky bits as bones.

'oh lord of these burning nests,
I ask of you send me a being who may hold the coming of time
send me a child who may hear the 13th chime
may the trumpets play beyond this shallow start
and may the choirs sing Apon this rocky heart
may this sacrifice be towards my saints sworn duty
may my contract be fulfilled towards the void heart'

I awoke from my slumber to the sound of rain falling on hard wood. Sitting up in my bed, I fully recognized that I'm not where I was before my death because of that old oak tree falling on me. "Matter of fact, why the hell am I so calm I literally just died by being squashed by the damn old oak tree falling on me," I thought in agony as I started removing my clothing to check my body for wounds, only to stop and realize that my body isnt my own.

"And there's still that fucking voice," I groaned as I sat up in the makeshift bed and took in my surroundings, a ship of some sort that seemed less modern and definitely older due to the moss being formed on the floor. "Fuck me first, I die, and now I'm on some sort of bullshit ship with no idea what's going on, Lovely," I groaned as I decided to scramble over to the closest thing to a mirror in the room I was in.

Pushing myself up off the thin, mildew-stained mattress, I staggered across the dimly lit room towards an aged cabinet with a cracked mirror mounted on it. As I leaned in close, my heart skipped a beat. Staring back at me was my own face, but...different. My features seemed slightly altered, more rugged and weather-beaten. And my eyes - those can't be my eyes, I thought, recoiling at the faint glow of amber emanating from them.

"What the fuck is going on?" I muttered, running my hands over my face and through my coarse, tangled hair. I was equally unnerved and fascinated by my new apparent form.

A loud creak from the other side of the room made me jump. I whipped around to see a wooden door drifting open, a misty haze seeping through from the other side. Cautiously, I made my way over and peered out onto what appeared to be the main deck of a massive sailing ship.

The fog was thick, but I could make out the unmistakable shapes of masts and riggings silhouetted against a pre-dawn sky. The gentle rock of the ship and the faint lapping of waves against the hull told me we were at sea. But where? And when?

As my eyes adjusted to the low light, I noticed several shadowy figures scattered across the deck. They appeared human, but something about the way they moved made my skin crawl. Their gaits were almost too fluid, too inhuman.

One of them must have sensed my presence, because a pair of those same glowing amber eyes turned in my direction. "The new soul awakens," a gnarled voice croaked from the fog.

New soul? My mind raced trying to make sense of it all. Souls, the afterlife, ships from another era - had I fallen into some kind of twisted purgatory?

"Welcome to the Eternal Voyage, lad," the gravelly voice continued. A figure began emerging from the mist, and I stumbled backwards as a nightmarish apparition materialized before me.

It had the basic shape of a man, but its features were contorted into an revolting mix of marine life and decay. Barnacles encrusted its sallow skin, tendrils like kelp hung from its face, and one of its eyes had been replaced by what looked like a giant deep-sea salamander.

I must have been dreaming, or trapped in some hellish delusion. This couldn't be real. And yet, as the creature loomed closer, the dank odor of low tide and death washed over me, making me gag.

"I can see the questions swimming' in those new eyes of yours," it hissed, baring a maw of fangs better suited for a shark. "Best leave those human notions behind, boy. Your old life is over now - you're one of the Unweaves, charged with unmaking what was once woven."

My heart pounded in my ears as the full realization hit me. I had died, and this...this was the afterlife? Trapped for eternity on a ship of horrors, bound to some accursed duty I couldn't comprehend?

The creature stretched out a barnacle-encrusted hand towards me. "Now, are ye gonna take the oath willingly and accept yer new purpose? Or do we have to persuade ye the hard way, like we've had to for many others 'fore ye?"

You, seeker brave, who dares defy the oath,
Beyond death's grasp, your courage loath to loathe.
Through realms unknown, in voyage untold,
 You march, undaunted, with spirit bold.

Facing the ferryman, his gaze austere,
Across the Styx, where souls disappear.
But you, unyielding, step forth to brave,
The journey onward, the fate to save.

Beyond the veil, where shadows dance,
You tread with purpose, in fearless trance.
For you, the boundless, the seeker's trove,
To conquer death, and all that strove.


"To you who will go beyond the death of one and face the light of gods
and the curse of demons. I tell you this, Wait for the bells chime
and see the end of this cruel concept
for the origin shall not wait"