Death's Edict

14th Floor

The intense blue light illuminated so powerfully that it seared through my closed eyes, leaving a blazing afterimage. As I cautiously opened them, I saw the stranger's form disintegrate into a swirling cloud; a thousand pale blue fireflies, their ethereal glow stealing the darkness from the room. A terrible ringing in my ears assaulted my senses, disorienting me, and my head pounded viciously from a splitting headache. I raised a hand to my temple, and it came away smeared with a dark, tar-like substance. I groaned in pain and struggled to return to focus in the aftermath of the violent chaos.

"Ren-kun!" Yuna cried.

I pulled myself gingerly to my feet. Yuna helped me to steady myself. The stranger was gone, and I was somehow still alive.

"It's over," I whispered.

I watched the fireflies ascend to the heavens and dissipate.

"You did it!" Yuna exclaimed.

She flung her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I managed a faint chuckle. I was too shaken and hopped up on adrenaline to share in her innocent excitement. I felt as though I wanted to throw up. It did not feel like a victory at all. It felt entirely hollow. For I knew the truth – in all its nightmarish glory. I had certainly entered hell. Dread filled my body, suppressing any momentary relief I might have felt. I did my best to hide it from Yuna. As her sole protector, I wore a mask of calm. Deep within, I was crippled by a very real fear that stemmed from one single thought, paralysing me.

It had only been the first trial.

What awaited beyond, out in the depths?

"I'd like to get out of here now," I said.

"Definitely," Yuna echoed.

I jogged over to the door on the opposite end of the room. I twisted the handle and it unlocked with minimal effort. I glanced over at Yuna and she met my eyes. We nodded at each other and pushed the door open leading to a staircase below.

"Look!" Yuna said suddenly, pointing up at the sky.

I looked up and saw that there was no ceiling above, but a sea of wavy light; within it, shadows danced as if beckoning us.

"Avert your eyes," I nudged her behind me.

Yuna buried her face into my arm.

"Let's go," I breathed.

Our descent was brief, with a stillness that was oppressive. When we reached the next level, I pushed open the door and entered the fourteenth floor. Darkness greeted us, lapping at the walls from every corner, with a presence that was overbearing. Nothing could be heard; a graveyard hush swallowed all manner of sound. As we entered the door shut behind us with a soft click, and we were taken by the new abyss.

Yuna's terrified gasp echoed through the corridor, and she dug her nails into my arm. I was reminded that she was but a child, and we were lost in an unjust nightmare.

The sight before us was grotesque. Meat scraps and bone littered the floor ahead of us, while a dozen transparent body bags hung suspended from the ceiling like ornaments, containing drained, withered corpses. The hallway before us stretched on for an eternity, with doors on either side hanging ajar, as if an unseen force had passed through. In the quiet, I could have sworn that I heard the whispers of the dead, still clinging.

As if orchestrated by some invisible force, a burning blood message pushed through the ground below.

"Do not engage. You cannot overcome it in combat. To beat this trial, you must escape without being seen."

"Ren-kun, I don't want to be here," Yuna cried.

I was about to answer her, but just then I heard a strange sound in the distance, almost like the scurrying of an insect.