Shatter Me Twice

III

RHEA
The darkness was absolute, a void so profound that it seemed to consume all light and sound. I found myself suspended in this nothingness, an endless expanse where there was no up or down, no sense of direction, just a vast, disorienting space. I couldn't see my own body, but I felt its weight, its presence, a fragile being adrift in the boundless void.

I turned my head slowly, the motion almost imperceptible in the oppressive blackness. Everywhere I looked, there was only more darkness, an inky abyss that stretched into infinity. My breath caught in my throat as a flicker of light appeared above me, a faint glow that seemed impossibly distant yet achingly close. It shimmered like a beacon, calling to me, the only point of reference in the void.

Compelled by an instinct I couldn't name, I reached out and began to move, my arms sweeping through the darkness in wide arcs. It was then that I felt the resistance, the thick, enveloping pressure that surrounded me. I was in water, a deep, fathomless ocean, its depths pressing in from all sides. I took a swimming stance, my body undulating through the liquid expanse, each stroke propelling me closer to the light above.

As I swam, the light grew brighter, resolving into a reflection-a mirror, glowing with an ethereal radiance that cut through the darkness. I reached it, and for the first time, I saw my own reflection, the contours of my face and the tendrils of my hair floating around me like ghostly serpents. The realization struck me again like a cold shock: I was submerged, held in the embrace of the ocean, my hair drifting lazily in the current.

The mirror then began to split, dividing into four identical fragments that floated around me, their surfaces gleaming with an otherworldly luminescence. I turned slowly, spinning in the water to face each one, their reflections capturing every angle of my form. Suddenly, I became acutely aware that I wasn't breathing. Panic tightened my chest, and I fought the instinct to inhale, even though I knew my lungs were already empty.

Without warning, a sharp, metallic crack reverberated through the water, like the swift slice of a sword cutting through flesh. The mirrors shattered in an explosion of glass, shards flying towards me with a deadly precision. I raised my arms instinctively, shielding my face as the fragments bit into my skin, tearing through flesh and muscle. The pain was a searing agony, and in my desperation, I opened my mouth to scream, only to take in a rush of icy water that choked my cries.

I was sinking now, pulled down by an unseen force, my body thrashing as I tried to reach for something-anything-that could stop my descent. The water grew darker, colder, and I felt myself being drawn towards a swirling vortex on the ocean floor. I tried to scream again, but the water muted my voice, and I was sucked into the ground, my body spiraling through a tunnel of earth and stone.

With a jolt, I was expelled from the darkness, falling from the sky like a stone dropped from a great height. I hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, the impact forcing a groan from my lips as I bounced and rolled across the grass. I lay there for a moment, gasping for air, my insides feeling like shattered glass. Slowly, painfully, I pushed myself up, every movement a reminder of my broken body.

I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in a vast, empty field, the ground covered in lush green grass that stretched endlessly in all directions. There were no trees, no landmarks, just an expanse of green beneath a sky that seemed unnaturally clear. The air was still, heavy with a silence that pressed down on me like a weight.

I turned, and as I did, a tree appeared before me, as if conjured by my gaze. It was an ancient thing, its trunk gnarled and twisted, its branches almost bare save for a few withered leaves that clung stubbornly to life. Despite its desolation, the tree seemed to breathe, each movement of its limbs accompanied by a faint, sighing whisper. Light surrounded it, a halo that made it seem both holy and otherworldly.