Falling into the afterlife

Aeliana

In the quiet village nestled between the rolling hills and dense forests, Aeliana lived a simple life. Her name, like the soft breeze that blew through the meadows, was whispered fondly by those who knew her. Aeliana had always been different from the others in her village. While many busied themselves with the daily toils of life, she found solace in nature, spending her days wandering the woods, collecting herbs, and watching the stars light up the sky each night. There was a quiet beauty in her world, one that she cherished but never expected to lead her to anything beyond the life she knew.

Her hair, dark as a moonless night, flowed freely down her back, and her eyes, a deep and serene green, held a curiosity that seemed boundless. People often remarked how Aeliana had the eyes of someone who saw more than the world around her, as though she could glimpse into something far beyond the mortal realm.

One evening, as the village was settling into the calm of dusk, Aeliana felt an unusual pull. It wasn't the familiar tug of adventure or the urge to explore, but something deeper, almost as if something—or someone—was calling to her from beyond. She stood on the edge of the village, looking out into the distant horizon, her heart fluttering with an emotion she couldn't place. It was unsettling, yet strangely comforting at the same time.

The dreams had started weeks ago, though she had told no one. In them, she stood in a place of shadows and forgotten souls, surrounded by flickering flames and cold stone. A man was there, his face always obscured by darkness, but his presence was undeniable—powerful, overwhelming, and somehow... familiar. His voice echoed in her mind, not with words, but with a pull that reached into her very soul. She had never seen him clearly, but she knew, somehow, that he was searching for something, or perhaps someone.

Aeliana dismissed the dreams at first, thinking them to be nothing more than strange fantasies conjured by her mind. But as they grew more vivid, more real, she could no longer ignore the weight they carried. Each time she awoke, her heart ached with an unexplainable longing, and her thoughts were consumed with the idea that her life was about to change in ways she could never have anticipated.

On this particular night, under the pale light of the crescent moon, Aeliana wandered into the forest. The air was cool, and the leaves crunched softly beneath her feet as she followed a path that seemed to beckon her forward. The wind whispered through the trees, almost as if it were guiding her.

She found herself at a small clearing where the moonlight bathed the ground in a silver glow. There, in the stillness of the night, she felt a presence—ancient, powerful, and unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her breath hitched as she realized that the man from her dreams wasn't just a figment of her imagination.

Somehow, in her heart, she knew this presence belonged to him.

Aeliana knelt down, running her fingers through the soft earth, her mind racing with questions she couldn't yet answer. Who was this man? Why had he entered her dreams? And why did she feel this undeniable connection to him, a connection that frightened and intrigued her all at once?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden gust of wind, stronger than before, causing the trees to sway and the leaves to dance wildly around her. In that moment, she knew—her life, the peaceful, simple existence she had always known, was about to be irrevocably changed.

Deep down, a voice whispered her name, gentle and soft, yet carrying the weight of destiny.

Aeliana.

In the vast, cold chambers of the Underworld, Hades lay in restless sleep. The weight of his new reign pressed heavily on him, the shadows of the dead whispering around his darkened throne even in his dreams. Despite his power, tonight felt different—he was unsettled, his mind clouded by thoughts of the mortal, Aeliana. The revelation from the Fates still gnawed at him, filling him with loathing and confusion. He tried to bury it, to convince himself that she was nothing to him, a mortal destined to fade. Yet, as he drifted deeper into sleep, something stirred inside him.