She had been in the Void so long now she didn’t even know how to count anymore. She had run out of numbers. All she knew was black and white and how very heavy her body was as she fell through the fabric of her reality. Panic began to take over as she felt her eyelids slide closed, and she tried desperately to fight the overwhelming blackness of the Void-sleep, but as always she lost the battle and her mind was overwhelmed with the nothingness.

But for once, her sleep wasn’t dreamless.

Her wedding gown was light on her skin, and the bells on the fringes rang softly as she walked slowly down the ghostly quiet aisle. The pews were empty, the windows dark, but a figure awaited her by the altar. She felt anxious, but her body refused to move quickly…instead, she stopped, deep in the clutches of the dark, empty woods, stuck in the claws of the shadows that whispered accusations at her, the cowardly adulterer adorned in the dress of her beloved’s fallen bride.

“Are you going to make me wait up here?”

The voice echoed softly, and by the time it reached her, it sounded as if a thousand grating voices were whispering in Sachi’s ear. She winced, then smiled, then took one step forward.

“I am.”

“How very sad.”

The figure would not turn to her, but she could see them a bit better, now that she thought to look. Pale and thin and malevolent, a beacon of blinding light in this decaying shadow of a worship hall.

“I wonder why you chose this place,” it mused, raising one ghostly hand to gesture half-heartedly to their surroundings. “Rather disrespectful, I would think…choosing your would-be mate’s place of despair as your place of refuse. And you even came wearing that dress of his. Were I capable of it, I might find this situation humorous.”

Why did she choose this place? Sachi looked around…save for the lack of decoration or people, this place looked exactly as it had on her wedding day. That door in the back was slightly ajar, but instead of peeking servants, she saw only sad shadows. The third step to the alter was chipped, and the fourth was curved as if bending beneath a great weight. And a bell was lying at the top step where it had fallen from her dress, the very same bell she heard now ringing just beside her ankle.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. In any case, you shouldn’t be here. It isn’t time yet!” Still not facing her, the figure reached back and made shooing motions with their hands.

“Time? Time for what?” For some reason, Sachi felt foolish the moment she asked the question. Of course she was here for…for…

“For your child, my dear.”

When Sachi opened her eyes, she saw the dappled green of the sky, and felt chains heavy on her wrists. She resisted very little and when she turned her head, she stared into the face of the being who would father her future child.