NEVE was torn between gasping and sighing in relief when the metallic box around her seemingly disappeared. She settled for silence, surprised The Obscurity let her out so soon after trapping her.

Had something happened?

As she walked in random directions, she felt a greater awareness come onto her. Somehow, she felt hard ground on her left side and a cool breeze on her face.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was actually laying on charcoal ground, land bare as far as the eye could see. As she sat up, she held her head and groaned, dizziness coming over her. Her body felt familiar, but her limbs felt like jelly after her not using them for a while. She sat up slowly, blinking to clear the blurriness in her eyes.

And it was a sight to behold.

The gray clouds parted to let small pockets of light shine on the black ground.

And that was it.

It wasn't much, and maybe that was why it scared her so much. The land was dead, not a plant or animal in sight. There were no trees or fields to get a judge of the distance from any one spot to another, and only enough light to walk decently.

Neve felt like the world was ending.

Truth be told, it wasn’t the first time she’d felt like that—considering all the recent events—but it still wasn’t a good feeling, and now she wanted to throw up.

So she did.

After that, she didn’t get up. Where was there to go? She didn’t even know where she was. It was too chilly and barren to be the Netherworld, and she couldn’t imagine this being Nirvana.

So she just lay there.

As she did, she wondered where The Obscurity was. She wondered where Alice and Angelica were. She wondered if The Obscurity made good on its promise to go to Nirvana. She also wondered if she would die here.

If she had to die, then she hoped someone killed her before she died of starvation.

Eventually, she did get up, but she only walked a few meters before once again deciding it wasn’t worth her time. She curled in on herself, drifting in and out of consciousness.

And then, when she opened her eyes again, Alice and Angelica were standing there. And a lot of other people with white hair—angels, she reminded herself. She couldn’t find it in here to say anything, let alone stand up, sleepy and shivering from the cold.

Angelica held her hand out to her. “Come on.”

And, sure she was hallucinating, Neve took her hand.