You wake up scared, confused, and lost. After lying on the floor for minutes, dazed in bewilderment, you finally decide to stand up, noticing that there's nothing but silence. Not a sound can be heard but your own breathing and the drum of your rapidly beating heart.
Its’ pitch black.
You sit up and feel about, arms randomly flailing out, but there's nothing but the cold stone floor beneath your. Shakily standing on your two feet, you start walking until a strange sound makes you freeze with fear. You have no clue what the noise was but at the same time it felt…familiar. Grasping the thought for a moment, it sounded like a voice. Not speaking your tongue, yet you somehow feel like you should be able to understand it. You decide to force your feet to move forward, and you manage to walk for almost a minute before your outstretched arms run into something.
It's a wall.
Now you know that you must be inside something. Curiosity takes over fear and you start to move along the wall in hope that you might find a way out of this place. But as you continue on, you soon discover that you're just going around in circles. You’re inside a lightless stone room with seemingly no way in or out. A sudden lurch from the ground and noises of stone grinding on stone halt your exploration, and you feel the sense of vertigo that tells you you’re moving upwards. Thoughts flooded your brain.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
How did I get here?
What is this place?
What’s going to happen?
That’s when the realization struck you like strong blow to the head. The last thing you could remember…is nothing. You know there are memories, you know there is a past, and you know there is a reason for being here and having a sheathed sword attached to your belt along with the knowledge to wield such a weapon. But as you searched and searched your brain for memories, to try and find the answer to this new-found horror, none came. Your mind was completely blank. You are left with a question you never would have thought you would have to ask yourself. A question that makes you slump to the ground, screaming mental agony.
Who am I?!
A Voice spoke. The words were completely alien to you but somehow you understood them unconditionally; it was the most oddly beautiful sound, clearly not human. The Voice told you that all will be known in time. It also told you to not be afraid. You wanted to ask what the Voice was talking about but then the movement stopped. You braced yourself against the sudden halt, managing to not fall over. Now you stood, waiting, noticing that your breaths were coming in loud raspy pants; an aching in your chest you hadn’t felt before said how scared you were. How could you not be scared about everything that was happening?
A blinding white light killed your vision.
It only lasted a short moment until your eyes were able to get used to the brightness. That’s when you saw the source of light; a small hole in a wall ahead of you was growing bigger. The wall was literally de-materializing before your eyes into tiny blocks that quickly disappeared into nothingness, shaping the hole into a round archway that resembled the door, the exit to the empty stone room you are in. Even when the doorway finished making itself, you still stood unmoving with sweat beading on your forehead. You couldn’t tell if it was from the nerves wracking your body or from the warmth of the light. You then discover a musky, earthy scent pouring into the room with a soft breeze. This pushed you to start moving again.
Short footsteps at first. Slow and careful. Curious, but alert.
You emerged from the room and your breath was instantly swept away. Your eyes hungrily analyzing your surroundings, you seem to be at the bottom of a giant ravine, nearly dried out for there was barely any green even though a few small creeks ran along the ground to either of your sides. Turning around, you notice that the cave you emerged from was no cave at all. The arch way of stone was there, blackness filling it inside, yet there was absolutely no back to this arch of stone. It was flat, thin, no possible way that it could have any volume within it. While your mind was trying to comprehend the craziness of it, you suddenly feel a presence behind you. You slowly turn around and looked forward, and up. Your heart skipped a beat, the wind left your lungs, and your eyes widened in disbelief.
Ahead of you was an enormous floating monolith, towering as high as a mountain with three glowing white vertical lights at its center.
How? How was this possible? There was nothing touching it, nothing supporting it for it to be suspended in mid air. It was all too much for you. Too many questions unanswered. The pain swelling inside of you - mental overpowering physical - was driving you insane. You dropped to your knees as tears started to spill from your eyes.
The Composer spoke.
The lights flashed with unmatched brilliance.
An invisible wave hit you and your body seemed to ripple with energy.
“Rise.”
You looked up at the monolith, no longer feeling anything. The Composer, and almighty, all knowing sentient being within everything.
“Rise and accept your fate. This is merely the beginning.”
