Adam stood with his feet mere inches away from the still water of the dead sea. In the distance he could hear the sound of crashing, turbulent waves. Keyword; distance. What laid before him was the vast expanse of still water that contained the resting place for Aminon, Goddess of the Night. One would look at these waters and believe them to be a photograph taken in between tides, but there were no waves. No sound. Yes, one could find deep sleep here, if it were not for the unease of a silent ocean. It is a sign of a tsunami when the waves recede, but what of when the waves stop crashing all together? Adam thought on this as he pressed one foot into the sea. It was cold, freezing, but barely felt like water. The weight of the sea was replaced by a burdened mist. As Adam stepped deeper, and deeper into this mass, he took in a breath to hold, the cold darkness overcoming his body inch by inch. Until he found himself submerged in complete darkness. To his shock, Adam could breath, but not deeply. Fear tightened a coil along his lungs. He continued on despite the anxiety, for without the aid of his Aunt, he would never reach even the gates of Ghenna.
Adam wandered in blindness for what seemed like hours. His natural radiance failed to give him any leverage. The only thing to occupy his senses was a very faint sad song being hummed in the distance. He kept checking to see if his eyes were even open, but finally he found one sight in the distance to hold his sanity and stabilize his frantic breath. A faint, distant blue flicker. He clambered desperately towards it, and after many minutes of hopeless clawing, he finally approached the small beacon. It was a candle of blue light, emitting barely enough shine to see his own fingertips. Anything was better than nothing, so he reached for it. The moment it grazed his hands however, a wind blew away the flame, and a giggle reverberated inside his ear. It was far off yet right beside him at the same time, and all he knew next was that the ground beneath him gave way. He could help it no longer, shrieking as he plummeted.
His body was met with something he would have expected earlier, water. Or at least a liquid. It smelled of a furnace and bit at his skin with cold. For a moment he thought himself treading the substance, until he realized there was yet more ground underneath it. Once he stood to his full height, he realized he was only knee deep. He looked around and still saw nothing but empty, heartless blackness. He made a short choke to himself, and tried to wade through the watery deathtrap. His mind lingered on the voice he heard before his descent, and the pathetic candle. Was it a trap? A trick? Would he ever get out of here? Left to the mercy of Aminon's seemingly endless void? These questions were halted by sudden whispers. Again they sounded distant, yet right next to him. He found himself unable to pinpoint the sounds. Multiple voices at once he thought, then maybe it was the same voice talking over itself over and over. The whispers started off quiet then became roaring. He felt something brush his leg in the water, and for a moment relief among the horror. At least he might die fighting instead of hopelessly wandering. He struck out in every direction around him. It felt as though he almost hit something every time, and just barely missed. He began panting and grunting. Trying to punish whatever adversary that was in his presence. He began to feel light, cold taps and grazes. On his ankle, then his shoulder, his neck. Each time he tried to return it with a blow, each time he hit nothing, just the slight feeling that he barely missed his opponent. As this dance continued on the whispers only grew louder. Overpowering his mind, giggling, cackling, gloating, tormenting. The grazes became jabs, then scratches, and now they were hands. Hands everywhere! Everywhere yet nowhere! He kept trying to swat them away, but all he hit was himself. The hands were nowhere he could reach, but they were all over him. Freezing cold and restraining. Adam couldn't breathe. He covered his ears but the whispering wouldn't stop. His whole body was numbed by these icy grips until all he felt were the whispers. Adam drew in a restricted breath and released the harshest sound he could. Wailing deafly into the icy void. And with it he felt his magic spark, for once under his command. Exploding from his chest and wiping clean the cold from his flesh. And for a split second, there was light. As the flash from a camera reveals for a moment. And in such a moment, he saw her. Aminon, just an arms length away, watching his torment with an absent minded glare.
