The Underdark

As she walked, Faye found herself feeling safer with her blade out. She continued forward for a number of hours before finding another fork. This one had three separate tunnels. The cavern connecting them was roughly the same size as the one before, but the sizes of the tunnels differed greatly. Two were roughly the size of a human, but the third extended from the bottom of the cavern all the way to the top.

It was as if something massive had come through here, then changed its mind and returned. Faye swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth. She felt a bead of sweat drip down her back. It wasn't from heat, however. This far underground, she found the temperature to be quite moderate. It was neither hot nor cold. The air was stuffy, but breathable. There was a stillness all around her that she wasn't used to. A calmness that felt almost unnatural. But, what struck Faye the most, was the smells. It wasn't pleasant, not by a long stretch, but it was unfair to say it stank. It was just...unsettling.

Dread had slowly been creeping into her mind the further she'd walked. Manmade tunnels didn't continue heading downward this far. Manmade tunnels didn't branch off like this. Manmade tunnels weren't this long. These thoughts spun over and over in her mind, causing her unease to grow with each step.

She knew. She knew without having been there ever before, this was the Underdark. Upon realizing this, she considered returning the way she'd come. The Underdark was considered a dangerous place that only high ranking adventurers usually traversed to. Even they didn't always return.

Faye knew the level of her strength. It wasn't high enough to fight most things she'd find in this wilderness. Slowly, she turned her back on the three tunnels and began making her way back. She felt uneasy leaving her back open to the tunnel behind, but had no choice if she wanted to return. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she tried to hurry her pace just a bit.

Finally, she came to the first cavern she'd entered before. Faye found herself growing tired as she entered the cavern. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was in these tunnels, but she knew she'd been walking for quite a few hours. She'd already had to refill her lantern once and was probably going to have to refill it again soon. It was probably late in the night. She knew she still had about an hour worth of travel before she could return, however. Her legs were heavy and her feet were sore. Her handmade shoes broke hours ago and she'd left them in the tunnel behind her. She wanted nothing more than to head to bed.

Faye steeled herself for a long exhausting night and slowly made her way back up the tunnel. It was over an hour before she finally reached the cellar again. Her exhaustion caused her speed to drop considerably. It was dark, almost as dark as the tunnels she'd just been traversing, but she immediately felt safer than before. She took a deep breath of the less stuffy air of the cavern, feeling her unease slowly fade away. She made her way to an area that wasn't soaked from the rain that apparently fell while she was gone and began readying herself for bed.

It didn't take long for Faye to find herself asleep. She didn't normally dream before she died and after reviving but seemed that was going to continue to be true. This night, however, was different.

Faye found herself back in that neutral space from before. Found herself floating in nothing. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized where she was. She turned one way, then another, searching.

"Hello!?" She cried out, desperate.

No answer came. Her voice drifted out away from her steadily, but seemed unable to reach any who would listen.

Faye rushed forward as she continued to call out, her panic growing.

"Hello? Triangle guy? Fate goddess?! What's going on!?" She continued searching and calling out trying to find a way out. There seemed to be no way to escape. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. She was stuck there, forever.

Faye woke with a start to the cellar that was still dark and damp. The sun still had yet to rise.

Faye sat up, sweat dripping from her brow. Before she'd died, she hadn't been afraid of much. Even death didn't seem scary, it was just something she hadn't really thought about. But now, she was afraid. She didn't want to go back to that place. It might not be hell to others, but to her it was. She'd rather spend eternity a slave to a devil than return to sit in nothingness ever again.

She couldn't return. She wouldn't. If she had to become someone evil and horrible, to be sent to the nine hells, then she would. She'd rather that then neutrality. Of course, she'd rather be good and do good by the world, but...from what she could tell, it seemed harder to make it into one of those blissful eternities than it was to fall into hell. What if she strives for years to do good in order to make it into paradise only to fall short after her death?

Faye lay back down, her thoughts racing after her nightmare. She didn't have the answers. She didn't know what she should do in the future. She just knew what she couldn't accept. And she couldn't accept the fate that awaited her as of right now. She needed to change it, at any cost.

Faye woke late the next day. She found it difficult to return to sleep after her dream last night and ended up tossing and turning until light began to stream in through the cellar door. She sat up and readied herself for another day. This time, she'd find a way out of this fucking hole. Then, she'd begin her journey to either heaven or hell, which ever would have her!