Light at The End of The Tunnel

As Jason and the man moved through the hallway and away from the room he was summoned in, Jason observed his new surroundings. Although he hadn't noticed it immediately, being brought back from the dead and then meeting an eyeless adventurer was pretty distracting, Jason saw that there were more runes extending along the walls leading further down the hall. Like the ones within the summoning room, they were also glowing a golden hue. Jason, for reasons unknown or unwilling to acknowledge, desperately wanted to touch the golden symbols. It had nothing to do with it being magically shiny, not at all.

Sparing a quick look towards his...guide? Yes, guide. Sparing a quick glance towards his guide, Jason moved closer to the walls and slowly reached his hands towards the runes.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend touching that. Remember, this is connected to the magical equivalent of a nuclear power plant. Has a funny way of making people go 'pop' if they don't know what they are doing." The man said from in front of him. Jason yanked his arm back quickly, eyeing the runes skeptically as he walked quickly up to the man. It annoyed Jason that it seemed to take longer with his shorter legs.

"How did you do that?" Jason asked.

"Do what? Give you advice? I would have thought you were smarter than that? You see, when the vocal cords in your throat vibrate at a specific frequen-"

"That isn't what I meant, and you know it. How did you know I was reaching out towards the wall without looking?" Jason asked again, cutting off his guide mid-sentence.

"You know it's fairly rude to interrupt people when they are talking." The man said before sighing and shaking his head, "what has happened to the youth of today? No sense of manners."

"You are avoiding the question, again," Jason grumbled up at the man.

"Well, if I've avoided it twice already, I might as well go three for three." The man chuckled as he turned back towards Jason with a large mischievous smile on his face.

"I'm really starting to regret following you," Jason said, glaring.

"If I am honest, I am kind of surprised you followed me so willingly. Are you that curious for answers?" the man asked.

"I'm not curious. I'm desperate." Jason mumbled, looking down at his feet as he continued to walk.

The man turned his head to look down at the 7-year-old beside him, a contemplative look on his face. Jason barely came up to his hip, and the apparent slouch in his shoulders did nothing to improve it. Seemingly having decided on something, the man picked up the pace of their walk down the hall.

As they continued, Jason could see a light in the distance, which he assumed was the entry point of this strange hallway. As he passed through the archway leading into the light, he paused to allow for his eyes to adjust to the brightness. The sight before him froze him in place as his mind tried with difficulty to comprehend what laid before him.

It was a cavern, Jason surmised from the many stalactites present on the ceiling far above him and the feeling of cool, wet air on his skin that all caverns seemed to have. The cavern was enormous, easily tens of miles in diameter. However, the cavern was not the highlight of the view before him. It was the city within the center that drew his attention. The city glowed an ethereal gold like the room he recently vacated and acted almost as a barrier against the darkness as it illuminated beyond its wall to cover most of the cavern. The glow was intense, reaching as far as the steps that began in front of him and led to a massive gate in the city walls. Regardless of the picturesque view, Jason could not help but feel a cold chill run up his spine at the sight. This was not his home. It was more than likely not his world or even Jason's universe. He was lost, and he was alone. The fantasy city before him didn't feel as fantastical after such a revelation.

A feeling of numbness runs through his body as his thoughts slow to a stop. His guide made no movement from where he stood, seemingly ignorant of the emotional turmoil in the boy mere feet from him. However, his following words spoke of a different story.

"So it finally hit home… I figured this may do it. It certainly did for me." He said in a soft voice, the sound of which made Jason flinch slightly at the sympathy he felt in those words.

The man continued to stare at the city below them as he spoke. "I won't lie and tell you that what you are feeling right now goes away, it never will, not really, but it gets easier to endure, to lock within you. And it isn't the end as much as it may feel that way at the moment. You are still alive, pulled back from the brink of death in a new world where the phrase 'anything is possible' takes on new meaning. Who knows, you may find a way back." The man said. His voice has grown with strength as he spoke to Jason, who by this point had turned away from the shining city to look up into the slight smile the man now gave him.

"Thank you," Jason said and looked back towards the city once more, the numb feeling of loss still there but fading ever so slightly. He wasn't going to immediately feel better, that he knew for sure, but his guides' words helped, and like he said, it's a second chance at life that everyone dreamed of. He did not plan to waste it.