Hey there, you guys!

I know, it's been quite a long time... well anyways, here is Chapter 1! I hope it's clear what happens here, since I changed perspectives so often. Actually, the same thing happens to all three - except at the end, it's a bit different. So I hope you understand what's going on :P

Thanks in advance for reading and commenting :D


Chapter 1 – Truth

(Tina's POV)

The light engulfed her completely, and the forest, the ground she was lying on and the other two girls were suddenly gone, vanished into a white void of nothingness. There was nothing around her, she was alone.

She noticed that her pain was gone. There was no blood on her shoulder, and she didn't feel the wound.

She stood up and turned around.

Behind her was a huge gate with dozens of incomprehensible symbols engraved upon it. It loomed high above her and threw a dark shadow over her – and someone who was standing in front of her.

It was a figure that looked human at first glance, but when she looked closer she realized it was nothing like a true human – except its shape and its wide grinning mouth. Its body was white, just as tall as her and had the same stature – in fact, if she didn't know better she would have said it resembled herself quite a lot.

"Hello there!" it said, grinning widely.

"W-who are you?" she asked, stunned.

"I have many names. I am the Universe, and I am what you call God. I am Truth. I am All and I am One – and I am also You."


(Chantal's POV)

"…what?"

She was puzzled and had no idea what the figure was talking about.

"You came here to pass through the gate. Did you think you could continue on without paying a toll?" it continued.

She stared at the gate towering over her, her eyes wide.

"Pass through? Why should I? Where am I, anyway? And where are Tina and French?"

The figure smirked in an evil kind of way.

"Don't you want to know… the truth?"

"Wait – what?"

The gate swung open abruptly, and some kind of force started pulling her towards a space behind the doors she couldn't see. Something was tugging at her limbs, her clothes and her hair with incredible force, and when she looked down she saw dozens of small, black hands reaching for her body, pulling her closer.

"Stop!" she yelled, trying to fight the miniscule hands, but there were far too many for her to get rid of.


(French's POV)

Her scream was swallowed by the void she was sucked into, blackness clouding her vision as the gate shut behind her.

Then, suddenly, she saw strands of pictures shooting past her, as if she was seeing her life in reverse. She realized those strands were her memories, flying past her at incredible speed. She was falling through a horizontal pathway, framed by pictures of her past, sucked towards something that was coming closer and closer by the second, but remained invisible to her. All the while the small black hands tugged at her clothes, her skin and her hair, pulling her forward.

Suddenly she felt herself getting closer to something she had been searching for. Something big. She reached out subconsciously, trying to touch what was directly in front of her. She was getting so close to it – the truth, the unmistakable truth about everything she had ever wanted to know. It was close, so close she could feel it in her entire body; the tension was becoming incredibly high.

And then, just like that, the feeling was gone. Vanished, just like the strands of memories around her. She was left standing in nothingness – and then she was back in front of the gate, frozen in a position with her hand stretched out in front of her, reaching for the invisible truth that had been so close and yet so far.

She gasped.

"Interesting, wasn't it?" the smirking creature asked.

"What… was that? Let me see it again!"

"I'm sorry, but that is all I can show you for the toll you've paid. You will leave this place now."

"Toll…?" she asked.


(Tina's POV)

The being didn't answer her question. It simply grinned widely as the gate reopened behind her.

"Good bye" it said, waving its white hand at her. "We may meet again."

The small black hands reached for her again, pulling her inside the gate once more.

"Wait! Stop!"

The beings voice reached her, just as the gate swung shut behind her, plunging her into darkness.

"The one who wishes to run ahead shall forever be left behind. You have paid your toll."


(Chantal's POV)

The gate reopened and the small black hands returned.

"Good bye" the being said, grinning, as pain suddenly shot through her right leg. She looked down and saw the small hands unraveling her skin, flesh and bones, leaving nothing of her leg behind.

"What?"

Half of her scream was swallowed up by the void she was now sucked into, which removed the gate and the strange figure from her sight.

The creature's voice followed her, saying:
"The one who wishes for independence shall never walk on her own feet again"


(French's POV)

As the tiny hands reached for her body again, she called out:

"Who are you, really? Why are you doing this? What is this? Answer me!"

The creature was laughing now.

Its voice carried after her, as she was pulled inside the darkness of the gate a second time:

"We may meet again. Good bye."

Then she heard more laughter, before the words:

"The one that wishes to be heard shall never speak again. You have now paid your toll."