Chapter 3: Wrath of Heaven

The void swirled, enveloping its starry expanse into everything, and then spilling back out into nothingness. Darkness crept throughout the corners of the Otherworld, but not the kind of darkness that squeezed the light from its bounds; this darkness existed simply because it WAS, because it had been willed into being by those powerful enough to shape the nothing everywhere.

A perpetual light shone through the depths, but its source could not be pinned down – it seemed to be nowhere and everywhere, all at once.

This light spread forth, emitting newer, smaller orbs of starry light – these tiny bulbs hesitated in gravitating towards the reaches of the Otherworld. A natural fear and hesitation radiated from them: they did not understand. Why they were here, what they would do...all of the questions that plagued their still remaining minds were, for now, to be left unanswered.

Left with nothing but waiting, the orbs floated towards a single region of the Otherworld – here, the boundary seemed translucent, and yet glassy in its appearance. The orbs gathered, their collective wondering creating a low hum.

Suddenly, the boundary flared to life with vivid color that made the orbs fly back in amazement. The image was blurred, shaking slightly. They crowded closer, trying to peer into the undeterminable mass of color that spewed from the mirror (for that's what it was).

But this was no ordinary mirror – as the orbs grew more enraptured by the prospects the mirror had to offer, they began to realize that the mirror showed something, something they had once known intimately.

Earth. It was Earth.

The orbs gasped at this realization – it was their home, the place that they had come to know through their entire lives.

However, even though they all saw the Earth, the mirror was able to use its influence and show each orb the small part that pertained to where it had once resided.

~{:*:}~

One orb floated forward slightly, straining. It could feel something stirring within itself – it was sure that, if it possessed a body, it would have felt some sort of strong emotion coursing.

The small ball of light did not understand this stirring – it was highly irrational, and very much un-needed. However, the part of its mind that had transcended earthly bounds still held some trace of emotion so strong it would have been crippling.

It looked up at the mirror, waiting to see what it would show, what it had in store. The picture grew slightly cleared and, after what seemed like an eternity to the little orb, snapped into perfect focus.

It saw a room, lavish in its craftsmanship, with several large pieces of furniture about. It peered closer.

On the bed were two people, one a human man and the other a human woman. The woman, the orb supposed, was quite beautiful by human standards – however, at this moment, she lay under the covers, weeping human tears.

The man sitting next to her rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

"Evie," he said, his voice magnified to only the orb itself from a great distance away. "Evie, you have to get up."

The woman made no response to the man's calls – she continued to weep, staring into space at something only she could see. The orb floated closer to her.

"Evie..." it whispered in its own mind.

Suddenly, the view snapped to somewhere different. The orb had the distinct feeling that it was still in the same house.

A small boy stood near a large door, waiting, waiting for something that would not come. Slowly, ever so slowly, the door opened and out walked that same man. He knelt in front of the boy and brought him into an embrace. The orb could faintly hear choked sobs from the man as he spoke to the boy.

"It's okay Alex...everything's going to be...all right partner. Don't you worry..."

The orb looked closely at the boy.

"Alex..."

Without warning, the view disappeared completely, and once again, the orbs were left to wait.

The one orb floated to a corner of the nothingness, thinking as hard as it could about the two names "Evie" and "Alex." It hurt its energies to think hard, but it had the feeling that, after all, it knew these people.

But, try as it might, it had no recollection of ever coming into contact with them. They were merely remnants of déjà vu, it believed, a feeling that meant little to the orb as it passed into eternity.

There was no way that they were anything to the orb. They were merely fragments of a shattered time on Earth – the woman and the boy had little meaning now.

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Author's Note: I realize now that this chapter is complete...well, let's call it "blah," because that is all it is. I'm sorry if this doesn't strike you as very good, but it is leading me towards an idea in the end (so, hopefully, it will all be good). Oh BTW, in case anyone doesn't know, this "orb" is supposed to be Rick's soul – my intention on this chapter was to show that, by being taken to the Otherworld, Rick has lost all memory of his family (a sad idea, but frankly, I did a poor job with it here). Oh well, it's four in the morning right now, so if you would like to review this trash chapter, please do so – and if you actually like it, please tell me, haha :-)

P.S.

I promise future chapters will be of better quality, haha!

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