Hey guys (: thank you SO MUCH for reading! And a special thank you to Jalis for being the first person to ever give me feedback! I really do appreciate it (: also, another thank you to Jalis, devourednightmares and Energy Dragon Slayer for being the firsts to follow this story, I WON'T LET YOU DOWN ;D

Enjoy (x

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VOID SOUL: OUT OF THE DARK

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Auralie awoke again, but somewhere that felt more... hopeful. Looking around her, she saw a field that lit up as the moon and stars appeared from behind the clouds. A cool breeze rippled through the dark green grass like the wind on the waves of the sea. Sprinkled across the large field, patches of white carnations marked where loved ones were buried. The darkness gave the grass a deeper tone, turning the luminescent flowers into ghosts floating in the glow of the moon.

She lay there on the grass, not thinking, not moving, as though she were one of the buried, maybe I'm dead, she thought. She let the grass tickle her neck and legs as the wind continued to shift, not bothering to push back the long, dark brown hair that flew into her golden eyes.

All that mattered was the sky, as long as she stared at it, everything would stay as it was, and how she needed things to stay as they were.

It was strange here; it was always night time, and sometimes when the winds came they whispered to her. There was no hunger here either; her body seemed to maintain a constant state of equilibrium. Though it would ache from time to time, with some sort of burning sensation. All she moved were her eyes and the occasional slight shift of the hands or feet.

At some point in time, she saw a tree grow above her as the ground started to leave beneath her. Slowly, her body lifted into the air. Confused, but curious, she allowed herself to be moved by this invisible force. But something wasn't right, her back felt tied down.

Sinewy snaps sounded in her ears as her body continued to pull away from the ground. She winced at each snap, feeling something disconnect from her skin, preemptively expecting pain. Her father's cries played over and over in her mind, reminding her of the flesh she saw being ripped from his arm. She shuddered and shook her head, trying to forget.

Once she was about 3 feet off the ground, her body started to turn, and she saw where she'd previously lain. There were roots, broken and upended from the earth. What the…? She thought, and felt her back for any more, but to her surprise, her back was smooth and without any noticeable tearing or holes.

Her eyes shifted to the tree before her. She gasped, seeing that it had grown directly behind a tombstone. Her tombstone, in front of which she had unknowingly laid. A gentle sob nuzzled in her throat. If she was here… where was…

A tiny grave lay next to hers. Despite its small size, his tombstone seemed as big as a mountain. She quaked in its shadow.

"This can't be real. . ." she whispered. She floated towards William's grave wishing to see that there was some mistake. But his name was there, etched in gold;

William Devaunt

X777-X780

She reached out to him, but something struck her hand, wrapping around her wrist. She saw it was a root coming from her grave.

"Let me go!" she cried desperately, clawing at it. One, then two more roots shot at her, wrapping around her waist and leg, "William!" she screamed reaching out to someone she hoped wasn't truly there, "William, please, no!" she sobbed, fighting harder. The roots clutched her feet and legs, pulling her back before her own tombstone, keeping their grips on her until she showed no signs of leaving.

Her shoulders caved inwards, and her head sunk low, she would prefer the darkness of that hell over this. Tears fell at her feet as her chest contracted uncontrollably. She shut her eyes, and hugged her knees as she slumped against the cold, dead rock next to her.

"I told you to stay put," she sobbed, ". . . No!" her fist pounded on the tombstone. She writhed in self-loathing, in her mind's eye she saw her little brother trying to come to her… for protection. "No!" she hit the tombstone again, biting her lip, this couldn't be real, "No! No! No! No! No!" she fought.

Days or millennia's later, Auralie lay in her own patch of death, resigned to an eternal numbness. She stared at the tree above her, why was it there anyways? There were no trees at the other graves. Slowly, she pushed to her elbows, but something caught her eye. Her tombstone read

Auralie Devaunt

X763-X780

And then down near the bottom;

Get Off Your Arse

"Huh?" she stood up, still staring at the words. She looked around her, William's grave was gone, and so were all the other ones, the fields were plain as far as the eye could see. Then, rather suddenly, the tree behind her stone started to glow, its ethereal structure a delicate gold. She walked towards it, curiously. Before her eyes, the tree exposed one of its hollows, where a golden key lay inside. Auralie took one step back, unsure of this strange event, and yet she watched, amazed as the key came out and floated in the space between them. She stared at it for quite some time as it floated there, waiting for her to do something.

She looked around her, suspicious of a trick. Slowly, she reached out her hand, as if she was beckoning the key to come to her. And come it did. No sooner as she extended the invitation than the key charged forwards into her chest, throwing her back and up.

She began to ascend, chest towards the sky, as her core began to glow. It felt as if her body disassembled and was refurbished from the inside out, what was this power? She moved her head to the side and saw the ground was far below her now.

As the ground left, the sky came towards her. The closer it came, the dimmer the moon and stars shone, until everything was black and she was all alone. She closed her eyes, not that it made a difference, and wished again for something more than darkness.

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The noise of running water and chirping birds flooded her ears. She opened her crusted eyes slowly as they took in the light around her. She breathed in deeply, pushing up to her elbows and looked at her surroundings. Upon her there were white sheets that smelled of fresh linen, to the left there was a large window surrounded by wooden walls, and to the right…

Her father.

XXX

This chapter was a little more abstract, but I hope still enjoyable (:

Atrevici, out! *throws peace sign*