"To rise from the ashes, there must first be ash. To emerge, to rise, the phoenix must first burn."

- Notes on the Shattering, Unknown

His eyes shot open like lightning.

"Where am I?"

His voice drifted into a void of multicolored lights. Peaceful. Serene.

His heart pounded. The last thing he remembered was the capsule closing on him. His last sight; the creature's bottom half melting through the ceiling before. The last sound he heard; snarling and splattering drool.

And then, "Welcome Mr. Cipher, shall we begin?"

"Yes. For the love of god, yes!" His impassive acceptance of his inevitable death finally broke.

But now, he wasn't sure where he was. The capsule was developmental technology still in the prototype stage, though the creators promised perfect functionality albeit their early release. Their hand was forced, the end of the world tended to do that.

It promised another world, Jayke had long forgotten their real selling point. At some point, prior to its release, it was designed as a video game, but the very last few months changed its goal. It meant to transport the mind, the soul, to somewhere new. He couldn't even remember its name. Some horrid acronym he presumed.

It was supposed fantasy, nothing but a suicide capsule. And his last resort. He wasn't a petty man, but in the face of the apocalypse, he couldn't help himself from taking away that satisfaction.

But then... where exactly was he?

"Beautiful, is it not, Mr. Cipher?" The voice's tone was chipper, but the encompassing quality of the voice gave Jayke pause.

He swung his head around finding no other entity but himself. His eyes darted across the vast nothingness and found only the multicolored hues to focus upon.

"It is." He ventured cautiously. "What happened to me? Where am I? Who are you?" The words came like a landslide, uneasy at the unknown.

"You escaped Mr. Cipher. And now you are here, in another realm. Or rather, you will be soon. And I am your fleeting guide." The voice answered. Jayke had the sense the being was staring out into the rainbow sea than truly focusing on him.

"How do you know my name?" The question was likely the most useless he could've asked. Escaped?

"I know every soul I intend to guide." The answer was easily given as if the question had been asked many times before.

A silence passed and both simply stared at the lights. It was like staring at every color in existence except you beheld their every brilliance and dullness at once. His eyes became such that they could handle such beauty, and they did.

"Are you ready, Mr. Cipher?" The voice spoke. "It is nearly time for you."

"Ready for what?" Jayke asked quickly, pulled from his reverie. "I'm not ready. I'm not even entirely sure what is happening."

"Listen closely, Mr. Cipher. These next moments may very well determine the rest of your existence." The voice said it with urgency and with the sound of someone wise beyond years. "You will pass through the realm between." Something drew his eyes to the lights, and then the voice continued. "In your passing, you must grasp and hold whatever power you can rob from the energies within and bring it with you upon your arrival. The energies swirling within those lights are endless, boundless, and unknown. You must will your desires before you and snatch them from the lights."

"Huh, what do you-"

"Mr. Cipher, remember what I said. There is no time."

Jayke Cipher's scream was lost, he was moving faster than sound. Multicolored lights assaulted his eyes in a way that was both close and dizzying. Everything around him was a blur. He tumbled and swirled so fast it was meaningless. He held up his hand, his skin was shifting and undulating with different hues. He flexed his fist. Grasp.

His head jerked upward.

"Will my desires." He remembered.

Everything seemed to slow down. Colors seemed to unblur, becoming both distinct and sharp. They existed as he did, moving at the same speed and along his path. Energy. With a thought, he knew he could reach out and grab any. He had the vague sense of each, but they were nothing he wanted. Accompanying that feeling, was the fact he couldn't grab them all, and only so much of each.

What did Jayke Cipher want?

His mind focused on the countless hours he spent unsure, and unsafe - despite the admittedly relative safety of the compound. He wanted a place like that, absolute sanctuary, one that was real. One that didn't require defenses, one that was just safe.

A light seemed to coalesce. It radiated gentleness and sanctuary in its colors. Both yellow, white, and something more than the two. All of that combined and was. It felt gentle, both unmoving and impossibly safe.

He pulled at it. His sense of time seemed to be distorted but he dared not waste any more of it. He ended his draw from the light.

He reached out, grasped it and held it tight.

If not fearing for his safety, then actively bolstering it. Even months before the apocalypse, he was working with defenses. He wanted to be able to protect himself, even in the face of demons. He wanted to be able to look at that last demon in its eyes and smile as crookedly as it.

This time the light that came from the rainbow was blue and grey. Hard and cool. The color was refreshing in its surety. It felt like a shell, protection. Further, it seemed rigid, almost physical and solid.

He spent more time drawing from this light. He wanted to be safe even when he left his safe place. So he kept pulling. Until finally, he stopped. The light had just started to become heavy.

He reached out and cradled it.

Code. At this point in his life, so much of it was spent in front of a computer. It'd be a waste to leave it all behind. His mind worked in logical formulas and obvious concrete solutions. Efficiency, optimization, automation. If there was an easy way to do something, he'd do the legwork needed to implement it.

Again, a light came to being in front of him. It was grey, green and lightning. If pressed, he might've found it akin to a circuit. Lights seemed to blink from within it adding another layer of complexity.

He did not stop pulling from this mesmerizing pool of light until the very last second he sensed he could hold no more.

And he grabbed it, feeling closer to this one than any before.

With that, blackness.