Tanya didn't feel or hear anything. There was only peace in her heart. But a voice from nowhere, dispelled that peace. "Initializing protocol. Initiating scan and parameter reset. Please, stand by!" At first she thought it was her partner's voice. Her gift. But it sounded different. Unbeknownst to her, a progress bar that didn't advance even one percent appeared.

An alarm went off and thousands of tendrils of a silver-blue hue, completely immobilized her. They restrained her tightly, even though she couldn't move. Finally, in the middle of the blackness, a dimensional portal opened behind her, and she felt something come out.

Very slowly, Tanya began to become conscious again and to come back and feel. She tried to remember how she had gotten there, but her mind was clouded. Suddenly, she remembered something. She remembered how she had walked with the old woman while they talked about conditions. Conditions that she could accept or not, but that would apply if she wanted a second chance in a new world.

She remembered the first of the conditions as she clearly saw the old woman's face in her mind. "If you accept, you will never be able to return to this world again. You will never see those left here again. Because, one of the conditions in order to go to that new world, is that you must first die in this one."

Absorbed in sad memories, tears ran fast down her cheeks until a male voice startled her. "There's no point in crying about it. Your death, like that of so many others, was written. But you will soon discover that, for you and some others, death doesn’t have to be permanent. It's just a transitory state.

Tanya opened her eyes, blinking nonstop until her vision was clear enough. Thinking about that incredible sentence. Startled, she saw before her a dark being covered with scars. His eyes were completely white and he was wearing simple, tattered clothes, reminiscent of a medieval adventurer. He also had a hood that hid the baldness left by his non-existent hair. His expression was serious. So much so, that Tanya shuddered.

With all the calm of the world, the dark and strange being began a conversation that he hoped would be more fruitful than the previous ones. "There's been a lot of scum in here today, child. Too much. They all had something in their possession that was mine. Something I didn't give them. Thieves who stole something I entrusted to Emily. You know her, don't you?"

Tanya felt some relief at hearing that name. But the terror that dark being instilled in her, made her start to cry, begging for mercy. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know that what came to me was yours. I didn't even know it belonged to anyone. I just..." She didn't know how to put it. And the being urged her to continue. "You just...?"

Tanya looked uncomfortable at her strange bindings. Not knowing how to explain herself without implying something that she didn't want anyone to know. So, she diverted the subject. "Why am I tied up? I feel..." The dark being cut her off, abruptly and unpleasantly. "You feel like a handcuffed thief, who has broken into my house with my own keys and whom I have caught red-handed with something of mine in her hands. Something too valuable."

Tanya understood that it was better not to make him angrier, and told him what he expected to hear. "One day I dreamed about a red-haired girl with green eyes. A girl I thought was beautiful. I liked her so much that I wanted to be her. The girl offered me a deal, for which I just had to be a good girl and always tell the truth. In return, she would make me different. I thought it was a reflection of my mother's faith, embodied in my dreams or something like that. But, when I woke up, I was able to do amazing things."

The dark being turned around. Thinking of the curious transformation that so few thieves seemed to manifest as he walked away very slowly, into total darkness. Then, he asked, raising his voice very loudly, as if he wanted someone in the distance to hear him. "I entrusted you with a host that I carefully chose for you. Why did you abandon her for this one? She is not worthy!"

Tanya listened to that not knowing if she had to answer. She didn't understand why he was asking her that question, but she soon discovered that he was addressing her precious "gift". When she heard its voice, she smiled with joy, as tears welled up in her eyes. She felt a lull in her trepidation caused by having agreed to the old woman's second condition. She even remembered even the old woman's voice again. "There is a possibility that you may lose what you call your gift."

The voice, coming out from nowhere, was identical to Emily's, just as she remembered it. A warm and kind voice. "I didn’t abandon my host, Father. Something drove me out of Emily. I don't know what, or how it happened. But, suddenly, I was in a different host than the one you so carefully chose for me. I wandered for days among different humans, looking for her. But, I couldn't find her. She was the only one I accepted out of all the ones I found. Please consider her for a second."

The dark being had turned around, as soon as he heard "Something drove me out of Emily". He was so furious that it seemed as if reality itself was going to crack around him. However, he restrained himself and said nothing, although the reality around him did resented and trembled. There would have been absolute silence if it hadn't been for Tanya's pathetic whimpering in the background.

After several minutes where everyone tried to calm down in silence, the dark being spoke. "That I should consider her? Why should I? Because she's smart?" He paused, and his expression gradually changed. He looked very upset. "Or maybe, it's because she doesn't disembowel cats in her spare time?"

Tanya listened to that in shock. "Disembowel cats? Who the hell does that?" The gaze of the being seemed to have a story behind those words. A story she would never know.

The gift's voice, coming from no source, seemed to change. It seemed much kinder. More tender and loving. "Father, Tanya has made me evolve even though I am only a tiny portion of the complete essence to which I belong. I recognize that she is far from your ideal, but she has good qualities. Please, Father!"

The dark being stared into space for several seconds. Without uttering a single word. He seemed to be having a conversation with his thoughts or, perhaps, with that voice.

After a long time in silence, the voice said only one sentence. But it no longer sounded so kind. It sounded sad and heartbroken. "I understand. As you wish, Father. Goodbye Tanya! I have been so happy these five years by your side. I'm sorry!"

Tanya got so flustered after hearing that farewell, that she immediately turned to the dark being. "Wait, wait! What's going on? Why did it say goodbye to me like that? Wait!"

The scarred being did not answer. He simply moved his hand, gently, as if caressing the air, without looking away from her. After that, Tanya lost consciousness.

Hours passed, or perhaps days. Tanya didn't know it, nor could she discern it. She didn't feel or see anything. The only thing she felt was a terribly emptiness and sadness. Slowly, she began to hear mouse clicks and finger taps on a keyboard. They were frantic noises. Hearing these noises, let her know that she could wake up. But before she could see clearly, something stunned her. In front of her was an image of herself, in her room, playing RPG video games late at night.

Tanya saw herself playing frantically. She was without a showering, after four days of non-stop gaming. She had hardly eaten. But that, her aunt, didn't know it. She was on her well-deserved vacation somewhere, far away. Tanya mumbled. "That wasn’t one of my best moments. How embarrassing!" She ducked her head not wanting to look, but she couldn't turn much, she was still scathingly imprisoned.

The dark being was next to her, watching the image. "Funny. You put incredible effort into your characters, avatars or heroes... I don't care whatever you call them." Then he turned and stared at Tanya. "...and practically zero effort to the most important character you've ever handled in your entire life. Yourself."

That sentence completely crushed Tanya. It didn't even occur to her to raise her head. All she could think about was each and every character she had ever played in her entire life. None of them were slackers like her. They were all strong and skilled fighters. Or intelligent and powerful wizards. But above all, none had reached such heights of power without enormous effort and dedication. "I'm the most important character I'll ever handle. Perhaps, if I had only seen it that way before."

Suddenly, she remembered a very funny hero who had become an incredible fighter. She remembered that in his early days, he had been a slacker and a simpleton. It was from a children's movie, but that didn't matter so much to Tanya. The most important thing about that hero was that, in the end, he had become exceptional with only one thing. Effort.

The dark being seemed slightly pleased with what he perceived. "So… Have you found anything to refute my claim that you are not worthy?" He waved his hand slightly and the tendrils released her, laying her gently on the ground. Meanwhile, the 3D image of her playing on the PC kept playing.

Tanya put aside her discovery and remembered the emptiness she felt. Shyly, she murmured something. "Where is she? What have you done with her? Have you destroyed her?"

The dark being deigned to answer her question, when at first, he had no intention of doing so. "You wouldn't be here, if my essence hadn’t reached you. You wouldn't be here, if you hadn't abused of the power you thought it gave you. You have confused gift, with partial mutation of your brain. An uncontrolled and harmful mutation. You have mistaken power with a beautiful form of slow suicide. You abused it so repeatedly, that you gave birth to a brain tumor. If you weren't going to die hours after the day you left your world, you would have died within a couple of months."

Tanya looked into his eyes dumbfounded. "Hours later? How?"

The being turned to the 3D image. This one, changed showing a similar, but different scene. Tanya was sitting in her gamer chair, but she wasn't playing anymore. She had left her headphones on the keyboard. She was alarmed by a loud noise coming from the entrance.

Nervously, she was asking something unlikely. "Auntie? Are you back from work? Auntie?" The Tanya in the 3D image was trembling. She was realizing that the tremendous noise she had heard, was similar to the that of a door been kicked down.

Both Tanyas remained expectant. Only footsteps could be heard down the hallway leading to her room. Quickly, the Tanya in the 3D image barred the door with her weak body.

Tanya watched in astonishment. She turned to the dark being and asked. "Who the hell is breaking into the house like that? Who broke down the door?". But the being did not say or do anything. He simply analyzed it, since it was also the first time he had seen it.

The 3D image showed how a tremendous blow shattered the door of her room and pushed Tanya through the air onto her desk. The blow had smashed everything on the desk. The trembling Tanya was bleeding profusely from one eyebrow. Desperately, she screamed. "For God's sake! Who are you and what do you want from me?" That question had to wait several seconds to be answered.

Tanya saw in the image a deformed being. A being that seemed tremendously familiar. It looked too much like her aunt, but it wasn't her. Suddenly, Tanya noticed the clothes of that deformed being which had such strength that it could smash doors with a single blow. "The clothes are tattered and black." Those clues allowed Tanya to immediately realize who it was. "It's a nun's habit. OMG! OMG! It's mom! It's..."

Suddenly, the image faded. Tanya looked to her right. It had been faded out by the dark being, but Tanya understood that he was still watching that kind of 3D movie, exclusively. She watched as the being analyzed what he saw. His face was one of disgust.

Furious, Tanya interrupted him. "How the hell can you see something that didn't happen? I entered the portal how that..." She hesitated for a second how to call the old woman that had revealed so much to her. "...creature in the form of a village elder told me."

The being turned to her with a different countenance. He seemed more understanding. "There are things you're better off not knowing. Not everything is as you think, child." He paused briefly and changed the subject to another one he had left hanging. "Throughout your last five years, there has been no voice in your head. There has been no "her”. It's always been just you."

Tanya listened to that skeptically, because she knew what she had been through. But the being clarified something important. "All essences merge with their host unless the essence is passing through, or its host is going to die soon. That is, they become one being and one mind, forever." Then he rectified. "Well, not forever. Just until you get here and I separate you both. But it could take an eternity before that happens. You thought you were two beings in one, but it was just your perception. Maybe because of the tumor or maybe because of the partial mutation of your brain."

Tanya stared into space, realizing how wrong she was. The dark being finished. "Here, instead, there are two. That's why I was able to communicate with the essence you had merged with. By the way, she didn't know she was killing you. I guess that the problem of not being a complete essence..."

Tanya stood up and without looking him in the eye asked resolutely interrupting him abruptly. "What is being worthy to you? What did you give to Emily? What is a complete essence? What does it bestow? If I had such a small fragment and could do all that, what could I have done with a complete essence?"

The dark being wasn't particularly inclined to answer any of those questions, so he replied. "If I answer you, you will do anything in your power to obtain a complete essence. That is why I consider worthy those who do what they do naturally, without knowing what I am going to give them. That is to say, those who don't change their way of being one iota. Another thing is what are the criteria I choose to select them."

Tanya interrupted him again, somewhat more seriously, trying to scrutinize. "Ian is worthy to you? Everyone thinks he's a demon and an animal. Everyone thinks he's…"

The dark being calmly interrupted her. Sure of his decisions. "I know what you thieves believe. Several of you have recently passed this way. I have let you pass for a reason that I assure you, you won't like to discover." Tanya watched him perplexed as he turned away. He looked like he wanted to explain himself as he walked, but he was only moving away a little. "Each essence requires a different host. Ian is perfect for the essence he possesses. While it is true, he can sometimes be misunderstood.”

The dark being stopped in his tracks and his expression changed. “By the way. I recommend that you stay out of Ian's or Emily's path. Mainly, I strongly advise you to remain invisible to her. As soon as she finds out she can retrieve what's been stolen from her, you'll be in serious danger."

Tanya thought about the purpose of the warning. "Does that mean you're giving me a chance to live?" Encouraged by the idea that the more daring she was, the more receptive the being was. "You know I want that power! I'll do whatever it takes to have it. And you won't feel the need to take it from me when I have it. I don't care if you don't like the idea of me changing. I will make you see me as a worthy candidate! You will give me a complete essence...!"

The dark being didn't even smile at the satisfaction it gave him to see her grow and become embolden. It seemed that her motivation was pushing her willpower hard. He simply cut her off, waving a hand lightly before disappearing. "Prove it to me, child!"

When she realized, Tanya was floating surrounded by thousands of very small lights. Beautiful lights that came from bottom to top. That made her feel a tremendous vertigo, as if she was falling. A luminescent floating progress bar appeared. Accompanying it, a voice echoing everywhere. "Initializing protocol. Initiating scan and parameter reset. Please, stand by!"

When the progress bar started, it automatically aborted. "There is a serious problem. Automatic protocol canceled. Initializing manual protocol. Stats reset will be performed in hidden mode." Tanya heard that stunned with a smile on her lips. "Stats? OMG! If this is going to be like a video game, I can't wait to get started." Immediately afterwards, she lost consciousness.

After a long time, consciousness slowly returned to her. She felt that she was being carried. She also fet cold and a very unpleasant smell of filth. Finally, she felt that she was lying on a bed of straw and covered with a blanket. She was so numb that her body barely responded when she tried to move. She heard footsteps around her and some voices that she couldn't understand. It seemed as if she was listening to them underwater.

Anxiously, she tried to utter something. But she couldn't. In addition to her mouth being dry, her vocal chords were blunted. "Maybe I've been drugged or something. I feel like when the dentist anesthetizes my mouth, but all over my body. What a pity! I wanted to check if I still have my gift or if it was taken away from me. Although, if it was really killing me, I shouldn't use it again, I guess." Luckily, patience was one of Tanya's virtues.

Within a few minutes, she could hear perfectly well, though still couldn't move. Tanya sensed footsteps all around her. Footsteps that felt heavy and slow as they approached. As if they were carrying something heavy. Then she heard them place what they were carrying on the ground.

Two individuals walked past her as she appeared to be sleeping. They were having a clandestine conversation. She couldn't hear the whole conversation, but she could hear whispers of loose things.

The nearest voice affirmed. "This time there are many of them."

A more distant voice answered. "Yes, I've never seen so many" "I've been told that they're going to treat them differently. They said they're going to deceive them."

The nearby voice. "Deceive? Why?"

The distant voice answered. "No idea. I just know that they say most of them shouldn't be here. That they are intrusive and expendable."

A series of footsteps were heard and the voices fell silent. But a voice that could be a woman's, rebuked them. "Shut up, fucking assholes!

Do you want to serve as food for the gate of worlds? One of them could be listening to your damn conversation. Fools! Get out of here! Get out of my sight, useless bastards! Mother Fae will know of your incompetence!"

Tanya began to get more and more nervous, especially when she noticed her blanket being lifted. She couldn't help but shudder with fear, though she managed not to open her eyes. To cover it up, she remained still. But it was obvious that whoever was holding the blanket by one end, knew she wasn't sleeping. Because of this, the individual knelt down and whispered so that no one else could hear. "You're the smart girl, aren't you? I suggest you don't open your mouth until you're alone with your friend Dianna. If you open that pretty little mouth before then, I'll impale you on the spot."

Tanya began to shudder. Even more so when she opened her eyes and saw a grotesque woman smiling. "What the hell is that? It looks like an orc in human skin. OMG! This is my second chance?"

The half-orc woman turned her head, looking to the side. Suddenly, she lightly hit the individual sleeping on the straw bed next to Tanya. The latter moaned in shock when he felt the blow, giving obvious signs that he was awake and had heard everything. "This goes for you too. Blue-eyed handsome. I wonder how your blonde head would look like on a pike?"