In the moment i passed the door, the feeling the gem radiated before now constantly tried to drown my emotions from all sides. And there was not much i could do to resist, i was just human after all.

There was no light here, wherever i walked right now, but i just kept pressing forward. Partly out of stubborn principle, as i could no longer feel real stubbornness, partly because the door shut directly after the gem passed the treshold as well.

I must have walked for days. Oddly enough i did not feel hunger and thirst anymore either. Hopefully that meant i did not need sustenance, because if i only did not feel hunger but collapsed from starvation, that would be bad. Not that it matters though.

My thoughts were almost as silent as the surroundings i could neither see nor sense. Just a black on all sensory input. I didn't care. The not-me inner me whispered that i mustn't stop. Ever.

So i walked. And kept walking. And walked some more. My sense of time disappeared. The only thing that mattered now was nothing. Feel nothing. Be nothing. True bliss. Unconscious but not unconscious.

(AN: Looking back to the time i spent in the void for the first time, i now can say with a respectable amount of certainty that i walked for years. How do i know? I compared human progress from before i entered to the moment i left. Thing about the void is time is not real there, not really real at least. It is hard to describe really.)

Something appeared before me. For a time so long, i neither know nor care, the first impression on my senses. I could see. It was still completely dark but somehow i saw. An icy plane. A black throne, by some unknown physics darker than the perfect darkness all around. And ..him ..it?

"Change has come, at last." Resounded directly in my mind. The voice as indifferent as my own thoughts, but deeper. I wouldn't even care to respond, but my other inner self pushed hard. So i spoke, or at least thought i spoke.

"What change?"

"The key, it is back." Great. I knew it was pointless to ask. Everything is pointless, after all. But i continued to ask, that little bugger in my head forcing my hand.

"Here, take it." I held out the gem.

"Oh? For a mortal you have a lot of will left, after walking the void for so long." That sounded.. interested? How can anyone feel interested?

"Haha, i can see now. You have no will left, do you? Not the real you." I shrugged.

"Yet you are still moving. Thinking. Why is that?" I shrugged again.

"You, inside her, reveal yourself. For me to not be able to identify you, you must be special." The otherworldly being chuckled on his throne.

"..I am like you. A bit, at least." I heard myself say, but it was not me. I didn't care.

"Change really has come. So what is it you want?"

"This humble one requests you grant her the gift of the void" i spoke again.

"Why?"

"So that she can feel. Only then will i reveal what i am. She needs to feel."

The ..thing.. on the throne slowly nodded, lost in thought. Why think? Such a bother, and pointless. So pointless. After a while, the king spoke. Oh, i just thought. Throne means king.. right?

"Henceforth you shall be known as vassal of the void, this is your gift."

I panicked. My thoughts jumped all over the place. Fuck!! I can feel, how could i not feel? The hindsight of loneliness, boredom, rage and hunger while walking years through nothingness hit me like a high-tiered earth spell. Who the hell would not go nuts when deprived of sensory input for what feels like an eternity??

I cried and shouted and wailed for a while, the voice inside me constantly trying to calm me down, reassuring me. It worked, slowly. After a few minutes (i think) i had stabilised to the point i could think clear enough.

"What the fuck is this place? Who are you? What the fuck is this voice inside my mind?" I breathed heavily.

"This place is the void. The eternal emptiness behind what you call reality. Me? I am. That's all. As for your passenger, i do not know. It will tell now, i think, as that was the price for your feelings."

Aha. What? I vaguely remembered the conversation i had minutes ago. Can i speak? I twitched. That damn voice that is me but not me again! Yes! Speak! I can't take this schizo-shit much longer.

"I also am. Unfortunately, that is not all. When this girl was little, a shadow whispered into her ears. Every night it would come to her cradle and speak. But not normal words, no. Ancient words. Words of power. I was born as a result. I am her and yet not her. I am Sh'ra." It spoke through me. Sh'ra? That a name?

Before i could wonder, the ..king?.. spoke again: "A Void-Whisp? Not many Sh'ra left these days. It is good that you are, even if not fully. The others will be."

Be? Does he mean be here? Like, soon? I asked inner me.

No. Let me explain. The void does not have real dimensions. You either are or aren't, that is all. It is a bit difficult to explain, but as Sh'ra i know this. I, too, originated in the void.

Great, my mind parasite knows more than i do. How fucked up is that, isn’t it all stored in the same brain?

I laughed. And it was not me.