*******

“AND NOW YOU HAVE TO FIND YOURSELF, CHILD OF REN.”

The words echoed around Tian. She stood before a tall gate. An ornate entrance made of jade and gold. It looked like the archways of the Heavens that hung in the green sky. A pair of giant double doors that glistened with wisps of scintillating light.

At the gate’s very center was a red face and an open mouth. One with a set of elongated tusks curving upwards. It looked like it had curly black hair, and facial hair that twirled down from its face. It stared down at the girl with hollow black eyes and a look of immense pain.

It was the face of a Demon.

Tian backed up at its sight, her jaw agape and her mind reeling. “W-what…? Where is this place? How did we get here?”

She spun around and saw that she was trapped. A great wall expanded behind the girl. It spanned far and wide, further than she could even see. A gray monolith of impossible size that faded into a curtain of mist that hid the sides and ceiling.

Tian stumbled back. She fell to the hard stone floor as she gaped.

“Master—” she sputtered.

But the Sacred Beast calmed her. “Child of Ren, do not be afraid.”

“Where are we, master?” Tian asked as she turned towards the white fox. “How did we get here?”

“This place is the heart of the Seventh Heaven. It is known as the Land of the Cursed.”

“The Land of the…?” Her eyes grew wide. She had heard of this place before. When she was younger and used to misbehave, mother would tell her stories of how naughty children would be sent to the Land of the Cursed.

It was a place where Forsaken Souls gathered. It was the home of all misery. There was nothing there but vain and desire. An empty place where even the Dao’s touch couldn’t reach.

“W-why are we here?” The girl backed up warily, trying to steel herself. However, she could hardly feel the Dao when she reached out— she barely felt the Qi coursing through her meridians. “Master—”

“This is the only exit to the Seventh Heaven,” her master said simply.

“What?” Tian blinked at his words.

“There is no other way out of this realm, child of Ren. Only those with a pure soul may escape this nightmare. That is why this is the Seventh Heaven. This is where Cultivators go to cleanse themselves of their worldliness. It is their final step of ascension into Florescence.”

The Sacred Beast spoke as its voice echoed in the vast chamber. For a moment, Tian just stared at the white fox, utterly befuddled as the implication settled in. Her mouth hung wide, and her vision blurred. Her master finished.

“Yet, here you are, child of Ren,” said the Sacred Beast. “A newly-ascended Blossom, taking on the trials which an eternity of Cultivators have challenged and failed.”

“H-how am I supposed to…?” she asked, wide-eyed.

There was no way the girl would pass this trial. To delve into the Land of the Cursed and find a way out at her current level of experience was an impossibility. She would die. No— even worse, she’d forever be trapped in the Seventh Heaven as a Forsaken Soul. Perhaps even killed and turned into a Vampire.

She shook her head, turning to the white fox. “You told me that what is lost cannot be found. So how can I find myself if I am lost, master?”

“Because you are not lost, child of Ren,” the reply was simple. “Not yet.”

“What?”

“If what is lost is found, then it was never lost in the first place.” The white fox stepped forward, its three tails reaching over to pick up the girl. “It was simply misplaced.”

The girl paused. She slowly raised a hand to her chest and looked at herself. “Misplaced?” she repeated the words of her master.

The white fox shook its head and stopped right before the gate to the Land of the Cursed. A thin layer of mist blanketed over it like tendrils that threatened to envelope the Sacred Beast’s form. It held Tian’s gaze as she followed.

“You must find yourself on your own. To save yourself from your own grief and loneliness. For there is nothing for you but an eternity of despair if you cannot do that.”

“Wait, master!” she called out. “Where are you going?”

The mist grew thicker as she tried to give chase. But the Sacred Beast standing at the giant gate began to fade. Its form grew distorted— like the reflection on a lake’s surface being distorted by a pebble.

“I cannot go with you, child of Ren. This is a task you can only undertake on your own. For my soul is pure, the Land of the Cursed will reject me. When I step through this gate, I will find myself back in the mortal skies of Jhisie.”

That made the girl hesitate. She felt the same sense of trepidation she’d felt when her master had said it would leave her for the Fifth Heaven. Her hands balled into fists as her throat tightened.

“That’s…” she trailed off. Her fear was evident.

The Sacred Beast sighed. It started towards her once again. Yet, its form was almost entirely gone now. The mist followed after it, trying to whisk the white fox to another plane. But it remained just a moment longer for the sake of the girl.

“You are my student,” it said. “I have taught you everything I could. Perhaps I didn’t say this before, but I believe in you, Tian.”

Tian blinked. What? For the first time ever, the Sacred Beast had said her name. She stared at the white fox with round eyes as it continued its speech.

“I shall be waiting for you on the other side. And when you come out, I shall bring you with me to the Fifth Heaven. To the Heaven of Sacred Beasts and Spirits.”

The Sacred Beast began to fade as it brought a paw up to the girl’s head. She brought a hand up to touch its soft fur, but passed through nothing. She bit her lower lip as, finally, the mist took her master. All that was left was her master’s words, ringing in her ears.

“I will be waiting, Tian.”

She closed her eyes and dropped to her knees. Tian hoped her master was still there. But she knew the Sacred Beast was gone. Still, she let the hopeful dream live on. Until, finally, she accepted the truth.

“This is something I have to do alone,” the girl told herself as she rose. Her eyes snapped open, and she eyed the Demon gate. “This is something I can do.”

Starting forward, Tian placed a hand on the giant doorway. She pushed it, and it rumbled with a cacophonous groan. The door slowly opened, sucking in the mist from the outside. A vast void waited for her on the other end of the gate, yet she planted a foot ahead.

“I will not fail you, master!” Tian resolved herself as she finally entered the Land of the Cursed.

And right as her feet crossed the other side of the gate, she was sucked into the other side. Tian blinked in surprise before yelping.

“Wait—”

She tried to catch herself, but it was like she was caught in the middle of a cyclone. The girl was spinning and tumbling in a world of darkness and shadows. Looking back up, she saw the last vestiges of light disappear as the double doors slammed shut. She raised a hand to no avail. Her connection with the Dao faded as she found herself pulled by this maelstrom.

“I have to…” Tian gritted her teeth. She felt at her core. There was still Qi coursing within her. But it was a limited amount. She knew she’d have to preserve it if she wanted to survive the Land of the Cursed. And something told her this dark vortex wasn’t dangerous.

So she let herself fall. The girl fell and fell and fell for what felt like an eternity. She tried to count the cycles that passed, only to lose count. Her meditations didn’t help her. Her emotions were thrown into disarray.

Tian saw flashes of her mother. At first, beautiful in all her likeness. Then she smiled, and rotten teeth fell from her mouth. The girl drew back in fear, turning away from that sight. Still, she heard the laughing of a woman whose face was hidden by her long black hair. Things moved hurriedly in the dark. Twisted, incomprehensible figures that bent in impossible angles. Like old dolls that hid in the corner of closets or broken toys that waited under the bed.

She swallowed her fear, casting it aside. But something else took a hold of her. She remembered her sect, and a sense of longing overwhelmed her. Wretched hands reached out for her in the darkness, grabbing her by the arm. Their soft voices called for her, and for a moment, the allure of it all almost took over her.

“Join us,” they said. “And you shall find salvation.”

But she drowned their voices out with only her master’s words.

“I will be waiting, Tian.” The white fox believed in her. She wasn’t going to let it down.

“I refuse! I will not fall for your temptation!” she rejected it all. She screamed as their grips grew tight. She struggled against the darkness.

And a golden pulse rippled out from her body. Like words of power had been uttered. The darkness recoiled, before receding. Peeled away by her resolution.

Tian crashed hard into a glass-like surface. The porcelain floor shattered beneath her weight as she groaned, picking herself up.

“Ugh, now where am I?” she asked, looking around. Then she paused as she took in her surroundings. “This is… a labyrinth?”

Around her were green corridors. Thousands of hallways the split of in all directions. And on the jade-green walls surrounding her were doors. Some without handles, others upside down, and even more on the roof and the floor.

“Oh, this is the Land of the Cursed.” It was just as it was described to her by mother. Except with far less horrors lurking about.

Tian took in this world. This place of an infinitude of possibilities. All of them led to misery. Except for a single one. She nodded to herself as she took in a deep breath.

“Right,” she said. “I have to find the real exit.”

It was a simple task, yet so daunting. But she still pressed forward. She dusted herself off, beginning down one of the hallways as she moved to find a way out of this place. And unbeknownst to the girl, she was also… being watched.

One of the doors creaked open before quickly slamming shut.

*****

Faith. That is what drove me forward. Regardless of the consequences, I know that I am doing the right thing. I do not fear death. I do not fear loss. I crave immortality, but not out of fear. Instead, it is faith.

So I stare down the giant Zombie— this amalgamation of death and unlife— in its hollow eyes as I charge it. It roars back, swiping up at me. But I do not shy away. I challenge it back, unleashing a storm of fire at the mass of undead.

Because I know what I have to do. Even if it costs me my life.