01. The Void

She was screaming before she was even conscious.

Waves of burning sensation pulsed through her. A single fragment of self identity in a sea of agony had risen, struggling to stay afloat.

A blinding light made her wince, somehow a tiny speck far in the distance yet simultaneously all around her, she didnt know what it was, she'd never seen it before, but it felt like something shed known all her life... it disappeared under yet another surging wave of searing pain. The wave became a whirlpool, swirling and flipping her around, slamming her with force to and fro. Whatever semblance of space she had turned into vertigo. A tumbling mass of nausea formed within her, she realised she had no hands to grasp her face or stomach with... she had no body. it didnt stop her from curling up and bracing herself. she resisted the pain. In the swirling maelstrom, another force slammed into her.

She felt a strong need to pray... whatever god or devil was out there, make it stop, please make it stop. her wordless cries of anguish disappeared into the void

As if in answer, the storm intensified. she could feel other somethings caught in the swirl and battering her from all directions as she tumbled in this chaotic void. Up was down, left was right. light was dark, hot was cold. She curled up as tight as she could will her formless self to do and struggled to make her thoughts take her elsewhere. Another force slammed into her... for the briefest moment, she could remember calloused hands working in a field.

The waves tumbled her around, shocking her mind, but she forced herself to concentrate. A faceless man leaned in and kissed her cheek. An intense warmth spread through her before she collided with another wave of agony.

She held on. A dulling sense of exhaustion grew but somehow intensified the pain...

An old hunched figure looked up at her, a faceless smile lit her heart aflame as it took her hand and placed it on another. she turned and looked to its owner. A tentril of pain pierced her forehead and suddenly she was frozen in the maelstrom. Her formless form crucified and braced against the full force of the maelstrom, her screams of pain began anew. Red and purple and black and green swirled around her. Ethereal somethings in the ebbs and flows were visible. The whirlpool began to shrink around her, spinning faster and faster as it condensed. The tendril exploded within her, like a thorned vine had grown through every limb in her body. The maelstrom struck her with the ethereal forces as she struggled to close her mind to the torture she was enduring.

A jubilant dance. her toes spinning on wood kicking cups and plates. Arms holding her tight, her heart beating faster and faster. More tentrils pierced her from the chaotic void, she grabbed at them, willed herself to pull them out but to no avail... she was raging now. She wanted to fight the storm. Her wails of agony turned into blinding anger. She stuggled to make sense of her timeless tribulation... to sink back into the only good that she could experience in this hellscape.

She felt her feet swept out from under her, a comforting strength that made her weightlessness feel like freedom. Arms that could carry the sky pressed her against a scarred chest that could weather all the storms of the world.

Countless tendrils now pierced her from all directions, as the maelstrom now was the strongest it had ever been. it was no longer just swirling... it was pressing with ever increasing force on her, she could feel the pain of her formless form shattering like glass over and over again, the rainbow void unrelenting in its crushing pressure.

Fingers intertwined with hers. A rough caloused hand cradled her face as she was pierced over and over. The pain from the maelstrom almost subsided before returning again. She pushed the maelstrom back. Her throat was stiff and hoarse but within her chest, the desire to escape her undeniable fate burst out of her in a desperate warcry. She laughed, daring the pain to come back, as if it had a persona she could goad into response. It did, and she bit and tore and clawed back at the swirling colors. The colors flowed through her formless claws, swirling like water around a rock. Ripples that disturbed the otherwise uniform swirls traveled across the maelstrom, waves rippled back from the force of her swipe. The evidence of her efforts disappeared in mere moments, but she found some pleasure and relief in knowing she wasnt completely powerless.

The piercing sensation in her stomach exploded, sending her into convulsions. a different kind of vertigo set in, a tranquil speck of calm in the sea of chaos...

For the briefest moment, within the silent calm, a tiny hand grasped the tip of her finger. and then the darkness swallowed her...