Chapter 151: Emotional Support

Grace stood at the threshold of absolute darkness, every instinct screaming at her to turn back.

Or, at least, they would have.

[Man,] Grace blinked. [I really don’t feel that scared. Is this my Bravery? Probably.]

She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The tunnel continued for what felt like hours. Her light, emanating from her sword, carved out a small bubble of visibility, but beyond that? Nothing. The walls had disappeared entirely now. She could be walking through a cavern the size of a cathedral or falling through endless space.

Her footsteps echoed weirdly. Not bouncing off walls, but just… stopping. Like the sound got swallowed after a few feet.

[This is… deeply unsettling.]

Grace paused, holding her blade higher. The light pushed back the darkness maybe three feet in every direction. Past that, absolute black.

“Hello?” she called out.

Her voice died immediately. No echo. No response. Just silence so complete it made her ears ring.

[Okay. Walking into creepy void. Standard Tuesday for me, apparently.]

She kept moving. Step after step into nothing. The ground beneath her feet felt solid enough, but she couldn’t see it. Just the faint glow where her light touched stone.

Then the temperature dropped.

Not cold, exactly. Just… less. Like the concept of warmth was slowly draining away.

Grace shivered and picked up her pace.

[Come on, Void. Where are you? I don’t have all day.]

More walking. More nothing. Her legs started to ache from the constant tension of not knowing where she was stepping.

Then she felt it.

A presence. Massive and empty, like standing next to a black hole. The air itself felt thin, stretched.

Grace stopped walking.

“I know you’re there.”

Silence.

She raised her blade higher, divine light flaring brighter. The darkness pushed back reluctantly, revealing…

Still nothing. But the nothing felt different now. Watchful.

[This is it. This is where it gets weird.]

Grace took one more step forward.

The darkness swallowed her whole. Not gradually, not gently. One moment she could see the tunnel behind her, the next she existed in a space without dimension or direction.

“Shit.”

[Okay. This is fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.]

Then she saw it.

The darkness shifted. Took shape.

A figure emerged from nothing, outlined in white against the black. It looked like Eternia. Of course it did. They all did. But where the others had been corrupted versions (burning, drowning, frozen), this was an absence.

A person-shaped hole in reality.

“Eternia,” it said. The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. “You came back.”

“I’m not—”

The Void tilted its head. The motion was smooth, inevitable.

“No…. You’re not.” Those white eyes narrowed.

[Oh. She realized that fast.]

“But you carry her light. Her warmth. How… annoying.”

Grace tried to summon her blade again. Her arm felt heavy. Too heavy. Like someone had replaced her bones with lead.

“Who are you, little light?”

“Grace. I’m here about the whole… ’draining people’s will to live’ thing.”

“Is that how you see what I do?” The Void drifted closer. “I take nothing. I only offer release.”

“Release from what?”

“Everything.”

Suddenly, Grace’s knees wobbled. When had standing become so hard?

“All those troublesome feelings,” the Void continued. “Joy that fades. Love that hurts. Hope that disappoints. I can take them. Make you empty. Make you free.”

Grace got chills down her spine.

“Thanks, but I don’t think that’s something people want.”

“Is that right?”

The weight increased. Grace’s wings drooped. Her shoulders sagged. Every breath took conscious effort.

[Move. Fight. Do something!]

Her body disagreed. Moving required energy. Energy required caring. Caring required… what was the point?

“See?” The Void’s voice wrapped around her like a blanket made of apathy. “Already you understand. The weight of feeling. The burden of caring. Let me help.”

Grace tried to lift her sword arm. Managed about three inches before giving up.

[This is bad. This is very, very bad.]

“You’re strong,” the Void observed. “Most collapse by now. But strength is just another burden. Another thing to maintain. To prove. To doubt.”

“Shut up.”

“Why? Does my voice trouble you? Another feeling to release.”

Grace’s legs gave out. She hit the ground hard, knees cracking against stone she couldn’t see. The pain felt distant. Unimportant.

[Get up. Get up get up get up.]

She didn’t.

“There. Better. Soon you’ll be like the others. Quiet. Still. Free from the endless cycle of want and disappointment.”

The Void knelt beside her. Up close, the absence was worse.

“I’ll make it gentle. You’ve carried such weight. Let me take it.”

A hand that wasn’t reached for her face.

Grace bit her tongue. Hard. The pain sparked through the numbness, brief but real.

[Fuck this.]

She threw herself backward. Not gracefully. Not heroically. She basically fell over and rolled, but it got her away from that not-hand.

“Annoying,” the Void said.

Grace kept rolling. Direction didn’t matter. Away mattered. Her body protested every movement, but adrenaline and spite made excellent motivators.

[Can’t see. Can’t fight. Can barely move. Time for the ancient angel technique of running away.]

She hit a wall. Actual stone. Real and solid and not made of existential dread. Grace hauled herself up and felt along it, searching for an opening.

“You can’t escape,” the Void said, still in that same patient tone. “The darkness goes on forever.”

“Watch me.”

Grace’s hand found empty space. A tunnel. She dove through, half-crawling, half-stumbling. Behind her, the Void sighed.

“Very well. Struggle. It makes the surrender sweeter.”

Grace ran. Or tried to. Her limbs felt disconnected, like she was piloting her body through remote control with serious lag. The darkness pressed in, but regular darkness now. Not the aggressive nothing of the Void’s chamber.

[Just keep moving. One foot. Other foot. Don’t think about how pointless this is.]

Light appeared ahead. Actual light. Grace had never been so happy to see beige in her life.

She burst out of the cave and immediately faceplanted in the dirt.

“Ow.”

Grace lay there, cheek pressed to the ground, watching dust motes dance in the afternoon sun. They looked bored.

[I should get up.]

She didn’t.

[This is probably bad.]

Still didn’t.

[The Void’s effect. Still in my system. Need to… something. Do something.]

But the dirt was surprisingly comfortable. And moving seemed like so much work.

—

“Graaaaace!”

A weight landed on her back. Specifically, Alia’s weight.

“Found you! Why’re you lying in the dirt? Is it comfy? Ooh, it is kinda comfy.”

Grace managed to turn her head. Alia grinned down at her, cheeks flushed, breath smelling like whoever’s entire wine supply she’d raided.

“Alia. Get off.”

“Nope! You look sad. Sad Grace needs cuddles. You know what you need?”

“For you to get off me?”

“Kisses!”

Before Grace could protest, Alia’s mouth was on hers.

It should have been awkward. Grace in the dirt, Alia sprawled on top of her, both of them probably looking ridiculous. But Alia kissed with the same enthusiasm she did everything else. Fully committed, zero hesitation, probably too much tongue.

Grace’s thoughts scattered. The heavy emptiness cracked, just a little. Warmth seeped through.

[Oh. That’s… that’s nice actually.]

Alia pulled back, grinning.

“Better?”

Grace blinked. The world looked sharper. Colors more vivid. The crushing weight had lifted to merely uncomfortable.

“I… yeah. Actually.”

“See? Kisses fix everything.” Alia rolled off her and sat cross-legged in the dirt. “Why were you lying here anyway?”

“I… met the Void.”

“Oh. How’d that go?”

“It tried to steal all my feelings away.”

“Rude.” Alia swayed slightly. “Did you fight it?”

“Couldn’t. It made me too heavy.”

“Like the Mountain?”

“No, like… emotional heavy. Existential heavy. ’What’s the point of anything’ heavy.”

Alia nodded sagely.

“That’s why I don’t think about things.”

“That’s your solution? Don’t think?”

“Works for me!” She patted Grace’s head. “You think too much. Gets you in trouble.”

[She’s not wrong.]

Grace pushed herself up to sitting. Her limbs still felt sluggish, but manageable. The cave entrance loomed in her peripheral vision, patient and dark.

“Where are the others?”

“Zephyr’s showing off to some very bored villagers. Mara’s trying to heal people who insist they’re fine.” Alia giggled. “She looks so frustrated. It’s adorable.”

“And you’ve been?”

“Drinking! This place has surprisingly good wine. Probably because no one else drinks it. They just stare at it all sad-like.”

Grace stood, wobbling only slightly.

“I should find them. Tell them what happened.”

“Or,” Alia suggested, wriggling her brows, “we could make out more.”

“Tempting, but—”

A familiar chime rang in Grace’s head. The System notification appeared, floating in her vision like an accusation.

[Quest Received: Fill the Emptiness]

[Objective: ????]

[Reward: ????]

[Time Limit: Before the Void consumes all]

Grace stared at it.

“Uh, Grace? You okay? You’re making a different face now.”

[Fill the emptiness? What does that even mean? Fill it with what? Where? How?]

The notification offered no additional information. Just floated there, smugly unhelpful.

“Grace?”

“I’m fine. Just… processing.”

“Don’t process too hard. Your brain might leak out your ears.”

Grace looked back at the cave. Then at Alia, who was drawing patterns in the dirt with intense concentration. Then at the notification that refused to elaborate.

[Fill the emptiness. Right. Super helpful, Eternia. Thanks for the specific instructions.]

“Come on,” Grace said, hauling Alia to her feet. “Let’s find the others. I need to tell them I met a cosmic representation of depression and barely escaped with my ability to feel things.”

“Ooh, story time! I love stories.” Alia latched onto Grace’s arm. “Was it scary?”

“Terrifying.”

“Did you try fucking it?”

“No, Alia.”

“Why not? Worked before.”

“…” Grace blinked. “I hate that you’re right.”

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