Chapter 2: This Princess Barely Avoids Going to Hell

There was a sound like the gentle clinking of metal.

Aeli felt her eyelids crack open, but only darkness greeted her. She blinked once. Twice. Still, the world around her remained black as night. Her mind was sluggish, as if waking from a very long sleep.

She was lying on her side in the middle of this expanse of nothingness. As she moved to sit up, she startled at the sight of her own body–or rather, the lack of sight. She lifted a hand in front of her face and waved it back and forth, seeing nothing at all.

Aeli sat in a daze for a few moments before suddenly shooting upright, her hands flying to her neck. No blood or open flesh met her fingertips, and she released a rattling breath.

Had it been a dream? Was it even possible for her mind to conjure such a wretched nightmare?

She rubbed her neck warily. Then her hands froze as she felt something strange—a thin line tracing the length of her throat.

Like a scar.

Goosebumps rose on her arms.

This couldn’t be possible. It had been just a dream, hadn’t it? Perhaps even now she was still asleep. This thought gave her just enough courage to stand and peer out into the surrounding blackness.

In the distance, she could just make out thousands of tiny blue lights scattered across the darkness like stars. She watched them for a few moments before realizing they were actually moving! They bobbed up and down as they glided through the darkness, like lanterns held by thousands of silent travelers.

Were there truly other people in this strange place?

Aeli stepped towards them, only to hear the clinking of metal below her. She looked down to see a thin silver chain beneath her feet—or at least where her feet should’ve been. At the end of the chain was a familiar opal pendant, shining brilliantly in the darkness.

How had this ended up here?!

Aeli frantically patted the space between her collarbones, noticing for the first time that something was missing. She’d worn this necklace nearly every day since she was six years old. The empress dowager had gifted it to her after her parents passed away, saying it was made from rare crystal opal from the agate mines in the southern lands. This opal was said to have been used by the southern tribes for thousands of years to heal afflictions of the heart.

Even in her dreams, Aeli could never imagine being without it. She picked up the necklace and returned it to its rightful place around her neck, feeling more at ease with the familiar weight lying against her chest.

She continued on towards the lights in the distance with a bit more confidence.

“Is anyone out there?” she called, her voice echoing out across the darkness. “I fell asleep in my palanquin and now I’m having a terrible dream. Someone must know how to help me wake up!”

At the sound of her voice, the floating blue lights suddenly halted in their tracks. Aeli, too, came to a stop, scratching her head as she glanced around.

Why had they all stopped moving?

Then, all at once, the lights scattered in every direction. One by one, the lights began to disappear from sight, leaving large patches of open darkness in their wake.

Aeli’s heart leapt in her throat.

“Wait!” she cried, running after them. “Don’t leave! I need help!”

But still the lights continued to blink out of sight, growing fewer and fewer until only a handful remained.

“I’m telling you to stop!” she yelled between panting breaths. “My uncle is the emperor! If you help me, you’ll be rewarded handsomely!”

By the time she finished saying these words, almost all the lights had vanished. She came to a stop, panting as she spun in a circle to scan the darkness.

There! One more light remained!

Aeli raced after the light, but it seemed determined to shake her off. It zigged and zagged across the vast darkness, leading her in circles until her head spun. She eventually lost her footing, sprawling forward and landing heavily on her face.

She raised her head to see the light leaving her far behind. Her nose began to sting as tears welled up in her eyes, and soon her choked sobs turned into pitiful wails. She held the opal pendant tightly with both hands, crying until her voice was hoarse and her face was damp with tears and snot.

“Please wake up,” she whispered to herself, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “Please wake up. Please wake up. Please wake up.”

“You won’t be able to wake up, I’m afraid,” a voice spoke suddenly.

Aeli’s head snapped up, stunned to see that the light she’d been chasing had actually come back! It turned out the light was in fact just a small blue flame, floating in the air just inches from her face. It bobbed up and down lazily, its body giving off a faint chill.

Aeli glanced around to find the person who’d spoken, but it seemed she was the only person in this strange place. Turning back to the flame, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to touch it.

“If you touch me, you’ll be sent straight to hell,” the same voice spoke, seemingly from within the flame.

Aeli ripped her hand back, holding it against her chest.

“Ah, so you can talk!” she said, feeling a sliver of hope. “Do you know how I can leave this place? Can you help me wake up?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” the flame responded. “You can’t wake up. This is the crossroads of the afterlife.”

Aeli froze. “The afterlife? Then that means…”

“You’re dead,” the flame confirmed. “Dead as a doornail.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Aeli began to wail once more.

“I–I can’t be dead!” she sobbed. “I’m engaged! The wedding is in two months!”

“Don’t blame me,” the flame said. “I’m not the one who took your life. I’m just your spirit guide.”

Aeli’s lip trembled as she began to hiccup pitifully.

“Spirit g–guide?” she repeated. “So you’re here to help me after all? Then w–why were you running away from me?”

The flame somehow managed to look indifferent. “To be quite frank, I was hoping not to be assigned to your case. It’s rather…troublesome.”

“Troublesome?”

“It’s related to your karmic debt,” the flame explained. “More precisely, your bloodline’s karmic debt. You see, your family has ruled over the Iovran Empire for generations, conquering, slaughtering, and enslaving. As you can guess, the karmic debt is astronomical. Perhaps the largest in history, and most certainly the biggest I’ve ever seen. Impressive, really. Under normal circumstances, you and the rest of your family would be sent straight to hell. Honestly, I don’t know why the universe is bothering with you at all.”

Aeli was stunned.

“That can’t be right!” she argued. “My family works hard to take care of the people! My uncle even lowers taxes on good harvest years!”

The flame: ...

“And he lets the servants rest on every tenth day!”

“...”

“And my grandmother always has the imperial kitchens send our leftovers to the poor! And—”

The flame suddenly flared up, making Aeli shrink backwards.

“You, princess, are spoiled and ignorant,” the flame crackled. “Perhaps your family’s greatest sin was raising such an ignorant girl who cannot see the cruelty of the world her family has created. And yet, you are being offered a mercy you don’t deserve—a choice. You can either seek redemption, or be cast down into hell. Take your pick.”

Aeli’s tears had dried up, replaced by a twisting feeling in her stomach. She stared blankly at the flame. No one had ever spoken to her like this before, and it left her at a loss. She wanted to continue to argue, but the flame’s words rattled around in her head.

A choice. Redemption or hell.

Wasn’t this choice too obvious?!

“Of course I choose redemption!” she said, glaring up at the flame. Fear still churned in her chest, but beneath it was a steady determination. “I’ll prove to you that I’m not so spoiled or ignorant. Then you’ll have to apologize to me and my family for the slanderous words you’ve spoken today!”

If the flame could roll its eyes, it would’ve done so a dozen times by now.

“You think redemption will be so simple? It’s easy to stain silk, and much more difficult to wash it clean.”

Aeli frowned, thinking for a moment.

“Then I’d just buy a new roll of silk,” she said simply. “See, I’m good at resolving these sorts of issues. Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it!”

The flame: ...

“Alright, whatever. Listen closely,” it instructed seriously. “Your spirit will return to the land of the living to make right what has been wronged. You must complete the missions assigned to you without fail. Only then can you avoid your fate in hell. Do you understand?”

Aeli nodded earnestly, gripping the opal pendant at her chest. “I’m ready!”

“Wonderful,” the flame sighed. “Let us begin.”

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Author’s Note:

Let the journey begin!

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