The first thing Vivian did after getting her bearings was rush to the stone heart and look it over. Pulling it out of the ground, she found that, aside from a few clods of dirt clinging to it, it was exactly the same as before. Relieved that there was no damage, she brushed off the dirt with her hands and held the stone heart high, allowing the sun to light it up.
No Void? Vivian cocked her head, examining the perfectly pristine sky. Every world has the Void easily visible at this point…
She looked around, finding no sight of her friends—or anybody, for that matter. All she found was her hat, which she quickly scooped up and dusted off. Realizing she had nowhere to store the stone heart, she stuffed it into her hat, making it bulge. At least I have my hands free now, she thought as she set the hat on her head. Heavier than normal, but not in danger of falling off. A benefit of wearing it low, like she usually did.
Taking a few minutes to clean her bangs and get the most offensive sticks out of her hair, she found herself thinking deeply. Could this be someplace outside the Void’s influence? I think Data talked about a wider multiverse theory at some point, but… how did I get here, then? She scratched her chin. Or, I could be in Aslan’s Country, though Caspian said you usually only go there when you’re dead.
Oh.
Vivian certainly didn’t feel dead, but she did remember Dimentio showing up and things getting… explosive. It hadn’t hurt, but then again, did people ever remember the pain of their death? She’d have to ask around about that. If she actually was dead.
She quickly resolved to test the “dead” theory. No matter where she was, if she was already dead, she shouldn’t be able to feel pain, or at least, not get injured. What kind of afterlife would let you get injured? She pinched herself and felt it—but quickly realized a slight stinging sensation didn’t really qualify as actual pain. Perhaps she could drop the stone heart on her head to test that?
I suddenly feel like I’m being very, very stupid.
Once again, she looked around. “Hello?” She called, hands to her mouth. “Anyone out there?” Someone else could help me figure out what’s going on. “Hello?”
She got no response, but she did hear a rustling in the bushes behind her. Turning, she made sure to keep up her gentle smile. “...Hello? Don’t worry, I don’t bite. I’m just lost.”
A man in full plate armor rose out of the bushes—human, and with many scars across his face. His sword was impressive, but covered in blood that had dried on it long ago. This, coupled with his look of absolute rage, told her a few things.
One, there was most definitely pain and injury here.
Two, she wasn’t dead.
Three, she was about to be if she didn’t act fast.
“Die, daemon scum!” The man shouted, slashing his sword at her.
“Eep!” She ducked into the ground, becoming nothing more than a shadow in the dirt. The man wasn’t smart enough to realize she had become the shadow—and he wouldn’t have been able to do anything even if he had figured it out, since shadows couldn’t be touched.
Moving his head from side to side, the man’s jaw tightened. “Clever blighter…” On edge, he moved out of the clearing and back into the forest. Vivian was able to move with him since she hadn’t taken anyone into the shadow with her, making sure she remained within his shadow so as not to draw attention.
He said nothing the entire way, but he was always on edge, as though the forest itself wanted to kill him. For all Vivian knew, it might. She was glad that she could hide in the darkness all she wanted, it made things a lot easier for her.
Her suspicions were confirmed when a humanoid monster burst out from behind a tree and swung an axe at the man. The man twirled with amazing grace, embedding his sword in the thick-furred chest of the bull-headed thing. The beast’s axe fell to the ground while the man swung his leg into the beast’s side, knocking it over. In one fell plunge of the sword, it was over.
In her shadowy form, Vivian shivered. This world was a lot less welcoming than the previous ones she’d visited. She hoped she didn’t have to stay long.
Eventually, the man burst out of the forest onto a dirt road. “Finally…” He didn’t sheathe his sword, but he visibly relaxed. After checking the positions of the sun and moons, he set off down the road.
Vivian decided to let him go. Now that she had some idea of where to go, there was no need to hang around someone who wanted to slice her in half. When he was out of her sight, she popped out of the ground and stretched her arms out. She started lazily drifting along the road in the direction he went.
This went on for hours. Just her, alone, drifting along an empty forest road without a soul in sight. She hadn’t even seen any signs of civilization besides the road itself. Looking down, she couldn’t even see any footprints of the man she was supposedly following.
Slowly, she realized that she’d never been adventuring alone before. She’d always been with Beldam, or Mario, or Twilight, or somebody. Never in her life had she been left completely to her own devices.
No, don’t cry. You’re doing fine. You have the Heart and you have a goal. You already burned down a forest once—you don’t need to do it again.
With a renewed smile, she continued forward with vigor. Shortly thereafter, she saw the smoke trains indicative of a town nearby. Getting excited, she picked up the pace, and sure enough, she could just make out a town up ahead. Finally.
To her immense dismay, the moment she got close enough to be seen, the people started shooting arrows at her. With a resigned sigh, she dropped into the ground and moved forward as a shadow, passing under their armored feet.
“...You sure that was a daemon out there?”
“Sure as me mum!”
“I’m pretty sure daemons aren't real, musta just been an ugly beastman.”
“A purple beastman?”
“I’ve seen weirder.”
Vivian continued along, entering the town proper as her little, innocuous shadowy self. She found that it was inhabited entirely by humans, most of whom were poor and tired looking, not to mention dirty. Was there even a bath in this town, or was it all just dirt and grime?
She passed by the river that ran through the town’s edge—an ugly, brown thing that Vivian didn’t want to touch, let alone bathe in. There were a few old, grizzled men sitting on the dock and pulling out very sad-looking fish that flopped into a rusty bucket. Their faces were rather despondent and forlorn, like most of the people in this town.
The buildings themselves were worn down, patchwork jobs made from substandard wood, imperfect glass, and covered in weeds. It was just sad, really, how decrepit this entire place was.
The worst part was the graveyard. There were a lot more stones in that field than people in the town. Most of them looked rather recent, and hastily thrown together at that. No wonder everyone was acting like they had very little to live for.
She was starting to get hungry—and tired, to boot. She could go without food for a while, but she needed to find a place to sleep before the sun went down. Trying to travel while half-asleep didn’t seem like a good idea in this world.
Setting out, she found a large barn near the edge of town. Cautiously, she made her way under the doors, finding it to be largely abandoned, without a single animal. However, the hay was fresh, and it was piled so high she couldn’t see through it in her shadowy form. She popped up, glancing around with mild interest. A ton of hay. That’s all that was in here, covering every square foot of the floor. It was relatively fresh, too.
It would be comfy enough to lie on and sleep, though if anyone came in while she was sleeping… She was just going to have to hope hiding under the hay would work well. Before she could completely shroud herself, however, the doors to the barn flew open.
“Eep!” Vivian ducked into the shadows, her vision obscured by hay once more.
“Hey, hey…” a calm, soothing voice came to her ears. “I don’t wish to harm you. Please, don’t be afraid.”
Cautiously, Vivian rose from the shadows, rubbing her hands together nervously. “You… you’re not going to try to cut my head off? You don’t think I’m a monster?”
The man she was speaking to was old, with a long white beard and a gnarled, twisted face. However, unlike everyone else she had seen so far, he was smiling. Despite his ugly appearance, she actually found his demeanor rather soothing.
Vivian smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m… I’m Vivian, and I’m very lost.”
“They call me Old Man Richardson. But you can call me Rich.” He waved a hand. “Come, the barn is no place for a young lady like yourself to sleep. I have a couch you can use.”
Vivian clasped her hands together. “Oh, thank you! I don’t know how to repay you!”
“Just come to breakfast in the morning and enjoy yourself!” Rich chuckled. “Follow me.”
Vivian followed him—though she dipped into the ground as a shadow as soon as they went outside.
“How marvelous,” Rich said, chuckling. “This way.” His house was not far. Like all the other buildings, it was in a place of disrepair, but it showed some signs of being tended to. The bushes outside were cut into the shape of spheres and the front door had an actual welcome mat.
Once inside, Vivian popped out of the ground. The house was dark, and a little damp, but it was homey. There was a soot-filled fireplace, a small bookshelf only a third full of books, and a few chairs littered around a table. The couch in question was in surprisingly good condition, considering where the man lived. Not a scratch on the dark green piece of furniture.
“I hope it is to your satisfaction?” Rich asked.
“Better than hay,” Vivian said, flopping onto the couch. “Thanks again. Can’t wait for breakfast!”
“Neither can I.”