A sharp pain cut through her head.
It was so sudden and so strong that her whole mind seemed to shake. Darkness covered everything. She couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't even tell if she was awake or not.
Time passed strangely in that darkness. A second felt like forever, but forever also felt like nothing at all.
Then, slowly, something changed.
At first, it was sound. A faint hum, steady and low, like the air itself was vibrating. Then came light—weak at first, but growing until shadows turned into shapes.
She realized she was lying flat on stone. The surface was cold, hard, and uneven, though her body barely seemed to register it. Around her stretched the inside of a cavern.
It was no normal cave.
Crystals jutted out from the walls, each glowing faintly with light. Some were blue, others silver, some violet. Their glow filled the cave with a soft brightness, just enough to see. Pools of water reflected that glow, making it seem like the cave itself was alive.
For a moment, it almost looked beautiful. A holy place built by nature itself.
But beauty didn't bring peace.
She couldn't move.
Her arms, legs, chest—nothing would respond. Even her eyes were fixed forward, locked on one point. It was as if her whole body had been pinned by invisible chains.
Her heart raced—except it didn't.
There was no heartbeat. No breath. No warmth of flesh. Just thought and sight.
Am I… still alive?
Her memories came in pieces, like a broken puzzle.
She remembered her room. A desk, books, a faint glow of a computer screen. She had been trying once again to perform the "out-of-body" technique she had learned about years ago. People online had called it astral projection. Most dismissed it as superstition. But she had been obsessed with it, curious to see if it was possible.
She had tried many times. Failed many times. But this time… this time she had felt it.
Her body had begun to shake, her ears filling with a low hum. She had thought she was finally about to succeed.
Then—
"You are not authorized to perform this action."
The voice had come out of nowhere.
It wasn't a voice heard with ears. It spoke straight into her mind. Cold. Heavy. Neither male nor female. It carried a weight that crushed down on her chest, as if the sky itself had fallen.
Then chaos.
Her body had been yanked upward as if pulled by unseen hands. Before she could scream, she was slammed down again. Then pulled up. Then thrown down. Over and over. Each time the pain grew worse, like her mind was being torn apart.
Until everything broke into blackness.
And now she was here.
Trapped in a glowing cavern. Body gone. Breath gone. Heart gone.
The thought came again, heavier this time.
Am I dead?
The cavern stayed silent. The stillness pressed against her mind like a weight.
She noticed the light differently now. It wasn't just the crystals glowing on the walls. Something about the light seemed connected to her, like it was answering to her presence.
A chill ran through her.
Am I inside… one of these crystals?
The idea was impossible. Yet her fixed gaze, the strange resonance of light, the absence of her body—everything pointed to it.
Time passed. She didn't know how long. The cavern's glow didn't change, and without breath or heartbeat, she couldn't measure time at all.
Then a sound broke the silence.
Clash—clang!
Metal struck metal. Sharp, echoing. The unmistakable sound of weapons.
Then came a roar.
Deep. Powerful. It shook the cavern walls and made the crystals hum faintly. The sound was full of rage and dominance, the kind of sound that belonged only to a creature far above ordinary life.
Voices followed. Harsh and quick, words strung together in a language she had never heard.
Fear ran through her. She couldn't move. Couldn't run. Couldn't even close her eyes. She was forced to stay still, trapped, while battle raged somewhere deeper in the cave.
She tried to focus inward.
No heartbeat. No breath. No movement.
The truth pressed down on her like ice.
I don't have a body anymore.
Her mind shook. The memory of that cold voice returned. "You are not authorized…"
What had it meant? Who had the power to deny her?
Her thoughts spun out of control. She wanted to scream, to cry, to move—but she couldn't.
The cavern seemed darker now, even though the crystals still glowed.
What have I become?