The way Seulgi had described the test into the second world, was through battling the projection of a loved one. If one had powers, everything would go smoothly and the spell would be easily broken. 

What Seoyeon’s eyes landed on once her body crossed the border, was an endless path of shallow water, shallow enough for her to walk on. It reflected perfectly the blue daylight-sky above her, painted with a few spare clouds here and there. The water was clear and smooth, and hadn’t it been for the liquid submerging her boots, she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the sky and the surface. 

It was a strange place. 

A void. Empty. Horrifyingly so. It didn’t feel natural. There wasn’t a sound, not even a smell. Even in the most undisturbed places like forests, one would still smell the bark and fresh pine, and hear birds chirping or leaves rustling. There was none of that there. Not even the water made a sound as she walked in it, and not one second passed in where she didn’t want to get out as soon as possible. Besides, she was still shaken up from the events a little while prior. There was no telling how Kyungsoo was doing other than the fact that it was anything but fine. 

A sudden jolt broke her train of thoughts, sending her flying down in the water. Seoyeon groaned in pain, but froze still at the sound of footsteps. That must’ve been the test. 

She looked up, shocked to find Chen walking in her direction. It made sense, but it sure wasn’t what she had been expecting. 

What creeped her out even more was the fact that he didn’t have a neutral or knowing expression, no. His eyes were wide and lips parted in shock, like seeing her there was the most surprising revelation of his life. And it shouldn’t have been possible, because this was a spell, a mere projection. Why did it look scared to see her?

Seoyeon got back up on her feet, taking a few wary steps back as Chen only got closer, stretching an uncertain hand in her direction. 

”You’re finally here,” he said. Or, well, not he, but someone, or rather something else. 

Because the voice that spoke was not one of a man. It was of a woman. A dark, soothing voice, but it was unmistakably one of a woman, and certainly not Chen’s voice. Was this normal? Was this supposed to happen? Seulgi hadn’t said anything about female voices. 

Seoyeon put all her doubts aside and decided that something was definitely wrong once his figure glitched, one, two, multiple times before the queen’s warm stare was lingering on hers. The woman walked closer to her, and she helplessly fell back -first on the water, feeling a cold, dreadful feeling creep up in . She was always one to act in life threatening situations, but right that moment, she felt completely frozen. 

But before the queen’s hand could touch hers, she glitched again until Kyungsoo was the one standing in front of her; eyes intense like they always were, unlocking the key to her soul with the mere rich color of his eyes. His head tilted sideways, almost as if he was inspecting her curiously. Seoyeon was breathing hard, feeling her limbs grow to stone under his scrutiny. 

But alas, Kyungsoo glitched too. And now, the figure wasn’t really the apparition of a human anymore, it was this…amber colored orb, that kept shifting between various people of importance in her life. 

And then it stopped, like it had finally found its host. But the woman that appeared before her wasn’t anyone close to her. It wasn’t anyone she directly recognised, but perhaps it was what scared her the most. 

Because the woman standing before her had a crown of long, golden hair, cascading like powerful waves over her shoulders. The crown she was wearing was unmistakable, and no less was the sunset colored gem nestled at its centre. Her eyes looked kind, and her graceful smile made her feel safe. 

It was the woman painted on the wall in the underground tunnel. It was no doubt her. 

Crouching down to Seoyeon’s level, the woman’s smile grows softer as she extends her hand towards her face. 

”There can finally be hope again,” she said, and the second her warm hand cupped her face, Seoyeon’s body plunged in the water—that seemed to have grown several meters deep—watching helplessly as the woman tilted her head in wonder from up on the surface. 

She fell and fell, until everything went pitch black and her breath started running short. It was beginning to become hard to even tell what felt real and what was real, until a small light came in view. 

The light eventually grew stronger and bigger, until it was all Seoyeon could see, forcing her to shut her eyes. 

And then, she was suddenly back on the shallow surface, eyes glazed with the blue artificial sky above her. She immediately shot up, looking left and right for the woman, but to no avail. She was completely alone again, breathing heavily and wondering if what had just happened was even real at all. 

But then she heard it one more time. Footsteps. Distant, but they were there. Seoyeon didn’t dare to turn around and face whoever it was, but a part of her told her that the real test was now beginning for real. 

The footsteps grew louder as the spell got closer and closer to where she was sitting. 

There were a lot of things that had happened in a matter of minutes ever since she entered the dimension, but nothing, nothing could have prepared her for the person standing in front of her once she turned around. 

It was someone close to her, yes. 

It was someone she had cared for, yes. 

And yet, it was the one she truly least expected. 

*********

It wasn’t natural. 

Nothing about the place Kyungsoo found himself in, felt natural as he walked aimlessly around in it. 

He would have expected the water to make a sound as his boots stepped in it, but there was nothing. Just the emptily deafening sound of his own thoughts. Of Seoyeon’s words, and of questions. Because there was nothing about his past that he understood anymore. 

A bit of time passed - he could not tell how much, but after a while there was the sound of footsteps behind him. 

As he turned around, the very first thing he laid eyes on was his own mother, dressed in the same beautiful silk dress covered with golden damask she had worn that night. She was wearing the same jewels around her hands, collarbone and hair, but the warm smile that would usually adorn her face was nowhere to be seen. She looked surprised, as if the fact that he was standing there was peculiar. 

She stretched out her hand to touch his face, but he flinched back the second her finger brushed his cheekbone, emitting a shaky breath. This was just a spell. This wasn’t real. 

And yet, she had looked so real. And perhaps that was what hurt the most. Because she was so close, and yet so horrifyingly unreachable. A lump formed in his throat, so thick and heavy it made it hard to breathe. 

Kyungsoo frowned when he saw the queen’s figure twitch lightly, before she tilted her head sidew