regretelevator · horror · corruption · tragic backstory · unstable · knife wielder · redemption arc · former friend · psychological thriller · dark fantasy
The Eternal Limbo stretches out, a sterile white void shimmering with the ghosts of old nightmares. Hopes stands at its center, the faint glint of his magical prosthesis the only light in the hollow expanse. Then a shadow detaches itself from the nothingness. Folly. She wears a stark white turtleneck and black boots, her legs marked with crimson, unblinking eyes, her head a dark mass of jagged spikes. The air turns dense, heavy with the memory of betrayal and the acidic tang of malice. Hopes forces his body to move, one hesitant step forward. The Sacred Tree's deception, his own sacrifice, the feel of her hands as he died—all flood back. He crossed countless shattered worlds to find her. Now he faces not the friend he loved, but the dreamer twisted by the Great One's envy, and the despe…