The night was pale and restless. A thin layer of mist clung to the ground as Victor wandered into the forest beyond Everglot. He held his vow book tightly, the ink still smudged from nervous hands.
He only wanted peace - a place where no one could correct his trembling words or tell him how to stand, how to breathe, how to be.
The forest gave him that. It was quiet. Almost too quiet.
Every branch creaked like old bones. The moonlight spilled across the roots like spilled milk, and the cold air pressed against his chest.
Victor took a deep breath and whispered the words he'd been practising all day.
"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows…"
He hesitated, then smiled faintly at his own reflection in the dark. It wasn't perfect, but at least the trees didn't scold him.
"Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine.
With this candle, I will light your way in darkness.
With this ring…"
He looked down. A thin branch curled up from the ground, shaped almost like a hand reaching toward him. The fingers twisted and frozen — pale, bare, and eerily delicate.
Victor chuckled softly. "You'll do," he said, sliding the ring onto one of the long, bony fingers.
The wind stilled.
The forest went silent.
Then — a whisper. Soft at first. Like the earth breathing.
The hand twitched.
Victor stumbled back, eyes wide. The ground split slightly, soil shifting as if something below was waking up. The trees bent, their shadows dancing around him.
A voice, faint and broken, drifted from beneath the earth.
"You... you set me free…"
Before Victor could run, the hand — the dead hand — gripped his wrist with cold strength.
A figure rose from the ground — a bride, her skin pale as moonlight, her wedding gown torn and faded with years. Her eyes glowed faintly blue, sorrowful yet kind.
Victor gasped. "I—I didn't mean—"
The woman stepped closer, tilting her head as if remembering something.
"You made a vow… and I accept."
Her lips curved into the faintest smile.
The ring gleamed faintly on her finger — his ring.
And before Victor could speak again, the world around him fell away — swallowed by darkness, then replaced by colours he'd never seen before.
The underworld.
Alive with death.