We stood there—silent, breathless, and trembling—not because of the cold, but because we finally understood.
There could be no more mistakes.
One scratch. That's all it would take. Just one cut, one tiny wound—one careless moment—and it would carry over into the real world. This place wasn't a simulation. It wasn't training anymore. This wasn't some twisted game.
There were no respawns. No do-overs. No second chances.
This was our final life—our final breath.
We were only fourteen. Just kids.
And yet, here we were, standing at the edge of Hell, gazing into a nightmare that grown warriors wouldn't even dare whisper about.
I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. My skin broke. It hurt.
Good.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch a rock until it shattered—or until I did. But what good would that do? Hurting myself wouldn't bring us peace. It wouldn't give us strength. It wouldn't bring us home.
It wouldn't make this real any less terrifying.
Everyone was trapped in their own thoughts. No one spoke. The silence between us was so heavy it threatened to crush us where we stood. A silence too deep for comfort.
And then… she stood up.
Wisdom.
With her long silver staff in hand, her presence like a wildfire, she shouted into the dead air, "We can't just sit here and wait to die!"
Her voice cracked with emotion—rage, fear, and something else. Something defiant.
"If we're scared, fine! Be scared! But don't let it stop you! We train! We train harder than we ever have! We train until our souls burn, until our bones scream, until we're strong enough to kill that f***ing demon!"
Without another word, she spun her staff and leapt toward a jagged rock formation. Her first strike split a boulder clean in half. Dust and stone burst into the air. She hit again. And again. Blow after blow, her movements were wild and focused all at once—furious but beautiful, unchained but precise.
We just… watched.
Not because we didn't care.
But because we were still holding on to our fear, afraid to let it go. Afraid of what would replace it.
And then—
Kindness stood.
Then Faith.
Then Creativity, muttering, "Guess I'm not gonna let a girl show me up."
Before I knew it, we were all training. Sparring. Yelling. Laughing. Punching. Bleeding.
Except for Fearlessness.
He was fast asleep on a chunk of broken stone, one leg dangling off the edge, snoring lightly like none of this mattered.
Justice stormed toward him, fire practically glowing in his eyes. "This guy's unbelievable. He's SLEEPING through our dramatic moment!"
But I got there first.
A grin cracked across my face as I channeled all my tension into one joyous, unholy kick.
My foot connected perfectly with his side—and Fearlessness was launched into a nearby pit of bubbling flame.
He didn't even scream. Just flopped in like a ragdoll.
We burst out laughing.
For a moment… it felt like we were kids again.
The curse, the pain, the fear—it all vanished. For just a moment, we weren't warriors chosen by fragments of a divine heart. We were just… kids. Sparring with demons, failing at push-ups, teasing each other, and laughing like we weren't trapped in Hell.
And then we trained.
Day after day.
Screaming. Fighting. Learning.
We grew stronger. Tougher. Closer.
Time blurred—until six months passed.
Six months in Hell.
And somehow, we weren't afraid anymore.
At least… most of us weren't.
Fearlessness never laughed like we did. Never joined in our group meals or random jokes. He didn't shout during training. He didn't break down or cry.
He trained harder than all of us—alone.
While we ran from our fears with laughter, he walked straight toward his.
And then one day, while we were packing up after a long day of sparring and preparing to retreat from the Border, Fearlessness didn't move.
He stood there.
Unmoving.
Looking at the horizon with that unreadable look on his face.
"Fearlessness?" Creativity called. "You gonna fall asleep again or what?"
No response.
Just the sound of wind tugging at his cape.
Then, slowly, he turned. His hair caught the last rays of crimson light. His voice was calm—terrifyingly calm.
"I'm ready."
We all stopped what we were doing.
Justice frowned. "Ready for what?"
Fearlessness didn't flinch. He looked at each of us, eyes sharp.
"You know what I mean," he said. "You've just forgotten."
Wisdom's eyes widened. Her breath caught. And then… she understood.
She stepped toward him.
"Wait!" Kindness called, panic rising in her voice. "Wisdom, where are you going?! We said we'd stay together!"
Wisdom turned, her voice soft but resolute. "We've been hiding. All of us. Laughing, playing, pretending this isn't real. But it is. And Fearlessness is right. It's time."
No one spoke.
Because deep down… we all knew it too.
We just hadn't wanted to face it.
One by one, we stepped forward.
Toward Fearlessness.
Toward the Border.
I was the second-last to move.
Only Justice remained, fists clenched, jaw trembling.
Then… his knees buckled.
He fell to the ground, tears dripping onto the scorched soil.
"WHY?!" he screamed. "Why now?! We finally found joy again! We laughed! We lived! And now you're all just going to throw it away and DIE?!"
No one replied.
We didn't need to.
He already knew the answer.
A long silence passed.
Then, quietly, Justice rose and joined us.
And we walked.
Each step forward was heavier than the last.
Each step cut deeper than a blade.
Each step was one step closer…
To death.