I collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to take off my coat.
Between the whispers of madmen and the Bishop's last words echoing in my head from the day prior...
"He will unite us… under the Prophet…"
I didn't even have the energy to be paranoid.
Who the hell was this Prophet?
And why did that word leave a knot in my gut?
I didn't have the answers. Not yet.
Sleep took me before I could think too hard about it.
---
The first thing I noticed was the cold.
Not biting or painful - but the kind that reminded you you weren't awake anymore.
My eyes opened to darkness. Pure black. Infinite. The kind of nothing that stretched forever in every direction, like I was floating in ink.
Then I looked down.
The same wooden chair as last time held me still, leather bindings wrapped snugly around my wrists and ankles. I couldn't move. Not that it mattered anymore. I already knew where I was.
The birdcage.
It hovered in the void, suspended by nothing and surrounded by more of it. Black skies. No ground. No stars. Just shadow - and her.
Charlotte.
She was lounging across a curved bone-white chaise, wrapped in a faint shimmer of silk and velvet, her red-pink hair cascading down her back like wildfire in water. Her eyes, the exact same color as her hair, gleamed in the darkness like dying embers. She looked more like a goddess than anything human, one leg lazily draped over the side of the chair, popping grapes into her mouth like a bored empress.
"Back so soon," she purred. "I must be your favorite."
I tugged lightly against the restraints, more out of habit than hope.
"You summoned me again," I muttered.
"You fell asleep," she replied, smiling. "I was merciful enough to wait this time."
"Nice of you."
"I'm a gracious host. You should learn from me."
I sighed. "So what is it this time? More vague riddles? Existential threats? Or did you just miss me?"
She stretched with a feline laziness and gave a mock gasp. "I was bored. But maybe a little of all three."
I watched her for a moment. "...This place."
She tilted her head.
"This cage. What is it, exactly?" I asked. "Why does it always look the same? And why… why a cage?"
Charlotte's smile lingered, but her eyes grew a touch more thoughtful.
"It's your spiritual palace," she said simply. "This is the manifestation of your soul. Or, more accurately - your pathway."
I stared around at the black expanse, the warped bronze iron bars, the endless void beyond.
"My soul looks like a damn prison."
She chuckled softly, the sound echoing faintly in the void. "It does. For now. You're still bound. Your power's still young. As you grow… the cage might change. Might not. That's up to you."
I frowned. "The stronger I get, the more free I am here?"
Charlotte leaned in close, her voice almost a whisper. "You can't ever be truly free in a cage. But you can learn to stretch your limbs a little."
I looked around again, the blackness pressing in like silence made solid. "Comforting."
"You asked."
I shifted in the chair, the wood creaking faintly. "And the energy here. It feels… different."
"Because it is," she replied, biting into an apple she conjured from nowhere. "The Veil's energy is the purest form of divinity. It's so potent it's practically impossible to control. Most people would burn themselves hollow trying to touch it."
"...But I can?"
"Only because I brought you here," she said sweetly. "You should be grateful."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course."
"But it means your foundation will be stronger than most," she added, voice now sharp with seriousness. "The harder something is to mold, the harder it is to break later."
I focused, trying to test the idea. The air around me shimmered faintly - like heated glass.
I imagined a shape. Something small.
A quill, maybe.
There was a flicker - then a brief, faint glow.
A pen dropped into my lap.
Crude. Wobbly. But real.
I raised a brow. "That easy?"
Charlotte scoffed. "That hard. For now. Try manipulating the energy itself."
I closed my eyes again. Thought of the red shimmer. The pulse I remembered from before.
A thread of scarlet floated before me, flickering like a dying flame.
It moved when I moved my thoughts - slow, sluggish, like trying to drag fire through water.
But it moved.
When I opened my eyes again, Charlotte was watching with open amusement.
"Color me impressed," she said, clapping once. "You're learning. Slowly."
"Can I practice my dark attribute here?"
She shrugged, swirling her apple core in one hand. "That's your domain, not mine. I'm just your... landlord. I don't know what your darkness is capable of."
I tried focusing. Pushing.
Nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Figures.
"Don't be too disappointed," she said. "Half the people who touch the Veil go mad. You're just a bit slower at it."
I leaned my head back against the chair and exhaled.
We sat in silence for a bit. Charlotte lounged nearby, half-lidded eyes watching me like I was an interesting puzzle she'd yet to solve.
"Lately I've been surrounded by a lot of annoying people," I muttered suddenly.
"Oh?" Her tone was lazy, but her eyes sharpened.
"Power hungry Nobles, masked lunatics, fortune-telling witches, some troublesome princess..."
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "Ah."
I looked at her. "What?"
"You mentioned a lot of people. But your voice only got irritated when you mentioned that last one."
I blinked. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Of course you didn't," she said, biting into her apple again. "She doesn't seem like the best comrade to keep. Rather… noisy."
"She's… difficult," I admitted. "But I don't have a choice right now."
"There's always a choice, Damian."
"Not when you're under orders."
"Then break them."
I sighed.
She let the moment linger, her eyes still locked on mine as she leaned forward, elbows on knees, apple discarded to the side.
"If she's dragging you down," she whispered, "cut the rope. Or someone else will."
I didn't answer.
Charlotte stood, walking slowly toward me. The void around the cage shimmered faintly. Reality, or whatever passed for it here, was starting to fray.
"Time's up," she said softly. "I'm sure the sun's rising, and you've got another day of playing pretend in a world that doesn't want you."
She leaned in close, lips near my ear.
"Don't let them take you from me."
Her breath was cold. Sweet. Dangerous.
Then she vanished - just like that.
---
I woke up with my face in the pillow and a thin stream of drool trailing from my mouth to the sheet.
Golden sunlight poured through the cracks in the window, soft and warm against my skin.
My limbs felt… light.
My mind, for once, not clouded.
I turned over, staring at the ceiling.
The dream had faded. But the feeling hadn't.
"You can't ever be truly free in a cage."
Maybe.
But I was damn well going to find the key.