Joy stared up at the sky with a look of sorrow.

She didn't so much as flinch as the many raindrops crashed on her light brown skin. She didn't move an inch as her stomach growled longer and louder with each passing minute.

She just laid there, in the mud, not caring about possibly getting sick or how exposed she was with her ripped clothes. She was practically skin and bones at this point so she doubted she'd look very pleasing to the eyes.

After staring at the sky for a while she started dryly chuckling to herself. The reason for her knew-found humorous outburst was her knowing that she was truly alone. Nobody was there to help her during her time of need.

She hated her name, 'Joy'. The reason she hated her name was the irony in it. It was ironic since she couldn't remember a single day where she felt joy.

She had hardly ever felt alive or felt life was worth living. No, not once.

Joy felt her body weakening, she hadn't eaten much of anything in weeks. She was extremely thin and knew she would die soon but didn't care.

Actually, it might've been better to say that she had no room to care.

In her current state the chance of her survival was low at best. Unless she experienced a miracle but… no, she buried that thought deep, deep in her mind.

Joy was the type of person who knew when to call it quits, and stated simply, the odds were stacked against her.

She tried her hardest to ignore her survival instinct.

The survival instincts that kept trying to egg her on to find anything that could pass as nutrition and eat it, to survive. She believed it to be pointless.

She had nowhere to go, no-one to go to, she was just alone.

After reflecting on her life and all the pains and struggles she endured she closed her eyes, now waiting for her mind to slip away forever.

"Hey you!" The squeaky high pitched voice snapped Joy back to reality.

She lazily opened her eyes and sluggishly turned her head towards the source of the voice. However, what she saw surprised her. Right next to her resided a floating orb of light.

The light shining off the orb was so bright that it hurt to look at up close.

She didn't know how the floating orb of light came to be, especially with the dark clouds and rain coming from above.

"Helloooo?" The high pitched voice had a tone of slight irritation behind it.

"Aren't you going to respond? You know it's rude to stare at someone without speaking, right!?"

Was this talking orb supposed to be normal?

She tried speaking but nothing audible emerged. Her throat was way too dry to even expel sounds.

The orb suddenly shot up into the sky and started quickly going in a circle a couple times before speaking again.

"I see, I see so you can't talk. That might prove a bit troublesome…. well, I might be able to work with this."

The orb stopped its quick movements and floated back down until it was eye level with Joy once more. The orb's blinding light was dimmer now, most likely so it didn't hurt her eyes.

"How about this? Let's say I could take you somewhere far far away from here, would you come?"

Joy stared at it blankly without even budging to acknowledge the orb's words.

"Okay, okay I'll elaborate a little. That was a little vague, sorry. Long story short I'm an all powerful being of creation, in most human's terms I'd be seen as a deity."

The orb let out a boisterous laugh and spun in a quick circle before continuing, "Anyway, I can give you a single wish which would cost something of important value to you in return. Well, at least that's what I'd do normally but since it's your birthday I'll give you a single wish free of charge!"

The orb spoke so casually and matter of fact it took Joy an extra couple seconds to process what it said.

‘It's my birthday? Oh right…’

Joy remembered as quickly as she forgot.

‘Today is my birthday, October 11th. But how did this random orb know what I had forgotten?’

"Let me think you're about… 16 now right? The free wish will be your birthday present."

There was silence for a bit, the strange orb spoke no more seemingly to allow Joy to theorize on how the orb knew what it did. Before she could process more and truly think, the orb continued its monologue.

"I know you want to go somewhere better. What if I said I could take you there?"

Joy stared at the orb still, slightly fidgeting but not enough to give off a clear answer.

"Okay, I'll give you some food and water but only if you want to go, if not you're more than welcome to continue taking your final breaths. Nod for yes or turn your head away from me for no."

Joy closed her eyes for a brief moment so she could fully assess the situation.

What was the worst that could happen?

She pondered in her head for a while before realizing the worst case scenario was that the orb was just a part of her imagination in her last moments and that what she was seeing was a feeble attempt to get her to want to live again.

Deep down it was natural for her to want to live but there were many separate factors that made the simple act of living difficult for her.

Taking that into account and slightly ignoring her feeling of suspicion on why a self proclaimed deity would help her, she eventually nodded.

The orb shot up in the sky and started shouting with excitement while whizzing from left to right quickly. Joy followed the orbs' strange quick movements in confusion.

The orb then stopped abruptly before giving out a sly chuckle and exclaiming, "Very well."

After it said that the orb dissolved in the air, disappearing as quickly as it seemed to appear.

A second passed by, then a minute.

Joy, now alone once more, looked away from where she had last seen the orb.

She smiled thinking that the worst case scenario came true.

She gained a sliver of hope, a hope of escaping the cruel world she had fought so hard to live in. The world that she never liked, the world that she rejected and the world that rejected her.

She realized how foolish it was to give in so easily without taking real thought to her suspicions.

However, even if she believed the orb to be a figment of her imagination she still decided to take it's advice to continue taking her final breaths.

She released a deep, tired sigh before closing her eyes once more.

But before she could fully let her mind slip away she felt the rain suddenly stop.

The rain stopping wasn't necessarily strange seeing how it had been raining for about an hour but something was urging Joy to open her eyes.

She tried fighting the urge but it was a nagging feeling. It was like an itch that couldn't go away so she gave in.

She opened her eyes and as if it was instinct turned her head to the left. She saw a large plate completely covered with food, there were also 2 cups filled to the brim with water.

"I see you doubted me, he he."

The orb had reappeared, now speaking in a smug tone. "Go on, eat up Joy. Once you do, we'll get started!"

‘Get started with what?’

She wanted to ask that but knew it to be impossible in her current state. She stared at the orb of light with a look of relief and hesitance all in one.

A part of her felt relief that the orb's words weren't lies and it was real but another part of her was still untrusting of its true intentions.

She really couldn't believe that she didn't have to pay this 'deity' back at all. She didn't believe that she could get any wish granted without giving it anything in return at all.

She soon gave in however since the orb didn't seem to be a liar, evident by it giving her food.

That and she remembered the orbs' words. It said if she ate the food it would take her away.

She could finally escape the cruel, cruel world she was sure she'd be stuck in until the day she died.

She sluggishly rose, reaching over to grab the plate. As she slowly scarfed down the food the orb quietly chuckled to itself. Joy teared up, as she cursed herself in her head.

She realized as she ate and drank that she was a fool to accept death so easily.

She should've tried harder or even broke her one rule to survive….

No, she shrugged that lost thought away.

She was happy that she didn't break her one rule to survive. Her one rule was no killing, she was fine doing anything else except that.

She pondered that if she had killed and ended up effectively taking from others, if the orb would have appeared before her if she found herself in this state like before.

After finishing, Joy tried her hardest to speak but her voice was barely as loud as a whisper.

"So, what now?"

"Oh, I see you can talk now, or at least barely whisper. It'll take a while before you can speak fully. So my plan is that I'll transport you now on one condition. I'll need you to keep your eyes closed until I call your name okay? We got a deal?"

Joy looked at the orb before looking back at her now empty plate.

She wondered how the orb would react if she said no, she still nodded yes though of course.

She didn't see a reason to refuse to do something so simple, even if in the back of her mind she had some doubts.

The orb shot up in the sky and shouted "EXCELLENT!"

It let out a shriek of pure ecstasy before speaking one last time.

"I'll need you to close your eyes when I count down to 1, okayyyy? 3…..2…..1!"

"I'll need you to close your eyes when I count down to 1, okayyyy? 3…..2…..1!"

As soon as the orb hit number 1 Joy closed her eyes immediately.

One second she knew she was sitting on the hard ground and the next she wasn't. It felt like the ground had dissipated under her, she felt like she was floating in nothingness. She didn't feel her body physically move yet she felt she was moving incredibly fast.

It was odd, she felt like she could hear nothing and everything at the same time. This was jarring as she couldn't see, hear, or feel anything.

This made her do something truly foolish, she opened her eyes but what she saw left her speechless.

She was petrified, she opened her eyes to see bodies, no- corpses floating beside her.

There was darkness all around her.

She was passing body after body and everyone of them appeared lifeless.

There were too many to count. The only thing that was visible besides the many corpses was a light.

It was the orb, a ways ahead of her.

Feeling a itchy stingy feeling from her chest she looked down to see what looked like a rope of light coming from her chest.

The orb was tethered to the light coming from her chest.

She was confused, the orb didn't have the pure bright light illuminating off of it like when they had first met.

It was shining a crimson red.

In the brief seconds her eyes were open she took it all in, realizing it was all a lie.

There wouldn't be somewhere better for her! There was no hope! There wouldn't be peace only suffer-

***

Joy slowly rose from the bed, "Huh, what was I just thinking about? Ow."

Joy winced as she felt a sharp flash of pain in the back of her head.

She slowly looked around the room, trying to get a good sense of her surroundings.

Joy was laying down in a huge bed. She could see many things with white rose embroidery on it, including the bed she was laying on.

"Hello Joy."

Joy jumped up, slightly startled at the voice. It didn't sound familiar to her.

The voice was scratchy yet soothing, it wasn't that deep pitch wise either.

She turned to her left to see a man sitting in a wooden chair beside her.

The man had white hair and freckles with black eye balls and white pupils. She felt like he was looking right through her, not at her.

Joy gazed at him confused and on guard, she didn't know him yet his tone sounded friendly and comfortable.

"My name is Ben, it's nice to meet you."

Ben reached out his hand for Joy to shake but this only made Joy scoot slightly away from him.

She pulled the covers closer to her as she nervously responded, "Yes it's nice to meet you too…"

Ben laughed as he retracted his hand.

"I'm terribly sorry Joy, I know it must be uncomfortable waking up in a place you don't recognize next to a strange man you don't recognize."

She nodded nervously, "Yeah well, could you… tell me where I am?"

Ben nodded adamantly. "Of course, right now you're currently in a pocket dimension called The Void."

Joy paused for a second, processing what he just told her.

"Okay then. I don't remember hearing I would be brought to this place called the void but if that's really the name of this place I'll remember that. I'm slightly confused about some things, would you mind answering some questions of mine?"

Ben gave a warm smile, "Of course."

"I actually don't know how I got here. The last thing I remembered was a strange orb of light saying he'd grant a wish of mine?"

Ben's eyes lit up after hearing her words. "Yes, of course you're one of the new candidates."

"Candidate?"

"Yes, you were brought here to undergo a series of tests or trials if you will. If you pass all of them you get your wish granted."

Joy looked at Ben with a blank stare, "I was never told about any… tests… That orb didn't mention anything like that…"

"Well yes normally you would've got an explanation but it seems you passed out on the trip here."

Joy's eyes lit up, that's right, the trip to The Void...

She couldn't remember anything from after the orb said to shut her eyes on 1.

"Ow" Joy winced once again but this time the pain was a little worse.

Ben looked at her with a concerned expression, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine" Joy held her head, she knew the problem.

It was just like when when she woke up and her head started hurting. Each time she tried thinking about the trip to the so called 'void' her head would start hurting.

Ben gave her a thumbs up, "Please don't worry. Getting a small headache is normal after getting transported to the void. You were being moved through space and reality at relatively quick speeds."

Ben flashed a bright smile to try to reassure her, but it didn't work.

Joy did smile back though. She decided that she could at least pretend everything was fine.

She still felt concerned about her memory of being transported to the void being gone but she tried to conceal the concern. At the very least things seemed better here already, she had a roof over her head and a bed.

All she could ask for really and yeah, Ben creeped her out at first being there right when she woke up but she didn't get any threatening vibes from him.

'Yes, this is fine,' She thought to herself.

"Well we should get moving."

Ben lightly stood up and stretched before turning towards the door of the room and starting to walk away.

Confused at the speed of this development she reached out and grabbed his shirt to stop him.

"Wait, where are we going?"

He turned with a smile "To the meeting with Aku."

"Who's Aku?" Joy asked confusedly.

"The one who brought you here. Usually when he travels to the mortal realms he appears as a orb of light, does that ring a bell?"

Joy now starting to feel a little more relaxed she let go of Ben's shirt.

She was relieved finally hearing something she understood.

So far everything in the past couple minutes of her being awake was just revelation and confusing explanation after another.

"Yes I did meet an odd orb of light."

Ben chuckled, "Yeah he's odd all right, now please follow me. I'll take you to where you need to be."

Ben now moving once more walked, turning left out the door.

Joy hopped out of bed and rushed after him.

However, soon after following him Joy stopped in her tracks.

There were many windows in the long hallway yet there was no light shining through them. She could only see pitch black darkness through the windows as if it was nighttime outside. The only thing illuminating the hallways were the many dim lamps that were in each window seal.

Confused, she called out to Ben asking if the lack of light outside the window was normal in the void.

However he playfully chuckled saying, "That's nothing to worry about. If you follow me everything will be made clear."

She bit back her curiosity and obliged, walking behind him as they walked past many rooms and through many different corridors.

After a minute or so of walking through many different hallways and rooms Joy realized how big the building in the void truly was.

Wait building…?

No, the place was too big to be a simple building, it was more like a Mansion.

Joy shuddered in her head hoping this one mansion wasn't the so-called void.

Yes, it felt warm temperature-wise and looked clean but without seeing anyone besides Ben after walking around for a couple minutes had her feeling a little nervous.

She continued following Ben who showed no signs of stopping, he hadn't said a word since saying to simply follow him.

She didn't know what else to do so she simply obeyed, not saying a single word to him despite all the questions that were flooding the inside of her head.

After walking for what felt like hours turning corner after corner and walking through many hallways and corridors they had finally stopped.

They were facing a big door, it was 2 times bigger than any door Joy had ever seen before.

Ben turned towards her with a reassuring grin. "We're here now. After you." He did a small bow, directing his hands behind him toward the door.

She assumed he meant for her to open it herself. Joy could see a faint trace of light coming from the other side of the door. She sighed and with one smooth movement reached for the door.

Joy hoped with all her heart that what she was behind the door would set her mind at ease.

After opening the two big doors, Joy stepped into a wide spacious room.

She instantly felt pressure as mostly everyone's eyes turned on her as she entered the room.

The room was practically filled to the brim. Inside being a group of roughly 40 people spread out throughout the room.

They were all seated at tables, a small few were sitting at the same table together but over half were spread out.

"Good luck."

Those words came from Ben but as she tried turning back to ask if she had to stay, the doors slammed shut.

Ben was gone, and now she was alone again not knowing what to do.

Now worried and confused Joy turned back to look in front, scanning the room once more. Joy could feel so many gazes, some were hostile while others were simply curious, holding no malice.

She gulped nervously, the silence was deafening.

No one was saying a word and she felt as if her mere presence disrupted something in the room. There was tension in the air, an uncomfortable one that didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

Joy stood there, unsure of what to do for a moment before someone finally broke the silence and called out.

"Hey you! Why don't you come sit over here?"

Joy turned towards the source of the voice slightly relieved. But that was right before she saw the identity to whom the voice belonged to. The source of the voice was a bulky man, he was wearing a tank-top that had the word love imprinted on the chest area.

He had bulging muscles accompanied by ginger hair and a small goatee.

Joy instantly felt intimidated by him despite his odd shirt. It wasn't just his muscles that intimidated her though.

Maybe it was his aura?

But since she was wanting an escape from the staring barrage she was under she gave in. Choosing to walk past many people; some were seated together at one big table while others sat at smaller desks.

After walking past all of them she was face to face with the man.

"The name is Arthur," He stood, reaching out his hand to greet her.

As Joy reached her hand out as well she noticed how big his hands were. They were at least double the size of hers and Joy's hands were small by no means.

She responded while returning the shake, her guard up slightly, "Hi there, my name is Joy."

Arthur paused for a moment, holding a surprised look on his face, her hand still in his.

He quickly smiled though, seemingly overcoming whatever made him freeze for a moment before responding, "That's a beautiful name, it's nice to meet you."

Joy smiled, "Thank you, it's nice meeting you too."

She didn't feel good about the compliment despite what her smile would suggest. She was faking it.

I mean she wasn't about to delve into how she hated her name and why with a stranger after all.

Right after they exchanged greetings Arthur sat back down and Joy followed suit; sitting in the chair next to him.

'Oh, most of those uncomfortable stares are gone now huh?]'

Joy assumed it was most likely due to her now being seated towards the back of the room. She was also sure Arthur's build was another reason most of the stares ceased, he had quite an intimidating figure after all.

A minute or so passed before Joy couldn't bear the silence anymore, leaning towards Arthur.

She whispered, "Are we waiting for something?"

"Yeah, so that guy Ben or whatever he called himself. He brought all of us here one by one." He paused, scanning the room for a moment before continuing, "For this last time when he went out he told us that the last candidate would be here soon."

Joy looked at him intently, "Am I right to assume that the last candidate he spoke of was me then?"

"I'd say so yes."

Joy nodded to acknowledge the information before moving back into her normal sitting position.

'That still didn't answer my main question of if we were waiting on something… I mean, it did answer It vaguely but I was hoping for something more specific. Oh well, we'll probably get more information soon; no reason to dwell on it too much.'

After thinking it through, Joy slumped back in her seat a little bit, deciding to shut her eyes briefly while they waited.

She intended to simply keep her eyes closed as a way to give her eyes and mind a rest but unknown to her, she was slowly slipping away into a leisurely sleep.

***

Joy woke suddenly after hearing a loud sound.

She turned quickly to see the big doors she entered from before being open now. She presumed the noise she heard were the big doors being opened.

Everyone, including her all looked at the door. All in the room waited with baited breath for whoever, or whatever would be coming through.

A second or two passed before someone walked through.

It was a small looking boy with white hair, plain black eyes and freckles. The boy was peculiar looking. Not just in his unique appearance but in the way he carried himself.

The way he walked was so smooth and graceful that he almost appeared to be gliding over the ground. His footsteps didn't make sound either which added to the feeling of him not walking normally.

Joy watched as he walked towards a tall unoccupied desk in the front of the room. The desk was in front of a chalk board and for some reason, now that she looked closer the room looked familiar.

It was reminiscent of a classroom, just with more space and wider tables than the desks she had been familiarized with growing up.

Joy looked in confusion until she saw the person who followed after the young boy.

It was Ben, who shut the doors and soon after followed the boy; now standing beside him at the desk.

Joy, assuming the information she so desperately wanted to know would be revealed soon, quickly turned toward Arthur.

"How long was I asleep?" She whispered.

"I'd say maybe 30 minutes. I'm surprised you'd be so brazen to sleep in this peculiar situation though."

Joy embarrassedly shifted in her seat, "Yeah, I'm surprised myself now that I think about it."

'I didn't mean to but it wasn't that bad of a decision. In hindsight I would've been safe since Arthur was next to me. I don't trust him completely or anything but at the very least he's a convenient person to be by. No one would mess with me if things were to go south with him near. Well... some might've but I'm sure I would've woken up since I'm such a light sleeper.'

Arthur continued. "Anyways, we should be quiet and listen to what they have to say."

Joy nodded adamantly.

The boy spoke suddenly, "Hello everyone. I'm glad to see so many of you look ready and prepared."

Joy's eyes widened attentively.

'Wait, I think I know that squeaky high pitched voice from somewhere…'

Before the boy could continue someone interjected.

"You're that orb of light that brought us all here right?"

The person who spoke was a young looking man, he stood up- clearly unnerved by the situation everyone found themselves in. The young man had long black hair and a chiseled jawline, for lack of a better word he was handsome.

The boy nodded. "You'd be correct in assuming that. I'm sure it was mentioned to you all by Ben, but my name is Aku. Please address me as such when talking to me."

The young man looked at Aku with a smug look on his face. He seemed to be sizing Aku up, which Joy could spot many others doing as well.

Aku smirked, "Something wrong?"

The young man stared at Aku, his smug look not fading. He stood in silence for a moment before glancing next to him. He was one of the people seated at tables that were full.

His eyes were locked with one person in particular, a girl with bright yellow hair. She was very cute, her most prominent feature being her blue eyes which while pretty looking had a fierceness to them. She had a beautiful figure as well which you wouldn't guess from her positioning. She had her feet up on the table as she leaned back in her chair. She also shared the younger man's smug look.

She coughed and right after doing so, the man looked back at Aku.

He chuckled lightly, "Not at all Mr. Aku." He sat down, "Please continue with your explanation."

There was silence for a moment. Not for long, but long enough for the air in the room to change. It seemed he and many others throughout the room had a realization of sorts.

Joy however, was not one of those people.

She had been looking on at the interaction in silence, just assessing and noticing what she could.

"That's good then. One thing though, Lorial." He was looking at the smug young-looking man.

'Oh, so that guy's name is Lorial,' Joy noted to herself.

"There's no need to refer to me as mister." Aku flashed a cheeky smile. "Like I said before, Aku works just fine."

Lorial nodded, "I'll remember that, Aku."

Aku looked away from him, now directing his attention to the entire room.

"Since that point's been addressed here's what I intended to tell you all. Ben may or may not have mentioned this but I'll say it anyway. You all here are going to be undergoing a series of tests."

He paused for a moment, scanning the room to gauge everyone's reactions.

Many either talked amongst others nearby or looked unwavering, showing they had already been told by Ben.

"Many of you were in, let's just say, less than savory positions. I offered you all a possibility. To stay in that situation or go somewhere different, away from the troubles you faced in your old life. I believe what I did for you all was a huge favor, one that should be repaid wouldn't you think?"

One of the people spoke up. "So you scammed us? Don't tell me you want some kind of compensation."

Aku shook his head, "No no no. I will still grant your wish without any kind of monetary compensation required. I simply have certain terms and conditions. My condition is that you complete a few tests I have for you. You see, while I may be a deity and all, I don't think granting a wish to just anyone is the best idea."

'Wait what? I remember Aku saying that the wish would be free of charge and while taking tests wouldn't necessarily be costly, it was still a lie. Or at the very least a loose manipulation. But that only brings up one question...'

"May I ask something Aku?" All the heads in the room turned to face Joy, who had been the one voice to speak out besides Aku's.

Aku gave a cheeky smile, seemingly excited to have engagement from someone, "Of course Joy. Ask away."

"What kind of tests? Nothing dangerous right?"

There was a pause before Aku started giggling, "Hehehe. That's interesting you'd ask that using that specific wording."

Aku slowly walked around the desk so he was now standing in front of a couple tables.

"Dangerous? What a specific thing to ask about. Something I find interesting about you humans is something as simple as the words you use."

Aku, truly enjoying the uneasy air in the room started pacing back and forth.

"Depending on the word it shows what a human thinks, cares, or worries about in the depths of their mind and soul."

He stopped pacing and with a very serious tone spoke, looking directly at Joy.

"No. The answer to your question is no. The tests will vary in difficulty of course but they will be very dangerous. I'm sure that's fine with all you though, yes?"

Aku's sweet boy-like face contorted into a demented smile.

"I saved you all so anything you experience here would pale in comparison to what you went through back where you came from...correct?"