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Author's note - Novella contest

Hello again!  This is an IN PROGRESS story that I am writing for the 2024 Open Novella Contest.  I have it fully written out but still need to do some editing, so I am uploading two chapters to meet the round one deadline, while I finish editing the rest.  I should have everything done sometime in March, and plan to upload all the chapters at once when it's finished.  There may also be changes made to these two chapters at that time, so it may be worth re-reading them if you read them before that point.

This story is based off this contest prompt:

Prompt idea: #2 - "A true lover will always find their way back to you. But which is the way that connects the Underworld and the Land of the Living?"

As a caution, this story deals heavily with topics of depression and suicide - and if you've read my other stories, you probably already have a good idea where it's going.

Still, this was a lot of fun to write!  I apologize for the delay between these two chapters and the rest, but I hope you enjoy this story if you do decide to read it.  Thank you again for checking it out! 

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"Where are we? Is he here?"

A light suddenly appeared in the featureless landscape. The light cast a dim illumination on a massive stone barrier that stretched outward as far as the eye could see, but the landscape remained barren and empty otherwise. The lady's voice came from the light as it sputtered, slowly condensing into a small, brightly-glowing sphere that hovered over the ground. "I don't see anyone here. Is this some sort of trick?"

"No, it is not. Weren't you paying any attention? This is the in-between land. No one is ever here except to pass through." A second disembodied voice was halfway through its response when an orange cat appeared beside the sphere of light. The cat yawned, then reached up to bat at the ball of light.

"Stop that!" The light fell to the ground from the force of the cat's paw, then bounced back up to its former height. "This is no time for games, Oliver. Where is Roger? You said you were bringing me to him."

"No, I said I was bringing you to the entrance of the land of the dead. You cannot go any further." Oliver sat up and began grooming his paw, ignoring the light as it spoke. "There's far too much life and hope and happiness in you. If you cross over the wall, then the creatures on the other side will be drawn to you. They would rip you apart before you knew what was happening, and you would never find Roger."

The ground around the blob of light began to shift to a redder color. "Then this is a trick – you brought me here so I would be weak."

"Would you calm down already? It's not a trick. And you getting angry in this place just makes it harder to resist pouncing on you." The cat paused in his grooming to glare back at the floating sphere, letting his claws gleam a little in the red light. "You can't go any further. That's why you have to wait here, where it's safe, while I go look for him. Like I told you I would."

The air around the sphere of light seemed to shimmer in the red glare. "If you are lying to me, cat, I will make you pay. I will make it back to the living world on my own, stuff you into a bag, and drop you in the river."

"Yes, you boasted that you would do that before. When you first threatened me into agreeing to this. And then several times after, just to make sure I actually would." Oliver shook his head. "Sentimental fools. He's dead. The smart thing would be to just eat what you can before it rots, then move on to find someone else to feed you. Not harass some poor cat minding his own business into hunting him down."

The light shifted to a sickly greenish-yellow color. "That's... no! Yuck; how could you even think about something like that? That's Roger."

"Because I'm a cat. We're smarter than you. It's only practical – that isn't Roger anymore, that's just an empty pile of meat now." The orange cat yawned again, then looked back up at the gate. "Now he is somewhere on the other side of the wall. And I will go and find him for you, like I promised. But you must wait here."

The floating light ignored Oliver and began drifting toward the wall, then shivered suddenly and floated back. The sickly green shifted to a blue color as the orb drifted back towards the ground. "I don't like that place... it feels sad. Empty."

"Of course it is. The spirits that come here weren't able to build happiness in life; why would they magically create someplace happy in death? They only knew how to create life that was soul-crushing, so that's what they create here, too. Which is all the more reason for you to wait here, instead of going in there." Oliver flicked his tail dismissively. "I will need help bringing him back. Your memories – I can carry three of them with me without attracting too much attention. Pick ones that you think will convince him to come back, then I will go find him."

The sphere of light shifted back to its original white color, then dimmed slightly. The featureless landscape was quiet for a long moment while the sphere thought... then three tiny embers appeared on the ground before the sphere. "These."

Oliver turned back to look at the light, then narrowed his eyes as he focused on the three memories. "Really? Those are what you're going with?"

Red began to creep back into the light. "Do you have a better idea, cat?"

"Most of the time it's memories of flashy moments. Birthday parties, usually, or other celebrations. Something that stands out as to why the person should go back." The cat flicked his tail disdainfully as he stared at the memories. "And even then, that isn't always enough. Spirits that come here don't usually want to leave."

"These are what I love about him. The moments I want more of. I don't like the memories of parties or celebrations... there's too much noise in those, and too many people. These memories have always been enough for me." The red faded from the light, and the dreary landscape around the sphere picked up a blue tinge. "It won't be enough...?"

Oliver sighed, then reached down to swat at the three embers. They vanished from the ground even as three white speckles appeared along the cat's back. The cat winced – one of the memories touched on something painful – then turned and began ambling away. "We'll just have to see. Stay here. I'll be back."

More blue trickled into the sphere's light as the cat walked away, but the floating orb stayed where it was.

Oliver yowled as he approached the wall. The shadows at the base shifted and formed into a towering figure – a large panther that glared down at the orange cat. "Going through to the other side?"

"Would anyone ever be here for any other reason?" The cat stared up at the panther for a second, then looked past it to the wall, as if unimpressed.

The panther's eyes narrowed, then it looked back at the wall. Some of the stone dissolved, leaving only an empty blackness where the rock had been. "A kitten came through with a Native earlier. She did not seem aware of what she was doing – she did not even stop here first as was proper, but instead went directly into the lands beyond – and has been inside for some time now." The panther stared back down at the cat. "I cannot leave this gate unguarded to go and rescue her. But if you have the time, you should try and retrieve her. That would make it easier to overlook one of the dead passing back through this gate when you leave."

Oliver let out an annoyed growl under his breath. Great – now he had been pulled into not just one, but two rescues. "Fine. Since the task is beyond you, I will undertake it." Without waiting for a reply from the panther, the cat strode forward and vanished into the darkness beyond the wall.

The panther let out a chuffing sound of amusement... then the empty gap in the wall vanished, leaving the unbroken stone that had been there before.

The panther narrowed its eyes at the wall, then faded back into the shadows around the stone.

More of the blue shading returned to the light given off by the sphere as it slowly settled to the ground to await the cat's return in the again-empty landscape.