I can't feel anything. The only thing real is the darkness. Suffocating darkness made out of nothingness. Suddenly there's a sensation of twisting and as I think that my bones are going to be twisted apart, it stops and my head spins. It spins and spins and spins some more until I've lost all coordination and sense of direction. Then light breaks through and my feet land on solid ground.

I choke, trying to reorientate myself. The first thing I see is the grass. Beautiful, soft green grass under me. I lift my head and see the dazzling azure sky, so different from the twilight of Ether. Then the buildings. Made of marble and crystal and with delicately arched windows.

"Where am I?" I ask in wonder.

The man actually smiles. "Welcome to Alium. This,"—he indicates the landscape—"is where the lost causes go."

I can't take this in. "But aren't there hardly any lost causes?"

"That's what you think. There are actually more lost causes than you can imagine. And this is where they go."

Amazing.

All hope isn't lost after all.

"So what do we do here?"

"What do we do?" He chuckles. "We fight back."