The Maw  
by KopaLeo
 
Cosmia gasped. The unbearable feeling of suffocation and burning left her all of a sudden, and she was in a void of sensations, nothing seemed to exist other than her own mind. A truly solipsistic moment.  
Then, she could see. She was floating a few meters above the Maw, a vast, boiling hot, foul-smelling lake of gross swamp water, filled with rotten plant remains and sheer death.  
The memories came rushing back, and she is suddenly seized with myriads of fear and uncertainty. Was it a mistake to enter the world of spirits? What if this phantasmatic existence would just perpetuate her suffering, now that she couldn’t even die again? What if she couldn’t even sleep because spirits don’t need to sleep? What if she would just go mad and be forever tortured in the prison of her mind?  
“Mia.” a cold touch on her back.  
“I-I’m scared-” Cosmia’s voice cracked, “What if”  
Her sentence was interrupted by a firm embrace. Instead of being transparent and airy, Tomoda Shi seemed firm and real, every bit as solid as Cosmia. Maybe it’s because she had just become a ghost like Tomoda?  
“Shh… It’s OK. They can’t hurt you anymore…” Tomoda patted Cosmia’s back, “And I’ll help you learn all about the tips and tricks of being dead, don’t you worry.”