Thoughts and memories washed away from Aiden’s mind as a deep fascination swept over him. No longer did he pay common sense any heed, for he was taken captive. Further and further he wandered into desolation, the empty dark wastes of Avira. Alone and lost he was, but none of that mattered to him; for his emotions surrendered to the enchanted calls of the sights before him. He ignored the communications from his team, and eventually, without hesitation, switched off his transponder.
Being as loyal as they were, his team made attempts to locate him through sight instead of communication, but there was a problem; they were unable to find any footprints in the sand that lead away from their location. All of theirs were present, and remained as they were. The winds of Avira were soft and gentle, and were not capable of erasing the evidence of Aiden’s presence so quickly; and yet, none could be found.
The black deserts of Avira were not totally barren. As it was first discovered, large stones dotted the surface; some as high as twenty meters while most only a few. Aiden approached one such stone. High above him it rose, and as he placed a gloved hand upon its smooth surface, his eyes traced this natural monolith to its peak. Enough starlight illuminated the sky so he was able to perceive the highest point of the stone. He then brought his attention to the star itself and its waning light. Another compelling thought overtook him, and he reached down into the desert floor. With a handful of the reflective obsidian grains he lifted his open palm into the air. A gentle breeze lifted a few grains from their place in his hand, and then a torrent hurled the remaining pile into the visor of his helmet; obscuring his vision. This event took Aiden by such surprise that it brought him back to himself. Perhaps it was the deepness of his trance, the totality of his fascination, or the ambiguous thoughts that guided him. As the wind flung the sand into his face he fell backwards into a dazed frenzy. What have I done? Where am I? He thought to himself as he regained control of his own mind. He firmly planted his hands into the sand and pushed himself back to his feet. As he rose, as his eyes processed his surroundings, he witnessed something that sent him to the desert floor once again.
Between the setting star and Aiden, the black desert sands had arranged themselves into a humanoid form. The starlight peaked through the gaps between each grain that belonged to this new thing. Aiden lay upon the ground gasping, doubting everything before him. Such a thing shouldn’t be real, couldn’t be. This form was continuously being supplied with fresh sand to keep its shape, while previously used sand would then fall and return to the desert. The vision, as Aiden rationalized it to be, brought its open palms before itself, sand trailing behind its every movement like water, and then motioned them upwards in a repeating pattern.
“Stand?” Aiden spoke, as if to himself.
Once risen to his feet, the vision approached him in one smooth motion. It reached for his hand with both of theirs, and when they made contact he felt the pressure of something physically touching him. He retracted at the occurrence of such a thing, for such a thing shouldn’t be possible, and yet it was. He looked upon his own hand as if it did something wrong, while doing so the form reached out once more. This time placing its hand upon his, finger to finger, palm to palm, thumb to thumb. He looked into its featureless face, as it looked into his. He had met Avira herself, the planet of souls.