Written by Sage
Once the soul has been taken to the Trial and finished it, the outcome of this Trial will determine where the soul goes next. One of the routes the soul might be forced into is down towards the Depths.
When a soul fails the Trial, they are not deemed worthy of going to their perfect afterlife. Instead, they are sent into the Depths. This personalized type of Hell is molded towards the soul’s personality and memories. One soul’s Depths might be a dimension that simulates their destroyed hometown, a broken down city with no end or beginning, reminding them of what was taken from them. Another soul’s Depths might represent their horrible fear of being lost by placing them in an endless maze with no exits. The Plane’s purpose is to invoke a sense of isolation, the universe’s form of forever-lasting punishment for failing the Trial.
Because of this, the Plane is deprived of any type of life; biological or not. The only thing in these personalized Depths are the souls, further supporting the isolating feeling. No matter how much a soul might wander, no sign of life can be found here. Some souls might find peace and acceptance in this desolate Plane, while others might lose themselves in the loneliness that was forced onto them. Rarely, a soul might even start looking for a way out.
Though the Depths are technically inescapable, there is still a way out; a way back into the land of the living. This form of reincarnation, to Eternity’s wish, is achieved by finding the Gateway. This gate will bring the soul back to the land of the living and is only located in the Depths, Heaven does not have a door like this. This means that if a soul wants to be reincarnated, it needs to fail the trial. This leads to some souls purposely failing its Trial in hopes of finding that way back up.
What this interdimensional gateway looks like is unknown, barely any souls manage to locate it. Those who do eventually return to their physical body. However, during the period the soul spent in the Depths, the body might have been affected by time, leaving the soul to return to a zombie or a mere skeleton, sometimes even as just a spirit with no physical body.
The process of being reunited with its physical body is hard on a soul. The journey might be short as the soul travels fast, but the impact of being forced back into a lifeless body tends to take a toll on the soul. All the time spent in the Depths will be forgotten, the hard-earned knowledge will dissolve from the impact of landing in a new plane. Remnants of its previous life will still be available to the soul, though details will have faded.
Besides this Gateway, there is also a way up to Heaven hidden within the Depths. But finding this escape is not as simple as it sounds; it is not a physical door that can be found somewhere within the Depths. In order for it to appear the soul needs to do three Trials while being down in the Depths. However, the soul will not be aware that this is an option. In fact, the first of three Trials that needs to be completed is gathering the courage to want to escape. Riddled with feelings of failure, hidden away in its own barren Plane, a soul is quick to give up on hope. The Trial of the Mind is made to test a soul’s determination and its will to keep going. This gives the soul the knowledge that a second chance is possible, even for them. However, a second chance is earned, not given in this ruthless Plane. After completing this Trial, two more are on its path.
Equipped with this new knowledge, the soul must continue to the Trial of the Soul. This Trial is all about the soul knowing itself down to its core. Who are they really? What drives them, what inner conflict burdens them, what kind of person were they, deep down? This Trial is not forgiving, the soul must know itself to the most bare level; any hidden dissension or drowned down feelings and traits will keep the soul from completing it. It will have to strip itself of any mental barriers, fully open to what is to come. It will need to learn its True Name.
Lastly, the Trial of the Body needs to be completed. At this point, the soul is fragile, yet stronger than before. Filled with determination and will, yet emotionally vulnerable from the previous Trial, the soul must go out and seek the Escape. Previously established, this Plane is a never-ending dimension, simulated to work like a loop. If a soul travels further and further, it will eventually end up at the same place again. However, after completing the two Trials, the Door will be hidden within the Depths. Yet again, the soul is in a state of unknowing, nothing will have told it that its final goal is right for the grabbing. It will have to go out and wander on its own accord, seemingly with no goal in mind.
Once the soul decides to wander in hopes to find any kind of knowledge, the Plane will start actively holding it back. Discouragement and temptation is used to try and keep the soul down in the Depths where it belongs. It will use its endless knowledge of the soul to alter its strategies in the best possible way. Only those with a strong enough will are able to go forth. Besides the Plane’s temptations and whispering discouragements, the way to the Escape is a long one. The Depths will make it feel like the soul is stuck in this same loop as before. Pure willpower is needed to complete this last Trial.
Eventually, the Escape will be visible to the soul. After getting to know itself to the bare core, testing its determination and endlessly wandering through this horrible nightmare, it finally reaches the final goal. This will lead the once doomed soul into its own perfect afterlife.
However, in the end, most souls will be stuck forever in their personalized after death plane, trying to find peace within themselves.