WARNING!! -- this is old, and while recently updated with minor edits and the last of the chapters i never put up back in the day, it shall never be updated...enjoy it anyways!
...since a lot of you seem to keep doing so o-o ...
- Created By itsumademo
Chapter Six
The Catalyst
Chapter Six
“What are you doing, Jade?”
“Just…wandering. Why do you ask, Grandmother?”
“Don’t you know where you are, dear?”
“Uh, not really, I guess.” I stopped my feet. I had never really thought about it, but in fact I had no idea where I was or how I got there. “I’m just…here.” I exhaled. “Grandmother, where am I?”
I waited to hear the soft sound of my grandmother’s voice, however the silence continued. I glanced around only to notice that there was nothing and no one anywhere near me. The ground beneath my feet was rough and barren, going off into the distance endlessly. As I watched the clear sky move slowly up above I felt a tremor run up through my body and abruptly my legs gave out, dropping me to the earth I stood upon.
My hands pushed in opposition to the ground with my nails digging into the hard soil. I harshly bit my lip; breathing had suddenly become so difficult.
A cold wind rushed against my side, forcing me to the ground completely. I looked in the direction the gust had come from and saw a huge, black, mist-like mass gradually soaking up all the light that was filtering down to the wasteland I seemed trapped in. The being before me groaned with deafening strength, compelling me to shield my ears.
Finally able, I stood up awkwardly, facing the center of the darkness. It was almost mesmerizing, staring as I was, and the longer I watched, I began to notice a small figure appearing in the depth. I stepped forward without thinking, merely so that I could see more clearly. Just as I started to reach my hand toward the small creature forming in the black, two bright lavender eyes opened, knocking me backwards with invisible force.
Quickly, I jumped up and looked around, but instead saw the light of early morning shining on the floor of my grandmother’s bedroom. My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths; apparently it was only a dream.
“I’ve never dreamt something that felt so real before.” I sighed, exhaling a long withheld breath of anxiety. “…So real.”
I held my head in my hands as my body calmed down from the insanity of what I felt just happened. It was very strange, my thoughts wandered against my will back to the dream, a small black mass with lavender eyes…
I looked up again, staring briefly at the desk against the wall where my two fruits sat quietly, frozen like crystal. I had managed to perform the frozen spell once more on the peach from The Immortal’s garden.
“The Immortal!” I threw the covers off my legs and jumped to the floor to quickly put my clothes on.
I hadn’t seen the Immortal for almost three days now. “It’s a good thing I had found a bathroom on our way back to the room last time or I probably would have gotten lost and died in this damn tower looking for one.” I slipped into the bare minimum of my clothes, as I wanted to go and try and find him as soon as possible. I put on the under part of my dress and laced up the back.
As I opened the door and began heading into the hall, I attempted to comb through my hair with my fingers. “I wish I had a hair brush…I probably look horrible. But seeing as there is no time for me to head into the bathroom and take a quick shower...err, more like a bath really, I’ll simply have to bear with it.” I sighed.
I managed to find a staircase, however due to the darkness and the fact I had spent nearly all my time in my grandmother’s sun lit room, I was still not accustomed to walking around in the black of the tower.
Once I reached the floor again I turned both ways, I couldn’t remember which direction we had originally come from, or if there was even a way, or if it was a huge room or a small passage, or if I stepped forward I’d fall into a hole. It was simply too hard to see; to some degree I could make things out but otherwise I was barely able to notice my own hand in front of my face. “Crap.” My voice sounded quiet and minute.
I chewed on my lip as I thought, eventually I decided on right and once I found the wall I moved across it slowly as far as I could. There were a few instances where I came across a door…but not knowing what I would find kept me from looking, even though each time my side smacked into a doorknob my curiosity grew. I didn’t want to come across something I would wish I hadn’t, or perhaps irritate the Immortal, I didn’t think I wanted to piss off the man kind enough to let me, a stranger, stay here. “I suppose I’m not exactly a stranger. I mean he knew my grandmother, and from her stories I almost feel like I know him myself. Well, maybe a little anyways.”
I giggled slightly, which echoed in the hall.
Once I calmed down I heard a small wind blowing from somewhere near me, or at least it sounded as though it was near me. It was difficult sometimes to tell where a noise was coming from in these passages. I continued moving forward until I came across dim light drifting from a somewhat ajar door at the end of another corridor to my left. I could see an opened balcony similar to the one in my grandmother’s bedroom although it appeared to be larger. Perhaps it was one of the other real windows I had noticed outside the tower.
I walked toward it, heading through easily without holding against the wall to know where I was going. I placed my hands on the door’s side and edged it open so that I didn’t make a sound.
The room was enormous; books on large wooden shelves lined three of the five walls in the place. There were also two large old desks placed side-by-side, each having antique objects such as lamps and stationary sets. Lining yet another wall was a huge bed with four posts reaching up to the high lifting ceiling, on either side sat a nightstand lined with books and papers as well as a few old fashioned pens and identical twin lamps, both of which appeared to be oil fueled. Up along the last wall hung several types of weapons, most were sword-like in appearance, there were also a few bunches of daggers, some axes of different types, many spears and staff shaped poles, and at the top of this impressive collection were a couple odd looking guns, none of which were overly familiar to me. On the floor just beneath the arsenal rack was a bench with a few disheveled towels and blood looking stains spread upon it.
I reached my hand out and ran it along one of the larger claymore-like swords that had a strange greenish stone engraved into the blade. “You’re very beautiful.” Grandmother had once taken some sword handling lessons and because of that she had a few antique ones she kept in her home. She always told me that a sword is precious to its handler, just like a child to a parent; you always refer to them by gender and name. In fact, I would even on occasion talk to them when my cousin, Daela or grandmother, or my uncle weren’t around.
“I may not know your name, but you seem female to me.”
I stroked the stone gently when a sudden chill slipped in through the window. I turned around; I was tempted to close the balcony doors, however I didn’t want anyone to know I had been here.
Glancing about the room again, my curious urge couldn’t be stopped. I walked as lightly as I could as I moved over to look at the many things spread out on the nightstands. The papers were old looking, not unlike the ones in grandmother’s grimoire, with lovely articulate letters spread on it. I sifted through a few of the books but paused when I came across one that reminded me of a notebook or journal.
I felt a bit bad for snooping, everything about this room felt untouched and aged, however something continued to push me forward and so I opened the cover finding not only words but also sketching. Some was really incredible, practically photo-like sketching.
They looked like plans or something, although nearly every page was in different languages; there were a few that appeared familiar and some I didn’t think were even from my world, and probably weren’t. To be honest, I was a bit disheartened that I couldn’t read it. While still flipping through the pages I saw a drawing of a young woman, and she continued to appear numerous times, the majority of the notebook was filled with her. I stopped my scanning when a full-page portrait came up, and as I traced the lines with my eyes I found her familiar. I remembered back in my grandmother’s home, all the photographs she had and realized that this…was her. There was something different about her here though, her eyes seemed unsure but happy. Far happier than much of the time I was with her back at home. Her hair was cut a bit differently also.
“Grandmother was so lovely.” A sudden tear fell onto the page. “Oh damn!” I dabbed at the mark and blew on it as carefully as I could, and thankfully the mark lifted, for the most part. I quickly shut the journal and set it back under the books and loose papers. Hopefully it would dry completely and no one would be the wiser if they came to open it.
I moved away from the stand and noticed that there were a few empty and filled sheaths hanging on the banister opposite me. Unfortunately my notice of those belted holders drew my eyes to a green chaise which had the Immortal’s shirt draped upon it. The very one I had seen him wearing the last day I was with him.
“Oh hell…this is his bedroom.”
Now I felt even more like a trespasser than before.
Well, I suppose that it’s not the end of the world; I had been trying to find him. “If I wait here, he’d have to show up eventually. Although, if I wait here, there is no way he wouldn’t know that I probably rummaged about his room.” Then, as per usual, my thoughts wandered off a bit, “I wonder when he actually sleeps anyway?”
There had to be some way I could contact him, especially in a place this large. I walked over to the still opened door and slipped out, making sure to close it just enough to match were it had been before I came. I edged back through the hall until I made it to the crossroads were I turned from earlier. I headed left in order to go along my original path. I hoped.
After a heart-racing trip down a few stairs I managed to take hold of the banister, catching myself before I fell the entire way. Once I made it past the rather long set of stairs I ended up in the room I had first fallen into, meeting the shocked Immortal and a strange pink eyed woman. The ceiling was still broken with my blood spattered on the remnants of it, which sat despondently in piles on the flooring. I lifted a few pieces and looked nostalgically at the splintered edges where my blood soaked into the fibers. I winced at the vague memory, dropping the wood back to its place.
“Exploring?”
I leapt back, running into the broken wall beside the mess on the ground. An average sized woman, running closer to petite, stepped out from behind the floating wall in the center of the room. As she faced me her eyes opened fully, revealing two vividly pink marbles grinning at me on a breathtakingly beautiful face.
“You’re that woman the Immortal had imprisoned.”
“Oh no, we were merely playing a little game.”
“Game? Torture is hardly a game.” I stood firmly in place, mostly because I knew nothing about this woman to be uncomfortable in her presence.
“Hmm, perhaps it isn’t.” Her exposed shoulders shrugged, however, her gaze flickered to me with a dark mischievous glimmer. “To some.”
That was a bit unnerving; my own gaze began to watch her closely as a strange uncertainty started to slip through my veins. Suddenly her body seemed to vibrate and one blink later she stood directly in front of me, her eyes looking at my own with an expression that was rather unnerving.
“You know, I think you really are Guinn’s granddaughter. Your faces are a similar, and yet, not.” She giggled lightly, running a finger along my jawline.
I turned away from her touch, trying to maintain the blankest expression I could manage.
She scoffed with an amused look and, swift as lightning, I was tossed onto the floor where two loud brakes were made near my ears. I looked up and the woman was hovering over me, her hands dug into the wood beside my head. As I watched above me, her golden hair slid off her shoulders and fell onto my arms; the tresses were smooth but oddly slick and cold, chilling my skin.
“I think you’re much prettier though. Like a lovely porcelain doll.” I felt her fingers playing with my hair and running along my neck and collarbone. “Must be sure not to break you.”
I tried not to focus on her as she lowered her head to mine, the skin of her cheek touching my own. She was soft but cool, rather than warm like a person would normally be. I heard as she inhaled.
“You smell warm and sweet, just like strawberries wrapped in rich chocolate cake.” She licked her fingers, her face appearing to be in delicious thought, “I love strawberries”. I tried to slip from beneath her, but while her eyes were still shut she quickly placed a finger on my forehead, holding me completely still. “Precious dolls shouldn’t try to escape.”
“I am not a doll!”
Her face looked saddened by my words, but only for a moment. She quickly grinned again, “hmm, fiery are you? You should be careful though, you might burn up.” She laughed.
Abruptly, her amusement stopped.
In that moment, I become aware of a blood red satin ribbon with the bow on the side tied around her neck and attached to the center knot was a lone silver chain link. The fetter was strangely compelling, if I weren’t held down I would have been drawn to try and touch it.
“Oh damn, I wanted to play more.” She stood up lithely, pulling me with her and distracting my thoughts from the reflecting object around her neck. Her pink eyes caught mine once more, her hand moving to gently stroke my hair. “Until next time, precious doll.”
Right as I went to slap away her hand she was already at the far wall, grinning with a light giggle. In a flick of the eye, she appeared to vibrate again and then she was gone.
I felt as though her eyes were burnt into my brain. They were strange, almost like they were seeing through me and into my soul, and yet, strangely glassy and slick, like her hair. Although, what hung in my memory the most was the silver link that was joined with the ribbon neatly tied around her slender neck. Considering how strongly it called to me, I wondered if it were enchanted or something…though I suppose I could have also just discovered the unknown urges of onset kleptomania. “As if that’s even a thing.” I mumbled.
“Jade, why are you here?”
The Immortal stood in the doorway of the room, his eyebrows down in confusion.
“Uh, it-it was an accident. I just kind of wandered in here…I was looking for you, actually.”
“Me?”
“Well, yes. I mean, I haven’t seen you for three days. Haven’t you wondered where I’ve been? If I needed something? I mean, I haven’t gotten to eat either! Have you even eaten? Do you even eat at all?” My thoughts were sort of on the spam setting, hands held on my hips, the pent up irritation from that bizarre and unsettling experience with that woman seemed to be flowing free as I babbled. Plus, I really don’t know why I hadn’t realized it earlier, but I was very hungry. “Where have you been anyway?” I seemed to finish my rant and quirked a brow at him, with still kind of clouded but strong interest.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve been busy.”
“Don’t you think the person who is also now apparently living here would like to be aware of that? And you still have no food I bet.”
“Not as of yet, no.”
I groaned. “Immortal, there needs to be food here. I don’t know what or when you ever eat, if at all, but it obviously isn’t here seeing as everything is decades, if not centuries old.”
“I generally eat when I’m out. There is little need to have food here.”
“Well now there is. I’m here and I need to eat.”
He sighed and left the room.
Hastily I ran after him. “You said there was a town nearby…”
He blinked several times, seemingly in thought. “I never said anything like that.”
Crap, that was Caleb. “Uh, I suppose I thought it was you. Must have been something I considered asking about while speaking to you at one point.”
He said nothing and I exhaled thankfully. “So?”
“So what?”
I scoffed, “So is there a town or not?”
“Yes there is. Two, in fact.”
“Good, then would you please come with me to get some food? I would really love to have a decent meal. Plus…” I rubbed my arm, already feeling the weirdness of the moment that hadn’t, if ever, happened yet. “It would be kind of awkward to just stroll into a big place I have never been to as a complete stranger, who knows nothing all about them or this world, by myself.”
He was silent for a few minutes.
Does he really need to think about taking someone who hasn’t eaten for days to get food? I nearly mumbled that passing thought right as he began to reply to my question.
“I suppose. I do need to get a few things.”
“I thought you said you were just out? What were you doing then?” I quickened my pace to stand beside him and glanced up at his face.
He smirked ever so slightly, knowing I was probing him for slipped out secrets. “I wasn’t out doing errands.”
“Ah, well what were you doing?” I smiled sarcastically at him.
“Nothing of consequence.”
“Hmm,” I huffed. “That’s just a fancy way of not telling me.”
“Perhaps.”
“Fine then. Buuut, you’ll be taking me to town, yes?”
We were paused in the intersection where the Immortal’s bedroom was hidden down the right corridor.
“I’ll go and finish getting dressed. You meet me there once you have whatever it is you may need.” I babbled off the arrangement like I were reading a list of what to do.
In his usual tone, “Of course, milady.”
“Oh, don’t be facetious.”
He quietly exhaled a tiny laugh at me. I smiled to myself; luckily he didn’t seem upset with me anymore. I had almost forgotten in all that had gone on the past three days how angry he was that evening when he found me with the grimoire.
While I moved along the passages to get to my room, I felt my heart beat faster. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go into the town of another world, especially one as interesting as this. I wondered though if I was more excited as to what people would think of me, an unknown person appearing with the legendary Immortal at my side.
For a quick moment I felt my face burn.
End
