As expected, even without light, Isidora could control Benjamin and descend down the floor. The old wood groaned under his boots, and a rancid stench curled through the dark, making the air thick and oppressive.
The stench was enough to make even the mouse recoil. The little creature, sensing the discomfort, retreated and scrambled up his trouser leg to nest inside the coat pocket, seeking refuge from the unpleasant odor.
Feeling the nausea creep in, Izzy decided to cut off Benjamin’s sense of smell. It was an unnecessary distraction, and there was no need to endure it when she could simply shut it down.
They reached the bottom and faced the long hallway. Unlike the first time they had sneaked into here, the oil lamps lining the walls remained unlit.
That made sense. Benjamin’s body was now only a shell, incapable of conjuring the strange fire he once did. And even if he could, they had no idea how he had done it. The intricacies of his abilities were still a mystery to them.
But this was only a minor inconvenience. With their Field Vision, the dark was irrelevant to them.
However, curious about one thing, they guided Benjamin to approach the wall-mounted lamps.
He lifted the lamp from its mount and examined it. The glass chime slid up, and inside lay the wick and the burner, just like any others.
He drew a friction match from a small box, struck it against the side, fed the flame to the wick, and adjusted it. The wick caught, as the flame brightened, casting a warm glow around them.
At that instant, with a faint ripple—flick flick flick—the entire hallway bloomed with light, lamps winking to life one by one in a ripple effect, as if responding to an invisible command.
‘I see.’
How does it work? He fiddled with the lamp for a moment. Chimney, shade, burner, reservoir, wick,... It was ordinary in design, nothing unusual.
‘Hold on,’
He snuffed the flame and unscrewed the burner to peer into the reservoir. Inside it was the oil, as expected.
However, there was something else in here. A warmth breeze drifted from within the lamp’s reservoir and brushed against their shared minds, gliding over their consciousness.
It was similar to something they had encountered in the past. Izzy tried her best to rummage through her memories.
‘Izzy, it’s the bottle.’
Inside the theatre, Isa swung her leg while watching their memory’s replay while drinking her imaginary soda.
‘!!’
The orange-capped bottle Benjamin had used in the attic to reveal the mouse’s blood. The same warmth she’d felt during the ritual to contact the Herald. The same soft heat that always seemed to cling to him whenever he appeared, like an aura.
Her thoughts clicked into place, forming a coherent picture.
Some kind of detection air? No… not quite.
Her mind rolled back. It was, it was like…
‘It was like some sort of energy source?’
Izzy realized as the pieces fell into place.
This warmth was like their own energy source, the green mist they absorbed. Benjamin used this warm energy for detection, possibly for his abilities as well. It’s a fuel for detection, ritual, and fuel for his abilities.
‘I see, I see, hehehe’
It opened up many possibilities that Izzy could think about. They still had two of those orange bottles in their possession, although they could not absorb it, perhaps they could harness them for something else?
‘Apparently, each of them cost 5 Alan coins?’
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Alan coins. That currency was elusive for her. Were they the golden ones, or the silver ones? She had no idea. Either way, if the stingy old fox had complained so much, they would have been expensive.
They closed the lamp, let Benjamin’s hands carefully reseat it into the wall.
For now, Izzy filed her thoughts away. The bottles would be studied later.
Benjamin lit up the hallway once more, turning his heel toward the direction of the pillars. Last time, Izzy hadn’t had the opportunity to examine them.
With each step, they studied each pillar with interest. Isa seemed mesmerized by the intricate carvings and designs, her young mind captivated by the artistry. In contrast, Izzy remained largely unfazed. She had lived long enough and encountered all sorts of bizarre things to be surprised by this.
Each one rose like a guardian, their stone bodies scarred with age, their surfaces carved with patterns that had long eroded.
At first glance, they looked like nonsense, just cracked symbols worn down by centuries. But upon careful inspection, Izzy discerned a faint outline.
Although the carvings had long eroded, they resembled flames, its hands extended upward, burning the roots of a tree like an apocalyptic upheaval.
The flames seemed to dance, their tendrils reaching out as if to consume everything in their path. Above, those roots turned brittle, a testament to the passage of time and the relentless march of decay.
‘Fire?’ Izzy pondered, wondering if this was related to Benjamin’s power.
Her gaze drifted upward toward the ceiling, where something seemed to catch her attention.
There was something there. She couldn’t quite describe it, nor make sense of it. Her thoughts became hazy, clouded by an inexplicable sensation.
‘What… is…’
Something flickered in her vision.
A creature stretching across the sky, neck impossibly long, body colossal. It was a mass of shadows and indistinct forms, shifting and changing with each heartbeat. Crowns upon crowns adorned its head like jagged thorns.
It roared, it howled, it screamed toward the sky, a black sun looming above, casting an eerie glow over its blackened wings.
Meteors rained down, leaving trails of fire and destruction in their wake. Chains, webs, a thousand snares dragged the beast down.
It cried, trapped, its tears forming rivers that bled across the world; they flowed with a dark, viscous liquid. Skewers and spears pierced its flesh, pinning it to the earth, a grotesque display of suffering.Ding
A trumpet rang in their mind. The world trembled.
*Analyze… Not Qualified… Access Denied*
‘Ah?’
The image cracked. Their minds went blank. Benjamin’s body swayed and trembled. Izzy and Isa both felt dizzy and lightheaded afterward.
They blinked, trying to regain her composure, and looked up again.
The ceiling was blank. There was nothing there. It was just an empty bare stone.
‘What am I doing?’
Izzy shook her head to clear the fog. It seemed she had forgotten something. Probably nothing serious. She stopped trying to interpret anything and resumed her study.
Benjamin moved past the pillars, his bandaged head tilting slightly as he brought his one intact eye closer to the hallway wall.
The bricks enclosing the corridor were mottled with streaks of dried blood, moss, and mold.
On both sides of the old wall, faint murals but discernible were etched into the stone. His palm brushed the rough wall as he examined the murals carved into it.
The first mural showed a lone figure descending from the heavens, a radiant full moon etched upon their head. Behind it, a swirling mass of darkness with uncountable eyes and grasping hands reached out, eager to ensnare it.
A step further, the next mural showed the same figure, the person with the full moon symbol, collapsed upon the ground. But from the other side, a group of people emerged, holding crude weapons and tools, defiantly chasing away the encroaching darkness.
Benjamin’s fingers traced the next mural. The figure with the full moon symbol offered forth a crescent moon symbol to the leader of the gathered mortals.
In the final panel, the figure with the full moon symbol was gone. Instead, a woman holding a staff in one hand, its head resembling a scale. A half-crescent moon glowed on her head, her other hand raised toward the sky, toward the fluid darkness filled with many eyes and grasping hands.
Benjamin then turned his attention to the wall on the other side. As expected, there was another faint trace of a mural. Izzy continued to study it with heightened interest.
In this mural, another person appeared. But this figure’s entire body was almost erased by tears, scratches, and the relentless erosion of time. It was faint, very faint, Barely a silhouette remained, making it difficult for Izzy to discern its form.
The woman with the half-crescent moon was depicted passing a child to this faint, eroded person. Then she lifted her staff again, pointing it toward the sky.
The next mural was utterly destroyed. It was scratched by something, torn up, cracks split the stone wide. Izzy could make out none of its original meaning.
In the subsequent mural, the child was surrounded by a group of people, who knelt in worship. Their heads bowed, their hands lifted in devotion toward the small figure, who held the scale-headed staff aloft.
And the next scene….
The child had grown. She held the staff in her hand, guiding the people. She led them, her scale staff blazing in her hand, yet her gaze was turned behind her, toward the final mural.
There, the unknown, eroded silhouette stood alone before the ominous darkness filled with eyes and grasping hands. A vast storm of black liquid swallowed them whole, devouring their form as though they had never been.
A vortex happened, carved into the stone, engulfing the eroded figure.
And then, there was no more of that person’s trace.
I'm actually not sure how much I should reveal here. I only assume that from this point on, there would be no time to study the mural again. Also, the question would be, why would this random mansion inside the forest have this kind of mural? It makes no sense. But well, my future me would figure things out somehow. He’s smarter than me. My future me, good luck!
Yeah, someone mentioned that my world building was a bit slow. Yes, I actually wanna set them up probably. I want ppl to remember the MC, her character, and her power before introducing other people. And I'm trying to follow her PoV to learn about the world together. (because the latter half would be very chaotic)
what do you think of the story's genre thus far?
