Chapter 4

Land of Lies

The children stood in the middle of a vast dark cavern, each one had their own thoughts, but all of them were thinking of a way to get out of this place. All of them, except Ciara.

"We are lost!" cried Ciara.

Ciara," said Grey, calmly. "If we go far enough in one direction. We will eventually hit a wall and be able to go back."

"That's right," nodded Oswin, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Get a hold of yourself. Stop freaking out."

"Okay," said Ciara, shaking her head. "I am calm. I am like a leaf in an ocean. Inner Peace. Inner Peace."

Ciara took in a deep breath.

"I am okay. What now?"

"This way," said Grey, feeling around the floor. "The ooze is over there, so if we head away from the ooze we should be going backwards."

The children nodded in agreement, and followed Grey through the cavern. The darkness parted like an ephemeral veil, always present, yet far away. Grey was going the right way. He was sure of it, but when he stopped. His hands felt the cold touch of an iron wall before him, and not the stone wall he had expected. He gasped in surprise.

"Whoa," replied Oswin, behind Grey. "Was this here before?"

"I don't think so," said Grey, feeling around the peculiar barrier. There were no inscriptions. No markings. It was slick and polished. Their reflections could be clearly seen on its surface, as if the wall was one large mirror.

"I think I can see something," said Ciara, touching the surface. Her sweet face was there. Her short hair, fringes on the side, with bangs going over one of her eyes. She had lost an eye during her awakening and hated to look at it, calling it unfashionable. Still, there was beauty in there. Mesmerizing. Her eyes opened as her reflection began to changed shape, growing into a gorgeous woman.

Her powers had been fully realized. She did not control the elements. Her magic was something else entirely. She levitated blocks of stone around her. She could fly.

"Ciara what is it?" said Grey, worried.

In an instant, the illusion vanished, leaving behind a little girl with pants too large for her body and a worn out shirt.

"Ah, nothing." murmured Ciara. She looked at herself with a bit of disappointment.

Oswin walked behind her.

"It's just our reflection," said Oswin, looking into the mirror.

He was a boy with unkempt blonde hair and blue eyes. He had not grown up as he had wanted to. His body was too small, too weak. The frail arms on his side an attestment to that. Weakness. He hated it. Though he would never admit it.

Never admit your mistakes. Always be perfect. That was what his mother had told him. If you want something hard enough, then it will be so. His reflection changed before his eyes. He did not recoil, but grinned, watching the young boy change into a man. It was not a strong man. No...but one that radiated power. He touched, and people's memories became raw to him. He played with them as if they were toys. He was...

"Oswin!" said Grey. He did not know what happened, but Oswin suddenly muttering to himself. An illusion? Grey began to grasp at the nature of this unnatural wall. "This place is not safe. We should leave"

Oswin shook his head, waking from his stupor. "It...shows you things Grey. I am not sure if it is in my head, but it is a nice dream."

"We should try to find a way around it," said Grey, walking next to the door. "All these things under the city...."

Oswin shrugged and followed close behind. Ciara did the same. Then, as they walked for a few more minutes, Oswin saw something scurrying in the reflection. It was a mouse. Ham!

"Grey, stop for a moment," said Oswin, looking at the wall. It really was the mouse. Oswin looked behind him, but the mouse wasn't there. It was inside the wall.

"Huh? What is it?" said Grey.

"It's Ham?" said Oswin, looking deeply  But she is inside the wall? She looks like she is trying to tell us something."

Ciara looked at the scurrying little mouse. It almost was like the mouse was trying to invite them in. It's paws opened wide, pointing at a crack between the floor and the wall. Ciara touched the crack, feeling strange warmth in her body.

"This? Is this magic?" whispered Ciara.

"Magic?" said Grey, curiously. The illusions. The monsters. It would make sense if this was all magic. However, there was something about that vision Grey had back in the tunnel that felt off. Magic was like a pressure. You pushed and it pushed back.  That wall didn't push. It pulled, taking pieces of you into it. Pieces of....

"I am going to do something," said Grey. "If I get into trouble. Don't come after me."

"Huh?" said Ciara, "What are you?"

Grey breathed in deeply and released his aura. He touched the wall with his hand. He felt a vibration running along the entire length of the wall, shaking the floor beneath him. He began to realize, it wasn't the wall shaking. It was him. He felt himself being sucked in. A moment later, he heard a little voice next to him.

"Grey, you made it!" said Ham, "I didn't know if you could do it."

"Ham?" said Grey, "Is that you?"

"It is me! Ham is Ham. Grey is Grey. You are here at my home," said Ham, bowing her head.

"Oswin? Ciara?"

Grey heard a loud bang from the wall next to him. He had traveled to the other side of the iron wall. That must have been Ciara or Oswin. He turned to face the wall, and put his thumbs up. It wasn't before long till he heard a loud plop next to him.

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"Ow," said Ciara. "Grey are you there?"

"I am here," smiled Grey. He found Ciara next to him, and helped her to her feet.

"Why did you do that so suddenly? Don't you know we are a team! If something happened to you then-

"I am sorry," said Grey, politely. He bowed graciously to Ciara as an apology. His head held very low.

"Well, as long as you know." smiled Ciara, patting him on the head. "Where is Oswin?"

"Oomph!" cried a voice next to Ciara. Oswin lay on the floor, and shook his head. "That was...different. Grey are you alright?"

"Yes, I am fine." said Grey. "Look, I found Ham. She says this is her home."

Her home. Oswin looked back at the iron wall. It was not iron on this side, the wall was painted over with a picture of a lush forest. The ceiling had a sun, a light that shone across the land, and a castle in the distance. The first thing that Oswin noticed was that was everything here was fake. Oswin looked at a tree next to him. It was a perfectly sculpted rock that had been colored over. That sun shining in the water colored sky was made out of glittering gold, dazzling the eyes.

"What kind of place is this?" said Oswin, looking around him. "It almost looks like the city, but that castle. I have never seen a castle like that. Everything here...is painted?"

Ciara nodded. She touched the grass near the trees. All the rocks had been carved to imitate life. There were sculptures of animals, birds, and even monsters. A fake slime, roamed across the grass, being swatted by a flock of birds.

Ham bounced up and down and front of them.

"I guess we can look at these later," murmured Oswin, remembering their quest. They had to meet up with that stone mouse, and figure a way to not kill all the mice. Oswin gently pushed Ciara forward, away from the glittering flowers, and followed the mouse.

Grey walked behind them, feeling the ground. The children walked passed a forest of large trees that towered over their heads, a farmland, and eventually came across a small village. Grey realized that the place they had traveled to was enormous, nearly as big as the city above them. So much land, underground. His head was reeling.

In the village there were sculptors of people frozen in place. A couple of boys ran from a dog, knocking over a basket of apples. A woman's hair blew in the wind. Her dress rippling behind fields of wheat. People smiled and laughed oblivious that it was all not real. Ciara touched the face of a young girl who was offering a flower to an elderly man. She leaned closer to the little statue's face, admiring her life like appearance before hearing a tiny whisper.

"Help me," cried the statue.

Ciara's eyes opened in shock and ran after Grey and Oswin who were talking together about how real everything here was. They turned towards Ciara a little surprised.

"Did you find something?" said Oswin.

Ciara shook her head, unwilling to tell them what she had heard. She wasn't sure the statue had been talking to her. It must be a trick of her mind. It had to be. She walked behind Oswin and Grey as they followed Ham through the village.

A castle stood on the top of a hill, overlooking the village. It had long narrow ramparts and twisted pointed towers. The gatehouse, several hundred feet tall, stood opened. A sea of skeletons littering the entrance inside. Ham led them over the mountain of skeletons and into the courtyard.  

"Let me find Blue. He is somewhere in the castle. I'll be back!" said Ham, scurrying away under the door.

Grey sat by a fountain in the courtyard with Oswin and Ciara. They all looked at each other with anxiously.

"This place," said Oswin. "Skeletons. Fake grass. Fake sky. Who would make something like this?"

"Maybe it wasn't made." said Grey, calmly. He had been in so many near death experiences that even skeletons hadn't frightened him much. "I mean it feels like this was too much for one person to do...it could be something else."

"Someone had to paint it," said Ciara, sweating. "Those people. They seemed real."

Grey nodded. "The monster's too. This might a place of power?"

Grey touched his chest, remembering his magical core next to his heart. The awakening had feeling similar to this. They might be able to meditate here and gain some worldly insight.

"I don't know," said Oswin, grasping at Grey's words. "I don't feel any magic here."

"I don't either," nodded Grey, "but there is something special about this place. It's too unusual. That wall we had to pass through had to have been made by something powerful."

"That is right," murmured Oswin.

"I'll do it," said Ciara, "We won't be doing anything anyway till the mouse comes back."

"Okay, I will do it too," scoffed Oswin, shaking his head. He took a spot on the opposite end of the fountain. Ciara shuffled to Grey's left and sat on the floor. She tied a knot into her hair.

"Good Luck. Good Luck. Good Luck," Ciara whispered to herself before falling into a deep trance.

Grey took in a deep breath, relaxing his body. Breath in. Breath out. His breath slow down. His arms started to drop. The darkness fading into the background. He felt the warmth of light on his cheek. A light shining in the sky. He opened his eyes. He could see.