A groan echoed across the river, originating from Norbert, having woken up from his slumber. Moving his arms out of the sleeping back, he sat up and stretched them out. Blinking and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with a big yawn, he looked around in confusion, as he was not on his bed in his shared apartment but outside, looking at a purple mass above his head. After multiple seconds, quizzically looking into nothing, it all hit Norbert; he was still in the other realm, probably for the longest time since leaving, and still was.
Hearing the river in the background, Norbert looked around for Obsius, but he was nowhere to be found. With a shrug, he got into his pack and pulled out a bar and some trail mix, eating it before packing up and heading off.
Pulling out the pocket watch and opening up the clasp, Norbert was surprised at the time, as the clock was now pointed to ten. Alarmed at having slept ten hours, he looked around, not needing his glow stick to provide light as the sun shone again through the canopy above.
Packing everything into his backpack, Norbert ventured off again, following the river as it wound through the bend. Humming to himself, Norbert made his way through, happy that he didn't need to cut through the forest; nature had already accomplished this.
The further he went, the river became wider and wider, steadily slowing down, coming out of the rapids and turning into a constant steady movement of water. Norbert went up to the edge of the river, careful to make sure that no fish or anything was moving around the water; he went and cupped the water, splashing it onto his face and around his neck, cooling down and wiping off the sweat that had built up during the morning walk.
Standing up, he looked out to the other side of the river; with a quizzical look, Norbert stared at it, not believing his eyes. On the other side of the river was a cave cut into the rock, with wooden planks holding the side up. On the top Norbert saw a sign of some sort hanging off the rock, only attached in one of the corners. Wiping his eyes Norbert stared at it, not believing he found a mine shaft. With the satisfaction of finding evidence of civilisation, Norbert unpacked his raft from the river and started his journey. Having found another stick, Norbert quickly pushed himself across the river to the cave entrance.
Looking at the entrance once more, he went and felt the wooden pillars, splinters coming out and some nicks chipped from them. Looking at the floor and the broken boards in disarray, marks left by something forcibly removing it. What it could have been was of no way of knowing, having been smashed to pieces and seemed to be some time ago.
With a sense of annoyance, Norbert weighed his options: to continue down the river with some civilisation he could find or to brave the cave that seemed abandoned due to a catastrophe. With all his other indecisions and workings, Norbert pulled out a trusty coin from his pocket . Giving it a quick kiss saying, "Don't let me down now", he flicked it into the air. Heads into the cave, tails following the river he thought. In the air, it spun, catching the light and reflecting into the area around him. As it made it to his eyes, Norbert snatched it out of the air, ready to look at what his fate would be.
"Dang it" Norbert yelled.
Looking to the side, he started at the coin, having missed the catch, the coin clipping against his knuckles. Stalking over to the coin, Norbert looked at what fate said. Staring back at him was the queens head, almost having a slight snicker and grin, knowing the fate that it had caused him and the troubles he would go to. Picking up the coin from the ground, Norbert placed it back in his pocket and pulled out a glow stick, cracking it as he entered the cave.
Ducking down, he travelled past the entrance and deeper into the cave, one hand on the side, making sure he could find his way back—the scrunching of the rocks and pebbles was his only companion. Deeper and deeper Norbert went as the cave steadily went deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth.
Parts of the cave could light themselves up, the roots of the trees punching through the top or sides before ending halfway, providing illumination. At these junctures, he looked around the roots, tiny leaves clinging out and coming out of them, having been bathed in the same purple as the trees themselves had. Breaking some off, Norbert examined them closer, seeing they could still keep the light.
Holding it to the cave wall, a pattern of lights exploded. The cave almost seemed alive with all colours, starting with constellations and line structures like a detective's board with strings connecting everything. It disappeared as quickly as it came, causing the cave to be bathed in darkness as Norbert slowly became accustomed once more to its darkness. Looking at the wall again, he felt the lines drawing a different pathway.
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Taking another handful of the leaves, he stuffed them inside his pocket and continued down into the cave. The cave continued for a single path, curving around bends, sometimes stalactites forming out of the rock once more; Norbert crossed over, not knowing when the last person ever walked this part. No more rubbish or signs of civilisation found anymore.
At the last support, he passed the cave, squeezing itself into a crack, the last part not mined out by whoever did it. Waving his glow stick ahead, Norbert looked on, trying to see the end of the fissure but unable to. Stealing a breath, Norbert took some leaves out of the pocket and placed them on the wall inside the fissure. There was once more an explosion of lights, illuminating the path in front. After several meters, it looked like it would expand out once again.
Norbert unslung his backpack; unable to carry both simultaneously, he placed it by his side, turned to fit in, and started to slide through the tunnel. Step by step, he wiggled through, pieces of rock jutting out and poking into him, jutting into his body and scraping across his face.
Feeling the pressure, the backpack started not to move, getting budged into the rock. The walls closed in and entrapped him deep below the earth, unable to see the light of day again. With one last shove, the tunnel opened again, allowing him to quickly slide through and put the backpack back on. Looking up, the walls extended high into the air, much higher than it once was.
Notches appeared in the wall, up in the air, all evenly spaced once more. As he continued walking further, Norbert brought the leaves up once more, placing them against the wall. The light from the leaves instantly travelled to where the notches were in the wall, glowed, and shone further and further out.
The hallway was visible for the first time, showing the marble steps and doorways on the side. As Norbert started walking down the hallway, the roof now visible and some mural on top of it, the light slowly faded. Walking along to the first door on the left, he entered, a single room with dust in piles scattered around.
The contents of what could have been now lost. Only small scraps of metal, all rusted over and brittle, were in his hands. He picked one piece up, and as he tried to remove the rust on it, the entire piece, which could have been a flat end, slowly eroded in his hands, leaving an orange stain on them. With a cough, Norbert caused the dust to fly in the air, any semblance of what could have been long forgotten.
He exited the room and tried the others leading off the hallway. Through each one told a similar story of what could have once been identified as now no longer there but turned to dust. The floor went down in one of the rooms and suddenly dropped off, forming a step. Looking out, the room was the biggest yet of these side rooms, with side rooms attached. As he explored further, his foot cracked on something; looking down, he moved his foot off what was on the ground.
Underneath the foot was a cracked tile, now in utter pieces due to him stepping on it. Looking at the floor, he could feel some of the tiles, the rest broken off by something and only a little glue remaining. Looking up again, he saw the exact notches on the wall and barely over the ceiling.
With the last look at his leaves, he placed them into the wall. The entire room was lit, the sound of water gurgling from far off. Out of one of the pipes drew a sludge slowly being pushed out, the sound of air being moved out of the others. Slowly, water started to trickle out of them one at a time before the room again turned to darkness.
Surprise plastered on Norbert's face, knowing that it was once a bathhouse of epic proportions. Able to house nearly a hundred people with ease, looking at the section in the centre, Norbert walked over to a side room of the many available, seeing that once there was a single spout and smaller bathing area, the same divot in the ground but more profound than the one outside.
Walking around and investigating each room, Norbert found one with a bench along all the walls and a table in the centre. With a dismissive rising of his shoulders, letting the place keep some of its secrets, Norbert exited and started walking to the end of the hallway.
After passing several more rooms on each side, the distance growing between each one, Norbert reached the end of the hallway. Looking up, the two doors stood, blocking his path. Engraved and protruding out of it in a pattern depicted a pattern flowing from one corner to the other, meeting in the middle and entwining at the top. Norbert tilted his head in puzzlement, having seen it before. With a wonder, it depicted the tree he had once climbed down, the roots reaching down into the earth, the trunk twisting and undulating with leaves and flowers growing across it to have the canopy above finally. Looking up now, he could almost see the pattern move of its own, like the wind was once more blowing through the leaves, causing them to fall to the ground slowly…
"Whoa man, gotta use my voice sometimes, snap out of it. It's only a pattern." Shaking the befuddlement out of his head, Norbert slapped his face twice, "It's game time", he replied to himself.
Placing his hand against the door, he pushed against it. The door not budging at all. Using all his force, Norbert pushed and pushed, slowly the door opened, creaking out; the once complete tree now cracked in half as if a lightning bolt had struck it.
With a slight push, Norbert could slip inside, taking his backpack with him. The doors slowly closed behind him, a boom being heard as it closed and the air rushing out of the room. Norbert went and tried to pull against the door; not budging at all, almost seeming to grow heavier each time he tried. Now completely trapped, Norbert looked around to see what he has risked his life for.