Blink. Blink.
I blinked twice as I looked at the piece of paper. I was full of disbelief.
But it was still there.
" to daddy." It was still there on the paper. And the fact that only I could see it meant two things.
'Either this paper lets someone see what they wanna see or hear or this map was drawn by my daughter.'
' the first option is a not possible as I didn't know about a treasure or want it. And it should have also shown Midas what he truly wanted, not a blank paper. '
'So only the latter option is possible...but how.' I pondered before I looked up at Midas with a questioning look.
" are you sure you took it while searching my grave not any other ones." I asked wanting to confirm his words.
" yes, yes, I am sure...enough about that, is there something there..can you see something?" He asked excitedly as his dollar shaped eyes gleamed with greed.
I looked at him for a few seconds before I said.
" it is map." I said simply, but before Midas could jump and down in excitement, I continued, " but only I can read it...and as you said I will help you if you help me...you have to tell me what you know about this place." I said trying to strike a deal with him.
'Of course if he was cold person he can just beat the hell out of me and take the information but he doesn't seem like that type of person.' And as for how pain would have a effect on 'dead' person, i wouldn't know. but I know it does have an effect when I striked the coffin earlier.
' I also want to go with him to where the treasure was, to find out if it has any connection with my daughter. ' I thought.
Midas appeared to be thinking for a while before he formed a thumbs-up with his golden hand.
"Deal." He said with smile on his golden face.
' He really is a golden statue.' I thought whenever I looked at him.
"OK. Now that is settled, you start to explain first." I said.
Midas pondered for a second before he started his class: 101 things to know about afterlife.
...even though that was the title he only mentioned four main principles of afterlife:
" 1. Do not trust time. Time is warped in here, in some zones one day might pass in a blink of an eye while in others you see the sun stuck in the sky never ever moving." He said with the tone of teacher.
" Then how do you measure it or know how many days has it been ?" I asked as I couldn't imagine my life on Earth without time. It would be madness.
" That is what we call spirit reset. It means that our sprit bodies like mine for example always reset to its normal state after 24 hours on Earth." He said not going into details.
" What we do is to make a wound on our spirit body. When the reset happens it will heal or dissappear automatically. This is counted as one day." He concluded the first principle with this statement.
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Although I had many doubts and questions i holded back until he finished.
" 2. Never ask about someone's life or death on Earth. This is a rule all must follow without exceptions. I don't know exactly why but all I know is that there will terrible consequences after it. So never do it." He warned.
" WHAT!" I shouted astonished ." But when you asked me I told you everything..." I said angry about being made a fool.
"Cough.cough...ahh it was necessary test to test if you were a newbie, if you were just pretending to be one then you wouldn't have told me." Midas tried to convince me.
' what stupid test you greedy golden..ugh.' I didn't have any insults towards his godly body.
" OK OK next, This place always try to reject those who 'live' here. It corrodes them until you dissappear one day, ceasing to exist. So the third principle is
3. To have Anchors . Anchors have many forms, a sprit person has to have an attachment towards something that exists here or an another spirit person." He said as I noted this important information in my mind.
' obviously a spirit person refers to someone who live in this place.' I thought as Midas seemed to put spirit before every word to make a term in the afterlife.
As I was thinking about the emergence and reasons for these principles, I suddenly saw Midas smile fade away replaced by a serious look with obvious fear in his face.
" and last and final rule: 4. NEVER EVER BE OUT IN THE NIGHT!." He literally shouted as he said it making my 'dead' throat to gulp loudly.
" UNDERSTOOD?" He shouted again. Making me nod my head a few times.
" good." He said smugly, like as if he had made a average student to get a centum.
" that's all?" I questioned.
" no there is more but I am not stupid. This was an advance payment, rest will be given after you fulfill your part of the deal." He said with look that asked, " do I look like a fool to you?".
I just shook my head with a chuckle as I started to take a look at the map.
'Hmm.'
The map seemed to based on a narrow passages. And the considering the fact that we were only surrounded by giant rocks and flat land, I theorized.
" It is either in underground or a cave in someother place." I murmured as I looked around before my eyes stopped at my grave.
' Maybe...'
I turned to Midas and explained my thoughts.
" i think It is underground we have to dig there further down." I pointed at my grave.
" hmm." Midas pondered for a bit before he nodded his head.
" OK I will dig and you stand guard." He said as he put on a pair of gloves.
"Guard?" I questioned.
" well if you are right then there might be traps around it to prevent someone from entering. It is a treasure after all." He simply replied as he picked up his shovel.
'So I am bait of sorts...I Will just be on the lookout.' I thought annoyed as I took this chance to explore my surroundings.
I started walking around passing through the giant rocks. The seemed almost perfectly round and when I touched them I could feel the heat in my palm.
Other than that there was nothing else for miles away, so I directed my eyes to the skies. There hung a white ball of fire halfway from the horizon.
' there is still time before Night.' I thought.
Then without turning I asked Midas,
" What do you call this place ?" I asked.
" Hmm. It is called the home of giants." He said simply.
' giants?' I questioned my ears.
" why? " I asked.
" i don't know I have never been here before, maybe they are referring to those giant rocks." He said simply as he kept digging.
" hmm." I just nodded my head as I kept looking around.
After a while I sensed something, I looked up but nothing changed, the sun was at the same place as if frozen.
" maybe here time runs slow." I murmured
But suddenly as if the sun itself didn't like my words, it started moving.
'Hmm' at first it was slow, then gradually the speed at which the sun moved towards the horizon increased dangerously.
" ahh, Midas did you forget to mention something about the time zones by any chance..." I shouted slight panic in my voice.
" Hmm, ahh yes there are some time zones that you can't predict, they seem as if they have will of their own, but those are rare." He simply said oblivious to what was happening.
' that golden bastard.' I cursed in my mind as I shouted again in a panicked voice.
" you might have to pick up the pace."
Finally noticing something was wrong Midas stopped digging before looking towards where I was looking .
And his eyes went wide, the sun was just a couple of minutes from sinking into the horizon.
The Night was coming.