“Where are we?” A curious yet feeble voice of a female spurted out. As her dangling staff made short high-pitched kringles, the footsteps behind her followed as they navigated through the unknown labyrinth formed before their eyes.
Following to the sounds emitted, Valour, the house of their family pushed one another aside as she takes her job as a shield and sword towards her sister’s side. “I have no clue, but this could be the work of the old man’s tricks, probably a test or maybe even a trap.” Unsheathing her double-edged claymore, she held the blade in a defensive position with an arm by the hilt and another by the blade, she slowly shuffles herself everything she feels the floor vibrating oddly. “Nay’ this can’t be a trap…. It could be a place forming before us.”
“Why do you think that?” Willow asks as she holds onto the youngest sister’s little hand as she held her longbow by the other. “This may look like a labyrinth, but have you read those stories of unknown monsters?” Watching a ray of light curling around the sky like a rainbow, it looked lovingly like a guide of a star’s flight across this creating space.
“You see that? I think we should follow it.” Willow calls out as she looks above her.
“Are you mad? It could be a trap...” Valour shouts in worry.” What if, it’s a lure from some sort of being?”
Nodding her head. “It could possibly be, but we have to trust our instincts first. Maybe this is more of a test of courage and bravery. Maybe that thing was a hint for the careful eyeing.” Stella listening to Willow’s explanation, she pats Valour’s metallic back as it rustled a chime of thin smacks.
“Let’s follow Willow’s advice, aye? If it was a trap, we will fight it. We have gifts after all.”
“Fine.” Valour stuttered mildly from her reddish puffed and chapped lips before pushing away the arm of Stella. “Don’t say me didn’t warn yah.”
As the girls walked towards the innards of the labyrinth, they ventured deeper and deeper into the unknown. Walls marbled yet cracked and raised high but none perpendicular, they noticed the strange light once more, as it slowly guided them with a strange pulsing sensation every second of their second blink of the eyes.
“I think Mr. Light is good.” The little one squeaked as she looks closely at the star of sorts before smiling towards her older sister, Willow. “Maybe he will help us get out of strange place, maybe it is Brother who made it.”
“Hmm, it is possible. Wolfe does have the capability of our gifts but we have never seen it. It is possible this light is emitted from him, what do you think sisters?” As they took careful steps every-time, they took a short break as Stella and Valour turned their backs towards their sister Willow.
“Perhaps, but isn’t Light Magic mostly conjured by Sister Stella? I have never seen Wolfe use it once.” Valour questions as she tilts her stiff head towards Stella. “Is it true, what me said?”
“Aye, but it is possible. Well, maybe. Our gifts may be different but it can be coming for a similar source. That’s what the Altmers say.” Clearing her throat, she picks out her small notebook from her small satchel and flips a few pages. “Aye’ it says here. This gift can be harnessed among those who are close to each other. Both by distance and by relation. Since we are siblings, it is possible we can use this magic together.”
“I see.” Valour replies shortly after thinking in her head strange wordings and forming of sentences. It faltered and only came out a short simple phrase.
“Aye hurry, enough standing still, if it can work among us, then that means, I can use your light if I can harness my gift.” Willow replies before nudging forward Wisp who was in the world of her own.
“Mmh?” The little girl squeaked before pulling along her sister as they started walking again.
***
“Fuck...” A coarse and rough voice mumbled as it tries to pulls itself up from the strange fall it had. “Goddamit, why did it end up so painful? I suppose Mary didn’t thought of some sort of anti-fall mechanic.” Being sarcastic and kicking up her normal jokes, Chau-min adjusts herself before putting on her old and stained beret.
“Is this the place?” She asks herself before helping up Sherrinford who was still weak from her rehabilitation. “Get back up old lass, we need you and your bird-friend.”
“Hnngh ha~” Moaning a jumbled sound representing a laugh, the lass in a semi patient gown and a scratched out military vest accepts the hand of her “saviour” before dusting off the dirt from her clothing. “Hargh-” She grunts out as she points towards Shanina who was already inspecting the area as she knelt herself down and watched the strange surrounding.
“Hmm, nein… das ist richtig.” She spoke to herself in a North German accented dialect as she smelt the air that slapped onto her face as some strange buildings formed before their eyes and the very nature below them grew a lovely shade of green and red, giving out a stark beauty they haven’t seen for ages. “Reminds me of Spring, on that day.” A small smile could be seen as she then stood up and turned towards the others.
“So, is this Earth or some sort of other dimension? Maybe, just some sort of high drugged hallucination, even.” Chau-Min asks as she looks below the cliff they were standing upon as they watched a city below formed out of thin air. “Looks quite pretty, to be fair.”
“Hehh..” Sherrinford grunts again as she smiled, stood with her pale green eyes as she points towards a similar looking building a few miles away. “Ahh-eh.”
“Hmm, what?” Shanina answered as she looks towards the direction Sherrinford points. “Ohh, that building. To be honest, I am curious. Perhaps, I may be overthinking. Is this another dimension or some sort of time reversal we see?”
“Now to think about it. It could be another dimension. Like another plane of living. I guess even a Guardian of Time and Space has her own limits.” A voice called out to them from behind.
“Hmm, limits are possible.” Turning towards the voice, the group noticed an unfamiliar figure standing before them as she wore a whitish blouse with some decorations and a shiny golden brooch hanging over her forehead.
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“Wait, are you Id’dreek? The guardian of Mary?” Chau-min asks as she was suddenly interrupted by Shanina. “No, that isn’t her. Maybe it’s a another guardian watching over this place.”
“Who are you, state your business?” Calmly and friendly toned, there was a sense of strict questioning mouthed from Shanina’s usual exigency.
“Relax, relax. I am one, what you call, a messenger of well “God”. No, don’t be mistaken, not the god of your religion, more or less, a secretary of the Guardians higher ups.”
“I am just here to watch and archive this interesting phenomenon that haven’t happened for the past millennia.” The figure replies as she twists and turns strange runic symbols from the air towards small lettered pages. “Just call me, Friend.”
“Friend? Oh alright then.” Chau-Min chuckled as she adjusts her beret. “That’s an unusual name, but, nice to meet you!” Handing towards the figure she hands her hand as she wishes to greet her with a handshake.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Chau-min, yes I know who you guys are. You are pretty much a surprising ally to meet, maybe even a legend during the years of The Happening and well, what happened after.” Busily writing up notes with the spasm movements of her eyeballs, she waved her hands towards them as she walks down the hill. “Come with me, I will guide you to Mary. The others aren’t here yet, the space in this strange realm doesn’t seem to be able to hold that many clients as of now.”
“Wait, before that, do you know the whereabouts of William?” Shanina asked as looks at the trees sprouting out from simple roots and animals scampering about in shock and awe. “If you have the capabilities too...”
“Eh-?” Sherrinford grunts to herself as she looks by her shoulder, seeing the semi-invisible guardian daughters of hers resting and playing on her like some playground. “Heh-he...”
“Oh, he is fine right now. He is with my superior right now. Unfortunately his timely death was cut short and he was somehow cheated from his supposedly death.”
“Wait, what!” Chau-Min shouted in shock as she stuttered, only to bite her tongue. “ Heghh, wasgh suppose to die?!” Holding the pain on her tongue, she makes a false smile, close to a smirk as she closes her eyes to ease herself.
“Yeah, his job was done, so your human God wanted to end his life, but our species god decided to make him live, so they negotiated a deal. Get it?” The secretary answers quickly as she turns off her magic documenting and brings out her notepad and scribbles some words onto it.
“Wait, God exists? As in The One?” Shanina who was secretly an atheist and more of a scientific believer expressed herself in awkward surprise as she asked the dumbest question she would ever mutter.
“Yeah, about that….” The secretary grins as she closes her notebook and wipes a glowing blue drop of sweat from her forehead. “Yes and no.”
“I can’t explain about your god as it’s more classified and well, not to be rude, but it’s better to know once you pass. He, she and it is kind of a way you represent your deity of sorts, yes? Other than that, though, this situation here is way more important than what happened in the past.” Being stoic about the actions of what humankind led their best through, now this figure preaches absurd dogma which can only be attained as nonsense.
“If you say it that way, it only urges us to be more careful around you.” Chau-Min replies before sighing out a long raspy grunt before stretching her hips by crunching it side to side. Following that, she then walks down the cliffs’ side-walk as she heads onto a pavement, freshly laid like soft concrete but hard and rough like hardened sea-sponge. How odd.
“Lead us to her please...if you may, whoever you are.” Shanina asks kindly as she follows the footsteps of Chau-Min and Sherrinford who were legging up ahead.
“Slow down...hey! Warte mal.” Shanina shouts towards them as she slowly drags herself to them as her flimsiness and high vitality that she once held in an athletic fashion has now been reduced to a frail lady of weakness and yearns.
“Woops sorry there, old lady, forgotten your leg wasn't in the right condition. Been ages since we met.” Chau-Min jokes about as her usual short figure made her easier to control her body’s movement and flexibility.
Even on crutches, Sherrinford still held a good amount of strength to propel herself forward like a slingshot, or better, a high jumper. It may sound exaggerated, but once you take a good look on how she manipulates her sticks, you will realise, this wasn’t her first time trying out this strange movement pattern.
“Old lady?” Shanina grins as her frows bended down. “It has only been a few days. Maybe even less.”
“I mean, before you broke your left leg kneecap Shanina, remember? That was like years ago, before this whole jig is happening.” Chau-Min reminds her of the time before the whole post apocalyptic thing happened to the most of Europe.
Though, normal post-modern life still exists in the other sides of the continents, there was no way to trench about and rebuild society the way it used to be, due to the economic impact that attracted money-hungry politicians and resource stealing idiots to start gnawing their way through diamond shaped bars.
Yes, you could say, trying to somehow communicate another country with limited electricity is a trial of error. It is hard to do anything as the whole countries that ad the whole impact point had little to none forms of normality. Most populations died out, factories gone, electricity and gas were scarce, most survivors turned insane from the amounts of pressure left by the Bio-Mothers impact that there was no choice but to live off scraps.
Continuum-Now was the closest thing to a research lab to try to alter how certain things work and form a more streamlined government, but as they lack the people with higher law education and the books required to share the knowledge, they were only stuck to developing mutated plants and artificial meats that can at-least sustain some sort of nutrition.
Stop reading, stop listening. You hear that? Yeah, that’s it. The sound of silence. A hum of a girl from a nearby corner of a building. Whimsical, exciting yet strangely creepy. Out of all the quietness that echoed throughout this artificial atmosphere, this was the only thing that outputted itself in the realm.
“Is that Mary, singing?” Chau-Min asks as her ears reddened and flicked closely towards the rhythm that swayed into her sensitive ears.
Grunting in an affirmative tone, Sherrinford nods and points towards a shadow that she sees behind the strange fountain that is being constructed before their very eyes.
The figure who was for awhile following them behind while writing up information on her special pad, kept a keen eye of the surroundings and the people that are now interacting with this strange phenomenon. She nicknamed it, “Paradise”. A simple layman’s term for something with no corruption in a such a pure and white world but gives off strong emotional sensory when truly absorbed.
Before the large white marbled fountain blocked their way from fully forming, they squeezed through the gap before noticing a fair figure dancing happily by a prism of light before swinging her arms left and right like a ballad dancer performing a solo act.
A familiar rhythm, one that is hard to grasp, sounds quite familiar. La~ la la, the soothing voice left out as the three watched the oblivious maiden prancing about in her imagination land.
Shanina lifted her arm, trying to reach out towards Mary’s shoulder, wanting to call out to her, but halfway through, a feeble and cold arm stopped her, pushing it down slowly and she head the palm of her arm, slightly tight.
Turning towards the origins of the force, she notices Sherrinford smiling at her her, eye to eye, face to face, emotional tensions rising as her cherry red cheeks brushed upon her pale and sickly skin.
“You want to watch?” Shanina asked as looks back at Mary, still not noticing the people watching her while her lids stay closed and the bright light shone through her fair yellowish skin.
“You know what this reminds me of?” Chau-Min asked as she sits on a bench not far from them. “It reminds me of the time when I joined a concert before the happening. It was with my father and my sister. We watched as a gal just like this, was elegantly swinging herself left and right. I don’t know but, the feeling from just watching this, gives me happiness.”
“Hope, even.”
“Yes, it may be just a temporary glow of art and creativity, but the outcome just gives you motivation to do something that you haven’t tried before. This world may be fake, a cruel copy of a once loved country, continent, society, even. But it just makes me smile.” As she slowly relax her back by the bench’s back, she clasps her hands together as she watched Mary conducting her own musical as strange patterns left and right summoned out. Like a Labyrinth, so to speak, slowly formed in a more constructed and beautifully picked choice of architecture that praised before their very eyes.
“Come, take a seat. This may take a while.” Chau-Min blurts out as she calls out to the two, her close friends, that were there since the beginning. “If only my sister was here, and Will...”
As the pictures of multicolour turns to a greyish hue of film, a static appears before a click could be sound. A rustle of metallic mechanism is sounded, before the screen turns blank.