It felt like a bucket of ice water was poured into my veins. I expected he would know, but the fact he articulated exactly what I thought was scary. It was true that I was unsure of everything. Would I take the title of Empress then? Would I not? My mind was still so foggy that nothing made sense to me. How could I even make that choice when I didn’t even know how I was?
“Worry not, my lady. The choice is not dire. You can take your time. After all, we’ve waited lifetimes for you. What is a little more?” Kharon spoke as he stepped up next to me and rested his hand on the handle of the door.
I shifted my head slightly as he spoke to me. His comment of many life times threw me off a bit. What did he mean by that? I sighed once more as I dropped my eyes and felt another headache building behind my eyes. From the looks of things, apparently, what was my palace was left in ruins. So, many years have passed, but if they are waiting life times, then there was something else at play. “Kharon, how did Asteria fall?”
“That is something that you have to ask yourself. Maybe you will find the answer to many of your questions then, my lady.” Kharon pushed the door open and a draft of cool air pressed into my face, carrying with it a heart warming smell.
I stepped in behind him and was taken aback by a large, sprawling lobby. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lined with candles that radiated a ghostly orange light. A large carpet sat just under the chandelier and had what looked to be a coat of arms stitched into the center. Which so was a purple dragon, crawling across a silver shield. Around it were various animals and flowers that seemed to be placed there at random, but I knew that there was probably a reason for that.
“If you think I knew the answer to my own questions, I’d be bothering you right now?” I quipped as I stepped further into the lobby. Two enormous staircases sat just across from me and in between them sat a large fountain sculpted into the shape of a man. A large ornate sword was grasped firmly in his hand, and from the tip, a spring of clear water gushed out. “Where are we anyway?”
“The eastern sector of the palace. The last remaining haven here.” Kharon ignored my quip and stepped in front of me.
Though all I could do was stare in wonder at the scene before me. “Wait, Kharon, what do you mean the last haven?” I quickly caught up to him and fell into step while gazing at the surrounding portraits. There were dozens of them lining each wall, and with faces that seemed to eat away at my mind. They were all so familiar, yet I couldn’t seem to recognize them. The one closest to me was of a middle-aged man with a shaved head. His eyes were the darkest gray I’ve ever seen, and he wore what looked to be some sort of military outfit. It was colored much like the purple I saw in the coat of arms, and held silver buttons that went down the middle.
“The praetorians have done their best to hold on to the palace when you vanished, but over time, their numbers have dwindled. Now they defend the eastern district and the surrounding area.” Kharon reached out with a gloved hand and grasped the velvet colored railing as my eyes stayed glued to the strange man.
“Who is that?” I asked as I stopped moving and gestured toward the portrait.
“Emperor Belisarius the third. One of the longest reigning monarchs, Asteria had.” Kharon paused and twisted his head to the portrait. His hood shifted slightly and I saw his red eyes flicker. This time with something close to sadness, but I wasn’t sure.
“Were you two close?” I asked as I pulled my gaze away from the picture and moved onto the next.
“Something like that. Though that was many years ago.” He shrugged and walked up the stairs once more.
I filed away his remark for later use and glanced at the next figure. This one was of a woman with raven black hair tied up in a ponytail. She seemed to have an olive complexion, much like the man next to her, and even bore some of his striking appearance. But above all else, her eyes caught my attention. They were like a pair of incandescent emeralds that seemed to shimmer like a pair of flames. All it took was a second for me to recognize who I was looking at. That was me, or at least me, in the past. I stopped in my tracks as another head ache rippled through my mind. Threatening to tear apart the already fragile threads of my sanity.
My mind whispered, trying to reassure me that everything was true. But it felt wrong. How could that be me? Even Kharon told me I had just appeared here. So how could I have been here if I never was? I tore my gaze from the portrait and forced my foot to take the next step. There was something wrong here, I could feel it. All the questions were adding up once more, and it was tearing me apart.
“When I told you to ask yourself, I meant to look inwards. Otherwise, you are only going to hurt yourself trying to wrack your mind with these questions. If you’d like, I can take you to a meditation room so you can focus.”
“I suppose you are right. Thank you Kharon.” I took a deep breath to clear my thoughts a bit. Perhaps I was pushing myself a little too hard. I did just get here after all, and trying to force myself to remember would only hurt me more in the end. For the time being, I think it was best if I cleared my mind, and just focused on the now, and just enjoyed the views.
An hour later:
We wandered through the expanse of the eastern hallways. Once we left the central area, the hallways quickly scaled back in their grandor. The walls became more practical, but there was an underlying sense of nobility to it all. Though there was one question that has been plaguing me. “Kharon, how big is this palace?”
“The eastern section alone is three kilometers. Though that includes the outside courtyards, and exterior connecting buildings and what not.” As he spoke, he came to a halt outside of a line of doors. Each looked to be made of solid steel and had a strange, flowing pattern etched in the metal. They looked to be snow flakes or something of the sort.
“Three kilometers? How big is the palace, then?” The sheer size shocked me a bit. But again, I had little of a mental reference point for that.
“Give or take in its current state, about eighteen kilometers.” Kharon reached out to the left side of the door and a strange light shone from his hand. The design lit up with an azure glow before a deep click filled the air, and the door opened on invisible hinges.
“Eighteen kilometers?!? That’s huge!” I gasped at the thought, but again I seemed to lack any sort of reference point for the size.
“Well, it was the central hub. So the size is warranted.” He waved away the rest of my words before gesturing to the room. “Anyway, Empress, this is the meditation chamber. However, because of the current state of the empire, there is an astute lack of certain cultivation resources. So my apologies for not being able to offer you anything more than the absolute basics.”
I ignored his dismissal and instead turned to the room that he mentioned. It was a room no larger than the one that I woke up in. The entire room itself was a circle with pure silver walls with pillars that held up an arched ceiling. Ghostly white flames were burning on each pillar, fueled by an unseen source, and cast strange white lights onto a sunken part of the floor.
The room hummed with some sort of power that was so familiar, yet much like anything else, I couldn’t seem to place it. “Cultivation?” I asked as I stepped into the room. I suppose I should feel unsafe, yet something told me I could fully trust the strange man behind me.
“Another question that will be answered in time, my lady. Come.” Kharon gestured as he stepped into the room. I followed him further in and took in the sights. Now that I was further into the room, I saw that the indent on the floor was covered in a large silver vortex-like pattern that converged towards the center.
“So what am I supposed to do?” I asked as I came to a stop and crossed my arms. The bite of the cool air was really getting to me.
“Just sit in the center of the runic circle and clear your mind. Once you do, just gaze inwards, and the answers that you seek will be there.” Kharon gestured towards the middle of his room. His black glove drank the silver light that pulsed from the flames, and not a single shred of light shimmered against its surface.
This was going to be a little hard. But, I needed to understand all of this. I took a deep breath, and shoved away any of my reservations. I will take this fight head on and not back down.
It felt like a bucket of ice water was poured into my veins. I expected he would know, but the fact he articulated exactly what I thought was scary. It was true that I was unsure of everything. Would I take the title of Empress then? Would I not? My mind was still so foggy that nothing made sense to me. How could I even make that choice when I didn’t even know how I was?
“Worry not, my lady. The choice is not dire. You can take your time. After all, we’ve waited lifetimes for you. What is a little more?” Kharon spoke as he stepped up next to me and rested his hand on the handle of the door.
I shifted my head slightly as he spoke to me. His comment of many life times threw me off a bit. What did he mean by that? I sighed once more as I dropped my eyes and felt another headache building behind my eyes. From the looks of things, apparently, what was my palace was left in ruins. So, many years have passed, but if they are waiting life times, then there was something else at play. “Kharon, how did Asteria fall?”
“That is something that you have to ask yourself. Maybe you will find the answer to many of your questions then, my lady.” Kharon pushed the door open and a draft of cool air pressed into my face, carrying with it a heart warming smell.
I stepped in behind him and was taken aback by a large, sprawling lobby. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lined with candles that radiated a ghostly orange light. A large carpet sat just under the chandelier and had what looked to be a coat of arms stitched into the center. Which so was a purple dragon, crawling across a silver shield. Around it were various animals and flowers that seemed to be placed there at random, but I knew that there was probably a reason for that.
“If you think I knew the answer to my own questions, I’d be bothering you right now?” I quipped as I stepped further into the lobby. Two enormous staircases sat just across from me and in between them sat a large fountain sculpted into the shape of a man. A large ornate sword was grasped firmly in his hand, and from the tip, a spring of clear water gushed out. “Where are we anyway?”
“The eastern sector of the palace. The last remaining haven here.” Kharon ignored my quip and stepped in front of me.
Though all I could do was stare in wonder at the scene before me. “Wait, Kharon, what do you mean the last haven?” I quickly caught up to him and fell into step while gazing at the surrounding portraits. There were dozens of them lining each wall, and with faces that seemed to eat away at my mind. They were all so familiar, yet I couldn’t seem to recognize them. The one closest to me was of a middle-aged man with a shaved head. His eyes were the darkest gray I’ve ever seen, and he wore what looked to be some sort of military outfit. It was colored much like the purple I saw in the coat of arms, and held silver buttons that went down the middle.
“The praetorians have done their best to hold on to the palace when you vanished, but over time, their numbers have dwindled. Now they defend the eastern district and the surrounding area.” Kharon reached out with a gloved hand and grasped the velvet colored railing as my eyes stayed glued to the strange man.
“Who is that?” I asked as I stopped moving and gestured toward the portrait.
“Emperor Belisarius the third. One of the longest reigning monarchs, Asteria had.” Kharon paused and twisted his head to the portrait. His hood shifted slightly and I saw his red eyes flicker. This time with something close to sadness, but I wasn’t sure.
“Were you two close?” I asked as I pulled my gaze away from the picture and moved onto the next.
“Something like that. Though that was many years ago.” He shrugged and walked up the stairs once more.
I filed away his remark for later use and glanced at the next figure. This one was of a woman with raven black hair tied up in a ponytail. She seemed to have an olive complexion, much like the man next to her, and even bore some of his striking appearance. But above all else, her eyes caught my attention. They were like a pair of incandescent emeralds that seemed to shimmer like a pair of flames. All it took was a second for me to recognize who I was looking at. That was me, or at least me, in the past. I stopped in my tracks as another head ache rippled through my mind. Threatening to tear apart the already fragile threads of my sanity.
My mind whispered, trying to reassure me that everything was true. But it felt wrong. How could that be me? Even Kharon told me I had just appeared here. So how could I have been here if I never was? I tore my gaze from the portrait and forced my foot to take the next step. There was something wrong here, I could feel it. All the questions were adding up once more, and it was tearing me apart.
“When I told you to ask yourself, I meant to look inwards. Otherwise, you are only going to hurt yourself trying to wrack your mind with these questions. If you’d like, I can take you to a meditation room so you can focus.”
“I suppose you are right. Thank you Kharon.” I took a deep breath to clear my thoughts a bit. Perhaps I was pushing myself a little too hard. I did just get here after all, and trying to force myself to remember would only hurt me more in the end. For the time being, I think it was best if I cleared my mind, and just focused on the now, and just enjoyed the views.
An hour later:
We wandered through the expanse of the eastern hallways. Once we left the central area, the hallways quickly scaled back in their grandor. The walls became more practical, but there was an underlying sense of nobility to it all. Though there was one question that has been plaguing me. “Kharon, how big is this palace?”
“The eastern section alone is three kilometers. Though that includes the outside courtyards, and exterior connecting buildings and what not.” As he spoke, he came to a halt outside of a line of doors. Each looked to be made of solid steel and had a strange, flowing pattern etched in the metal. They looked to be snow flakes or something of the sort.
“Three kilometers? How big is the palace, then?” The sheer size shocked me a bit. But again, I had little of a mental reference point for that.
“Give or take in its current state, about eighteen kilometers.” Kharon reached out to the left side of the door and a strange light shone from his hand. The design lit up with an azure glow before a deep click filled the air, and the door opened on invisible hinges.
“Eighteen kilometers?!? That’s huge!” I gasped at the thought, but again I seemed to lack any sort of reference point for the size.
“Well, it was the central hub. So the size is warranted.” He waved away the rest of my words before gesturing to the room. “Anyway, Empress, this is the meditation chamber. However, because of the current state of the empire, there is an astute lack of certain cultivation resources. So my apologies for not being able to offer you anything more than the absolute basics.”
I ignored his dismissal and instead turned to the room that he mentioned. It was a room no larger than the one that I woke up in. The entire room itself was a circle with pure silver walls with pillars that held up an arched ceiling. Ghostly white flames were burning on each pillar, fueled by an unseen source, and cast strange white lights onto a sunken part of the floor.
The room hummed with some sort of power that was so familiar, yet much like anything else, I couldn’t seem to place it. “Cultivation?” I asked as I stepped into the room. I suppose I should feel unsafe, yet something told me I could fully trust the strange man behind me.
“Another question that will be answered in time, my lady. Come.” Kharon gestured as he stepped into the room. I followed him further in and took in the sights. Now that I was further into the room, I saw that the indent on the floor was covered in a large silver vortex-like pattern that converged towards the center.
“So what am I supposed to do?” I asked as I came to a stop and crossed my arms. The bite of the cool air was really getting to me.
“Just sit in the center of the runic circle and clear your mind. Once you do, just gaze inwards, and the answers that you seek will be there.” Kharon gestured towards the middle of his room. His black glove drank the silver light that pulsed from the flames, and not a single shred of light shimmered against its surface.
This was going to be a little hard. But, I needed to understand all of this. I took a deep breath, and shoved away any of my reservations. I will take this fight head on and not back down.
