Black Feather Falls (COMPLETE)

MIRIAM'S DREAM

Japan
Fukushima Prefecture Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu
Kurokawa Castle
December 24th, 1261
11:40 pm

Micah storms out of the room in fury, cursing beneath his breath as he moved closer to Miriam. His hair, long as can be, is now straight with braided patterns throughout. His bright milky caramel skin is glistening as the moon from outside hit him perfectly. He released a powerful sigh, controlling himself as he knew never to let his anger get the best of him.

His eyes slid to the right and eyed his sister, as he prepared to speak to her telepathically.

"Do you believe me now?"

"Yes." Miriam's low, almost sheepish tone was quite out of character for her. "I believe you." Her eyes glisten like crystals in the moonlight.

The two have been at each other's necks for many years and all the pent of rage, fear and annoyance resulted in both parties congealing into an all out war. If not for their mother's interference, they would've surely obliterated the entire island of Japan. As both parties recovered from their battle, they agreed to cease their war and focus on their mother.

And so, Micah told Miriam everything that he knew thus far. He instructed her to listen to his conversation with his mother to finally understand that he was not working with her. In his words "she's a conniving, vindictive, twisted, broken and malicious woman with nothing to offer but secrets and lies." He needed her to know that even though he was working with her, It was for the sake of his brother and to uncover the truth about his father. A truth he knew she'd never tell.

Suddenly, a hefty breeze barreled into the castle and from out his mother's quarters came much noise. Rattling, shattering and quaking. Worried for their mother's safety despite their feelings, the kids rushed to the door. However, the door was hermetically sealed shut with magic far beyond their level. They banged on the door for minutes but no sound would pass through it.

"The door won't open; it's pointless to keep trying. Whatever is happening in there is something she wants us to have no part of." He breathes.

"But-"

"Miriam, cease your pointless cries and let us go. We have much work to do; work I cannot do without you." She drew her hands from the door slowly, inhaled and exhaled and composed herself. "Teleport us." Her staff appeared between her palms and with an occultist chant, they vanished in a blinding flash of pink light.

The moon glistened upon the face of the now frozen lake which refracted its magnificent light. The siblings appeared in the midst of a clearing a short distance from the lake where they were granted their gifts.

Miriam rose her staff to the sky and within seconds the snow from the heavens stalled above the clearing. There's a small stump in the middle of where they stood which they used as a table. At the snap of her fingers, it was littered with pieces of a stone tablet, a vial of blood, a scroll, a book of forbidden spells written by the witch Hecate, various magical artifacts and Lutum Mortuorum, the dirt of resurrection in a small pouch.

In no time, all the snow had melted and dried affording them the liberty to sit upon the earth. The two perused through the texts and various documents, trying to uncover just what it is that their mother was planning. Yet, none of it made a lick of sense. After an unbearably lengthy period of silence, Miriam spoke.

"The Underground Tower of Babylon is a resting place for the dead. It has many floors, and even more secrets which are guarded by dangerous creatures." Her eyes exhumed joy at her revelation but her brother was confused by the looks of it.

"How did you know that?" He paused. "I was the one that alerted you to the existence of the tower."

"I don't know, brother. It's as though my memory was freed for the first time." Her eyes locked with his.

"Mother would often tell me stories about a tower littered with corpses, abounding in riches and rewards. It would explain her need for Lutum Mortuorum - dirt found in the darkest parts of Olympus's forest used to resurrect any being."

"Who, or what would mother seek to revive?"

"I know not the answer to that question." She paused.

"I feel in my bones that the answers lie in uncovering the inscriptions on the pieces of this retched stone tablet."

"Those I've been able to decrypt are muddled and out of order. I don't believe that they are spells, but if not, what ever could they be?

"Mother has vials of the Gods of Olympus's blood, as well as their essence; that much, I know is a catalyst for a spell. However, none of these texts have any information on any such spell."

"It seems every step we take forward forces us to take a thousand steps backward." Their breathing became louder than normal, as frustrations between the two slowly grew.

"That, my dear brother, is because both you and my dear sister are idiots." The young girl's body saunters through the barrier and with great scrutiny did she look upon her siblings. Her bleach blonde hair styled into a waterfall braid, and her snow-white dress swayed gently in the breeze.

"Mirai." They said in harmony, shocked at their sister's presence.

"I nay have all the answers to the multiplicity of questions birthed from the desire to uncover mother's secrecy. However, what I do know is that mother is trying to prevent our death." Their eyes flew wide open.

"Of what do you speak, Mirai?!" They yet again spoke in unison.

"My dear siblings, is it not yet clear to you?" She chuckled. "We're all going to die!" Thunder roared throughout the sky. From the castle, resounds a bell signaling midnight and more importantly, Mia and Mikael's birthday.

Suddenly, the leaf birthmarks on their wrists commenced glowing an evocative shade of amber, which then shot up into the sky piercing clear through the dark clouds above.

In the direction of the castle, the same could be seen from the rooftop. The beams of light joined at a central point, dispersed and coloured the sky. Little did they know of the prophecy "'When the heavens glisten with amber – the end shall soon follow.' We are destined to die."

She walks toward the stone tablet and kneels before it, slowly tracing her hand over its face.

"Let me tell you a story."