Star Child

Chapter IX: The Skeleton's Key

Filled with both awe and terror, Nicolas stumbled distractedly into the elegant hall that would have better suited Louis XIV than 2015. Behind him, the pathway was nonexistent, leaving Nicolas alone in the hall. His body suddenly feeling light, Nicolas lightly sped down the decorated hallway, his feet barely making a sound on the marble and his reflection dim in the large mirrors and windows.

Outside, he could see an elegant and pale garden stretching for a few yards, until a large gate halted them, and a small gray village surrounding the manor. An ethereal persuasion convinced Nicolas to follow a path of wind, which he decided must be the spell working correctly in leading him to Theo and Selena.

After the hall, Nicolas found himself overlooking a grand balcony to a foyer that looked like something out of a Disney movie. Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that; they'll probably sue me now. Anyway, the foyer looked like something out of a ... movie produced by a certain company, who'll not be named.

The staircase that elegantly melted down the way seemed to be crafted by stair-artisans, if there are such a thing (which is likely), and was composed of marble and gold, with silver lilies sprouting like buds on the verge of spring. To Nicolas, they seemed almost too alive, which likely at this point meant to him that they were magical and were also alive.

Sure enough, when Nicolas raced down the heavy, long stairwell the buds opened and glittered miraculously; the guards standing at the basis of the stairs watched them open, but shrugged and assumed it was a malfunction. The glittering of the chandelier overhead onto the silver flora was dazzling to say the least; like stars speckled on a gradient of growing gold.

Feeling his light body spread down the steps with no sounds, Nicolas was unsure that he even was touching the ground; sure enough, just as he thought of this, he looked down and tripped. The accident made no sounds, as Nicolas was now a conglomeration of air particles that physically made him feel gaseous in terms of light-headedness. The low-molarities of his body had confused him, and as he tumbled silently down the stairs, the guards just looked at each other as if a breeze had passed.

Spread out on the ground, Nicolas laid for a few minutes.

I'm okay, he mouthed, though no one could hear.

No one could hear his screams.

No one could hear his pain.

Anyway, he regained his balance shortly after, and followed his premonitions and- basically his gut feeling- behind the stairwell and down a dark staircase. On each side of the walls were elegantly crafted illustrations of what seemed to Nicolas to be a great war between two sides; he couldn't really tell much more than that, as he was busy being busy.

Though there was something eerie about them, and not just the fact that he was rushing down a dimly lit, spooky staircase. The illustrations reminded him of La Catrina, or Death, and his conversation with her about the Angelus-Daemon War currently transpiring.

After a minute of dim stairs, Nicolas reached the bottom of the cavern; it was dark, and lit by candles; did they not have electricity? What the hell, its 2015 already; get out of the French Revolutionary period! Taking a right, Nicolas sped through and heard the moans of various captured people; this cavern seemed to function as the prison for the monarchy that ruled the Ashland.

Finally, his spirit-y sense had led him to a large wooden door, after having passed through several guards and rats, and even a corpse, which is always a good time, am I right? Attempting to open the door, Nicolas' body passed right through it, and Nicolas remembered that he didn't need to open it. Passed the door, was a ledge overlooking an aquamarine cavern, filled with glimmering sapphires that glowed with a luminescence that filled Nicolas with both wonder and despair.