The Legends of Anigma: Ethiel Archer | ONC 2023

PART XVI

It was dark inside; the scarce light streaming in from the wide open doors faintly fell on the two adjacent stairs curving up to the second floor. The musky air smelt of wood and stone. Gently, the chandelier jangled as the wind whistled its way in with a spray of rain drops. Everywhere, there were artefacts and things that had apparently been put there for some magical purpose. There were two rooms behind the stairs, their doors closed. On the right was an open arch leading into the kitchen.

Unexpectedly, Ethiel again heard that disappointed "guu guu". He immediately looked where the sound came from. Across the hallway, sitting on the table in the shadows, there it was, a home Nazat.

"That thing again..." He shook his head.

"It's stalking you." Maya tittered.

Tifa found and turned on the lights of the hallway. "Good the lights are working. I don't like darkness in a place such as this. There can be spiders and insects crawling all over." She shivered in disgust by her imagination.

The cat meowed and started climbing the stairs. They followed. Walking through the corridors of the second floor, turning on the lights, Ethiel looked at the surrounding. The few rooms along the way had their door closed except for one which was half open. He peeked in. The floor and tables had scrolls and open books laid out on them, and the bookshelves weren't neatly arranged. That was all he could make out of it with its lights off. It was a library.

The cat led them to a room with big doors. Ethiel opened the doors. Even in the darkness, he could tell that the spacious room was big mess. When the lights were turned on, the details came in view. More towers of books, bundles of scrolls, stone tablets inscribed with strange and tiny letters, talismans, amulets, more artefacts, more eerie things, walls plastered with marked maps known and unknown of Earth and Anigma, and all research material everywhere. The urgency and desperation was visible in all that chaotic organization.

Ethiel recognized the room; this was the same room that was on the background in the videos of his mother. In a corner, there was a long desk with two computers, a lot of gadgets, and a complex web of wires. He silently and slowly walked to it. There was something on that table that squeezed his heart – a picture of him and Tifa. Hanging about the chair in front of the desk, he felt the remnants of her sadness. He imagined her sitting there and doing all her work, and in his imagination, for some reason he pictured her to be sad; there were tears in her eyes. She looked up at him and wiped her tears as a glowing smile stretched across her face. She was happy to see him, but her eyebrows were still curved in sorrow. He almost heard her whisper his name.

A tear drop rolled down his eyes when he whispered back, "Mom..."

"Ethiel," Lord Veer called him.

He looked over his shoulders, startled.

"You alright?" Maya too was looking at him.

He looked back at the chair. Nobody was there. It was just his mind. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm alright."

The cat circled his feet and snuggled. Maybe it was comforting him.

"Are you sure?" Lord Veer asked.

Ethiel picked up the photo and looked at it. There were salty stains on it; they were left there by the tears of his mother. Grief and anger spiked inside him.

He pursed his lips and nodded. "Time for the next video."

The next video began with Alice waving at the screen with a smile.

"Hello, my children. I'm assuming you made it to the mansion. The spirit I left there must've guided you to the main research room. That's where you will find most of what you will need. The location of the three places where you will find the parts of the Pyramid and the respective key items you will require to gain access to these places I kept inside three small trunks separately. You will find these trunks in a recess behind the big painting in the room. Ethiel, the painting is imbued with a special kind of magic. Only your touch can make it fade and reveal the recess.

Now listen carefully all of you, the trunks are marked with roman numerals. Open in order. You can gain access to these locations using the key items you find in them, but for the second and third parts, you will also need the previous parts in addition to the key items. The Pyramid of Lomeyin requires more than the Sphere of Hezwond.

You cannot get these parts easily. To get each part, you will be tested. You will face different challenges and trials, and you have to succeed in those. If all my research is right, then the first part of the Pyramid will test your wits, your wisdom. It will be a trial of mind.

I put a small book inside trunk one. It covers on what all you can expect in the trial, but I doubt it will be of much help. Still, something is better than nothing, and do remember that the first page of the book is very important; it explains how to use the key item in order to gain access to the place of trials.

You can only do the trials once. There are no do overs or second chances. So put everything you got into this. Wish you all the best of luck. The fate of Anigma rests in your hands.

Open the next video when you are successful getting the first part of the Pyramid. The password is the landmark of London. See you in the next video."

The video ended.

"The pressure just increased." Ethiel looked at Lord Veer, resting his hands on his waist.

"Indeed," Lord Veer smiled nonchalantly. "Have to earn our dreams with blood and sweat. So is life. You ready?"

"Of course." He nodded confidently.