The Adventures of Rosabell Mason | Fantasmical 2023

An Elemental Awakening

"Achilles, what are we supposed to do with this thing?"

Rosabell curiously stared at a strange humanoid artifact, held firm in her grasp as her fingers caressed the circular markings carved into its stone surface.

She studied its emerald eyes, smooth gemstone reflecting the light of the yellow lantern that hung above her head.

A man of forty, with long wavy black hair cut at the nape of his neck, entered the room. He wore a high-collar white shirt and a red waistcoat embroidered with golden diamonds. His skin, pale and tattered by long hours laboured in the sun, glowed yellow as he walked under the lantern.

"It's an elemental totem from the Otopai Region," Achilles said, balancing a pile of books in his arms. He climbed a metal ladder to the top of a three-tiered shelf, dropped the books, and jumped back onto the floor.

Thump.

The wooden floorboards creaked beneath his indigo boots. "It's rumoured to grant the power of air, water, earth, and fire to its user."

Rosabell turned her head to face him, her long pink hair cascading over her exposed shoulders. Her aquamarine eyes enlarged. "It grants control of the four elements?"

Achilles smiled. "Supposedly, yes, if you believe in that sort of thing. Now give it to me."

Rosabell pulled the totem back as Achilles reached for it. "How do you gain its powers?"

"If I knew how, why would I tell you?"

"How else do you plan to study it?"

Achilles grunted and shook his head. "My dear girl, if I let you possess the powers of all four elements, this workshop will be reduced to rubble."

Rosabell smirked. "You don't know that."

"I have a child, Rosabell. Don't rob him of a father."

"Don't be so dramatic, Achilles," Rosabell said with a chuckle. "I'll be careful."

"Alright, fine," he said. "I've had a good life."

"Achilles..."

"If the totem is real, look into its eyes, clear your mind, then mutter the phrase, Yuma Yorra. It's the Thessopollo word for bless me, the native tongue of the village where it was uncovered."

Rosabell stared at the artifact with wonder. "The villagers were willing to part with it?"

Achilles sighed. "Whatever is left of them has been entombed at the bottom of the Capari Ocean for the last thirty years, destroyed in the fall of the Otopai Region. This totem is one of the last secrets to unlock critical knowledge of their society. The Department of Folklore and Mystery at the Kaleno Museum is swarming me like flies. If genuine, this artifact could change everything we understand about the natural order."

Rosabell sighed. She swallowed a lump in her throat, suddenly anxious. No stopping it now. "Alright, ready?" she asked.

"No."

With a grin, Rosabell raised the totem to her face and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled steadily.

"Yuma Yorra."

Rosabell opened her eyes and stared into the totem's emerald gaze.

Immediately they flashed a bright green, then white, as the workshop and Achilles suddenly vanished. Rosabell felt her body lift off the ground and tumble through an endless white void.

She gasped for breath, her surroundings changing to a raging storm of red as a gust of hot air blew against her face. 

Rosabell found herself spiralling through a volcanic landscape of fire and ash, then with another flash of white, tumbled through the dense treetops of a rainforest. The sweet scent of earthy soil billowed up her nose.

Rosabell hit the ground and, with another white flash, was pulled from left to right in rhythm with a strong wind current through a luminous blue sky. She floated through soft white clouds; her hair carried back as a powerful sensation pulsed through her body, filling her lungs. It felt magical.

Rosabell looked down and gazed over an endless body of water, the waves rough and white capping beneath her feet.

Suddenly she lost her ability to fly and plummeted towards the water, breaking through the grey-blue surface. Unable to move her arms or legs, Rosabell helplessly sank deeper and deeper into the depths, her heart beating ferociously in her chest.

There in the indigo darkness, she remained, her lips sealed by an unknown force, rendering her unable to speak, shout, or scream.

Rosabell turned her head, desperate for a way out.

Then she saw it.

The underwater ruins of a village emerged from the darkness beneath her, and from the rocks that imprisoned it, a shadow emerged, swimming towards her.

The shadow morphed into the silhouette of a woman. Two glowing white eyes pierced the dark face, the woman's lips forming a vibrant smile.

"So, this is the face of my saviour. A child."

Rosabell stared at the shadow in shock.

The woman frowned, then snapped her fingers next to Rosabell's ear, white light consuming them both.

Rosabell was transported back to the workshop. She turned her head and found Achilles frozen in time, with a hand reaching for her shoulder.

"That's better. Now I can see you."

Rosabell turned to find a woman standing in the doorway. Her skin was pale, her hair black as night. She wore a gown made of shadow.

"You unlocked the powers of the idol. You're a brave little girl."

Rosabell felt a shiver run down her spine as the woman leaned forward and chuckled. Her orange eyes flickered like a raging fire. "Together, my darling, we are going to reshape the world."

The woman snapped her fingers once more, and everything faded to black.

Rosabell opened her eyes and found herself cradled in Achilles's arms on the floor. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a stance, wiping a layer of sweat from her forehead with a cloth.

"What happened?"

"The power is real," she said, "and I think it just freed someone."

Achilles frowned. "Who?"

"Someone terrible."

Rosabell looked up and discovered that the yellow lantern was now burning bright orange.