Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

23 ~ a trap

When I reach Ruin's home, the place is .... abandoned. As I approach the massive building I once called my home, the snow crunching under my boots, I shiver. And again, I feel that strange tug. Below, it's pulling me below the house, down into the basement, where the dungeons are. Is Ruin down there? Is he .... alive? Hurt?

As I finally enter the husk of the mansion that was once my home, I shiver again and create a ball of flame that lights up my path. I walk in silence through the dim, silent halls. There is no sign of anyone here, not even the people I would usually see when I'd come to the library.

But when I draw close to a set of stairs leading down into pitch darkness, I see my breath clouding the air. It is cold in here, yes, but not too cold. Almost like it is heated in here, somehow. I shake my head and descend the stairs, tucking my wings in tight to my back as I do. I walk down into the dark depths of the basement, and when I reach the bottom of the seemingly never-ending steps, I hear something. But I don't know what.

Turning around, I glance about the dimly lit basement of the mansion, my heart twisting when I see the room I am in. There are countless statues. Statues so lifelike that I am beginning to wonder if any of them are .... real. Not false stones or something.

Are these statues truly.... people?

I feel as if they are watching me as I walk past, like the people trapped inside things in Pain's Court.

My heart is pounding like a hammer in my ribs as I come into the dungeons portion of this place. My breath is always clouding the air around my face, and I keep shivering. If I was still mortal, I'm sure I'd be dead from the cold down here. Concentrating, I make the ball of fire grow bigger. It obeys, and I walk deeper into this creepy place.

I have never been in the dungeons before, but as I wander through them, I see cells that are totally trashed, or standing empty. A pulse flutters through my chest, and I turn around to face an empty, trashed cell before me.

And I come face to face with Time, the brother to Ruin. He grabs me, his red eyes glowing in the dim light of my fire, which then goes out from my shock. Time shoves me against the far wall of the cell, and he chuckles, but the sound has no true happiness in it, only sick glee.

He snaps his fingers, and an invisible force slams into me, shoving me down on my hands and knees, where I'm essentially frozen to the floor. Time clicks his tongue and he paces around before me.

"Oh, my. Whatever do we have here. The spineless princess of nothing returns to see what became of Ruin's Court.... well. Are you satisfied? You see, you did this to him and his Court. You are the reason he is trapped..."

"What have you done to Ruin?" I demand.

Time laughs.  "Oh, you are so funny, Mortal-Heart. You should know by now, that nothing in this world comes without a price. And Ruin paid dearly for allowing you to leave his Court. We made sure of that."

"Where is he?!"

Holding up the necklace Time wears about his neck, I see a diamond pendant hanging from it. Within the clear diamond is a pulsing orange light. I feel that tug, and I know that somehow, Ruin is trapped inside that diamond. Time beams at me.

"You are not as stupid as I was lead to believe," he says.

"I'm almost sorry to disappoint."

"Ha! You were right, dear friend.  She is a fiery one."

I look around. "Who are you talking to?"

Suddenly, cold hands are on the back of my neck. Warm breath tickles the shell of my ear, and a chuckle that sends shivers skittering down my spine follows.

"Hello, Elorha," Erasmus coos.