Ruby Fridays

Chapter 62: Cipher of the Key

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N O W P L A Y I N G

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───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────

║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 02 - 26 - 2027 ║

║ Friday║ (D - DAY) The Commencement of Olympia's Cup║

The final bend in the tunnel loomed ahead, the flickering torchlight casting ominous, menacing shadows on the damp, moss covered stone walls that seemed to close in around me. My head throbbed and pounded, my feet ached and stung, the soles worn thin and blistered from hours of walking this endless, foreboding maze. Yet I pressed relentlessly on, determined to reach the center and uncover whatever secrets lay waiting. 

As I rounded the corner, a dim, eerie glow emanated from an open archway, seeming to draw me in like a moth to flame. I approached cautiously, my senses on high alert for any sign of danger or trap, my nerves stretched taut with anxiety and dread. Stepping through, I found myself in a large, circular chamber. Torches lined the damp walls, their flames burning an unnatural, sickly green color that cast long shadows over the stone sarcophagi and strange, arcane symbols carved into the floor, symbols that seemed to writhe and twist as I watched.

Just as I was about to halt and take a break, there inches before me, a large metal closed gate stands, blocking my exit stood defiantly shut. 

"Finally..." I muttered under my breath, a hint of excitement in my voice. This was what I had been searching for, though the cost of finding it remained unclear. The massive gate towered over me, its rusted metal panels groaning ominously in the cold breeze. An aura of dread and foreboding emanated from the gate and whatever lay beyond, sending a chill down my spine. 

Still, the promise of answers to long-pondered questions drew me closer, my feet moving of their own accord towards the gate's ominous threshold. A part of me warned against proceeding further into this forsaken place, but the lure of long-held secrets beckoned me forward into the darkness beyond the gate, filled with who knew what horrors and mysteries awaiting discovery.

Steeling myself, I slipped through the narrow gap and descended the winding stone steps. The rough hewn steps carved into cold stone radiated an ominous feeling as they descended into darkness, only the dim flickering of torches on the walls provided any light. 

Moments later, I found that the heavy gates loom before me, old iron rusted and pitted with age. The gates seemed to absorb the dim light, creating deep shadows across their imposing form. The gates themselves stand tall and forbidding, wrought from some black metal that seems to drink in the dim light. They tower over me, the pointed tips scraping against the roiling clouds above in a silent threat.

I walked forward and pushed against them with all my might but they would not budge, as if chained in place, straining against some unseen force, "What the hell?" Frustration bubbled up within me but I forced it down, knowing that outburst would only draw unwanted attention in this sinister place. Instead, I focused my mind on the challenge before me, determined to find a way past these foreboding gates and discover what secrets lay beyond.