█▓▒­░⡷⠂ꜱᴏʀᴇ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ɴɪx⠐⢾░▒▓█

Chapter 12

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

"How did you convince your parents to give you 500,000 Vryl?!" Calista exclaimed. "Trust me, It was as easy as pie," I said as I started to book the plane tickets.

"And...Done!" I tapped on my phone. "Pack your bags people! We're leaving for Chozhar Nadu tonight!"

"So you're telling me that I can either choose any meal in this trolley and I will get it for FREE?!" Calista exclaimed to the clueless air hostess. "Y-Yes..!" She nodded. " Just...give her meal no.1..." Atlas rubbed his eyes.

She handed Calista the meal and pushed the food trolley down the aisle. "I told you not to ask idiotic questions!" Atlas grit his teeth. "That question was not stupid," Calista argued. "I just wanted to learn about it," She pouted her lips as she folded her arms and turned away like a toddler. In front of them sat the two crackheads -- Lazuli and Asa -- laughing hysterically at the joke the other makes. In front of all of them were where Akira and I were sitting/sleeping as the plane rode its way to Chennai.

The plane landed soon enough and we all took a rickshaw from the airport to a hotel. It looked luxurious, with gold coating everything. The various men and women wore intriguing clothes as the bellhop approached us and joined both of his hands and said "Vanakkam. Welcome to Chennai." We followed what he did. We entered our room placed our luggage down and took some well-deserved sleep. "Did you know people thought this city would submerge under the sea by 2070?" Akira asked out of the blue. "Shut up and sleep, Akira."

I woke up, in a place covered in a plethora of colours. "Where am I..." I looked around as a hooded man suddenly appeared in front of me. "Loyal to the Elpyqlon, Loyal to you," He said as he handed me a beautiful Alexandrite. "Now GO!"

I shot up, covered in a layer of sweat. I drank some water and to my surprise, on the bedside table, the Alexandrite shone brightly. The man's voice echoed in my brain. I slowly picked it up and it started to shine bright. It was like for a few seconds before becoming normal.

I told the matter to everyone once they woke up. "The Elpyqlon..?" Atlas asked. "It means 'Navigation Prism' in that language," Lazuli searched it in a second. "So maybe what he said can mean that if you believe in its route, then it will show you the right ones," Calista scratched her chin. We started to explore the city the next day morning. "Where did Mr Thangavel say he lived?" Atlas asked. "Kodambakkam," I said as I looked out the rickshaw. The stone rattled near an apartment and so we went in.

"Is this the place?" Asa asked. "Well, The stone says so!" I exclaimed as it started to rattle violently. "Wait! the poem!" Lazuli searched for her phone. "Connect the dots, find the stone," She read out loud. "The smudged line is visible now!" She said in a scared tone. "The Melane give an Alexandrite?" She read hesitantly. The stone then hopped out of my grip and started drilling the ground with its sharp tip. It made a thin tunnel under the fertile dirt and hopped back into my hands. "This stone could do this..?"

It was dead silent inside the tunnel as the light from outside began to dim. The stone slowly started to glow white and gold, a red ray shining from the side, menacingly. We gulped and held our hands together as we ventured deeper into the tunnel. After going deep enough, we heard a soft sound of water lapping. We saw a serene light and we got some hope to move forward. There it was. A tranquil sight of red trees and grass, the lapping water the colour of blood. Birds and animals unknown of variants of red roamed.

Red butterflies and bees flew and buzzed around flowers that were in different shades of red. I gasped softly and stepped forward, a strong hand gripping my arm and pulling me back. "Careful," Atlas loosened his grip as I looked down to the deep lush down below. I nodded as I saw the height we were at. I handed the stone to Calista behind me to tie my shoelaces. The stone rattled violated inside Calista's grip. "Let it go," Lazuli told her. The Alexandrite flew out, its sharp edge catching hold of my hair and pulling me down with it.

I fell on a soft, red moss bedding. I groaned as my head felt as if it would explode into smithereens. My vision cleared and my eyes wandered to the tunnel way up, everyone's voice echoing in the forest. "Reiko!!" Everyone screamed. But it was clear that there was some barrier that didn't allow them to jump down to me. A strange whisper lured me to turn back to the floating Elpyqlon. "I'm is Qitri," The whisper said again, which I realized came from the Alexandrite. "You can talk?!" It then started to fly into the forest.

I followed it. "Wait!" I said as I ran faster to its flying self. It suddenly stopped in a clearing and I bent down, panting as I stopped. When I stood back up, in front of me stood a monolith, a red rock in the middle and small dots located in random places that went around the stone. "What the heck..." "Connect the dots and find the stone..." It whispered and fell to the ground, catching it before it fell on the ground. I put it in my pocket and approached the giant monolith covered in red moss.

I took a closer peek at the rock in the middle, which looked as if it had been inserted into a loose socket. I slowly touched it and felt it rumble under my touch. I turned the rock and saw that the dots inscribed on the monolith began to move mysteriously. I turned and turned until all the dots formed the letter "K". It began to glow a bright red shade when the ground started to rumble violently. The light dimmed and a small red pebble fell to the ground. I picked it up and realized that it was the same rock that was inside the socket.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Written by XxYayunaxX

Unplagiarised, Written with creativity.