|Mianite| The Missing Woman

[Chapter 59] Palace

[Alva's Perspective]

When we ascended the ladder we were met with everyone else already in the small room.

"We waited for you two to catch up before we went on," Sonja said. "We didn't know how far down in the maze you started."

"Where are we?" Jordan asked.

"It looks like the dungeon in Dagrun," Tucker said.

I looked around the room. I had never been in the dungeon before, but there were four beds marking where the cells once stood. There was a staircase leading up to a gaping hole in the wall.

"How do you know what the dungeon looks like?" I asked them.

Everyone began to look nervous. "We, er..." Jordan scratched his neck nervously.

"We blew it up," James said.

"Ah."

"Well they captured Steve, and we couldn't just leave him there," James said, smiling.

"So I suppose that is the new the exit?" I asked, pointing to the hole at the top of the stairs.

"Well I mean, technically that's where the exit would have been anyways," Tucker said. "But yes, that is it."

We climbed up the stairs after Sonja stretched dramatically, as if to show off how quickly she had gotten out of the maze, and therefore how long she had been forced to wait for us. James rolled his eyes, making me and her laugh.

Once we exited the dungeon I realized how warm it had been in the small room. Although it seemed we were still in The Nether, we were also somehow on an island surrounded by water. And considering I was still soaking wet, the sea breeze was making me freezing.

James seemed to notice my shivering and took of his dry cloak, handing it to me. I graciously took it and wrapped it around myself, only to find that it was multiple sizes too big. Nonetheless, I was thankful for the warmth.

Sonja gave James a strange look, and he stared her down until she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the castle. I could tell Tucker was trying not to stare at his rather... unorthodox appearance.

"What happened to this place?" Sonja asked, surveying the island.

"It looks a bit like Dagrun," Tucker said.

Looking around I realized that it did bare a striking resemblance to my home town, though this version of it somehow seemed to not be destroyed.

Well, more or less.

Everything throughout the kingdom, as far as I could see, was made out of some strange, fleshy material. I turned back to look at where we had come. The facade surrounding the modified dungeon entrance was made out of the same stuff.

"Oh gods," I said, taking in the strange structure in front of me. "Is that the castle?"

"Looks like it," Tucker said.

James walked over to the foundation and touched the strange material. It made a squelching sound as it puffed back out from being poked. James wrinkled his nose.

"Is this what it looked like when you all got here?" I asked. "Because I certainly did not live in this monstrosity."

"No," Jordan said, "this definitely isn't what it was before. It was just a normal castle."

I walked up to the main arching doorway of the palace and pulled it open. The knob was slimy and the whole thing made a disgusting sound when I moved it, but the door opened just as any would. Without a word we stepped into the main hall and looked around.