Faltesia Chronicles: Ouroboros Rises

Chapter 3: A Royal Accident

Arin and Estelle hadn't had to fight much. They were, however, very exhausted. The two of them saw ghosts swirling around; some near solid and others like breezes in the wind.
The land of the dead was set with purple mist in the air that hung around, clouding their vision a fair amount.
As they wandered around, Arin kept fretting over the loss of Jessica Swan and whether or not they were going to be able to save her.
"I hope Jess is okay," he muttered. "I don't know why Araki would take her. What does she have to do with all of this?"
"Who knows? Maybe she has some sort of secret power that only her family knows about?" Estelle replied. "Something to do with Yggdrasil?"
Time passed in the Phantasm Realm, even for the souls within. It was just that no one could get in or out unless given permission. None of the ghosts really spoke to them.
Eventually, they came to a clearing where the purple mist ceased, spotting a purple castle on the horizon. There were loads of jagged pieces here and there, making it look more like a relic than a building.
"That must be it!" Estelle exclaimed, running to the edge of the clearing.
"WAIT!" Arin grabbed her by the hood, yanking her back as a tiny pebble fell from Estelle's right foot touching it.
They didn't hear it hit the ground. Peering over, both immediately saw the gaping chasm beneath.
"You hurt my neck," Estelle muttered, rubbing it.
"My bad, just a gut feeling," he replied. "So...wait, what do we do? I don't see any paths we could take to get down there."
"We're stuck and it hasn't even been six hours yet. School is out now," Estelle noted, checking her watch.
"Should we camp here for now? I don't really feel well."
Arin sighed. "I mean, if we have to...but I wouldn't want to be here at night, though. Can't you fly or something? You're half Celestial, after all."
"I don't know how to use my powers," she groaned. "But my saber should help." She unhooked it as it flared to life.
"Okay, so...what do you think I should do?"
"Hmm, maybe try holding it out in front of you?"
She did. Nothing happened.
Estelle tried to do lots for the next ten minutes: praying silently, running around with it in her hand, pointing it towards things and even shouting "FLY!" as loud as she could.
"UGH, this is so stupid! Why won't it work?!"
She had her right arm to her side as she lifted both arms in the air towards the sky in an are you kidding me motion.
"Why did Grandma hide this from me? Why did Mom keep it from me and not Hiro?! That's so unfair!"

Arin let out a yelp.
"What?" she turned to face him and saw he was a few inches smaller.
She looked at her feet and immediately tried not to scream. "Oh."
"M-maybe it was one of the gestures when you were pouting?"
She lifted her right arm horizontally and went even higher, then felt weightless.
She tried swaying to the left. She did.

Estelle tried moving forward and it was like taking steps on an invisible floor.
She stumbled a bit, though, falling back to the ground...almost. Lifting her legs up slightly, Estelle attempted to do a somersault to where she was trying to stand upright.
She succeeded, and then lowered her arm in the same motion as before.
Most of her weight came back as she hit the ground, hurting her foot in the process. Not too badly though.
"That's it, this is the trigger!" She was ecstatic but dizzy.

Once she had settled, she put away her saber and sat on the edge with Arin.
"At least you have control over your powers," she mused, nudging Arin slightly.
He shrugged. "Meh, it's not that great when you have nothing to use them for, honestly. I mean the occasional teleportation is fun but it also really disorients you."
"You almost broke a magical seal though."
Arin looked at the chasm. "Estelle, I could have broken that seal, yeah. But I couldn't break the seal that matters most. I don't even know where it is."
"Your mom?"
He nodded. His face was tight with grief.
She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that happened. I don't even know what it would be like to lose your mother."
Arin had lost his mother when he lived in Telcarios, a desertlike continent akin to the Middle East on Earth. She was taken by the rebel djinns when he was only eight and came to their continent, Lotesria, soon after. She was sealed away, which causes djinn to die over time.
"It's been rough. But I'm glad you two were here for me. Yet I still miss her."
She lifted her head and stood up, extending her right hand as she lifted her left arm.
"Are we gonna go?" Arin asked.
"Why don't we see?"
She grabbed his hand and took off into the air. "WAUGGHHH! ESTELLE, PUT ME DOWNNNN!"

Flying to the castle was something else. It didn't take them too much time, but Estelle and Arin both felt very tired afterwards.
In front of them was the castle gates, made of dark black onyx. Blue flames flickered on torches.
"Are we supposed to be here?"
Suddenly, the air shifted as something materialized in front of them. A young woman, it seemed.
Her hair was tied up in pigtails, drill style. It was very long and white with small bangs of red hair in the center. She wore a pretty red and black frilled dress with purple roses attached to it. When it got to her waist, a purple section went up and around to her large breasts, exposing her upper stomach, navel and the middle chest area.
Her arms were covered with ornate gloves with spikes at the ends. She wore a five-pointed crown on her head and a checker patterned "scarf" around the base of her neck; it would have made for a nice miniature cape. Red and white leggings covered her lower half. Her red eyes were soft but her mouth was in a sharp frown.
"State your business."
Arin and Estelle were taken aback.
"I said," she repeated firmly. "State your business."

"UM, THE WORLD IS IN DANGER!" Arin shouted rather loudly.
The woman gave him an unpleasant glare, frowning even deeper. "And why should we care about that?" Her voice was firm and mature.
"The Dream Records have been stolen," Arin tried again, less loud this time. "We need help."
The woman's composure faltered a bit. The look in her eyes was less angry and more worried now. "I-I see...come with me, then."
Arin exchanged a glance with Estelle as they followed this person's path.

"Are you the Queen of Phantasm?" Estelle asked the girl.
She smiled at the girl. "No. My name is Carys, Queen of Hearts. My cousin Rose is the Queen of Phantasm. Rose is always trying to get out of her duties. Thus, I take over those while she trains to get stronger."
Arin put a hand to his chin. "Queen of Hearts? What do you do here then?"
"My job is to take the souls and comfort them. Or if they're new, set them in a state of stability so that they don't run rampant."
Carys eyed them both. "What happened to you that you would be told to come here? Does it have to do with Araki Kuronaga, the escapee?"
"You know her?" Estelle looked very eager to ask questions.
"Yes, I do. She was a quieter inmate until a few weeks ago. She started abusing her magic more. I was scared of her. It's frightening what poison can do."
Carys turned a corner into a velvet carpeted room with gold and black walls. A young girl had her back turned to them.
"Rose? Did you fall into another one of your trances again?" she muttered loudly. She stepped up to her cousin's backside and tapped her neck lightly.
"AHHHH! Carys! Don't do that!!"

She turned around to face them. She had bright red-pink hair, like that of a fresh strawberry. It, like Carys, was also in pigtails. Her hair was short, but long strands came down on either side. Her hair was bobbed, compared to her cousin's long and banged. Two miniature horns were stuck in the top of her head.
She had a physically fit figure: not popping with muscles, but lean enough. The reason they could tell was that of her clothing: a simple black and white crop top that went up to her chest with a white lining that was tied up, just touching her belly button plus a simple short black skirt.
Except it wasn't so simple after all; she also had a strange magenta coloured gem that went around her neck, a bunch of stuff was attached to her skirts such as a belt, two bumps of metal that "hopped" over her hips, still exposing her skin and a holster for what looked like a big sword at the back of her skirt. She wore black leggings that went up to her thighs, alongside black and silver boots.
Her red eyes devoured them both hungrily, a single brow raised. This girl looked like one of the workers at those clubs that her parents used to go to. Yet she still managed to look...respectable. Her face was very pretty, Estelle thought. A small, single fang protruded from the top of her mouth.
"Who are they?" Rose turned to Carys. "Are they servants? We could use servants."
Carys shook her head. "No, they aren't. The world is in danger, Rose."
"Danger?" Rose gazed at Arin. "What does Carys mean? Are you the cause of this?"
Arin looked dumbfounded and fumbled with his words. "No, I'm not. Neither is she. Araki Kuronaga is. We're her friends and we're giving chase to her. Joseph Swan told us to seek you."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Just because Araki was under my care doesn't mean I have to deal with it."
She flipped and landed on her throne, posing. "If there's something else, maybe I'd consider it." "Okay," Estelle replied. "The Dream Records are gone. She has them. She wants to find Ouroboros and reawaken it. That's bad."
Rose paused. "Well...um, okay." She sat up. "So...what do you want me to do about it?"
A scream sounded from outside.
"Huh?" Carys turned on her heel and bolted.
"What was that?"
Rose took after her relative; Arin and Estelle followed.

Carys and Rose were face-to-face with a boy. This young man had a very Oriental look to him. His body was covered in a short, white and green hanfu cloak, with a long gray cloak jacket on top. The golden belt around his waist held a sword that was sheathed.
His hair was silver and he looked like a young pop model.
But there was something off about him.
His eyes...they had too much emotion.
Too many glints.
He was broad-shouldered and appeared to have a firm build. Even still...the scream. 
Did it come from him?  Was he hurt? Or was this a trick?
"Hm. The Phantasm Realm is...interesting." He sighed.
"Who are you? How did you get here?" Rose asked.
"I am...Tachibana. Tachibana Ginyo." He unsheathed his blade and smirked. "And I have come to kill you all."