Portals & Realms

Chapter 5 - Run!

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Why am I running away from my friends? Right, the voice told me too. But then those other two voices were arguing... angrily. And then the voice, who I now doubt is the narrator but real, is telling me that they can aid me and my friends in getting home. So why do I feel terrified of my friends suddenly?
Julian is not my boyfriend, nor will he ever be. I cannot believe that Ramille decided to spring that on me knowing these circumstances. All I want is to see him, say hello, maybe talk for a minute or two, and go back home. Maybe they won't even remember that I was here! Besides, nothing bad can happen. The voice will get us home as soon as I complete this side quest.
Mae continued walking through the alleys, trying to avoid as much contact with anyone as she could. The last thing she needed was to be cornered by her friends, or a stranger, or anyone. She turned the corner and immediately pressed herself as close to the wall as possible, seeing a strange shadow appear on the wall. It looked... not human, yet it had a humanoid statue. But there was no reflection of any hair in the shadow. The thing turned away and as soon as it was gone, she started to sprint.
As she continued to run, she heard her heartbeat in her head, along with the pounding of her steps as she continued to run. She pushed herself past an innocent bystander, refusing her own mouth to shout back a sorry incase any of her friends heard her if they were following her. The man grumbled under his breath, but she continued to run.
    I have to get everyone home, no matter the cost. Even if it makes me run away from them for a while only to return later. It's for the best.
The sun overhead was beating down on her face as she almost slammed into a wall, but turned last second and stopped in a slightly open area, though not the main street. Mae put her hands to her knees, panting and out of breath as she tried to compose herself.
    Mae put a hand to her neck and checked her pulse, sighing in relief that it wasn't so fast that it was going to kill her. When she took her hand away, the light reflected off of the walls and the ground, giving it a reddish tint, along with other parts of her body and on the ground. Red... think red... Wait a minute.
She turned around just in time to notice a huge white bird staring down at her, red eyes looking at her with a fear-inducing glare. She jumped and looked as the bird took off in the other direction, but not before Mae felt a tug to it. She only got one thing from the short presence and from the second that she wasn't scared. The letter K.
"Well that's... not ominous whatsoever," she groaned and turned around the corner, seeing that the palace was more to her right then where she had been going. With a sigh, she continued to walk and looked at the glow on her hand fade. Mae immediately felt stupid as she turned another corner and walked down another dark back alley, the smell of sand and fruit filling her nostrils and lungs. She heard people talking, whispering, and fighting. The sun was fulfilling its destiny and was bringing down its full wrath upon Mae, showering her with heat rays and sweat. She continued walking however, tracing an invisible path of steps and guide-markers that she imagined, guiding her down the path to get to the castle.
Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to just meet everyone today. That surely would please whoever is tasked with bringing us here and bringing us home. How's that sound ominous voice?
Wait- I don't need a response. That's an awful idea! More questions would be raised by all parties: about how we got here, where we came from, who we are, what our stories are, and we would have to ask them how the hell this is all real and how it's all happening? Asra already thinks that I have memory loss, and along with that, I don't want to destroy the foundation of their entire world by dropping all this information on them.
But maybe they do know our story. I mean, I affected this world somehow already, so maybe some are in the loop about the truth, and others aren't. They might not though, I haven't been here in person...I have never been here in person.
Mae already knew that they would somewhat know of her existence, like Asra. She didn't even need to speak before Asra recognized her, but he did say that he only knew of her and Dante's arrival because he was warned of it by outside forces, so maybe it wasn't as easy as it seemed? But still, according to Asra, she had been here before, and had affected the world somehow. And also was different to how she was acting now. I cannot see the Countess. Nor Portia. Just Julian. And judging by the events in place and all the clues I have gotten... that means he's still alive and at the palace! And not just by the palace grounds, but inside of the building somewhere! Thank you brain cells for working this time, I owe you.
With that, Mae ducked out of the back alley and into the crowded street, her feet taking her right where she was going. Left, right, left, right, and she was off. She weaves in between customers carrying baskets and other people simply walking around. She crossed between a speeding carriage and looked around, her eyes scanning everyone she saw.
"Yes, I was wondering..." she heard a familiar voice trail off behind her, talking to someone. It sounded like Asra. Did he ever go to the palace? Has he been here the whole time doing something rather than completing the simple mission so we could go home? Ooohhhh what if he doesn't want us to leave yet! Like he's getting items for a sendoff. That would be sweet of him. Well, that at least means that they will still be searching for me since I doubt they all know I know where Julian is.
Mae did a long jump and began walking up a concrete stairway, the light going dim for a moment before reammerging into the crowded streets. She saw Dante's odd colored hair from the end of the staircase at the other end of the crowded street and began running through the crowd and didn't stop. She nearly ended up running in front of a carriage if it hadn't been for someone pulling her back.
"You gotta be more careful around the carriages!" A deep voiced stranger said, his hand on her arm felt like bones. She turned around to thank him, but was met with no one there. Spirits?! She thought, panicked, but had no time to say anything else before Elvadoer was sprinting her way, Asra now seemingly in the loop of what was happening.
"MAE!" Elvadoer yelled and ran after her as she wove her way through the crowded streets and people, trying to get away quicker than possible. She quickly turned a corner, nearly falling over onto her face before recovering. As she turned to look back at the ally, she didn't see the old ladder in front of her and her arm got stuck on it. With a yell, she unhooked her arm and ignored the large, bleeding gash. It wasn't deep, but it was long. And possibly deep enough to scar. She heard Perri turn the corner as well, still running behind her. Mae turned around for a moment, seeing her trail behind, and then another figure started around the corner as well. She had turned around to pass another corner before seeing who it was in clear vision, but they had light colored hair.
Mae continued running, her legs getting tired as she began losing breath while running. She hadn't run this fast for this long since doing running club in highschool, and it was taking a toll on her. She began to slow down as she ran over a rickety wooden bridge and across the other side of an alleyway. The footsteps behind her had gotten quieter, but they were still trailing her at a consistent speed. Mae ran straight forward along a straight street, still passing a significant crowd, but it wasn't as bad as the main market. She saw people standing in the shadows, watching her and talking, their movements marked in Mae's brain like a ticking time bomb. Her head continued to race as she ran down the street and towards....
I can't see where the palace is, or if I am even going in the right direction. I need to get someplace I can see.
Mae kept on running and ended up nearly tripping over her own feet at the sight of someone on a brown horse with braided mane and tail, it's ears flicking in irritation. It looked similar to a stallion, but it also looked slightly more mythical as if someone had added a pinch of fantasy into the horse. The person on top had long, braided purple hair and a knights outfit on, a sword on their side.
Just my luck. Hey fate! Mind listening to me for a moment! Yeah, I said NO Countess interactions! Y'know, to avoid confusion.
Mae angled her route and dove into one of the alleyways to her right and began running fast through there. Past all the debris and the clutters of trash, past all of the rats on the floor, and past all of the random accessories thrown around.
Wait a minute. Perri was just- how did she? How did she get on the horse??
Mae cursed underneath her breath and stopped running, collapsing behind one of the trash cans, hoping that she had thrown them off of her path. She was panting now, out of breath. She gasped for air as her lungs burned to the point that her lungs couldn't suck in enough air and she began coughing violently. Mae began doing a procedure her parents taught her to do; think about something you love, something that calms you down. She thought of the color red.
"Mae! C'mon stop doing this!" Dante's voice echoed in the alleyway as she put her hands over her mouth,her heartbeat so loud she worried it would give away her location. "Listen! We just need to know what's happening!"
"If another beast has decided to chase one of my guests I swear I will impale it on a spike myself this time," another voice echoed as a horse whined and followed behind Dante, "Perri, tell me if you see anything. We need to talk after this."
"I'm- I guess I'll look then!" She answered, obviously stressed about what was happening. But they didn't see her, and soon the alley was once again quiet, and Mae's muscles and lungs finally stopped screaming.
"Alright... what now," she panted, hoping for any narrator-like intervention to tell her what to do to further her goal, but there was nothing. With a sigh she turned around, and saw another wooden ladder leaning against the side of the building. Mae's blood had stained part of her clothes, but the wound was now dry, and this ladder definitely looked more sturdy than the last one.
Mae grabbed the old, worn down ladder near her and climbed up it, lifting herself up bar by bar slowly, yet surely. She didn't look down, and just kept going as it shook with her every step. She was now above one of the buildings in front of her and looked down on the Countess, Perri and three guards heading to where she just was. They didn't see her, and all that Mae could do was sigh as she got onto the roof and began to walk away, being as quiet as possible as she was hidden by the small walls and tiles on the roof. The sun was still out overhead, and there was no cover to stop herself from getting hit with its rays of heat. She groaned as she went from the original building's roof and onto another, going deeper and deeper into the unknown area and away from everyone, but towards the palace that she had been running away from.
    She went onto another rooftop, thinking to herself, talking to herself, and giving up on herself. If there was an easy way home, anyone in their group would've found it already. Hell if there was, Asra would've just led them to it, or told them about it so they at least knew it existed somewhere. This stupid narrator whatever journey was giving her a headache, and now there was no more communication. No, they were stuck in a fantasy world that only existed in their dreams. This, none of this, should be able to exist in real life. But here they were, stuck and trapped like a lion in a zoo. They were stuck until Mae figured out her mission, and with that own side-plot of hers going on, she figured that there had to be some strange requirement given to them by the strange voice too. I'll ask about that later when I'm on the verge of passing out or something.
She stopped at the edge of a building and saw the large "sea" in front of her that separated Vesuvia from whatever was out there. In reality, it was just a large lake, but it didn't matter, whoever went here was forgotten.
What if I made everyone forget me? The voice did say something about meeting the disappointment if it was to come on my own before I went away knowing nothing. What if I am meant to revert the world back to how it was before?
Mae looked behind her and nearly flinched when she saw a smaller version of herself in front of her, as if it was in its ghost form. She didn't bother moving, she was too much in shock and stiff from this sudden...ghost like experience. It wasn't Mae though, it was her younger self. It was a young K, maybe twelve or thirteen. This version of herself didn't seem whole, and seemed as if it was see through, but still existent somewhere.
"Isn't this what you always wanted? Being in a fantasy?" K asked Mae, looking straight in her eyes. "You dreamed of this moment..."
Mae opened her mouth to answer, but closed it, stuck on what to say.
"Every waking moment of your day, you yearned for this life... you had dreams of living somewhere that never existed, and yet now you have it and want to return so eagerly? Why not live a life as such."
"Oh no, I can't do that here. I have my family, my friends. I can't leave them all behind."
"But there is a place where you could. Somewhere that could be created for you so you can live the perfect life with the perfect people. An illusion once imagined on paper brought to life."
"No such place exists," she brushed the illusion off and grabbed her head, "I'm overheating, I must be hallucinating you. I won't listen to your cryptics right now."
"Fine, but you will come to it soon. You will be met with the life you never imagined would be possible, and I'll be there too, because we are the same, and we both want it."
"What does that-"
"We both yearn for the world we dream about in bed or in classes. You won't have a say for if you get to see it, but you may have a say for the outcome, one good, and one bad. Choose wisely."
Mae stuck out a hand, "Hey! What does that even mean?"
And with that, the ghost was gone. Leaving nothing but a wisp behind. Mae took a step back towards the edge of the building, looking down. Below her was the water, but people's footsteps broke the trance. Below her, she saw Perri and the Countess walking towards the building, looking up at her.
"Mae! Get down! It's not safe!" The Countess yelled and looked to her, and then to Perri.
Ah yes, Perri's gayness is peaking again. Wait hold up, did I miss something in the fifteen something minutes of this stupid chase? What did I miss? Nevermind that, I need to get everyone home. Avoid this future. I will go home.
Mae shook her head as a simple answer and looked down at them. She didn't say a word and just looked out of the ocean again, her eyes reflecting the waves. Her eyes picked out the island in the middle of it all and set that as her destination in her brain.
"Get down, please!" Perri yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to seem louder. "We just need to talk!"
"Perri! I have to do this!" She said, looking down at her friend with the same old eyes. The ghost left a mark on her soul and her way of thinking, but nothing makes her change her ways that easily. "I have to try! I need to get us home!"
"Mae, I demand you get down!" The countess yelled back up at her and had an obvious annoyed look plastered across her lips. "We can find out a more diligent way to get home that doesn't involve swimming in the dangerous sea zone we have! We will find out what you are looking for!"
With a leap, she jumped down into the water, her lungs aching. Mae dug her hands into the rocks next to the street right beside the water, holding herself there. She knew that they couldn't see into the water because of how reflective it was. So she waited.
"There was a shadow going that way! Towards the lake going into the district!" Mae could barely hear whoever said it, but the floor vibrated as the horse took off to her left. Within a few more seconds, she popped her head above water and looked as she saw no one else near her, relieved that she went swimming so much that she could hold her breath for so long.
Mae smiled out of view and went back underwater, the "ocean" life ignoring her and parting around her as she swam to the small island in the middle of the large body of water. She mostly swam underwater to avoid being seen, but she popped her head above water to get air and then dove back down. She was terrified, but also less scared since she could see everything around her, and knew from the game's lore that anything in here did not eat humans, but rather would continue aquatic life as usual if anything happened thanks to some spell put over the lake. Plus, the water was fairly clear, so she could see very easily. Still, it did freak Mae out when she looked to her left one time and saw a large six, maybe seven, foot alligator swim beside her. She went above water to get air, and when she went back down it had disappeared into the depths of the lake. She kept on going, seeing multiple forms of wildlife under there that all ignored her, or that all were waiting for the right moment to strike.
As she began reaching the island, she smelled the all too familiar smell of smoke, which was mixed in with the smell of burnt chicken. As she pressed her hand onto the sand of the island, she felt small bones or piles of ash beneath her finger tips. Mae hoisted herself up quietly and looked around at the carnage beneath her and all around her and quickly brushed her hands off on her side, worried that she would accidentally wake dead spirits. The ash piles spread around the island equally it seemed. She walked around quietly, as if any noise would disturb the island's peaceful state. She stopped however where there were distinct holes dug near a certain pile of ash.
So this is the time period so far. Wonder if he lost the mark yet. Probably. The other events match up if he did, for the only reason he could even be in the palace is to be sure he isn't seen around town because of the hanging. And the plague seems to have gone away. Also, the masquerade mask in the guest room, which was fairly new, must've been bought for the masquerade after his "death" and after the Count arrived back. Mae then realized as her adrenaline was decreasing that her arm was slightly bleeding again thanks to her jumping in the water, the large gash in it beginning to slightly throb with pain. She hissed through her teeth, but kept on walking around.
The small hand marks wasn't what she came for, she knew that from here she could get to the palace undetected and start snooping around, looking for clues and other things she might be able to use to make the orb possible again. Even if it wasn't, there had to be something there worth using.
If everything was to play out the way she envisioned it would, she would get to the palace, avoid contact with anyone while changing out of her soggy clothes into new ones, and then would find the man she is looking for. And then finally, everyone could go home.
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Life follows death, for death follows life. The island of death hints at the life of another.