Sliding my foot across the rough stone flooring, I couldn't help but notice that there was already a layer of collecting dust.
'You don't believe in having carpets?' Violet asked smugly.
'It's not the worst thing that I've forgotten to write into this realm. I know that I didn't forget about my parents, though. Where the hell are they?' I ask, trying to hold back tears.
Violet shrugged. 'Beats me. This world is of your making, remember?'
This world is mine. This world is mine. I repeated the words several times over, but I still didn't believe them.
I bolted up to my feet, dragging my chair to the side. 'This place isn't right, Violet. Come on, let's keep looking.'
Shuffling around unending hallways rife with trinkets and books and all kinds of collectables, I realised that I might have gone too far with my desire to hoard. My mother would no doubt want to throw most of it away.
'You own a lot of junk, and why is every room missing a door?' Violet asked.
I didn't even answer; it was yet another thing that I'd messed up during that stupid exam.
Tiring feet scraped at the solid ground, and after another hour of searching through four floors, we were running out of places to go. We'd ventured up to the heights of the towering spires; across the outer walls, and we'd scoured through all eighty rooms until all that was left was the expansive wine cellar. My father loved a good bottle of red wine; perhaps he was down there.
I was clutching at straws; I wasn't sure why Dad would have been down in the cellars for so long if he was there, and yet I held on to this false hope with every fibre of my being. I couldn't lose my family.
The air felt much colder down in the castle's depths, no doubt a result of the icy river water caressing the outer walls. I could hear the crashing of waves from the nearby waterfall, along with the heavy current, ravaging the steep banks as water tracked out beyond the horizon.
'What did you say?' I ask. Violet was muttering something under her breath.
She frowned. 'What are you talking about, Jake? I never said a word.'
'There's only the two of us here.' I reply flatly.
There it was again. 'I swear if you're messing with me, Violet!'
'It's not me!' She screamed.
The further we walked into the cellars, the colder and noisier it seemed to get. I could even see the steam coming from my breath. The sounds of an inaudible conversation were grating on me like a piece of chalk scratching across a board back at school. I wanted so badly to hear who it was.
I could make out the pitches of two distinct voices, only they were garbled, and any words seemed to be incomplete, lacking any sense of meaning. It was like trying to listen to a conversation underwater.
Violet pressed up against the stone wall in a panic, pointing ahead. I followed her gaze, noticing spangled patterns of blue and green across the far wall. We were drawing closer to the edge of the castle's west wing.
'This should be full of wine.'
Violet yanked me to the ground and covered my mouth with the palm of her hand. This behaviour was a little excessive, even for her.
Leaning closer, we could see that it was a reflection of some kind. Sneaking further along the corridor, we stumbled to a halt at the rattling of the ground beneath us. The conversing voices became mute, and in the ensuing silence, we heard someone start to sing.
'Oh, this dragon flew far and wide, and my two little ones nearly died...'
The ceiling above rumbled, and explosions of rubble began raining down from above. 'Oops.' Avrae crowed. He must have been dancing. It was amazing that we could still hear him down here in the bowels of the castle.
'That thing's going to get us both killed.' Violet snarled.
I didn't get a chance to reply before angry voices start to echo all around us, sounding much different than they did before. Peering from behind the corner pillar, we're startled by the presence of a most beautiful sight - a crystal clear pool bordered by glistening turquoise coloured rocks.
The voices were persistent, and I could feel them calling to me, luring me closer with every uttered curse.
'Jake!' Violet yelled. She was struggling to hold me back.
'I have to go to them.' It was a strange sensation, feeling powerless. I couldn't control my own body.
Something was glimmering at the bottom. After wading into the shallows, I dove down, fumbling for a blue jewel that seemed to be forever out of reach until I felt the unbearable burning of water entering my lungs.
I felt a strange power flowing through me as I struggled to reach the pool's surface. At first, I thought I was drowning, but soon after, I found myself surrounded by countless bright blue orbs. As I held my palm out to grab one, they all came flying at me, and somehow my body was absorbing them all.
Afterwards, I held a euphoric sense of freedom, and yet, I still couldn't find a way out of the pool. There was no deep end either; I was still stuck wading alone in the shallows.
Gasping for air that would not come, I see my parents strolling past me. Mother was wearing a beautiful red gown, and father wore a smart black suit with an elaborate silver top hat. They were much younger, holding hands, and mother had a spring in her step. I hadn't seen them this happy in a long time.
Turning sharply, I saw something that I'd never imagined possible. Asher was approaching, standing at the helm of a great airship. He looked older than I remember, sporting a glorious shaggy beard. I tried to yell, but nothing happened, and the hulking craft passed straight through me, disappearing into a thousand bubbles.
I didn't want to leave this place; then I started to feel something grab at my arm. I instinctively tried to pull away, yet It wouldn't work. And Bursting out of the pool like I was taking my first breath, I came face to face with Violet.
'You scared the hell out of me, Jake!'
I was still in shock and unable to find the words. 'D-did you see any of that?' I ask.
'I didn't see anything; I did hear more voices, though.'
'That was me, my parents and Asher.' I say, gasping and coughing up water. I was still struggling to soothe the burning sensation at the back of my throat.
Violet inspected my soaking wet face. 'Are you sure you're alright? Did you hit your head or something? because there's nothing down there.'
'I'm telling you, there's something down there. Magic of some-' As soon as I'd said it, the memory hit me. I'd just unknowingly drank from the waters of Brockwing Vale.
As I glanced back down into the still water, I realised that she was right. There was no longer anyone there. 'Let's go down together.'
She shook her head, staggering backwards. 'I'm not going down there; it's just a pool.'
There was nowhere else that was free to explore outside of these walls without the help of Avrae, and that dragon was a nightmare. Besides, we were already here. 'Trust me, Violet, you've got to see this.'
I filled her in on my theory, and I watched as the curiosity lit up her face. Eventually, she smiled so broadly that her cheeks looked ready to burst. 'Alright, I'm in, but don't let go of me.'
Inhaling deeply, we dove together.
Once under, I felt a little embarrassed at the lack of activity; there were no familiar faces; there was nothing magical at all. Still, we couldn't climb back to the surface. I'd almost given up hope when something began to move beneath us; this was different than before, though.
Several ripples began to spread out across the pool floor in quick succession. I couldn't look away, and the longer I fixated upon the phenomenon, the more it started to reveal to me.
With an explosion of blue light and the dissolving of solid stone, an incredible tunnel opened up to us, burrowing further down into the heart of the world. We couldn't turn back, and linking arms with Violet, I began tugging ferociously at torrents of water with one hand as I propelled us both forward into the looming abyss.