"What the fuck is this place?"
Jack couldn't believe his eyes the moment he saw it.
A magnificient palace, made of the darkest gold Jack had ever seen in his life. It looked ancient, refined, like only the greatest of deitys could own that palace. And no one knew why, but you couldn't help but get the need to kneel in front of such a sight and pay your respects.
But all of those feelings were overshadowed by a feeling of deep fear the moment you saw the palace enveloped in blood. That dark gold was bathed in so much blood that god knows how many lifes were necessary to achieve that deep red color. A river of blood surrounded the palace and Jack could swear he could hear some low whispers coming from the river.
In front of such a sight Jack couldn't help but take a small gulp.
"Maybe I should turn around, but this is the only thing that I have found in this place and I don't know if I will find something else here."
Jack looked ahead and saw that you could get to the front palace door through a small bridge as to avoid the river.
"Yeah, might as well go in and take a peek, at the minimum sign of danger I'm leaving this place faster than anything."
Jack started walking towards the bridge while he payed atention to his surroundings. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being observed but there was no one near him and that only made him be on more alert. He has always trusted his instincts, and they have always been right, so if they were telling him that he was being watched, then it was most likely true.
When he reached the bridge he saw a sign with some words.
"The Bridge of Redemption. Only those who truly wish to redeem themselves and are worthy can cross this river and be given a second chance. Those who are not, should drown in the river of souls."
"I don't need to redeem myself for anything and I don't want a second chance either but I need to get out of this place. If I try to cross the bridge will I be thrown to that river?" Jack felt a bit apprehensive.
Jack thought for a bit then looked to the palace and screamed. "Hey you, whoever is watching me, I don't need redemption or a second chance, cause I haven't done anything that would make me need any of those. I only want to find a way to exit this place, so please let me cross this bridge and don't throw me to the river ok?"
Silence was the only answer Jack could get, but he continued feeling observed. "I will take that as a yes..." He murmured.
Jack started crossing the bridge slowly while hearing whispers coming from the river. He felt they were calling him but at the same time they were calling someone else.
"The person who made this place must be weird. No doubt of that."
Jack finally crossed the bridge and got in front of the giant front gate without seemingly no incidents. There were some big words written in blood on the gate.
"You who crossed the bridge and proved worthy. Tell your deepest regret and you should be allowed to enter the Bloody Palace. Lie about it and should your soul suffer for eternity and never reincarnate."
"Why is the person who made this place so obsessed with regrets, redemption and this kind of things? And what is this thing about reincarnation, does that even exist?"
Jack spent some time looking at the door thinking. "But I don't have any regrets... wait a second."
Jack put a sad face for a second before coming back to normal. He looked at the door and said "I regret not meeting my mother. That's maybe my only regret."
Silence continued and Jack started to think all of this was just a joke. "Are you playing with me?"
Just when he finished his sentence, loud cracking could be heard and the gate started opening.
"Oh finally. I thought I would never be able to enter."
Jack entered immediately after the gate opened completely, and just as he entered a loud bang sounded and the gate closed itself again.
"Fuck, everything is so dark once again. Can't anyone put the lights on? I can't see any-"
Not even before he finished his sentence, torches on each side of the hall started to light up, bringing brightness with them and showing the luxurious hall.
"Wow, the Immortal Mansion couldn't even be compared to this place."
Jack started looking and he saw that there was an intersection at the front which split in three corridors. One to the right, one to the left and one to the front.
"Mmm, the one that goes straight seems to be the main corridors, it has more space and it's a bit better decorated, but the others even though are a bit worse are still much better than any corridor of the Immortal Mansion and each of them is a bit different."
"I think I will go to the left corridor first, then the right one, and I will go to the main one the last."
And so, Jack started walking through the left corridor.
"There are many pictures on the walls of this corridor. The art is weird, nothing like art on Earth."
Just when Jack was nearing another big door at the end of the corridor, he saw something hanging on the wall that took his breath away.
"I think this is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. If perfection exists then it would be her in person. I can't believe there can be a human so beautiful, her beauty transcends mortality."
A portrait of a woman was hanging on the wall, a woman with a face so beautiful that it seemed like the gods themselves had taken their time to carve that face on their own. A deep blue long hair that even the most beautiful of mermaids would feel envy while looking at it and two golden eyes that seemed to be able to see deep in your soul even though it was just a portrait, and full red lips that would evoke the desire of any man that looked.
"Yeah, perfection in one person, difficult to believe there is someone like this. I guess this woman was a fantasy of whoever owned this castle. I refuse to believe there exists someone like this."
Jack didn't spare another look at the portrait and reached for the door that had the word "Chambers" written on it.
He grabbed the handle, opened the door and went inside. Just when the door was closing behind him he couldn't help but give a last look at the portrait before his mind went off for a second before coming back to normal.
Jack shook his head and laughed at himself before looking back at the front. "Hahaha, Jack don't fool yourself, the woman in that portrait it's not real, and even if she was, only immortals could dream of attaining a woman like her."
Unbeknownst to Jack, the portrait disappeared just when the door closed, and even though he spent some time looking at it, he never got to notice the pointy ears the woman on that picture had.
And that interest Jack showed on the portrait made a very small seed appear in his heart, but he wouldn't notice this for a very long time, maybe he wouldn't even notice that seed in all his life. Only the future could tell, and fate shall decide.