When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by a beautiful, sorrowful scene. She was no longer beneath the ocean, but in a dark, gothic cave, shrouded in mist and dripping with melancholy. There were no exits or no doors to be found - just endless twisting corridors and hidden passageways.
And she was all alone in an underwater cage located deep beneath the ocean floor.
Rachael stood up to determine the type of place they had kept her when she was enveloped by an awe-inspiring sight. She saw a ray of intense sunlight bleeding into the cave, inviting her out of the dimness, shining like a burning ember. It illuminated every corner, casting ghostly shadows in dark places. Rachael took a few steps forward with a burst of excitement, her eyes almost blinded by the sudden brightness.
The light appeared to be coming through a small hole in what seemed to be the highest point of the cave.
As she glided further into the cave, a burst of color caught her attention. The walls were adorned again, bursting with life. They were green with algae, and tall, plump structures that she could only describe as underwater mushrooms sprouted from the walls. Her eyes scanned the cave, and she noticed the mushrooms were not only proportional to their sizes, but they formed intricate patterns that seemed to go on for miles.
Surrounding her was a pool of water that had the most blueish color she had ever seen. Rachael watched the way the water refracted the light, casting a rainbow glow in the cave. It was a spectacle of magnificence that left her breathless, and she had to remind herself to breathe before the air in her tank ran out of air.
Fish, some small and some larger darted around in every direction. Groups of neon tetras, clownfish, and angelfish danced gracefully beside a large school of jellyfish inside the pool, and they created a mesmerizing sight. It was a world within a world, and she knew that she had discovered one of the most magnificent caves on this planet.
As she walked further on, she noticed stalagmites and stalactites lining the floor and ceiling, each one unique in structure and shape. The walls of the stone pillars were a mixture of ochre and green colors, with algae growing on their surfaces.
The effect was mesmerizing and hauntingly gorgeous, with every twist and turn in the cave revealing discoveries that left her filled with awe and wonder. She had never seen such beauty in the natural world.
Yet, it was what lay ahead that had drawn me to this place - the entrance to another abandoned cave.
But there was an air of sadness to it all - a deep, aching sorrow that permeated every corner of that cave. It was as if it were a place where sadness went to nest, to be nurtured and cared for like a wounded animal.
As Rachael approached it, she could feel a sense of exhilaration mixed with a hint of trepidation. The opening was wide with a cold, eerie silence. She could hear my heart pounding in excitement as she cautiously swam in.
The old architectural picturesque of this eerie cave acted as a reminder of how ancient, lost and forgotten the cave might seem to be…
Perhaps, a prison.
The first thing that caught her eye was the walls surrounding her as she entered that abandoned room – they were covered with a myriad of colors as if they were alive. A blanket of green, untamed seaweed stretched out over some parts of the entrance. Delicate purple sponges decorated the sides of the walls, and some were so large, she could barely touch their tips.
The deeper I went, the darkness consumed me, and the only source of light was the purple glow the bioluminescent algae on the walls gave.
As she walked deeper, she saw something in the distance that caught her eye. The chained figure of what looked like a stone statue flashed before her eyes.
She swallowed the lump of fear that swelled in her throat as she stood transfixed at the sight before her. She plucked one of those glowing algae from the wall as a source of light to illuminate the dark pathway.
She summoned the little courage that was still left in her, took a deep breath, and walked closer to get a better look.
There, on what looked like an altar, stood a stone statue of a man. It was a man, naked, with his hands and feet bound in thick silver chains. His head was bowed, and his face was etched with pain.
There's this imposing and regal presence that seemed to command the very air around it. In the dim, flickering light from the glowing algae in her hand, Rachael could make out the intricate details carved into the stone body.
He was tall and muscular, with chiseled features that gave him an almost otherworldly beauty.
But what caught her attention were the thick silver chains that bound him to the stone slab.
The chains were old and rusted, the metal so thick it looked like it had been forged in the fires of a volcano. She swam closer to inspect them and gasped as she saw the marks on the statue's wrists and ankles, where the chain had cut deeply into his skin. It was as if the man had been chained up there for centuries.
The girl's heart broke as she took in the sight. What kind of brutality must he have faced to deserve such treatment? She could only imagine the horrors he must have gone through. She felt an emotional connection to the man she had never met before, and tears streamed down her face as she hovered above him.
She felt a sudden urge to touch him. She reached out and brushed her hand against his leg. The stone was cold, but she could feel the pain radiating from it. She wondered how long he had been trapped in the cave, and if he had ever been given any hope of escaping.
The girl gazed around the statue for hours, contemplating the man's fate. She tried to imagine what he must have looked like before he was turned into stone. She thought about his family and his friends, and how they must have mourned for him.
Rachael stood there in stunned silence for a moment, overcome with a sudden feeling of both awe and longing. She could not explain what it was about the statue that spoke to her so powerfully, but there was something about it that seemed to call out to her – some connection that went deeper than mere surface impressions.
And so, on an impulse born of pure desperation, she spoke to the statue.
"Hello," she said, her voice shaking with emotion. "Can you hear me?"
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Creation is hard, cheer me up! VOTE for me!... Your powerstone votes and comments goes a long way motivating me to keep writing more...
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