Rumius looked back, his heart pounding. No matter how many times he looked and re-looked through the same space, the outcome was the same. Diana wasn't there. The only things that were were the arched wooden gates and the sight of the greenery beyond.
She had completely disappeared. For a moment, Rumius forgot where he was as he spun around, looking for her, until a voice called out to him from the other side of the hall.
" Young Master Eldmich? Is everything alright?"
The voice belonged to an old man who was standing on the central pedestal. The white camauro that sat on his head bore the shape of a golden cross emblazoned before a golden star. The banner of the solarian church.
" Oh..er yes. My apologies er..father." Rumius replied, hurriedly making his way over to where the Lord pastor stood with his attendees and his Maman by their side. Diana was likely safe. He would find her later.
He looked at his Maman for support, and she smiled him. Rumius smiled back and looked away. Her hair had a slight ruffle, and her smile wasn't as wide.
' She's nervous as well.' Rumius thought.
" You're late." The pastor noted with a kind smile. " Did you get lost in the gardens?"
" Er…no father. I spent a little too long admiring the garden is all.
" It is beautiful isn't it?"
Rumius nodded, the action so stiff he half bowed.
Father placed a hand on his shoulder. His hand was thin but warm and surprisingly strong for someone his age.
" No need to be so nervous. You have us with you." He smiled.
Rumius nodded again, taking a deep breath when instructed. He felt a little calmer now.
" We will now commence the coming of age ceremony of Rumius de Eldmich. In the name of the Solarian church, I Airon, as Lord Pastor of this church, will preside over the ceremony. If anyone will disagree with this arrangement, then speak now else forever remain silent." The Pastor announced.
The empty hall responded only with silence.
The old man, clad in white robes, turned and retrieved a golden sceptre, tipped with a resemblance of a closed lotus or a flame Rumius wasn't sure. Rumius knelt slowly as the man turned back to him, grasping the ceremonial staff in both hands in front of him. He tapped Rumius twice, once on the forehead, and another time on his heart.
" Remember, my child, go to the light. Lord Sonnenherr( the god of the church) takes care of all his lambs." He smiled kindly. Rumius nodded, returning the courtesy with a nervous smile of his own.
He had rehearsed the actions with the maids and butlers before he came here. So many times that the images played in his head even now. But naturally, there had been no cathedral, no kindly pastor, nor the overwhelming ambiance. Nothing could have prepared Rumius for that.
The winkles on the pastor's hand tightened as he gripped the staff of the sceptre and the frame of each passing instance played in Rumius's mind like a movie as the pastor struck the butt of the sceptre into the ground. Sparks flew from the marble as he dragged the sceptre along the ground in a wide circle. Then the chant began.
Despite all the rehearsals, this was the first time Rumius had heard this chant. The Solarian church kept it as a secret, and they treated speaking its name in public as heretical. It was an esoteric art that was the foundation of the church.
Rumius didn't know what he'd imagined it to be, but it was not this.
The instant the chant began, every word evoked an untold sense of terror in him. It made him feel like a baby again, except this time, there was none of the warmth, just the powerlessness and loneliness.
The air tightened around his throat, the warmth drained out of it in an instant.
The world seemed to shift more and more the longer the chant continued. The pedestal before him spun. The colours of the surrounding cathedral greyed and became emptied of colour.
It felt as if the world had exiled him.
Then the world around him spun as well and the final stanzas of the spell sounded in his ears.
" …join us in the chorus of lost and found.
Before the final toll, echoes resound."
A cracking sound echoed throughout and suddenly, everything froze. Imagine a raindrop drop falling into a still pond, then suddenly, the whole pond becomes frozen.
Rumius stood uncertainly, looking around. He blinked. The world was completely grey, as if someone had spray painted existence in a new cloak of the boring colour. Even the air, was grey.
Surprisingly, Rumius could see that he was in the cathedral. The high ceiling above, for example, was still there, as clear as when he had entered. His eyes could still make out the figures of his mother, the pastor and the surrounding figures, but they suddenly seemed so small, so far away.
It was like he had fallen through a mirror, and was looking at it from the other side.
Then, Rumius saw it. A golden gate of swirling of light. It was the only spot of colour in this achromatic world and he walked towards it.
' Is this what the pastor meant when he said, walk towards the light?' He asked himself.
The gate was, in fact not truly a gate at all, but just a vortex of swirling gold. It stood taller than him and was easily larger than him in width.
" Go towards the light." The pastor's words said once more in his head. Rumius reached out and withdrew his hands at the last moment.
Beyond the halo of the golden gate, something had caught his eye. Rumius moved to the side. Beyond the gate was the greyed out form of the hall's arched doors, standing silently and watching.
Rumius gulped. He didn't want to be in this place. It put him off, made his skin crawl and he felt more and more exhausted the longer he stayed here. He cursed the thought, but he couldn't help but think about it.
That if this was a mirror world.
Then why were the doors closed?
They were open when he had entered. And he didn't recall anyone closing the doors either, hell he was pretty sure that they were bolted open, chained in place even. And there was no way he didn't hear them closing either.
Rumius looked at the gates, back at the beckoning golden portal. He looked back at the gates.
It was a terrible idea. And there was literally no reason to do it. He could be through the golden gate and home. It made no sense. There could be hidden dangers. It could be dangerous. He could be through the portal and home safe and it would be perfectly fine.
…..Yet why?
Rumius looked at the closed doors, and a strange feeling came over him. It was like looking off into a mountain range. The sky, the white peaks, the air, the longing. It wasn't exactly the same as he'd remembered from his last life but it was similar.
He could only describe it as adventure calling him.
"... fuck."
Rumius turned on his heels, and he walked away from the light.
It was harder than he'd thought.
The world fell silent around him as he walked, as if watching him as he walked down the walkway in between rows and rows of bleached chairs. Rumius could feel it's eyes on his back was he drew nearer to the gates, disapproving, even angry. He broke into a run.
Rumius ran and ran and ran down the aisle, his heart in his throat. His panic was slowly rising, and although he didn't know what he was running from, he just knew that he had to run. He reached the door and without thinking too much, threw himself into it.
And in the next moment, he was falling into the darkness