For all its grandeur and ornate beauty, the palace felt suffocating. Every step Vivienne took echoed down the long hallways, each sound a reminder that the world around her had become increasingly unsettling. Though the kingdom was at peace, though the grand events of court had resumed their routine, there was an invisible weight pressing down on her chest-a feeling she couldn't shake no matter how much she tried to ignore it.
It was Cedric.
It had been since the night that he woke from that awful dream, since his behavior began to change; not only those nights of weird dreams that he had troubled himself with, but there was an obsession with something-someone-inexplicable. She tried to be understanding and reach out in a comforting manner, yet he was just so removed into some distant place she had no access to.
Still, most disturbing to Vivienne, this world of theirs had been disintegrating, like some very diaphanous veil lifted, uncovering a world to which they no longer belonged. So stealthy the beginning was, with just a look on one side, a distracted utterance, and in those eyes, a far-off expression he could hardly define, yet over time, gradually there could be no more avoidance about. Something he had been looking for. Someone. And the deeper he sank into his thoughts, the more Vivienne felt that it was not something she could help him with. It wasn't the kind of mystery that could be solved by sharing a bed or comforting words.
It was as if his heart, his very soul, had been drawn to a place beyond her reach.
But Vivienne was not foreign to being in the dark. She had long since learned that there were some things that just couldn't be explained away. That some truths, though it might hurt, had to emerge in their own due course. And now, with Cedric further taken in by his quest, Vivienne felt an irresistible, overwhelming urge to seek out answers on her own.
The change in him, the dreams, the longing for something inexpressible, was more than a passing phase. It was a sign. And Vivienne knew that to help him-to restore balance to their world-she would have to understand what had caused the shift in the first place.
Her path was clear. But it wasn't easy.
The palace library, large and filled with volumes from every corner of the world, had offered no answers. Her personal advisors and the kingdom's historians had all spoken in vague terms, offering nothing more than cryptic suggestions and old wives' tales. Nothing concrete. Nothing that would explain the strange feeling of displacement which had settled over the kingdom, and more importantly, over Cedric.
And so, Vivienne had turned to the only source that could answer her questions: the ancient ruins deep in the mountains to the north.
Long since abandoned by their founders, the kingdom founders, the ruins were famous for their strange architecture, the cryptic symbols carved in stone, and the mystery enveloping them. Some even went on to say that they preceded the kingdom itself, remains from some forgotten civilization. They were old, older than anything the current world had to offer, and though many had ventured there over the centuries, none had returned with more than fragments of stories, whispers of what they'd seen, and warnings of a curse that haunted the place.
It had always been a topic of idle curiosity, something discussed by scholars and travelers who never ventured too close. But Vivienne, driven by her own instincts and the rising uncertainty in her heart, knew it was the only place that might hold the key to understanding Cedric's strange dreams and the changes happening in their world.
She gathered a small group of loyal guards, those she trusted most, and set off before dawn, leaving behind the safety of the palace. The journey would take days, but she was resolute, determined to uncover the truth—even if it meant confronting the ghosts of the past.
The farther they went, the heavier the atmosphere became. The lush forests of the kingdom, filled with life and warmth on any other day, gradually gave way to a more barren landscape as they approached the ruins. The trees, which had once been so full of life, were twisted and gnarled now, their branches reaching up to the sky like the withered fingers of long-dead giants. The air that was once crisp and refreshing now was thick and heavy with unnatural stillness, clinging to everything.
It all landed on her chest, but she didn't show it. She kept her head high and her pace steady, leading her small party forward with a quiet resolve. Her guards, uneasy, said nothing; they were accustomed to her commands and knew better than to disturb her when she was like this: determined, unwavering.
By the time they reached the outskirts of the ruins, the sun had begun to set, casting long shadows across the desolate land. The ancient stone walls rose before them, jagged and worn by centuries of neglect. A sense of foreboding lingered in the air, and Vivienne couldn't shake the feeling that something, or someone, was watching them.
"Stay close," Vivienne said, firm but laced with a touch of caution. The ruins stood silent except for the sound of every step she made in their vast emptiness.
The deeper they ventured into the ruins, the colder the air grew; the strange symbols etched into the walls became more pronounced. They were unlike anything Vivienne had ever seen-intricate and beautiful, yet haunting in their design. Each seemed to hold a secret, a piece of a puzzle she couldn't yet solve. But one thing was clear: their meaning was tied to something ancient, something forgotten.
She paused in front of a great stone archway, the surface incised with runes, pulsing in an ethereal light. The tips of her fingers reached to touch them, feel the vibration of power underneath. So strange it was, just like having electricity run inside her skin. The moment her fingers touched the stone, a low rumble echoed through the ground, and the archway began to shift, revealing a hidden passage beneath the earth.
Without hesitation, Vivienne stepped forward, her heart pounding in her chest. The passageway was narrow, the walls closing in around her, but she didn't falter. This was the path she had to take. This was where the answers lay.
The deeper they went, the heavier the feeling of displacement became. It was as if the world above them was very far away, like another reality altogether. Every step that Vivienne took was drawing her closer to something else-a place that existed before time, before the kingdom, before everything she had ever known.
Finally, they came to a big chamber, its floor laid with ancient stone tiles, some cracked and worn, others completely intact. Right in the center of the room was a pedestal, upon which lay a small crystalline object, glowing softly with an inner light. The moment Vivienne laid eyes on it, she felt the pull, as if the object was calling to her, beckoning her to come closer.
The air in the chamber seemed to grow heavy as she approached the pedestal, and her guards stood back, sensing the change in the atmosphere. Vivienne hesitated for a moment, her heart racing. But then, with a sense of inevitability, she reached out and touched the crystal.
The instant her fingers touched, the world around her seemed to fold in upon itself, the walls of the chamber twisting and warping, the ground beneath her feet bucking as though the very fabric of reality was tearing asunder. For one fleeting instant, she felt as though she were falling-falling through time, through space, through dimensions.
And then, in an instant, it stopped.
She was standing in a completely strange landscape: the ruins gone and instead a great expanse of rolling hills met the sky above, an endless blue. The faint sound of a river came from afar, and the scent of wildflowers danced in the air. It was beautiful-too beautiful to be real.
But not to Vivienne. She knew better, that it had not been some dream, some illusion. This place, this world was something more ancient, older, existing even before the kingdom and the world they were in. This was the forgotten prologue, a story erased, abandoned within the depths of time.
A soft, familiar voice whispered through the air. "You are not the first to seek the truth, Vivienne. But you may be the last."
Vivienne turned to face him, her heart beating wildly, and saw in front of her a figure-a figure she knew.
He was Cedric.
But not the Cedric she knew. This was a version of him from a time long past, his face younger, his eyes filled with the same fire and determination she had seen in him when they first met. He smiled at her, but it was a sad smile, one tinged with sorrow.
"You have come in search of answers," he said, and in his voice was a tone of sadness. "But be warned, Vivienne-this path leads only to the unknown. What you seek may not be what you wish to find."
Vivienne's mind raced: She had come here to uncover the truth, to find out what was causing the strange changes in Cedric, to understand the forces threatening to unravel everything. But now, standing before this version of Cedric, she realized that the answers she sought might be more than she was prepared to face.
Her journey had only just begun.
"Tell me everything," she whispered, her voice steady but her heart pounding in her chest. "Tell me what happened here."