Chapter 33: An Eye for an Eye’s Door

The Red Crystal Realm had long since turned into flat panels, each of these panels had panels inside them, and panels in those panels and so on. It was that sort of place after all. Still, there was one thing that stood out in the vast expanse, which was populated only by a few herds of some obscure spirits that fled long before the rumbling of Roumotte came.

A vast crystal eye, partially sunk into the ground, though the part that was lodged in the ground was the pupil, sight impaired. There was no lids to the eye, so it should not have been able to easily convey a feeling, but all the same, looking on it Olice felt there was a knotted mass of sorrow and rage coming from it. Susasov was more familiar with the feeling. The anger of those forsaken, of people crushed without hope. Frustration at powerlessness, with a hint of the bitterness of betrayal. When he abandoned his people, how many had directed that cry towards him?

“Twisted” Ka said, looking at the eye dubiously.

Olice nodded.

“The soldiers tried to do… whatever it is that they are doing, to the eye. Tried to claim it. The eye resisted” Olice said.

“Whatever that artefact doesss in the world outssside, I can’t imagine it isss ssssomething wholessssome” Gander said.

-Perhaps we should find some other way, who knows what the intentions of that Oracle are?-

Gander slowly shook his head.

“I don’t trusssst the oracle at all, but if we can get out of thissss place we sssshould. There is too many lingering ssssentimentsss. The sssstrange flow can’t be having a good effect on our Missstressss either”

“I feel fine” Olice objected.

-No, Gander is correct, you’ve only been here a few days at worst, with how forceful the character of this place is… you are young Mistress, that makes you far more vulnerable to being turned by your surroundings.- Susasov said.

“Sometimes gives power, sometimes breaks” Ka said.

“It isssn’t a risssk you sssshould take” Gander said firmly.

Olice knew her familiars were right, she had studied enough of the right books to know it, she hadn’t really been thinking about it though.

“We better go in then, the fortress can’t get in, and I know the soldier’s won’t go inside, they think it is sacred ground” Olice said.

Gander nodded and Olice got on his back, they flew over to the eye.

* * * * *

The pupil of the eye intersected with the ground. Someone had raised what Olice at first thought was a temple in front of it. Then, she thought it was a tomb. It was Ka who hit on what the building gave a feeling of.

“Prison” Ka said.

Mighty pillars, no windows, no doors, no carvings, no statues. Bare and stark, and sealed.

A prison.

Gander and Susasov felt even more uneasy about this course of action, anything sealed within wouldn’t be released just by entering. If it was something dangerous there was no way the seal would be so simple.

“So… how do we get in?” Olice mused.

Gander scouted around the pillars and the eye, looking for anything that might be hidden. Susasov and Ka tried using their senses to find something. There was nothing. Well and truly sealed. Olice however had just been thinking.

She pulled out one of the eyes she got from the oracle and looked through it.

Everything was crawling grey, but the building, there seemed to be a doorway, a cracked wooden door, covered with carved patterns, there was so many that it was a wonder that it remained whole.

“What do you ssssee?” Gander asked, coming up in front of her.

Olice yelped and fell backwards, almost dropping the star-eye.

“What? Did I look ssscary?” Gander said, smiling a tooth filled smile.

Susasov and Ka refrained from commenting on how Gander usually looked.

Olice didn’t answer, but she now knew why the oracle had referred to Gander as a serpent of loving shadows, or at least, she thought she did.

Gander frowned, realising that Olice wasn’t going to tell him. That was something Gander was never going to forgive the Red Crystal Realm for, it had given Olice far too much of an advantage over him. He again vowed that once they were free and Olice had recovered, he would treat himself to a whole campaign of pranking her. Things just weren’t safe enough for him to get really going currently.

“There’s a door, but, it has a lot of carvings on it, actually mostly just carvings”

-Link your sight to ours mistress-

Olice nodded and held the star-eye up to her own eye again.

“It really is a door” Ka said flatly.

-Yes, quite. I can’t understand much of it, but… I think it should be fine to open-

“Get Ka to do it by hersssself” Gander said.

“You hope something bad happens to me?” Ka questioned, only half-jokingly.

“You wound me, why would I ever wisssh harm on my Missstressss’ mossst beloved familiar, I am a paragon of good intentionsss I’ll have you know”

Susasov couldn’t help but let a splutter out at that.

“You doubt me Sssenior?” Gander asked, waggling his brows.

-Ka, just spare us all and try opening the door-

“Yes, please Ka” Olice asked.

Ka flitted off Olice’s shoulder and paused before the door. Olice held her breath.

Apart from a passage filled with dark fog being revealed, nothing changed. There was no ominous rumble, no mad cackle no appearance of a damyne lord or some other powerful being that people tend to seal for this or that reason.

Olice lowered the star-eye.

The prison was unchanged, no opening, no passage, no door, no dark fog.

She looked through it again.

“Oh, the door has closed again, Gander, you open it and scout a bit this time” Olice ordered.

Gander looked unhappily at the door. Ka looked as smug as a being with no head could do so.

“Fine” He said.

He pulled the door open and slunk inside, from their linked sight, Olice could only see fog.

-I can’t ssssee anything, but it ssseemss to be peaceful, not sssure how far the passssssage goess. I think the fog is ssomething the ssstar-eye is sshowing-

That was good enough for Olice, Ka slipped back on her shoulders and they went through. Only when Olice had a hold of some of Gander’s shadowy fur did Olice lower the star-eye.

There was no fog, only more of the now detested red crystal, this too was bare and featureless. Olice stowed away the star-eye.

“There isssn’t a door behind usss, interessting” Gander remarked.

Olice looked and sure enough quite a bit away the passageway just ended abruptly.

“We aren’t heading back anyway and if we were, I’m sure the eye would help me see out” Olice said.

“Maybe” Ka said, feeling a bit nervous.

Though all of them were on edge, they continued on, shortly a voice called out, weary and strained as if it had not spoken in some time.

“Hello? Is someone there? Please, you must save me from this horrid place!”