Sorry for the delay. I was busy yesterday and couldn't write.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The air is still. So still, so impossibly still... Melody feels calm. Ahead of her is something important. She senses this. As Melody steps into the shadows ahead, something catches her eye. A heart. It is a heart. It is made of jade, and veins of rich green run through it. But that is not the most important thing. The most important part of the jade heart is the key in the center. You couldn't see it if the veins of jade didn't form the key's shape. Melody gently pries it loose of the heart's grasp, and studies it. The key is made of pure jade, and it is the most delicate green Melody has ever seen. It is like a pure teardrop, tinted with the slightest of greens. It is gorgeous. It is also small. The smallest key Melody has ever seen, in fact,
Melody can't help but wonder what the key unlocks. It must be important, for the key to be so regally placed, inside the lovely jade heart. Melody looks at the heart again. Suddenly everything becomes clear. The heart isn't jade anymore. It is blood red. Melody understands now. The key is magic. It turned the heart to jade. But in reality, it was a heart, that used to belong to a living person. But when that person died, someone placed the key in the heart. The heart was the perfect container, because the outline of the key had been so faint. Anyone would have thought it was just an ornament, when it reality, the key must be very important and powerful.
Melody stands and continues on. Not before apologizing to the heart though. Melody knows that if her heart was a container, she wouldn't want someone to just snatch its contents and leave. As the hallway rambles on, Melody can't help but think, 'Who's heart is a container? Are they wandering around, looking for a heart that used to be jade?'
But suddenly a doorway seems to carve itself out of the darkness. Melody catches her breath. The door is made of jade! The same kind as the key. Melody examines her find once more. Then, she looks up. There must be a keyhole. Melody searches for a few seconds, and then she sees it. To the doors left, a panel of jade rests. On the panel, there is a small hole that could easily fit the key. Melody inserts the key, and turns it. As she does, there is a clicking sound. The door opens itself.
Melody finds herself in what is obviously some sort of temple. To Melody's left is a bouquet of black roses. Melody reaches over and brushes her finger against the petal of the black rose nearest to her. As she does, the petal disintegrates into a cloud of ash. It rains gently from the air onto the marble floor. Melody is amazed. Then she notices the wall. Her stomach lurches, and Melody nearly vomits.
Painted in blood is a strange symbol. It looks like a key. Melody isn't sure she's seen worse in her time in mist haunt. There is so much blood ... at least 12 people must have died. The wall is massive, and covered in the mark of blood. But the back of Melody's neck is covered in goose bumps. She feels like someone Is watching her. She turns, and comes face-to-face with a giant portrait. In it is a woman whose face is hidden in a shadow. All Melody can see of her face is 6 eyes, each one a solid red. They stretch towards the creatures ears, and they seem to study Melody.
The woman is wearing a black cloak. Her ankles are surreally large, as are what Melody can see of her hands. She is very tall, at least 10 feet, maybe more. And Melody gets the feeling this isn't because of the size of the painting. It is because of the size of person within the portrait.
Melody is dazed. That woman is something out of a nightmare. In her eyes lie a supreme power, but not a good one. A dark power that wishes to solely destroy. The woman is standing in a black field. The ground is black with ash. There is a burnt tree in front of the woman, and behind her Is something... Melody reels backwards. The symbol on the wall! This hideous apparition is their goddess!
Melody doesn't understand it. How could they worship something so terrible? Then Melody notices something on the false goddess's feet. Blood. Lots of it.
The room spins, and Melody falls to the ground. She looks up again. The picture is still the same. Still unbearably terrible. She crawls further back, and stands. There is another door, this one made of tigers eye. Melody wishes she had the key. She'll be right back where she started from if she goes back out the jade door. But then Melody notices something odd. At her feet is an intricately carved star. The star seems to radiate comfort. It is good, Melody can sense. That's when Melody sees the heart. In the center of the stone is another heart, this time tigers eye.
With trembling hands, Melody reaches for the heart. This one shines like a pure fire. It is beautiful. Melody can see a key in the hearts center, and once again she removes it gently. Then, thanking the heart, Melody sets it back and turns, prepared to exit. She approaches the door of tigers eye. As she nears it, she grips the small key for comfort. When she reaches the door, she inserts the key. Once again, there is a clicking sound, and the door opens easily. Melody finds herself facing a paved hallway leading to many different rooms...