"I think I know what this place is, at least to you and me," I said. "This is a parallel universe."
"What would that be?" asked Muriel.
"It's kind of difficult to explain," I guess. "Take a look at the shadows we cast on the ground during the daytime. They look at us, and yet those shadows are different. Same withn parallel universes. This universe is sort of like a shadow of the one we came from. That is why Reidock Castle looks the same here, but some things are different."
"So you come from a universe of shadow?" asked Muriel.
"It's a poor analogy," I said. "But it's really difficult to understand unless you've experienced it like Hassan and I did."
"I don't even understand it," said Hassan.
We then came across a wooden directional sign.
Amoru 14 miles
We then turned and continued along the path to Amoru. The path took us around a mountain range. Along the way, we were attacked by some monsters like giant sheep and these skeletons with chains on their ankles. Muriel knew some healing magic as well as a spell that can impale an enemy with a shard of hard ice.
It was as our shadows were getting long that we came to Amoru.
It was a small town, smaller than Reidock. And yet the place was more crowded. We went to the inn to spoend the night and hear any leads about the Mirror of Ra.
"Sorry," said the innkeeper. "The inn is completely booked."
"You mean there are no rooms available?" I asked.
"That's exactly what it means, kid."
And so we asked the people for some information. We heard that Amoru was famous for its water, which had healing properties. There were concerns that Mudo and his troops might attack the place. We would need a mirror key tyo enter the sealed tower northwest of Reidock Castle. Anbd we heard of two thieves who once went into the northern cave about twenty years ago, and that the only one of them came back. Her name was Gina, and she was staying at the church.
And so we went to the church.
"Hello there," said the priest. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Can you give us a place to sleep?" I asked. "We will compensate you, of course, even if it is a small room with no food service."
"There's a room in the basement," said the priest. "It's small, but it will do."
And so we went into the church's basement. It was stuffy, with wooden barrels standing next to the wall.
"Oh, hi there," said this old lady.
"The priest said we could sleep here, madam," said Muriel.
"That's okay," said the old lady, who went upstairs.
"Nice place," said Hassan, rubbing some dust off the surface of the barrel.
"We might as well catch some sleep," I said. "We need to find this mirror key."
And so we did. We had a very long day, and it was not even a minute before I was asleep.
oooooooooooooo
We all woke up sometime later. A man was standing by the door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"The priest said we could spend the night here," replied Hassan.
"I don't remember him mentioning anything like that. Oh well, I guess he's busy."
And so we left the church, and our ears were greeted with a scream.
"The river!" yelled someone. "It's turned to blood."
We went to the stream that ran through the town, and sure enough, it was red. I wondered if it were blood or if some red clay simply fell into the river.
"We'd better go check it out," I said.
Hassan and Muriel nodded in agreement. We went north of the town towards a smal lcave where the river flowed out of.
Inside the dark cave, we saw this woman, dressed in a suit of armor, standing by the river, still flowing red.
"I can't wash it off," she said. "I killed him. I killed him."
Wondering what happened, we continued further down the cave.
The cave was, not surprisingly, populated with monsters. Muriel's Upper spell did wonders in softening the blows that we received from these beasts. the monsters included these little bat-like creatures brandishing pitchforks, little green guys who held wooden staves and cast spells, and tiny little birds. There were even these tiny knights riding on slimes! And, of course, we encountered those metal slimes who were very frightened of us, as they almost always ran away.
We gathered some treasures laying about, including a bladed boomerang and this small medal. We then went down to this underground lake were there were wooden logs floating on the surface. It was apparent that we had to float on the logs. So we all hopped on one of the logs. It was carried with the current and we eneded up in another part of the cave. We went up, and after walking around for a minute, and yet another encounter with those "slime knights", as those knights riding on slimes were called, we found ourselves back where we were before. It took a while for us to get to that underground lake.
"We'd better take a look," said Muriel. "The logs float in that direction."
And so I took a wide look at the place. I noticed a path leading downward into the deeper levels of the cave. I then looked at the logs and mentally calculated where they will float.
"Let's use this log," I said.
So Hassan, Muriel, and I hopped onto the log, and it was carried by the current. We landed just right before the path leading down. We al; disembarked and walked down, going deeper into the cave. Exploring around, we found and iron claw which Hassan decided to equip.
After a few more monster attacks, we heard something ghoing on around the corner; we decided to check it out.
In this small side chamber in the cave, we saw this man engaging some sort of demon. The demon was purple and had two wings sticking out of the back of its shoulders.
"Let's go," I said.
Muriel cast Upper on me to increase my defense, and I cast Sap on this horror beast to reduce its defense, while Hassan struck with his iron claw. The horror beast struck with its sharp claws.
It then did this strange dance. I started feeling strange and hazy.
I camr to my senses when I was struck...by Hassan! Muriel then cast IceBolt, and I was struck in the arm with a shard of ice.
"Stop it!" I yelled. "That monster must be confusing us somehow!"
Hassan then struck Muriel with the iron claw. "Owww!" she said.
"Snap out of it!" I yelled.
Hassan was then coming after me.
So I grabbed him and threw him at the horror beast.
"He's the target!" I yelled. "Concentrate!"
And so we did. I slahsed away with my copper sword, while Muriel cast Healmore and Heal and Hassan attacked the horror beast with his iron claw. The horror beast could not stand up to our attacks and fell.
"Thanks," said the man who had been fighting the beast.
"Who are you?" asked Muriel.
"My name is Iria," said the man. "I was here with my companion Gina. We were looking for treasure in the cave. When I opened the treasure chest, this demon came out. There was some confusion, and Gina struck me. Is she all right?"
"We some some lady back near the entrance," said Hassan. "She was trying to wash off the blood."
"Could you take me back to the surface?" asked Iria.
"Sure," I said.
And so we headed back to the cave's entrance.
"Iria," said the lady who was Gina. "You're still alive."
"You just scratched me, that's all," said Iria. "These three people slew the demon." He then turned tgo me. "for saving me from this beast, please take this." He then gave me a speed ring.
"Well, take care, you two," I said.
"Good luck."
And so the three of us went back to Amoru. The color from the river was gone.
"What do we do now?" asked Muriel.
"How about we get some sleep?" I asked. "We can continue our search for the mirror tomorrow."
We went back to the church and went to sleep.
ooooooooooooo
When I woke up, this old lady was staring at the three of us.
"It's you," she said.
"Who us?" we asked.
"It's me, Gina."
This lady was far older than the lady we met at the cave. It did not seem possible, unless...
"HOw doid you know about us?" I asked.
"After you three went to sleep, I could not find you anywhere," she said. "But I did dream about you."
"I'm very flattered," said Hassan.
"Gina, is that you?" asked a male voice.
We all looked and saw this old man.
"Iria?" asked Gina. "You're alive? You're really Iria?"
"Why yes, it's me," said Iria, looking older than the last time we saw him.
"it has been twenty years!"
"I recognize you three," Iria said to us. "I had a dream about you."
"You're not the only one," said Muriel.
"Here is soemthing I found long ago," said Gina. "this is the Mirror Key. We've no need for it anymore."
"Thanks," I said. "I really appreciate it. Good luck you two."
And so we left.
"What happened?" asked Hassan. "Did we travel back in time?"
"Apparently, we did," I said.
"This is a strange mission," said Muriel.
"Now let us go to that tower and see if the Mirror of Ra is there," I said.