AN: We are back with another chapter! This time, this will focus on Chris and Claire. Can they solve the riddle of the mysterious black door?
"What does it mean by the music of life?" Claire wondered, rubbing her chin in thought.
The siblings would still be stuck at the black door, still trying to figure out the answer for the riddle that was given to them. So far, no matter how much racking their minds did, nothing was coming up. The door had not spoken another word since it gave its question.
Just when it seemed hopeless that they would ever figure it out, that was the moment that something… unusual happened. Chris, who had been given a pendant by their mother when he was a boy, suddenly remembered something she had told him all those years ago. She had said that when he was desperate and he felt trapped, to hold the pendant and think of her.
It seemed so silly as an adult, now that he thought about it. Probably just a reassuring thought to keep him focused… and yet, something about it made him feel… uneasy. Could it be more than just words? Had his mother really meant something by it? So, against his better judgment, he decided to test the theory that was welling up in his mind. He took ahold of his pendant and unclipped it from his neck. Holding it up, he closed his eyes and thought of her.
'Are you more than you appeared to be? Are you really something more than human..?'
He thought this as he pictured her in his mind. To his shock, the image of her began to project itself into the real world. It was coming from the pendant itself! So… she really was a witch! Beautiful long reddish-brown hair that flowed down to her mid-back, gorgeous chocolate brown eyes… She was a mix of both Chris and Claire's features. Indeed, she was as beautiful as she was in the photos of her.
The projection smiled at both himself and Claire, before walking over to the black door and standing in front of it. The door asked, "What is the music of life?" And Katherine Redfield replied, "Silence, my brother."
"Welcome home." The door replied, before unlatching and swinging open.
As Katherine turned back to face her children, Claire was in tears upon seeing their mother; she hadn't seen her since the accident that claimed both Katherine and Thomas' lives… An accident that had occurred when they were taking her to ballet practice. Claire still felt guilty, even now…
"Hi, Mom…" she tearfully sniffled, a watery smile making its way to her lips. Goddesses, how she missed her and Dad. "I miss you so much…! I feel like if you didn't have to take me to practice, you could've–" But an ethereal finger touched her lips, a gentle shushing noise coming from Katherine. She knelt down and crouched in front of Claire, so their faces were level with each other.
'Do not blame yourself for events you could not have controlled. It is not your fault what happened that day… fate is a cruel mistress. What she gives, she also takes.'
Finally, Claire couldn't take it anymore and went to hug her mother. To her surprise, she could touch her! But her surprise was overcome by her grief as she began to sob into her shoulder. Chris felt his own tears coming up and he too was pulled into the group embrace by his mother.
Chris however, being the tough, former military man, forced back the tears and refused to cry in front of his mother. She admired his commitment. It was one of the reasons she had always believed that the twins would be fine, if something were to happen to her and Thomas, which it unfortunately had. That being said…
"...how are you here? We thought you died…" Chris began, to which Katherine frowned and replied, 'I did die… but I am also here with you. That such a thing has occurred, is it not enough for you? Would knowing how change anything?' She questioned, seemingly avoiding answering his.
"We should know. We deserve to, I think." He said, crossing his arms. She sighed and answered, 'A piece of my spirit lives inside your pendant. A gift from a loving mother who never wanted to let go… it is just a small piece, but it should be enough.'
"And that's good enough for me. At least you're still here with us, somewhat, Mom," Claire nodded, wiping her tears away and gave her one more hug.
'I cannot interact with the human world in the same way that you might. I see things from the perspective of a spirit. I see the Spirit World, a realm that overlaps yours. I can manipulate pieces of the human world by doing so in the Spirit World, but I cannot physically interact with them. Except you.' She would add, as an explanation about the door, which Chris was now looking at. 'Think of me as your spiritual guide~'
Claire nodded before their mother disappeared back into his pendant and she helped him clip it back on. With the door now open, the siblings made their way down the new tunnel, which seemed to form a stony spiral staircase. Old, wooden torches that somehow were still burning, lit the way, warming the passage with their light and heat and providing relief from the cold that still clung to their still wet clothing. At last, a brighter source of light was seen near the end and it spurred them on a bit faster to see what was there. When they came to the bottom of the stairs, they came across a large wooden door with a bronze ring handle that looked like it could open easily with the slightest touch.
With a deep breath, Claire took hold of the handle and pulled it, only to jerk her hand back when she felt something sharp jab her palm. "OWWW!" She yelped and looked to see a bead of blood on her hand. When she looked back to the handle, the bit of blood seemed to be absorbed back into the metal, staining it a dark red and before their eyes, the door opened on its own.
'This door was designed only to open by the blood of a Redfield.' Katherine hummed in their minds. "That explains it." Chris stated.
As they cautiously stepped inside, what they saw inside would cause them to freeze in their steps; before their eyes were large piles of gold and jewels, scattered around the room. Some were stacked more than a meter high. More than they could ever dream of!
They found it… the Redfield Fortune was finally discovered! Claire's hands clapped over her slack jaw, her eyes going wide like a deer in headlights. "Chris… we did it! I can't believe it! We found it!" She damn near squealed.
So here it was after all this time… Grandfather Redfield's infamous 'Vault'. The enormous safe he had built to contain his entire riches… and it was now their inheritance. Well… Chris certainly wouldn't be struggling to pay for his sister's college tuition now! Getting her to actually STAY in college though… now THAT would be a struggle.
Claire and Chris looked to each other before the two grinned widely and hugged each other tightly, Claire crying out with joy. "WE DID IT!" She yelled as she was spun in the air by Chris, laughing happily.
"Don't count your lucky stars yet… we may have found the vault, but we still don't have a way out of here…" He said, staring at the money. Something was glittering under all that gold… something that caught his eye… "There's something there…"
Claire calmed herself down, seeing his point before looking towards what had Chris so interested. Furrowing her brow in curiosity, she climbed down the rope ladder and followed his gaze until she found where he was staring. Digging around, she would pull up what looked like a small locket. When she opened it, there sat a small, silvery, crystal shard that glimmered in the light. "What in the world..? I wonder what this is? Was this one of Mom's lockets?" she asked Chris as she held it up for him to see.
"I don't recognize that. It doesn't look like anything mom wore, that I can recall." He said, looking down at her before climbing down himself. Katherine slipped out of the pendant around his neck and looked at it.
'Hmm… that looks familiar… I recall in one of my books, there were entries on ancient dragons from a time long since past. Many of them had special crystals in which they sealed a portion of their power, in case they were ever defeated in battle or destroyed. This one… if my memory serves me, this particular crystal belonged to the Dragon Queen, Reya. Supposedly, she was the one who created magic, but I highly doubt that, as there are records of humans using magic long before Reya was recorded as having existed.'
"Wait, Reya? Dragons?" Claire questioned. Dragons ACTUALLY existed?!
'Yes. Didn't you pay attention in History class? Or were you too busy sleeping off a hangover from the night before? Naughty girl!' Katherine chastised her.
Claire cringed at that, knowing she was right. Instead of looking over the books she got from her mom and reading them, she was out at a birthday party with one of her friends and she ended up in her friend's bed the next morning.
Katherine frowned at her, as if she could read her mind and knew exactly what Claire was thinking. She shook her ethereal head and muttered, '…teenagers…'
Claire rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before looking back at the necklace, noticing it was glimmering a bit brighter… as if calling for something. Or someONE. "What the…?" she muttered in confusion before it suddenly levitated out of her hand and flew towards a door at the far end of the room. "Hey, get back here!" She yelled before running after it.
Unfortunately, once the crystal had passed the door's threshold, it slammed shut and sealed itself. Claire pushed, pulled and even kicked the door, but it refused to budge. Once again, they were trapped inside the vault. They couldn't go back the way they came, the river would wash them away…
"Dammit!" Claire cursed as she banged a fist on the door. "Just great… NOW what do we–" Suddenly, from somewhere beyond the vault, there was a HUGE pulse of power that nearly knocked her and Chris off their feet, while Katherine remained unaffected. "What the hell!?"
The ethereal form of their mother held out her arms, as if feeling out for the energy in the air.
'I believe that the pulse of energy came from the crystal. That would mean that it has found a suitable host for its power…'
"That came from a small shard?!" Claire exclaimed before another pulse finally knocked the two siblings off their feet, sending them tumbling to the ground. The force of this pulse also shattered the door that kept them inside.
'If you had paid more attention in class, you'd know that the shard can contain upwards of thousands of pounds of spiritual power. More than enough to destroy anything within several hundred meters… which means that the new vessel of its power is fairly close to us.' Katherine said solemnly.
As the siblings got up, they had seen that the door had come loose off its hinges and Claire yanked it off, clearing the way. As she poked her head out, the pulses had become waves that washed over them like heartbeats. And the only other ones that were here (that they knew of), were Wesker, Jill and… "Oh no…!" Claire gasped before looking back inside. "Chris, we need to go! NOW! The others are not that far from here! And I got a feeling one of them may've been chosen by Reya!"
Katherine nodded to herself. 'The Dragon Queen has chosen a new vessel for her power. I do not sense any changes in their physiology however, which means the vessel is either extremely strong-willed… or a child.'
Chris' heart sank. That meant Reya's spirit had possessed Alana, Captain Wesker's adopted daughter…
"Oh goddesses…!" Claire gasped in shock. "Chris, we need to move! We need to make sure Alana's OK!" With that, she and Chris quickly left the vault behind, though not before Chris pocketed several expensive looking gemstones. They hoped and prayed that Alana was going to be alright
AN: And that's a wrap! And HOLY SHIT, this is going to be big! Next chapter coming REALLY soon!