Blackening and Whitening
Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow of Destiny or any of its characters
Since the incident with the giant rock we had been walking for hours. Perhaps we're walking in circles, I suspected. This place was worse than a maze and now that we had a time limit to find the stone I was getting incredibly frustrated despite my initial amazement with my earlier performance at the entrance. I stopped mid track when I noticed the blackness ahead.
"What's this thing now?, I complained. "Another trial?"
"What makes you think I know, Clarice?"
"You saw the book and you DID say you could see things that my poor mortal eyes couldn't grasp on it. Isn't that true?"
"My, my, I think this place is having a bad effect on your mood. Look in front of you. What exactly do you see?", he said.
"I see only black", I peered intently on the darkness before and I could distinguish a vague form. "It looks like a cave entrance but I'm not sure. Could be anything, I guess. I really don't like it. We could turn around and look for another passage. This place is very big, you know."
"But I don't see any passage more suitable than this one. After the showdown with that sword one would think you a little braver, Clarice", he chuckled.
"Fine. I'm going ahead. Besides it's just a bit dark and it's not like there are monsters lurking at every corner.", I retorted.
"How can you be so sure?", he asked.
I dismissed his words and resumed my walk towards the dark entrance. I'm not going to admit that I'm scared of dark places. Not to him, of course. I can't confess this even to myself. I really couldn't see anything and I was already wondering how long I would have to walk in this black-pitch cave. Why did I forgot to bring my lantern, anyway? That's because Homunculus is all you can think about. No wonder I've been forgetting little things like that. I hate my thoughts. I really do. After almost ten seemingly endless minutes we got to the interior of the cave and surprisingly it had enough light to see things clearly.
"Well, at least now I don't think there's reason to irrational fears. Don't you think so?", He smirked to me.
"I couldn't see a thing in that way. You're not scared because I bet you could see clearly what was ahead of you.", I answered.
"You really are a clever one. I wouldn't enter a cave where I couldn't see a thing. It would be very dangerous and foolish of my part, you see. I'm not as strong as you, Clarice."
"I noticed because of your lack of fear. You do have a self preservation instinct, I guess. Not that different from us humans like you always say."
"But you see, I'm not human. There are many differences, I assure you."
"You can try to convince me another time, Homunculus. I think I heard something…"
There was no mistake. A gruesome sound was echoing through the cave and it seemed that we were getting closer to whatever was emitting it. I ran forward into the cave and the more I ran it looked like the light was getting stronger. I came to a halt when I saw another sword. Only this time it was many inches longer than before and…
"Why the rush? You should have waited for me. We can't get lost easily inside this cave and it wouldn't be beneficial to both of us if we were to split up this moment. ", he completed.
"I guess I followed my instincts. Something was beckoning to me to come here… What's that raven doing? It seems he's protecting that sword."
"That's not a raven. But it is guarding the weapon, indeed. It's magic of some kind.", he explained.
I looked intently at the bird and for the first time I realized it wasn't quite normal. It was peering at us in an odd manner. The raven didn't have the look of an animal in its eyes; it looked far wise to be a bird and it circled the sword in a human way. For a moment I thought it was going to scream at us to go away. This is no ordinary creature, it's something that uses an animal hide but it's no animal.
I made a move toward the strange bird when I felt someone pulling my arm back.
"Don't be reckless now. Let me take care of it while I'm here. I'm going to feel bad if you do all the work. Magic is to be counter attacked with magic. Stay back, please.", he pushed me behind his back.
It all happened so fast. In a moment Homunculus was murmuring those strange words and the raven got in a upright position and it came flying fast in my direction. I closed my eyes in fear because now I could sense an overwhelming power coming of the bird in great waves. It was paralyzing, a kind of magic very evil and ancient. Then, in less than a minute there was a strange agonized cry and a cloud of smoke appeared. When I opened my eyes and could see clearly the raven was nowhere to be found.
"This solves our problem, I think.", he interrupted.
"What did you do? That was… amazing. It looked so strong."
"It was nothing, really. Good thing magic doesn't exhaust me like physical exercises. I knew my powers would be needed."
"Thank you. It was coming straight to me.", I blushed profusely.
"Now, Clarice it is not like anyone hasn't protected you before. Or?"
"Nobody has bothered to do something like that to me. Ever. ", I whispered.
"Is that so? What about your parents?"
"They died in a car crash when I was three. My grandfather raised me… and well, to tell the truth I don't think anyone else ever cared if I was ok or not, except my grandfather. You could say I'm not a big fan of mankind among other things."
"I agree with you on that. Humans are very troublesome… but to think that you of all people share my view on this, it's a nice surprise", he exclaimed.
No need to tell I was redder than a tomato, then. I only get along with you, I wanted to add. Was that the reason why I feel more at ease with him instead of other people? He did save me but what was the purpose? Is it the stone or is it…?
"Now, don't you think it's better to take the sword? Seeing there's no one guarding it at the moment I think you should carry it. Who knows what next could be on this cave?"
I averted my embarrassed gaze to the sword and in that moment and I noticed its black, glistening color. Such a beautiful weapon it was. I went to catch it and when my hands made contact with the sword's base I felt how light it really was. Something else caught my attention, too. There were tiny gems incrusted on the hilt of the sword.
"What is it? You're still impressed with my work from before? I'm glad Eike never blushed when I saved him. It wouldn't be nice at all. You on the other side…", he said chuckling.
"It's not that!", I puffed indignantly. "It's just I haven't seen a sword like that before. It's so well crafted and there are these beautiful stones placed on the hilt. It is such a waste I must use it."
"It was not made by human hands, you know. The jewels, however… What is your favorite gem, Clarice?", he inquired expectantly.
"It's garnet", I replied too fast. It wasn't until some time ago. I had always preferred diamonds but his eyes were so beautiful. I couldn't help that I changed my taste so fast after he appeared in my life. I hope he didn't notice it .Just because my favorite jewels are the same color of his eyes. Time to change the subject, I guess.
"Oh, I see. So that's why you look at them with such longing.", he stated.
No, it's not happening. Did he notice? "W-What do you mean? Them who?"
"The gems in the sword, ofcourse. What do you think it was?", he asked.
"Oh, that. Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking", I forced a laugh.
He came in my direction and touched the sword appreciatively. "A work of art, no doubt", he continued. He touched my hands absent minded while admiring the sword. I don't think it was unintentional. He has been making excuses to touch me, lately. There I was, blushing again.
"We shall go to the next room from now on", he explained. "No need to match the color of the jewels, Clarice. I don't think a monster would be scared of that", he chuckled.
So, that was on purpose after all. He's teasing me, this guy. It's not funny!
"I think they will be when they see myself angry", I said staring into his eyes and walking ahead. To say that I was angry is an understatement. I was blazing. I going to discharge my stress on the next idiot who appears on my way. That I will, for sure.
We were descending a staircase for the last hour. It seemed never ending and I was already so tired. The sword was close to me so I could use it fast just in case. I glanced at my side and I realized Homunculus had stopped walking.
"You tired? We should rest here for a minute. It won't be long, I promise."
"My body tires very fast. We must make a stop and resume our descending afterwards. It must be nice to have a human body at times like this.", he looked at me intently.
"But I'm tired too, you see. This staircase looks infinite to me. This place is messed; no area as big as this could fit on that mountain."
"Magic knows no boundaries", he added.
"Yes… I wonder why the mountain let me in. Perhaps, I have a bit of magic in myself."
"Don't doubt yourself. Doubt is the great enemy in this place. Many have perished in this realm because of hesitation. Well, of course they didn't have someone to guide them."
I decided to take a look at the sword since I didn't have much to do anyway. The blade was entirely black. Very unusual, for a sword. Then, everything around here was black since we begun to descend the stairs except for the lights which seemed to erupt out of nowhere. I was studying the blade when I saw the almost imperceptible writing on it. Nigredo, killer of the undead. Let the light guide you on the endless sea of blackness. Thinking about it, the sword was almost as light as my old lantern. I decided to try my crazy idea pointing the blade toward those stairs. A beam of light erupted out of the tip the sword.
"The sword is showing the right way. I think we must resume our journey." I could see the end of the stairs already.
"One more thing that only someone chosen by the stone could ever realize, I think. I guess I can go now", he continued his descending.
The moment we got at the end of the stairs the first thing to capture my attention was the smell. The place reaaly stinked. It was like a thousand tons of sulphur were deposited here or a thousand years of p… Never mind. This stinky place had the form of an arena and it didn't have any kind of ceiling. The soil was soft and kind of slippery. Maybe oil? If that were true it was a very flammable room. I put the sword toward the soil and the light revealed a pitch dark mass of unidentified form. I directed the blade the blade toward the ceiling then . A great noise happened and multiple torches were lit at the same time.
"Looks like the sword activated some kind of mechanism. What place is this, anyway? Do you have any idea, Homunculus?"
"No, but I'm feeling a presence since we got here. It's very disturbing. I don't like it."
"Well, this place looks like a Coliseu to me. You know, where the gladiator fought one another to death."
Weird. I didn't think it was only the resemblance to the roman arena which was frightening me. This place, there must be a serious problem going around.
"I don't think you are far from the truth, Clarice. I advise you to be prepared. The next challenge won't be that easy", he admonished.
"You talk like you know about what is going to come. Do you?", I asked.
"Perhaps. But it's not wise to frighten a hero before the trial. You're better off not knowing. If my perceptions are correct, then we have a great deal of trouble, I'm afraid", he answered.
The earth shook a little and I was under the impression the soil underneath had moved an inch.
"Is it just me or the ground is shaking?", I inquired.
"It's beginning… ", he completed.
The ground was shaking more fiercely now but it couldn't be compared to an earthquake. It resembled a light tremor; actually the sensation I had was that the soil was moving itself like a living organism. Suddenly, the tremors subsided only to be replaced by something worse. A decomposing hand erupted out of the soil. Well, if it were just a hand… Soon enough the owner of the said hand came out of the ground. How I wanted to be having a nightmare that moment. But it was as real as my ragged breathing at the time. The creature who got out of the ground was dressed in rags and its flesh had a translucent aspect to it. It was like a corpse in decomposition; now I know where the smell came from.
"That thing over there… What the heck is it? Looks like it's dead.", I said in horror.
"It's a zombie, an undead. Don't get too close, yet", he replied.
"What do you mean by 'yet'? Do I have to fight that?"
Hell would freeze before I get near that thing. No way I'm going to fight that. I prefer ten thousands of rocks instead of that. At that precise moment I heard a strange noise and multiple mounts of earth moving themselves. All got much worse, then. The numerous amounts of shaking soil were in fact… A large army of those undead monsters chose that moment to burst out of the ground. There were at least twenty or more of them, now. I was almost panicking by then.
"Get your sword ready. They don't seem but they are fast. Don't let them get close enough to bite you. Do you understand?", he said and took a step behind me.
"Wait a moment. You don't expect me to fight all these monsters. It's impossible…", I said exasperated.
"Believe in yourself, Clarice. Remember, no hesitation", he said calmly. "Watch it!", he cried.
I could hear the creature's roar and then it jumped on me so fast. I blocked its advance with my sword and the monster shrieked when the blade touched its putrid skin.
"Use the sword, now!", Homunculus said above me. He was high in the air to avoid confront with these things, I thought. Great. I alone versus a bunch of smelly monsters. I don't even know how to kill then. Wait, they are already dead.
The creature recomposed itself and came swiftly in my direction, its teeth bared. I acted out of instinct and slashed the creature's mid torso. It gave a wailing of agony and turned to a white dust. The other monsters seemed to hesitate for a moment. I griped firmly the sword's hilt and tried to think a strategy. They recovered their stance at that moment and resumed their advance; they were too fast. I had no choice but to… I ran the opposite way and when the first zombie was closing on me I turned and jumped over him slashing its back in the process. A surge of electricity seemed to pass from the sword to my body. I felt myself moving so quickly that I couldn't feel the wind breezing through my body no longer. The large army of undead in front of me was confused on account of my new acquired speedy. I went towards them like the blowing wind. Too fast, even for immortal eyes. I unleashed over them countless slashes. My sword was cutting those zombies as if they were made of butter. I passed through them and in the final row of creatures one stray zombie had escaped my swift assault. I unleashed a swift blow parting it in half. It crumbled to my feet in a cloud of white dust like the others. I felt, then, the sword calmed itself and I was no longer moving like a flash. I looked around to survey the damage.
"I did it again… I don't know myself, anymore. This is all so fantastic", I beamed. "I mean, I could never imagine that I would defeat an army of zombies."
"You don't hesitated, as I said. You trained against multiple opponents many times, do you?", he came down next to me.
"Yes, grandfather made strict practice about this. I trained so much that sometimes I couldn't lift a thing for a long time. It was very exhausting."
"A very ingenious man, indeed. I suppose that to train candidates to the stone must be a difficult task", he resumed.
I put the tip of the sword on the ground out of exhaustion. Suddenly the point of the blade gleamed and the whole white dust lying inert on the ground begun to glow.
"What is happening? This brightness…"
"Look closely", he said and put his soft hand on my shoulder.
The white dust was glowing so intensely and for a moment I thought it was going to burst into a million pieces. Then, the extraordinary happened. The bright pieces of white took another form. They changed into thousands of tiny doves. The little birds flew to the cave's sky and they were synchronized like in some kind of dance. I was speechless in the middle of this spectacle. Then the birds got higher in the cave's ceiling and disappeared in this dancing of light.
He griped my shoulder more firmly and when I looked into his eyes I saw that the eerie recent light of the cave gave him a so lovely appearance. So beautifully sculpted. I had to control myself to not kiss him that moment.
Out of nowhere the walls from the arena gave way to another passage and I knew the next room was over there, immediately. Homunculus glanced at me and I know that at that moment he too was fighting a powerful urge.
"That door doesn't open for too long. We should hurry", he walked in the direction of the passage.
"So let's go. I will run normally this time", I teased him.
"Oh, I don't want to use magic to win. It would be unfair to you, I guess", he said.
I ran to the door and called. " No need to. It's just I don't want to be unfair, too."
He chuckled and resumed his walk passing through the door where I already was.
"You are priceless", he said.
No matter how beautiful the previous event with the white birds were I couldn't stop my line of thinking. I couldn't help thinking he was probably the most wonderful sight I've ever seen and nothing would change that no matter how beautiful.