Silence. Silence and emptiness. Phantasia found herself gliding into a vast chamber of such size that the spiralling wall behind her faded into the distance. For a while, she floated through the serenity, allowing the purity of the Goddess’s blood to rejuvenate her tired spirit. Then she descended, her feet creating ripples as she touched down on an invisible floor. With each step, more ripples spread, as if she were walking over an endless ocean. As peaceful as it all was, and as blessed as she felt for being able to bask in the very life of the planet, there wasn’t a single answer for her here.

“Well this is no good,” she said, crossing her arms and kicking the rippling floor, forgetting that it wasn’t water. She brushed the serpent on her shoulder, hoping Dionysus might answer her, but his voice was long gone, left behind in the twisting maze he had led her through. She hoped he would be proud of her solving the mystery and finding this place, even though she was sure he would have done so himself eventually.

That is no so.

The voice came from behind and she instinctively turned. Then she saw reality flicker, and a figure appeared as if it had just materialised out of nothing. Its face – for the voice was strangely genderless – was hidden behind an ornate helmet that sat on armoured shoulders. Below that, an ethereal cloak billowed in unseen winds. Phantasia tried with all her senses, but she couldn’t register the stranger with anything other than her sight. It was as if the thing she was seeing didn’t even exist.

“Nor are you the only recent visitor to this place,” it continued. A visor on the helmet appeared to be looking at her, but for all she could tell, this thing didn’t even have eyes.

“However, your arrival was anticipated. It means you are ready for the real world,”

“Who are you?” she demanded, her body shivering slightly from the figure’s unnerving non-existence.

“A guiding voice,” it said, “Even a genius water faerie like Dionysus could never have found this place alone. You are quite different, however. Dionysus sent you on your journey believing you would one day uncover the strength within to find this place.”

Phantasia felt the mark tingle. Was the prince telling her she could trust this person? Even though he had no idea who – or what – it was?

“But I don’t have any power!” she said, “I journeyed all over the world and all I learnt was that I was a freak!”

The figure remained motionless except for the gentle swaying of its cloak. “You may not have the obvious powers of the faeries you understand,” it said, “But that does not make you powerless, nor does it make the journey you undertook worthless. You have developed powers of your own, blending what you have learned of the different elements together,”

Chapter 2
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