29: Secrets of the Church
Phantasia slipped back through the wall and dashed down the stairs to find the others, but the increasing ethereal current soon overwhelmed her senses and she lost track of them. Visualising their descent in her head, and correlating it from what she’d seen on the other side of the wall, she figured the base of the tower would arrive right about…
Ceres was flashing her torchlight over a lone statue, standing in an archway that led into the castle. About ten metres high, its sharp-angled torso was made from shimmering marble and marked with odd designs, while its long, slender limbs were crystal shards that reflected a rainbow of yellow hues whenever the light crossed them. A triangular head, lacking discernible features but marked with tribal designs that resembled them, sat perched between the broad, upswept shoulders.
“’Maybe we should leave,” said Horatio, “That thing looks like it doesn’t want us here!”
“It’s just a statue,” said Hermia as she strode forward towards it, “We’re just in some ancient castle buried by an earthquake.”
The moment she stepped within five metres of the titan, a crystalline limb snapped forward and stabbed the hard ground in front of her with dagger-like fingers, sparks flying as the limb grated back along the stone. Hermia screamed, her body frozen in horror, and Horatio burst forward in a sudden show of bravery. Phantasia reached out to stop him, but he was too fast and jumped between Hermia and the statue. Again the limb lashed out, and soon Horatio was cowering again. Hermia grabbed his hand and dragged him back towards the stairs.
“It must be some kind of giant robot!” she gasped.
Ignoring her friends’ flight, Ceres swept her light over the statue’s body again. “Don’t look like a robot t’ me,” she said with a sigh, “Korrie?”
“We totally can’t be dealing with this right now,” she said, “I think those two had the best idea!”
“Looks like you uncovered more than we bargained for,” said Ceres as the two girls passed Phantasia, “Sure as hell don’t wanna come back here if we can help it! C’mon, you’re not gonna stay and make friends with that thing in the dark, are ya?”
Phantasia chuckled and skipped after them but, before she left the chamber behind, she took another look at the strange stone guardian. They might never want to come back here, nor ever have the capability to deal with the thing, but Phantasia’s curiosity was aroused. You didn’t leave a sentinel around if you didn’t have something to hide, and there was no way she could live above this mysterious place knowing there were secrets lurking beneath her feet! She would return…but not today. Phantasia had learned from the adventures of her youth with Prince Dionysus and knew the dangers posed by the Underworld to ethereal beings like herself. She knew she needed to be stronger in order to face them. She would have to learn to endure the harsh conditions, learn how to shield herself against the forceful currents of mana, and learn more about the area and its strange guardian.
Give it a week and she’d be ready. That stone guardian wouldn’t be going anywhere, after all!
~ The secrets of Torsten run deep! What secrets does this underground temple hold? ~
~ Next: A new assignment for Veritas! ~
This chapter never appeared in earlier drafts!
Not much I can think of to say, really
Hermia and Horatio were drafted into this as side-characters with little to do, but when writing I realised how I could work some of their back story into things. This proves knowing your characters well and knowing where the story is going can be beneficial XD Then again, you should never plan things out too much, because characters can sometimes take over and derail those plans XD (serious business writers say you shouldn’t let that happen – I ignore them)
Just don’t be expecting H&H to get the spotlight for a while yet
There aren’t any clever references or names in this chapter, so no geeky James May facts I’m afraid. I wrote the bulk of it at the weekend, actually, as I’d found it difficult before and skipped ahead (I’m writing #34 at the moment!). The added characterisation for H&H helped inspire me quite a bit! I admit to having some difficulty writing a very feminine group, especially since it’s been focal for two chapters now. Sometimes I worried that Hermia was turning into the love child of Phoenie and Theseus, possessing the first’s power-lust and the second’s cynicism. But then I thought “that’s life, isn’t it?” – people do tend to be a mix of certain elements and personality traits and sometimes it’s something as simple as a lifestyle choice or subculture allegiance that separates them.
The next arc was a lot easier to write, but that’s because it’s based around Veritas and they’re dead easy to write for!
Out of curiosity, what happened to the ball?
The cricket ball? I imagine Horatio was observant (and OCD) enough to notice it wherever it’d settled and reclaimed it!
That’s all, eh? I kinda hoped it would make it’s way back into the story in some minor way or something. Oh well, I guess it wasn’t all that important anyhow.
Well if you see a cricket ball show up in future, you’ll know it’s because you pointed it out in the first place!!