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The white haired man stood there, watching Asima a bit sadly as they drifted apart again. In the fading light his mismatched eyes began to lose their color and turn blackened, and then suddenly the bright egpytian sun was piercing through Asima's bedroom window to awaken her.
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The princess laid quietly a for a bit, hugging multiple pillows to her. Finally, she slipped from bed. She couldn't expect Solum anytime soon, and he knew she planned to leave to Arabia. The first thing to do, Asima decided as she donned a lovely dress, would be to go down the passage. In Arabia, she'd simply have to keep her eyes open and sneak..into as many bedrooms as she could... Asima sighed and rubbed her forehead. And Frodan had been left, so was she supposed to take the dove carving there? What then? What was she supposed to do with it? Perhaps Malum could find a way to let her know. The was the second time, after all, he'd appeared to her. Maybe. She paused after stepping out of her room. It could all be wishful thinking, her just wanting to think Malum was alright so badly, she created this imagining. If that was so, Asima was sure she'd either become an insomniac, or all of Egypt couldn't wake her soon. She stopped once she'd found the white haired servant, touching gently where she'd seen Malum do so, glancing around and making sure no one was around her. |
The passage opened up into the same long staircase that lead down through the depths of the palace. Her dream had at least been right about that.
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Asima frowned, staring at the opening. She hadn't known about the passage, how could she have had Malum tell her that? The princess stepped into it, quickly moving down the steps. |
the passage lead into complete darkness below. The steps disappeared into completely darkness, and each footfall sent an echo into what was likely a cavernous room.
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Asima used the spell for light, even more curious now and wanting to know what was held here. |
The instant the way was lit, Asima came face to face with a giant cobweb covering her path. Beyond that and down the flight of stairs was a vast room. Asima's dim light couldn't even reach the far wall.
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Unable to hold back a shriek, Asima sent a gentle gust ahead of her, clearing anymore cobwebs out of her face. She glanced around, suprised, when Asima stepped off the stairs. How huge... The princess began looking around once more, for anything on the floor or maybe inscriptions on the walls telling her what this place was. She travelled to the walls, staying close to it, unsure of how big the room was, or if traps were laying around. |
The floor was inscribed upon in black and white it seemed, but it was very large and difficult to make out in the dim light. Along the walls there were old unlit torches all around the room.
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asima moved around the room quickly, using magic to light the torches. When she was finally done, she stepped back, gazing at the floor curiously. |
With the torches lit, the room became clear-and what it sight it was! All across the floor lay one great picture, hidden beneath the dust. All Asima's scuffling about had revealed a fair bit. It looked like... two doves, one black and one white, sitting on a pair of pillars, facing each other as a pair of people faced each other in a circle between the doves. One was a girl that bore a striking resemblance to Asima, and her opponent was a white haired male with black eyes.
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Pictures flashed through Asima's mind: The dove Malum had shown her, how black his eyes were. No... Asima gave a tiny cry, shaking her head. She left the room soon after that, using a gust to put out the torches. She moved straight to the temple. "Lakar! Lakar...I need your help!" The princess called out as soon as she was inside, glancing about frantically. |
After a moment Lakar poked his head out of his room, "Hm? Asima, what's the matter?"
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Asima began blurting out everything, the dreams she was having, how she didn't know if they were real or not, what it seemed Malum wanted her to do. The doves, her resembalance in the picture. Soon, the princess was speaking through tears and stared at the high priest hopelessly. "Please, tell me my fear isn't true. Tell me what you think all this means?" |
"woah, woah, calm down" Lakar spoke softly, giving her a gentle hug. He had listened intently and now he wasn't sure what to say, "show me this place... maybe you missed something?" it was the best he could come up with to offer her.
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Asima nodded, practically dragging Lakar down the tunnel and lighting the torches quickly. Before looking at the picture once more, Asima's mouth fell open in disbelief. Malum and Solum had lied to her so much...had they lied about this as well? Malum had once told her he only kept her around because she was useful, long ago. Had she failed to change his mind, and had him and Solum led her to believe Malum had cared for her, because of this? Malum had seen it when he was young. "He knew. He knew me...All this time, he'd known..." The words were muttered, and the princess didn't even realize she'd spoken aloud. |
Lakar swept his hand forward, sending a gust of wind to blow away the excess of dust to uncover the shining stones beneath. He inspected the picture curiously, "... that does look a lot like you... and him..."
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Asima hovered around Lakar nervously. "B-but it's not, right? It's not!" |
"I don't know Asima... it seems pretty clear what's expected to happen" Lakar looked at her apologetically. "That's either Malum or Solum. I can't say which, but either way..." his eyes turned to the large doves, "these doves... they seem to represent light and darkness and the clash between."
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Asima leaned against the wall. If that was Solum, Malum would hate her if she managed to kill him. If it was Malum, could she even fight? A tiny sob escaped before Asima collected herself, explaining what else she knew of the black dove, and the three places Malum had shown her. "I dunno how I'll get any of them. I suppose this means I must find the white one as well?" She swallowed, and ducked her head, hiding behind her glossy hair. "You're a Priest, Lakar. Tell me, is this my punishment, then? Are the Gods angry with me, for loving the man who killed my father?" |
Lakar stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder gently, "Asima, I do not believe the gods are angered with you, it's clear enough to me that this picture means it was their plan all along. This is your destiny, in fact this is what you've been looking for..." he looked back at the picture, "Malum was taken by this thing... what if this is your chance to get rid of it?"
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"To free him!" Asima cried out, sobbing once more, "W-what if this means i must hurt him? It already hurts so much, knowing I can't help him...now this..." |
"We can not chose our own destinies Asima," Lakar spoke softly, "they are chosen for us, and most often the more difficult the path, the more important it is. We have always known your path would be important, we just haven't known the details until now. Now, this thing is locked away, if I had to guess, I would say that these doves might help create an even playing field to face... this thing. In whatever form it happens to have..."
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Asima moaned and averted her face, refusing to look at Lakar. Whatever form? Would she be able to fight it, if it looked like Malum. "The black one is in a bedchamber. I don't know how I'll get it. Could the white one be here, or hidden with the black one?" |
"I'm not sure, we might as well have a look around while we're here" Lakar replied, turning his attention fully back t the room to search.
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