Golden: The Collection

Chapter VIII: Erosion

It took quite some time to travel from Horizons Academy to the Sunfall Kingdom's castle.

Navigating through the academy while avoiding the cameras was difficult enough as it was, with the increased security levels since the "breakout," but they managed.

Aureate had to look at the sky a couple of times to make sure the moon was still there.
To make sure it wasn't all a dream.

Part of her wanted it to be.
Her parents' unbecoming, the incident during testing, and even the discovery of the Gemstone.

At the same time, she realized—there was no sense in hoping things could be different when reality doesn't run on belief. No, she had to accept, move on, and become stronger from this experience.

She had to.

With the Gemstone and the guidance of Luz, she had no doubts that she'd be a match for her mother's killer.

There was another matter however; where had her father gone?
Had he been taken? Was he being held hostage?
Or was he vanquished as well, away from the eye of the public?

There was no way for her to know, apart from the pull of her heart that tells her he's alive.

"It's blocked off," Pea said, pulling her from her thoughts.

They were at the castle's front gates, which were closed.

Aureate's gaze crossed over what was once her home. "Follow me," she decided, her voice more authoritative than she intended it to be.

See, Aureate was the type that didn't like to stay put for too long.
When her parents never let her leave the castle, she took it into her own leaf blades to liberate herself by creating a secret tunnel leading in and out of the castle.

It was exactly where she left it, toward the eastern wing of the castle gates, covered up by—

Aureate froze. Whenever she used the tunnel, she covered it up with a pile of leaves along with a fallen tree branch, but the hole was barren, exposed, for anyone to enter.

"Someone was here," she told Pea, quietly.

Uncertain, he neared the tunnel.
"Do you know how recent?" he asked.

Aureate shook her head in response. "Even if it was mere moments ago, we must proceed. We're too far in to retreat."

Pea nodded without confidence.

The sunflower crawled into the tunnel, leading the way in.

As expected, the passageway left them in the dining room. Aureate hopped out of the hole with no problem, but she had to help Pea drag himself out.

Who could've discovered the tunnel?
Things are getting stranger and stranger.

She was partially thankful of Luz for not intruding on her thoughts, even though she could've used his insight right then.

"Stay on guard," she said to Pea, turning away from him to examine their surroundings.
The room was dark, but her partial nightcap genes allowed her to have night vision. "For all we know, we aren't alone."

"Why don't we use the Cora technique Colonel Kernel taught us about the other day?" he suggested, voice lowered. "You know, the one about our energy signatures?"

"Good thinking," Aureate lightly praised before focusing on the energy around them.

Everyone had a Cora Signature; the energy they carry with them as they trek across the realm.
The stronger, or larger amounts of Cora one possesses with them, the more of a signature they had.