Elemental Empires

{Chapter 23}

The ground neared and Mia braced herself for the fatal fall that would surely kill her. She closed her eyes and inhaled her last breath.

She fell.

"Oww!," Mia groaned,"Ahh, I'm dead, dead! My spine is broken, I'm dea-".

"Ahem?," Someone coughed sarcastically beside her.

Mia squinted and rubbed her eyes.

"Oh god! Cathy you're dead too!? Nooo, now I'll be stuck with you in the afterlife forev-" Mia cried.

"Mia!?", someone else screamed and a sharp slap smacked Mia's cheek." Get back to your senses!".

"That hurt Kira" Mia rubbed her cheek.

"Good," Cathy chuckled.

"Shut-up Catty," Mia said saucily as Cathy glared at her.

"I saved you!", Kira shouted happily, once again succeeding in breaking the two apart.

"You what?," Mia asked," hey! I'm not dead!" She realized finally.

"Ho, ho big surprise," Cathy said, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"I'm alive!", Mia exclaimed, checking each of her body parts, not even a scratch! She sat up." Woah! What is this!?".

Mia realized she was lying on something soft,powdery and cold, it was what had broken her fall and saved her from dying. Mia poked the substance with shaky fingers.

"Awesome," Mia whispered in awe, her heartbeat returning to normal" a bed of snow! Kira did..?".

Kira nodded enthusiastically before dancing happily and screaming I did it, I did it!

"Thank you Kira! If it weren't for you, I..I. " Mia trailed off," but I thought the spells back-fired if you used them here!".

Kira shook her head," that's what puzzled me but who cares! I conjured up this! I haven't forgotten how to use my powers. Oh.ma.lord," Kira threw her hands up in the air in joy.

"That's amazing," Mia jumped off the bed and it vanished.

"No!", Kira wailed,"aww hell no! I made you! Why did you vanish, bed? Come back!", Kira poked at empty air.

"Kiraaa, move," Mia dragged the wailing Kira by her elbow.

They shuffled in silence -their steps illuminated by the muted light of dawn, filtering in through broken windows- when they came upon two wooden doors in front of them.

"Which one to the exit?," Kira asked.

"I don't know," Mia chewed her lip anxiously, wishing she hadn't torn Eric's map.

"Should we eenie, meenie,miney-"

"No," Cathy interrupted Kira,coldly" We'll just have to split-up and see which one leads to the exit".

"Yeah right, re-enact the horror movie cliche. Split-up in a creepy, probably-haunted palace? No thanks Einstein." Kira folded her arms as Cathy sighed and smacked her forehead in frustration.

"You-", she exhaled slowly," Kira, this palace isn't haunted and we'll just go to the very end of each room and come out immediately".

Kira hesitated as Mia thought about the pro's and con's of each idea.

"We'll meet here again in about ten minutes." Cathy offered, trying to ease Kira.

"Oka-a-ay," Kira said uncertainly.

"Seems good to me," Mia agreed reluctantly.

"Great, thanks. So  we wil-".

"Kira and Cathy you take the left door," Mia piped up, tired of being bossed by Cathy -or Mia's cat-"I'll take the right one. As soon as one or the other finds the exit, they come back and tell the other. We meet in ten minutes. Okay?" Mia finished her orders, gleefully ignoring Cathy's frown.

Kira nodded as Cathy rolled her eyes, flipped her hair and headed for the door, her gown flying behind her.

"How I hope her eyes get stuck up there permanently so she'll end up looking like Breeze," Mia muttered.

"Who's breeze?," Kira scrunched up her nose.

"Me pet elephant," Mia said, frustrated," Watch out, she's a real nut-case," she warned Kira as she started to follow Cathy.

"Yeah," she laughed,"You take care of yourself and be aware of the fact that you still haven't had time to rest and your fever can-" Kira stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, yes mother," Mia laughed and gave Kira a playful push,"Good luck".

"Would you like to grace me with your presence today or in the next decade?" Cathy's agitated voice called out.

"Good luck," Kira smiled at Mia before hurrying to the door.

Mia took a deep breath and stepped towards the dusty door, she put her hands on the splintered wood and pushed. The door creaked open and a gust of stale air rushed out. Mia grimaced and entered.

It was an ordinary room. Pale rays of sunlight flooded the room in an eerie, gold glow, tiny particles of dust danced on the warm rays like golden glitter. Webs of silky gossamer hung delicately in every corner, shimmering softly as Mia observed everything.

"This couldn't be the way to the exit, I should head back," Mia said, thinking out loud and turned to return." But what if the door is at the very end?", she stopped in her tracks, debated on her next move before sighing and turning around again.

She shuffled deeper into the room, slowly. Her gaze straying over the macadamized room. Sheepskin rugs, dusty tables and tattered books lay haphazardly. A gust of air entered the room through and Mia shivered as a chill went up her spine, it seemed as if the wind was whispering to her, talking to her..

Warning her.

She strayed deeper into the seemingly never-ending room and gradually noticed her surroundings morphing.

The furniture here looked glossy and new, the walls were painted a rich black. Myriads of wooden shelves lined the walls filled with books with leather and marbleized spines. Mia stroked the spine of each book, loving the sound of her fingertips grazing the soft leather.

The sun hid behind clouds and a sudden shadow masked the room, Mia wrapped her arms around herself as the room suddenly got colder. Two words repeated themselves constantly in her mind.

Turn around. Turn. Turn around.

She still urged herself to move farther, curiously eyeing the strange beakers and flasks filled with diaphanous liquids and what looked like crystals and gems dipped in melted silver, books lay open with their dripping quills. The wind whipped around her, flipping the yellowed pages of the  books.

Turn around. Turn around. Turn around.

The temperature dropped as she walked farther, her teeth chattering. She would have been glad to see the wall that abruptly ended the room if she wasn't mesmerized by what lay before her.

In front of the wall, a small table stood with a purple velvet draped on it. Mia moved forward and saw the strange orb glowing incandescent, resting on the table. Iridescent strands of light swirled gently inside it.

Mia couldn't help thinking how it looked like one of her Aunt's crystal balls and even though the alarms went off in her brain and the voices shouted at her to get the hell put of there, she still stood there, gazing, mesmerized at the orb.

She moved forward as if she was in a trance, her eyes reflecting the soft pastels and neons merging in the ball. It was hypnotizing to watch the streams of silver smoke gently overlap the sliver of rippling pink and wrap itself around it before another colour emerged.

Mia stood right before the majestic orb. Entranced, she reached out a hand to touch the beautiful colours, to save them inside her palm, to let her hand bathe in the rainbow river. Her hand came in contact with the cold,glass and she felt it melt as drops of transparent pooled in her palm.
She gasped as the orb opened into a swirling portal and screamed as everything rushed around her, bright fireworks erupted everywhere and dazzling colours blinded her.

The sun emerged to light the empty room just as the orb closed up.