Tale of Death

Chapter 22 - Ruins

Shi found herself waking up once more in the white room she was previously in— the old ruins underneath the desert— if it could be called such.

She could tell almost immediately that something had changed. Her body was still the same— unchanged— yet something within her was different; she could feel it. She didn't know what it was though. No matter how much she tried to figure out what those things were she couldn't.

'What did grabbing the book do?' She thought to herself, as she rose her wary eyes off the ground and peered around the room.

Her head had a slight ache to it, and her mind was something dizzy still, yet it was something she could ignore. It felt in a way, how she would normally feel after jumping off the bed too fast— mild and fading with time.

She didn't have time to pay attention to it either because as she peered around the room, she noticed the changes to it.

The walls that were previously pure white now looked dirtied and old. The entire room looked like all the life was sucked out of it; leaving it to wither away with the passing of time. Only, the passing of time came a lot quicker than it should.

"Is it going to collapse?" She worried out loud to herself, yet no one could give her an answer to her worries.

Worried that the ceiling might fall and cave her in, forever trapping her in a tomb under the sandy ocean, she looked up at the ceiling above.

It was at this moment that she noticed the most important change yet— in her opinion.

The ceiling was no longer that of a painting that depicted a grand war like it was before; instead on it were words carved in a language she had never seen before. It wasn't the same language as the book— no that language was far more complex than this one. This one just seemed old and unknown, at least to Shi that was.

"The Old King Lays Here" She muttered to herself as she looked up at the writing that decorated the ceiling.

As soon as those muttering left her mouth, her eyes widened in shock. Shock that she could understand a language that she had never seen before in her life. Shock that she could read it so perfectly that she did it without even thinking. And shock about this being that was called the 'Old King'.

"Is this a tomb?" Her eyes gazed around the room once more. She had seen everything in it when she first arrived, which was the reason why she was unsure how this could be a tomb, "Where's the coffin then?" Was the question that left her stumped, until she realize where the coffin was.

"It's inside me." Her eyes landed on the pedestal where the orb previously floated gracefully, now gone from its grasp— absorbed into her. She figure that the orb was probably the tomb of this being that was called the Old King; it was the only explanation she could come up with.

What she didn't understand was why it did what it did.

'A tomb implied the being was dead, so how could it possibly have created those illusions for me to see. Most importantly, why would it give me a choice like that. What does it want from me?' She thought to herself. The possibility of that being wanting to use her seemed unreal to her.

Why would a being so strong, a being capable of making a tomb like this and keeping it brand new, want anything to do with her? Was it mere chance? A lucky— or maybe unlucky— encounter?

'I don't believe in luck.' Shi said to herself as she shook her head. Luck was merely an excuse used by people that couldn't take control of things into their own hands; something to blame when things don't go the way they want them.

Shi didn't want to make excuses, nor did she want to blame anything. This was her fault. She touched the orb without knowing what it might be. She made the decision to take the book even if the choice was all she had. She was the one that was in control of her own life— and only her.