>>2744172[Ashore – Part 8]
Ami felt her bare feet hesitate as they inched closer across the crystal, a quiet part of herself trying to get her to be reasonable. Get back to the forest, head back to the shore, try to get the ship's attention...! Except a stronger, more compelling force won out over that tiny voice of reason; sheer innate curiosity. And so... Ami walked on, her hands tensely gripping her phone as she stepped forward onto the cool surface, sending a tingling shiver all throughout her body... then what happened next made her skin go cold. A backward glance at the forest, and Ami saw a brief glimmer of light pass over the natural environment, obscuring it from view... then it was gone, replaced by a similar expanse of crystalline emptiness. Wherever she had gone... there was no way back, at least, not the way she had came.
“W-what've I done...?” Ami whispered to herself deliriously, before she looked back ahead... and with no choice, she spurned herself forward, only to realize that she was on a familiar surface. Every few steps gave way to another square-shaped tile, a slightly different shade of crystal than the one she was currently on, and so on for an untold distance. It didn't take long for her to recognize the square-shaped surface... and all around her, towering structures that took the form of familiar pieces. She was on a chessboard! Most alarmingly of all, she they were the same size as her. She quickly tried to hurry to an adjacent tile, a sudden burst of energy sent her tumbling backward onto her backside, already reddening from the sharp impact.
“Tsk tsk tsk... the game hasn't begun yet, has it?”
“Oh no, my dear, not yet. It's no fun when the pieces try to move on their own, now, is it?”
“Not at all, my sweet.”