>>5288952“If you could lead us through the tunnels to the edge of the forest, I’d really appreciate it.” You decide, relenting to Alicja’s barely-hidden urge to ferry you through the winding tunnels she so adores. Amara’s the only one among you to be disappointed that you don’t have to set foot into the monstrous abode, with the passageway to the forest’s depths yawning open at the foot of the house’s front steps, instead.
"Also, before we head out—do you mind if I set your PolandBuzz into an Inception totem of sorts?" You offer, ‘A’s eyes lighting up at the prospect…or maybe just at the reference. You’re not sure, even as you continue; “I figure we could set him up to be a timer, so you don’t spend too long being knee-deep in the doot and end up worrying your house.”
Following ‘A’s suit in saying farewell to the house with a formal bow, it waves you off with a purr and a fluttering of its roof flaps as you all descend into the darkened tunnel before you. You’re robbed of the Crucible’s dusklight when the entrance seals behind you, but your eyes quickly adjust to a new and novel light source—flowers that blossom from the veins that wind above you, the translucent pink petals run through with arteries that glisten ruby red. You’ve plenty of walking room, to where in following Alicja you’re able to walk hand-in-hand with Amara while Dorian and Julia do the same a few paces behind you.
“When you’ve gotten lost down here, where have you ended up?” You ask as you pace down the corridors, admiring the crystalline humors and calcite arches bathed in the flowers’ bioluminescence.
“Oh, the places you’ll go!” She giggles, skipping just ahead of you. “I’ve woken up in middle of many fun things! Sometimes talking with other Daughters, sometimes in the middle of towns, and a couple of times I came to looking out over grand vista! So many pretty places!”
“Have you ever woken up fighting someone?” Amara asks.
“Yes! Fights are rare, but I’ve always woken up like superhero! Helping people, so I don’t mind.”
The deeper you descend, it becomes easier to gloss over the idle chatter and harder to dispel the notion that you shouldn’t be here. Maybe it’s the way the ivory calcite becomes marbled through with ebony stone the further you walk, or the hum in the air that feels like a Waystation’s electric ambience. Even Alicja seems to feel it, the conversation dying out to the point where it feels like you’re jolted awake when round a bend and you see light—real, genuine daylight—shining in the distance. Eyes adjust from gloom to a new sight, one that’s a far cry from the forest; the land here is fractured, arranged into canyons of jagged calcite strung with veins that haphazardly link the seemingly random assortment of crystalline spires. And, unlike the forest…
…this locale is far more active.
(Continued)
