Splash!
[ The last thing I remember as my body convulses, the sudden chill, a shock. Water... I'm in water... It's... so dark and... cold... ]
Bubble... Bubble... Bubble...
[ Panic flares. My lunges began to burn. ]
[ No air... Just bubbles... slipping away, just like my breath. ]
[ I'm sinking... deeper... and deeper. As the pressure builds, and began crushing me alive. ]
"I'm coming to save you!" A voice, muffled, distant. And so... unfamiliar... gave me a flicker of hope, but as I try to reach out... darkness slowly consumes me.
[ You faintly hear sounds... sounds that sound so... distant. ]
[ It's like an echo in a dream, or maybe not a dream?. ]
[ It something I can't quite grasp, a whisper from the unknown. ]
"Far far away...", a voice whispered, "there lived a land full of Gods." The words drift in and out, their meaning too hazy to recall. Too hazy to understand.
"Every God... lives above a royal... their eyes... is a symbol... name..."
[ Eyes... Symbol... Name? They buzz my head whenever I try to remember... Do they mean something more? Are they connected? ]
[ A name, so clear yet so unknown, appears in my head. A silent whisper in the crushing darkness ]
"Bliss… Exists… the God… Eternal Bliss…"
[ My mind screams in agony. I don't understand! What are these words you keep telling me! ]
"God of Beauty... Rose..."
[ Rose? Who is Rose? The name feels like a prickle, a sting to my heart. As if it wants me to remember. ]
"Never Forget. Who you are."
[ A jolt, then, nothing. Black, as my head throbs a memory ]
*********************************************************
"_______", a soft voice came from the blanket as a child asked, "Why did she blame the humans?"
A gentle hand reached and ruffled the child's hair, "Ah, my little one. This is because Rose believed the humans were why her powers faced. As even the Gods themselves seem to turn away from her." Her voice was a warm, filling the cozy space, "You see, she never understood, not until it was too late, that those very mortals were the reason holding her existence together. When she cursed them, she cursed herself, and they all fell together at the end."
[As you try to listen for more, trying to recall who is talking, a sharp burst of static accompanied by the sudden ever growing blackness filled your vision]
[Once you opened your eyes once more, a persistent ringing emerged, blurring the present with a nascent memory]
[A loud heavy crash from beyond the walls shattered the ringing sounds. Before the ringing faded, fierce, pounding knocks began, each bang, a hammer blow against the door. Accompanied by the guttural shouts of an enraged man and the loud and threatening voices of many villagers.]
"OPEN UP, WITCH! GIVE US WHAT WE WANT!", a voice roared, get closer and closer, through the door you hear a voice dripping with venom alongside the voices of the other villagers.
Your mother's hand placed on your shoulder. Amidst the chaos, she whispered in a low yet steady whisper, cutting through your rising panic. "Velvet, go hide in the cellar under the cabinet. Now."
"But what about you, Mom?", you whispered back, your eyes wide ready to drip tears of sadness as to what is about to come.
Your mom's gaze firm yet unwavering. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Her hand gave a gentle, yet also a reassuring push. "Now go, and don't make a single noise nor be seen by the villagers."
[After listening to her words, you didn't hesitate any further. You slowly but surely started darting to the kitchen without being noticed by the villagers and then swiftly started opening the contraption that revealed the cabinet's secret passage to the cellar. Once inside the cellar you darted over from below to where your mother is at. Above you, your mother stood guard, her sword already drawn and ready to strike.]
[A deafening crash ripped through the house as the front door was smashed open. ]
Through the open door way, a chilling declaration rang out from the man. "Your time has come, WITCH!"
Your mother, standing resolute, met his gaze without flinching, "I will not let you take her away!", she declared, her voice firm despite the chaos within her heart.
The man merely sneered. "Don't worry, we came here for you!" He then gestured to the figures behind him. "Subdue and kill her!"
[You watched, helplessly, as five figures overwhelmed your mother, her solitary sword fighting a desperate battle against a tide of fury. Soon she fell towards the ground, as she roared her final words]
As they surged forward, a final, defiant cry came from your mother's lips. "I will not let you find her!"
[In midst her roar, a slash was heard. Then a thud. In a grotesque display, her head was pulled out into the night, as her body was left there motionless. You clenched your jaw, biting back the urge to scream, to cry, to mourn, forcing yourself to remain utterly silent, as if invisible.]
"Boss, what about the child? Should we go look for her? She is after all the _______." The man's voice cut out, replaced by a burst of static.
"No," the man snarled towards his subordinate with a hint of fury. "Let the kid starve and do not let her escape this area. That is the last mercy I will give to the witch."
[Once they were gone, you moved to the other cellar room and immediately saw the portal your mother once mentioned. This is a portal that will carry you to an entirely different location within your own world]
"Where should I go?", you whispered under your breath. Your voice still trembling from the scene you saw, as you try to maintain a semblance of calm. A portal hummed, a beckoning call to the unknown.
[As you explore the portal, there before you lay a option to escape, a one-time passed to another corner of the Wabwaha Kingdom. You mind raced, as three names appeared as you remember what your mother once told you: Yab, Alsanah, or Rusrah. This was it, the names your mother told you long long ago. The portal would only work once, then vanish forever. What would you do? Which city would you choose?]