Jumping-Through-A-Window Solution..

Lou

The glass shattered everywhere, leaving me blind to the new location I was approaching. I could feel the wind blowing behind me from the several hands that had tried to grab me and scolded myself on allowing them to get so close. I tucked my chin into my neck and became as aerodynamic as possible whilst wiping my eyes. When I could actually see something, I had been falling for at least 6 seconds, leading me to assume that I might’ve just committed suicide off a towering building. I could just about see that I was somehow falling from a cliff towards some razor-sharp rocks designed to impale any who dared jump. About 5 miles north of me, the tempting waters of the ocean teased me with their safety. For my only defence, I angled my feet to land first and my arms raised above my head. As I braced for impact, I could hear a sound in the distance slowly growing louder, almost a buzzing noise. I closed my eyes and felt the wind brush through my hair, waiting for the imaginable pain to arrive…

Nothing.

I opened my eyes and was surprised to see that while the landscape had changed, I was still falling. Turning my head around, I could see the remnants of a portal from where I had come from. I only had a quick second to see a stretched-out web of some sort before I crashed right into it… and sprung up from a homemade trampoline. My hands scrambled to grab something solid but the surface was smooth, wrapping around my body like a blanket. As I sprung up for the third time, I managed to spread out my body to slow down the bouncing process, allowing myself to regain my bearings. Not feeling a bag on my back made me feel uneasy as to where Blorgus was, but I needed to figure out where I was first to eventually help him.

I was in a field on what felt like a giant spider web with no other sounds except for the rustle of the grass and the crickets in the distance. Relieved, I laid back down and closed my eyes but kept my ears and other sense alert for any movement. A snap of a branch to my left caught my attention and as I opened my eyes, I could see the owner to the web as a familiar spider was just resting, watching me. Leading me to believe that they saved me, I spoke up.

“Thank you.”

The spider didn’t reply but turned around and started walking up a hill, leading me to fumble around foolishly to get off the springy web. I followed them through a tall field full of weirdly looking tall stalks, hoping to see where we were going. I could see a small glittering pond beside a profusely pink house. Coming out of it, I could just make out the familiar figure of the local idiot and… Grandma Raeyechaeyelle with Poe Cling??? I shook my head, but they stayed put, looking clueless to where they were headed. I started heading towards them when the spider surprisingly shifted its body to allow me to sit on them. Awkwardly patting one of their legs in thanks, I climbed aboard and we quickly approached the group.

Grandma Raeyechaeyelle

As we were just about to head off to see the Ancient One, from the fields I saw a large shadow with eight legs running at us when the local idiot screamed. When I turned to see who it was, I saw Lou mounted on a creature who looked very familiar but I couldn’t quite place their pincers to a name. I waved at her and waited as they got closer. Poe Cling covered the local idiot’s mouth to stop him from disturbing the pond friends and to stop the gaping.

“Good to see you again, and so soon. What brings you here?” I asked curiously.

“I actually have no idea where I am, but this spider brought me through a portal,” she stated calmly, a reaction not commonly found when riding a giant spider for the first time.

“Well, welcome to Bardonia,” I gestured to the beautiful scenery around us.

“Thanks. Um, so what is going on here?” she looked at me confused.

“We are heading off to the Ancient One in order to get a heading,” I started but was abruptly cut off by Lou.

“Wait, we need to find Blorgus and the others,” she said urgently, getting off the spider. I remembered seeing her come into the kitchen with a bubble-looking being vaguely but hadn’t seen Blorgus in a long time.

“Where are they?”

“Well I just escaped the house now and I was actually about to die when this spider saved me,” she began.

“There’s no time to waste then. Let’s head to the Ancient One now,” I walked over the local idiot who was still gaping at the size of the lovely spider ride. Grabbing his hand and Poe’s, I whistled for Lou and her ride to come over.

“Hang on,” I stated as they held onto me. Summoning some energy, I quickly teleported us to the middle of town. The landing was not the smoothest as I wasn’t used to carrying this many people, but we made it there all in one piece. I had brought us to the entrance outside of the Ancient One’s resting place: a different haven each time for safety. This time it was at the Asian Gourmet restaurant and we entered the building.

Local Idiot

We opened the door to some weird Chinese restaurant and a thin-looking woman with black curly-styled hair came up to us and started speaking rapid Mandarin. From behind me, I could hear Grandma Raeyechaeyelle’s friend responding fluently, and the waitress bowed and led us to the back. Opening what looked to be the kitchen doors led to a dark empty room with one statue facing away from us. I was a little afraid of the dark from when I was terrified as a child, but I tried to hide my shaking hands by putting them in my pockets.

The humanesque statue appeared to be made of iridescent stone, causing the colour to change depending on the angle being viewed. Approaching the figure, Grandma Raeyechaeyelle began drawing what looked to be hieroglyphics in the dirt. The room seemed to get frostier as a strange wind seemed to swirl around us. The statue glowed a luminescent green and turned around to face us. The eyes were the last thing I remember seeing before all went dark and I could only hear a deep, raspy female voice scratching against the insides of my brain.

Upon the first one’s rebirth

The lost one shall usher forth

An age of death to bring justice

And reignite ties long forgotten

The day the skies are thick with anguish

The fate of the world lies on a mark

Born from the ashes of a stripped life

Know its name and salvation will come.

Salvation will come

Come

Come

Co..

…

.

.

.

T

Looking at the local idiot now after he had brought us up from the makeshift elevator and through pipes and grates to a resting place outside, I realized he has been scarred with the memories of someone else’s life. He looked to be done his story and was looking down at his hands in his lap.

“When I came around, I was just outside this house again like nothing had happened, except I knew all the ins and outs of the actual place. And one recurring thought.

Find the others.” He looked up at Vivian and me, his eyes full of confusion and lost hope. I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a determined look.

“We will find Blorgus and Lou. I promise you.” He smiled at that and looked at the red tag in my hand. I opened my hand and looked at the cursive writing to see a name that would wreak destruction or be our salvation.

Derek - 1979

“I started looking through the depths of this house when I was captured by the guardian who Vivian seemed to have killed accidentally,” he explained while Vivian turned slightly purple.

“And that leads us to now,” I finished his story. “This must be the name from your prophecy. Know its name and salvation will come.” He looked up, wondering where I was going with this. I knew where we needed to look.

“Show me where this vault was.”

Mysterious Lavender

That’s a wrap folks, but hopefully you enjoyed it! I’m actually going to be trying different types of stories about this town and perhaps some one-offs so bear with me.

Remember: keep smiling and all will be okay :)