Chapter 14: Impasse

Ariadne

She stirred on the ground helplessly, her head spun as her heart ached so much from the beam of purple light that hit her chest. Time slowed down as she was engulfed into some sort of a time travel, her heart stopped beating. Her eyes watered as she falls into the void of helplessness.

"Ariadne, Ariadne." A boy's voice called her name. Ariadne turned her back and ran into the open arms of her smiling brother, her long auburn hair is swaying in the air brought by the breeze of the cold summer. The two of them playfully gazed at the open meadow. Ariadne sat on her brother's lap as they both glued their black eyes at the minty twilight that seals the day. She looked at the young innocent face of her brother. His eyes were bold and stern.

"What is it, my princess?" The boy asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"Nothing big brother. I was just happy. I wish Mama and Papa are with us to see this beautiful view." Tears pooled in her eyes. The tears slowly fall down to her cheeks, each drop leaves a pang as they pierce through her heart.

"They see a much more beautiful view than this in heaven my princess." Her brother soothed her with a hug.

"Fred, Ariadne. Where are you?!" A woman's voice called from the distant. The woman's shrilly voice made both children cower on the prairie grasses they are sitting into.

"There you are hiding imbecile larvae. Avoiding your chores huh?!" Her animated horse face and thick eyebrows matched her huge brusque antagonist features. She wore a loose dress and a bloodstained apron around her chubby body.

"Stop it! Stop scaring my sister you brute!" Fred shouted angrily at her. A pair of huge brown eyes shot them a deadly glare.

"What did you just say, imbecile orphan?!"

Ariadne stared into her eyes pleadingly.

"Please, don't beat us up!"

The woman chuckled and dramatically mimicked what Ariadne had said.

"'Please don't beat us up.'"

"Stop that! You looked like a beat up pig!" Fred provoked causing the woman to draw a small black box from the pocket of her shabby apron.

"You know what's inside this right?!"

"Of course we do, what are we, idiots? We're not like you, stating what's already the obvious! Pathetic corpulent, wretched witch." Fred raised his voice as Ariadne clung on his arms.

The sky shifted red in unison with the eyes of the enraged woman. She opened the box and brought out a small stick, it then materializes into a handle extending into a long whip. She shot killing stares at the children as she bares her yellowish teeth.

"Any last words spunky pesky whelps?"

"Run!" Fred shouted holding Ariadne's hand tightly in his grip as they both run into the steep meadow. The fat woman ran in pursuit. (She runs like an aberrant titan on Attack on Titan).

Ariadne drew out a smile as they entered the misty forest.

"Big brother are you sure you wanted to enter the forest?" Ariadne asked, her voice sounded exhausted.

"We need to find Arthur, maybe he can help us."

"What if he won't?"

"I'm sure he'll help us, come on." Fred pulled the hand of his sister and entered the woods. Mostly pine trees and oak trees surrounded the trail towards Arthur's manor.

"Let's take a rest. I guess she had stopped following us already." Ariadne halted and leaned on the tree.

"We're close, come on." Fred invited and they just walked into the depths of the forest. The surrounding was completely devoured by the darkness. Ariadne stayed close to her brother as she kept on clinging her hands on his arms. Fred held her closer.

"Everything will be alright, I swear."

They walked the obscure trail and finally found the golden-bricked pathway. The trail shone in golden hues that it leaves the eyes of whoever sees it sparkling. The trees and thickets thinned out opening the path towards the hidden mansion.

They followed the golden tiled pathway hand in hand. Finally, the siblings have reached the golden gates. Two broad-shouldered beasts guarded it. The manor was at the top of the hill. Its colors, the mixture of gold and green with a shady tint of pink were tantalizing. Ariadne opened her mouth in disbelief.

"What's your business here?" The tall bullheaded guards asked in a heavy deep voice, their noses are belching white fogs. They wore golden tunics and heavy tightened leather pants. Their noses are flaring in unison.

"We are here to see Arthur, can we see him?" Fred asked, summoning all his  confidence, but his voice still sounded in cracks.

"The password." The bulls asked in unison. The golden tridents they're holding in their hairy hands' glint.

Fred inhaled a heavy amount of air and muttered a strange incantation Ariadne isn't familiar of. The bulls' noses flared in rage as their bloodshot eyes beamed in exasperation.

"You missed your chance buddy." Both bulls positioned their tridents to attack.

"Wait!" Ariadne pleaded, her tangled hair covers her face.

Ariadne chanted a bewitching jazz. A surge of overflowing mana ran through her veins. She felt hot as she continued chanting. The bewitched bull guards opened the gates and let them enter.

"How did you do that?" Fred mused, his hand clasping Ariadne's hand.

"I dunno, my instincts are telling me to do so, so I did that," Ariadne replied with all honesty as they both walk to the manor.

Finally, after the walk on the two-hundred metered long pathway from the gate, they have now reached the huge mansion. Its facade shone in golden hues and its marble columns stood firm as pillars. There were again bull guards around the place, this time, they wore black tunics that half covered their hairy chests. They held spears in their hands, there are at least twenty of them in total. Fred held her sister's hand firmly.

"What's now?" Ariadne looked up to her brother whose black eyes are filled with wariness.

"I don't know." He replied shortly.

"We'll try."

And they both walked past the first two guards who stood up firmly in their places.

"May we come inside and see Arthur?" Fred asked confidently.

The bull faces of the guards didn't budge, their noses just flared in response, their sharp curved horns are glinting. The sight of their angry faces made the children flinch.

"May we?" Ariadne spoke in a bewitchingly calming tone. The huge ears of the guards stood erect as if sensing a warning. Slowly, they moved and opened up a path for them, the next in lines followed like they were a zipper being zipped open. Ariadne and Fred sashayed like they were princes and princesses walking on a red carpet. They passed the ten pairs of guards and started climbing the stair. The mansion's heavy wooden doors stood wide open.

The last two guards wore red tunics, they have bronze swords on their sheaths that hung on their hips. On the verge of the red matted floor, there seated a fine young man in a golden chair, there were two golden chairs beside him. His intimidating aura loomed from where he sat. Fred and Ariadne moved their tired feet to step inside but the guards unsheathed their swords and pointed them at them. Ariadne gripped Fred's hand tightly.

"Let them pass." The heavy baritone voice from the young lad ordered which made the guards to put back their swords in their leathery armor. Their noses flared in disappointment. The children walked inside and face the insolent looking lad on his seat.

"Who are you vermin?" The lad asked, his eyes pierce to Fred, moving to Ariadne.

"I'm Fred of Exque and this is my sister, Ariadne of Exque."

"The land of the lowly classed witches and wizards. Haven't the scumbag mortal humans killed the likes of you?"

"They've killed Mama and Papa." Ariadne looked into the eyes of the arrogant lad, tears are trickling slowly from her eyes.

"How poor of you. Wouldn't you like to end your suffering?"

Both Ariadne and Fred tensed as the lad smiled sinisterly, his dark hazel eyes are throwing daggers at them.

Ariadne heaved. A chilly soft voice of a woman whispered to her ears. It sounded an enchantment in a strange tone and language. Ariadne opened her mouth and started following the voice, she blurted the words slowly into the air, making the air becomes chilly then blue wisps started to envelope the body of the lad whose eyes are widely opened in shock.

"How do you know that?" He asked in awe and collapsed on his seat as the wisps struck him.

"How do you know that?" A buoyant voice asked from behind their back.

"I dunno," Ariadne wiped her eyes as she stood there frozen.

"By the insolence, you showed in the presence of the godly princess, you shall be my slave and only death will set you free."

The chandelier that hung from above started dimming as the voice translated the chant. The lad continued squirming in his seat. He trembled till the wisps slowly disappeared. The lad opened his eyes, straightened himself and rancidly shouted in an aggravated tone.

"What on hell have you done to me?How dare you make me your slave! You're just a pesky vermin!"

"That's enough Marcus. You should show respect towards your Master." The lad calmed down and gazed at them repulsively.

"Arthur?" Fred asked, turning his back to face Arthur.

"Yes, and welcome to my manor." Arthur enthusiastically invited. His friendly aura matched the white peaceful robe he wore.

Marcus stood up from his seat and fixed his black coat that matches his black pants.

"Who told you to let these vermin enter my house uncle?"

"Me, myself and I." Arthur smilingly replied.

"You get this curse on me or else I'll get it myself."

"The spell is irrevocable my child, if you wish to free yourself from the seal you shall kill. . ."

Too soon as Arthur finished talking, Marcus had shot Ariadne with a blue flash of light straight to her chest.

Ariadne collapsed on the floor and blacked out.

***

"Fool!" The sound swam in Ariadne's ears.

"Killing her kills you."

"Damn! So that explains the pain I felt."

"Is she going to be alright? A concerned voice familiar to her started stirring her into consciousness.

"She'll definitely well." A lively voice replied.

"So, how do I lift up the spell."

"That would be an impasse."

"So that means I'll forever be her slave?"

"Definitely!"

"Is there any other way?"

"There is."

"Tell me what! How?!"

"Erase her memories."

"Don't!" Fred's voice interrupted.

"But if ever she'll be in grave danger, your life endangers too, if she gets killed, you're dead. And if she remembers you, you'll never ever avoid your responsibility."

"Like hell, I care,"

"All I needed to do is to stop their times and put them into a deep slumber."

"And now you're thinking."

"What do you think of me?"

"Commence it then."

"This is all your fault! Aiding them your help. If you hadn't even had shown yourself to them, they would have never faced this fate. Pretending to be a Samaritan"

"Is guilt taunting you?"

"I have humanness in me, that's natural to a Duke."

"Very well then, start it."

And Fred and Ariadne were put into a hundred years of deep sleep.

***

100 years after...

Ariadne started opening her eyes, her senses started to awaken. She was still a six-year-old child, beside her lays cold her brother, the still ten-year-old Fred.

"Brother, brother." Ariadne shook her brother who was deep sleeping, but all her attempts never budged him. She started to slap his cheeks.

"Brother wake up." A hard slap awakened Fred up. The boy gasped for air to breathe. He started blinking his eyes several times.

"What happened? I can't see!" He asked and started moving his body. They were inside a room, in a bed. They both wore white sleeping robes.

"I dunno. I just had woken up. Brother, I'm afraid." Ariadne clings her hands to her brother's arm.

"We'll be okay. But my visions are blurry."

"Here," Ariadne put the spectacles she found on the bed to Fred's eyes.

"I can see better now." He mumbled,  adjusting his specs.

"Let's get out of here." He wipes the tears that fall from her eyes.

"Don't cry."

They wore the sleepers on the underside of the bed and walked out to the door. It opened as soon as Fred twisted his hand on the knob.

The breeze of the cool night air slapped their young faces.

"What is this place?" Fred asked.

They were on a small bivouac that is placed on the top of the hill, confined for a hundred years.

A howling from a beast made the children hugged each other.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Fred held his cowering little sister.

They walked down the hill and entered the forest. The full moon from the sky lit up their way. They continued walking and finally reached the plain. The prairie grasses weren't friendly for they poke the tender skin of the children. The trees thinned as they walked deeper. The howling grew louder.

"I'm exhausted," Ariadne complained and stopped on a nearby tree.

"We can't stop moving, the beasts might found us," Fred replied worriedly. He grabbed her hand and they started walking. The trees thickened as they moved into the depths of the forest. Different kinds of sound started to be heard. Hissing, buzzing, howling and even sounds of hooves that blend with the sound of the crickets. Ariadne gripped her brother's robe tightly.

A pair of red eyes glued the children from where they stood.

"Stay away from us!" Fred demanded in a bold voice. Another pair of red eyes appeared and one after another follow. Fred held her hand. The creatures of the forest, one-by-one, showed their appearance, they are evil looking with distorted faces.

"We are running." Fred readied and they both ran while holding hands, running away from the pursuit of monsters in the midst of the forest. A shadow of a cloaked man showed in front of them.

"Follow me." The man offered. He wore a golden locket in his neck as it dangles while they running away from the monsters. He circles his hand to open a portal as the golden portal glowed to life.

"Get inside." The children never argued and get themselves inside. A wolf jumped into the man and they both stumbled on the forest grounds. Fred and Ariadne ran. A few of the monsters managed to get inside before the portal vanished. Fred let loose of his hand and faced the monsters.

"Go!" Fred cried. Ariadne ran, crying. She ran away from her brother, running into the new lands, to a strange forest, she continued running without noticing the cliff ahead and she fell into it.

***

Ariadne gasps for air as she opened her eyes. It is all clear to her now.

She had a servant, she has a dark past and she has a missing brother to look for.

"We meet again." Arthur smiled at her.

Ariadne felt the aching of her chest, and once again, after experiencing lots of blackouts in her life, she fainted.