Broken Palace

No matter how much Amie protested, Jacques was determined to bring Amie back down to the palace, "I know things got crazy last time, but you have to see what happened after you were knocked out. The place is in ruins now."

Amie had no desire to go back down, "I don't see how a ruined palace with murder mist in it is something I have to see. Is that mist even under control now? How do we know it won't attack us the next time we go down there?"

Jacques responded, "Well... It didn't attack me when I was down there..."

There was something bothering Amie about their escape. She wanted to known why Jacques was unscathed, "Jacques, how did you get me out? How did you not get hurt?"

Jacques quickly replied back, "Don't worry about that right now. Now get ready, we're leaving."

***

Amie couldn't figure out what compelled her to follow Jacques, but she found herself following close behind him as they descended down to the palace. She could feel anxiety flooding her every nerve the closer they got to their destination. By the time they reached the cavern, Amie felt as though she could barely breathe.

Jacques lit the cavern just as he did last time. He then froze at the sight. The palace looked the same as when they originally left, except now there were patches of a substance resembling moss covering the ground and coming out of the doors that had been left open.

Amie couldn't figure out why Jacques was bothered by such a sight, "What's wrong?"

Jacques mumbled, "This isn't what it looked like." Jacques leaned in to whisper to Amie, "Stay close to me and be careful. Something isn't right."

Amie whispered back, "Then we should lea-"

Jacques grabbed her hand and pulled her along, "Relax, we're just investigating for a second and then we can leave."

Amie didn't like how Jacques was acting. He said relax, but he was increasingly becoming more tense and clutching Amie's hand tighter and tighter. She couldn't help but wonder why he was so willing to risk both of their lives for whatever scheme he was up to.

Jacques' eyes were darting back and forth. It looked as though he was searching for something. Amie whispered, "What are you looking for?"

Jacques whispered back, "Someone."

A chill ran down Amie's back. Who could possibly know about a secret palace that's been largely forgotten for hundreds of years other than her and Jacques? Amie began to search every corner just as Jacques was doing until she remembered what the goddess had told her.

Amie asked, "Jacques, what if no one is down here?"

Jacques was still scanning their surroundings but a confused expression momentarily crossed his face, "How could there be no one down here? How else could the palace just suddenly go back to normal?"

Amie told him what the goddess said, "The mist is alive, what if the mist rebuilt it? Or maybe a mage could have cast a spell on the palace when it was first built. Maybe there's a spell to rebuild fallen structures."

Jacques thought a moment, "Just to be on the safe side, we should still search the area."

They searched high and low and found no trace of another person. Now more relaxed, Amie had more time to ask questions, "Jacques, could you please tell me what happened when we were here last?"

Jacques hesitated, but started to tell her, "When you screamed, I was reading a tome that had a spell in it that was far more advanced than anything I had ever done before. I ran downstairs to check on you and found you unconscious in the middle of that room..."

Amie asked, "and the mist?"

Jacques continued, "The mist was still there, but it was just hovering. The entire room was filled with mist, but none of it was moving. I went to pick you up and it started moving again... I couldn't control any of it and just started running with you as fast as I could. We got out of the palace just as it started to collapse. The whole place was falling apart. The cavern was even shaking, so I just took you and started running as fast as I could out of here. I didn't stop running until I physically couldn't move my legs anymore. By that time, we were already in the passageways... That's all I know."

The way Jacques said the last sentence made Amie feel suspicious for a brief moment, but she thought she was just being paranoid. Nothing Jacques said seemed strange and he seemed genuinely confused the palace was still standing undamaged. She decided to ignore her suspicions, "Thank you for saving me."

Jacques just nodded, "Yeah."

Amie switched the conversation to the current state of the palace, "So, what do you think about all of this moss?"

Jacques shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Hey, what did you mean just now about the mist being alive?"

Amie told him of the secret exit, "I found a way out of the palace through a tunnel. The river goddess Sequana was guiding me and told me stellar mist is alive."

Jacques gave Amie a strange look, "You sound insane."

Amie rolled her eyes, "Really? We're in an underground magic palace that fixes itself and we both just suddenly learned magic one day. Do you think a commoner would think that sounds sane?"

Jacques nodded, "I suppose you have a point." Jacques was inspecting the moss more closely now that Amie had mentioned it, "Anyways, this moss looks like solidified mist, the stuff I showed you when we first came down here."

Amie looked around, "Like the flower?" Jacques nodded. Amie then asked, "Do you think it's the violent mist?"

Jacques replied, "Maybe. Amie, are you up to checking out the rooms?"

Amie froze for a moment before answering, "We don't split up this time."

Jacques agreed, "Deal. Let's start upstairs where the library is."

They walked into the palace and made their way to the puzzle room. To Jacques' dismay and Amie's relief, it appeared the puzzle had been reset. They made their way downstairs next and it was the same as above.

Amie couldn't be more excited to know the mist was contained, "Jacques, I don't think there's anything left to see."

Jacques sighed, "I supposed you're right." Amie turned to leave, but Jacques stayed glued to his spot for a moment, staring at the puzzle in front of him. Amie tugged on his arm to get him to leave, but before Jacques moved and while he was still staring at the puzzle, he asked her, "Amie, if I find a clue to all of this, if I figure out how this puzzle is really supposed to work, will you come back down with me to help?"

Amie hesitated before answering, "Yes, but on two conditions. The first one is I have to agree with your solution, and the second is you cannot be so reckless like last time. I don't know what happened upstairs, but I think it had something to do with the mist attacking me. The first sign of trouble and we abandon this place immediately."

Jacques nodded his head, "Okay fine." With his curiosity satisfied, they both left the area and made their way back to Amie's room.

***

Once Jacques had escorted Amie back to her room, he turned to leave. Before he left though, he warned Amie, "Just to let you know, Julia and I might not be able to visit much anytime soon. Father is suspicious of you. Try not to use your magic if you can help it, I'm worried they might test you."

Amie didn't like the sound of that. She knew 'testing' meant causing her physical harm, "What if he takes it too far?"

Jacques was silent. He didn't want to think about it. Without saying another word to Amie, he left.