Familiar Diary

She suddenly got up and looked around her. Everything seemed dark even when nthe fire torches were lit. They had a weird enchantment over them that made them react to the visitors. They lit slowly around her when she suddenly heard a whine below her. She felt soft fur beneath her hands. She realized that she was sitting on top of Leo. She hastily got up from her and checked if the wolf was injured.

"Oh poor Leo. I apologize to hurt you." She ran her hands on the wolf's black shiny coat to sooth her.

"I ought to be thankful to you for saving me and my baby." She hugged the wolf as it licked her check in approval.

She looked around her and only found darkness from left to right.

"This place must be the basement." She guessed slowly getting up.

She picked up a fire torch from the iron sconce which seemed to have been glued to the wall.

"We need to find our way out of here." She said to the wolf.

-"I've messed up once again. Knowing him he won't stand still idly." She thought for a moment and then suddenly blushed.

"Why did I think about him again? He was never my priority before except for the survival mechanism I developed to stay on guard around him." She vigorously shook her head as the clueless wolf watched her.

"I can hear the wind blowing." She focused on the soft voice that rung in her ears.

"If only I could fly back." She sighed and looked up. Still she knew it would be useless since the floor slab was very heavy for her to move even an inch of it.

"C'mon Leo. Please lead the way for me." She rubbed her head gently. The wolf reacted to her words and lopped forward as if she clearly understood what she had asked of her to do.

She proceeded to follow Leo's lead treading carefully as to avoid any other traps that could be set around the basement. They had been walking for as long as the passage continued. She started to feel nauseated. The passageway seemed never ending for a thousand heartbeats. The wind grew stronger. She took a turn left. It was like a maze beneath the fortress. She heard strange noises. She walked closer to the huge iron door. It was damper and colder down here as she proceeded a flight of stone steps. The wailing grew louder. The stink of rotten meat and blood caught her repulsively. She almost threw up making her feel sick.

"It must be a ln underground dungeon.

-"Why did Leo come down here?" She was baffled by the wild that sat around here. She remembered Erebus talking about the dungeon. It was twice as deep and big as the building on surface. The prisoners who committed worse crimes were detained in here isolated from the world. They either were killed, beheaded or committed suicide. Some remained down there their entire lives.

She urged the wolf to return upstairs but the wolf whined and refused to move until it heard the footsteps closing in behind them.

Luciana turned around as Leo snarled at the approaching figure as it guarded her and snapped at it.

When Luciana held the fire torch Infront of her in defense, the figure approaching them became clearer.

A man in servant attire stared at her for few heartbeats without uttering a word.

"Who are you? How did you manage to find us?" Luciana demanded a response from him.

"I-i seem to have lost my way. I'm a new servant here." He spoke up cautiously glancing at the wolf that glared at him in a way that it would rip apart his limbs if she asked her to do so.

"S-so you also fell through one of the traps?" Luciana inquired.

"Apparently yes." He answered.

Leo snapped at him defensively as backed away from them.

"But I don't think it is a wise choice to be separated at a dire time like this. I suggest we stick together to find our way out." He suddenly proposed the idea to her.

Leo made an attempt to rip his hand away when Luciana stopped her from doing so.

She knelt down to sooth her.

"Hush now Leo. We can't risk a life unnecessarily." She kissed the wolf when it began to whine.

She left looked up at him suspiciously. She had never seen him before yet he looked oddly familiar. But for now she needed to get out of this place.

"I believe that you are true to your words sir." She said that as he promised to not harm them.

They retracted their footsteps up the stairs with Leo trying her best to keep Luciana away from him.

"Leo we can't stay down there. Let's follow him. We may find ourselves out of this place." She insisted the wolf as it whined and snarled at him at the same time.

"You did not introduce yourself." She told him as the wolf trotted beside her keeping her away from him.

"I'm max. I just came to work at the stygian fortress as a servant." He introduced himself briefly as possible.

She grew more suspicious of him as she judged his way of speaking which did not suit him as a commoner.

As they finally entered the passageway Leo circled around her. She knew that the wolf became more restless. Leo was a beast that was very sensitive to her surroundings. She knew instinctively about those around her.

-"She has never posed such a behavior before." She thought concerned. When she suddenly recalled the dead body incident a week ago. Everything about him was suspicious.

But she couldn't do much. They retracted to the route he had walked.

It lead to a place she couldn't imagine I'm her wildest dreams.

She looked around as the fire torches lit one after the other. There were a thousand of them. The place was as huge as the grand hall of the fortress up on surface.

-"A library?!" She guessed looking around at ancient scrolls on shelves. There were old papers covered in mold and dust. There were hardly any books. There were more maps and stone manuscripts. She blew on one to remove the dust that made Leo sneeze twice. She looked at it carefully. It was the oldest language that Amanécerians and humans spoke. They were similar to the glyphs used by Kemet Empire in this era.

The map beside it was the realm slightly different.

"Luo Wei?" She read on the map.

-"It's the ancient name of Zhonguo Republic...Was Stygian a part of Zhonguo Republic before?"

Wahrheit had expanded its borders by conquering countless lands from the human realm through neverending wars. She had read about it in he history books.

She remembered that the human realm is currently divided into four countries. Zhonguo Republic was the largest country among them. It was not governed by a monarch. People were free to nominate a leader from among themselves unlike the others. It was well known for its tea production and finest silks.

Kemet was the second largest empire built on sands if hottest deserts in the south and south east. It's people worshipped many gods. The most powerful of them were the sun god Ra and Anubis. Kingdom of Maya was the smallest kingdom in the south west and was well known for its forests that covered the two thirds of the land geographically. They like Kemet Empire were famous for their step pyramids. Then the last empire that was the richest of all the countries in the North west was the Acheamenid Empire. It is the major trader of spices around the realms.

"Miss..." She felt a tap on her shoulder making her jolt. She looked back and saw the man behind her.

"You were too engrossed with the scripts. Do you happen to understand them?"

"O-oh some of it." She replied and looked at him feeling surprised.

"That was the place I fell from." He pointed up at the ceiling.

"Let's look for clues around here. After all there should be a way out of here if such a place exists." She suggested looking around as Leo tagged alongside her.

"Understood." He resumed his search.

She looked further picking out ancient scrolls and books to see if there was a hint that could lead them out of there.

She felt something smaller than the other scrolls among bundles of old faded papers.

She took it out and peered at its contents. After looking at several pages,her hands began to tremble as she covered her mouth with the other hand in shock.

"It can't be.... it's mother's handwriting."