[ Unknown Castle Hallway ]
"Waaah~ Of course it's a loop!" Viviane cries, exasperation bouncing off the stone walls as she skis across the smooth tiles with partially melted feet. The flames of the torches lining the hallway stretch to her slippery passage before crackling calmly, as if they would burn for eternity.
It's not exactly the same for Viviane. Having passed the same ominous entrance for the fourth time, she reforms her legs to a halt, skidding before the only door in a huff.
"I swear, if this was planned in any way by that uncle, I'll...!"
The slime catches herself. A moment of silence brews before she draws a slow breath, closing her eyes and swallowing down her annoyance. The exercise helps recollect her foggy mind, a more habitual human trait than a need for air.
"No, no, calm down," she insists aloud. "Why would Marlin even have an infinite castle hallway for me instead of his memories?"
Her gaze drops to the ground in thought. "If I had to guess, this is some sort of mental space that intercepted me. Is this like the dream realm?"
The crackling torches are the only noises that answer.
She shrugs. "Well, regardless, it's better than where I was cooped up."
There was no rule saying only remnants could hold a mental landscape. After all, Daniel and Marlin were isolated respectively by Victor and Morgan. Whatever the case may be, she doubts Marlin created this space intentionally to trap her. The man was reluctant to even being probed.
[IMAGE]
Lifting her head, her focus returns to the entrance, specifically to the two mirrored, golden symbols on its red surface. They shimmer in the torches' glow on each side of the door's wooden trim.
"That's one of the symbols I've seen in the Book of Isis," she notes. "This place is probably related, but is Marlin aware of this?"
With no knowledge or bald uncle beside her to confirm, she holds herself in silence, staring blankly before wincing. "Damn it, if only I had been able to understand a little more."
There's no helping it. Sighing, she straightens, thinning her lips toward the doors. "Alright, whoever or whatever is responsible for this place, you win. Clearly, I have to go through this, right?"
Stepping forward, she reaches out along its surface. Despite its size, the entrance opens rather easily, creaking with expectation. Without much force, it swings open from her momentum, flooding her vision in a bright light.
Viviane grunts, shielding her face while her eyes adjust. Soon, they reflect a large, circular chamber supported by pillars around. The light fades, and the air deepens with strange embers. Tracing these, she locks onto a raised, marble pit with a large violet fire burning in the center.
Her pupils contract, but less so by the magical flame.
Beside the pit, a faint image of herself in gray robes stands, hovering her hand over the fluttering energy. The recollection lasts a little more than a second before fading completely. However, there's no mistaking what she saw as the fire defogs a little more of her past.
"I... I was here before?"
Her shock sends a silent tremor through the chamber, flicking the nearby flames. In a short breath, her legs wobble uneasily before they muster a hesitant step forward. She scans the details of her surroundings, hoping to remember more, yet each footstep she takes receives a lonely echo.
"H-how?"
Despite the small proof of her past, she remains utterly lost as usual when she reaches the fire. Roughly standing in the same place of her past self, she stares into its royal depths, feeling as if the wavering peaks are endlessly teasing her.
'Victor showed Daniel a similar fire that took him out of the clinic. If it's the same, could this fire be why this place exists?'
She knits her brows, checking her surroundings again.
There is no other door in the chamber except the one she entered through. Surprisingly, it remains open to the infinite hallway. She half-expected it to close behind her.
'But, how could I have been here in the past before Marlin was born? Unless...'
Her gaze shifts back to the fire, matching its intensity. "Unless this place can be passed on?"
She waits, hoping someone or something reveals itself to confirm her theory in dramatic fashion, but... nothing. Her shoulders slump as she snorts, shaking her head.
"It's all on me, huh?" Sighing, she steps in, edging her hand closer to the fire. Having seen her ghostly past self about to touch the flames, she figures she must do the same.
It doesn't stop her from gulping. "Ugh, I'm going to regret this."
Just as her fingertips touch the bright waves...
FWOO!
"Whoa!?"
[IMAGE]
Viviane jumps back, her hands up as the flames react, highlighting violet against her pale form. She watches as the waking fire weaves in and around itself. She considers retreating, but stiffens as a silhouette forms within the deepest parts of the magical source.
"What the hell?" she whispers, taking another step back.
When the crackling of the fire dies down, Viviane faces the bust of a featureless male, hidden within the wrappings of a forgotten magic.
"I am Sir Bedivere, former knight of the roundtable," he begins, his voice crunchy, distorted by the flames. "Today marks 30 years since my friend sealed herself for the future. Alas, my mission to continue her search for answers to the kingdom's disappearance has gone nowhere. I have yet to find anyone else who was far away from Merlin's effects."
Viviane's mouth hangs as she listens. 'Wait, is this some kind of recording?'
Bedivere's outline slumps, head lowering. "Viviane, if you are listening to this, please forgive me. You entrusted me with the Book of Isis and created this place so that we might aid you in the future, but I'm afraid I won't be of much use aside from passing the book onto those who are worthy."
The flames slow, simmering. "In the end, I never got to return the sword you gave me all those years ago. I hope that one day, there is better peace for you among the bloodshed that has tainted this land."
His outline fades, and the wrapping fire diminishes. An uncomfortable silence lingers before Viviane lets out a weak laugh. "Holy shit..."
A literal knight from King Arthur's famous round table. With all the figures she's met so far, she suspected that part might be real, but hearing evidence shakes her gelatinous being.
'So, I wasn't completely alone in my search?' Viviane twists her lips as she looks around. 'What kind of magic did I have to perform to create this place, though?'
FWOO!
"Again!?" Viviane squeaks, jerking back toward the fire. As it rises to cut through her thoughts, she has no time to process the changes before another featureless male silhouette appears within, but thinner.
A sharp inhale cuts through, then...
"This damn knight, leaving me with such a blasphemous burden! You didn't even bother leaving a message for me!" the man shouts, the new voice booming through the chamber with equal fire in his gravelly tongue.
Viviane stares dumbly, watching the peaks of the flame recede as the recorded man cools down in a huff. "Forgive me, I greet the remnant of a false god. I am Gildas Badonicus. Following your precious knight's wishes, he entrusted me, an abbot of all things, to safeguard this dangerous accumulation of knowledge with his dying breath."
He snorts before continuing, "I will admit, this unnatural fire that was bestowed upon me is of great temptation. It would naturally make anyone question their current faith. Yet, I understand this is not something any man should wield. Bedivere made it clear you wished your existence and this magic be hidden, a folklore at best. Perhaps that's why he trusted someone like me to secure it."
"It won't be easy, though." His body tilts away. "A sickness plagues our land, tearing us through greed and disregard. I've criticized kings, acting in their own interest just as Merlin wrote they would, but in these trying times, it's not enough. There is no telling how we will change and twist in our faith, especially if more people discover this book."
His heavy sigh shakes the flames before he returns to face her. "I am not suited to help find answers for the future you seek to stop. I can only do what I have always done: serve God. What I wish to impart is some guidance, if you ever happen to hear my words."
By this point, Viviane listens carefully, clenching her hands together.
"Understand the perspectives of others, even those you despise. Even I, with what little I have seen in comparison to Merlin, can see a benefit of the Flood that promises to unify us through all the blood and sin. Perhaps that will arrive as the second cleansing of humanity. God only knows whether that can... or should be stopped."
The monk fades away with these parting words, and the flames quiet.
Viviane frowns after some time. "If only I could be certain of what Merlin saw instead of these ominous wordings," she mutters.
Shaking her head, she rests a hand on her hips and motions toward the fire. "Well? Surely there's more. Go on then."
Viviane doubts making demands is the right approach, but the fire responds all the same, surging upward to shape itself into a succession of new figures. She hopes that some of her doubts will be cleared.
"Greetings, my lady." A third bows. "The name is Caelan. I carry this book as Gildas commanded, away from the ruin of Britain. The sea rages and the heathens swarm our shores, but this history I will protect. May God forgive me for it."
Viviane twists her lips. 'A bit dramatic.'
After a brief update on the state of the world, a fourth keeper follows, then a fifth...
"I am Aesc! It is an honor to be added to the keepers of this book. Like those before, I promise..."
"The son of Theuderic now speaks, adding to the ghosts of the past. The followers of Isis are becoming rarer every day. Although I don't know if the crusades have helped, we shall..."
"Flavio Octovia is the name! Like others before, I will..."
It doesn't take long for the pledges to blur together, all promising to protect and hide the knowledge contained within the book. While their voices and temperaments differ, the core message remains the same, a litany of responsibility that adds little to her understanding of remnants or the Flood.
'T-this is good, but... how long does this go on?!' Viviane cries inside.
However, with each new keeper, there is a slight loosening of caution, until finally...
"I've listened to these old men ramble so much. It's a shame so much time was wasted in hiding instead of preparing for your return."
"Huh?"
Viviane blinks, her mind breaking away from numbness. Was it the thirty-first or thirty-second person? She lost track from all the updates, but this new voice nudges her eyes back to life. Perking, she returns her attention to the flames, except, it hasn't peaked with an outline.
Did she imagine it?
Fwooooooo~
Squinting, she takes a second look at the fire until noticing it is stretched. Following its flow with a tilt, Viviane's eyes snap wider as she sees a full, humanoid man of flames formed separate from the central fire.
Viviane takes a step back, converting her arm into a slime blade. "Who are you?!" she growls.
The man only hums, patting himself down. "Huh, I don't feel any different. Am I projecting myself correctly using the flames?" he questions, his voice light and whimsy. "Aah... this is so embarrassing! Ever since I discovered the Book of Isis in the pope's library, I've visited this magical place every night, trying to understand how to control the fire this book has passed onto me. What if I'm making a fool out of myself in front of the Lady of the Lake?"
Viviane holds her sharpened arm close, but relaxes her shoulders with a breath. "Wait, is this still a recording?"
It seems to be the case as the outline sighs. "Well, for all I know, you might not ever see this if I've messed up. At the very least, I hope my efforts in this era will properly lay the foundation for your return."
'Foundation?'
The man clears his throat, as if aware of her thoughts. "Sorry, this is unbecoming of me. In case you are seeing me in the future, I am Frederick II, king of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor."
'Oh...'
An unexpected escalation of power.
Frederick lifts his chin, and Viviane can almost imagine the king grinning behind the highlights of his flaring form. "I realize I am, quite literally, playing with fire here, but is there any other way? To survive, I've dedicated my life to knowledge. Yes, I've read Merlin's warnings many times about the risks, that his fire must not spread to others. Still, if you are to be released, it will spread one way or the other, no?"
Viviane frowns. Of course, the spread seems that to be the case with users such as Morgan and Victor.
"In any case, we must prepare!" Frederick shouts, snapping his arm forth. "Your existence and others have already been leaked onto the pages of history, great 'Lady of the Lake'. The past keepers were sloppy in handling it. For example, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work on the history of Brittania has grown popular, embellishing half-truths to your time there. We must counter this information!"
'Hold on, I've read about that man!' Viviane shakes in disbelief. 'So this stupid title of mine... He's really the one who spread the folklore? Which asshole left the book open to be read?!'
While stunned, Frederick chuckles. "No fear, my lady, I am using my power to ensure there are alternative studies to circulate. While that is going on, I have also set up an organization that will run in the shadows, awaiting the time to aid you in preventing humanity's next flood!"
If Viviane had a stomach, it would sink by now. "Oh no... Please tell me it's not..."
"I call it simply, The Order," Frederick declares with pride. "I promise it will serve you well!"
The elder slime promptly shuts her eyes, burying her hands into her face. The flames seem to waver to her emotions as she screams internally.