A towering figure with tall columns at its entrance stood before me. Arches and detailed engravings filled the walls, and I felt like I was in a fairytale. It was beautiful- and ghostly. It felt like no one had been here in a long time.
I was standing on a cobblestone path leading up to a grand staircase, framed by hedges and bursts of flowers. And as if the greenery and splashes of flowers weren't enough, statues of people in robes lined each side of the path.
Vines climbed the statues, a sign that there hadn't been people here in a long time. But the blend of stone and the green creeping plants had its own charm. I couldn't explain it, but it felt lonely. Abandoned.
All this beauty and no one to enjoy it. I realized that I was standing by myself; Maahz, Asa and Ben having disappeared into the palace. I walked in, and found Ben slumped on the floor.
I walked to him and asked if he was alright, just as a new voice caught my attention.
"It can't be," he said.
A tall man, with brunette hair framing his face came down the wide set of stairs.
He was clad in dark blue and gold-accented attire. He looked regal. He scanned Maahz, then Asa, then Maahz again, eyes widening a touch.
"Talk to me please, or I'll think I'm going mad, seeing things," he said.
And I wondered what his affiliation to them was. And how long they'd been away.
"You're about to shed tears, Chart,"
Maahz said and I could almost hear the smile in it, "Asa here, won't let you live it down if you cry,"
"Neither will you, my lord," he said laughing.
A laugh laden with emotions and disbelief. He walked to Maahz until he was a few steps away, and slowly, he got down, until he was on one knee and his head was bowed down. He stayed down, and I wondered why, until-
"Rise,"
Maahz commanded, and he stood up, looking at him again, like he still didn't believe it. He turned to Asa, and with one swoop took him into a hug, clinging to him like a drowning man clung to refuge.
Asa stiffened, before patting Chart on the back, slowly and awkwardly. Chart stepped away from him.
"I hope you enjoyed that," he said, "It's the last reaction you'll be seeing from me in a while."
He adjusted his clothes, which had been ruffled up when he was hugging Asa.
Maahz disappeared into one of the hallways while Chart and Asa continued to talk.
"Wow," Ben said, reminding me that he was even here at all.
"That was intense. Also, am I crazy? I feel like I'm going crazy," he added.
I nodded at him.
"I'm going crazy too, Ben," I said wondering how to explain to him how we got into this situation. It was difficult, considering the fact that I myself, didn't know the whole truth.
"Pretend this is all a dream," I said to Ben, "because that's the only way it'll make sense," and I relayed the events to the best of my abilities.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Ben asked, concerned as I told him about Maahz's appearances.
"Because it sounded crazy," I said.
And because you liked the attention, a nasty version of myself whispered from the depths of my soul.
"You'd never sound crazy to me," he said, "You're one of the most rational, chill people I know... I would have believed you."
My gaze bore into his, "Even if I said that he opened a portal thing on my floor?"
"Okay," he let out a small laugh, "I would have believed you're coming from a genuine place,"
"You would have thought I was crazy!!"
I threw my hands up, as my point was made.
"Ana, I presume," a voice said, cutting through our conversation. It was Chart, as Maahz had called him.
He assessed me, then Ben.
I stepped back when he reached out, and fixed Ben's glasses, which were slightly skewered.
"And you would be...?"
"Ben."
"A plain name," he said, and I wondered what happened to the emotional, respectful man I'd seen a few seconds ago.
"You can walk around the palace," said.
"Once it has been prepared for residence, I'll show you to where you can stay. You can count yourselves lucky that I'm here. Those two would have let you wander and sleep on the corridor."
He turned to leave, but Ben stopped him.
"Is there a bathroom I could use around here?"
"No,"
Chart replied, and I was almost surprised he hadn't raised his nose in the air, like an aristocratic Brit.
"We here in the palace, go out to the garden and dig holes to relieve ourselves."
I grimaced, and Ben scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Chart sighed, "Follow me," he muttered and led him away.
I stood there for a second, and took in a deep breath. The disbelief that I was in such a place seeped into my bones. And when I closed my eyes, it seemed to thrum with energy.
I spun, admiring the walls, the blend of stone carving and latticework on the walls. The little details and touches. The gold that shimmered with all the natural lighting that the giant windows let in.
I walked into one of the hallways, prepared to marvel at everything.
I felt insignificant and small as I continued to walk around the palace, which was saying something because I'd never felt small, always towering over everyone.
Almost everyone. The image of tilting my head up to see Maahz's face was stuck in my brain. I'd never had to do it.
The image of Maahz itself was stuck in my brain. Dark waves of hair and golden eyes. Piercing golden eyes. I'd never seen someone so beautiful, mesmerizing and terrifying.
I'd covered a very small space in my exploration. Small in comparison to the entire place. I was only on the left side of the ground floor, and I was tired.
Every room was opulent and designed uniquely, as if a thousand different architects were each commissioned a room to work on. I could picture people dancing, and orchestra playing in a corner, and displays of food and art.
The picture was a contrast to the emptiness I felt coming from this place. In a way, it mirrored my own life. The emptiness, and the façade of joy, contentment.
I mean, I had Ben, but I was a fragment of Ben's life, while he was my whole social life. Then there was Mobius, but he hated me.
I walked into a hall, marveling as my eyes took in a literal throne, huge, golden, magnificent. It oozed of power even without its owner.
All the salary I'd ever received couldn't cover the chandelier that hang from the ceiling, laden with dusty crystals.
I walked further into the room, my footsteps echoing as I did. A few pieces of furniture were covered in white sheets, like in all the other rooms and halls.
A pair of high glass double doors stood at one end of the hall and my legs carried me there of their own accord. I opened the door to the view of a pond, lily pads and little chirping insects gave the serene little picture life.
"You breathe normally when you don't think I'm watching."