A sea of buildings, unorganised and shoddy, surrounded the three travellers as they walked through the crowded streets - market stalls held up only by scraps and broken materials. Beggars were everywhere you looked, covered in dirt and filth. The city did not at all seem as though it was one of the most important in the country. Instead, it seemed as though all of the country's poverty was focused here, on this one city.
The city obviously had been poorly planned. The streets were a maze of rotting timber houses and impoverished masses.
"Spare some coin, miss"
"Any change?"
"My children, they're starving"
The pleas soon got to a point where Rane was clearly annoyed. At any moment, it seemed as though she would snap at a random beggar. Her fists clenched hard, yet a hint of sadness hid behind her annoyance, trying desperately to hide.
Dante noticed that something was wrong; he couldn't make out what, however.
"Where exactly are we going to go?" Maya asks.
In truth, they were lost, though Rane was too busy with her emotions to even hear Maya's question.
"I am not sure", Dante replied to Maya after a pause. He looked to Rane for the answer, but she didn't hear Maya.
Maya wanted to repeat the question, but she did not want to be who Rane lashed out at.
They walked aimlessly for some time. Rane continued to battle her emotions; her battlefield was silent to everyone but her, yet they could see its effect.
To Maya's surprise, Dante had seemingly taken charge of the situation. He jogged ahead slightly. He approached one of the beggars.
"Do you know how I can get to the port, sir?" he asked.
The beggar was wrinkled and scarred, yet he didn't look particularly old, around his late thirties. The man looked at Dante in curiosity. He was, after all, topless. Additionally, he had unusual clothing. It was a kind the man had never seen before.
"Sure, kid", he said, "You see that wide road?"
He pointed in the direction they had come from.
"Follow it down all the way, until you see a large house; it stands out. Ask the man in charge there, he'll know where you should go."
"Thanks a lot, sir", Dante said with a smile.
By now, Rane had calmed her thoughts. Dante returned to them and told them where they should go. They followed the road.
As the three of them left, the man who had directed them smiled ever so slightly before getting up and walking away.
As they continued to walk down the road, Maya had noticed something was wrong; it was still day, yet it seemed to be getting dark. It was simply the street getting narrower and the houses growing taller the further they went.
"Hey, where are all the beggars? And don't you think it's too dark here?" Maya, now a little frightened, asked, hoping it was all in her head.
"I say we should celebrate that all those worthless beggars are gone!" Rane snaps; it scared them both a little, which was indicated by them jumping back.
Dante sees, in the distance, the house they were looking for. Indeed, it was rather odd, and it stood out from the rest. It was made of both stone and wood, yet it was crooked. It leaned over the street as though it was ready to fall on anyone who passed underneath. It had glass windows too, which looked strange coming from this house in particular. It was dark all around, as if to allow some monstrous beast inside to sleep throughout the day.
"I can't use my fire here, it'd attract too much attention to us", Rane said quietly, her mood completely shifted now, and she was much more serious.
This made Dante feel nervous. Maya, too, was on edge.
Rane in the front and Dante in the back, they approached the door.
As Rane lifted her hand to knock on the door, a light could be seen through the cracks in the door.
Footsteps too. Heavy ones at that. It truly was as if a monster were on the other side of that door.
Rane knocked.
"Oh, please, come in", a woman's voice.
"A woman?" Maya whispered, obviously confused.
The three of them shared a look before Rane ultimately opened the door.
Slowly and cautiously, they walked in. Maya tried to make as little noise with her footsteps as possible.
Inside, it was warm and felt awfully homely. The interior was open and large, lit by what they assumed was a fireplace in the room by the hallway.
"Come sit with me", the lady spoke once again.
Her voice was gentle and warm, and it put the heart at ease. She spoke properly and clearly.
They walked into the living room, now certain that there was nothing to fear.
There she was, sitting on an extravagant yet simple wooden chair. The woman was out of place in the room, and all attention was drawn to her.
She was a beautiful lady with long dark hair that seemed softer than silk. Her skin is pale in a beautiful way, as if heaven itself blessed her skin with its own white. Her eyes were a pretty hazel, which reflected autumn itself.
She wore a white pantofles which matched her pale skin, along with a chemise, as if she had woken not long ago.
She was positioned facing the fireplace so that she could see the entrance to the room. There was a window behind her, yet nothing could be seen outside. Nobody noticed this, however. The walls were made of stone and looked fairly new, nothing like the outside appearance of the house.
Above the fireplace was a painting, which was a painting of a vast library. Inside this library were two people, a woman and a man. The woman was sitting by a table surrounded by books nearly as tall as her. The man had one small book in his hand, pretending to read it as he looked at her full of lust and passion.
It was an incredible piece of work.
A red carpet, nearly as large as the whole room, displayed a symbol.
It was a lemniscate, large and golden.
On every wall besides the one with the fireplace, there are bookshelves. Even as they walked into the house, books were nearly everywhere.
"Who might you three be?" she said again, kindly and gently.
Dante spoke first, "I'm Dante"
"I'm Maya", she said, almost like a little child.
After a while, "Rane"
"My name is Mimira, it is a pleasure to meet you", she says, "Please take a seat"
She indicates toward the corner of the room opposite her, where there are exactly three chairs stacked on top of one another.
Maya grabs the chairs one at a time and places them so they can sit facing Mimira.
The chairs are not as extravagant as the one Mimira is using, yet they look new.
"So what brings you to my home?" Mimira says softly, like the wind on a warm autumn night.
The crackling of the fire fills the temporary silence that follows her words, before Rane speaks.
"We need to find a way to the port. Tell us where it is", Her words are firm and impatient, and also slightly aggressive.
Dante and Maya quickly turn to Rane, looking at her in a way that surprises Rane. They are looking at her as if to tell her not to disturb the peace they have found in this home.
Mimira looks at Rane and gently closes her eyes and lowers her head slightly, as if to say it is all alright. This simple gesture put Rane at ease.
"I can give you a map of the city if you wish", Mimira said.
"Yes, that would be greatly appreciated", Dante and Maya said at the same time.
Let me out, a voice says playfully and mockingly.
Dante begins to fade out of consciousness, and his hair turns white.
"Oh no, it's happening again," Rane says, panicked
"Mimira, do not make him angry, or you'll die", Maya said quickly, as if on a timer.
"Be at ease, children. You are safe with me," she says in the same soft and relaxing tone as ever.
The fireplace glows brighter slightly, and the flames grow in size.
"I know what is about to happen, I can see everything, children," Mimira says.
"Hello, my lady", he says sarcastically ", Are you well?"
Mimira was confused, and it showed.
"Stay seated", she says, her voice no longer calming; it sounded ordinary if not a little panicked.
"Tell me, dear, do you have what I seek?" he says, sitting with one leg resting on the other.
Clearly panicked, "What is it you seek?" Mimira replies.
"Oh? Can you not see? I thought you could", he laughs, "Apologies, let me tell you".
He stands, and as he does so, Mimira grows frightened.
"I TOLD YOU TO SIT!" she yells, all traces of her composed and rational self are gone.
Why won't he do as I command? What is this? A trick? No.
She cannot fathom what is happening.
He walks towards her slowly, before bending down to whisper in her ear.
"To know which ascendancy Dante got"
Mimira didn't move a muscle. She didn't speak. It wasn't until he had placed his hand gently on her throat did she said anything.
"He will punish me, I can't tell you," she murmured.
"I can assure you, he isn't involved in this", he said, growing impatient.
"R-Return"
He smiled before his hair turned dark once again. This time, Dante had fallen to the floor. He was unconscious.
Mimira was shaking, terrified. Maya and Rane were scared too, but not to the same extent.
Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, a man's footsteps.
"Were these the footsteps we heard before?" Maya asks Rane.
"No, these are not as heavy", she replied.
"They're my husbands ", Mimira says, somewhat calm now, "He died a long time ago, you see."
"He died?!" Maya shouts, shocked, "So how is he moving?"
"I've been cursed a long time ago. He walks around doing everything I want, even when he died, he does anything I ask of him, except leave me," Mimira answers Maya's question.
The man, mostly bones and rotting flesh, came to them and handed a piece of parchment to Mimira. She then took this parchment and tapped it on Dante, who was still on the floor beside her. It quickly vanished.
"Off you go now", she said, as if she was kicking them out.
The skeleton husband guided them to the door after picking up Dante. Once outside, he placed Dante gently on the ground before going back inside and slamming the door.
"Well, what do we do now?" Maya asks Rane.
"We wait for him to wake up. I am not going to carry him."
They wait by the house for Dante to wake up, but by the time he does, it is nearly sunset.
"Hey, guys, what happened?" Dante asks.
"Nothing, let's keep going", Rane says coldly.
"But where to?" Maya asks, slightly annoyed.
"Follow me", Dante says, before walking off slowly.
Just as they all catch up to Dante, a body flies from a rooftop and falls right in front of them. A large hole in its chest.
"HELPP!"
"He killed him, a murderer"
"Someone please save me!"
Screams erupted from all around them, yet there was nobody there. Except for one hooded man in a shadow across the street and in an alleyway.
Soon, people arrived to take away the three suspects. As they were being taken off, Maya and Rane tried desperately to argue, to no avail. Yet Dante was occupied; he was too focused on that man.
And just before he lost sight of him, he saw his face.
"It's that same beggar," he said to himself.
"He framed us"
...