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 Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:16 pm
Amarilla hadn't gone back to Esquiline Hill since the first time. As a matter of fact, the ring that she had found had hastily been thrown into a sock that was then tossed into a drawer. She also hadn't gone out on patrol; the idea of spontaneously flying to another world had freaked her out! Instead she had buried herself in schoolwork and finding a part time job. Grandpa had taken a fall, and the medical bills were beginning to pile up.
But soon she found herself looking over at the drawer every now and again. And when she pulled her socks out each morning, she would stare at the one containing the ring and wonder just what the heck she was supposed to do there.
Finally she couldn't take it anymore. Thrusting her hand into the sock, she pulled out the ring, which felt strangely warm. Turning it over in her hands, she muttered "I pledge my life and loyalty to Venus, and to Esquiline.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine."
The unfamiliar feeling of flying to space threw her off, and when she landed on her feet on Venus, she was powered up into her Page form. Esquiline neurotically straightened her outfit, teasing the wrinkles out of the skirt until she felt presentable. The oranges and whites seemed dimmer in the bleak lighting. It didn't matter; there was no one there to impress. It was the same bleak landscape as before, complete with broken buildings and shattered scenery. She took a few steps, and unconsciously put the ring on her right hand. It felt comfortable there.
Her hill was covered in rubble and dead grass. She kicked over a piece of the debris and found a faint glimmer of green. She picked it up and dusted it off, revealing a tile the color of seafoam. They were scattered all over near her feet; they must have at one point been a part of a mosaic, though of what, she couldn't tell. The piece ended up in her pocket and she continued along her way.
Mist swirled around her wedges, gathering along her legs. It seemed to thicken as she entered the main part of the ruins. Here three of the walls were somewhat intact. The walls were mainly stone, with some tiles till hanging up. The colors were dingy and muddled. Her shoes clicked on the tiles. "What am I supposed to do here?" she asked aloud, but unsurprisingly, no one responded. She was the only living creature on the planet, exploring broken down ruins instead of looking for a job.
She walked through an archway, and was greeted with rows of bathtubs. They lined two of the walls, with large drains in the center of the entire room. Some of the tubs were filled with fallen tiles, and others were practically black with grime. The room was large, at least two stories tall at the peak of the ceiling. There were a couple remaining sconces, but most of them were broken and hanging. The air was cold; mist seeped in from cracks in the walls. Esquiline wrapped herself in her arms, shivering.
"A bit depressing, isn't it?" came a faint voice from behind her.
Esquiline screamed, voice echoing off the depressing walls.
Word Count: 553
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:51 pm
Her scream was sharp, and very loud. It bounced through the tubs and off the remaining walls, filling her own ears with her shriek. She clamped her hands over her ears until the din died down, then remembered exactly why she had screamed. Esquiline spun around quickly to see a faded person standing int he doorway.
There wasn't much about her that she could distinguish. The clothes were a clouded mess that dissolved into the mist, his hair wispy bits of cloud that swirled around his face. His outline wavered and shook with the slightest disturbance. The only thing that was truly formed was his face. His eyes poked out from the mist with startling clarity, though they remained the same greyscale as the fog around him. Esquiline drew a sharp breath, taking a step back and finding herself falling into the tub behind her. Her arms flailed, and she shouted again as her back hit the side of the stone tub. Luckily her head remained unharmed, but she was left cursing and struggling to get her giant skirts of the tub while the mist man laughed.
Red faced and bruised, Esquiline was finally free, and she shook out her outfit with some semblance of dignity.
"And what is so dang funny?" she asked, ignoring her burning cheeks and sore back.
"You're just as clumsy as I was." The apparition said, its form shuddering with his glee. "I'm ust glad to seee something of mine has passed on."
"Passed on?" Esquiline asked, tilting her head to one side and narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean, passed on?"
The apparition smiled, and she swore she could see him shrug. "What else, could I mean? Genealogy kid."
Now it was Esquiline's turn to laugh. "Genes? I'm sorry, but there's no way someone I'm related to came from here. My family is from Earth."
The man's figure wavered again, and then disappeared altogether. It reappeared a few feet closer to the knight, and said "As far as you know." Then in a flash, it was gone again.
Esquiline shuddered, and gripped her skirts. But the figure did not return, and she slowly exhaled the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. What did he mean, as far as she knew? She knew her history; they'd had to create a family timeline back when she was a freshman in college as a project. Her family hailed from Wales, with a little Spanish thrown in. Certainly no one has shown up as "From Venus".
"Crazy planet and it's crazy mist people." she muttered, walking swiftly out of the bath house. She kicked a piece of tile, and sent it skittering across the floor, making her heart stop for a moment.
"Ok, I've got to get out of here." she said aloud. "Before I have a damn heart attack."
It wasn't like her to swear, but the sweat on her brow and back were an indication of the fear she had of being alone in this desolate place.
"If you're scared, I could follow you around." came a voice from her right side. She twisted to see the mist man, back again and grinning like before.
"No thank you." she said brusquely, waving him away. "I don't need help from people who don't exist."
"Oh but you do!" he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You see, you're going the wrong way."
"This most certainly isn't!" she said to the man without looking at him. I know I came this way."
"But that's not the way you should be going." he insisted, appearing right before her. "You should be going that way A wavering arm drew itself from the air as he pointed to her left, down a significantly more destroyed corridor. Esquiline followed the hand with her eyes, and then shook her head quickly.
"Absolutely not! You want me to fall down a hole or something?!" she protested, "That place is falling apart!"
"There's a reason for that." said the man, waving his hand up and down for emphasis. "You need to know that reason. Go." His form wavered and disappeared for a moment, before returning.
The color drained from Esquiline's face as she once again looked at the broken corridor. What could he possibly want her to do? She looked back at the insistent eyes, and sighed.
"Fine. But after that, I go home. Home. To earth. Got it?" She planted her feet, refusing to move until she got verbal confirmation.
"Home." the man said, nodding. His shape swirled and divided, and then he was gone.
Esquiline turned to face the jagged walls and uprooted floor.
What had she gotten herself into?
WORDS: 779
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:13 am
The corridor was as broken as it had looked, and twice as dangerous. Holes in the floor left traps that could break ankles, while low hanging tile became concussion hazards. She picked her way through the rubble, all the while wondering just what that odd mist man wanted. Why did he need her down here? Was he some sort of ghost, determined to bring people to their deaths? She shook that idea from her head. Nah, he wouldn't have seemed so...friendly if that were the case.
She made it through the hallway of doom to find herself in a large room with an intact ceiling. This wasn't a bath house, or anything like the other rooms she had been in. This one was brick walls, rouge peeking through the grime. There were large windows, all broken, that took up one entire wall. Looking out, she could see more destruction.
Beyond her hill, there was a sea of ruined buildings and beyond that, faint outlines of other large hills. She hadn't done any research on them, so she wasn't sure what they were called. But thinking back to the other Venus knight she had met, she would bet that one of them was probably Caelian.
Turning to the alter in the room, she noticed that it wasn't solely made of stone. The top stone was wrapped in wood, and the bottom of the alter also has wood inlays that at one point may have said something, but were now just rotted and dark. The top stone's wood was in a little better condition, but not much. Flowers adorned the wood where it had survived the test of time; roses and lilies and other flowers she couldn't identify. The wood itself was rotting; pits lined the edges and a few places seemed soft.
The mist was gathering again, and as the man reappeared, Esquiline reached out to touch the wood. She felt the smooth grain, the expert carve marks, and whispered "What is this?"
"It's me." the man said, losing his joy and instead sounding somber. When she looked him, he shook his head. "Well, it was me. Now it's just a memory of me. A memory that lives through you."
"What do you mean?" Esquiline asked, removing her hand from the wood.
"What is all this?" she pressed. "I found a ring...and I think it's mine. It must be right? I mean, I wouldn't have found it if it wasn't mine. Though maybe there were more Esquiline knights..or Venus knights in general. This IS Esquiline hill right?" She took a deep breath, and the man smiled.
"You ask a lot of questions." he remarked, and the mist swirled as he laughed while her face turned red. "That ring on your finger is yours. As the only knight of Esquiline Hill, and one of many knights of Venus, it's your job to watch over this place, and offer assistance to our princess and our allies."
"It's a little late for that.." she said dryly, looking around.
Again the man was sad. "Ah yes....I am afraid that this is my fault."
"How? Did you leave your post?" She asked, taking a step toward him. He looked so...so sad.
"In a manner of speaking." he said "It wasn't intentional. I was just taken from this place too early."
Esquiline was confused. "Taken? What's that supposed to mean?" When he didn't answer, her eyes widened. "Is this....a grave!?"
Word count: 579
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