Otherworldly - A Shadowed Awakening

Fall of Autumn, Week 4, Day 3

Gristle held out the box for me to take. I hesitated for a moment before grabbing the velvet box. It was larger than my hands and lighter than I expected. I gripped it tightly in my hands. Why? What does it mean?

If I took yet another thing emblazoned with the Dawn, did that mean I would become like them? Cold and callous? If I took this box, opened it, claimed what was inside, would it change me? It was those thoughts that haunted me, paralyzing me from simply opening the box.

“Go on, open it,” Gristle encouraged with a smile.

I came back to myself abruptly, giving the man a smile to reassure him. As if I was saying, Don’t worry, I’m fine. Not broken at all. I’m definitely not plotting to abandon this place at my earliest convenience.

I flipped open the velvet top. Settled into a purple silk lining was a golden key with two prongs. I ran a finger over the metal, feeling microscopic engravings underneath my fingertip. I activated [Mana Sense], and the key lit up brilliantly as if it were its own sun. That all but confirmed the engravings were runes working into the metal with a Skill so powerful I couldn’t fathom how many hours went into honing it.

I gripped the key and took it out of the box, looking up at Gristle, whose face was soft with something I hadn’t expected.

“What is it?”

“I’ll show you,” he said, straightening up and closing the door to his office, “It’s a special thing to get access to Twilight.”

I followed as he began leading me through the back hallways, “Twilight?”

Gristle hummed in affirmation, “The Great Inbetween, you’ll see in just a moment what I mean.”

At his cryptic response, I picked up my steps. We made our way back to the main entryway within a couple of minutes. I looked around as Gristle paused his footsteps, “Is it here?”

He gave me another small smile, “No, but I figured it would be best for you to know how to get there from the main hallway. There are a few other obscure paths to Twilight in the estate, but it’s best you get to know your way around first.”

I nodded, and then he took off once again, this time heading back behind the grand staircase that led to the upper floors. As we rounded the corner, Gristle stopped at an empty space along the wall. Unusually, there was no artwork adorning it. Gristle looked at me pointedly, then placed his palm at the center of the wall segment and pushed.

Immediately his hand sunk into the wall. Gristle turned back to me, a serious expression on his face.

“It’s a protective barrier, there’s only four people at the estate who have access to this stairwell. You, Lady Nora. Melinda, the head maid. I believe you met her yesterday. The Captain of the Fellan contingent of the Dusk —this is currently vacant. If Captain Limrick retains his status, he will receive access. I am the fourth person.”

As he stepped through entirely, he said, “Please follow close behind me.”

It only took half a second before my curiosity got the best of me, and I stepped beyond the wall. I gripped the key in one hand, and the other was gripping the strap of my bag. Between one second and the next, I was taken from the entryway –with its browns and purples and golds, into a stairwell that glowed with a golden light. From floor to ceiling, everything was a shining gold. Rather than paintings lining the walls, there was an engraving of vines and flowers that led across the landing and down the stairwell. The light seemed to radiate from existence itself, and for the first time, I saw a room with no shadows. No shadows but the ones I wore on my wrist and nails.

Unease pricked at my neck, but I continued after Gristle as he began descending the stairs. It should have been a beautiful sight, something to take a Dawn’s breath away. But I felt the light like a flame against my skin. It was antithesis to who I wanted to be.

Is this Twilight, the Great Inbetween?

“Where are we?” I asked instead. “Why does it feel so different?”

Gristle turned his head slightly to look at me as we descended the stairs, “This stairwell was built shortly after Dawn gained the title of Duke. No one alive knows how it was built, or what kind of magigold it’s made out of. Every [Inspect] fails to identify it as anything but simple magigold. Despite that clearly only being half the picture.”

I paused at that and popped out an [Inspect] on the wall.

[Descent of [REDACTED], Tier [REDACTED], Legendary]

[Made of pure [REDACTED] magigold, this stairwell is capable of [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]]

[Crafted by [REDACTED]]

A crack seemed to form in the system notification. Then several new green boxes appeared.

[User’s Divinity exceeds threshold of [REDACTED]—]

[User’s Divinity exceeds threshold of Agarina Dawn. Access granted.]

I blinked as a final box appeared.

[Descent of Astrala, Tier 6, Legendary]

[Made of pure Alterian magigold, this stairwell is capable of growing based on its owner’s attributes and affinities]

[Crafted by Agarina Dawn]

A sinking feeling hit my gut as we walked. I am so not supposed to know that. I cataloged the term ‘Alterian’ for later but otherwise dismissed the notifications.

[Congratulations! Inspect is now Level 9!]

I fought back a sigh.

Of course, it takes inspecting something Legendary, and I level it immediately. Lovely. Wonderful.

As we came to a stop at the base of the stairwell, Gristle turned back toward me, yet another serious expression on his face. Behind him was a door made of the same Alterian magigold that the rest of the stairwell was built out of. Instead of a door frame, the engraved vines created the illusion of an arch. From the arch, the engraving fell downward, creating a wall of vines embedded into the archway. At the center, the vine engravings parted and circled a keyhole.

“My Lady, I need to explain some things about Twilight.”

I tightened my grip on the key, “I’m listening.”

“Twilight, or the Great Inbetween, is a unique space,” Gristle began. “I cannot follow you in, as it is only accessible by true-blooded Children of the Dawn. When you enter, most things are possible in Twilight when it comes to Skill training. It’s an adaptive space. From my understanding, there will be a pillar with further details for you. But the most important thing is the exit. When you are ready to leave, you can only exit through the door you entered from. All others are locked to you.”

“There will be other doors?”

“As many as there are Dawn estates.” Gristle nodded, “Twilight is where your morning Skill practice is scheduled to start anyway. It’s entirely up to you how you train your Skills —and it’s completely private from outsiders.”

I nodded, holding my key up to the door, “Does that mean I can use the space whenever I please?”

Gristle nodded, “Twilight is always open to a child of the Dawn.”

I took a breath, “Okay. I’m going in, then. Thank you, Gristle. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure, Lady Nora.” He gave me a gentle smile as he stepped back towards the staircase, away from the engraved wall.

He waited until I slid the key into the keyhole to start ascending the stairs. But I was too preoccupied watching the engraving light up in all the shades of dawn—from deep purples to crimson reds, from soft pinks to brilliant oranges. And then the archway shifted, sucking the key completely into the door, opening to reveal an impossible sight.

Instinctively, I stepped through –the door closing behind me. As I stepped the tinkling of water followed me, as the entire area around me shifted into a reflective lining of water. What did it reflect? A sunrise without any suns. I looked from left to right, and there was no end to the flat plane of centimeter-deep water. On every horizon, a sunrise bloomed. Hues of golden and red light filled transformed into pinks and purples, until the very peak of the sky was a deep blue.

Twilight,

There are two times twilight can be seen –before the sun sets and before the sun rises. I saw, then, why it was called the Great Inbetween. Forever trapped in sunrise, this space was truly named aptly.

As I walked further into Twilight, the only sound that followed me was my own footsteps.

“Isn’t there supposed to be a pillar?” I asked aloud, my hand gripping the strap of my bag so tight my knuckles were white.

I continued walking further into Twilight, and as I did so, my question was answered. A stone pillar began to rise from a far away point —the further I walked, the taller it grew. The closer I got, the more defined it became. It took several minutes before I was upon the great column. It went what must have been forty feet up into the sky. It didn’t even seem to be close to the peak of Twilight.

As I approached the pillar, I felt a wave of ice pass through me. For a brief moment, my lungs constricted, my muscles tightened, and my heart stopped. And then the feeling was gone, evaporated into nothingness. I continued approaching the column, and as I did, I could see that there were engravings etching themselves onto the pillar. At first, I thought that they would be instructions or runes—something that would tell me more about Twilight itself. Instead, I watched as my own Skills were written out.

Taking a sharp breath, I took another step. Just enough to get me within range of touching the pillar. I ran my finger along my Skills. None of them listed the Level, just the name.

0th Tier: Inspect, Mana Manipulation, Mana Sense, Weaving

1st Tier: Quick Calculation, Silent as a Shadow, Weave of Darkness

2nd Tier: Mental Fortitude, Otherworldly, Shadow Conjuration, Shadow Manipulation

3rd Tier: Shadow Animation

Untiered: Eternal Communion, Eyes of Gospel, Tight Lips, Sophism, Steal Nerves

Nothing should be capable of reading my Skills so thoroughly. There are so few [Inspects] powerful enough to break through the barrier. Then again, the stairwell leading to this place was Legendary. What would the pillar be?

I was scared to find out. To run [Inspect] and know another secret. Another tie holding me to the Dawns should they find out I knew.

I looked away from the pillar, unsure of what to do next. That was when I saw the other pillars set in a circle. There were three, each towering further into the sky than the last. I took a step away from the pillar with my Skills, making my way to the center of the circle of columns. For the first time, I could see the other doors. Back the way I came was a golden door. All the others ranged in different shades of dawn. There were others, far in the distance, that were the same shade of gold. But others were shining oranges or purples so dark they looked like void. There was even a pastel pink one behind the tallest pillar.

I was staring out into the distance when the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and one of the pillars shuddered.

I whipped my head around, staring in fascination as a body emerged.

My fascination turned to horror as a sharp whistle filled the area, and a voice came with it.

“That’s quite a look, huh?”

Blue eyes met blue eyes, and the body came into focus. My own coloring met me. Black hair versus black hair. The same height. All that was different was that the body was undeniably male.

“Theo,” I said, my voice flat, my emotions dulled.