Midgardia series 04: Return to the Castle

   Once more Mirai is in her attic, sitting down before the summoning sigil; this time however the black stone in the center is wrapped up in the paper with the red drawing on it and Mirai has both her hands upon it as she chants. Once more Mirai finds herself in that strange ornate hallway in what she can only imagine is some fantastical stone castle represented in the mind of whatever...her thoughts are cut short as she spies a tall woman with long curly red hair and what can only be described as a heaving bosom and wide hips.

    "She cannot see you," comes the same mysterious female voice from last time; "however you must stand aside and make no noise till she passes. You are invisible and intangible in this place; save for the structure its self. However if you should pass through her; she would immediately sense your astral body and consume your life essence."

    Mirai needs no more explanation as she stands aside; watching as the tall woman passes. The tall woman pauses and looks back; directly at where Mirai is standing and *sniffs* the air.


    "Huh," says the tall woman, "must be from outside." she turns and looks at the nearby window before continuing down the hall.

    Mirai once more stands before the sealed door, examining the seal up close, the black carapace like seal covers the door yet most of it seems more ornamental than anything; the true seal is a shield sized circular disc in the middle with nine circular holes, eigh in a circle around the middle, and one in the center.

   As she examines the door a woman's voice from behind her grabs her attention, "I thought I sensed a human's astral body wandering around here."

   Mirai turns to see a tall dark haired woman looking right at her with piercing glowing blue eyes, beside her is the red headed woman from before; except she seems more confused and oddly concerned, clearly only the dark haired one can see Mirai.

   "Now, now," says the dark haired woman, who seems to take one step towards her but...hesitates and steps back, "what business does a human have with the forbidden door? Why not step away from there and get a bit more cozy hmmm?"

   The woman's eyes are flashing, but Mirai feels a tingle like a slight electric hum coming from her pocket, and strangely from the seal she has backed into.

  "Why..." starts the dark haired woman as her gaze gets more intense, "the door...human girl...come...HERE....why..."

  The dark haired woman *growls*, a hellish sound that makes the red haired one wince and back away.

  "That door," says the dark haired woman calming down, "is forbidden, even we the Mistresses of this castle are forbidden from approaching it."

  The red haired woman actually does a double take at who is clearly her mistress and the door she speaks of.

  "I don't know what is behind there," says the dark haired woman, "but I can feel intent coming from it right now...it wants you...a tiger eying its prey no doubt...something horrible...even more so than myself no doubt...put there by our queen...so come now little human...come to me...and I'll keep you safe...and..."

   She stops as Mirai pulls the black stone from her pocket wrapped in her doodled paper.

   If she could turn paler the dark haired woman no doubt would have as her eyes stop glowing and she *gasps*, "How...how do you have that?"

   Mirai turns quickly towards the seal, as she slams the wrapped up stone into the center the dark haired woman can be heard to scream, "STOP!". But it is to no avail as the stone locks in place, the paper glowing red and vanishing as a red beam of light issues forth as though pouring from the seal, striking Mirai and engulfing her.

    ******

   Both the women in the hall could see the light, and in a moment it is gone, the girl is gone.

   "What happened mistress?" asks the red haired woman.

  As the light fades, the door is gone, replaced by an entrance to a strange dark hallway. Despite their nature it is daylight, or a facsimile there of on their side of the entrance way, stone windows and all. The other side is darkness, the walls are wood, and the windows are more those befitting an old mansion, with night outside.

   "What..." stammers the Mistress, "what is this?"

   She looks out her window, "This world our castle is in...a world of false daylight granted so no threat to us...but...the seal was to another dimension?"

   "I...," stammers the red haired woman, she stops and looks out the window in the direction of the hall, "Mistress there are windows there, enough space for a room."

   "So where is the room?" ponders the Mistress, "I..."

   A soft chanting can be heard coming from the dark hallway as something comes from the ceiling, a female black cloak like figure with no face and glowing blue eyes. She drops from the ceiling and crawls about on her cape like the wings of some giant bat, her legs wrapped in the cloak like a snake's tail and swishing in the air. Her head a hood in place of hair and a waving darkness between face and hood.

   The figure approaches the archway, it is not the source of the strange chanting song which is further back into the hall. It stops short where darkness meets light, pawing at the light and finding it not to burn.

  "She's trying to be intimidating," smiles and growls the Mistress as she transforms, her body becoming a cloaked figure nearly identical to the strange creature, save for standing upright and being wrapped in her cloak.

  The figure still on the floor looks up, cocks her head and pounces. The red haired woman transforms as well, however her cloak wings are a bit shorter and have a more bat like shape. For a moment it would appear her mistress is fighting the intruder, but the tumbling stops as the figure...is doing something the red haired woman did not know they could; the mouth guard like face is opened up like spider fangs and crab mandibles and long tongue is licking her mistress's face while purring.

   "Get...get off," *growls* the Mistress, "who..."

   "How cute," says a woman coming from the dark hallway, "my puppy has found some new puppies to play with."

   The source of this voice is a woman, clearly fully grown yet wearing a brown and white trimmed skirt that looks like it belongs to a child, with a white bow in her long brown hair...despite the fact her hair is down straight.

   As she steps towards the light she stops and squints her eyes, "Oh...poo...this is a doorway to another protrusion of the castle isn't it? So who lives here....wasn't there a door here before? Eh...mommy and the aunties are always changing this place...so do the puppies want to come over and play?"

   "I'm not a puppy," says the Mistress while on the floor trying to stand, as she does so transforming back to her human like form. The red haired woman changes back as well, the new figure however is staying on the floor rubbing against the Mistress's leg like a cat.

   "What..."

   "Shhh," whispers the figure on the floor, "Queen Catherine, Queen Catherine, wants...."

  "Enough!" this thunderous voice comes from yet another tall dark haired woman who flies in through the window.

  This woman is wearing dark almost carapace like armor, lightning in her eyes. She looks around the scene.

  "Chaos Clan?" whispers the red haired woman.

  "No," whispers the Mistress as she bows to this figure, "Great Queen Rhudra, great sire of us all, I am humbled in your presence."

   "Bored now," says Catherine, "But maybe little sister wants to come play with me? hmm?"

  "Maybe later," says Rhudra, "So...uh...Cathy..." she looks at her subordinates and back at her sister, seemingly unsure on how to act, "this is...unprecedented I'd say..."

  Rhudra eyes the cloaked figure floating about the floor who floats over to Catherin and be petted, "Uh...one of yours?"

  "Yep," says Catherine, "my puppy, your puppies are cute."

  Rhudra looks at the two women, "Yes...yes they are," the smile on her face is both friendly and malicious, making the red haired woman nervous."

  "So," says Rhudra examining the archway, "looks like a failsafe, the seal was broken, but rather than open the door to the great mother's bedroom instead linked to..."

  She looks past Catherine, "To your mansion in the netherworld dear sister."

  "Hmm," says Catherine, "so mom is still sleeping huh?"

  She is scratching her (puppy) under the chin, causing the woman simply called "Mistress" to raise an eyebrow.

  Rhudra examines the door, her hand glowing blue with small sigils floating about, "The Dreamer has a new dream...I had my own goals for when she awoke and returned to Midgardia. I will have to find this dream..."

   She turns to the dark haired woman, "Marlana! You have the scent of the human who was here, her astral presence tells me she was a summoner. Seek her out, and return the dream to me!"

  "Yes my Queen," says Marlana as she rises and transforms into her shadow cloak form, flying off down the hall, the red haired woman changing as well and following her."

  Rhudra turns and almost jumps as Catherine is right in her face, despite being shorter thanks to floating a little.

  "A scavenger hunt," says Catherine, "looks like you and mommy are playing a game...I was so bored with mine...I will play yours."

   "Uh...sis..." starts Rhudra

  Catherine's demeanor changes, her clothes turn from brown to black with a red trim, her bow turns red. Her eyes glow red and her canines elongate.

  She points down the hall, "Go my pet, Dark Mistress of Shadows Fiora! Seek out the summoner, protect the dream!"

  The figure rises up and *purrs* before flying down the hall while making a horrific shrieking sound like a demonic hawk, vanishing from sight, following the trail of Marlana."

   "Wait..." starts Rhudra, "that sounded like..."

  Her eyes drop and she *facepalms*, "You are going to (play) opposite of me."

  "Of course," says Catherin with a *giggle*, "What fun would it be to have two like us on the same side...besides, I hate when someone interrupts my dreams, and so does mommy."

  Rhudra just *shrugs*, and thinks, "a summoner has invoked a dream, it does not feel normal."