Chapter 10: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 10: Home Sweet Home

I cradled Cecilia in my arms as I sped through the forest heading to where I have been staying for the past week or so. The journey on human legs would take days but for me it took only about 3 hours. Judging from my estimation I can move at about 40km/h at full travelling speed. I couldn’t achieve that speed in battle of course, the rapid movement of battle and the momentum from my body, made it so that I couldn’t go this fast without risking falling over.

As I sped through the forest I could hear Cecilia laughing as the wind blew through her hair. I looked down and I saw her face alight with pure sincere happiness. I guess feeling the wind in your hair after being caged for years would be quite exhilarating.

We soon arrived at the opening of the cave that led to the tomb where I was “born”.

“Here we are home sweet home.” I say as I stand at the opening of the cave.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand?” Cecilia asked as she looked up at me.

“Hmmm? Don’t worry it’s not as bad as it looks on the outside.” I replied.

“I think you are seeing something I’m not...” Cecilia said as she began looking around.

“Do you not see the cave entrance in front of you?” I asked as I looked at the entrance right in front me.

“No...” Cecilia said as she casted a spell, her eyes glowed for a moment. She looked around and then she casted another spell, then another, then another... four spells later she shook her head as she looked back at me.

I put her down and reached forward towards the cave entrance.

“Ah please keep your hand there.” Cecilia said as she walked over.

She placed a hand on this barrier and I saw a barrier flicker where she touched it.

“I’m not detecting any magic, it’s a very well hidden barrier... feels like stone as well, this is a very well crafted illusion... or is it an illusion?” Cecilia said as she touched the side of my hand that was supposedly inside this stone wall that she was seeing.

“The entry is seamless, it looks like your hand is phased into the stone...” Cecilia muttered.

“Could it be? A manifestation?” Cecilia asked.

“A what?” I asked as I looked down at her.

“A manifestation is a more advanced form of illusion. Illusions are just creations of magic that mimic something but they cannot fully mimic the properties of the original. Some are better than others in mimicry but the copy is usually far inferior to the original.

Manifestations are almost perfect copies with additional properties, they are a piece of a new constructed reality. Much more complex to cast and execute. If this is truly a manifestation it should have the same properties of stone with the added ability to allow a select type of individual to enter.” Cecilia explained.

“Do you have any idea if you can go in?” I asked, this is awfully inconvenient...

“I am not sure, manifestations are ancient lost magic. The last recorded use of it was in the Elysian Empire almost 5000 years ago. The only manifestations that are found now are usually defense mechanisms held within old ruins. I suspect this is something similar...” Cecilia said as she turned to face me.

“Yeah there’s this tomb on the other side.” I replied.

“As I thought... if you are keyed for entry... perhaps... try holding me close to you and go in, but go in backwards so I don’t get crushed, just release me if you feel me getting stuck on the barrier.” Cecilia said.

“Ok... I’ll go in slowly, hopefully nothing happens.” I reply as I pull Cecilia as close as possible to my body and turn around before slowly retreating back into the cave.

Luckily for us, she went past the barrier easily... well that’s good I just got my first ally who can provide some semblance of a long term plan. It would be really awkward if she just got squished here...

“Ok... we’re in...” I say as I look down at her.

“Yes, shall we proceed?” Cecilia replied calmly.

“Can you see the other side of the barrier?” I asked as I looked down at her.

“No, it’s pitch black here, I assume for you some light is leaking in from the opening?” Cecilia asked.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of runes in the tomb, maybe you can make some sense of them.” I say as I began carrying her deeper into the cave and finally we arrived at the door.

The door was now much bigger, it was quite the shock honestly when I got back here after the first night. What was a bigger shock was that the room had changed to accommodate my larger size.

Ah it’s a stabiliser... but for what?

The variants of the runes, their excess power where does it go?

Could it be?

Yes... yes it is, the flow of power... is the formation...

Fascinating...

Finally she slammed the tome shut with a victorious smile on her face as she gazed at the magic circle.

“Figured it out?” I asked, by now I was lying on the floor and just gazed at her in boredom.

“Yes...” Cecilia said as she turned around and realized I was lying on the ground.

“Oh... how long did I take?” Cecilia asked, a little embarrassed.

“About an hour, it’s fine.” I said as I rose back up to my “standing” height.

“Ok... I should be able to mark myself as allowed within this tomb’s magic system...” Cecilia said as she tapped at the magic circle. The runes spun and glowed then suddenly they froze and began to glow brighter than before.

Authorisation Required

I heard this voice ring out in the room. Huh... this seems a little sci-fi...

“I think you need to touch this circle.” Cecilia said as she pointed at the magic circle that was now protruding from the wall and slowly spinning.

“Ok...” I said as I reached forward and touched the circle. Immediately the room began to shake and I heard that voice rumble out.

Authorisation Acknowledged

Adjusting Parameters for Human Habitation

The voice said as I saw the room seemingly shift before my eyes. The stone floor started to shift and the walls began to move. This is the first time I have actually seen the room change, previously the room was always changed when I arrived. It was oddly hypnotic to see the dark stone walls shift and move like there was some great mechanism just beyond these walls...

“Amazing... the complexity required to create such a functionality... the only ancient ruins I have read about are old and dilapidated. None of the original internal systems were still functional...” Cecilia said in awe as the room shifted.

The room grew larger and I saw what looked to be a room appear. Magic lights appeared in the room as the walls shifted and they popped out of the walls, illuminating the dark area. I saw an area of the floor open up and I saw what looked to be a fountain appear. From it sprang clear sparkling water, then a hearth with flames crackling within popped out of one of the walls.

By the end of it all, this place looked much nicer and it looked much more livable as well. Whoever designed this place knew what they were doing. I knew this place could change but I didn't think it could change like this...

“Well this looks much more hospitable,” Cecilia said cheerily as she clapped her hands.

“Huh, didn’t expect this...” I say as I look around the room.

“There’s even a bath!” Cecilia said in delight as she poked her head into the room that was formed.

I went over to the door and as I peered in I saw a steaming pool of water. I watched as Cecilia began offloading whatever she packed into her magic cube. As far as I can tell she brought everything in her personal bedroom. Soon the whole room was filled with her things,

She had a lot of books... she had enough books to fill a small library. Good thing her personal room was rather large. Then she summoned out one last thing...

From what I could see it was a small gold locket. I saw her open it and I started to sense sorrow from her as she gazed down at the locket. The sorrow slowly turned to anger, then anger became rage and rage became wrath. I saw her eyes fill with hatred as she closed the locket with a snap, her lips curled into a snarl. If looks could kill, her expression would be a bomb, a bomb primed with explosives, waiting to explode and destroy everything at just the right moment...

Then I heard her whisper under her breath as she gently put the locket onto one of the shelves.

I will make them pay

I will make them suffer

I will have my vengeance...