Starting Anew.

I'm crouched in the frames that support the ceiling in this massive room. Whoever designed it clearly had no intention of doing anything for the sake of asthetics, thinking it would be more useful to go entirely into the realm of usefulness. As such, the supports up here form a terrible criss crossing lattice to support the roof. Not that it even does a very good job. I can see the stonework slowly beginning to crumble over the years due to age.

Except I'm not here to study architecture. If I was, i'd be dead. Which interestingly enough, would be even more ironic in the enviroment that I happen to be in. This clearly isnt the planet which I grew up on. But what do I know? Ever since I got here, I havent even seen a window. I could be high in the air or beneath the ground.

Feels more like I'm underground.

What was I talking about? Oh, right. The reason why I am here.

Beneath me is a column of guards and prisoners... A rough estimate says there are two guards for every ten prisoners. Normally you'd think that's pretty low, but since the prisoners are shackled at the feet and to each other AND can't run, it's not really that big of a deal for the guards.
Not that the prisoners would ever try and escape. They know where they are. This isnt an ordinary prison. This is basically what happens when a demi-god takes an ordinary prison, rips out all of the nice things and fills it with horrific things. Then he takes out all the bad things and replaces it with hallucinations of your worst nightmare.

Prisoners here are subject to more evil side of their imagination. It's like someone being on LSD except that there's no real drug itself and there's no detoxing. Just pure insanity. Prisoners usually have two paths here. A select few go morbidly insane to the point where you can't even understand their mutterings. The rest lose their mind - literally - and do what they are told, eat what they are told, walk to what they are told to walk to and generally stand about doing nothing else.

It's a sad sight to see. Most of these prisoners have been here for years... A large number of them for hundreds of years. How? No idea! I just know. I seem to know alot of unusual things.

The column finally dissappears into a doorway. I haven't quite worked out the rotation of the guard here yet but it seems that guards don't really 'guard'. They just appear when something needs to be done.

The room is silent. I wait another minute incase something else happens. All is quiet. Though, in the distance I think I can hear what sounds like metal hitting metal. No idea what it is though and it's probably not important so I brush the thought from my mind.

The support beam I'm crouching on isn't very high up off the ground, so I carefully lean into position and then jump down, bending my legs as I go to help reduce the pain of the landing. Since nothing is broken, I quickly stand up and head through the doorway.
The corridor that I have entered is long and featureless. There's a few other doorways on the left and right as I pass down, but I know for a fact that the group of prisoners that I am following havent gone inside. It'd be too small to get through easily and I would have caught up to them much faster.

After rounding a bend, I see the doorway that I am actually looking for. The room is considerably large, but much smaller than the one that I was hiding in the ceiling of before. There's a large number of prison cells in here and if I had to guess, there was probably about twenty? I might be inaccurate but I'm not interested in the number.

I'm more interested in the far cell right down the end. One of the guards has dragged a young girl by her shackles and tossed her into the cell. The girl didn't give any resistance. Though I am slightly curious as to why she was singled out to have her own cell. All the other prisoners appear to be sharing cells with at least two or three other prisoners.

The guards appear to be satisfied with their work and they head for the doorway. Right in my direction. Luckily, I'm already behind a pillar. I'd be quite surprised if they see me. They don't expect an intruder to be in here so naturally, they won't see one. I suppose it also helps that I am wearing almost fully black in a darkened room. The only thing that would give my position away would be the light reflecting off the steel sword at my belt.

Satisfied that the guards have moved away a sufficient distance so as to not hear me in here, I move cautiously to the far cell that contains the lone girl. I made a promise to a friend of mine and this young lady won't be staying here. The lock is quite easy to pick. Again, the guards aren't expecting an intruder in what might as well be the most overclocked high security prison. There's a sense of irony in that statement.

The door is old and creaks loudly as it opens. I look behind me to see if anyone has come back. Nobody. I move inside and close the door.

She's sitting in the corner of the room, huddled up with her face in her hands.
"Hello?" I ask from the other side. I'm slightly concerned that she might lash out. She doesn't respond. Moving carefully, I make my way over to her and kneel down. With a finger, I push her hair out of her face and raise her head so that she can look at me.

The young woman before me is clearly in her early twenties. Hell, for all I know she might be as young as nineteen. Either way, she's far too young to be stuck in a place like this. Her hair is a solid black and her eyes are beautiful shade of ice blue. I can imagine them sparkling during a sunrise but in here they are dull. Dull with defeat.

"Who are you?" She asks. Dammit, even her voice is beautiful. How did she end up here?
"Philip. I've come to break you out of here"
"Do... Do I know you?" She asks. I can see that the effect of this prison has already tormented her mind and I have no idea what the damage is.
"No. I'm fairly certain that you have never seen me before" I say, taking my hand away from her head. She continues to look at me but can't seem to tell if I am even real.

"Where am I?" She asks. I had predicted this question to be the third one. It's the exact same question from when I helped another friend escape from here.
"In a place that's probably worse than Hell itself. Come on, I'm breaking you out"
"Uhh... Okay...?" She says, completely unsure of herself.
"Do you know your name?" I ask. She shakes her head and buries her face in her hands. I can see the damage that this prison has already done on her mind. She might be alive, but her mind must have suppressed nearly, if not all, of her memories just maintain some state of sanity. Not that there is any in here.

I take her hand and force her to rise to her feet. The guards hands are always deathly cold and I'm hoping that the natural heat from my hand might nudge something in the recesses of her mind. I can see the light slowly returning to her eyes as she composes herself slowly.

Finally, in order to force her to think for herself, I give her the sword I had strapped to her belt. Hopefully the shape of it will trigger something.
Luckily, it does. It's not much but it works. I can sense recognition in her eyes. Recognising that I am human, like her. Unlike these guards, the race of which I can only guess.

"So where are we going?" She asks.
"On an adventure" I smile, and lead the way out.

Before an friend of mine left forever, I made a promise that I would get this young girl out. I don't know what the future holds, but I know that it is bright.

Also, this girl lost her soul - literally - which is kinda awkward but I figure that it can be dealt with later on. Escaping this place will be hard enough.

There are no words.

I'm standing in a moonlit glade. There's a lake to my left and high rocks surrounding me. It appears that I can't get out of here, but that's not what's important. What's important is why I am here.

I don't actually know why I am here. I feel like this place is familiar. A sort of tranquil place only seen in dreams. Except I know this isnt a dream. The grass beneath my feet feels too real, as well as the gentle breeze coming in from over the lake.

Suddenly, there's a sixth sense in the back of my mind. Telling me to turn around and face something. I turn slowly.

She wasnt there before, but a young woman is leaning against a tall tree now. She's clad in metal armour which looks vaguely roman. The chestplate has a yellow tinge to it and the helmet reveals her face - beautiful... and sad. Red hair falls from underneath the helmet down her head, stopping just below her neck. I know this woman. How I have come to be standing in front of her is beyond me, but I know her very well.

"Serenvia?" I ask.
"Hello" She says simply.

There's a light smile on her face, as if greeting an old friend that she hasn't seen in years and expecting them to be surprised that she's there. But her eyes betray her. In her eyes, I see overwhelming sadness. It's haunting. I attempt a smile in return. I'm not entirely sure that it's convincing. Serenvia is a smart woman, too smart for me to fool.

"It's good to see you again" I say. I don't know why, but it feels like I havent seen her in an eternity.
"And the same to you. Shall we take a walk?" She asks, pointing along the coast beside her.
"I think I'd like that"

Serenvia and I start walking along the edge of the lake. While moments ago I thought that there was a large barrier of rocks in front of me, the lake's edge seems to stretch for miles now. Under normal circumstances, I'd question my sanity. But tonight something more important is going to be discussed, and I fear I know what it is.

"You remember that time you woke me up in that prison and told me that we were escaping?" Serenvia asks me, looking off into the distance.
"I remember. You were barely lucid, unable to stand without help" I say, laughing.
"Indeed. I'm still very happy that you saved me regardless" Serenvia replies, this time a geniune smile on her face.
"I needed your help. You needed mine."
"Yes. But even after we escaped, you chose to stay with me. We went on so many adventures together."

Our conversation continued on long through the night. I don't know if we spent minutes or hours talking, but it felt like years and it felt good. We discussed everything, every adventure we had been on, the good times and the not so fortunate times. I didn't want something good like this to ever end. Serenvia was like a font of happiness, always finding something amusing in any situation, even more so in the serious ones.

"Your strong now. Much stronger than you were when we broke you out of that cell" I say, looking at her.
"I had you to guide me" She says.
"I'm glad I could help."

Serenvia turns to look out across the lake. I walk over to stand beside her and we stand in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I can stand it no longer.
"So where are we anyway?" I ask, looking around. The problem has been on my mind for a while now and I'd really like to know.
"A nice place. Free from war, poverty and sickness. Free from any earthly problems really." Serenvia says.
"Eh... Really? Must be something interesting here then" I say, walking away from the lakeside.
"There is one thing-" Serenvia says, cutting herself off.
"Yes?" I ask, turning back to face her.

"This place. It's our last adventure together" Serenvia says, finally composing herself and looking at me dead in the eyes.
"Last adventure? Why?" I ask, surprised. I shouldnt be though. I don't know why, I just knew this was going to happen.
"My time has come to join with the others. I know we've been through alot, but our world is changing. And I, like so many I know, no longer fit in it. I was born in a time that I can no longer be a part of." She says, struggling to find the right words.
"But... After everything that we did!" I say loudly. My emotions are mixed up like broth in a cauldron. I'm feeling angry and sad and confused. Why did this have to happen?
"I know" Serenvia says. She walks over to me and wipes one of the tears that had fallen from my eyes. Strange. I don't normally cry for anything. I never liked crying, it made me feel weak. Yet I can't help myself this time. I feel so overwhelmed by what is happening.

"There'll be another time" Serenvia says.
"Will there?" I ask, looking up at her. She was a considerable few inches taller than me. I feel tiny in comparison. She looks away from the question, back out across the water.
"Please don't go" I say. She's too important to me. I don't want her to go!
"It's already done" She says, shaking her head.
"Most of me is already up there" She continues, looking up into the stary sky. "I'm just an echo of myself now. I only held enough back to have a moment with you."

I can't control myself now. Normally I'm so composed, able to take stock of anything seriously and not let my emotions cloud my judgement. But tears are falling from my eyes like miniature waterfalls. And there's nothing I can do to stop it. I'm just so upset.

"So what do I do?" I ask.
"You keep going. There's someone else out there that needs you now." She says solemly.
"But it won't be YOU! You know that, right?" I say quietly.
Serenvia nods slowly.

"Serenvia. Please" I say, holding out my hand. But it's too late. She's beginning to fade and my time with her has come to and end.
"Welcome home Philip" She says finally, just before she disappears.

----------

I just stood there as she dissappeared into nothingness. When I finally make a movement, I sit down on a large rock and just stare out across the lake, thinking nothing. There are no words to express how I feel.

It must be hours before I do anything. The sun has begun to peak over the horizon, casting it's rays through the tree leaves. A ray hits me in the face, suddenly pulling my mind back into reality.
There's someone else out there who needs my help. A young person, imprisoned wrongfully in another realm. I need to save her and I need to train her. She won't be Serenvia, but nobody could replace her.

It's time to do something right again. It's time to restart the fight.

----------

 

R.I.P

Serenvia

You were a good fighter and an honest person.

The memory of you shall never fail