𝕻𝖔𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖙 𝕸𝖎𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗 : 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐌
« Do not ever let it go, do you understand? »
She has no memories of her own name and woke up in a mysterious cold room. Guided by nothing but her curiosity, she wanders around, holding her golden pocket mirror, until she gets pulled inside a mirror, inside a new world.
Will she be able to escape this fantastic world she just entered? Or will she remain a prisoner?
※ The story isn't suited for people with a nervous disposition for things such as horror and graphical horror such as blood and brutal deaths.
※ Please note that it relies on an exceptional amount of symbolism which may be hard to understand throughout the first reading, so multiple readings may be advised.
( © RPG by AstralShift & Komodo ) ( © Novelization by @jakkanims-library )
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 Ⅰ. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖇𝖑𝖊𝖘
« Hold your memories close to your heart. Do not ever let it go, do you understand? »
« Yes, mother... »
The voices echoed in her head, a stinging pain in her chest. They sounded so distant, yet so close. She could smell the sweet familiar scent of roses.
As she opened her eyes, she briefly ran her fingers on the small flower bed. Everything felt so familiar, yet the room she was in was very peculiar and strange. It had nothing but flowers here and there that she could've sworn she's seen them before, two small windows through which a bright light was piercing into the room, and a really big golden mirror hanged on the wall behind her. The whole room was made of rock. Pink cold rock. How strange. She looked around for a bit.
« Where am I? » she asked herself out loud.
She stood up and wandered around. There was nothing in sight. She was alone in this empty room. She walked to the door and tried to open it, but in vain. « It's closed, I can't get out... » she thought, a hint of fear rising in her.
She turned back around and noticed something shining in the flower bed. She slowly approached it, reaching her hand towards it.
« This is... »
She kneeled down and picked up the golden object. It was a pocket mirror. Its lid was beautifully adorned with a fancy flower pattern. The letter "G" was engraved on the back.
« My pocket mirror! » she exclaimed in relief with a faint smile.
She held it close to her heart, a feeling of comfort warming her inside. She sensed that she shouldn't lose it, no matter what. Although, this feeling of peace was quickly replaced by terror as she looked at the big mirror next to her. She slowly stepped closer to it, her face turning pale.
« I can't see my own reflection... » she mumbled with a shivering voice.
Why couldn't she see her own reflection? She looked at her hands for a second, as if to check that she was real, that she existed. She stepped away until her back hit the opposite wall. This didn't feel right. What was going on? She clenched her fist around her pocket mirror; she had to get out of here.
Once more, she walked around in the small room. She tried going to the windows, but she was far too short to reach them. The fragile looking flowers were blooming from the cracks in the wall, and the hard wooden door still wouldn't open. She sighed, desperate, and rested her back against the door. Then something caught her attention.
« What was that... »
She approached to the flower bed again. She could've sworn that she saw a red glow in the grass. Feeling nervous, she walked on her toes to the strange light. She crouched and picked up a red marble. It was strange that she hadn't see it earlier. As she rolled the marble between her fingers, there was a sudden loud noise. It sounded as if the door got unlocked.
Instinctively, she stepped even further away from the door. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was someone else here with her? Wherever here was... She waited a couple of seconds, expecting someone to pop out of the door, but nothing. The only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat and soft breathing. It didn't seem that there was anyone behind the door. Hesitantly, she walked towards the door and pushed it open, making it squeak loudly.
The door slammed shut behind her. A light mist was covering the room she just entered.
« There's no one here... » she softly said.
How could the door unlock itself if there was no one around? She didn't feel observed, yet she was starting to feel more and more nervous. At the center of the room was 5 small spots forming a circle. A 6th bigger spot was in the middle of it. Across the room was a white music box. Strangely, she felt drawn to it. Her steps echoing in the empty room, she walked towards the music box and opened it. A soft music started playing. It sounded so familiar, yet she couldn't remember where she had heard it before. She wished to just sit there and listen to the music, but she still had to find a way out of this place. It wasn't particularly creepy or scary, but she felt uneased, as if she wasn't supposed to be there.
She walked to the closest door to her only to realize that it didn't have any knob, handle or keyhole. She tried pushing it, but to no avail. She walked over to another door, but this was one was simply locked. There was only one door left that she hadn't try, aside from the one she just got out of. As she approached it, the marble in her hand started to glow stronger. She looked down to her feet. Through the crack, she could see a faint red light. She looked back at the marble, almost blinded by its light as she reached it to the empty spot. It fitted perfectly.
Once again, she got startled as the door in front of her emitted a sound. It got unlocked. Was this some sort of mechanic that was unlocking the doors? How was this even possible? The thought itself was silly enough, but it was the only explanation she could think of. Above the door, the lantern had ligthen up in a strange green light. She pushed the door open and as she stepped inside the room, the door slammed shut behind her, getting a small cry of surprise out of her.
The room was so dark, she could barely see in front of her. An arch of red roses graced the round door frame. Once again, it felt somewhat familiar. She tried to look around, trying to not lose her balance as she stepped through the darkness. She noticed some curious drawings on the ground. There was a small one that seemed like little doll with long hair that looked like rabbit ears, with puffy clothes. She wore a kind of big red cap with a cross in the center. She had very odd eyes with a lot of different colors too. The other drawing next to it was much bigger. It looked like a little blonde girl with sky blue eyes wearing a pink and red puffy dress and holding a big lollipop. Had she seen those before? It felt like it. Not so far from this drawing, there was a doll that looked exactly like it. She carefully approached the doll to have a better look at it.
« This doll is so pretty... » she thought out loud to herself. « Why is it in a place like this? »
The pale porcelain doll was just there, sitting on the floor, facing the wall. There was another small drawing near it. It was just some small ovals of different colors, all attached together, forming a circle.
The longer she was staying in this room, the more she was feeling uneasy. And the darkness of this place wasn't helping. She moved slowly, leaning on the walls so as not to fall. Eventually, she ended up in front of the door again. She tried to open it, but weirdly enough, it was locked. Sliding her hands onto the cold wall, she stepped to the side of the door. She almost hadn't notice the piece of paper hanged onto the wall. It was a more detailed drawing of the strange looking bunny-like doll. "Egliette" was written at the bottom of it. It appeared that it was done by a child or something. Was she then not alone in this place? She couldn't help but wonder who drew this.
She then heard a noise behind her. As she walked back to the door, she noticed another piece of paper hanged on it. It was surely not here before. And the doll whom was facing the wall earlier was also definitely not close to the door either. She took a closer look at the paper: it was a very detailed compass. For some reason, the 'west' was highlighted in green. She stepped back and noticed that the doll was now right next to here. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine. « This doll wasn't here before... » she thought. The doll emitted what sounded like a small giggle. She really wanted to get out of this room now, more than ever. She didn't want to approach the doll ever again. The fragile looking doll was grinning mischievously, staring into nothing.
Carefully, she walked towards where the arrow was pointing. Down there, on the ground, was a green marble. As she picked it up, she heard the door unlocking again. Almost running, she walked to the door and exited the creepy room. As the door slammed shut behind her, she could hear that same giggle. Another cold shiver ran through her body. She didn't want to go into this room again. She was done with it.
She looked around the room again. If the red marble unlocked a door, maybe this green one would too. She slowly approached the circle and almost immediately, the marble started to glow too. Without thinking any second more, she inserted the marble into the hole. It seemed like nothing happened, but as she got up, she noticed the lantern of the knobless door lit up in a eerie purple light. Did it meant that the room was now open? She gulped. It wasn't like she had any other choice. She stepped towards the door and pushed it: it opened.
It was hard to breathe in there. It was also dark, despite a dark purple light simmering through the stained glass windows. Looking at it, it was representing a weeping angel claspsing its hand in a prayer, holding a rosary in between its fingers. The angel looked somewhat like her, but different. She continued to walk into the room and before she knew it, she was stepping on a bunch of papers scattered onto the floor. She crounched to take a better look at them.
« please forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, it wasn't my fault, i could never... » « I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... » « Don't leave me here, Don't abandon me... »
It was handwritten in a strange red ink. She coughed again at the hard smell in the room. Then it hit her. It wasn't red ink: it was blood. Did someone wrote those letters with their own blood? Who was it? And why were they apologizing then begging to not be left alone? Was it the same person who drew in the other room? Was someone living here? It felt again that she shouldn't be here. She stepped away, but as soon as she did it, the quill on the desk next to pile of papers began to write on its own. Drawn by her curiosity, she slowly approached it to look at whatever it was writing.
« We shall go... Together... » it wrote, very slowly.
Was the quill haunted? Was it the spirit of whoever died in this place? Though, her presence didn't seem to bother whatever was possessing the quill. It was floating eerily, scribbling down on the old scraps of paper. She stepped back, feeling more and more scared of the quill. She couldn't see properly, but right under the desk, it seemed like there was hole with a faint purple glow in it. Trying to ignore her fear, she pushed the desk aside. The inkwell fell down on the desk and onto the floor, spreading blood everywhere. She froze for a moment and coughed because of the terrible smell. Crimson blood was dripping from the desktop, slowly pooling on the floor. Disgusting. Once again, she did her best to set aside her nauseousness and crounched down. There was definitely something shining in the hole.
She reached her hand into it, grabbing onto a small round object, but as she tried to get it out, she gasped in shock. « My hand is stuck! » she softly exclaimed. She could feel something grabbing her hand and forearm as she was fighting back, pulling it as hard as she could. Suddenly, it let go, making her fall onto her back. She looked at what she caught: it was a lavender marble. The squeaky door opened by itself and without even realizing, she got up and rushed outside the room, avoiding the puddle of blood.
The door locked itself behind her, but it didn't matter. She didn't want to go back in anyway. She believed some sort of spirit was in this room and tried to emprison her. That was probably why the quill was writting « We should go... Together... ». It was trying to pull her wherever the spirit was. She sat down by the music box for a second, listening to its peaceful melody. This place was so mysterious and frightening. She closed the music box and got back up. It wasn't by sitting there that she was going to find an exit.
She looked at the marble and noticed how brightly it was glowing. She glanced at the hole at her feet and inserted the marble. The lantern above the last room lit up in a blue light. What a strange mechanism. Was this perhaps some sort of magic? Did something like that ever exist? She was strangely getting used to it, but something was bothering her. If she was finding a marble in every room, then at some point, she would either be stuck or would have to go back into one of those rooms. After all, there was only 4 doors and had found 3 marbles so far. That would leave 2 empty holes. What would happen if she fill all of the spots anyway? Was it really of any use? She had so many questions, but no answer.
She stepped into the blue door, not feeling as scared as when she entered the two others before. Though, the room was pitch black, she couldn't see a single thing. She took a few steps in, then suddenly, some dark blue curtains shut open. A dull yet strong light illuminated the room peeking through a grimy window. There was a tea cup with a teapot by the window. The teapot was disgusting, its mouth overflowing with cloudy, grubby mold.
Realizing the window had a view of the outside world, she wondered if she could see where she was. She went over the window, but her excitement quickly faded away. The outside looked like it had been painted over. How bizarre... How could there be light if the outside is nothing but paint?
She looked around, but all that was left in the room was a pretty, but very dusty, light blue puffy stool and 2 drawn roses on the ground on each side of the door. She walked over another pair of curtains and opened them, but no window. There was nothing but the wall and a musty smell. She went to the other side and opened the other curtains, but stepped back in surprise. There a rather big hole in the wall, two shining eyes hiding in it.
« Miss? » a mysterious voice hidden in the darkness asked.
« Yes? Who's there? » she questioned back.
« Tell me miss, how does the sky look today? »
« Oh, I... »
She wasn't sure what to answer. It's not like she could see the actual sky outside. She glanced at the painted sky, still hesitating. Then, she smiled awkwardly to the shadows, looking a bit sorry.
« I can't see it from here. »
Honesty was always the best, wasn't it? She didn't want to lie to a stranger. She had no reason to lie anyway.
« I see, thank you... » the voice softly said. « Here, you can have this. »
A blue marble rolled on the ground, hitting her small feet. She picked it up and approached the hole to thank whoever the stranger was, but it seemed that it already left. Could it be the same person in the wall here than in the other room? The thought of it gave her chills. She had done everything she could in this room, she knew it. Getting the marbles was all she was capable to do. She left the room, feeling her heart somewhat heavy.
As soon as she had stepped out of the room, the marble started glowing. She repeated the process that she already did with the 3 other marbles and inserted it into the hole. Then, the light from the very first room she was locked in earlier lit up in a strange red color. She was a bit scared to go back inside, but she knew that she had to do it inevitably. She walked towards the door and tried to open it, but it seemed to be stuck. With her hand still on the handle, she waited a few seconds to make sure there wasn't anyone around or behind the door. Complete silence. She took a deep breath, smelling a sort of scent of blood, and tried to force the door open. After a couple of minutes of pushing the door and turning the knob back and forth, it finally opened with ease.
The air seemed different than before. There a strong smell of blood. She froze in place. There was blood everywhere: the big mirror, the flower bed and at the back of the room. What happened here? When did all of this happened? Although her whole body was trembling from the shock, she approached the flower bed, crimson drops hanging off the flowers' petals. The surface of the mirror has been soiled with fresh blood, which dripped down its frame and onto the floor. She kept walking very slowly to the back of the room, but abruptly stopped.
Right there, on the floor, bathing in blood, was a finger. Its nail was painted in yellow and the bone was visible. It seemed to have been cut off very recently. This was too much for her. She stepped aside and nonchalantly vomited on some flowers. She took a moment to calm herself down. Head down, she realized that there were footprints from the cut finger to the mirror. So there was really someone here? But where did they go? She tried to look around and behind the mirror, but it didn't appear to be any secret passageway or anything. But, whose finger was it? How did they leave without her knowing? And where did they leave? She looked back at the finger. As disgusting it was, she was still really curious.
After she finally got back to her senses, she realized that the finger wasn't just 'placed' there. It was pointing towards the wall. She carefully approached it and saw that there was something written on the wall. Was it there before? Or did the person whose finger got cut off wrote it?
« Illuminated by the sun Between water and fire I rest in the dark side of the moon Awaiting your awakening »
It sounded like a poem. Or maybe was this a message for her? Either way, she had no idea what it meant. She looked at it for a moment before hearing the door opening. She turned around, instinctively clenching her pocket mirror, but there was nothing. No one. She looked at the finger one last time and rushed out of the room.
She repeated the riddle over and over again to herself. She looked around the room, searching for 'water' and 'fire', but there was nothing. Then it hit her.
« Illuminated by the sun between water and fire »
Between the red and blue light, she walked towards the window between them. She smiled, proud of herself, as she picked up a golden marble. She tried to look outside, but it was too bright to see anything.
Althought she was happy that she managed to decipher the message and find the 5th marble, something felt off. What was the last part for?
« I rest in the dark side of the moon awaiting your awakening »
Was this part meant for her? Was someone really waiting here for her? She gulped, feeling a bit scared, and slowly inserted the marble into the last hole of the circle. She looked around: nothing. No one. The last spot at the center was remaining empty, but she had went in every rooms which were all closed shut. She turned around for a few minutes, looking for whatever could help her, but ended up giving up. There was nothing else.
She looked at the last empty spot and wondered. Maybe her pocket mirror would fit in there... She looked at it for a few seconds and inserted it. Suddenly, there was like an earthquake. The room was shaking wildly in a terrifying rumble. She crouched down, eyes closed and her hands on her ears. After a couple of minutes, it finally stopped. It was dead silent again. When she looked up, a staircase had appeared in the corner of the room in front of her. An exit? At last? Full of hope, she took her pocket mirror back and climbed up the stairs.
