1 The Crypt

Langidh Continent. 247 years into the Age of Resurrection. Somewhere in the West.

On the outskirts of a dark and vast forest lay a small village with no name. The inhabitants simply called it as it was: 'the village'. It was a quiet place and only very rarely people passed through. Those who did tend to settle in the village, for anyone wandering off this far did not have any place to go. They were a small community of outcasts, everyone with their own story. However, there was an unwritten rule: The past was to stay in the past.

It was a happy, peaceful little place. One main road passed through the settlement, opening in a plaza that served as a market square. However, with just barely 100 people to call its inhabitants, there weren't enough customers to demand a daily market.

It was usually used to meet up and chat, exchange ideas and what-not. Anyone who truly needed to purchase something would usually go to the seller directly, rather than bother with the empty stalls littering the square. Once or twice, it is told, pedlars found their way to the small community but they couldn't find profit and were quick to move on.

In this one village made up of one road, there was one building that no-one thought fit in: A brothel, also serving as a tavern and an eatery. It stood out like a crooked nail but it had been around so long the villagers had accepted its existence.

Beside that brothel, a grand, tall building, was a small shabby hut. A married couple and their daughter lived there. The mother was a seamstress and the father a lumberjack. This is a story of their daughter: Anna, a 15-year-old girl who spent more time chatting with the female staff next door than she did aiding her parents.

Anna was a young maiden of average build, her skin a healthy tan from being under the sun all day and dull, greyish-brown eyes. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair that she tucked messily behind her ears. Good exercise and regular meals had given her a slightly toned shape, typical for girls from the countryside. Her parents were not farmers but still preferred gathering their food from nature around them. The task of scavenger typically fell to Anna.

She had been sent out again today and was wandering the forest, mushrooms she'd gathered folded into the front of her apron. Anna let out a tired yawn, bringing up one arm to cover her mouth while her other hand clutched onto the pouch at her belly. She was simply dressed, plain cotton that hadn't been dyed and sturdy walking boots.

The forest had been her playground since young. She knew the place like the back of her hand and had long since stopped bothering to stay on the path. Now too she stepped over small bushes and old, writhing tree roots to move through the dense forest.

'It's been hours since I got here… what time is it?'

Anna peeked up at the sun, shading her eyes with one hand. She could see it glimmering through the leaves, according to its position it should be around noon. Her lips stretched into a grimace and she felt a mild headache coming.

She could still hear her mother's words ringing in her ears, threatening her not to return before the sun was about to fall. Her loving shriek was always accompanied by the beckoning wave of her wooden ladle. It was a kitchen implement that served more purposes than serving soup.

With the image of the wooden ladle as encouragement, Anna pushed on, wandering through the forest. She kept her gaze low, lazily scanning the areas around the roots of the trees for mushrooms. Her body had switched to auto-mode while her mind wandered off to explore more stimulating things.

Living in a small village such as hers was a terrible bore. As any healthy young woman, she enjoyed eyeing the fine specimens of the opposite gender. Unfortunately, there weren't enough handsome young men in the village to drool over. The upside was, the few handsome men that were here tended to walk around topless.

Anna's lips curled into a pout and her leg swung out to lightly kick against a tree. She'd planned to go to the farming plot today to watch the farmers' sons when her mother had sent her on errands.

Their tanned, chiselled muscles glistening with droplets of sweat always brightened her day. You could see each muscle in their back react to their slightest move, their figures radiating strength and power. Their image filled her mind and she fell into a daydream, a thin sliver of drool trickling from the corner of her lips.

Anna reached up to wipe away the drool, in the same moment also deciding to come to a stop and rest a little. She once more raised her gaze only to flinch in surprise. Her eyes flew wide open and her body instinctively moved back a half-step.

'HUH?!'

Before her stood an old stone building, a building she had never seen before or even heard of. The aura around it was heavy and the sky seemed darker than it should be for the time of day, but Anna, young and inexperienced, didn't even notice.

It looked like the crypts she heard big cities built for the rich, except there was no door. The entrance was open.

'Huhuhu- this is basically an invitation!'

Entertainment was scarce in these parts of the world and her heart skipped a beat in excitement. The corners of her lips tugged up into a cheeky smile.

'Big sisters, just wait till I tell you about this! You'll be so jealous!'

Never mind precaution, she was going in.

Anna wrapped the mushrooms carefully in her apron and placed the bundle at the foot of a tall tree before the crypt's entrance. She'd hate to lose them inside, that'd be sure death upon returning home.

———

The moment her foot set down on the stone plate marking the threshold, a cold shiver ran down her spine. All light that should be shining in from the outside vanished, leaving her in absolute darkness. The sudden, inexplainable plunge into pitch black scared her. Her breathing quickened. Her body was itching to run back into the light but her curious mind egged her to move on.

'Don't be a chicken, Anna!'

Anna's teeth dug into her lower lip, her hands, clammy, nervously gripping onto her cotton skirt. She was staring into what she assumed to be the inside of this crypt. She still hadn't dared move forward inside.

'M-maybe I shouldn't go further…'

She vigorously shook her head the moment the thought formulated in her head, her fists tightening around the folds of fabric. An unfamiliar sense of determination welled inside her chest.

'No! When will I ever get a chance like this again? Let's go!'

With just a smidgen of hesitation, she brought one hand from her skirt, stretching it out the side until her fingertips brushed against a cold surface. The wall. She took a deep breath and started moving forward with quick steps, planning to rush deep inside before she had time to regret.

She had been at the top of a flight of stairs. It took a few minutes to reach the bottom and by then her eyes had grown accustomed enough to make out basic shapes. She seemed to be in a hall. She could see the end of it from where she stood so it wasn't too big. In the centre of the room was a dim light source radiating a pale blue.

Anna walked up to it. It was a necklace made of what looked like a precious stone. It was resting on a podium that reached her waist. It was breathtaking. She couldn't take her eyes off the jewellery and before she knew it she was holding it in her hands.

'Eh? I don't remember picking this up?'

For a split second, doubt and fear flicked in her heart but it was repressed by an invisible force. Warmth and comfort seeped into her pores and calmed her down.

Anna bit down on the inside of her cheek, her lips curving up into a smile as the gazed down at the pale blue necklace.

'I wonder if this would look good on me~ Pale blue isn't really my colour though… maybe I can sell it for riches instead?'

Her hands clenched in excitement at the thought. Money was always a good thing after all.

'I-I'll try it on. Just this once! Carefully, so I don't damage it… or that miserly old man will never give me a good price for it!'

She was referring to the owner of the village pawn shop. People went to him to sell any remnants of their past life they wished to discard and he always found a way to sell them to the outside world if they didn't come to reclaim their item.

At that moment Anna could not fathom the possibility that no one would willingly buy this necklace. Even if they wanted to, the price would exceed a multiple of the entire village's worth- no, not even a whole kingdom could afford this priceless curse.