6 What Lies Beneath The Ground

Lyzbeth Heredis

After flying through the distance, we pass by the Chemia Palace. As far as I have heard, it is the king's favorite palace in Scire. The palace is surrounded by walls and battlements that it almost looks like a castle rather than a palace.

"Do you need to go to court?" I ask Romain.

"No. Just drop me down in the nearby village. That's where my family lives."

I try my best to look around for this little village. Then, I saw that just near the bridge towards the palace, a road towards a village is nearby. I followed the road, and there I saw a village already silent.

"Is it normal for this place to be silent?" I ask him.

"Sure is. It can be a little noisy during the day, but at night, people tend to sleep early. These people are merchants and artisans. They had a rough day."

"Is it safe to land?"

"I doubt anyone will see us. If you are worried, just land us behind a tree or something."

I had to make sure of our safety. Near a tree, I land both of us silently. Maybe, I'll just fly home. I doubt anyone would see me flying in the sky at this time of night.

"See you tomorrow at class, Lyzbeth! Don't be late!"

All I could do is give a nod and fly away immediately. 'Tis not that I don't want his company but rather, I still feel awkward about this boy. As I take to the skies, I cannot help but think. Did I make the right decision to trust him? In any case, he is my death.

After half an hour of flying, I managed to find my home. Usually, mother would switch the streetlights in front of our house on, but why is it not on during this time? Anyway, it provides me a nice cover as I land on our backyard. The darkness is just right to prevent anyone from seeing me.

On our front door, I knock it in a specific pattern that mother and I had agreed upon. It goes as three short knocks, a long one, and three short knocks again. If that pattern is not what she hears, then it is certainly not me and she should be worried.

Alright, she's not answering. Maybe she fell asleep or something. Perhaps she's cooking that's why can't hear me. I did the pattern again. Still nothing. After ten times of repeating the same pattern, I am starting to get worried. Why is she not answering? I take the spare key hidden in a flowerpot and open the door myself.

It is dark. This is odd. Mother, who grew up in a land where summer and spring never ceases, cannot stand any and all forms of darkness. She would even go to great lengths of opening all the lights in the house. I have looked all over the house. She's not in the kitchen, sitting room, my room, her room, or even the bathroom. Where is she?

I go into our backyard, and there is even no sign of her. 'Tis too dark. I can't see a thing. That's when I figured. What if I do what she does? What if I also turned on all the lights in our home? And, so I did that. I opened every single switch in the house, including the lights outside our home. Still, there is no sign of her.

The last place is the garden. Now with the garden well lit, I can see the beauty of all the flowers she planted. The garden is a candy for my eye. This is what you get for a Cassidan mother. She would always try to take her home into another land.

As I walk around furthermore, I feel something quite odd. It was as if a voice inside me is telling me to go into the middle of the garden. In the middle, there is nothing special. It is just a little Chrysanthemum plant. There is something off about this plant. Why does that little flower seem to be a bit fake?

It glistens sharply like a mineral with luster. The bluish hue of the plant is more vibrant than the others around it. I feel the stem and it already feels cold. Right, this is downright fake. I pull the plant away and something strange happens. The earth started to rumble. Did I just start an earthquake by pulling that plant away?

Suddenly, I noticed that the shaking stopped. Then, a hole on the ground showed up ever so suddenly. Alright, maybe I created a sinkhole rather than an earthquake. As I look at the hole, I see that there is a stairwell that winds down beneath the ground. I never knew that there is a secret room beneath our home. Did mother make this?

Maybe she is down here. I decided to take the stairwell. Before I go down the ground, I closed the hole shut first. It is too dark to see anything. I use my hand to create a tiny flame to light up the way. There is nothing special around here. It looks like I'm merely going down a stairwell headed for a dungeon. Then again, why would mother have a dungeon beneath our house?

After several minutes of going down the stairwell, I saw the most magnificent place there had ever been. The room is made of gold and platinum. I can see books flying in the air, ordering themselves on the shelves. This is probably the biggest library I've seen in the world. There are several aisles I could take. I just walk down the one in front of me, and suddenly, my way back is shut tight. This is a labyrinth! Why on earth would mother create a labyrinth library?

I don't even know where I'm going. Have I trapped myself in this place? Though I don't know the way, I find it marvelous to see the books in this place. How did mother manage to collect this much knowledge? If one of the students from Scire National High School were to stumble in this place, I bet they'd want to spend an eternity here. This is just too beautiful for the eyes.

But my search for my mother never stops. I kept following the force that's pulling me into a path. Maybe, this is my connection towards her. As I wind through the labyrinth, I find myself getting deeper and deeper into the darkness. Then, I reach the end. 'Tis just a golden wall with platinum adornments.

I put my hand on the wall, and oddly enough, my heart is speaking to me. Mother is behind this wall. I feel the wall enough. I look up and down, and I saw some strange railing marks. What if this wall can just be slid away? I slide the wall to the side, and there! Mother!

She's laying on the floor as if she has fainted. What did she do now? She always denied using The Arts, but right now, there is no possible way for her to faint without using her skills. The room is merely empty. There is only one beautifully crafted mirror. You know, if mother were to sell every item in this underground labyrinth library, we would have enough to support ourselves for a thousand lifetimes. The mirror is already studded with jewels of diamonds, topaz, emeralds, rubies, and amethysts. For the mirror itself, it is made of pure crystals.

Why didn't mother tell me about this mysterious library? Why is she here anyway? In any case, I can't ask her now. With a little sprinkle of my Arts, I lift her up with the pull of my hand. She floats like a dust in the air as I guide her out of this labyrinth. With her with me, the walls opened for us as if they know to respect us. The walls cleared a path for us back to where I came from.

And here we are. We go up the winding stairwell back to the surface. I open the hole again, and I saw that the ground is cleared up as if nothing had happened. What an odd garden indeed. How much more secrets have mother kept from me?

I take her back to her room and I began brewing some potions for her. Of course, I had to pull all my hidden instruments into making the potions. The herbs are no problem since I can just use mother's garden for that. I used various leaves and crushed them together. I take the leaves, the extracts of the fruits, and put them all in a cauldron. With a little incantation, it becomes into a lovely drink meant to restore consciousness to her.

As my mother lies on her bed peacefully, I gently guide her to drink the potion I made. It did not take long for her to wake up. When she opens her eyes, she looks around the room hazily.

"Lizzie, when did you get here?" she asks slowly. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I answer simply.

No more questions. I cannot ask her. I know she knows something, but every question I throw at her, she'll just brush it off. 'Tis better not to ask for I will be merely wasting my time.