16 Choices

I stood still, exactly where I was standing when everything went dark. I had not taken a single step for a few minutes. Rather, I was waiting for something to happen.

"Test of patience, perhaps?" I started talking to myself.

When I began getting tired, I sat cross-legged on the ground.

Literally nothing happened for quite a long time, before I decided to stand back up. It was feeling like my brain was jammed; there were no instructions, and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do. Eventually, for the first time, I stepped forward to explore the room.

I walked slowly for a while, but didn't find anything. I knew I had made quite some distance to the hidden passage I was sent in from, but I was yet to reach a wall or any other object.

"Maybe I'm missing something..." I said and turned around to walk back towards where I came from. But before I acted on my thoughts, lights of various colors appeared ahead; illuminating the tunnel which was surrounding me. Flying, bright-colored dust-like particles were creating all sorts of relaxing and satisfying visuals... some kind of "eye sugar", I could call it.

I looked back before I started walking again. Indeed, I had made quite a lot of distance without hitting anything on my path. So much, in fact, I could not see the wall that was supposed to be somewhere behind me.

I kept walking forwards. As I was walking, those colorful light-emitting particles were slowly getting out of my way; either moving with the flow of air, or possibly some other power. I wanted to try touching one of them. Moving my hand to the side, I got a few of them in my palm. They were giving me a warm, pleasant tingling sensation. But soon afterwards, they went dark and disappeared.

I swung my hand around to get a few more. I was enjoying the feeling, but just like the previous ones, these new ones also faded out soon after I held them.

I stopped playing around with the magical dust and started walking again. The tunnel was making a slight turn here, with an increasing inclination downwards. I kept following the path.

After I made a roughly 90 degree turn, I came upon an intersection. The tunnel was splitting into two, one path on the right and another one on the left. They were looking identical.

I walked to the intersection and stopped there. The paths were leading further down, each with a stone ladder-like structure which I could climb down.

I looked back. The third option was to go back up.

I was hesitant to continue. What would happen if I went to a wrong direction? Moreover, Ms. Saka was looking very worried about me going in here... She probably knew something I didn't, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out by experience.

Thinking of all these, I had a flashback to Mr. Engin's own words a while ago - that I would surely be scared, soon enough.

But, on the other hand, I really wanted to learn the backstory of this mountain cache. I was going to prove that I was capable of doing what it takes to find out everything.

"I came this far." I said. "Let's finish what I started."

I looked down into the two paths once again. Still, nothing had changed. They were two identical paths.

"Well..." I said. "I can always climb back up and go the other way if I need to."

I started carefully climbing down the stone ladder on the right. The descent was roughly about five meters. I found myself in the beginning of another tunnel.

As soon as I jumped down from the ladder, a large rock slided to block the way back up. I was very anxious.

"I guess I won't be going back, then." I said and continued into the tunnel. At the end of this short tunnel, there was an intersection similar to the one I had just seen; paths on left and right, both leading down. However, this time, I knew that once I made my desicion, there was no going back.

The moment I looked down the tunnel on the right, I heard a voice. It was the voice of... some people. I could hear some random cheerful chatting, children laughing and running around. Amongst all these voices, I heard a few familiar ones.

"Nice to have you with us." - It was Sena.

"Indeed. We are grateful for everything you did." - and Ms. Saka.

"It is nothing, don't even mention it... I just wish we could meet sooner." - and this was... my aunt!

"Where is dad?" a kid's voice echoed.

"Oh, well, he is up there." The man replying to the boy was Mr. Idris. "Looking down from atop the tunnel."

Looking down from atop!

I launched myself back from my vantage point, with my heart beating like crazy. Breathing rapidly, I tried calming myself down.

"This is not real, these are just illusions, you know that."

After recovering from my panic, I went to peek into the other path, the one on the left. The moment I looked down, I started hearing voices of people again. But this time, the voices were not as nice. Children were screaming - not in joy, but in pain. People were crying and uttering random words. And again, amogst this chaos, the familiar voices were there.

"Help! It is taking me!" Sena was crying her lungs out. "Father!"

"Why would it come to this!?" Ms. Saka was sobbing.

"Terror! Endless!" This was my aunt.

"Father, help!" Sena's voice dominated everything once again.

"I'm sorry." - I could hear Mr. Idris now as well.

"Mister, mister!" a small boy was crying. "Dad will come to help us, won't he?"

"If he wishes to do so." Mr. Idris said.

I got away from the tunnel.

"No." I said. "No, no, no; this is outright wrong! It doesn't make sense, nothing adds up here!"

I didn't want to go down either path, but if I wanted to continue; I had to make a choice.

"He is not ready for it!" Ms. Saka's words echoed in my mind. Undoubtedly, I was yet to see a lot of things I wouldn't want to.