Chapter 541 - Trinity – Down The Rabbit Hole (VOLUME 3)
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Trinity
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Is it bad that I literally felt like Alice as I fell through the passageway to the dark Fae realm? And I was literally going into a strange and unknown land. As long as I didn't need to eat some messed up mushrooms and desserts, or drink the tea, then I would be fine. I most definitely wouldn't be eating anything down here.
Not to mention that the bitch I was after was loonier than the hatter and that fucking cat combined. And there was also the fact that this was bound to be a horror land instead of a wonderland.
I needed to stop thinking these stupid thoughts, though. I was heading into the belly of the beast to face the truest of monsters in this battle. I needed to focus, still, it was too easy to make the jokes as a way to break the tension that I was feeling, so I understood why I was doing it.
I tried to stop joking and focus on that light that was steadily getting brighter at my feet. It wasn't an actual bright light. It wasn't white or yellow or pure light of any kind.
In all actuality, the light that I could see was a sickly greenish and purple mix. It was like a special effects light that was being filtered through some hazy fog or something. It was definitely not normal, that's for sure.
Finally, I landed lightly on my feet at the bottom of the large, stony tunnel. I felt like I had been set down gently on my feet by someone who had been carrying me the whole time. It hadn't been a dangerous fall at all, and yet, that fact alone kind of creeped me out.
I took a moment to look around me, where it was that I had landed. The tunnel had literally been hollowed out of the stone in this underground cavern. It was made of dark gray stone that was covered in dirt and growing vines. In front of me there was a hazy fog that just stood there. It wasn't swirling, it wasn't moving, it was just there.
The fog was a light green in color, and I could tell that it wasn't normal in any way. To me, this was a barrier meant to keep out people, or other things, that weren't supposed to be in here. It didn't seem like it was here to keep things in, it was specifically meant to keep things out. Most likely things like non Fae and non magical beings. I should, hopefully, have no trouble passing through it.
"Well, let's see if I can make it past this stupid thing." I said to myself as I tried to move past that last barrier to the dark Fae realm. I stepped forward quickly, not wanting to draw out the motion any more than I needed to.
Moving forward felt like I was passing through a thick, sticky cloud. Not that I have ever moved through a cloud, but I didn't know what else to call it. It was soft to the touch, but it was hard to move through and felt like it was clinging to me. I just wanted to make the sensation of the fog go away.
Finally, I passed through it. The moment that I was past the strange fog, all feeling and sensation from that thick, sticky substance just disappeared with it. It was still there behind me but it wasn't clinging to me anymore.
When I first saw the hazy fog, I hadn't been able to tell how big of an area it took up to begin with, but it filled at least ten feet worth of the tunnel's length. And it felt like it had taken me forever just to walk that ten feet through it. Whatever magic it was that had made that haze accepted me through it, but it felt like it had done so begrudgingly.
Now that I was past it, I was able to see what was around me. I was finally able to see the dark Fae realm and it wasn't pleasant.
I had a feeling that when the lands of Fae split, all that was left behind was the hideous, ugly places that no one wanted. Not even the dark Fae would want to be here. This place was truly hell.
There were large, black, jagged, volcanic looking rocks that shot up out of seemingly nowhere. There were trees, but they looked scorched and burned, like there was no life in them, yet they still bore fruit. The fruits that were on the trees that I could see were red, gray, or black. They looked like blood, ash, and rotten things. The leaves on those trees looked like they were already shriveled even as they bore new buds for its fruit. The tree and everything on it looked like it was born dead and decayed.
The lands here actually mirrored the clearing where the battle was taking place. It was the same place only backwards and more evil looking. Even the ocean that I could see past those large rocks looked disgusting and evil. It was blood red and seemed to reflect the black sky that was above it.
And now that I mention it, there was actually a sky in here. I hadn't expected that at all. The sky was almost pitch black, and there was what looked like a black sun floating behind gray and red clouds. It looked to me like there was no life to be given by that sun or the sky, but there were still birds flying in the distance. Hideous, skeletal looking birds but they were birds nonetheless.
And there was nothing about the way this place looked that could hold a candle to the way that it smelled. Rotten. That was the only word for me to use to describe what this place smelled like. The fruits that were growing on the trees smelled putrid and disgusting. The spray of the waves from the water crashing into the bottom of the cliffs, which is usually a pleasant enough smell back in the worlds filled with light, smelled like rotten fish and iron.
It was almost like the water itself was pure blood, like the sea had been filled with the enemies of the dark Fae. It still smelled salty, but it wasn't the salt of the ocean air that I was used to. This was just not right at all.
I couldn't see any houses where I was at, but there was what appeared to be a city in the distance. I didn't know if Solanum had gone in that direction or not, but I would find her, eventually.
"SOLANUM!" I yelled out for her. "WHERE DID YOUR COWARDLY ASS RUN OFF TO!?" I said the words in as loud of a voice as I could muster. I wanted to make sure that she heard me no matter where she was. "COME ON GRANNY! DON'T YOU WANT TO SAY HI TO YOUR DEAR SWEET GRANDDAUGHTER?"
I knew that last part would draw her out of hiding.. She truly did hate anything that connected her with me in a familial sense.