Alan woke up. His eyes faced the closed door of the luxurious chamber where he had lain down to sleep. His tightly extended arm, wrapped in the white robe he had donned after freshening up, reached out instinctively. Calling out to him in concern for his abrupt awakening was his wife, who had slept beside him.
"What happened? Everything alright, honey? Did you have a nightmare?" Relecta asked, rubbing his back to provide support as he gasped for breath. Alan realized he had escaped one nightmare only to find himself in another. He blinked his eyes, taking a deep breath, and slowly moved his gaze towards the floor, searching for the one thing out of place before his slumber.
"Where is Armis?" Alan asked, bit by bit regaining control of his breathing. He turned his puzzled gaze, tinged with apprehension, towards an equally puzzled Relecta.
"I'm not sure. I just woke up with you. Everything alright, darling?" Relecta replied, glancing at the floor before returning her concerned eyes to Alan.
He removed the sheet draped over him, an eerie unease guiding his body as the cryptic and ominous words of the being echoed in his ears. He climbed out of the bed and rushed towards the door, opening it with a slam that echoed in the corridor.
As the sound of the wooden door dissipated, so did Alan's apprehension and unease when he found Armis sitting across the hallway, his back leaned against the door of the chamber where Lady Roartad and Longiseus were asleep. Armis was immersed in his book until Alan's sudden action elicited a subtle startlement from him. Lowering his book with wide eyes, Armis asked in a confused tone:
"What? What's wrong?"
"Why are you out here?" Alan asked, his voice tinged with a strange sense of relief.
In response to Alan's question, Armis closed his book, sighing as he stood to his feet. "I was waiting for you two to finish," he replied.
Initially perplexed by Armis's cryptic answer, realization dawned on Alan. He responded, a hint of fluster and blush appearing on both his and Relecta's faces. "Finish what, you idiot? We weren't doing anything!"
"Really? The moans from Relecta that woke me up suggested otherwise," Armis retorted sternly, casting a side-eye at Relecta. Alan looked at her in confusion, causing her cheeks to flush even more as she averted her eyes in embarrassment.
"No! Don't talk like that. We were just asleep, nothing else," Alan retorted firmly as he stepped into the hallway, shooting Armis a cringed gaze. Armis replied with an amused chuckle, "Really? What a shame. You two should have seized the opportunity. Who knows when we'll get another moment of peace like this."
"Huh?" Alan's embarrassment deepened further on both his and Relecta's faces after Armis's comment. Trying to shake off his embarrassment, Alan spoke urgently, his tone tinged with impatience. "Just shut up, Armis, and get ready to move ahead. I'll wake them up."
"Wait!" Armis interrupted as Alan leaned in urgently to open the door of the chamber where Longiseus and Lady Roartad were asleep. He grabbed Alan's hand, causing confusion to flicker across Alan's face before Armis clarified his intervention.
"I don't think we should wake them up," Armis stated firmly.
"Huh?" Alan gasped, furrowing his brows in confusion as he and Armis withdrew their hands from the door handle.
"I mean, I tried earlier, but they were sound asleep," Armis explained, rolling his eyes. He took a deep breath, his voice tense yet resolute. "I know you won't like it when I say this, but he has been very clear about his intentions. He doesn't wanna fight. And even if they come along, right now they won't be much more than dragging baggage to us, if you know what I mean."
Alan initially looked at Armis with a cringed gaze, but as Armis's words sank in, memories of the argument and exchange between him and Longiseus resurfaced. Alan's gaze shifted to the door, contemplation etched on his face. He struggled to decide whether to bring Longiseus and Lady Roartad along, confusion creeping into his eyes.
Armis spoke again, breaking Alan's internal conflict. "Let me tell you what we can do." Alan turned his attention to Armis, who now wore a soft yet stern expression. Tugging at the cascading robe around his tights, Armis continued, "Once we've dealt with whatever creature is waiting for us ahead, one of us—or even you—can return to retrieve them as we move forward. Sounds good?"
Alan pondered, not on Armis's proposal but on his strange nonchalance. The nature of Armis's initiative and suggestion regarding Longiseus's presence seemed borderline suspicious to Alan.
The words of the being echoed in his mind again. However, his trust in Armis overcame his rising suspicion. Finding no hidden motivation behind Armis's actions and words, Alan brushed off the negativity with a shake of his head and voiced a concern.
"But what about the lurking creatures? They would be vulnerable, wouldn't they?"
Armis sighed in mock disappointment and turned back to Alan. "C'mon, Alan. He's asleep, not dead. He'd wake up if something started tearing or ripping through his skin. Both of them are more than capable of fending for themselves for a while, right?"
The logic in Armis's words left Alan momentarily speechless. He nodded, prompting Armis to turn back and start walking ahead, calling out as he did.
"And either way, I'm pretty sure we'll encounter those kinds of creatures first. C'mon now, let's not waste any more time."
As Armis began to lead them forward, Relecta walked ahead of Alan, a blush of embarrassment still glowing on her cheeks. She smiled supportively at Alan, gesturing with her eyes for him to follow. He nodded and began to take steps forward. As they passed three identical chamber doors, Alan glanced back at the chamber where they had left Longiseus and Lady Roartad. Concern started to climb onto his face, almost guiding his steps back.
But then, Longiseus's words echoed in his mind. Alan halted his retreat with a blinking sigh. Trusting in Longiseus's abilities and respecting his choice, Alan turned back and continued forward, trailing behind Relecta and Armis.
"Same!" Armis called out.
"Same here as well," Relecta replied.
"They are all identical," Alan said, emerging from a chamber and voicing the discovery to Armis and Relecta, who emerged from the chambers across the hall. "This is the third corridor. I feel like these are a kind of—"
"Dormitory? Just like at the academy?" Armis interrupted Alan, closing the gate of the chamber he had emerged from behind him. Walking ahead towards the large door at the end of the corridor, Armis began pushing the door open.
Alan, with a cringe at Armis's interruption, replied,
"Sleeping quarters. Why would there be a dormitory in a castle? And don't open the next door yet, we have to find out what is going on. Maybe we are stuck in a loop or—"
Alan began retorting, moving ahead in haste, trying in vain to halt Armis from opening the door.
But as Armis swung the next door wide open, Alan's words halted. The annoyance in his eyes turned into surprise and amazement. This time, behind the similar gate was not the same mundanity of the lush corridor riddled with luxurious chambers.
As the three of them stepped inside, they were greeted with a completely changed structure. In a clearing of carved rocks and stones, a soft and regal-looking rug covered the stony ground, where long flag drapes covered the walls on each side of the three wooden gates, each holding an etching inscribed in an ancient language.
Each gate held a different emblem etched right above the inscription. Taking in the unexpected scene before his eyes, Alan changed the nature of his remark mid-sentence as he finished with widened eyes, "Or maybe not."
"Fascinating…" Relecta remarked, taking in the regal aura mystically present in the air inside the chamber. Her eyes widened with amazement as her feet instinctively guided her toward the gate in front. Her curiosity-filled fingers grazed upon the emblem of a portrait of a woman. Her eyes felt a strange longing, and words slowly crawled up her tongue, but before she could speak, Armis's voice filled the regal air.
"Lord Thaddeus, Warrior of Pompeii!" Armis exclaimed in a proud, stern tone. The familiarity of the name sparked something inside Alan's mind. He swiftly moved towards Armis, following his gaze to the gate he stood before. Looking at the emblem that resembled a portrait of a man with long hair, Alan glanced at the etching before speaking with a tinge of mockery in his surprised tone.
"Hmmph..ah yes, you can read Pompeiian, right?"
"Well, I try. I'm not b—"
"Yeah, yeah, no need to be smug about it, Lord Know-it-all. Read the rest of the lines." Alan cut through Armis's attempt at smugness over his knowledge, eliciting a look of annoyance and anger from him. Before he could retort, Relecta joined them, and Armis turned his gaze to the inscription etched on the door, reading it in his present annoyance.
"Here lies Thaddeus, ...valiant and…true,
Whose blade…once kept…the darkness at…bay,
Yet…in stillness…and sloth, wisdom…grew!!"
Armis smiled smugly, his eyes looking at Alan in expectation of some praise, but Alan had already moved the moment Armis's words had entered the air. Walking towards the gate across the veranda, Alan pointed at the other inscription, ordering Armis in sternness. His expression ensured to prevent Armis's reeling smugness. "Now, this one. C'mon now, Armis, we don't have much time."
Armis's annoyance turned into frustration. Stomping his feet, he moved towards the next gate. With gritted teeth, he retorted to Alan's nonchalant behavior towards him, "I know you're doing this on purpose, and it's not funny."
Alan felt confused by Armis's remark, gasping in puzzlement. He was about to ask for an explanation, but as Armis averted his gaze towards the inscription on the door, Alan shook off his confusion. He gestured to Relecta, and both of them put their guard up, scanning the surroundings, expecting some horror to jump out when Armis's voice filled the air once again, reading the inscription below the emblem of an intricate portrait of a young man with deep eyes.
"Here lies... C... C... Caelum, wise and true!
His mind, a... realm where... visions grew.
Yet sloth, in dreams, his... strength he knew."
"Hmmm, interesting... a scholar," Alan muttered under his breath. Glancing at the first door for a moment, his eyes traveled towards the last door at the front, where Relecta awaited with an eager smile. Puzzlement grew in Alan's eyes at Relecta's behavior. He turned towards Armis, his lips beginning to form into an urge, but he halted when Armis, frustration etched on his face, stomped away towards the last gate, mumbling before the confused Alan,
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Without another word, Armis moved past the equally confused Relecta. He began reading the last inscription below the emblem of an intricate portrait of a young woman on the final gate.
"Here lies... Aveline, the heart of the court!
In... w... w... wisdom! and grace, her love did... report!
Yet... in... s... s... slothful... embrace!... salvation was sought! There, happy?! Now what?!"
His words ended with clear annoyance. Holding a frown and averting his eyes, Armis moved away from the gate, crossing his arms. He stood in silent anger, which received only puzzled and confused gazes from Alan and Relecta, who exchanged glances before corresponding shrugs. Alan, shaking off the confusion once again, glanced at the doors before speaking in a stern, calculative tone.
"So... we are not in a loop, and we have definitely come far," Alan continued before taking a glance outside from the gate they used to enter the veranda. "And, I am sure one of these doors holds the way to move ahead. So…"
Alan's words trailed off in contemplation. Exchanging puzzled looks with Relecta, Alan looked into Armis's annoyed eyes, holding each other's sight for a moment. Armis's annoyance mounted again into frustration as he snapped at Alan's silent gaze, "WHAT?!"
"What?! I don't know, man. Any ideas? My mind is not moving very fast right now. I would appreciate any suggestions," Alan replied, his sigh dripping with mounting tiredness. Puzzled by his own response, he continued, "I don't know, I'm just feeling a little lazy, my eyes are—"
"Nothing special, genius! We're all feeling the same!" Armis retorted, holding Alan in a cringed gaze. "Did you really think a couple of hours of rest would be enough to dissolve the kind of stress we've endured?"
"So what are you suggesting?" Alan asked, looking at Armis with lethargy-filled eyes, his tone holding a hint of mockery with his mounting need for rest.
Armis gritted his teeth, holding back his frustration at Alan's sudden nonchalance. He pushed him aside and, taking a glance around at the options of doors, spoke with conviction, "Well, I think we should split up, take one room each, and try to look for the way ahead. Stay on your toes and if you find something, or... something, I guess, yell for the others. Understood? Guys? Did you get a—"
Armis's conviction faltered first in shock and then more frustration when he saw that, without even waiting for his confirmation or giving Armis confirmation, Alan and Relecta, drowning in their nonchalance, had already proceeded to enter inside each of the rooms. Slamming the gates behind them, they left Armis alone in the veranda with his teeth gritting in frustration and disbelief.
Seeing no other options, his stomps echoed with frustration at his friends as he too opened the gate of the chamber of Lord Thaddeus. He mumbled his frustration a bit before slamming the door behind him, "Couple of jerks, I hate them, frustrating idiots... ———slam!!!!——"
As Armis entered the chamber, his frustration blinded him to the scene before his eyes. His feet moved on their own, shuffling through papers and pieces of armor, until they stumbled upon a cushiony sensation.
Without thinking, Armis laid down on the bed in the corner of the chamber. His eyes reflected only his frustration until the light of the torch inside the chamber reflected off an ornate desk beside the bed, temporarily blinding him.
Straightening up on the bed, Armis rubbed the sudden illumination from his eyes before he opened them to take in the view of the chamber's interior. Apart from the small bed he sat on, the room was filled with an abundance of armor and weapons he had never seen before. Curiosity sparked in his eyes as he recognized some of the swords adorned on the wall beside the bed. Even some helms and chest plates hung beside the weapons seemed familiar to him.
The musk of a warrior and the exuding strength from the armor and weapons dispelled Armis's earlier frustration, replacing it with curiosity that guided him out of the bed. He grazed the fabric and metal of the armor, feeling the weight of the ancient broadswords in his hands. His frown turned into a childlike smirk as he began exploring the room.
On the wall across from him was a tapestry and caricatures that depicted a grand battle. The caricature of a man on a horse standing at the front of an army of countless warriors against an equally numerous opposing force resembled the portrait of Lord Thaddeus etched upon the gate. Fascinated, Armis's fingers grazed the lines forming the caricatures.
Beside the tapestry, Armis saw the source of the reflection that had piqued his curiosity earlier. It was an ornate desk filled with parchments of maps and scrolls, each holding a story of its own.
As he took another glance around the chamber, his fascination turned into admiration for the resident of the chamber. However, sadness also reflected in his visage, as the pristine condition of the armor and weapons spoke of their long abandonment.
"What a waste...—thud!—thud!" Armis mumbled with a sigh. As he blinked and turned back to the desk, his large frame almost collided with a grass dummy standing in the corner. The dummy, previously unnoticed, suddenly caught Armis's attention as he stumbled, shaking the sparse furniture in the room.
"What the hell..." Armis mumbled in annoyance, noticing the dummy's unused condition, similar to the weapons and armor. His attention shifted when he felt a hard fabric near his fingers. His eyes landed on a leather-bound journal lying beside his hand. With a strange apprehension, he picked up the journal and moved to sit on the scarlet bed. Though not initially interested in reading, his curiosity grew as he opened the journal, filling the still air with the crackling of aged paper.
Flipping through the pages, his eyes danced over the black ink on the beige pages. The journal, belonging to Lord Thaddeus, detailed his battles, the army he led, and the glories he had brought to Pompeii. The descriptions of strength and the might of ancient Pompeii left Armis's mouth agape, his eyes gleaming with fascination until they stopped on a particular page. His awe gave way to confusion as he read aloud the words on the page