The freedom hits her like a drug. But it's not the freedom of leaving the room she's been confined to for the past few weeks but the freedom in doing something you shouldn't. Twenty years. For twenty years she did exactly as told. What was best for her. What she should do. Where she should go. Crossing that line, whether in this world or on Earth, send jittering signals up her spine. The goofy smile on her lips still would not fully form yet, unsure of the consequences.
Igore has no such concerns. Giggling her way through the ancient staircase, they pass by the door Cam was first pulled through. It's locked tight. Not knowing if she can speak, Camrin squeezes Igore's hands.
"What?"
"We can talk?"
"Yes, girl you don't need to whisper. This place has literally not seen a soul for decades. I honestly don't know why they put you here anyway. Maybe because it was closest, and they still weren't sure how valuable you were. If you could do what they wanted, then, oh, you would definitely be locked away somewhere they can't reach you."
"They, they, who's they? Is the royal family going to stop themselves from reaching me?"
Rolling her eyes, the girl smiles. "No silly. There's a portion of the advisers that don't agree with... how the royal family is doing things. Just because we're all Qestins, doesn't mean we agree. I'm sure you humans don't."
"Oh, we defiantly don't."
They climb in silence for several minutes, their initial run turning into a walk, breath loud in the air. That makes Cam feel better about her lack of cardiac tolerance, but not enough to forget one small detail.
"Are we invisible?"
"Obvious Camrin"
"Have you ever made someone else invisible before?" Camrin holds her breath while Igore hesitates, but her casual tone passes the radar.
"Sure, why?"
"Nothing really, I'm just so interested. I've never seen something like this in my life."
"Ah, humans. So easily impressed."
"What is it, the least of what you can do?"
"The least that is possible, yes," she says, strangely bitter.
"What else can you do with invisibility?"
"Oh many things. Seeing, Hearing, all of that. Many small things, not that impressive."
"Isn't that usual. We do have those senses."
"No, I mean like, you can see me without realizing you see me."
"Yeah, I noticed you rolling your eyes without actually being able to see you."
"Exactly, that's just because you're under the same powerholder as me. I'm the one using my power over you."
Camrin fights between believing and criticizing Igore's words. What if she's lying? Why is she telling her so much? How can she tell when someone's purposefully misleading her? The questions get more and more relevant in her head the further they climb the stairs, that in the end lead to nothing. Camrin stops suddenly, the feeling of 'freedom' gone.
"Why haven't we left yet?"
"The stairs are magicked to stop people from escaping."
"Magicked? "
"Please tell me that's not a surprise to learn by now."
"No its not. It makes sense."
What doesn't make sense however is the story. Wasn't there nobody here for decades, why would the magic still be in place? And why would they make magicked stairs for the servants that need to get to them. And didn't the guards easily drag her down here? And why would she act like they're going to see anything when she's still trapped down here?
Liar.
It doesn't come out of her mouth, but it spills out through her pores, as they run flight after flight to stairs, until Igore finally says it can't be beaten. She didn't see that from the beginning?
Lila's father always told her that she was extremely gullible. She wouldn't be able to pick up on sarcastic tones or small signals to tell that they were lying. It wasn't only the skill of telling they're lying but the possibility of it too. It never occurred to Camrin that someone would be lying to her. Why would they? It's a random conversation, a harmless interaction.
She realizes now, walking back to her old room, darker than when she first left, that she really needs to work on them. Camrin attempts to give her a smile, invisible no more, but Igore had already sensed the shift in the air and completely shut down. They stare at each other for a second, the girl's lips moving as if to say something, to explain something, as if forced, then shuts all over again. Camrin simply closes the door and stares out the window of her small room, waiting until her steps fade away before finally relaxing.
[Who was that?]
[I did not mean to startle you, my human. I only wanted to check on you. Who was that?] After hearing the story, Lilith thinks for a while.
[Do not judge people so quickly, Camrin. She could be so many things. Keep yourself alert, but your mind open. Never end a beneficial relationship with no proof. Relax for a while. It seems she's fixed the guard issue for you, and no matter her reason for it, it helps you in the end. Tell me, what is there outside this small room?]
Camrin describes the long hallway with the servant's corridor and kitchen.
[I have not been here for centuries, but I do not remember that.]
"The grand kitchen?"
[There were many grand kitchens, none of which have a room like the one you're currently in. Maybe it's nothing. Forgive my fear my human. Having my senses blocked for centuries then the return of that sensation feels utterly dooming. I do not like the inability to sense your location.]
The two beings talk until the dark blocks even the slight of her hand. At some point Camrin registers that she's starving. Nothing knew, not in the slightest, not in both worlds. But there is nothing to do. She has read every single little book they put in this tiny room. Eshika history, folktales, stories about the first Sen that destroyed the world and brought it back to life. Then another one about a qestin that defined the rules of nature and brought a curse upon the land. Then another one explaining the basics of magic. This one she was interested in but could not understand. The book was written in a way that only made sense to those who grew up surrounded by it. Mental capacity, self-powering, dal usage, all terms she could not comprehend, but she needed to know.
Camrin's stomach ached again. Nothing is stopping her from going out. Not Lilith, who she still didn't know how she hid or where she went. And not the guards who are mysteriously not coming back. Maybe there'd still be a little food here and there. Nothing is stopping her.
Expect fear. It's so dark. Dark enough to trip over your own two feet. Still, Camrin opens the door. Slowly at first, then faster, so it would stop creaking. The dark seems to stretch in front of her, to grab her, to hold her. A laugh. Then the sensation stops, leaving Camrin to tremble and wonder on the danger she's soon to face. But it didn't know her. It didn't know that she'd gone without food for weeks or that she was hit until her entire body turned bloody red, or that she was forced to get over her fear of snakes by getting thrown into a pit full of them.
It isn't happy when it sees her stepping forward anyway but lets her go. One step, then two, then three. Slowly, slowly, until she reaches the kitchen. Empty. Every little spot holds nothing but dirt. Frustrated and memoires of climbing the stairs still stuck in her mind, Camrin gets greedy. She wants to go out. Out. The place is small. She moves quickly, a part of the dark that is not a part of her. She wants out. Out. Now, she knows where to go. She remembers this.
The wind that shouldn't be there this deep into the ground picks up. The dark grabs her, angry yet curious. Thrown back, Camrin feels her head hit a corner but not a sound is heard.
Magicked. No sound.
But Camrin is not deterred. One time back in high school, she had planned all day to win a scavenger hunt. It was a small thing, meaningless, but it was something she wanted. And in came a random girl, who randomly found all the clues, like they were lined up just for her. And that's when she learned that plans are always carried out best by those who never plan them. The unrest. The eyes. The angry. It had to boil over somehow. She just couldn't be consciously aware of it.
Fighting against the wind, the dark, she pushes against them, takes a deep breath before the oxygen is wiped from the atmosphere. Her lungs burn, body begging for air. It could have been a minute. A year, A thousand. But they stop. They let her go. Something else catches their attention. Gone in an instant.
Gasping for air on the dirty ground she cannot see, Camrin takes a moment to register the small win she has. She doesn't know with what or why, but somewhere out there, the score is 1-0. Quickly she moves. The stairs. The suddenly unlocked door. The outside. The garden. It's basically all handed to her, as if they want to lead her here.
The garden is not as she remembers. Dry and unimpressive, filling with an encore of voices.
And one of them is her friend.
The blood freezes in her veins.
And the shadows seem to laugh as they let her fall to her knees.