Chapter #7Chloé Falls Down the Well by: Marvusum   Chloé let out a deep sigh as she held a thick book in her arms, having just finished reading another fairy tale from Firene. Many months had passed since she and her friends had saved the world from the Fell Dragon, after which peace quickly returned to every corner of the continent. This left the pegasus knight with lots of free time, which she often spent in the Somniel to get some time alone, away from her noble life. She turned over the book she had been reading and smiled softly.
“What I wouldn’t do to go on another big adventure, just like Alice...”
There was a hint of sadness in her voice. While she was happy that there was peace in the world once again, after everything that had happened during the war, she desired for more excitement in her life. It was a longing so bad it was keeping her awake at night, often fantasizing about adventures she’d love to go on from the many fairy tales she had read, and the stories told by the Emblems that fought alongside her during the war. But the Emblems were gone now, meaning she could no longer ask the countless questions she had for each of them about their adventures. Firene, and Elyos at large had always been peaceful. Which made her position as a knight seem redundant, yet it was still far more preferable to be bored as a knight than to suffer being a noble.
Chloé sat on the ledge of the well in the Somniel, wearing the casual dress she always wore while she spent her time there. It was a place few people came to, letting her read undisturbed. The only one that came to her side was Sommie, the Somniel’s Guardian Spirit. It always looked happy and loved attention, but today it seemed as if it needed to be near Chloé at all times. She didn’t mind however, she thought Sommie was incredibly cute, gently petting it from time to time when she was busy reading.
She got down from the well and stretched her arms while holding the book. As she was ready to return to the main building, a strange ticking sound came from behind her. Confused, Chloé turned around to see a faint glow coming from the well. She walked towards it to look inside, but couldn’t see what was causing it to appear. The glow seemed to only be there on the outside, the inside a dark void like normal. Not wanting to leave this mystery alone, she boldly reached into the well, attempting to see if there was anything to grab; she had heard from Alear that sometimes there were strange items that could appear inside.
As Chloé reached out, her book slipped from her other hand and fell into the well. “Oh no!” Fortunately, she was quick to react and grabbed the book before it fell into the dark abyss, nearly falling into it herself.
“Phew… that was a close one…” she said with a sigh of relief.
It was then that Chloé realized she was stuck leaning over the well. She tried to look around, seeing if there was anything to hold onto to pull herself up. She considered calling out for help, but there was nobody nearby except Sommie.
“Oh dear, S-Sommie? Are you still there? Could you look for someone to help me?”
Chloé was never sure if Sommie could understand what she or anyone else said to it, but it was worth a try. Unfortunately, she felt a sudden push on her behind as it jumped onto her, pushing her into the well.
“SOMMIE NOOOOOoooooo!” Chloé screamed, growing faint until there was silence. Sommie seemed satisfied, turning around and leaving the well.
Chloé feared for her life as the light from the outside quickly faded. She was falling helplessly in a spiral down the well, terrified for when she would inevitably hit the bottom. Instead, she kept falling and falling, feeling herself being pulled into different directions. Everything was pitch black and she could only hold on tight to the book she had, praying for her own safety on the way down.
She soon spotted lights appearing below; was that the bottom of the well? But as soon as she saw them, they flew past her. Was the well endless? She desperately looked for something to hold onto to stop herself from falling any further, but there was nothing. As her spinning slowed, she spotted a number of items flying past her; some even falling with her before going back up. She spotted a large grandfather clock floating nearby her, its ticking echoing through the deep void, vanishing when the bell rang.
Next, she saw an altar from Firene with the Ring of the Caring Princess, then the Ring of the Dawn Maiden. She desperately tried to reach out to equip them in hopes that the Emblems would reappear to help her, but they too vanished after floating out of reach. Chloé then fell into a giant bed that she recognized to be Princess Céline’s bed, bouncing straight off it and losing her grip on the fairy tale book. It fell faster than her and opened up on its own, all of its pages coming loose and surrounding her.
“No, not the book!” Chloé cried as one of her favourite stories fell apart in front of her. But the book was shedding pages, it started to grow in size, and soon became twice as big as her. The book then violently closed itself with Chloé in between, but instead of being crushed by it, the book and its pages vanished into magic sparkles.
“I-I’m okay? I’m okay!”
Unsure how she was still alive, she spotted a large blue orb with a small star constellation coming towards her; it seemed as if it was shot at her, barely missing her and disappearing just as quickly as it appeared. She continued falling as familiar objects from Firene and the other nations of Elyos flew past her that she recognized: A statue of the Divine Dragon, a table set with tea, a throne from Elusia, and various flags of the nations she knew. After it all had flown past her, she spotted a mirror below, bracing for impact once again as she flew right into it, only to go through just fine, as if it were never really there.
At this point, Chloé believed that she was in a dream, even if it felt so real. If this was, it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Yet she had been falling for so long, surely this dream wouldn’t be just her falling endlessly? It was then that she saw what she thought was the bottom of the well. She was filled with dread as she closed her eyes, only to suddenly slow down in midair as her dress widened and floated down gently.
“W-What? How is this possible?”
It felt as if she was back on her trusty pegasus as she was slowly descending to the ground, finally giving her the chance to look at her surroundings. The stone bricks from before were gone and it wasn’t pitch black anymore. The walls were highly decorated in a familiar, yet peculiar way. She kept trying to recognize what she could see; it seemed as if the architecture was styled after the Somniel, but warped.
Chloé looked down again to see how much deeper the well itself was and found that she was only a couple of feet above the ground. Preparing to land, she stayed perfectly still as she gently fluttered onto the floor. She looked around, seeing that she was inside of a small room with a small corridor and a door in front of her. Whatever her dream had come up with, she couldn’t help but become excited for what was to come, wondering what would surprise her next.
Before moving on, Chloé brushed off her dress and fixed her hair, which was mysteriously still in perfect condition despite all the twisting and turning she had gone through. She was thankful to have made it down in one piece, excitedly moving through the corridor.
“What an incredible dream! I wish all my dreams were like this one… but I bet that as soon as I go through the door I will wake up once more...” Chloé pouted, expecting disappointment. As she kept walking, she found that the corridor was getting smaller and smaller, eventually forcing her to duck her head as she opened the door… only to find another, even smaller door. Confused, she opened the second door, seeing a third door that was even smaller. Wondering how many doors there were, she opened it to find that it was the final one. With a sigh of relief, she knelt down and crawled through the door, barely fitting through.
When Chloé stood back up she found herself in another room…   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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