Chapter 22: Chapter 22 – Ruins

Shi found herself waking up once more in the white room she was previously in— the old ruins underneath the desert— if it could be called such.

She could tell almost immediately that something had changed. Her body was still the same— unchanged— yet something within her was different; she could feel it. She didn't know what it was though. No matter how much she tried to figure out what those things were she couldn't.

'What did grabbing the book do?' She thought to herself, as she rose her wary eyes off the ground and peered around the room.

Her head had a slight ache to it, and her mind was something dizzy still, yet it was something she could ignore. It felt in a way, how she would normally feel after jumping off the bed too fast— mild and fading with time.

She didn't have time to pay attention to it either because as she peered around the room, she noticed the changes to it.

The walls that were previously pure white now looked dirtied and old. The entire room looked like all the life was sucked out of it; leaving it to wither away with the passing of time. Only, the passing of time came a lot quicker than it should.

"Is it going to collapse?" She worried out loud to herself, yet no one could give her an answer to her worries.

Worried that the ceiling might fall and cave her in, forever trapping her in a tomb under the sandy ocean, she looked up at the ceiling above.

It was at this moment that she noticed the most important change yet— in her opinion.

The ceiling was no longer that of a painting that depicted a grand war like it was before; instead on it were words carved in a language she had never seen before. It wasn't the same language as the book— no that language was far more complex than this one. This one just seemed old and unknown, at least to Shi that was.

"The Old King Lays Here" She muttered to herself as she looked up at the writing that decorated the ceiling.

As soon as those muttering left her mouth, her eyes widened in shock. Shock that she could understand a language that she had never seen before in her life. Shock that she could read it so perfectly that she did it without even thinking. And shock about this being that was called the 'Old King'.

"Is this a tomb?" Her eyes gazed around the room once more. She had seen everything in it when she first arrived, which was the reason why she was unsure how this could be a tomb, "Where's the coffin then?" Was the question that left her stumped, until she realize where the coffin was.

"It's inside me." Her eyes landed on the pedestal where the orb previously floated gracefully, now gone from its grasp— absorbed into her. She figure that the orb was probably the tomb of this being that was called the Old King; it was the only explanation she could come up with.

What she didn't understand was why it did what it did.

'A tomb implied the being was dead, so how could it possibly have created those illusions for me to see. Most importantly, why would it give me a choice like that. What does it want from me?' She thought to herself. The possibility of that being wanting to use her seemed unreal to her.

Why would a being so strong, a being capable of making a tomb like this and keeping it brand new, want anything to do with her? Was it mere chance? A lucky— or maybe unlucky— encounter?

'I don't believe in luck.' Shi said to herself as she shook her head. Luck was merely an excuse used by people that couldn't take control of things into their own hands; something to blame when things don't go the way they want them.

Shi didn't want to make excuses, nor did she want to blame anything. This was her fault. She touched the orb without knowing what it might be. She made the decision to take the book even if the choice was all she had. She was the one that was in control of her own life— and only her.

Some book wasn't going to change that. Some orb wasn't going to change that.

She may not know what the orb did to her yet— she may not even know what it was— but she sure as hell was going to find out. "This room should have some answers, at least i hope so."

As she was stepping down the pedestal, she realized the power that filled the stairs and made them affect her was now gone. This allowed her to freely move about the room, unaffected by the force from before.

Moving down the steps one at a time, she began to walk around the room.

The room wasn't as large as she first thought, now that she could get a good view of it. At most, it was just somewhat larger than her own bedroom, but it was much more empty than that.

She was inspecting every inch of it only to come to the realization that the only thing in the room was the pedestal in the center and the pillars to keep it up. While the walls and the ceiling may have changed from the orb being absorbed nothing was added.

"How annoying, yet another thing i don't have an answer to. The list just keeps getting longer and longer with no answer in sight." Her self-deprecating voice echoed in the empty room as her thoughts were shared with no one.

She was getting tired of having things forced onto her, without any control over them. She was getting tired of always having more questions than the had answers— it was annoying.

With a sigh escaping her frowning lips, she stopped looking around the room. She couldn't find anything in it that would be of importance. She especially couldn't even find a way out.

"This is going to be problematic." She didn't even bother hiding the annoyance in her voice as she said that loudly.

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She couldn't think of any way to get out of this stupid ruin. She did remember the way she came in, the hole in the ground that she fell through. The only problem with that was she didn't know how deep she fell— nor did she have the ability to climb it all the way up even if she did.

Her only choice at this point was to find a new way out and fast. She could tell that the ceiling was going to give way anytime soon under the withering, and if that happened she would be crushed to death.

"I can't stay here forever. I need to get out of here!" She said aloud, hoping that someone would hear her and respond to her call. Yet there was no reply. She was alone in this room, and she knew it.

"Crap!" Just as Shi was lost in thought, she heard the sound of rock breaking. The dust falling from above was all the proof she needed that the ceiling was crumbling even faster than she thought. Too fast. This left her with no time to think of a way out. And digging wasn't even an option with this type of speed.

'Maybe i could go back through the tunnel?' She glanced over at the gap in the wall which she came through, only to see a piece of rubble from above falling down right there; blocking the hole and her only way out.

'Damnit Kami, do you really hate me that much?!' She grumbled in her head to god.

This was just going to shit for her. It was literally like the very world was against her on this journey. So many bad things happened right after the other.

From her mother being taken, to her own death, then when she finally started she was attacked by bandits; escaping the bandits she was then attacked by an overgrown worm, only to fall into a cave where she touched an orb and got sucked into a dream world. Now she was about to be crushed to death.

And all this in less than a month. A Month!

Her eyes glanced around quickly, side to side. Her instincts kicked in as she tried to find a way out of this predicament. Her senses were enhanced to the point that she could hear the cracking happening within the very walls; she could feel the vibration in the ground from the changing of position; she could even see the slight shifting in the ceiling before parts of it fell.

That was when an idea came to her mind, 'Maybe i could use this. It might be the only thing i could do here. If it does cave in, i might be able to find a gap in the ground and get out.' It was a far shot, a very far shot.

Shi knew that but she didn't have any other choice; she just hoped that her bloodline would help her through this.

Rumbling. The ground shook as another piece of the ceiling broke off and fell onto the ground; shattering in a cloud of dust.

Her eyesight was sharp, and it was thanks to that she spotted it— sunlight. When another large chunk of the ceiling fell out, covering the tunnel back even more, she spotted a hint of sunlight. Or rather light in general.

Either way, to Shi this was a good sign; it was a way out from this tomb. She had to time this just perfectly because she knew that if she moved too early or too late she would be screwed.

She waited. She counted. Each second in her mind trickled down like sand in a glass. '6, 7, 8,' Her mind was racing, only outdone by her heart.

She was terrified— she knew that if she messed this up she would die. Her journey ends here without her finding her mother or any answers. She had to be perfect and that idea terrified her. Shi was never perfect, never had been, and probably never will be; so the idea of having to be perfect to survive wasn't comforting.

'Now!' She shouted in her mind as she dashed forward; the adrenaline filling her body to make it move.

Her eyesight was so precise that she saw the cracks in the stone as it formed, she timed it perfectly for when it was going to fall so that she could use it to her advantage.

She ran towards the falling piece of the ceiling; using her powerful legs she pushed it off the ground. Her goal was to reach the falling rubble as a leverage point, pushing off it as well to reach higher.

'It worked!' She didn't have time to celebrate. She dug her fingers into the soil as she pulled her body up and into the gap that lead to the light.

It took great body strength for her to do something like this. For her to be able to pull up her entire body with nothing but her hands. She knew that if it wasn't for her vampiric nature, she wouldn't be able to do this.

She had another reason to thank it, thank the blood that flowed in her.

Pulling her body up from the gap, she could finally use her legs to climb now. She pushed off the other side of the gap, allowing her to climb up further.

It was right there, the light she saw, she was so close to reaching it. She couldn't stop— she didn't stop.

With one last push that carried all her strength behind it; she reached the light. Falling onto the ground of wherever she reached— a relief sigh escaping her lips as she laid.

"I'm alive."

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