HURRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME

[unstill_life]

[ you have been here long enough

it's a hallway on the second floor, you can tell as much, the darkness familiar. but instead of cold stone floor under your feet there's flowers, sprouting out from cracks in the walls and the ground, softening the path. the hallway twists, heading at a sharp incline.

the only movement is the rustle of a silver snake, brushing its way through the pale white and purple flowers, heading down the spiral of the hallway. you're almost there. ]

Comments

[hotstud]

[. . . what the hell is going on.

but of course, I am going to see where the hallway will take me.]

[unstill_life]

[ the snake circles down the hallway, down, down -- until you see a set of golden doors, the flowers continuing under the gap beneath them. the doors look heavy but not impossibly so. ]

[hotstud]

[man, why is there even a silver snake here that is bringing back memories :'(

but yes, definitely going to push the doors open.]

[unstill_life]

[ EXCEPT

you can't push them open, no matter how hard you try, with brute force at least. suddenly there's an urge inside you, a feeling -- you have to say your wish, your desire, here. ]

[hotstud]

[well, I can push while saying it!]

I want my friends back, dammit!

[unstill_life]

[ what did the door do to you

it seems to find this wish acceptable, however, and it swings open as you're pushing (enjoy that momentum). the flowers lead inward into a dark room; you can see the faint outlines of tables, but the only well-lit spot is a pedestal in the center, with a necklace on it. you can't see its details from here at the entrance. ]

[hotstud]

[yeah I am going to fall flat on the ground, head first. but after I gather my bearings and made sure no one else saw that, I will check out what is going on.

nothing seems to be dangerous, so he's heading towards the center of the room to follow the light.

let's see this necklace!]

[unstill_life]

[ the necklace has a silvery-blue cross on it. it is laid out very appealingly.

don't you want to put it on ... ? ]

[hotstud]

[oh no

why this

this is making me sad

he clasps the pendant on his fist strongly before putting it on.]

[unstill_life]

[ the pendant throbs as if with unleashed energy as you put it on, and there's a feeling of -- fulfillment, as you feel the rush of power, of skills that had been lost returned to you, slotting neatly back into place as if they had never been taken away in the first place.

you feel like you are almost finished. ]

[hotstud]

[can I just

cry here for a moment]

[unstill_life]

[ sure

but before you can do that for too long -- you wake up, the pendant missing from your grasp but its coldness lingering, as if you were just touching it. the dream is vivid in your memory and you are in your room, but you know the way back to the golden door, even if the flowers are not on the ground.

you know that your abilities -- your wish -- will be through that door. ]