In a far away land ruled by fear, Eclipse finds herself waking up in an unfamiliar labyrinth, with no recollection of how she got there or where she truly is. Her only company is a girl who claims to be her long lost sister - who tells her it’s up to her to defeat the Queen.
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The Bose, Garden
Eclipse stared at the twisted green vines that surrounded her, as her hand landed on the uncharacteristically soft green grass she was lying on. Her body felt weak and tired but that wasn't anything she wasn't used to; she could deal with pain. It was the fogginess that clouded her mind that felt unfamiliar.
Still, this was the first time in over a decade she'd felt some semblance of powerlessness, a feeling she'd lacked since she'd learned how to defend herself. Her weapon of choice was a sword, specifically her sharp silver one with a woven handle. It would always be her main weapon, one of her most prized possessions, she'd stolen it herself, from one of the cutthroat pirates who often frequented the coastal town of Quarlia where she'd grown up. Now however, she didn't have her sword, and her mind still felt hazy.
She knew she was missing something, some critical piece of information. She supposed she could've been brought here in her sleep but that still left out the question of just where she was exactly? And even that didn't explain how this place was so nice.
Roses lined the tall leafy walls that partly encased her, and she felt thoroughly out of place in these luxurious expansive gardens. Places like this were typically reserved for the capital, Rosarium, where the ridiculously overpowered monarchy lived.
Eclipse pushed herself up into a sitting position, talking a good look at her surroundings, noticing more than just the bright green of the grass or the complimenting shades of emerald that coloured the leafy bushes. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the red of the roses. They were the most stunning shade of ruby. She'd never seen roses so red, no one had, they were the type outlawed in every garden except one. The Queen's.
Which begged the simple question: How did a lowly thief like herself find herself trapped in the Queen's garden?
And more importantly, who was the girl lying unconscious less than ten feet away?
Eclipse always prided herself on being observant, a skill she'd developed out of necessity rather than desire. She almost always needed to be aware of her surroundings, that was a part of her job. Still, she almost couldn't believe she'd missed the unconscious girl, who was lying almost beside her.
Blaming it on her foggy mind, Eclipse brushed a few stray strands of her hair out of her eyes, looking again at the girl, before tying the majority of her hair into a high ponytail, keeping it out of the way, before she approached the girl cautiously, taking in her torn, pale pink ballgown of a dress and the way it was speckled with mud. Why would someone wear a dress like that here? No matter how nice these gardens seemed to be, this was definitely not the place for a ballgown. Whoever this girl was, she was clearly some form of nobility, even if she didn't seem the type to care about the state of her clothing.
Could she be responsible for dragging her here?
Eclipse doubted it, the girl appeared to be an innocent. Likely never having so much as even held a sword before, in a way Eclipse envied her. She would've loved to have had that luxury.
Speaking of swords, Eclipse suddenly missed hers, as the girl started to stir next to her.
Improvising quickly, Eclipse picked up a stick and pointed it directly at the girl. Despite her gut feeling the girl was innocent, experience had taught her that her gut could be wrong and that it was by far safer to air on the cautious side.
"Who are you?" Eclipse demanded, doing her best to sound threatening, her voice came out dryer than she would've liked. And she absentmindedly wondered how long she'd been out for, judging by the sun's position, at least twelve hours.
The girl moved slightly, her eyes fluttering open and her arm stretching, clearly sensing no danger in her current predicament. She either knew too much about this situation or was painfully oblivious.
Eclipse repeated the question her voice unwavering. And as if only now realising she had company, the girl turned her head to look at her. Before reluctantly answering, her voice coming out rough, quiet and thoroughly unintelligible.
"What was that?" Eclipse pressed, she couldn't deal with mumbling. Especially when she needed answers. She didn't have time to waste on this, she needed to get home, she had a life, a job she needed. She didn't have the privilege of getting time off, even when she'd gotten kidnapped.
"Elana." The girl answered, rolling over to face her, and Eclipse was met with fierce dark brown eyes, "But that's Princess Elana to you." She corrected, rising to her feet, brushing some of the dirt off her dress, not at all bothered by the supposedly threatening stick.
Eclipse's eyes widened as she debated the validity of the girl's statement- she'd met at least five girls proclaiming to be the princess in her lifetime and yet, this was the first who seemed to be even remotely truthful. Her eyes drifted back to her gown, despite the fact it was lightly shaded in mud, Eclipse knew she'd never be able to afford anything of that calibre in her entire life. It was too detailed, made up of fabrics Eclipse had never even seen before, let alone ones she'd be able to name.
Which could only mean one thing: this truly was the princess.
Eclipse had heard of Princess Elana her entire life- who hadn't? Princess Elana, the one and only daughter of Queen Alizara, the kingdoms singular monarch, yeah, she was who every child dreamed of being. The perfect spoiled little princess.
But looking at her now, Eclipse noticed the way she carried herself, sure she had the grace and elegance that came from years of classes, but there was also the same defensiveness Eclipse carried herself with. She met the princesses gaze again and it hit her; the princess could fight. Not quite the perfect princess after all.
She cracked a smile, tilting her head to the side as she continued to examine her, when she finally came to the realisation that the princess didn't seem remotely surprised by her presence, in fact it was almost like she expected it.
"You brought me here." It was a statement not a question and from the lack of surprise on Elana's face, she'd clearly just gotten her answer.
"Why?" Eclipse continued, her tone sharp as she stared at her, the millions of other questions filling her mind - one of the more prominent ones being... how?
She wasn't naive enough to think that she couldn't be kidnapped, nor stupid enough to believe that the Princess wasn't capable of abducting her. That being said it still seemed unlikely, and even if the Princess had kidnapped her herself, why go to all that trouble for a stranger?
"I need your help." Elana replied, and Eclipse finally lowered the stick, knowing it wasn't likely to help her after all. If this girl had somehow managed to bring her here and erase her memories of how she did so, a feeble stick wasn't going to be of any use. Tossing it aside her eyes focused on her, looking for any sign of weakness she could exploit if the need arose.
She found none.
Surprised at the adequacy of her foe, Eclipse still wondered just how she'd been brought here and why the Princess had sought her out specifically. "My help? Surely the princess has dozens of capable knights, why abduct me?" She retorted her voice clipped.
"Other than the obvious, I need your help."
"The obvious?" She parroted back, a mix between dumbfounded and annoyed.
"You're my sister." Elana replied simply, no part of her mannerisms reflecting just how much of a massive revelation this was. Eclipse's jaw fell open as she stared at Elana for a heartbeat, before clamping her mouth closed, plastering on a scowl and looking back at Elana with a fixed stare.
"No." She said firmly, denying any possibility of whatever this insanity was, before the hopeful part of her brain tried to play keep away with her logic and reasoning. Firstly, Eclipse was an orphan, a far cry from the princess in front of her, secondly the two of them looked nothing alike, it was truly absurd that anyone would even look at them for a second and think they were related.
"No?" Elana repeated, like Eclipse had personally offended her entire bloodline. (Which by the Princesses reasoning she was now a part of.)
Elana sighed, "Half-sisters if you want to get technical, but we really don't have time to waste on semantics, and I really need your help." She all but pleaded, looking at Eclipse with desperation in her eyes.
For a moment Eclipse caved, and allowed herself to play along, humouring the Princess for a moment. "To do what exactly?"
"To kill the Queen of course."
Rose
Garden
Eclipse stared at her, for once at a loss for words as unanswered questions stormed her mind.
"You want to kill the Queen?" She breathed out after a moment, breaking the heavy silence they'd descended into.
Elana nodded firmly... did she not understand the gravity of what she was saying? This was cold blooded murder, layers of treason and... "Why?" Eclipse asked, not expecting a full answer. Or at least not one that made sense. Elana was clearly living in some sort of fantasy world where they were suddenly sisters and killing the Queen was anything but a terrible idea.
And even if they somehow managed to survive the ordeal, both of them would be looking at a life in the place dungeon for an attempt on the monarchs life. Because there was not a chance this was a winnable battle.
Elana took a breath, rising to her feet as she finally began to explain. "I know this sounds crazy, but I need you to listen to me. I didn't just wake up one morning and decide I wanted to kill her, I've been thinking about this for ages. The way she acts, the way she treats even her most loyal of subjects... it's not right."
She paused for a moment, clearly debating the best way to explain this before continuing. "You see, it all started about seven thousand moons ago," Eclipse did the translation in her head quickly, it was a little over nineteen years ago, "when Alizara was appointed Queen of the Jovial Empire. She'd taken over from Solaria on a technicality, a power move if you will. Claiming it was her birthright as the only surviving daughter of the late king Jove - our grandfather."
Eclipse struggled to follow the quick flow of information, Solaria? Jove? Grandfather? It was a lot, especially considering that Elana clearly believed she was a part of this story too, given them being sisters or whatever. It was all too much, and Eclipse still wasn't convinced on them being siblings part.
She didn't have a sister, and she definitely wasn't about to help someone she'd only just met commit murder.
Even then, Eclipse wasn't exactly up to date on the kingdoms monarchy, she didn't have time to learn their history and other than being aware of the current line of power, Eclipse hadn't heard of anyone since King Jove, making this massive intake of information even harder to swallow.
She allowed her mind to wonder for a moment until she heard Elana mention Solaria again, and she knew she'd heard that name before, even if she couldn't quite place where from.
She tried forcing herself to tune back into the conversation, but her mind was still clouded with thoughts of lost siblings, missing parents and what had led her to being left abandoned to begin with. Focus. She reminded herself for the second time in as many minutes.
"Look, I know things haven't been perfect up until now but recently, she's been different, more closed off, more calculated. She's planning something. Something bad." Elana said, and Eclipse felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Do you have any idea what?" Eclipse cut in, almost annoyed at herself for taking an interest in this. She didn't know how much of it she believed but it was quickly apparent that Elana most certainly did. From what she'd picked up, from the conversation so far, the Queen was plotting something. And if it was as bad as Elana was suggesting, she knew she'd need to find out what. That this might just be more important than she had allowed herself to believe.
She knew the monarchy had power, she just didn't know quite how much.
"Do you know about the statues she's been building?" Elana asked, clearly frustrated about the interruption upon her story.
Eclipse nodded, grateful the conversation had finally shifted to something she already at least partly understood. "The Equilibrium Pillars, they're supposed to boost the kingdoms power, I heard the Queen wants one in every town." Eclipse recalled quickly, they'd been all people talked about recently, something about bringing honour to the towns and villages, they were supposed to bring people together. (She wasn't sure how much of that she believed but she hadn't had the time to question it further.)
"In a way." Elana answered, "It's part of a channelling spell. With one goal, to give Alizara more power. Did you ever stop to wonder why the capital is so nice while the rest of the kingdom can't even muser a decent harvest? She's stealing the kingdoms magic and hoarding it all for herself. And these pillars are just the start of her plan. You know how the Jovial Empire has magic?"
Eclipse nodded, while she wasn't the most familiar with the practices of magic, she still knew it existed. It was a foundation of most parts of the kingdom, and a skill used almost exclusively by the rich and powerful.
"Alizara, wants to take the kingdoms magic for herself. If her plan succeeds it's going to channel all the magic from the kingdom and give the magic directly to her. She would be unstoppable."
Eclipse's eyes widened, "The entire kingdom?" Elana nodded, and even Eclipse knew just how dangerous this could be, the Jovial Empire was built on magic without it, it would surely crumble. "Why does she need so much magic?"
"She doesn't. But she believes she does. Believes it'll turn her into some sort of god." Elana replied harshly, "Spend enough time here and you'll learn pretty quickly, magic is power. And power always comes with a price. And if the channelling spell goes through, it will kill her." She finished, and Eclipse stared at her in silence.
"I thought that's what you wanted." Eclipse asked slowly, wondering just what Elana's true motivation was. Because she had a feeling she knew more than she was letting on and this right here, was quite the contradiction.
Elana shook her head, "No, not like this. She's still my mother. And I don't want her to die." Eclipse heard the brief flicker of vulnerability in her voice and knew she was telling the truth.
"So why lie about your intentions?" She asked coldly, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to get to the bottom of this. If Elana wanted her to trust her, she needed to stop lying.
"Honestly? I thought you'd jump at the chance to kill her, most people would. Figured telling you that would motivate you to help me all by itself. After all she's the reason you grew up alone."
"What?"
"Oh. Forget I said anything." Elana muttered, as Eclipse just stared at her. Hating the fact that she believed this girl she'd never met, held the answers to the questions that had haunted her entire life.
Pushing those thoughts away she focused back on Elana's story, "If this spell is going to kill her, why don't you just talk to her? Get her to see how her plan will end."
"If it were that simple, don't you think I would have done so already? She won't listen to reason and if this spell goes through then..." Elana's voice wavered for a moment, "If the draining spell goes through, it will destroy the Empire. Everything in it will begin to crumble and innocent people will die. Please, I need your help. We need to prevent the fall of the Jovial Empire." Eclipse heard the genuine fear in Elana's voice clear as day, her own brows creasing in worry as Elana continued.
"Look Alizara is only missing one piece of the spell, and once she gets that she'll be unstoppable. We won't be able to stop her."
Eclipse looked to her almost in disbelief. The gravity of everything she was saying weighing heavily upon her shoulders.
Elana said we, as if this was somehow something she could fix, which was more than impossible. And even then, she didn't know how much of this she believed. She still had questions, more so even now. And she didn't fully know why was she here. Dragged into a half-baked plan where apparently, she was part of the solution.
It seemed too much like a trap or some sort of evil scheme.
This wasn't her sister and she definitely wasn't a saviour.
"No." She said firmly, her gaze trailing along the grass to avoid Elana's determined gaze.
"I'm not your saviour. Just because you think I'm your sister it doesn't mean I can help you. I can't save everyone, I can't save you. And I most certainly can't defeat the Queen." She replied firmly, not allowing herself to be dragged any further into this madness. Even if Elana was telling the truth, this wasn't something Eclipse could fix. Sure, she could fight, but she couldn't defeat the Queen.
She knew she wouldn't be able to help.
Not in the way Elana was suggesting.
"Please, I need your help." Elana almost begged, desperation clouding her face. "I need your magic."
Eclipse looked at her sharply, her voice cold as she said: "Hate to break it to you, but I don't have any magic." If Elana needed someone with magic, she'd kidnapped the wrong person, Eclipse didn't have a single magical bone in her body. She'd only ever met a handful of people in her life who held the ability to wield magic, and honestly, she was glad she hadn't seen much of it. She knew of the dangers.
Magic always came with a price.
Elana's shoulders visibly slumped and Eclipse noticed the genuine surprise on her face, "You don't?"
She shook her head, "No, I can't help you." She added, turning away from her as she began to walk away, her mind swimming with just how ridiculous all of this sounded.
She didn't have a sister.
And she couldn't stop the Queen.
Her eyes drifted to the only place the solid wall of leaves split, her way out, she thought as continued to walk. She didn't have a true destination in mind, not really, she just knew she needed to leave. She'd figure something out. On her own. Because that's what she did.
"Fine. Well, there's one more thing you should know." She heard Elana call out from behind her.
She didn't turn back, not even as she replied, muttering more to herself than Elana. "Listen I don't really care about your history book nonsense and ridiculous prophecies, and I really just need to go home. I'm sorry about your mother I really am but I need to go-
"Wait." Elana called out harshly, grabbing Eclipse's hand and forcing her to stop and look at her. "It's about that necklace."
Eclipse's eyes snapped to Elana's and her hand instinctively went to rest over her emerald pendent- her only possession from when she was an infant- she clung to it whenever she felt lost or scared
The Rose Garden and it'd become a comfort to her, something she could always rely on. Something that would never change. Something she couldn't lose.
"What about it, it's just a necklace." She replied, feigning ignorance, Elana didn't need to know just how much it meant to her.
"We both know it's so much more than just a necklace and believe me, you'll want to know the truth."
Eclipse weighed her options, and as much as she didn't wasn't to be involved in Elana's madness. Her necklace meant everything to her.
"Fine. What do you know?" She asked simply, aiming for a causal tone that definitely didn't come across in her voice.
"Not telling." Elana answered sweetly with a fake smile and Eclipse suddenly regretted tossing away the sick. Were possibly sisters supposed to be this annoying? Her annoyance must have been visible on her face because after a moment Elana added. "I'll tell you later, if you help me."
Eclipse knew she wasn't lying about this.
As for everything else... she still couldn't tell.
But she did want to know about her necklace, and she really wanted a way out of here.
And glancing around at the tall leafy walls that surrounded them she knew she didn't have much choice on the matter. Elana held
2 she
every advantage in this situation and other than knowing they were likely in the castle gardens, Eclipse hadn't got a clue.
Maybe she would do better to stick with Elana after all.
"I'm not promising anything, but I'll stay with you. For now. Or at least until we get out of here, but I'm not saying I'll help you."
"Fine."
"So, Princess, just where are we?" She asked, not really expecting a full answer.
"Isn't it obvious? The castle labyrinth." Elana said with a teasing smirk and Eclipse practically groaned. For someone who was decent at navigating, she was terrible at mazes of any kind. She'd still never recovered from her accidental five hours stint in her villages corn maze when she was eight.
And for a moment, she was glad she had decided to stick with Elana, meaning that maybe, just maybe she might get out of here after all.
"So, I take it you know your way out?" Eclipse asked, looking between their two possible options for an exit. They were what looked to be a circular chamber, with an opening to their left, and one to their right.
And Eclipse had no idea which way would get them out.
Elana shook her head, and Eclipse wondered just how Elana had managed to bring her here, because she'd never managed to
receive a clear answer on that, "But I am correct in assuming you brought us here?"
Elana nodded, not giving too much away.
Eclipse looked between their two options again. Whatever their plan was it didn't involve them getting stuck here indefinitely.
It was a coin toss, which way would lead them to freedom, and which way would lead them in circles.
"Right." Eclipse settled on finally. "We'll go right."
And Eclipse just hoped she'd made the right choice.
Eclipse was used to long walks, Elana wasn't. That was a little detail Eclipse had managed to pick up on their walk through the maze so far. They'd been roaming through leafy corridors for less than fifteen minutes by this point. And Elana already looked completely fed up.
"You know, for someone who seems to love asking questions you seem to be awfully silent right now," Elana grumbled, trying to start conversation up again, but Eclipse didn't engage her, she didn't see the point wasting more time on more obvious lies.
Elana had tried to strike up conversation a few times now, but Eclipse had shut each of those down almost immediately. They needed to focus, they'd already gone down several wrong pathways and not knowing exactly how big this maze was, truly wasn't helping. And they didn't want to be stuck here for any longer than they needed to be.
"I'm not quiet, I'm ignoring you until I figure out if I can trust you." Eclipse muttered back, not really looking at Elana. As of right now, she couldn't trust her less if she tried. She wasn't convinced on any of it.
Them being sisters? Made no logical sense.
The Queen plotting to take down the entire kingdom using a bunch of statues, yeah, all of this was a little more than far fetched.
"Just what an untrustworthy person would say." Eclipse retorted, as they continued around a corner of the maze.
"What does that leave the trust worthy with?"
Eclipse didn't respond to that, she still didn't trust her. Her eyes focused back on the winding path before them, seemingly endless pathways, countless routes that just might lead them out of here.
At least it was nice weather, they had that going for them, and the path ahead was clear. Whoever was in charge of the upkeep of this maze clearly was good at their job, not a single stray branch or leaf out of place. Which meant their walk was fairly easy, which only seemed to bore Elana an endless amount, they continued walking in silence for a few more minutes before Elana finally spoke up again.
"Please, you're like my only company right now. I honestly thought you'd have more questions about your parents." From the tone of her voice Elana knew full well exactly what she was doing.
Eclipse stopped dead in her tracks, "My... my parents?" She knew her voice betrayed her emotions, and despite her hatred of showing weakness she... wanted to know. She'd always wanted to know.
Elana nodded, "Yeah."
Eclipse rubbed at her eye, she wasn't crying. She had no reason to be crying, Elana couldn't know. She wasn't surely this close to finding the answers she'd been searching for her entire life.
"Solaria and Darias." Elana answered, and Eclipse repeated their names in her mind like a mantra, determined to never forget them, in the unlikely case Elana was telling the truth after all.
"Could you tell me about them?" She asked slowly, scared of rejection, worried that Elana might just say no.
She didn't know if she believed any of this yet but... as of right now, she wanted to. She really wanted to.
Elana nodded before beginning to speak. "Solaria, she's the sun. I never met her myself, but I heard rumours. She was apparently the nicest person in the whole kingdom, I saw her portrait- she looks just like you, only blonde." Elana added and Eclipse couldn't stop herself from imagining her, "And Darain, he's our dad, he's the moon. He's also like the most powerful man in the entire kingdom." "What happened to them?" She asked, clenching her fist, fearful of the answer, where they gone? Still here and just never reached out? Simply left her alone for her entire life? She didn't know if she wanted to know.
She'd gotten so used to the why ifs in her life, accepting that she might never truly know, She'd started to like them, she liked pretending they gave her up for something good, for a good cause that... that they'd one day come back for her. But if she knew now, she wouldn't get to keep playing what if.
She'd know for sure.
Elana answered before she could even retract the question, she wouldn't have anyway. She needed to know.
"Solaria died when you were born, Darian's still alive, he's in the castle dungeon."
She nodded once, rubbing at her eye determined not to cry, she didn't know what to think.
Her mother was dead.
But at least her father was still alive.
And he was in the castle dungeon.
"What happened?" She asked before she could stop herself. Wondering how all of this hand happened, what happened to them and why they never reached out. And why she had to grow up alone.
"Alizara happened." Elana answered, clearly not keen on elaborating. Eclipse wanted to ask more, her mind was flooding with questions, when suddenly she heard the distinct sounds of flowing water.
Elana had clearly heard it too, both of them exchanged a glance before rushing around the corner and stopping just before they reached a small pond.
Eclipse's eyes widened, as she all but rushed to the edge, scooping up a handful of the crystal clear water ready to take a sip, she was dying for a drink.
Elana had clearly heard it too, both of them exchanged a glance before rushing around the corner and stopping just before they reached a small pond.
Eclipse's eyes widened, as she all but rushed to the edge, scooping up a handful of the crystal clear water ready to take a sip, she was dying for a drink.
"Don't drink it!" Elana yelped, and there was something in the tone, which had her dropping the water back into the pond with a splash, and casting a glare at her 'sister'.
"Are you crazy that'll kill you!" Elana continued, as Eclipse's expression morphed from annoyance to curiosity. Water so deadly it could kill you if you take a sip? Or was Elana just used to the luxury of filtered water?
"What?" She asked, unable to keep annoyance out of her voice. She really needed that drink, and sitting by the edge of a pond that was now just mocking her.
"This isn't just any pond," Elana explained, "this is memory lake. Take a look, it shows you your future."
"My future huh," Eclipse almost laughed, "no, not interested." She replied, taking one more brief look at the blue waves before looking away from it purposefully. Memory lake, eh? A lake intent on showing you your future. Eclipse couldn't imagine anything worse.
"Really?" Elana asked, seeing genuinely surprised that someone might not be interested in knowing their future.
"Yeah, I don't want to know." Eclipse muttered. "What about yours, won't it show you what happens about this spell?" She added, wondering if she could use the pond to confirm her suspicions about Elana's lies. Because as much as she hated to believe it... her suspicion that Elana was telling the truth was beginning to grow.
If she knew about her parents, then...
"It doesn't work like that, it doesn't exactly show you what you want to see. It shows you what you need to see." Elana repeated, walking over to the water's edge, and taking a seat at the side.
"Oh? And what's yours?" Eclipse asked, as Elana stared into her reflection, from her perspective, it looked to be a completely normal pond. No special abilities whatsoever, not even a glow of magic.'
"Mines... me, all alone in the castle. Again." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice as she stared into her reflection. Despite not being able to see Elana's future in the pond herself, she truly believed Elana could. She saw the genuine sadness in her face as she stared into her reflection.
"Let me guess, not fond of the dream life? What, are your clothes too soft? Bed too cosy, meals too regularly?" Eclipse replied harshly, a part of her almost unable to believe the Princess managed to find fault with the life everyone else dreamed of reaching.
"It's... lonely." She replied softly, leaning over to run her hand through the water dispelling her reflection and apparently the picture she had been seeing.
"C'mon, let's go." She muttered, changing the conversation before rising to her feet and turning to look at her with a fake smile. And Eclipse was reminded why she didn't want to know the ending of her story. She didn't want to be tied to a fate she knew she'd never be able to out run. She didn't want that.
"What is that?" Eclipse asked abruptly, her eyes landing on the pink sparkling glow from the other side of one of the walls. Elana stood beside her, looking up at the same sight. It was like there was a small beacon just the other side of the wall and somehow, she'd missed it. She knew she'd been focused on the lake and Elana earlier, but now she was far more intrigued by the mysterious light.
"I have no idea." She muttered, walking closer to the wall to examine it. And Eclipse knew they'd likely have to take the long way around in order to investigate it further.
Elana approached the wall, examining it for a moment before she bent down and began toying with the branches before finally, Eclipse heard a loud snapping noise.
"What are you doing?" She hissed, knowing messing with the Queen's precious labyrinth would likely get them both killed or worse and-
"Right this way." Elana replied, looking back at her with a grin. If the Queen didn't want her dead for conspiring with the Princess- against her magic stealing plot, she'd definitely want her dead for the large hole they'd made in the side of her perfectly trimmed rose bushes, connecting two of the chambers.
Still, she followed Elana through the small gap in the bush, and just as Eclipse was re-adjusting her ponytail, she saw the hole in the bush miraculously close up behind them. Returning to its pristine state, like they'd never been there to begin with.
There was definitely something magical about this place.
Eclipse looked up at the source of the pink glow, it was like a star had fallen from the night sky and embedded itself into one of the walls of the maze.
"What's that?" Eclipse asked, staring mesmerised at the sparkling item.
"No idea." Elana replied, "I've never seen it before." She added softly, and Eclipse felt something pulling her towards it. She'd taken a step towards it before she even truly realised she was walking and then, her hand was reaching out to try and touch it before she could stop herself or convince herself that it was a terrible idea. She felt something pulling her towards it, like she just had to touch it.
She pulled away suddenly, her hand feeling like it was on fire as a blinding light began to fill the air, she shielded her eyes with her arms as the light began to spread before finally disappearing, leaving her face to face with... something.
In a way it reminded her of a fairy, or some sort of magical floating being, just without the wings.
The being seemed to stare at them for a moment and Eclipse partly felt like she was being judged by this small, two foot tall, not-fairy creature. Elana had tucked herself behind her, clearly spooked by whatever this was, and Eclipse personally wasn't fond of being a human shield.
"What are you?" She asked softly, equally in awe and terrified of the power this being held, it practically radiated magical energy and seemed to possess more power than Eclipse thought was ever possible.
"I am Cosmic." The ethereal being apparently Cosmic answered, it was only then Eclipse noticed their distinct lack of a mouth, how was it communicating with her exactly?
"Wait? Cosmic? As in Izar's Cosmic?" Elana asked, her earlier fear gone in an instant as she looked over at Cosmic.
"Am I missing something?" Eclipse whispered over to Elana, keeping her eyes trained on Cosmic, not entirely willing to trust this seemingly infinitely powerful being.
"Cosmic was created when Izar died, Izar was Darian's father, I had no idea Cosmic was at the castle until now and I've never been in this specific part of the labyrinth before." Elana explained, doing little to help ease Eclipse's confusion.
Seconds later they were interrupted by the light airy voice which belonged to Cosmic. "What can I help you with, Elana Rosara and Eclipse Eternity?" Eclipse bit back a reply asking how it knew her name, it clearly knew a lot about them already, and she didn't know how it would react to her questioning it, she already didn't like how
The Rose Garden it knew her last name, not even Elana knew that. So, it wasn't like it'd overheard them say that.
She forced herself to take a breath and tried to look at Cosmic with more bravery than she felt. "What are you doing here?" She asked, more curious to if Cosmic could provide her with an actual answer, more than she was interested in how a being like that ended up in the castle labyrinth.
She was curious about how knowledgeable this thing was, and if that was the case, she might just have an idea to use that to their advantage.
"I was moved here by Queen Alizara, eighteen years ago." Cosmic replied almost immediately.
"Why?" Elana cut in, clearly having her own series of questions for Cosmic.
"This chamber limits my powers to a fraction of their real ability." Cosmic replied swiftly, no real emotion coating their voice as it continued to float beside them.
"What is your real ability?" Elana asked, firing off questions rapidly.
"Can you hurt us?" Eclipse added, suddenly a lot more wary of Cosmic than she'd been a second ago, a being with unchecked powers imprisoned in a castle labyrinth, probably wasn't the safest thing to be around.
3 ghin
"No. I cannot perform actions that may directly or indirectly cause harm to any living being."
"So, what can you do?" She asked again, looking for a more clarifying answer now that they'd at least ruled out the possibility of Cosmic being a threat. Cosmic didn't seem to be capable of lying either which was an interesting revelation.
Eclipse thought about her next question for a moment, before settling on, "Could you get me a glass of water?" Both curious about the limitations of Cosmic's power and still in dire need of a drink.
One appeared in her hand almost instantly, as her eyes widened in surprise, magic truly was impressive. She'd hardly seen magic preferred in person and now she could see how people - like Alizara had gotten used to relying on it, especially those who had stronger powers.
Eclipse drank her water quickly, the glass disappearing the moment she finished her drink, before turning to Cosmic with a new idea: information.
"Where did I grow up?" She asked first, to check the validity of Cosmic's answers.
"Quarlia. Born in Rosaraim." Cosmic replied quickly.
"Where did I get my sword?" She questioned then, ruling out the possibility of Cosmic getting that right on a fluke.
"Stolen from a Pirate Captain three years ago." Cosmic was right again, which is what encouraged her to ask her next question.
"Who are my parents?" She waited in anticipation for Cosmic's answer, this was the moment of truth, had Elana been telling the truth or just trying to manipulate her the entire time.
Eclipse took an involuntary step back, Elana had been right. She almost didn't believe it, but she trusted Cosmic. Cosmic couldn't lie, meaning Elana truly knew about her parents... and if she was right about that, just what else had she been right about?
"Queen Alizara is plotting a Draining Spell to draw out the kingdom's magic, using the Equilibrium Pillars, the spell will occur tonight when she receives the fifth and final item, she needs for the spell."
So, it was true, everything Elana had said had been true. She hadn't wanted to believe it but now she didn't have a choice. And she knew she couldn't just stand helplessly in the shadows while this spell got enacted. She had to do something.
Elana may have been wrong about her going up against the Queen using her magic- a battle she still had no plans to enter. But perhaps she could at least help in a different way.
"And what's that?" She asked, wondering what this mystery fifth item was.
"The Ezerulium Crystal." Cosmic replied and Eclipse had never heard of that in her life, but it sounded powerful, if they could get to that... then they could stop the spell without a fight. Then the Draining Spell wouldn't go through.
They just needed to get to the Crystal before the Queen did.
"Where do we find it?" Elana cut in, picking up on her plan almost immediately.
"It will be in at Cerberus Corner shortly." Cosmic added, and she exchanged a look with Elana, looks like their trip out of the labyrinth would have to wait.
"Where do we find that?" Cosmic didn't reply, but before she got a change to say anything, a glowing pink line appeared on the floor beneath them, leading out of their current chamber. And Cosmic nodded once, the intention clear.
Follow.
"Thank You." Eclipse whispered, before she and Elana were off to find this Crystal. Maybe she could help stop the spell after all.
"You're welcome, Princess Eclipse." She swore she heard Cosmic call after them, but she wasn't sure she heard it correctly.
She definitely wasn't a princess.