Young Writers Society

That left Adamina and Edwin. Edwin motioned for Adamina to go first, and she stepped forward, giving the songbird on the door the slightest brush of her fingertips. As the bird spread its wings and flew away, the door clicked yet again.

Edwin moved in front of it. He glanced back at everyone else. "Well," he said quietly, "here goes nothing." He placed his hand on top of the rearing warhorse. As he watched, it flailed its front legs briefly before galloping toward the side of the door, where it disappeared as the last lock clicked and the door opened.

The double doors opened and a gust of warm air met their faces as the room opened up into a large, grand ballroom. It had a beautifully high ceiling with beautiful paintings looking down at them, and golden adornments everywhere - on the pillars lining down the sides, on the arches curving across the ceiling. The floor was carpeted with a silky red, and light filled the whole room with a kind of lamp that neither James or Larrel could recognize.

The pleasant smell of food reached their noses next, and they noticed, at the far end of the ballroom, was a long table set up buffet-style, with trays and trays of food.

Larrel closed the book, walking in slowly.

"I wonder what's in here that all of us needed to be here for..." she wondered out loud, as she spun around, looking all around the room. James, much more hesitantly, followed behind - wary, and on guard.

Maahes took one step inside before he came to an abrupt halt.

"It's beautiful," he managed to get out, awe and wonder seeping into his voice. It had been a long time since he had seen a room like this one, and he was just as overwhelmed by it now as he was then. Did this room belong to one of their memories, or was it meant to be some sort of meeting place?

Her eyes widen a little as she sees the airy chambers of the ballroom, surprised and a bit awed. She hasn't seen a place like this since...since...she bites her lower lip, pushing that away, but the melancholy still lingers. She wonders if she made the right decision, leaving him - but, did she really have a choice? Getting tied down, it was unwise. Then again, it was him. Maybe it would've been worth it.

Larrel twirled around a few more times before stopping and looking at the others.

"Do any of you recognize this place?" She asked.

"Looks like something out of a Disney movie or somethin'" Raiden said, stepping into the room. He sniffed the air.
"Fooood~" he floated over to the buffet-style table, his mouth watering at the smell.

"It's probably about as grand as..." murmured Edwin.

"Alanis' palace," finished Adamina, quietly looking around the large space. Her lip curled in disgust at the name coming out of her mouth. "But the light isn't quite right."

Edwin shook his head in relief.

Larrel hummed in thought as the others offered answerers that mean little if nothing to her. But the alluring smell of food drew her further down the length of the ballroom, following after Raiden.

James however, stayed back, watching the others. He didn't recognize the room either, but he figured - not all of the rooms had to hold meaning to the person specifically. The purpose of this room was different. It was to bring them together, at the very least... and possibly to give answers. Or to make them more confused. The book was unclear.

"I've never seen this place before," Maahes finally said, drawing his attention away from the beautiful room he had set foot into. "If none of us recognize it, maybe it was constructed for the sole purpose of being a meeting place?"

"That's possible," James replied.

"Or maybe it's to feed us!" Larrel yelled back as continued to run over to the food across the long room.

Raiden looked up from the table, his arms holding a stick of bread, some cheese, an apple and a carrot, while his mouth chewed on a slice of buttered toast. He managed to give a thumbs up before he placed the items of food on a plate and gulped down his toast.

Auryon follows the group towards the food, but doesn't touch it; she's encountered poisoned meals too many times to take a meal with such lack of care. It's more habit at this point than anything else. Her mind is still elsewhere, however, back with the scarred German who'd been the closest thing she'd had to a friend ever since that night.

Maahes sent a worried look in Auryon's direction when she didn't eat, but he couldn't complain himself. He wasn't supposed to eat food; it messed with his essence. The only thing he should ever put in his body was more essence, according to the little he remembered from when he was a child among the Ancients.

But his humanity - or, rather, the lack of it - was a sore subject, and he absolutely hated drawing attention to it. He sat down at the table and grabbed a piece of bread. He doubted he could get away with breaking it into smaller parts. Someone was bound to notice. Oh well. He hesitantly raised it to his mouth and took a bite.

Grimacing at the feeling of it in his essence, he gulped down the minuscule amount of bread.

Adamina didn't trust the food, and from exchanging glances with Edwin, he didn't either. She decided it was better to start exploring the room instead.