7.16 – Summer “vacation”

James’ POV

It turned out to be surprisingly easy to convince my parents. Apparently they wanted to ship me out anyways. Okay, not really, but it seems there’s been some problems arising in my hometown. A group of anti-supernaturals are protesting against letting supernaturals have equal rights. Mom and dad preferred the idea of us staying out of town until it settled down a bit.

And now back to the present. A time in which I’m not too sure what Mariposa’s family thinks is a ‘vacation’.

We traveled for hours in a plane, during which I had more than enough time to meet Anna the ‘famous’ white fairy.

She’s an old woman with a kind face. Old as in old, because fairies live just about as long as vampires. I can’t imagine how long she’s been alive.

Meeting her was…an interesting occurrence.

“James Whitelight? That’s a pretty simple name, James. I’ve heard Whitelights named all sorts of things: Rosahelminthe for example…” And then she chuckled to herself. She seems wise, like she saw stuff I can’t even dream of seeing (probably true), but there’s also this weird air of sadness. Something I’m getting huge vibes of here, in front of this random house.

“They took care of it well. It hasn’t aged a day.” She muttered happily to herself. I glanced at Mariposa, but she shrugged.

I thought we’d be going to the beach or to stuff that is considered a ‘summer vacation’. I have absolutely no idea what we’re doing here.

Granted it’s a beautiful home. Seems like an ideal place to raise a family, looks pretty expensive as well, but seriously, what is the point in coming here? Is there a secret basement to some secret party?

‘What are we doing here?’ I asked Mariposa as her mother climbed up the stairs.

“Mom just wants to check something out. We’ll be in an out real quick. Anyway, doesn’t it sound fun? Exploring an old abandoned house?” Mariposa urged as she followed her mom.

Not really. This isn’t even their house. Doing illegal things is a family trait isn’t it?

I followed anyways.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Anna exclaimed, flying up and around the room. For an old fairy she sure is active. “I helped build this you know.”

“Mom.” Mariposa called.

“Ah I’m sorry, I got carried away. James, this is the home of your ancestors.” Anna said with a sweet smile, one I often saw on Mariposa’s face.

My ancestors?

“I lived here with a very distant ancestor of yours. A great witch named Rosahelminthe. Unfortunately, I moved away and when I came back the Whitelight family had disappeared. And now they’ve no doubt scattered around the globe.”

You know, it’s an awful coincidence that my girlfriend’s mom knew my great-great-great-great-something-grandma…No wait, that’s actually kind of creepy.

“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m boring you. We’re supposed to be on a summer vacation.” She chuckled. “I just thought it would be nice to stop here for you. You see there’s a secret basement to this house that even the real estate doesn’t know about. It’s magically sealed, by Rosahelminthe herself. She cast a spell long ago so that only Whitelights could open it. Of course, I’ve been down there many times with your ancestors, so this is for you.”

A secret basement? Only openable by Whitelights? This seems all a bit too…I dunno sketchy. I looked around the house. I doubt Mariposa’s mom would lie, so that would mean this really is my ancestor’s home…

And I mean, we came here to have fun, and exploring is fun right?

I’m a bit surprised Mariposa isn’t insisting we go. She seems kind of reserved today.

Nonetheless I nodded my approval.

“Fantastic! Follow me.”

She led us through the empty house to a staircase leading downstairs.

That’s not a very ‘secret’ basement if you ask me.

“I’m a bit surprised no one bought this house yet. It’s such a beautiful place, did I tell you I helped build it?” Anna went on as she descended the stairs.

No really for a secret basement, it kind of sucks so far. I looked at Mariposa to tell her but she seemed distracted.

‘Are you okay?’ I signed. I had to tap her and sign it again before she saw what I was saying.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just…on the moon I guess heh heh.” She faked a smile.

Down stairs we entered a very small cramped room with a single door.

Is this the part where only a Whitelight can open it?

“Oh I haven’t touched this door in centuries!” Mariposa’s mom exclaimed as she brushed some dirt off the doorknob. Then she opened the door.

Guess not.

“Oh look at this place! It’s just as I remember it!”

The next room was filled with bookcases. Like on practically every wall.

Except for the one on my right. There was the original touch of putting a desk and a computer.

This is actually really boring. For me? Yeah right. More like for Mariposa’s mom. Sure, this may be my ancestor’s home, but right now I feel like I’m the one who least belongs.

Anna walked over to the desk and went to grab the graceful wand sitting on a fancy pillow.

“It’s weird…now that I’m here I’m afraid to touch it…” She muttered, but in the end she took it.

You know, this is starting to feel less like an exploration and more like a tour guide.

She slid her hand over the wand, almost petting it.

“With this. Definitely with this it should work.”

I feel like my girlfriend’s mom is crazy. I’m getting anxious to get out of here and do something fun now.

“Okay, we’ve been doing enough stalling, let’s get to the fun part shall we?” Mariposa said impatiently. She grabbed my arm and brought me to one of the bookcases. “This is your part James. This bookcase is actually a secret door.”

I gave her a Are-you-serious? face.

“Yes, a secret door. This is the part the witch enchanted. A specific book opens the door, but it changes every time. The right book can only be found by a Whitelight. So, theoretically, any book you touch should be the right one.”

Now this was fun! I examined the bookshelf trying to find the right book.

Makes you wonder though…there has to be a reason why my ancestor would’ve enchanted a bookcase right?

I found the book and the bookshelf opened on its own, making me step back in surprise.

I’d be dumb to try and back out now. I peered into the darkness and spotted yet another staircase going downwards.

These stairs led down to another room, considerably smaller than the other one, but with practically the same amount of bookcases. My ancestor must’ve been a fan of reading.

“Whee!” Mariposa decided to slide down the stairs. “James! Catch me!” She called out.

I looked up in surprise. Wait, what?

I somehow managed to catch Mariposa as she flew off the railing.

“Mariposa, be a little more composed please!” Anna said with a smile as she climbed down the stairs.

Even though her mom’s tone had been cheerful, Mariposa’s mood dropped as I set her down.

“Now we mustn’t waste any time.” Anna declared as she went to another bookcase. Apparently there was more than one secret door. It also seemed like I wasn’t needed to open doors anymore.

I peeked into the room as she walked in. It was just a really bare looking room with a simple table and a book on it.

She grabbed the book and came out.

This is the second thing she’s taken. Is she stealing this stuff? I looked at the book trying to figure out the title, but it didn’t seem like there was any.

“Go open the other door Mariposa. 2^nd book on the 4^th shelf.” Anna commanded without taking her eyes off me.

‘What’s with the book?’ I asked as Mariposa went to do her mother’s bidding.

Anna seemed nice at the beginning, but with each passing second she seems more and more suspicious.

“This book? It’s a special book…” She said trying to find her words. “To put it simply, a witch was imprisoned in this book.”

‘Why do you want it?’ I said my eyes drifting to the book. A witch? In there? Really?

“We want to release her.” Anna replied after a few seconds.

‘There’s a reason she’s in that book, no?’ I signed.

“Yes, but now we need her help. You’ll see James, it’s all going to work out in the end. You know about the problems with the supernaturals? Our power is dwindling and she can help us with that.”

 

Mariposa opened the door, and her mother turned around before I could say anything.

Coming here for me? What a big fat lie. I feel like I’m being used. And I probably am, but I’m going to follow her anyway because I don’t know enough to call Mariposa’s mom on whatever she’s doing.

“Isn’t it beautiful Mariposa? I’ve never seen this before, I only heard Clarice or Serenity take about it…” Anna told her daughter. They’d already gone in the room.

Mariposa didn’t reply.

I have a really bad feeling about this right now.

It was another very small room, but this one had a huge metal box in the corner.

I looked at the gears in amazement. What was that thing?

Mariposa’s mom walked over to a key pad and dusted it off, brushing the keys with her fingers. She held out her hand in Mariposa’s direction.

“The code please.” She said. Mariposa pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over.

‘What is that?’ I asked Mariposa.

“Simply put…it’s a time machine.” She replied.

My eyes widened in surprise. A time machine? That actually exists?

‘You want to travel through time?’ I asked.

“Gods no! But a time machine isn’t only a ‘time machine’, if you put in the right code it can also be a gateway.” Mariposa replied giving me a sneaky smile.

A gateway? A gateway to what?

But before I could ask Mariposa’s mother declared she was done.

She pressed a final button and then the gears creaked loudly, rotating as the door opened, revealing something that looked almost gooey.

“I’ll go first and then you guys follow okay?” Anna confirmed with us.

“Yes mom.”

“Here I go kids.”

And then she jumped through.

Mariposa shook herself to get rid of her nervousness.

“I’m kind of afraid to go through, but…I’ll see you on the other side James.” She said waving before she jumped in as well.

Then it was my turn. I brought a tentative figure to touch the…whatever it was, but there wasn’t anything to touch.

I took in a deep breath.

I feel like this is some sort of life-changing decision. That whatever’s on the other side is going to change a whole lot of things.

It’s probably just the nervousness, or the excitement of discovering something new.

Either way, I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side.

 

What did I do just now? Yes, it’s called a cliffhanger. I feel like I haven’t done enough of those lately…

And the nostalgia kills me! But thank god for old saves! I had an old save from seconds before Charles kidnapped Sariel and brought her to Legacy Island II. It’s thanks to that that I found Anna (yeah I neglected to save her). It’s also thanks to this save that I could make a prologue with old Mary! OH GLORY to the old save.

And an amazing event occured in the old save. Since, you know, it’s an old save, there were certain characters there that were supposedly dead. In particular one who when I zoomed gave me this magnificent wave;

Look at that smile! Boy I’ve missed you Cain, its nice to see you again 😉

Now to reward those who read this far we have a VOTE. Yes indeed, a VOTE. This is a particular vote that doesn’t concern James. It’s all about you readers!

You see, after each arc I like to have a small intermission, and I’ve decided these intermissions will be camera zooms onto other characters during moments James doesn’t interact with them! For example; the last intermission. We saw Kord join up with Carla and Velor. It’d be things of the sort, and you guys get to decide who you want to stalk from above, because, I, as the simmer, have that wonderful power.

Eh? You don’t understand half of these choices? Shhhhhh

Per usual, two days for voting.