Confront the Goddess
The darkness is not empty. You turn your head slowly, aware of a shape moving in the blackness. You cannot see her, but you can feel her. You sense the shape close by, a female kitsune, stood close by watching you. You feel her gaze upon you, anxious, and somewhat sad.
"I am sorry," she says as you climb to your feet.
Light bleeds back into the room. It was never truly dark here, the light simply never reached you. How or why this could happen is a thought that must wait, for the Goddess demands your attention.
"The creature that pursues you is a monster of my own making. I tried to help him, but in so doing I only made things worse. In his fury, he cursed me, cursed himself, and now he exists as a wraith. This is the task that is given to all the chosen; find a way to free his soul and let him know rest at last."
"How?" You ask.
"He must be made whole. Find his eye, so he can see what he has become. Find his heart, so he can feel again. Find his body, and mend the wounds the curse has made upon it. Do this, and do it swiftly. We long for this curse to end."
A chilling thought creeps into your mind. "How many were there before me?"
The Goddess smiles a pained smile, blinks back tears, and fades away into nothing.
You are left in what may have once been a shrine, but it has been desecrated by unknown hands. Intricate mosaics once decorated the walls, but now their tiles lie scattered in the dust. A wooden altar, broken in two, dominates the central space. There is light coming down from the ceiling, tinted green, but there is no way to reach the opening nor tell where it leads to.
Near the altar is an old book, all but fallen to pieces. The cover breaks off as you try to pick it up, but on the first page someone has hastily scrawled a message over the original text.
We all walk the same path.
Mia found the heart. She said it was in a box like in the entrance. We should have opened it. Now we can't go back. Ranna tried. The wolf killed her.
When Mia died, the heart was missing. Maybe it went back to where she found it? But I don't know how she reached the chest! She was blessed by the kitsune. Ranna was blessed by the Raven. I was blessed by the cat. The other two had a purpose. I don't know what mine is. I can't go back now, so I have to try...
The message is hardly encouraging. You put the book down and turn toward the far end of the room. There is a tiny opening, like a dungeon's window with the bars removed. By crouching low, you can squeeze through. Inside is a long, narrow corridor, which leads to what looks like a tomb. You manage to drop down into the chamber and reach the tomb, only to find there are four other paths radiating out. Each one has a statue in front of the door; a kitsune, a bird, a cat and a wolf. Peering down the passages, it looks like you've stumbled upon a maze.
Written by Jasan Quinn on 14 May 2015