ATLANTION - LAYLA BOOK1

Part 70 Lorelai vs Atlantion

The city was alive; Layla could feel the breath of this monster around her. Eyes and shadows moved around her, and the entire structure reverberated, causing vibrations to travel through the soles of her shoes.

A horde of ghostly voices traveled along the corridors, and every single fiber of the city seemed to speak to her. Her blood chilled, shaking her to the core.

"Layla, Layla, come, come... come save me... Save us..." the voices echoed.

The menacing darkness sent a shiver down her spine, raising the hairs on her neck.

She paused, glancing back at her room, contemplating whether she could still change her mind and walk away from this dark fate. Her steps faltered, her stomach lurched, and a heavy emptiness pushed her stomach toward her spine. Fat tears welled up at the edges of her red-rimmed eyes. Golden glitter burned her eyelids, and she rubbed her hand against them, leaving black smudges on her white marble hands.

She sighed and screamed inside, looking back, but she was already changing her mind, pushing guilt to the back of her head and deciding to save her life by running away from this prison.

She stepped back, and at that moment, the glass dome above shattered, raining shards of glass and water upon the crowd of people that lined her path to the temple. They screamed, their eyes and ears bleeding, while she touched her face, her hands returning stained with warm splatters of blood that covered the snowy white expanse of her dress.

She gasped, wanting to scream, but her throat remained silent, and in an instant, everything returned to how it was just moments before.

A sharp laughter echoed in her mind, freezing her in place as she watched the oblivious onlookers, unaware of the vision that had just struck her.

"So now you threaten me?" Layla whispered, scanning her surroundings.

Only now did she realize that the true enemy was not the old witch, but the city itself.

Every single fiber of the wild construction at the bottom of the ocean was evil and selfish, keeping these poor creatures around her prisoners of this greedy, malevolent monster. It poisoned every fiber of the old queen, and Layla wondered if she would transform into a soulless puppet like Nimiane.

It was almost impossible to believe that the city watched, manipulated, and used its inhabitants to its advantage. She looked at the people around her, prisoners within these walls who remained ignorant of their plight.

Gritting her teeth, Layla wondered how she could confront this omnipresent being that held the power to crush her life if she dared to defy it.

It had devoured so many kings and queens since its birth; their souls screamed under the surface, forever captured under its crystal walls.

Did the Fire King know that his creation would develop its own will? Was the Blue Prince truly the master of the city, or just another captive?

A shiver ran down her skin.

"I will be your nemesis," Layla thought, clenching her fists.

She screamed inside but kept walking, stopping at every corner as visions of pink bubbling water and bits of flesh flashed in her head. She trembled, and deep inside, she knew that she would never be free of guilt if she were to abandon the less fortunate in this underworld.

The terrifying vision shifted, and light enveloped her as she walked toward the grand chapel of Atlantion.

A young woman with blue hair ran ahead of her, the air vibrating with laughter, followed closely by a young warrior. Nobody seemed to pay them any mind, and Layla started to wonder if they were just beautiful figments of her imagination.