The Eternal Sleep

Writings on the Walls

“So, this is it?” Jay whispered to Luca, a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other. The entire team was a little spooked to be in such a quiet place, so far away from any other players or NPCs. The sound of the clips on their clothes hitting other metal pieces seemed to be magnified, making them much more aware of just how much weapons they carried on their person.

“Yep.” Armando showed them his map, pointing to the red dot that displayed their position right above the cave system. The mountainous area that they’d situated themselves on was chocked full of valleys and caves, the lining of trees making navigation near impossible.

“It definitely looks the part,” Rena pulled a leaf from a low hanging branch, taking pictures to document the extreme detail placed on every item, clearly showing the painstaking time a designer took to make this level of perfection “And is a little bit creepy.”

“While we’re on the task of talking, can we add exploring to it?” Olivia placed her whip on her hip, using her flashlight to guide her trek into the darkness of a cave, the others following slowly behind.

It was a simple cave, typical dark walls and low handing roof. Luca screwed up his face, he was not comfortable with the idea of not being able to see properly if he needed to use his teleportation totem. Jay bumped his shoulder, nodding his head to the growing distance between the pair and the rest of the team. He sighed and followed Jay’s careful steps.

“So, what are we looking for exactly?”

“A quest, the feeds said it’d be here but there was no specifications as to where. To be honest, I’m not even sure if this is the correct entrance, that is if it’s an entrance at all.” Armando’s screens casted an eerie light on the walls, letting shadows dance in the corner of their eyes.

“Again, don’t get your hopes up, we’re just running on a hunch.” Olivia reminded them, tapping Rena on the head as she muttered ‘joy snuffer’.

“Hey, a hunch is better than nothing, and besides, if nothing comes to pass, at least was got to visit a part of the game we’ve never been in before.” Jay grinned, hopping on a protruding rock.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t mind the daaaar…” Luca flashed his light at him, grin slowly slipping off his face.

“What?” Jay stiffened in fear, “Is there something behind me?”

“No… yes, your fine,” Luca waved the others over, walking closer to Jay with an intrigued look. “Behind you, there’s some kind of writing on the wall.”

It wasn’t just ‘writing’, it was a painting that covered a large portion of the wall. There were endless colors and designs, depicting places that didn’t match areas in the game, players they’ve never seen before and battles they weren’t aware had ever happened. The art was flawless, a smooth transition from one moment into another, telling a tale they didn’t understand. They were left in awe, wasting more time just staring than looking for what they originally came for.

“Ren… have you ever seen anything like that?”

“No, not like this.” She shook her head in astonishment, pulling out her camera, “I’m certain that I would’ve remember something like this.”

“Can you match this to any of the feed?” Luca stepped out range of the camera, the flashes brightening the entire vicinity like lightning.

“I can try, but no promises.” Once she was satisfied with the pictures taken, she pulled up her screens and became typing away, “This might take a few minutes.”           

“Have any idea what these might mean?” Olivia flashed her light again on the wall, murmuring to Jay and Luca, snapping them out of their mindless staring.

“No, I don’t even recognize these players.”

“What if they aren’t even players in the game?” Armando walked up to them, his screen running through players in the game, trying to match one to the picture of the painting he’d taken, “What if they’re actual people?”

“Again though… who?”

“Guys, I have a match!” they circled Rena, leaning over where she was sitting to hear any news she found. “There was one person, and weirdly enough, I had to look in the very beginning of the news feed.”

“What’s their name?”

“No clue, there’s no information, no location, nothing. It’s like the person doesn’t even exist.” She showed them a picture of the painting, definitely older if the sharpness of the paint was of any reference, “The funny thing is, this was posted almost hours after the game was release.”

“Meaning?”

“Jay… no one could create something like that in a day, much less, a couple hours.”

“But then, that has to mean…”

“This wasn’t done by some ordinary person; it was someone who had access to the game long before it was release.” Luca sighed, “Armando?”

“Sorry, no matches.”

“Come on, we’ve wasted enough time, we can try to find someone who might be able to match it for us later.”

They continued into the dark cave, the path slowly sloping lower until the light source from outside was a scarce resource. The walls of the cave seemed to be opening out, becoming larger instead of closing in, the even ground soon resembling a landslide. As meticulously as they tried to travel, there were many heart stopping moments as someone lost balance or their footing gave away.

“Are we any closer to anything?” Jay yelped as he slipped, grabbing Luca’s hand roughly to regain his balance. The duo were leading the team, scoping out the danger possibilities and creating a safe path, Jay with an assault rifle and Luca with his teleportation charm.

“The map says there is an opening in the next five minutes.”

We’ve been walking for almost half an hour, by the time we find the quest, we won’t have enough time to do it.” Rena grunted, trying to place her weight on another rock.

“Don’t worry, if Mando say’s we’re nearly there, we’re nearly there.”

They were not disappointed; Luca was certain he’d need to pick his jaw up off the ground. Their little cave opened into a massive chasm, columns that supported the roof glowed a dull orange and lit the area in a soft light. The ceiling sparkled with gold dots; it resembled an endless night sky of stars.

“At least we know we’re allowed to be here.” Armando whispered, his voice still echoing loudly off the walls. He pointed his flashlight to a bridge made of rope and wood. They simply nodded and walked across the surprisingly sturdy construction, not wanting to disturb the peace of Jay pointed out was probably an underground network, rather than a single cave.

The chasm opened up to another area, even more stunning than before. This one was filled with water, refracting the light from the glowing blue dots on the wall and mimicking an area that was filled with sunlight. The entire place was big enough to house a multitude of trees rivalling the height of skyscrapers and other plant life, giving it the resemblance of an underground forest.

“Guys, we’re here.”

“Where is here?”

“Where the quest begins.”