Seraphina took a deep breath as she pulled away from the surface of the cave. She clenched her small fist lightly as she looked back at Michael. ‘It would be for the best if I tell papa we can go on this trip another day. That way he wouldn’t feel bad about canceling our journey to take care of whatever is going on here. I can make my way home easily, I memorized the way I think… I hope. It can’t be that hard to get back to our big palace after all!’ 

She gathered her courage and took a step forward with determined eyes, only to freeze up completely at a sudden high ringing tone that sounded through her head. ‘What?’ She felt goosebumps rise on her skin as a chilly feeling made her shiver. The ringing sound resembled a lofty tune, yet echoed ethereally in a way that resembled light metal. It was a sound she had never heard before, something that left her speechless as she couldn’t even find the words to describe it. 

“This…” Seraphina whispered as she spun around, searching for anything that could give off such a hypnotic, unique sound. “Where is this coming from?!” She asked herself as she held lightly onto her head, the ringing in her ears both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. Frowning lightly, the young angel followed her intuition and closed her eyes. Slowly, she took a step forward, placing one foot before the other as she went towards the loudest tone. The closer she seemed to get to the right location, the louder but softer the sound grew. 

After a few minutes of walking, the sound seemed to be right in front of her. Yet, instead of growing louder, it dimmed down to a soft chiming background noise. ‘How odd…’ Sera thought, shivering slightly from the chilly air that surrounded her now. She clenched her fist lightly by her side as she gathered the rest of her courage. After taking a deep breath, she slowly peeked her eyes open, only to pause in confusion at the darkness surrounding her. “What... It’s night? But just now…” She mumbled startled as the slight pang of fear inflamed her heart. 

‘Maybe this was a bad idea… Papa warned me not to walk away from him…’ The girl thought as terror rushed through her small body. She took a slow step back, only to stumble as she heard the rustling sound of something moving further back within the darkness. Seraphina froze completely as her eyes widened when she heard the rustling drawing closer. She bit down on her lip, not even able to move a single muscle in her body anymore. 

“Child… Come here…” A chiming voice sounded through the darkness, the sound resembling sharp metal scratching against each other in a bone-chilling way. 

Seraphina stared into the darkness while her body was shaking in fear. She clutched to the fabric of her dress and shut her eyes tightly.

“Come here… Here…” 

The echo sounded loudly right through her head, making the four-year-old flinch and yelp lightly in surprise. 

“I-I- ...W-Where?” She managed to mumble out, her eyes opening to stare into the darkness again even though the thick blackness filled her heart with horror.

“...Here…” The metallic, chiming voice echoed just before gentle golden light lit up the other side of the darkness.

Seraphina’s eyes widened at the glowing warm light, her tense shoulders relaxing as she blinked at the dark cave walls surrounding her. “The cave…?” She whispered, looking at the lighted up the tunnel in front of her with slight hesitation. 

“Come, Come…”

Sera bit on her lip, taking a second to think about the options she had right now. She could stay inside the dark without knowing the way out, open to attacks of whatever might lurk in the darkness. Or she could follow this odd voice and the light. Dread filled her stomach as she realized both options were far from safe. But she had no other choice at the moment.

The Princess of Heaven took a deep breath to calm herself down and straightened her posture. A spark of determination shone in her silver-blue eyes as she slowly walked forward before entering the lighted-up tunnel. No matter where this light will lead her… She will be ready to face the consequences of her actions.

———🕊———

The silver-haired girl panted as she ran through the sharply twisting tunnel, trying to catch up to the golden light far in front of her. ‘Where are we going…?’ She thought, distracting her focus on running what caused her to trip on the very rocky surface of the cave. “Ah-” She caught herself in the last moment and paused to catch her breath. Sera glanced back ahead to see if she lost the orb of light, only to see it floating at the end of the tunnel, waiting for her. She raised her gaze in surprise, her brows furrowed in confusion. ‘How odd…’ She shook her head as her eyes narrowed once more in determination. “I’m sorry, I’m coming!” She called out to the light and started running again.

After what felt like forever, the light vanished from her view as it seemed to enter a new cave. Slowing down, the tiny angel hesitated for a slight moment. ‘There’s...no going back now, huh?’ She took a deep breath before stepping into the spacious cave.

Seraphina’s gaze immediately wandered around the cave that was filled with warm light from thousand little golden orbs like the one that guided her. “...Where am I?” She asked herself as she looked around in awe, the brilliant orbs of light swirling around her like beautiful glowing fireflies. “This is amazing…” The princess giggled as she touched one of the glowing orbs only for it to disperse into thousands sparks of light. Her eyes widened as the glow of the sparks reflected in her eyes and made them glitter in a holographic way. 

“What is this place?” Sera muttered as she inspected the cave walls. Her graceful fingers brushed over the walls, the natural rocky texture of the surface far too smooth here. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as her finger trailed along the walls. ‘The surface and texture differ greatly from the natural walls before… This has to be made by something… or someone…’ She thought as her fascination dimmed to a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Suddenly, a loud booming footstep echoed through the cave, making her flinch and spin around startled. Seraphina gulped and took a step back as a second, third, and fourth footstep followed. The footsteps were from something so big the ground and walls started shaking lightly. 

Goosebumps rose on her skin as her heartbeat sounded loudly through her head. She could feel it pump so heavily, like never before. The princess bit down on her lip, anxiously staring in the direction the sound was coming from. Something was approaching her… And it was gigantic. 

Sera tried to control her breathing to stay calm but the booming sound of the footsteps were hard to ignore. With every step, the ground shook as dirt and rocks crumbled down from the ceiling. ‘I have nothing to defend myself with… This is bad…’ She thought in anxiety as she tried hard not to panic. Her winged back pressed against the smooth cave walls behind her as the approaching being drew closer and closer.

The orbs of light danced quicker in a more aggressive way through the air before flying towards something. The specks of light gathered in a spot before suddenly shooting towards something enormous that entered the cave.

“AHH!” A surprised outcry left the four-year-old before she quickly covered her mouth as she stared up at the being that stopped in front of her. She pressed herself more against the wall behind her as her eyes were wide in complete shock.