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“Anomaly! Anomaly! Bring me the anomaly!” 

A hulking figure trudges amid red fume. Or the fume is part of his body. The red smoke seeps from his body, reaching out like millions of tentacles. Hulking silhouette fades away in the smoke, then amasses in the center of the fume again. 

Screeching sounds from the darkness around the figure are getting louder. Bloodthirsty eyes flicker in the abyssal. 

“Kill the pathetic puppets of The Palace of Origin! Void shall conquer them all! I, Red Smoke, will snatch that human from them, and then we will bring the void to the mortal world!” Red Smoke punches his hand out in the air, “ Go! Lost spirits! Children of Abyssal! Let’s enjoy killings!”

Red Smoke’s voice is gone. Immediately, countless lost spirits' shadows fly past him like vampire bats cutting through the air, and floods of shadows burst out from the darkness with whispers of hunger and death trailing behind their formless dark shadows. 

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“Get me down! I can’t hold it anymore, please!” 

The lady warrior carries Kevin and Quinn on her shoulders. She leaps ike an arrow and launches into the air, lands on the ground gracefully like a feather without turbulence.  But for Kevin, every time she jumps, it feels like they are taking off like fighter jets, maneuvering in the air like a bird for a while, then dropping like a drop tower machine. 

They are fast approaching the top of the mountain, which is located in the center of the jagged smaller mountains.

The lady warrior has felt tired from Kevin’s complaints about walking on the endlessly weathered stone stairs to the top. To be fair to him, it is difficult to even walk to the top, where it is nearly ten thousand feet high. 

Finally, they arrive at the top. The top of the mountain is mostly flat and covered with natural stone slabs, though some spots are showing silver grasses. 

The lady warriors drop them on the ground. Kevin can’t hold his vomit any longer, unleashes them on the dark stone slab. 

“Lady Seraphina! We thought you crossed the portal to the mortal world. How did you end up here?”

Kevin lifts his head, he sees two fully armed silver knights with shining heavy armors and golden engravings walk toward them. Behind them is a colossal size of gothic-style castle that resembles the Dark Souls architecture style. The castle is purely milky white, with no dirt or marks of weathering on the stone walls.

“What in the world! A living human!” One of them shouts out, surprised in every sense.

“Strange things happened; we need to call his lordship for an audience.” The lady warrior looks at Kevin.

“Of course, please follow us to enter the wall.” 

Two silver knights lead the way, and they quickly reach the curtain walls of a castle. Kevin sees the Palace behind the white wall and the immense castle. It is even more impressive given the size of the castle as they get closer. The gates are broad and massive, each side of the door standing around sixty feet tall and thirty feet wide.  Each side of the gigantic door features a mythical knight carved into it, with magical decorations engraved around the knight. 

Doors gradually fanning out, halting when they fully open with a tumultuous sound.

There is a milky light barrier before them. Kevin and Quinn follow them behind and cross the barrier without any issue. The light barrier felt like 3D Laser walls from the clubs in their world. Kevin wonders what the purpose and function of the light barrier are here.

“This is one of three Perpetual Castles, which are the defenses of the Palace of Origin. They surround the Palace of Origin from three different directions, and knights reside and train here. The naturally foamed stone stairs are the only passage that leads up and down from the mountain. And this gate is the only Entrance and exit.” Seraphina explains, but she sees Kevin looking at her weirdly.

“You said you don’t have a human name, but why are they calling you Lady Seraphina?”

“Never said we do not have human names. We all have names that are not too different from humans, but I prefer people to call me by my full name to show respect for my ladyship. And Seraphina is the human translation of my first name, my elder brother loved it, so I allow it.”

“You never thought of telling us in the first place? I was trying so hard to pronounce your long…I mean, complicated name. ”

Seraphina ignores Kevin’s remark. 

Kevin looks around him in awe. Creatures as big as elephants but with wings and claws land from their flight and are tended to by figures dressed in various ways. Knights with less armor spar each other in specially designed wards. Strange-looking fruits, odd livestock, and barrels on enormous carts are pulled by even more gigantic creatures that resemble rhinoceroses but are covered in scales like armor, with dragon-like heads and a single, lengthy horn on the top of their noses.

They are walking along the processional way. It is not impressive by any means compared to other parts of the castle; it is clean and paved with milky stone slabs. 

They reach the Castle. It is enormous, white stone blocks without marks of weathering. The front gate of the castle is smaller than the one on the curtain wall, but still standing around forty feet tall and twenty feet wide. 

Kevin watches the two knights walk to the guards first, then turns around and signals them to approach. The door fans open. 

“Lady Seraphina, we shall leave you from this point. Best of luck to you.”

“Thank you.”

Seraphina nods back to the knights, then signals Kevin and Quinn to follow her into the castle. 

The castle guards’ faces are hidden under their helmets, but Kevin can tell they are watching him as he steps into the castle.

They step into the great hall first. Rib vault ceiling, stone walls with tapestries of stories of divine entities hanging. Tall, thin lancet windows with stained glass. Candles inside the pendants and intricate chandeliers. Heavy armored knights stand silently in designated spots.

After a few long hallways and three giant spiral staircases, they arrive at a dark wood door. 

“We are going inside the library, his lordship will be present, so please show reverence to his lordship.” 

Kevin swallows his tongue as Seraphina opens the door. Inside, the library stretches far beyond his sight, filled with bookshelves crafted in exquisite detail and rows of books neatly lined up.

There stands a lanky man dressed in a delicate white tunic. His white, long, messy hair and facial hair float in the air like smoke. His green eyes glint like rare gems under the chandeliers.

“Lord Castor!” Seraphina bends her knee before the nobleman.

“Stand, Seraphina,” the nobleman says in a soft, warm voice. Reminds Kevin of his favorite teacher from his art class.

“Hello there, ah, we have a mortal boy with us!” 

“Hello, sir, I’m Quinn, and this is my brother Kevin. Lady Seraphina came to retrieve my soul, but my brother somehow got dragged into this place with us.”

“I see, young man, I am sorry your brother has to whiteness it. I know mortals are very emotional about the loss of their families and loved ones.”

Kevin looks down at his shoes, holding back his tears. Quinn holds Kevin’s shoulder, squeezes a little.

“And our portal has been tampered with, we did not directly portal back to the palace. Instead, we were in the far west of the grassland.” Seraphina says.

“Let’s talk about it later. How about we get some food for the boy first? I know the food here might be different from the mortal world, but I promise you, they are delicious.”