Here Lies the Painted World

Verse I

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

“Is any of this even real… Or not?”

Lulu's dream wasn’t finished with her quite yet—And it was oh-so very real... dream or no-dream.

The wind is blow—ing.

The earth is fold—ing.

Fire burn—ing.

Wa-ter churn—ing.

...

My painting. Dear Lordeth. My painting.

I shall walk thine Divine Aisle.

Thine will be cast.

Thine will be done.

The paintinggg. My paintinggg.. Come alive, pretty girl. Come alive.

On—lllyyyy. Need. One. Morr. Thin—

"..."

Some of it was coming back to her. Something had triggered the memory.

At the beginning of a long hallway, she stood peeking down a melancholy corridor feeling inexplicably drawn towards the direction it traveled.

Foggy. Murky. Away from that state of mind when the whole thing happened. When she was looking out the window. The details eluded her.

A shiver went up her spine followed by some goosebumps on her arms.

There were two doors that way. A singular bedroom hid behind the first door along its path. Behind door number two at the end were stairs leading to the utmost upper and lower levels of her home.

A regular girl who had days earlier symbolically entered adulthood pondered investigating further. She was part-human, although nothing about her appearance gave any inclination she wasn’t whole. In this case, regular was entirely relative.

Once she had committed and taken that first step, an invisible force of some kind immediately embraced her. It didn’t feel like she was being pulled nor tugged, more so like she was walking downhill, except, of course, she wasn’t.

The lone bedroom door was open. It was never open.

Granted, she was basically never in this area, but she knew nonetheless this was unusual. Immediately her attention was captured by something beautiful on the back wall, located in between the far corner and the bed. It'd been so many years since she'd been in here she had forgotten about this artistic masterpiece: The Painted Window.

She approached carefully, trying to get a grip on this unexpected surge of excitement while still a little more than a few feet away from it. The closer she got, the weirder she felt, as if this newfound attraction originated from some primal part of her brain.

A clear, audible flicker rang out. On a slight delay after hearing the sound, all the lights in her immediate vicinity went out, and then she followed suit, losing consciousness.

Verse II

A sprawling wasteland of sand and rock stretched far and wide as far as the eye could see. Lulu attempted to turn her body and neck to scout whatever was behind her yet found herself unable to move anything.

Devoid of any emotion she stared ahead through the eyes of a foreign entity whilst thrown into a very foreign land. Not fear, not curiosity, nor trepidation and anxiety, nor wonder and puzzlement taxed away at her spirit.

The body she occupied yet couldn't control or influence resumed their journey ahead, step by step, bit by bit, as if nothing out of the ordinary was at play. What vision Lulu had appeared to be fully and completely tied to that of her host.

This would take some getting used too. She had no clue what was happening—but may as well go with it—right?

The journey ahead on foot offered ample time to take in the bleak scenery, all the while zigging and zagging about and around both treacherous and flat terrain. To her left lay practically nothing but endless desert landscape shrouded in some type of fog or mist. Although that same fog lingered elsewhere, off into obscurity resided the thickest of it.

“Hello! Can you hear me!? Anybody home in there!? In—here… I mean.”

Shouting in her mind as loud as she could did nothing. It elicited no reaction at all from whoever’s body she now strangely occupied. At least no reaction that she could tell of, so it’d be reasonably safe to reason any telepathic communication might be off the table.

“Well, I need something to call ya. How about… Cass. Rhymes with sass. There it is.”

Up above the Sun shone through cloudy skies, although she felt remised of any of its warmth upon her skin. The entirety of this new land looked like it had been bathed in a light red hue. That apocalyptic, dystopian type light red hue that made everything look just that much more dramatic… as if it didn’t have enough of that already.

A low pitched ringing briefly came and went, like when you've heard something very loud that was followed by a period of silence.

Warm winds breezed across her face.

“…”

Then she realized…

Warm winds breezed across her face. She could now feel whatever Cass was feeling. Had to be.

From far away the mountains looked foreboding. Time seemed to function differently in this place, wherever and whatever it was. Distorted and uncanny, the closest she could get to explaining how strange it felt would be to say it sort of operated in jumps. And as a result, before Lulu knew it, she and Cass were closing in on their final destination.

At roughly eleven o’clock from the direction she was facing towered a monstrosity of a mountain, its peak stretching all the way past the lowest clouds. Judging from the setting Sun, this behemoth was located southwest of where they were going, assuming said Sun rose in the East and set in the West.

Four separate, smaller mountains stood staggered in roughly the opposite direction to the biggest. They were small only by comparison, their height was nothing to be scoffed at.

Now that she was up close and personal having to tilt her head up to see their peaks, they almost looked more like buried or abandoned fortresses as opposed to natural mountains. Could be they were a combination of sorts.

One specifically caught her eye. While the rest looked destitute, the odd one out appeared nearly pristine, like it too had been abandoned, but only recently, and much later than its three other counterparts. Everything from the details in its gothic architecture to its crisp lines indicated it must have been crafted by some sophisticated living entities or beings in the past. At one point it most certainly housed inhabitants of some kind or another.

When the awe and wonderment of this new land and the things among it faded off slightly, a swarm of butterflies appeared in her stomach. Or technically, Cass’s stomach. The nerves hit, and they hit hard.

Bup-bum.

Lulu heard a heartbeat. Once she consciously became aware of it, mentally confirming she actually heard what she thought she just heard, she thought back a bit and realized she had heard that same sound multiple times already during their journey. Only she didn’t pick up on it until this moment.

Cass’s heart, assuming that was where it came from, only required one beat every few minutes or so. Given the already enigmatic circumstances, Lulu accepted this oddity in stride with minimal denial.

Lulu didn’t need to get it, in order for her to get it, if that made sense.

There was more to be seen. To be heard. To experience. And her desire for it almost felt like lust, an emotion she had never felt before.

To her right the ground crested into a wave where they passed two of the mountain structures. The Great Behemoth stood imposing in the distance, the setting Sun soon to take cover behind its girth. They were now very close to the mountain which caught her eye before, on a direct course heading towards it. It looked rather plain and normal, all things considered.

A wave of fog and a cloud of dust rolled in, obstructing their view. An arm she had no control over came up to shield its owner’s eyes from the elements. It did nothing to slow their place. Cass was determined to let nothing slow their pace. By the time it had passed, they had arrived.

If it were Lulu's heart in this situation, it would’ve most certainly skipped a beat. Probably multiple beats. Full-fledged wonder and awe took her breath away.

And then her vision faded to black, and it all disappeared.

Verse III

Awake at last, unknown for how long.

Eyes propped wide open, Alululina entered a 3-to-30 second, extremely fazed, trance-like state of Disturbia. One second she had full recollection of the journey with Cass until another second soon after shrouded her acute memories in distortion and fog. Delirium and confusion. Details and images and words all floated away, like a leaf on a lake, gone out of reach.

For a full minute she’d had her eyes open the whole time, unblinking, except for what they were seeing hadn’t registered at all up until now. The entirety of her family were present and she was the focal point.

They were all looking at her. Everyone was looking at her, including their two pet tiger-kitty hybrids Mixen and Moxen surreptitiously creeping atop multiple connecting bookshelves. Down on the ground, butt down and front legs up, sat their wolf named Ghost.

The entire family surrounded the bedside, five in all without counting her or the pets, worry plastered on each of their faces. They called her Lulu by short. The name she went by. The name she answered to.

The more Lulu came to, the more bewilderment and questions arose. For starters… where was she? This wasn’t her room.

Brother Toshin, the oldest of all the siblings and the only boy, stared straight into her soul and didn't take his eyes off her until she reciprocated. The nonverbals said it all.

“Talk later. Quietly.”

“Really? But why?” she thought.

What had to be said in discretion away from the rest of the family?

A brief pause ensued. The physics-defying kind that was felt by only her, like time had stopped strictly to accommodate her while it continued on for anyone and everything else.

Something was wrong. You could feel it in the air. The tension. The apprehension.

A quick glance around clued her in to where she was at and it made no sense at all. For some odd reason she found herself in Toshin’s old room.

Wait a minute...

The last thing she could remember was walking down the hallway and seeing the bedroom door ajar. And then... it was all a blank.

In Brother’s only words about it, he didn’t like how the room made him feel when he first moved in and spent a couple of nights trapped in its walls. Something was off about the space. The vibe. The walls closing in. Her brother's story, hazy in how she remembered it.

The bedroom's door was locked and the room was eventually forgotten about. And that’s the way it stayed. Until now, at least. She never thought much of it until recently.

She was the oldest of all three girls. She was young and she was wise, already entering a high stage of maturity able to formulate sophisticated opinions and beliefs about the way the world worked. About life and such.

“Sweetheart, are you ok?”

Her mother’s voice. It sounded far away. Raspy. Like Lulu was under water and her mother was above it. No matter the circumstances, she could always recognize it. Her brain felt like it was malfunctioning and she couldn't find the words to respond.

All the windows were blacked out inside the mansion in a way that allowed light in yet remained opaque when looking out. Every window but one, found in this room, where a special painting covered the window’s entirety.

It looked so... familiar.

Ignoring the people around her she leaned forward for a better angle and caught a better look of it. The uncanny feeling of deja vu hit her immediately. She'd seen something like this before? But where?

"Warm winds."

She mumbled so softly no one heard her. She said it without consciously thinking like it had come out of its own accord.

The painting was an optical illusion of sorts that looked different based upon the time of day. Light and dark changed its properties. During the day it depicted a luscious grassland with a soft yellow silhouette in the upper right hand corner resembling the sun, and the beginnings of a mountain range perceptibly moving off canvas, under the yellow. During the night, however, the sun was replaced by an eye, looking menacingly down over the mountaintops and onto a burning field of red, where two armies fought on a battlefield. Creatures and monsters of all kinds accompanied each side. The amount of bloodshed depicted was unfathomable. The window was huge, and thus the painting provided plenty of space to show such an emotionally charged, vivid scene. Macabre or not, magnificent couldn’t begin to describe it. It looked similar to stained glass. Whoever was responsible for its creation possessed astronomical talent.

A quick flash struck in between her eyes and she closed them. A brightness appeared, the kind that happens after staring at a light for awhile and then shutting your eyes hard. An image hovered to the forefront. It was of herself, staring unblinking into a painted window just like the one in this room.

An abrupt ringing announced its arrival rather brutishly, making all sorts of racket in her ears. From an almost indiscernible low pitch, the noise escalated quickly in volume and intensity as it started to become a nuisance, and fast. For the moment it was bearable, sure, until it wasn’t. Joining the party late came a paralyzing headache that struck like a hammer, causing her brain to pulsate and throb like a beating heart.

"Tis not beauty, tis beyond it.

Fair lady, what sayeth thee?

Not the door. No. No. No.

The only way out.

Yes, no. Yes.

Or shall I say in?

Lies through the painting...

Ohh...? But how...?

A fine question indeed."

Little Ursateddy clung to the edges of the bed. The second youngest, recently remiss of first, she had grown out of the phase where even though the world doesn't revolve around anyone, it comes quite close for a newborn. That was the stage the youngest sibling fit into who a mere days earlier learned to walk for the first time. Teddy reached her hand out to brush a strand of hair away from Lulu's face.

Lulu smiled. She couldn't help herself. She was always the rock of the family, and she was proud to wear that mantle. Despite the pain slowly but surely getting closer to reaching agonizing levels, she resisted the urge to cry out. The soothing, shadowy voice she heard helped distract her from the discomfort. She gave it a warm welcome into the chaos that lived inside her head, humoring the interaction as if she really heard conscious voices in her head belonging to anyone but her.

Mother Frisis, heavy bags under her profound green eyes, looked on with deep trepidation as if a storm was brewing inside her very soul. Any and all emotions she had were buried unreadable down in their bottomless depths.

Littler Gracie snoozed softly held over Mother's shoulder. Even she was concerned. Although calm for a little while, inevitably she erupted out of nowhere, her wailing cries reverberating around of the room, probably sensing the somber mood.

Mother Frisis took one last long look while using her free hand & fingers to make the shape of half a heart and hold it close to her chest, whispering the words.

"I love ya, Lu."

Lulu responded in kind using the same gesture but did not echo the words. Her mother said nothing more as she exited the room.

Toshin remained calm, cool, & collected. Observing. Evaluating. Lost in thought.

He placed a hand balled into a fist on top of the corner bedpost, then let go. In one smooth motion he placed an exquisitely crafted key and matching chain hanging off the bedpost. After their exchange from earlier, he kept his head down the entire time he remained. With nothing further to do, Brother Toshin left the room.

Only two remained. Father Zallahan offered a genuine smile that faded quickly like he was about to crack a joke and then thought better of it. In the blink of an eye he turned around and said nothing, following her brother and taking Ursateddy by the hand to exit together.

Completely overwhelmed, eyelids feeling like they were too heavy to stop from closing, Lulu tried her best to stay awake and dig up that memory she had completely forgotten.

*Weeping*

Lady. Mother Mironia. Can you see it. The fire. It burns. It is alight once again.

...

The painting. The window. Do you hear its call? Dare you look upon it? Touch it?

...

Do you dare...Open it?

She pulled up the covers and hit under them after hearing the same unidentifiable voice for the third time. Some interactions sounded like she was being directly addressed while others as if she was listening in on someone else's conversation by sheer proximity.

At last, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she didn't think twice. Up out of bed she rose, beyond perplexed, seeking the window. Seeking the painting. She was back in her own room now. Someone must have carried her back here.

In the dead of night, she opened her bedroom door ever so carefully. It squeaked anyway. Each and every step she took down the hall made creak after creak seeming to grow louder and louder as she held her breath, continuing on as stealthily as she could control. Finally she made it back to Toshin's old room without encountering anyone along the way. Once making it inside, she paused and shut the door behind her, but not all the way. Listening. Waiting. Listening. Waiting some more. Now her heartbeat really started to pick up steam. She could hear each beat of hers while the mansion remained silent. No footsteps or activity could be heard from anywhere. For now she was in the clear.

Dangling from the bedpost was a key, but she paid it no attention feeling unconcerned and uninterested as to what it could possibly open. When looping around the bed she kept her eyes glued to the floor, not wanting to spoil her first look back at the painting from anywhere but the very best vantage point. It looked different than what she could remember. It somehow had... depth, so to speak. As if it now occupied a 3D & 4D space, no longer imprisoned into a two dimensional construct.

After blinking her eyes, normalcy returned to the Painted Window as if what she had just witnessed never happened. Then it went a step beyond. A strobe like effect resonated from the painting. It was brief, but even so, the painting was smeared and unrecognizable as a result.

Unbelieving she stared.

Then she started to feel dizzy... and everything went black.

"Darling... Darling... Whilst you not come home, darling?"

The voice. Alluring. Mesmerizing. Enticing.

Verse IV

Cass and Lulu waltzed right into the empty fortress. Of course only one of them was doing the walking. There looked to be a gate of sorts at the entrance in its glory years, but those days were gone. Rubble strewn all about and around, no doubt the remnants of some glorified entrance.

Having been constructed in synergy with the mountain, the height of the fortress was deeply ingrained and incorporated into the blueprint of its construction. Although various levels and zones had features to give them each their own unique aesthetic, the overall theme of the place kept consistent throughout. There was a living area full of houses. A downtown square that was probably hustling and bustling with commerce in its prime. A place of gathering for entertainment. The list went on.

There was nothing Lulu could see through Cass’s eyes that showed the same sort of damage as when they had entered, adding more and more intrigue to the mystery of this entire experience. Why destroy a gate and then leave everything else? Unless... they were trapped inside.

“Listen to me, please! If you can hear me, tell me what’s going on… Don’t leave me in the dark.”

No response.

Lulu had made multiple attempts at communication, however all of them proved to be ineffective. Not even a flinch. This last failed attempt at connection served as confirmation their link only operated as a one way street from Cass to her. That was that.

They were deep within the fortress when a lone building caught her eye. Towards the far end of a large courtyard area loomed a Cathedral.

It was impossible to miss. It was strikingly magnetic. After merely one look, it was hard to look away again.

Standing guard outside mourned two different and unique stone statuettes of a motherly-type figure. One of them held a child in her arms, face partly concealed by a hood, forever maintaining a somber and forlorn expression. The other buried her face in her elegant hands, leaning forward with her legs crossed.

A peaceful breeze came and went, almost as if it was orchestrated by the Holy Cathedral itself sensing their presence and offering its greetings.

Warm winds…

Outside the front entrance and down the steps, Cass remained stoic, one foot up on the first stair leading up towards two gigantic swinging doors.

Time continued on acting abnormally compared to what she was used to. Time may be relative, but her experience pushed this anecdote to the extreme. It was difficult to explain the feeling, and many others she was having, in only words.

Cass acted like she knew what she was doing. Knew where she was going. Moving and carrying herself like she was whole-heartedly invested in some kind of purpose or mission, committed to see it through all the way to the end, doing whatever was required of her along the way. Unfortunately the backstory of how that strength of will came to be, Lulu would most certainly never hear. If only two words were allowed to describe her, Cass's demeanor was that of a calm ferocity, like a velociraptor.

There were probably around nineteen steps from the bottom to the Cathedral’s entrance. The staircase grew narrower and narrower for anyone ascending it. Cass remained with one foot on ground level and the other on the first step up, the longest pause by far, so far. A BOOM and a CRACK of thunder and lightning shattered the silent skies from back where they had started. The air itself changed noticeably when another breeze brought along with it the smell of rain. It was on its way.

Cass looked for a moment to her left as far as far as her neck would take her, then repeated the process to the right, getting a complete look at her surroundings. It couldn’t have been more than three seconds in either direction she looked.

Then, for what felt like a slightly longer window of time, she looked up at the Heavens, briefly closed her eyes, and walked up the steps.

The doors rumbled open for her. Without breaking stride, she passed right by the two statues and walked straight in.

Once inside, a lone figure clad in a kinght's attire at the end of the aisle repeatedly banged a fist on the ground whilst down on its hands and knees. The armored gauntlets amplified the sound, sending echoes reverberating throughout the tall, wide open space of the inner Cathedral.

Something was hung on the far wall in front of where the knight was, a black tapestry to conceal something behind it. Several interspersed statues and relics populated the rest of the room along with several other points of interest one would find inside a Holy place. A source of holy water that was now barren. Empty pews. Artistry of all kinds evoking imagery of angels and demons amongst a plethora of other themes. It was difficult to know whether the statues depicted several unique people, some repeats, or only one.

One thing was for certain, it was the grandest place Lulu had ever laid eyes on.

Cass hadn't come here for sightseeing, refusing to marvel at it all and barely looking around once she arrived, like she was looking for something specific. Like she knew exactly where to find it. And then, like she had found it. She kept her singular focus in direct view from the moment her target was identified, refusing to stray for even a moment.

The knight stopped banging but maintained its kneeling position.

Lulu was at the mercy of whatever sorcery put her in this situation to begin with. Cursed with total lack of control, what else could she do at this point? Wait and watch, really. Her task was simple yet infuriating.

Cass held her ground showing no signs of weakness. No signs of fear. Quite the contrary, her outward appearance signaling she might even be enjoying the encounter by slyly grinning. Smirking cooly.

"Hello. I've come here, prepared to dance. Is thee ready for thy Judgement?"

Her tone of voice came off as emotionless. Not at all antagonizing either, as if it wasn't personal. Well, maybe as if it wasn't entirely personal. As if her motive for being here was one of possibly duty or destiny, a vendetta being an added bonus.

"Ohh? Judgement, you say? And thee shall cast its Deliverance?"

The sound of grated armor echoed throughout the interior of the Cathedral as the lone figure brought itself up from a kneeling position, relying on a podium sort of construct nearby to help stand all the way up. Frail was the first adjective that came to mind describing the scene.

During this time Cass had made a move in response, swiftly and smoothly striding forward until the two combatants were close, but not too close. She was showing caution. Discipline. But why?

"Yes."

Cass had drawn her twin blades—two daggers that were a few inches away from being considered two swords—one in each hand, sliding one against the other to make that unforgettable sharpening sound. She wasn't overly flashy, doing it only twice. It was more a product of her own special superstition and routine before battle than it was trying to intimidate or assert dominance. She had other methods for those endeavors. And when it was all said and done, her blades would do the talking.

"Fodder... Calls my name... Again... When... will it... end? Thine wish—shall not be—granted."

A moment passed, each of them seizing up the other. The knight reached out a hand, still weaponless, animating a gesture to 'come closer.' Its armor and cape obscured the being's entire appearance. They were both the color of unoxygenated blood, highlights of white and black completing the color scheme.

Cass had still not responded to the rejection. Whatever it was that motivated her silence, if she was going to say something, by this point, she more than likely would have said it already.

"Hand it over. Your heart. The light. Giveth to me now... So I can finally rest eyes on thou'est lady, look into her soul once again."

Cass answered promptly.

"No."

And then she charged.

Verse V

The mansion loomed atop a hill amongst others interspersed throughout the surrounding prairie and woods. In a normal place, a normal town, resided an abnormal family.

There did not exist a word or phrase or series of words to define her kind. Nor was there anything to describe her and their religion and beliefs. Both originated from a very old, ancient, and dark place.

Lulu's back ached the moment she opened her eyes and found herself now on the floor of this arcane room. Quickly maneuvering back towards the door, she cracked it open enough to sneak a peek outside. Nothing looked out of place. She hadn’t even seen Mixen or Moxen, nor Ghost, either. Typically they never went near this area, anyway. Not one of them were pawing at the door wanting to get in, either. They must have been off sleeping somewhere or found a mouse or mole to torture slowly.

There was a table with five chairs around it where the family sometimes gathered to play games or solve puzzles.

The revelation just about left her breathless.

"Wait a second... I don't have a brother."

Lulu turned back around, then stepped cautiously back towards the painting. On her way she grabbed the key from the bedpost without stopping. In front of the painting she held up the key with one hand and touched it with the other. A faint click could be heard before pigments began separating, the paint taking on a life of its own, stopping eventually to form a distinct keyhole in an abstract wonder.

It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she was still in the clear and no one was watching, then took a deep breath and inserted the key.

A voice sang out.

The wind is blow—ing.

The earth is fold—ing.

Fire burn—ing.

Wa-ter churn—ing.

Her soul, her mind, her body, were then sucked into the Painted World.