Too Broke For Afterlife

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Thick smoke fills the air and I can hardly see a few feet ahead as I stumble through the narrow corridor. I can hear music coming out of one of the rooms to my left but the synthwave beats don't fit the vibes of a fortune teller so I keep going.

"Hello?" I ask into the purple mist. "Anyone here?"

"My child, come closer."

I follow the quiet voice until I reach a golden curtain. I carefully push it aside and peek through.

A woman is sitting on a pillow on the floor. She is wearing a nightblue robe and her black hair is long enough to reach the floor. A small tiara decorates her head.

In front of her lies a crystal ball and next to it a stack of cards. The walls are covered in tapestries showing moons, stars, eyes and symbols I've never seen before.

I guess I found who I've been looking for. 

"That's her," Nox confirms over the earpiece.

The woman opens her eyes and she smiles at me.

"Welcome, my child. I'm the mysteriously magnificent Martha Maples. Take a seat."

I accept her invitation and let myself fall onto one of the many pillows lying around.

She grabs a little bottle and pours some sparkly liquid into her hands. Then she rubs it in.

"Isabella."

Oh God, she knows my real name.

"We only have a few minutes. Show what you have to show."

"Okay?"

Nervously, I press the button on the wristband.

The hologram pops up as it did before and together we look at the marbles.

Martha Maples nods. "These marbles open the doors to the Mayor's three artefacts. She created them to store her power. If you destroy them, you can fight her like any regular human. But…"

"But?"

Martha looks at me. 

"The artefacts are guarded by the horrors missing from Hell. Breaking them might break you."

"What does that mean?"

Martha waves her hands over the crystal ball and it lights up. The white wavers and bit by bit it changes into a peaceful scenery. I'm looking at a waterfall behind a small lake, surrounded by nothing but green.

"Don't be fooled by the beauty. You will have to face your biggest fears if you want to fight the Mayor."

Fight the Mayor. This fortune teller can't be an NPC. Why would an AI help me fight their creator?

"Ask her how we get to that world."

But I ignore Nox' instruction.

Instead, I lower my voice. "Who are you really?"

Martha's eyes slither down to my cheek.

"Take out the camera."

"What?"

"They can't know."

"But..."

I hesitate. 

This might be a trap. Once I remove the camera, my friends won't be able to help. 

But what if she is saying the truth and wants to help? I might miss out on vital information.

"Please. We don't have much time left."

I take a big sigh and then glide my hand over my cheek until I feel the small bump. I pull on it.

"What are you doing? We can't see."

My nail glides underneath the tiny camera and I'm able to rip it off. I let it roll onto the ground and put a pillow over it.

"Isa, what the f*ck! What are you thinking? Put it back!"

I pull out the earpiece and throw it across the room. Oh, they'll hate me so much for this.

"Good. Now it's just you and me."

Marthaa puts her hands in front of her face, I raise an eyebrow.

What is she doing now?

It takes a while but then I watch how her skin color changes from beige into pink. The most unnatural pink.

The long black hair disappears and the small tiara falls to the ground. Once she removes her hands, I forget to breathe.

This is the woman from my dreams, the once I've been having since I was a little child.

The woman with the pink skin and beautiful face. The one who has always felt like an aunt despite me never meeting her.

"You…"

She smiles and my stomach fills with warmth. "There is so much I could tell you, so much you deserve to know but now is not the right moment."

"Who are you?"

She chuckles as she tries to find an answer. "I'm a part of you. I'm a part of every living being. But you, Isabella, you are also a part of me."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. You're not supposed to understand yet. But everything will make sense soon, I promise."

I feel disappointment spreading out inside of me. "That's alright. Nothing has made sense in a long time anyway."

Wow, did I really just say that? I start sounding like a moody teenager. Time to dye my hair purple and listen to MCR.

"Isabella, I understand that you want to know everything and you have the right to know but not right now. There are other things you and your friends should focus on. So-"

"Where do we find this world?"

I stare at the crystal ball and the beautiful jungle scene. All that'S missing is an elephant bathing in the lake.

"One of you knows. Go back to your friends. My time is up for now."

I watch how she changes back into the black haired fortune teller.

The pink disappears and the beautiful face is gone.

I get up from my pillow and pick up the camera as well as the earpiece.

"My child, where are you going? We haven't even started yet."

Yup. That's the NPC talking now. 

"I changed my mind. Goodbye."

I rush out of the room and down the misty hallway until I'm back on the street.

So many questions are flying through my head.

What did she mean when she said that she's a part of every living being? And how am I a part of her? Which of my friends knows where the world is located and why? What will Nox say once I've returned after not following her instructions?

But I shouldn't waste time thinking, we are so close to the end.

<<<

"Are you completely mental? What were you thinking? What were you doing? I just want to kill you!"

That's what Nox is saying.

I have hardly entered the room and she is already throwing a shoe at me. 

"Are you not taking this seriously? Do you not realize how much you endangered our mission? What secrets are you trying to keep from us?"

I take off my jacket and then hand back all the tools they gave me.

"She told me that I had to do it in order for her to tell me more."

"And what did she tell you?" Parker asks.

I choke. I should really have made a plan before coming here.

"Well…she told me that these marbles lead us the way to the Mayor's artefacts. And that we have to face our biggest fears in order to destroy them. I asked her where we would find the world she was showing in her crystal ball and she told us that one of us already knows."

"That's it? Bullshit. None of us knows, you let her rip you off. This wouldn't have happened if you-"

"Whatever."

Nox looks puzzled as I fall down onto my mattress.

Then, slowly, the anger takes back over.

"Whatever?" she hisses. "You…"

"Yes? What about me?"

I feel the pillow under my head. I want to sleep so badly right now.

"You're crazy. You messed everything up! We are screwed!"

"Actually, Isabella didn't mess up anything."

Surprised, I open my eyes when I hear Walter's voice.

He scratches his neck nervously.

"The fortune teller told her the truth. I know the world she showed me."

"What?" That piece of information seems to have shaken Judy awake. 

Everyone is staring at Walter now who seems to grow more and more uncomfortable but he manages to clear his throat.

"Remember when I told you that I used to work for the Mayor and built a world? That's the one you saw. I thought it was published but found out that you can't access it with the Train Of Thoughts. But apparently it's still there so if I manage to hack myself into the system, I can teleport us there."

But of course! Walter's world! He had asked us to visit it and mentioned it a couple of times. I didn't imagine it to look like…this. I was expecting something closer to San Andy.

"What's it called?" Nox wants to know.

"I don't know, I never got to name it. The working title was HiddenTemple."

That's not a very creative name but it does make me curious. I couldn't see any templee in the crystal ball. 

Clemens pats Walter's shoulder. "It appears that it is time for you to find back to your hacker roots once more. The Mayor used your wip to stow away her artefacts. Quite genius actually."

Walter nods.. "Give me a few hours."