The Fallen Throne

"Whatever it is, ask him after he comes!"

For now, I left it as it was, thinking I'd see what to do later once he came. Since neither of us knew the way, we walked forward along the path in front of us. "We're somewhere in the middle of this palace. First, we need to find out where exactly we are."

I looked at Aron's face. There was fear in it, but also something else I couldn't quite name, and seeing him like that made me feel worse. He had nothing to do with any of this, yet he had somehow been dragged into my mess. When he noticed me staring, he turned toward me. "Mr. Zekai?"

"Aron. Are you worried about being trapped here?"

Aron didn't complain. He just laughed nervously. "As long as I'm with you, nothing will happen to me."

I decided not to dwell on it either. "You really haven't changed. No matter what happens, you always find a way to stick your head right into the middle of trouble."

Aron scratched his head with a grin. "Guess I've been like this since I was born!"

Thump.

Aron kept looking behind us, and I couldn't blame him.

After going deep inside, we found a large door along the way. "Maybe this is the way out. Aron, let's open it together."

We pushed against it with all our strength and opened it. But inside was a huge royal throne hall.

However, there was a crack in the middle of the throne, as if someone had destroyed it. The broken throne reminded me of myself for some reason. Maybe my life wasn't much different. Behind it, several military commanders were kneeling with their swords in their hands.

There was fear mixed with amazement in Aron's eyes. "Wow. Looking at this, I feel like we're safe. There should be someone here who can help us."

I looked at him after hearing that. "We didn't come here to make a request to some king. We came here to escape."

'Could this be a kingdom that was destroyed and abandoned because of a war, like the kingdoms that appear in stories?'

The tarot card box in my hand started to glow.

What is this? It's strange.

I immediately showed it to Aron. "Does this look like it's glowing to you?"

"No."

What the hell is this? Since I was suspicious, I immediately took the black stone cube from my pocket and looked at that too, but there was no change in it.

'Could it be glowing only to me because it's in my hand?'

"Aron, hold this card for a moment."

As soon as he took it, there was no surprise on his face. It seemed like it wasn't glowing for him.

I immediately took it back from him.

Grandpa Marcus told me not to open this card box under any circumstances. But now, it was calling me to open it and see what was inside.

I dropped the black cube from my hand onto the ground. 'Unnecessary junk.'

THUD

Aron immediately picked it up from the ground. "Why did you throw this away? Isn't this also old man Marcus's thing?"

"It's just an unnecessary burden. That's why I threw it away."

"It's not. Old man never keeps anything without a reason. If you don't want it, leave it. I'll give it back to him when I see him!"

"Fine. Do whatever you want with it."

Now that I had come all the way here because of this tarot card, I might as well open it and take a look. Grandpa isn't going to find out, right?

On top of the box, there was a piece of paper. I opened it and read it. Someone had written something on it.

[ WARNING — RULES ]

[ The ritual requires the user's blood. ]

I sighed. 'Why does everything need blood?'

[ Rule 0: You were chosen before you even came here. ]

'Chosen... So this wasn't an accident.'

[ Rule 1: You cannot turn back and cannot escape. ]

'Sounds like a scam contract.'

[ End of Rules — Conclusion ]

'That was it?'

'Holy crap. Basically, you're saying I'm trapped by this?'

Below that, there were a few more words.

[ Messenger of God ]

[ Arcana ]

I blinked my eyes. 'Arcana? Is this some cult name?'

There was nothing else left on the paper. It was just folded up.

'There's nothing big written to hide secrets. It looks like someone just wrote this for some kind of game.'

'Whatever it is, I'll find out myself. Let's see what's inside you.'

Inside, there was only one card. It was a Fool card, like the ones that appear in Tarot cards. Just by looking at it, the card was black, with its picture drawn in red. But there was a purple glow around it.

Aron, who was beside me, put the black cube inside his pocket and walked toward a wooden royal cabinet near the king's throne.

Curiously, he opened it and looked inside to see if there was anything useful or anything else that could help us escape. Inside, there were many old and damaged things. He brushed away the dust with his hands.

There was so much dust, but in the middle of it, there was a new-looking ring. It looked as new as the day it had been made. A strange symbol was carved into its silver band.

Aron picked up the ring to get a better look. His eyes suddenly went blank. He stood still for a moment, staring at the ring. Then his hand moved on its own.

Click.

A faint pulse ran through his body. He blinked. He looked at his hand. "...Huh?" He couldn't remember putting the ring on.

Clang!

Somewhere deep inside the palace, something slammed shut.

My head snapped up. "Aron?"

Aron flinched. "What?!"

I looked at Aron and felt like I had seen a ghost. He was trying to hide it, but his hands were shaking. He wasn't good at lying. He wasn't good at fighting either. Honestly, I was starting to wonder what exactly he was good at.

Aron froze. "...No." His gaze flickered toward his sleeve for a moment. The ring was hidden beneath it.

I turned toward the darkness behind us. "There might be something inside. We have to keep going."

"Further inside?" Aron's voice cracked slightly. "We can't go back?!"

I didn't want to answer him anymore. I walked forward. Aron also followed me.

The sound of our footsteps echoed throughout the ruined old hall. Beneath Aron's sleeve, the ring gave off another faint blue pulse.

—Use that card.

I immediately stopped when I heard that supernatural voice. It felt like someone had spoken inside my head.

I turned toward Aron. "Did you hear that too?"

Aron furrowed his brows. "Hear what?"

It echoed again. —Or you'll die. You've been carrying it with you all this time... and you're still pretending you have a choice?

Crack.

We heard the sound of something falling behind us.

Aron quickly turned around. "Mr. Zekai..." His voice trembled. "There's something behind us."

Without getting agitated, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "...What a nuisance."

The Tarot deck continued to grow warmer. I held it tightly. 'So you want me to choose?'

'Fine. I'll choose for myself.'

✦ End of Chapter 2 — The Fallen Throne ✦