Chapter Three
Semaphorism [ noun ]
A conversational hint that you have something personal to say on the subject but don't go any further.

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      The feeling in your legs finally came back, or were starting to come back. You groaned, struggling to push yourself off the ground, you wobbled as you stood on your feet, legs feeling like jelly - from an outside view you might have looked like a newly born fawn taking its first few steps.

Your ears picked up on a small almost inaudible laugh, slowly, you turned - and there was your guide, clearly holding back a laugh at your misfortune.

You took in a deep breath, your hand found itself gripped at one of the wooden railings that were staked into the ground, trying to stabilize yourself. "It's okay, you can laugh."

He quickly waved his hand, and tried to straighten his posture, he let out a cough. "Ohh uh no, no, I wasn't gonna." He was a terrible liar.

You laughed, rolling your eyes. "Right."

You looked up ahead, a path of stone carvings, they looked oddly familiar, you narrowed your eyes before glancing back towards Bruno. Ah. They resembled him, though those looked rather frightening, Bruno on the other hand looked like a hmm, well you couldn't think of a exact comparison, just that he looked kinda cute.

Bruno pursed his lips together, giving you a nervous smile, anxious at the way you stared, he knew it wasn't malicious, still it put him on edge. He took a step forward, which seemed to break you out of your staring state."We should go."

Right. You nodded and gestured for him to lead the way. No telling how long I'll be here. You thought, following after him, as the two of you made your way through the rather dimly lit tunnel, eyes glazing along the walls lined with stone face carvings and a strange abundance of vases.

You stopped.

What lies ahead of you looks like those large steel bank vaults you would always see in movies - but that's not what catches your eye - it's the thing just right beside it, a hazardously hanged plank of wood that looks like it seconds away from hitting the ground.

Bruno walked up towards it, taking a deep breath before giving it a hard knock - one. two. three times, all while repeating the words. "Knock on wood." He takes another deep breath, before opening the vault-like door.

Okay, so he's a bit superstitious. That would explain the salt that ended up being thrown in your face.

Bruno called out your name, soft and hesitant, waiting for you at the door, as he nervously fiddled with his ruana.

You smiled. "Coming!"

Over the years of you being alive - you had consumed a multitude of media that showed the different ways people could see the probable future; using cards, bones, stones, tea leaves and most commonly, magical crystal balls.

Bruno used none of those.

You sat in the center just like he had instructed.

You watched him with excitement and curiosity as he laid out a circle of sand around you. "Am I going to be used as a sacrifice?" You beamed, voice upbeat and cheerful.

Bruno stopped, sand pooling beneath his feet. "What?" He's never been asked that before, and why did you look so happy asking it.

You laughed. "I'm just messing with you. You looked a little bit . . . tense? Just wanted to loosen you up a bit. There's nothing to be worried about, Bruno. I mean, you've done this lots of times before, right?"

He nodded, looking off to the side. "Yeah."

"Then don't be so worried!" You said. "You're gonna get wrinkles." Like you're one to talk, the lack of sleep did not look good on you either, the bags under your eyes were not prada.

He stared at you, letting out a sigh, before fixing up the mountain of sand that had filed up near his feet.

After finishing the circle of sand he stepped inside, he sat right across from you, striking a match to light the kindle that sat between the two of you.

He reached out his hands. "You should hold on."

You nodded with an enthusiastic smile, sparing no time as you placed your hands on top of his. You let out a small squeal,  never in your life would you have thought you would be experiencing something like this. In your head, you were thanking the magical door.

Bruno closed his eyes, and with a deep breath, he opened them - eyes now glowing in an unnatural bright green.

You held your breath in amazement, a gust of wind went by, your eyes flitted across the room, watching as the circle of sand began to rise and swirl, enveloping the two of you - and suddenly - they fell back to the ground.

Your face twisted, confused. You didn't mean to sound disappointed but was that it? ". . . . Is that how it's supposed to go?"

Bruno groaned in response, retracting his hands away from you, and digging his face into it, moaning. "It just--" he looked up, now running his fingers through his hair, almost pulling it. "It just doesn't make any sense! There should be something here, a vision, something, anything!"

You stood up and took a step towards him, kneeling down, slowly and gently you pulled his hands down, clasping it with your own.

He looked at you a little startled, eyes now back to a dark green.

You gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I thought being here would do something. But don't beat yourself up about it. Thanks for trying, you looked really cool." 

Bruno stared unblinking, unused to the gentleness of your touch and the kindness in your voice. He wanted to say something, he should say something, he probably looked a bit weird, just staring at you like this. He nodded. "Uh, I - I won't. I'm sorry again that--" Bruno stopped.

You gave him another smile. I guess my time is up.

You hear his voice call out your name faintly, before you find yourself back in the empty room.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a proper goodbye, Bruno." You muttered. "I'll be sure to give you one next time."

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He glanced around the now empty room.

Despite what you've said and what you've done. Bruno still had a hard time believing that you weren't a ghost or a spirit of some kind, with the way you always seemed to just disappear - fading away into nothing. 

You could be a figment of his mind, brought on by his loneliness, but that wouldn't explain the strange clothes you wore. He couldn't have imagined that.

Another thing he couldn't explain was the warmth your hands had brought, the gentle touches you left on his skin. Your laugh. You were definitely real, no matter how hard it was to believe or even explain.

____

Three times.

Three times you had gone through a magical door, so by now when a light enveloped a door, you wouldn't spare it a second thought and just jump right in but the problem was -  the light was completely on another  door.

You let in a deep breath, the adrenaline that had pumped through your veins had begun to die down, leaving you to catch your breath.

You had just sprinted to and fro the tower and back to here. The door in front of you shined - yet there wasn't a speck of light anywhere near the door in the tower, it had laid there dim.

". . . Why this door?" You voiced out, confused. Your eyes looked around, scanning the area for something - just trying to make sense of why - out of all the doors, why this one and why now?

You let out a shaky breath, taking a step forward, fingers twitching as they reached out for the doorknob. With a click, the knob twisted, you pushed the door open, and stepped into the room.

No sand. That's the first thing you noticed as the light around you disappeared - next thing you noticed was a girl with ginger hair, and she was crying.

Oh no.