Dr. Jen looked out from the window. The sky furnished a gray orange tint. The demons never spoke or informed him of anything during the voyage, only sliding some sort of mushy fruit pectin and greenish water to keep the hostages fed. The aircraft slowed its speed and progressively began to lose altitude, descending toward Planet X. Trixie lay in the corner, her scraggly hair limp and her blue eyes conferring no sparkle.
The ship landed before the border of the palace. It was a menacing, sharp steeple covered structure pigmented with grays and reflective browns. The two soldiers unbolted the door as the orange atmosphere blinded the newcomers with surprise. Dr. Jen peered up through his crooked spectacles, viewing the new surroundings with unease. Seemingly dead black trees were scattered in far distances. All was quiet, and lifeless. It was as if a piece of hell had begun growing on Planet X, right here at the palace. Russ ran to see the spans surrounded by a mile-high, rusty steel gate.
The Palace had a turreted roof, with multiple steeples towering thousands of feet over them, a mass of too many crystals, rusted and windowless. The thing seemed to be at least nine hundred stories tall and a thousand rooms wide, the highest peaks beyond visibility and reaching into the sky. Within had to be layers upon layers of stairs and stories, winding halls of darkness and walls and turns and slides and mazes. A thick gray mist encircled the lower half of the castle, where the two guards lengthened their studious pace.
The group neared the palace doors as the palace itself seemed to duplicate in size, blocking visibility of anything beyond its mass. A tall handless door was pushed by the soldier as they headed in. “I don’t want to go in,” Trixie whispered. On the first step the foggy darkness swallowed them whole, and the door faded behind into murkiness. They were already in.
Now they had passed the first hall, and were officially inside the maze of the palace. Paprika draperies with suede and slashed bell satin were tied over the vivid barriers of the interior, amber sunlight seeping from a colossal chandelier; the carpet a puffy twill. The complete panorama was mystical. A trail of winding black wood stairs danced up and behind a wall to the second floor. Branches of hallways and sloping hills scattered out in all directions. “Stop staring and get moving!” the soldiers growled.
The gruesome talent and structure of this place was paralyzing. The group had climbed at least four flights and surfed a few slides, crawling in shortened hallways till they finally curved to meet the double-door entry to the Emperor’s throne room. The soldiers took hold of the handlebars and heaved the door open.
“Go.” the soldier said.
Russ shook his head. “I-I can’t...”
Dr. Jen was shoved in with his wife and daughter, their fall echoing across the sizable, smooth glass floor. Behind, the door slammed. The place was deep and vacant, heated to what seemed like 100 degrees. At the end of the room was Ijin, seated upon a throne with a snout, spine, and spikes like the palace’s steepled exterior.
Ijin had been chanting something. Then, the chanting stopped. His red eyes opened under the brush of thick white hair. Ijin crawled from the shadows up the throne’s throat. He climbed through the teeth out of the cavity and clambered forward, falling to the ground. An endless length of a silver thin cloak swam after him, some resting on the glass floor while the rest trailed behind. He still was not talking.
“ I-I’m the man you requested from--Cyber--to make the Tai” Dr. Jen finally stated.
Ijin stared blankly, and finally spoke. “Are you going to beg me to atone for myself? The demons had power. You can see there are hardly any left.”
“Y-Your son Carris, for such a young boy, at only ten, he has the work ethic of a thousand men” Dr. Jen interjected in an attempt to redirect the conversation.
The oddity died away from Ijin’s face as a fierce assault replaced it. “Carris means nothing to me!! He can do all he wants, but he will always be half angel. He can never replace the greatness of the demons that were before him. If Siasma does not destroy him, I will soon end him first.”
“If you kill your own son, how will you manage planet Cyber as you have been doing before? Carris was the one obeying your will!”
Ijin seized Russ’s collar and lifted him four to five feet, to equal Ijin’s inhuman height. Russ’s inquiry was utterly ignored. “Make my Tai Dr. Jen” Ijin cooed, “....I know you can.”
Dr. Jen drew in his breath and was hurled to the ground. Beneath him the glass cracked.
The gray light dimmed, as the Emperor moved back to his throne, only his eyes shining red from within the animalistic seat.
The soldiers came in and pulled them out. Trine and Trixie had been silent through the whole event. As the doors closed, the last sound they could hear was Ijin softly chanting, before the awful room was locked and chained.