Prologue Part 13
Soon it was Thursday night and the Dumonts were preparing for Matteo's inheritance ceremony. Matteo took a bath and wore a complex layer of black cross collar robes embroidered with gold. He sat alone on his bedroom floor, his thoughts centered on one thing, his late mother. He replayed every memory of her's he ever had, each one bringing more pain than the last. Eventually he reached the final part of the memories as he thought back to that dreadful night where he would unknowingly see the last of her for the rest of his life.
As he sobbed quietly in his dark room, he couldn't help but think that this was all his fault, that he had somehow failed to help her, that he should've fought harder against Thomas, that maybe he should've gotten more flowers, or tried harder to convince everyone that the ghost really did exist, because it did, he saw it, touched it, felt it! Why didn't anybody believe him? They just called her crazy! They didn't try to help her in any way, they just insulted her and left her all alone by herself! And now that she's dead they don't even feel bad! They just gossip all day, making her suffering look like a joke! What is wrong with people?!
But that wasn't even the worst part, the worst part was…. Father. This was all his fault. The way he hit her, the way he humiliated her in front of everyone, all the stuff he said about her, just thinking about it made him clench his jaw so hard his teeth began to hurt. His stomach area was still painful from the kick he received that night. But luckily for him, he hadn't really seen him since. Until…..
His bedroom door opened and a second later, Thomas entered his room. He was surprised to find the room so dark. He lit up a small candle and waved it around the room, and once he saw Matteo, he noticed how empty he looked, how the youthful spark in his eyes had completely faded, and all that was left was a look he had seen one too many times, the same look he had once had before… the look of someone who had lost their reason to live.
"Hey," He called out to him, maintaining his cold demeanor. Matteo did not reply in any way, but Thomas could tell from the way the grip on his robe tightened that Matteo could hear him. "Hey!" He raised his voice, but still no reply. Thomas started getting annoyed as he stepped closer and closer to Matteo. Only after about three steps did he finally acknowledge his presence, not with words, but with a burning glare that could melt stone. Thomas did not waver at this and instead focused on his reason for coming.
"Get up, it is time for your ceremony." Matteo didn't move a single muscle on his body, staying in the exact same position as before, staring a burning hole through his 'father'. "Are you still crying over that woman? Did you not listen to a single thing that I told you that night? Get a hold of yourself. She's gone. You will never see her again and there is no amount of tantrums you can throw to get her back. Now I will not tell you again…. get up."
Matteo maintained his stance for a few more moments, clenching his fist and jaw even tighter than before, before reluctantly getting up and following his instructions. They walked out of his room, down the stairs, out of the house and into the carriage all the way to the Inheritance shrine where the ceremony would be taking place.
Once they arrived, Matteo couldn't help but notice all the different carriages that were there. The place that the ceremony would be taking place in was a cathedral that was both tall and dark, matching the cloudy night sky. Inside the cathedral was cold and somber, it was just as dark as outside, but at least it was warmer outside thanks to the warm breeze. The cathedral was rather full, and everybody there wore black or white clothing, they were all currently seated apart from a few who had just arrived.
Matteo didn't bother looking around like he normally did. He just entered, looked for any place to sit, and sat down. He decided to sit in the back row, but was pulled all the way to the front by Thomas, who later went to have a conversation with the conductors of the ritual, the heads of the cathedral. After his conversation, he sat back down and it was time for the ceremony to begin.
The ceremony began with words of condolence to the Duchess Isabella, as they had a moment of silence in honor of her memory. Then, a few songs were sang and it was time to turn the attention to Matteo. He was called up to the stand where a few words of blessing were spoken to him in the language of Sogol, which was said to have the greatest connection to the spirits.
After the prayer, Matteo and the rest of the cathedral was led to one of the other areas out back where the ritual would take place. It was a large room that glowed blue, purple and green. The walls and floor were made of marble that further accentuated the colors of the room, which came from the roof. They quickly reached the back end of the room, where Matteo was met with a body of shining crystal turquoise green water, which looked like a large bath of melted diamonds.
Matteo was then undressed, and told to enter the body of water. Not too long after, Isabella's body was carried in by Thomas and also submerged in the body of water. One of the Cathedral heads presented Matteo with a strange blue concoction inside a small round bowl. "Drink this" Matteo did as he was told and drank the concoction, and once he had finished, one of the Cathedral heads placed their hand on his head and instructed him, "Now close your eyes." Matteo once again followed the instructions. The Cathedral head began to speak once again in Sogol,
"Isabella Dumont, our Duchess is no more. The light of Solenne has faded out, but her soul still lives on. And with this ritual, we humbly request the spirit of Isabella Dumont to live on inside of her adoptive son, Matteo Dumont. To guide him and strengthen him for all of eternity."
Once the Cathedral head finished, he dipped Matteo's head into the water, leaving Matteo's entire body submerged under the water. By that time, Matteo had already started feeling the effects of the strange liquid that the cathedral head gave him. His body became more and more relaxed by the second and soon, he couldn't even move it anymore. Then, about two seconds after that, he passed out completely.
***
A few moments later, Matteo felt a gust of strong wind blowing at his body. He opened his eyes and found himself somewhere that looked nothing like the cathedral. What is this? Where am I? Matteo thought as he checked his surroundings. He then did a short inspection of himself and found that he was not wearing his black and gold robes anymore, but rather a large, plain white robe that swayed along with his hair from the wind. I can't see anything. He complained as he tried to get a better look at his surroundings.
The entire place was shrouded in a strange, thick mist, like he was somehow walking inside a cloud. The entire place felt cold and even a bit damp and Matteo couldn't help but wonder, Am I really inside a cloud? He decided to take a few steps forward and as he did, he could feel the cool dampness of the mist around him as it shifted with each step he took.
After a few steps he finally felt something solid that wasn't his own body. He waved his hands around trying to clear the mist away, and when he did, he found a flight of stairs that were also covered in the mist. He could not see where the stairs led to, so after a brief pause he began climbing. He walked slowly up the flights of steps, his heart hammering in his chest with anticipation and wander. Soon, he reached the last step and right before his eyes he saw two stone pillars that looked like the entrance to somewhere.
He entered through them and continued walking. Little by little, the mist started to lessen until he could somewhat see what lay before him. And when he did, his eyes widened, wider than they had ever been before.
Right before him, he saw a massive palace, larger than any building he had ever seen before. The mist had cleared significantly and Matteo could now see the sky. White, black and gold mixed together to form a real work of art right above Matteo's head. The majority of that mist was replaced by shining gold light that sprinkled the palace in gold, making it the most beautiful piece of Architecture Matteo had ever seen. Wow!
He wanted to get a closer look at the palace, so he walked towards its entrance, cleared the mist in his way and finally reached it. But he couldn't push the door open. Oh no, is it locked? Surely I can open it somehow. He looked around for anything that could help him, but saw nothing. With no other ideas, Matteo decided to try again. He used every bit of strength he had to try and bust the door open but it didn't work. He stood in front of the locked door, panting for air when….
"That's not going to work." Matteo let out a startled scream as he fell to the ground. "W-who's there?!" He called out. "Relax, you know me very well." The voice said again. Matteo's heart sped up again as he planned an escape, but just a few moments later, the owner of the voice finally made itself known. It took slow, methodical steps as it revealed itself little by little. Soon Matteo saw another type of mist. This one was much thinner than the one surrounding the entire place, and its movements were much more fluid, it looked more like smoke. Soon that smoke began to take on the form of a human, the form of…..
It's you… it's…. the ghost!