The Disciple of Aoide

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Arthur had no idea either but he felt like standing there was not going to aid their situation. Arthur was not feeling defeated, after all, he had managed to locate Lady Myra, that was half of his quest objective done already. All he needed to do now was to find the exit and leave.

Arthur turned to Lady Myra and said, "Lady Myra, would you stay here and wait for me? I'll go take a look around. Perhaps I might come across something."

Lady Myra nodded. "Of course."

Arthur did not ask for Lady Myra to come with him. He knew they were from different background. He was an adventurer and she was not. Arthur would not really call Lady Myra fit for adventuring either.

He left Lady Myra where she was and Arthur ventured down a random direction. Similar to when he was at the 'Snow' painting, there was no guidance to where he should be going so Arthur just picked a direction that he felt like was right and barreled down it.

Arthur turned to look behind him as he walked away and Lady Myra became smaller in the distance. That was the only gauge Arthur had to show that he had moved away from where he stood earlier. This was because if he turned back forward, the horizon would appear like it had not moved.

There was nothing on the horizon that could tell him affirmatively that he had been moving forward. No matter how long he walked, it felt like he was no closer to the horizon. It created a mirage that he was moving on a treadmill.

Once in a while, Arthur would tip his head up to look at the giant moon that was above him. It felt like the moon was following him in a way. No matter how far he moved, whenever he looked up, it felt like he was equidistant to the moon.

After a short while, when his legs were feeling sore, Arthur turned back to look. For some reason, he felt like Lady Myra had stopped receding to the background once he passed a certain distance. Arthur had this crazy feeling that after a certain distance, no matter how far Arthur moved, the distance between him and Lady Myra had stopped growing. Of course, he could not prove that. It was just a feeling he had.

Arthur stopped and looked around. After trekking for such a long journey, he had not come across any sign of a seal or even anything of interest. Other than the few patches of dry grass, the ground was barren.

It was like what Lady Myra said earlier, there was nothing here.

Disappointed, Arthur made his return journey back to where Lady Myra was. Perhaps this was his mind playing tricks on him, it felt like the time used to return to Lady Myra was much shorter than the time he used to move away from her.

When Arthur reached Lady Myra, the lady sighed with a rueful smile, "There isn't anything, is there?" If there was something, they would have spotted it down the horizon already.

Arthur shook his head.

Lady Myra sighed once more. "There is nothing here but the moon above us... or at least that was what my inspiration when I painted this piece."

There was guilt in Lady Myra's voice like she felt as if it was her fault that they were caught in this conundrum.

Arthur was not paying attention to Lady Myra's tone because he had latched onto what Lady Myra said earlier. 'There is nothing here but the moon above us... the moon...' Arthur was reminded of something he experienced when he was studying this particular painting when he was in Lady Myra's studio.

Like how it was with 'Snow', he also sensed something was off with 'The Moon'. He remembered thinking the moon in the painting had been following his gaze, a curious sensation that he had just experienced earlier. He remembered believing there was more to this moon that met the eyes.

Now that he was inside the painting, that feeling only became even stronger.

Arthur asked for a second opinion. "Lady Myra, since you are the painter, if you going to hide something important like the seal, where would you have placed it?"

Lady Myra thought about it. She tapped the paint brush in her hand rhythmically against her leg. After some time, she said, "Well, since the theme of this piece is literally the moon, then I suppose if there's something important or crucial, I would place it or rather relate it to..." Lady Myra then pointed her finger upwards into the night sky.

Both Lady Myra and Arthur looked up in unison as Lady Myra completed her sentence, "The moon."

When they did so, the moon seemed to turn transparent for that split second and there was something black and round that could be seen encased within it. Arthur thought he was imagining things but it was confirmed when he heard Lady Myra gasp beside him, "Wait, did you see that?!"

Both of them focused their gaze on the moon but after that fleeting magical moment, the moon had returned to normal. It was a full moon, circular and bulbous.

Perhaps because he had been staring at it for so long, Arthur suddenly felt like this moon here was much closer compared to the moon he saw in the real world. It felt as if he could reach out and touch it.

As gorgeous as the moon was, it did not detract from what they saw earlier. Arthur nodded and replied, "Yes, I saw it as well."

Wonderful, they had found the seal that they were looking for. Based on Arthur's experience with them and Lady Myra's speculation, that was going to be the thing that would transport them back to the real world.

As great as all that sounded, the problem remained... How were they going to get moon down from the sky?!