Entry Ten:

Sometimes I like to stick my hand out of the hole, just to feel the sun. It is so warm and comforting. I have never felt such a thing before. I wish I could feel the sun on my entire body instead of just my hand.

I no longer feel bored now either. Whenever I do, I just look out of the hole and watch what the people on the streets are doing. Last night, I saw two people press their lips together.

I wonder why they were doing that?

I would ask the Head Priestess, but I do not want her to know that I remove this brick to look outside. She would be really upset with me if she found out. That is why I make sure to put the brick back whenever she enters my room. The snakes seem disappointed, but I cannot allow us to get caught.

It is funny to see all fourteen of them try to fight to lay in the sunlight. Perhaps I should take another brick out?

_____

Entry Eleven:

I took another brick out since the Gods did not seem too unhappy with me for taking out the first one. I hope they do not think I am becoming greedy. It is not like I have any personal motives for doing this. I promise that I am only doing this for the snakes.

I do not like to see all of them fighting for the sunlight. We are supposed to live in harmony.

Or at least that is what the Head Priestess tells me.

Speaking about the Head Priestess, she did not come at her usual time tonight. I wonder if she is busy? It is very strange. Even if she does not enter, the Holy Maids still would. They said that they must enter at the exact same time every day because it has been like that for centuries. The Gods decided the time the Holy Empress must eat and bathe.

So why haven't they come?

There seems to be a lot of noise outside tonight, but I cannot really see outside. It is too dark. I wonder if they are having another party? But it does not seem like people are enjoying themselves.

There seems to be a lot of screaming and-

.....________.....1

I looked at the papers in disbelief as the snakes continued to slither across my lap. These must be diary entries from the Holy Empress. Was this the room belonging to her before the King took her away?

I looked up and counted the snakes in the room. Unfortunately, there were some that were only bones and had been dead for a while. Their skin was brittle like paper, but still on the ground undisturbed. However, in total I counted only fourteen snakes.

I frowned, "A snake for every year… A snake for every birthday…"

That would mean she was only fourteen when she was taken. How disgusting.

I went to put the papers back down, but hesitated. I decided to stuff them under my clothes instead. I went over to the wall and began to feel it. I came to a spot that was loose. I took the brick out and grimaced from the sudden sun beam.

There's one. Now where is the second?

I continued to feel around until I felt another loose brick. I pulled it out. Even though there were only two beams of light, I could see the room better. It was covered in dust with snakes tracks all over.

The room was small. Not much bigger than a studio apartment. In one corner was a large basin that functioned as a bathtub. There was a bucket next to it that was used for a bathroom. Along one wall was a small bed with quilts that was on the floor. There were large pots that once held the large fern plants described in the diary entries.

The room didn't look much better than a prison cell.

The last living snakes crawled to bask in the sunlight. I sighed at their miserable appearances. "How did you little fellas survive stuck down here? I suppose it is possible there were bugs and rodents that got in, but I am surprised there aren't more dead snakes…"

The snakes didn't pay me any attention as they laid in the sunlight spots.

I smiled slightly at them, "Would you like to be free from this room? I can take you outside."

I gathered the last remaining snakes in my shirt and carried them and the sacred candle back up the stairs. I shut the statue door behind me and walked back to where I came from. After crawling out from under the table once more, I sat on the ground and opened my shirt.

The snakes that were stuffed inside crawled out and looked around hesitating. It was as if they didn't even recognize the world outside of that cold stone room.

I nudged them, "You are free now. Go bite some evil men while you are at it."

They tentatively began to slither away down the hall and escape the building through openings they were able to find. I watched them as they all ran off to enjoy their newfound freedom. I looked down and realized that one stayed behind.

An emerald green snake with interesting ring-like patterns coiled around my wrist.

"If I remember correctly, you must be Fern." The snake coiled around my wrist and didn't let go. I raised an eyebrow, "Why aren't you running away like the rest?"

The Original Seri spoke, "Why are you talking to a snake? It's not like it can answer you."

I slowly reached out and began to rub the scales on the snake, "Animals may not understand words, but they can understand feelings. Since this little snake doesn't want to leave my side, I will just keep him until he feels like going."

I stood up and started walking back with the candle. I'm sure that the Head Priest is waiting for me to return. While I'm at it, I am going to figure out just what happened here. I walked out and saw him waiting patiently.

"Future princess. Now that you-" He froze and spoke in a panic, "What happened?!"

I blinked in confusion and looked down. My clothes were torn and dirty from the fall. To make matters worse, my wrist was swollen from the fall, I was covered in bruises, and the wound on my back reopened causing it to bleed through the back of my shirt.

I smiled guiltily, "I may have… Tripped?"

He rushed over with fear in his eyes, "The King is going to kill me when he sees this! He's going to think I attacked you!"

I would like to say there's no way he would, but this is the Sanki King we are talking about so he probably would.

I tried to calm him down, "Then do you have something I can change into?"

He hesitated, "I do… But…"

"Then show me the way. I'm sure they won't notice my change of clothes."

He reluctantly agreed and led me to an adjacent room. He pulled out and outfit that was made form white material covered in bells and other flashy jewels. It was far more ostentatious and scandalous looking than my current outfit. He brushed the layers of dust off of it.

I furrowed my brow, "Is this really all you have?"

He bowed apologetically, "I am sorry, but all we have here is the clothing belonging to the previous Holy Maids…"

I shrugged, "It will work."

He looked at my back, "Did you hurt your back?"

I nodded, "I have an old wound that hasn't yet healed."

"Let me get some first aid."

I covered the front of my body as he brought over large leaves. He cut them in half so that each side of the leaf was open revealing a gooey inside. I raised an eyebrow, "What is that?"

"This is the leaf from the Sanki tree. It has healing properties and also functions as a bandage. We use these leaves if we want the wound to heal while still allowing one to move around."

Wow. That's nice. I wonder why Simon didn't use this?

He bowed, "Please forgive me as I apply this Princess."

He placed it on my back and I sighed in relief from the pleasant cold feeling evaporating off. The leaves were sticky enough that I didn't need to put tape or anything over it. It was so thin it felt like another layer of skin. It was quite comfortable.

He left the room and I quickly got changed. I exited the room while patting off the dust still on my clothes. I spoke to him, "I do have a question for you if I am allowed to ask."

"You may ask."

"What happened to the rest of the nuns and priests here?"

He grew silent and looked at me carefully, "Why do you ask?"

"I recall that the Sanki King forced the Holy Empress to marry him."

He immediately looked panicked at these words, "It wasn't forced!"

"Relax. There is no one who can hear you and I am not going to tell anyone either. Just tell me what happened."

[Back to Seri's perspective]