High Above
Chapter 14 - High Above
Charlie maybe intimidated by how many steps she's got to go up on but knew that she had to get started. It wasn't like there were any available leads on the floor near her, anyways. So she got to climbing up the stairs, sing-mumbling to herself.
Welcome to the family Madrigal…
Later, when she’s noticeably more tired. There’s so many stairs in the casa Madrigal…
Even more later, the blue bow blonde was now slumping as she goes up, her hands touching the steps at various points. You think there would be another way to get so high ‘cause we’re magic but no! Then the mumble singing was turning to shouting. “Magical how many stairs fit in here! Blitzo, your room is the worst!”
It took a long while but Charlie eventually, finally, reached the top of the stairs. She used her hands now to scale up, apparently being that tired. She felt happy at seeing where she was but then groaned in frustration in seeing that the final door she needed to get to was on the other side of a bridgeless gap. The toucan from earlier had been waiting for her the whole time, too, it seems.
“Come on…”
The blue bow blonde saw that there were some pegs with rope tied around them nearby and so took one. Then she threw the wooden peg up to some rock formations on the side to make it stuck there.
Charlie tested it to see how stuck and tried to motivate herself. “Okay, I can do this…”
Of course, she looked down to see the long, long, long way down. She shuddered but took the leap of faith as well as a literal leap. The blue bow blonde ended up flailing about as she swung across but at least she managed to land on the other side. She sprung straight up, fists in the air, unbelieving over how she succeeded in doing that.
“Whoo!”
Charlie decided to stomp the ground in victory, which resulted in a chunk of rock beneath her to snap off and fall. She just narrowly avoided falling down with it. Both she and the toucan looked over the edge and waited for six seconds before hearing a distant thud.
Considering it was a giant piece of earth that fell and took six seconds to hit the ground, the blue bow blonde would have easily died if she had plummeted down, too. The toucan knew that, too, giving her a look. The recipient didn't think it'd be possible to be unnerved by a toucan's critical gaze but here she is.
Charlie fidgeted as she ignored it and continued on. Beyond the door were ruins of a sandy hallway, abandoned pottery or pieces of it were mostly scattered on the ground or buried in the sand that’s built up on the sides of the hall. The blue bow blonde walked through, seeing moldings of her missing uncle on the wall. One depicted Blitzo with a yellow glittering square with swirls and lines in it.
Charlie jumped in surprised fear when hearing something behind her but then calmed at seeing that the toucan just lightly knocked over a pot. She should've remembered that the tower has been abandoned for years; there's no reason for anyone other than her and the colorful bird to be here.
However, the blue bow blonde jumped again when she bumped into a bot, which spooked some rats to scurry out. (So much for no one else being here in the tower). She watched them crawl through a bigger molding of her missing uncle on the wall, specifically the eyes, mouth, and a nostril. The toucan was hiding in their companion’s blonde locks, on her shoulder, and shivering in fright by now.
At the end of the hallway, Charlie saw that there was a round door, just creaking open. It pretty much looked scary and intimidating, the unknown of what's on the other side not really helping. She exchanged a look with the toucan, who exactly what to do next.
“Hey, don't be a quitter!” The blue bow blonde cried out as the colorful bird flew away.