The Attic

Chapter 1: Awakening in Ice

The cold was the first thing Jake felt. A cutting, merciless cold that penetrated his clothes and made his skin tingle as if a thousand needles were striking him at once. He opened his eyes and saw an endless expanse of white, so bright it hurt to look at. Snow and ice stretched to the horizon, where the white ground merged with a pale, grey sky.

Jake rose with difficulty, his limbs stiff from the cold. His breath formed clouds in the icy air, little white ghosts that quickly disappeared in the wind. He looked around, searching for any sign of life or civilisation, but saw only crystal formations rising from the snow like strange, frozen sculptures.

“Where am I now?” he whispered to himself, his voice immediately carried away by the wind.

He felt something in his hand and looked down. There, firmly clutched in his numbed fingers, was the wooden figurine of the tree that Mandy had given him in the Magical Forest. It felt warm, almost alive, in contrast to the deathly cold around him.

Jake carefully tucked the figurine into his pocket and began to walk, his feet sinking into the deep snow. He had no idea where he was going, but standing still would mean freezing. The wind cut through his clothes, and he wrapped his arms around himself in a futile attempt to stay warm.

After what seemed like hours, he saw in the distance a glimmer that was different from the reflection of sunlight on snow. It was a structure, a building perhaps, made of what appeared to be solid ice. With renewed energy, Jake quickened his pace, hoping for shelter from the cold.

Chapter 2: The Ice Queen

The building was a palace, a majestic construction of ice and crystal that rose from the snow like a frozen dream. Towers of translucent ice reached towards the sky, and walls of polished crystal reflected the light in rainbow colours. It was both beautiful and intimidating, a monument to the beauty and cruelty of this frozen world.

Jake hesitated at the enormous gates of the palace, uncertain if he would be welcome. But the cold forced him forward, and he pushed against the gates, which swung open surprisingly easily.

Inside, the palace was even more impressive. High vaults of ice, illuminated by an ethereal blue light, stretched above his head. The floor was polished to a mirror-like sheen, and columns of crystal supported the ceiling. Despite the icy construction, it was noticeably warmer inside than outside, though still cold enough to make Jake’s breath visible.

“Welcome, traveller,” sounded a voice, clear and cold as a mountain stream in winter.

Jake turned and saw a woman standing on a throne of ice. She was tall and slender, with skin so pale it almost seemed translucent, and hair as white as the snow outside. She wore a dress that seemed to be made of ice crystals, which glittered with every movement. But it was her face that made Jake’s breath catch—it was Mandy, but not as he knew her. Her usual warmth had been replaced by a cool, distant beauty, and her eyes were now ice-blue instead of the warm brown he remembered.

“Mandy?” he asked hesitantly.

A flash of surprise crossed her face, quickly replaced by a neutral expression. “In this world, I am known as Lyra, the Ice Queen,” she said. “But you may call me Mandy, if that helps you to orient yourself.”

Jake walked towards her, carefully maintaining his balance on the slippery floor. “You look… different.”

“As I told you, Jake, I am in every world, but not always the same.” She rose from her throne and descended the steps until she stood before him. “In the Magical Forest, I was a protector, a guardian of life and growth. Here, I am a ruler, a keeper of order and structure.”… “And what am I here?” asked Jake.

Lyra/Mandy looked at him searchingly. “That depends on what you choose to be. In this world, choices are made of ice—hard, clear, and difficult to change. Choose carefully.”

Chapter 3: The Crystal Mirror

Lyra led Jake deeper into the ice palace, through corridors and rooms that became increasingly complex and more wonderful. Ice sculptures of impossible beauty stood in niches, and fountains of liquid crystal bubbled in courtyards beneath domes of ice.

“This world is different from the others,” Lyra explained as they walked. “In the Silent City, emotion was suppressed by technology. In the Magical Forest, emotion was celebrated and enhanced by magic. Here in the Ice World, emotion is crystallised, transformed into something tangible and lasting.”

“What does that mean?” asked Jake.

“It means that thoughts and feelings can take form here,” she replied. “They can be captured in ice, preserved for eternity. But it also means they can freeze, become stuck in patterns that can no longer change.”

They reached a circular room in the heart of the palace. In the middle stood an enormous mirror, made of a single plate of crystal so clear it was almost invisible. The mirror was framed by intricately worked ice that seemed to move and change as Jake looked at it.

“This is the Crystal Mirror,” said Lyra. “One of the most powerful memory gates in all worlds. It shows not only who you are, but also who you could be.”

Jake stepped forward, drawn to the mirror like a moth to a flame. In the reflective surface, he first saw only himself—a young man with tousled hair and tired eyes, clad in clothes unsuitable for this frozen world. But then the image began to change.

He saw himself in a white laboratory coat, surrounded by monitors and equipment. His face was more serious, older perhaps, and he looked with intense concentration at something off-screen. Then the image changed again, and he saw himself in a field of flowers, laughing at the dark-haired woman from his earlier memory. Another change, and he stood in a room full of people in white coats, while the grey-haired man from his first memory spoke: “The Erebus project will break the boundaries between worlds."

The images came faster, flashing by like a film at high speed: Jake in the Magical Forest, his hands glowing with green energy; Jake in a desert, digging in the sand for something hidden; Jake in an underground labyrinth, following a trail of light through dark tunnels; Jake in a city of floating islands, jumping from one to another; Jake in a village where time stood still, talking to people who did not seem to move.

And through all these images, he saw Mandy, always in a different form but always recognisable by something in her eyes, in the way she looked at him.

The stream of images stopped abruptly, and Jake staggered backwards, dizzy from what he had seen. “What was that?” he asked breathlessly.

“Fragments of your past and possible futures,” said Lyra. “The mirror shows what is hidden, even from yourself.”

“I saw… so many places, so many versions of myself.”

“Your journey is complex, Jake. You travel not only between worlds, but also between possibilities, between versions of yourself.”

Jake looked at the mirror again, which now showed only his normal reflection. “What is the Erebus project?” he asked. “I keep hearing about it, but I don’t know what it means.”

Lyra’s face became more serious. “The Erebus project was an experiment to break the boundaries between worlds, to make travel possible where it was previously impossible. You were… are an important part of that experiment.”

“Was I a scientist? One of those people in white coats?”

“Yes and no,” Lyra answered cryptically. “You were both researcher and subject. But something went wrong, and now you travel between worlds, your memory fragmented, your identity spread across different realities.”… Jake tried to process this, his thoughts swirling like snowflakes in a storm. “And you? What is your role in all this?”

“I am your anchor,” she said softly. “Your constant in a sea of change. I help you find your way, to put the pieces together.”

Chapter 4: The Ice Storm

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden rumbling that echoed through the palace. The walls trembled, and small pieces of ice fell from the ceiling.

“What is that?” asked Jake, instinctively ducking.

Lyra’s face tightened. “An ice storm. The worst in years.” She quickly walked to a window and looked outside. Jake followed her and saw a wall of swirling snow and ice approaching the palace, a white apocalypse devouring everything in its path.

“Is the palace safe?” he asked.

“Normally, yes,” she said, “but this storm is different. There’s a… rage in it, a purposefulness I’ve never seen before.”

She turned and quickly walked back to the Crystal Mirror. “We must protect the mirror. If it breaks, a part of your memory, a part of your self, will be lost forever.”

Jake followed her, feeling a new determination. “What can I do?”

“In the Magical Forest, you discovered a power, a connection to life energy,” said Lyra. “Here, you must find a different power—the power of structure, of order, of crystallisation.”

The rumbling grew louder, and the palace now trembled continuously. Outside, the storm drew ever closer, a wall of destruction approaching them.

“How do I do that?” asked Jake, his voice barely audible above the sound of the storm.

“Touch the mirror,” instructed Lyra. “Concentrate on what you saw, on the connections between the images, between the worlds.”

Jake placed his hands on the cold surface of the mirror. The crystal felt different than he had expected—not dead and cold, but vibrating with a subtle energy, like a heartbeat beneath ice.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to remember the images he had seen, to feel the connections between the different versions of himself. He thought about the symbol of the tree, about the roots that branched out and came together again, about the network of connections between worlds.

Slowly, he felt a new sensation—a cold, clear energy flowing through him, different from the warm, green power of the Magical Forest, but equally powerful. It was like crystal-clear water freezing into perfect structures in his mind, patterns of order and symmetry that extended from his thoughts to the physical world.

He opened his eyes and saw that his hands now glowed with a blue light. The light spread across the mirror, forming patterns that resembled ice crystals, extending to the walls and ceiling of the room.

“It’s working!” cried Lyra. “You’re strengthening the structure of the palace, making it resistant to the storm.”

The ice crystals continued to expand, reinforcing the walls and columns, weaving a network of light and energy that enveloped the palace like a protective shield. Outside, the storm raged, but the walls held firm, strengthened by Jake’s newly discovered power.

After what seemed an eternity, the storm began to subside. The rumbling grew softer, and the tremors stopped. Jake lowered his hands, exhausted but satisfied.

“That was… incredible,” he said, looking at his hands which were now normal again.

Lyra looked at him with a new appreciation in her eyes. “You learn quickly, Jake. In each world, you discover a new aspect of your power, a new piece of yourself.”

Chapter 5: The Crystal Heart

After the storm had subsided, Lyra led Jake to a new room in the palace. This one was smaller than the room with the mirror, but no less impressive. In the middle stood a pedestal of ice, and upon it rested a small object that glowed with an inner light.

“This is the Crystal Heart,” said Lyra. “An artefact of great power in this world, and a symbol that will help you in your journey.”

Jake stepped closer and saw that the object was a perfect crystal replica of a human heart, so detailed that he almost expected it to beat. Inside, a soft, blue light pulsed in the rhythm of a heartbeat…. “What does it do?” he asked.

“The Crystal Heart represents emotional truth,” Lyra explained. “In a world where feelings can freeze and become stuck, the Heart reminds us that true emotions must flow, must change, must live.”

She took the Heart from the pedestal and offered it to Jake. “This is for you. A piece of this world to take with you on your journey.”

Jake accepted the Heart, surprised by how warm it felt despite its icy appearance. It pulsed in his hand, and he felt a resonance with the wooden figurine of the tree in his pocket, as if the two objects were somehow communicating with each other.

“Thank you,” he said, carefully tucking the Heart into his other pocket.

Lyra looked at him with a mixture of pride and melancholy. “You grow stronger with each world you visit, Jake. You are beginning to find the pieces of yourself, to restore the connections.”

“But there is still so much I don’t know,” said Jake, frustrated. “Who am I really? What is my purpose? Why do I travel between worlds?”

“Those answers will come,” Lyra assured him. “But not all at once. Some truths can only be understood when you are ready for them.”

Chapter 6: The Frozen River

The time to say goodbye arrived, and Lyra led Jake to the back of the palace, where a frozen river stretched out like a path of blue-white ice.

“This is the Frozen River,” she said. “Like the River of Dreams in the Magical Forest, this is a path between worlds. Follow it, and it will lead you to your next destination.”

Jake looked at the glistening surface of the river, which stretched to the horizon. “Will I see you again?” he asked, turning to Lyra.

“In another form, in another world,” she replied with a small smile. “Look for me, and I will be there.”

She reached out and touched his cheek, her fingers cool but not unpleasant. “Don’t forget what you have learned here, Jake. The power of structure and order, but also the importance of emotional truth. Both are parts of who you are.”

Jake nodded, cherishing her touch. There was something in the way she looked at him, something that went deeper than their brief time together in this world would justify. He wondered what their connection truly meant, what their history together had been before he lost his memory.

“Goodbye, Lyra,” he said softly.

“Goodbye, Jake,” she replied. “And good luck in the Forgotten Desert.”

Before he could ask what she meant, he felt the familiar dizziness that overcame him when changing worlds. The Ice World began to fade, and Lyra’s figure became translucent, like a ghost disappearing in the morning light.

Epilogue: Sand and Heat

Jake opened his eyes against a blinding light, so different from the soft glow of the Ice World. Heat struck him in the face like a fist, dry and merciless. He blinked against the harsh sunlight and tried to take in his surroundings.

Sand. Endless sand in all directions, undulating in dunes that stretched to the horizon. The air shimmered above the hot surface, and the sun burned relentlessly in a cloudless, cobalt blue sky.

He lay half-buried in the sand, his clothes still damp from the melting ice crystals that had clung to him when he left the Ice World. The moisture evaporated quickly in the dry desert air.

Jake rose with difficulty, his throat already dry and raw. He felt in his pockets and felt the reassuring presence of the wooden tree figurine from the Magical Forest and the Crystal Heart from the Ice World. They felt warm, almost hot in the desert heat, but somehow comforting…. In the distance, almost merged with the horizon, he saw the contours of what appeared to be ruins – broken columns and decayed walls rising from the sand like the remains of a long-forgotten civilisation.

Jake looked around, searching for any sign of Mandy, but saw only the endless desert. Yet he knew she would be here somewhere, in a new form, waiting to help him as she had done in every world.

With a deep sigh, he began to walk in the direction of the ruins, his feet sinking into the hot sand. The Forgotten Desert, Lyra had called it. A new world, a new challenge, a new piece of the puzzle that formed his identity.

As he walked, Jake thought about what he had learned in the three worlds he had visited so far. In the Silent City, he had learned about suppression and resistance. In the Magical Forest, he had discovered the power of life and growth. In the Ice World, he had learned about structure and emotional truth.

What would the desert teach him? What power would he discover here? What piece of himself would he find here?

With each step he took, Jake felt stronger, more certain. He began to see the patterns, the connections between the worlds, between the different aspects of himself. The Erebus project, the memory gates, Mandy’s changing forms – they were all part of a larger whole, a puzzle he was slowly beginning to unravel.

And somewhere, at the heart of that puzzle, waited the truth about who he really was and why he travelled between worlds.

With the Crystal Heart beating in his pocket and the wooden figurine warm against his chest, Jake continued his journey into the Forgotten Desert, ready for what the fourth world would bring him.

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