As a history enthusiast, he continued to glance at the lifeless siege. It reminded him of the wars and conflicts which once shooked his motherland. Deep inside, his curiosity about the strange occurrence acc.u.mulated. Due to his curiosity, the young man flinched and hesitated to tell his father about this. He waited patiently for Alice to return, while imagining the lifeless siege as a war fought between Christians and Muslims, or perhaps in other terms, Crusades.

"What the?!" Quartz suddenly questioned himself with a voice flowing like water oscillation. The transcendental Chess Set hurdled his senses. The clas.h.i.+ng of swords, the galloping of horses, and the screams of fear and war itself shrouded his ear. The sound of blood spilling through scars, and the abrupt noise of crumbling towers added a pinch of drama to the uncomprehensible orchestra circulating throughout his ears.

The young man started to feel nauseous and squeamish pain flowing through his vessels as the operetta of war and terror clashed forth unto his eardrums. Circ.u.mstances started to intensify as a blinding light burst upon his pupils. Quartz suddenly took on a pale look, as if he'd been painted with white-wash even his lips were barely there. Then with one step backward he puckered like a puppet suddenly released from their strings.

His body fell upon the Chess Set, causing an abrupt interruption to the game. Every piece ceased to operate, as if a ghost has proclaimed a checkmate over the other.

Silence and lull swathed Quartz's mind. His senses dispersed into thin air like a fog evaporating from sight. Time somehow became different, for whatever seems fast now seems stagnant.

Silence continued to disseminate, and its duration prevailed unknown. His senses, however, commenced with a brittle mood.

"Ouch..." Quartz's consciousness slapped his face resulting in an unbearable headache. His pupils twitched and his nostrils scented an odd aroma.

The young man found himself leaning across a wall in an unfamiliar and foul place. He tilted his head above, and saw the light seeping in through an arc-shaped window. He turned his head to the left and saw st.u.r.dy yet rustic iron bars.

Quartz took a glance at his bare hands and saw heavy handcuffs attached to it. His body looked filthy, as if he was dragged on oozing mud and silt.

"Where am I?" The young man wondered with a jagged throat. His head felt somewhat nauseous yet it was withering away from time to time. Quartz took a peak on the outskirts of the room he was in. He saw identical ones, with bars as thick as his. That's when he realized he was somehow sent to a prison cell.

This prison cell, however, seemed unrealistic and utopian. It looked like a prison from the early 14th or 15th century, the intervals of kings and queens. Quartz began to panic for the last time he checked, he never did anything wrong nor did he ever intend to do something against his motherland's amendments.

He peaked upon the window, and saw nothing but buzzing public noises, jagged brick roads, and an immense amount of footsteps. Quartz concluded that the prison was somewhat a sewer converted into a detainment area.

Quartz's mind couldn't resist the urge to throw out questions to his fellow inmates. The surroundings bewildered him for he wasn't familiar with the era and period. What happened to humanity's proficient findings on modern technology? Did the wheels of time revolve backward, to an era when kings and queens roamed the land?

"Not from around here aren't ya? From which city or town do you belong to?" One of his fellow inmate with a very long beard and prestigious eyes surveyed him while leaning across the cell walls.

"I'm from Rome, and can you tell me where I am?" Quartz questioned with a bewildered voice. Despite having handcuffs his hand clenched upon the iron bars, trying earnestly to escape.

"Rome? Where in the world is that? Quit it, you'll never escape this prison. No matter how much you spend your effort on that b.l.o.o.d.y bars, you'll never make it out alive, not to mention the king's brave knights."

"What do you mean by knights and kings? Where exactly am I?" Quartz questioned with a fast-paced heart. His sanity intensified, a sanity filled with nothing but unanswered questions.