Fort Ruin, Mt. Meteora (Branna)
My resolve from earlier isn't broken, but for a brief moment, I regretted this whole 'being leader' thing. Before today, I couldn't move around very much. Since I accepted my role, Sepullen has taken me on a proper tour of Fort Ruin. Most of it is stuff I've seen already, like prison cells, battlements, watchtowers, and training rooms.
He keeps saying something about saving the best room for last, but at this rate I might pass out before I even get to see it. That damned claydol is in my head too, so it's not like he isn't noticing how exhausted I am. Either way, I need to stop for a moment or two to catch my breath.
Frost shakes her head as I stop. She and Venomitus have been following behind me, even though my pace has been slowing this tour down. I don't know if they're just trying to be polite or mock me, but it's annoying either way. While he waits for me to recover, Sepullen conjures a book from somewhere and starts reading it.
Even though he and Venomitus like researching, for whatever reason, I never took Sepullen for the reading type. That's why it's been such a surprise that Sepullen's been glued to that book since we left Isla Delirium. The title is in a language I can't read, but from what I've gathered it's a spellbook.
Makes enough sense to me, almost everyone here can use magic in some form or another. He even said at one point that I have a capacity for magic, but I need to learn a language called Luxi first. The only pokemon that I haven't seen use magic is Venomitus. Whenever the subject comes up, it's almost like he hates it. I wonder why?
"Are you well?" Sepullen asks without taking his eyes off the book. His question doesn't seem to mean what he asked. The simple phrasing and dismissive tone suggest that he's only trying to acknowledge my existence. I don't think he would pay attention if I answered him, so I don't. I can barely say anything, so it's probably for the best anyway.
"We're nearly to the end," Venomitus says. "We might as well move on."
"Don't be impatient, Venomitus," Sepullen says. "Her ailment inhibits her ability, let her rest."
The sableye twitches violently in exasperation. He's usually calm, if not a little mouthy, so this is the first time I've seen him even remotely frustrated. It's not like him to be this impatient, but he acts differently than normal whenever he's not around Emerald.
"It isn't like you to care," he says. "Perhaps you don't care about her well being, but rather that spell book written by that accursed bloodwitch."
Something in what he said must've struck a nerve with Sepullen. The spell book slams shut, and in a split second, the Relic Master is at Venomitus's throat with a shining white blade. His eyes glow that signature shade of burning orange that I've come to know as the color of his aura.
"Perhaps…" Sepullen starts. "Perhaps I've kept you around for so long because you challenge me the way you do, but there is a time and a place. I am used to the disrespect, but when it comes to Miss Branna…"
He stops for a second. The Relic Master is usually precise with his wording, so I never would've expected him to trail off like that. Come to think of it, ever since that day on Isla Delirium, there's been more tension between them then usual.
"I'll say it this way," he says. "You didn't want to be the leader of your team, so start acting like a subordinate. Your team dynamic, whatever that might become, will never work if you don't show your leader respect."
"Indeed, but do you believe you deserve it?" Venomitus asks.
"I've been inside your head many times, Venomitus. There's no need for you to sing an old song. I don't expect you to display any kind of respect to me anymore, and I don't care. It's only fair, after all. I can't give you what you want, so why should you?"
Oh, so that's what this is about. I remember when Venomitus was standing in the shallow water just after Ember's defeat. Sepullen said that he couldn't find it in himself to be his friend. Venomitus and I don't share a Destiny Bond, but at the time I could feel his internal pain. I guess I didn't realize that he felt the same after all this time.
"Not at this time, Venomitus," Sepullen says. "But Sage Su has been aiding me to remember who I was when you and I met. Eventually I could be the friend you desire so desperately, but harbor no hope. My soul is a deeply stained one. In the meantime, let me be the subject of your anger, but let Branna have her rest when she needs it."
For several minutes, the sableye doesn't say anything. Frost observes us indifferently. I feel that she doesn't know who's side she's on, or who she agrees with. I know that she's taken a liking to Venomitus, but also the fact that Sepullen is very protective of me for some reason. All she knows for sure is that she doesn't like the conflict.
I understand why, but I don't mind it as much. To me, some things are better said here and now rather than being left festering like rotting apples. At the moment, everything seems to have been said, and now we're all sitting in awkward silence. So even though I'm not quite ready, I pretend to be for Frost's sake.
"Alright," I say. "Let's go."
"Are you sure?" Frost asks.
"I'm sure."
Without another word, we start moving forward again. Venomitus wasn't lying, we weren't that far from our destination. We arrive at an aged wooden double-door outlined in some kind of metal. There are no handles on the door, only splinters, as if the handles were ripped out by force. Sepullen pulls on the doors with psychic energy, revealing, to my surprise, another door.
The second door is entirely metal and is lined with Luxi runes. I can't read them, but I'm guessing that they're made from sort of warding or sealing magic. As the claydol comes close, the runes seem to resonate with his aura.
I wonder what's behind the door that needs this much security. I'll just have to wait and see. The door opens with surprising speed, revealing a dimly lit room with several objects I can't make out. Frost and the Relic Master head inside, but Venomitus hangs back. He looks very conflicted about something.
"I apologize," he says. "I haven't quite been myself lately."
"Don't be," I say while trying to give him a genuine smile. "It seems like everyone is dealing with stuff right now. Maybe after the tour, I can make some food for me, you, Frost, and Emerald."
"I… Are you well enough for that?" he asks.
"I can be."
From inside the room is a loud crash, followed by shouts of rage. I peek inside to find Sepullen trying his best to strangle Aurate in front of a row of collapsed shelves. The look in his eyes is not the same kind of anger that he had directed at Venomitus. If Aurate weren't a ghost, Sepullen looks like he would kill him all over again.
"Oi there, pumpkin," Aurate says.
"Relic Master Sepullen to you!" the claydol fumes. "How did you get in here, and why were you desecrating my relics with your filthy hands?"
"I know about your relics, ol' boy. Somethin' 'ere resonates with me, and I will find it."
Sepullen backs off. He seems shocked by something. He turns to Venomitus, Frost, and me.
"This, Team Decay, is my most treasured room, the relic armory," he says. "The relics found here resonate with only one pokemon. The likelihood of Aurate resonating this strongly with a relic is… unfathomable."
He uses his psychic energy to rebuild the shelves and gently organizes the items to their original positions. Without a word, he guides Aurate around the room. As he does, the marshadow's ominous, multicolored eyes glow brighter and brighter. I don't have any kind of ability to detect aura, but I feel a strong connection between Aurate and something else growing stronger.
As they move, Sepullen plays hot-and-cold with Aurate's eyes. They seem uncomfortable in such close proximity to one another, but Sepullen is determined to discover something. They stop moving when Aurate's eyes start burning bright yellow in front of a display of weapons. Some are swords, but the others are a weapon type I'm not familiar with. They're like the polearms that infernape use to fight with sometimes, but they have a curved blade protruding to the side like a hook.
"These… are pieces of a weapon set called the Blades of Red. There are eleven of them in total, but unfortunately I only own nine."
Aurate reaches out and grabs one. This one in particular has a warped, wavy shape down the length of it, until it curves at the end into a blade held on by some kind of latch. He handles the weapon in his hands as if he's used it before. It seems to fit him, even if it is twice his body's length.
"Interesting," Sepullen says. "You resonated with the Burial Blade of Red. It's designed after a human farming tool known as a scythe, but this one was repurposed for combat."
As Aurate observes the blade with fascination, I notice that the same runes that are written on the door and Sepullen's spellbook are engraved on its edges. Unlike the ones on the door, which glow the same color as Sepullen's eyes, these runes glow a faint shade of purple-red. It's not a sinister color, but still unsettling.
"Treasure it," the Relic Master says. "My relics aren't decorations. They need to fulfill a purpose if they are able."
He suddenly closes what little distance remains between him and Aurate. Instead of the sheepish look he usually wears when confronted, the marshadow holds his weapon up in defence.
"But if I so much as think you're in here without my allowance, I will find a way to kill you. Am I understood?"
"Right-o, pumpkin," Aurate says with a cheerful smile.
"Why do you call me that?" the claydol asks.
"It's so stupid," Frost says, laughing. "But it's because of your eyes."
"Why? Are you infatuated with me?"
"Neh," Aurate says. "I just like seein' blokes squirm is all."
Instead of reacting, Sepullen teleports him away without a word. It's not like that'll keep him away for very long. He'll most likely be back in a few minutes, assuming Sepullen didn't teleport him all the way back to the craigs, but it looks like he needs the peace of mind. I don't mind him, but as far as I can tell, the others don't like him very much.
"Now," Sepullen says. "The reason I brought you here is for your condition. Observation of your psyche and symptoms, combined with the blood samples I've taken have led me to one conclusion."
Finally. I was starting to think he would never get anywhere, but I guess my patience paid off. It's not like I had very much left anyway, so this was the perfect time to bring it up.
"It's been revealed to me that you have two afflictions. The first one is Ambrosia poisoning, which has not passed through your system due to you being, in most senses, deceased."
So I'm essentially a zombie? How did that happen? I think I heard something about someone in Archaea knowing necromancy, but I didn't think doctors like Caesium or Xenon would be interested in something like that.
"That brings me to your other affliction," Sepullen says. "It's the only thing keeping you among the living. It's not a disease, but a parasite, and one that you've become very familiar with."
"Familiar with?" I repeat.
"Correct, I saw it in your mind when we first met on The Amalgam. You call it Lorem, and it is the only thing between you and Iode's dinner plate. It is trying to keep you alive by providing you with its own nutrients, but it is only diminishing the rate of your inevitable death."
Wait… Lorem's real? I thought he was just a manifestation of the cynical side of my personality. To think something so mean could be fighting to keep me alive. He's tormented me for as long as I can remember. I wouldn't be surprised if he was just keeping alive to torment me longer.
"Alright," I say. "As long as he can keep me alive long enough to find Jude and Cryptia, and can deal with whatever comes after."
"All you can do is endure," Sepullen says. "There is no cure for Ambrosia poisoning, unless you… perhaps, became an Agent of Spirits."
He already knows how I feel about legendaries. I already have a hard enough time being around Emerald, and dealing with the fact that Frost is her agent. I can't imagine being around an actual legendary.
"I didn't think so, but I brought you here for the purpose of seeing if you will react to any of these relics, even if the chance is insignificant enough to call zero. Magical stimulation might keep you alive, if only a little longer."
As far as it goes, I haven't felt any sort of connection drawing me to any object like Aurate did. Connection with relics seems to be affected by one's magical capacity, to which Sepullen said I have some, but haven't been able to learn even the basic tricks Frost has tried to teach me.
"I don't feel drawn to anything," I say. "Is there something I need to do?"
"No. If a relic resonates, it does so very strongly. You would have felt it before coming into the room."
"I see."
I'm at my limit. If I'm going to die soon, I need to find my daughter before that. I'm going to rest and then start first thing tomorrow. As I turn away, I feel something very sharp pierce my skin. A white tendril made from my own blood stabs through the air toward a hidden corner of the room. To all of our surprise, it drags a small necklace with a silver pendant back with it. The tendril places it around my neck, then disappears in a cloud of vapor.
"The Eye Pendant?" Venomitus say in disbelief.
"Correct," Sepullen says. "Venomitus and I don't know what it does, but it has a perfectly preserved human eye within it. It appears that you didn't resonate with a relic, but Lorem did."
Later…
"How can you not be worried?" Frost asks me. Her, Venomitus, and I are in my room chowing down on caramel apples, but she seems to be more concerned with the fact that I'm dying than the food. I'm more concerned with the relic. If this Eye Pendant is more of a hindrance then help, I don't want it. For some reason, I have a feeling Lorem will never let me get rid of it.
"I have no reason to be," I say. "I live for those kids, might as well die for 'em."
"Remember that if you die, I do too," she says, somewhat depressingly. "That doesn't bother me on it's own, but… unlike you I don't have anything to die for, just yet."
"That woman… Blind. She said once that when you die, you find out if you've lived a worthwhile life. You don't need to have something to die for to have a good life."
"But…" she starts. "Can you call my life of failures and regrets worthwhile? Sounds like a load of tripe to me."
"Indeed, it does," Venomitus pipes up. "But recently I've realized that death means different things to different people. Perhaps you can make the most of the time you have left. In the end, no one can tell you what to do with your undeath, so do with it what you desire."
"True that," Aurate says from somewhere. "You may be about to die, but don't dwell on it. After all, you get ta spend the rest of your days with me."
"Don't say that," Frost says. "You just might make me want to die sooner."
We spend the rest of the day talking and eating, trying to forget our inevitable fate. Despite their reserved natures and self-importance, Team Ruin join us at some point. Every last one of us wastes the day away, pretending that we aren't all bitterly miserable on the inside.
