CHAPTER 12 – Crater City

Reina remained silent the rest of the way to the place that Artemisia marked on the map. And much like before, they ran into a mix of Legion and those the Shades along the way.

But Reina had a distinct feeling that this would be a place that Shades ruled overall, given that it was deep underground where no sunlight dwelled.

As they ran, Reina briefly stopped in her tracks when she heard something. It was singing, again. That was the second time. Could that have something to do with the Church like in the last City? It didn't happen when she was in other Cities before, the Forgotten City especially, but she'd have to investigate that when she was able. Maybe after this, she would.

She turned to see Caim looking at her. She wondered why this man was willing to stick with her, similarity to his sister be damned.

Well, not like I can do much to change this now. Reina thought. What would come after this, she wasn't sure. She'd like just to go their separate ways, but would he? As they kept going until they hit came across another set of walls, ones that looked to have crumbled into heaps, forming what many would have thought to be as merely rock formations rather than what it was. The only reason Reina knew what it was, was because of the other Cities she had been into before. She could spot the difference between a broken wall and merely rocks covered in salt.

Once past the fallen walls, the sun began to shine brightly down on them, removing whatever Shades had remained, and all that was left were a few of the Legion. When they were dead, and whatever they had dropped as useful that the two picked up, the two began to look around for the entrance that Artemisia marked on the map. It turns out it wasn't too hard to find.

Since there was a massive dark spot along some of where the wall had been, mixed with the actual rock covered in black ash and soot from an explosion gone awry.

"…She really did mean everywhere…"

Caim merely seemed to be admiring what had been done, running his hand along the blackened rock, looking almost… nostalgic. Okay, weird. Perhaps it had something to do with the magic he used since he could use fire?

She found herself almost smiling and then frowned, quickly berating herself.

This had been going on for far too long—longer than she would have liked.

And if it continued…

Reina winced internally. No, she didn't want to think about it. This needed to end. Now.

With a deep breath and lightly biting her lip, she turned to Caim. "Alright, look. When this is done, we're done. We go our separate ways." When he frowned at her in response, she said. "I told you, I'm not used to people, and… as grateful as I am that you helped me when you didn't need to… I just… I can't. It's not easy for me to constantly be around others. It… it makes me…" Scared. But she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud.

He folded his arms across his chest and just stared at her.

"Sorry," was all she could say, and then headed off ahead of him to the large rock at had a hole blasted in it where the ladder waited. Artemisia had told them that she reinforced the ladder, and from just testing how sturdy it was, she could tell that it wasn't about to snap under her weight. She climbed down a bit and stopped, telling him that she would go first and whistle so that he could come down after. It was awkward but needed to be said. She still felt a bit bad for telling him right before they were about to enter the underground. Yet Reina had a nagging feeling that if she hadn't, he would have just continued to tag along unnecessarily.

Besides, he must have had his own things to do after this, friends or family even. What would he get out of being with her? Besides aggravation and snarky remarks to things?

It wasn't much of a friendship if it could even be called one.

Agh! Stop feeling bad already! Her thoughts chastised herself as she slid down the ladder rather than climbing down, but stopped every so often to see how far she had to go and to not go too fast to where she could have hurt herself when hitting bottom.

Like that one time, she miscalculated the ground and caused the bones in her legs to rattle and her nerves to scream in pain. It wouldn't have hurt had she braced for it like normal.

When she reached the long-awaited bottom, she grasped the bars and stamped her feet, her guilt of telling him was hitting her for far too long. It was probably because she felt terrible for Artemisia. She really did want to come and find her father's things herself.

Plus, he was pretty good in a fight when dealing with a hoard of enemies.

Wait what?

"Stop it, stop it." She told herself through gritted teeth. "Agh! Stop it brain… heart… whatever the fuck is making me feel this. It sucks… stop it."

With a breath, she lightly smacked her cheeks with both hands to push all of her guilt aside and whistled for Caim to come down as she stepped away for him to come down.

Seconds later, he was down. The madman decided to jump down then use the ladder. The insanity of this man. She could only look at him with shocked bewilderment. What did he think he was made of? Yet he stood up like it was nothing.

Christ on a stick… was all she could say in response as her gaze moved all over across his body. "You didn't break anything, did you?"

His expression said it all. Do I look like I broke anything to you?

Why are you such an ass? She thought in response before shaking her head and turning to head further down the dark tunnel only to stop.

The singing again.

She took a few steps back, bumping into Caim, startling her as she sidestepped. "Sorry," she said before looking warily down the pitch-black tunnel. She should have asked if Artemisia had put any lights in it. Suddenly, her legs felt cramped, unable to move.

If the singing was here, that meant that there was probably another church. The last thing she wanted to deal with was another church filled with…

"You've heard it too, didn't you?" Reina recalled the woman's words. "A song, coming from this place? You must have, and yet, you still stand. It's… a curious thing. It's a wonder as to how you've lasted so long."

Her left hand grasped her right fist. It was just to the forge and back. That's all they needed to do. Get to the place marked on the map, and leave.

That's it.

Caim, on the other hand, walked ahead of Reina, and with his right hand produced fire, and shot it down the tunnel, where it broke off into smaller flames lighting the way. He then looked to Reina. A faint look of what she could only describe as sympathy was in his dark blue eyes before he reached out to grasp her wrist, possibly to pull her forwards, which she quickly avoided his hand.

"Don't," she said, keeping her space between him and her as wide as possible. "Don't touch me, please." She walked past him and picked up some speed to keep the distance as she made her way down the tunnel, where she couldn't see anything at the far end. Just dark outlines, her eyes were still getting used to the darkness.

Caim again moves past her, standing on the ledge outside the tunnel just a few feet away. She could hear him inhale deeply as she could make out him putting his hands together. And when they separated, there was a warm orange glow.

Then he extended his arms as the fire he created left his hand and shot up into the underground center, creating something akin to a miniature second sun that hovered in the middle of the vast city, which only grew as Caim added three more shorts of fire. It illuminated a good portion of the city, but not all of it.

If anything, having a sudden light brought about an eerie look to that of the whole city. Making it look black, haunted with ghosts from the past, of shadows waiting to suck a person into its depths and not let go. The only thing that seemed to be any other shade other than black or grey was the stark white of the church that was smack dab in the middle of the City.

Just like in the City of Mist.

Ignore it. Reina told herself when she could hear the singing again. Only for it to fade as quickly as she had heard it. It was like it was calling to her, more so than the last. Would this happen in every City she came across now? Or just ones with Churches? Just how many were there in the abandoned cities?

She hated this.

The anxiety, the unease.

All of it exasperated her other emotions, making her on edge, more so than usual.

It made her feel nauseous.

Inhaling a breath through her nose Reina quickly made her way down to the City's ground and headed soon to where the old forge was located on the map with Caim not too far behind. Of course, there were Shades. Scores of them, their bodies disappeared back into the darkness did not change the amount of blood that soaked the ground and walls around them through their carnage as they reached closer to their goal—being mindful of areas of the environment that looked unstable to walk across. There were several areas like that in this City.

Reina wondered if it was because this City already had something underneath before it sank all those years ago.

None of it seemed to bother Caim. He enjoyed it.

The killing, the slaughter. The way he smiled when he cut down his foes, regardless of how big or small. That sent an unsettling chill down her spine. Roused a few thoughts that Reina would instead remain buried, deep into her mind, where they should stay.

Yet it clawed to the surface, making her remember what she longed to forget.

Reina had to stop.

They were almost there, but she had to.

The orange-red glow of the sun that hovered above as he would make smaller ones to light up the other areas that hung above the light could not reach.

It, with the blood and darkness, made Reina feel ill.

But she would push on, just like with any other job. Yet… this wasn't like any other job. She knew that.

Reina leaned against a wall as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, yet she could still hear it faintly if she focused. The signing.

She hissed out a breath through clenched teeth, trudging past Caim and around the corner to where the forge was located. There were no Shades, no signs of Legion. Things looked to be in the clear. A partial sign read Forge, but the rest was unreadable due to rust and decay, much like the rest of the City and all other cities before it.

Carefully, Reina entered the building. As Caim used his fire magic to light the place up, the tiny flames went to where light would have originally come from, through the means of old technology that had long been forgotten.

Reina searched the place, looking all over the shop before going back to check when she found nothing. No, that couldn't have been right. She kept looking and looking but found nothing.

Caim gave a shrill whistle to draw Reina's attention. He was holding up a note, old and discoloured, before pointing to a box that had been opened by the lock being burned off.

She snatched it out of Caim's hand, and what was written gave Reina pause for dread.

My tools were stolen.

It happened during the quack when our whole city was swallowed whole by the earth. There's no means of escape. All of us are trapped. We will die here, killed due to the lack of air or when we run out of food or killed by those vying to live for another day.

The idiots who stole from me don't have a damn clue how to use them. I've marked at least five that can be found. I have yet to find where the other four. They're locked in these makeshift hideouts. But I don't have the strength to go on.

It's getting harder to breathe, and I've been hearing the sound of thumping outside with a thick smell of blood and decay. It's obvious what's happening out there.

But I won't take my own life. I will remain here in my shop and die with dignity and grace. I'm a blacksmith by trade. I regret nothing in my life.

If you are reading this and know how to use these tools or know someone who can, there is a hidden room. You will find the tool I managed to keep, along with a map of where I marked the missing five. As for the last four, I'm sad to say that will be up to you.

I wish you all the best in your endeavours.

Reina grounded her teeth, forced herself to look for this hidden room, which Caim found with a surprising amount of ease. He seemed to have a knack for that.

This false wall led to a sturdy set of stairs, enforced with iron and rock, which led to the hidden room. There was a work bench, rusted, worn away tools and a bed where mummified remains of a man lay.

Even though he was dried out like meat, his expression looked to be one of peace and content. The tool in question was lying next to him.

Reina hesitated in taking it, remembering the woman and her necklace. But this was different. He didn't die from White Chlorination Syndrom. This man merely died as he was.

Taking the tool, she thought about returning with just this one, but when recalling Artemisia's expression, she took a breath and spoke. "I'm going to return this to your family. I promise you that."

When she turned to leave, she noticed Caim looking at something. Two weapons seemed to stand out to him amongst the neatly stacked pile and hung on the walls.

Caim picked up what looked to be a sword, which looked to be a long sword. It looked more like a slab of iron then just a sword. It was thick and seemed impossibly heavy, yet he had no trouble lifting it with both hands. Along the guard was the inscription Dragon Slayer. The blade was even taller than Caim, at least by nine inches, and given that Caim looked to be five foot nine to six feet in height, it certainly said something about the sheer size of the sword.

But that was almost nothing in comparison to what caught Reina's eye.

Next to the massive sword was a glaive, or maybe it was a naginata? It was hard to tell, given the interesting shape of the blade. Yet the pole was about seven feet in height, while the edge added an extra foot and a few inches. She expected it to be heavy when she picked it up only to find it incredibly light for its size. It, too, had a name inscribed along the hilt for the blade called Sylph Sword. It didn't look anything like a sword. The blade itself almost looked like a massive feather, but upon a closer inspection, it was of a curved serrated edge that would shred through an enemy.

Caim took the sword and paused at the work bench where an old map was tacked on the wall. He then took the map Reina had without so much as a warning and marked where to find at least the five tools before she snatched it back and glared at him, which he glared back in turn.

They probably would have continued to glare at one another until someone gave up, but this stand-off came to an abrupt end when the ground beneath their feet rumbled, causing Reina to use the newfound weapon to keep herself upright.

What was that?

They quickly ran up the stairs and out of the building, but the rumbling had subsided. Was it just a tremor?

Caim's brows furrowed as his dark blue eyes scanned the area as Caim fired another burst of flames as he headed to another building, possibly to investigate, while Reina remained where she was, looking at the places on the map that were marked with large X's. The problem, though, was where the other four would be.

There was one close by, thankfully. The rest, however, made Reina feel a bit of unease, knowing that they would also have to look all over for the last four tools.

She took a breath, trying to ease her anxiety.

She thought to have heard a voice during this moment, that same familiar one from before back when she fought that giant Shade, but it was too distant to hear.

It wasn't singing, but it still left Reina on edge.

It must have been because of this place. She never reacted like this in the other Cities, at least from what Reina could recall.

If she could get through this place, she wouldn't have much to worry about, hopefully.

With that in mind, Reina headed to the closest one on the map as Caim followed after keeping her distance. She didn't wonder why, if anything, she was grateful for it.

With this horrible feeling she had, she became afraid, so terrified of the inklings of suppressed memories she longed to keep at bay. To keep those thoughts, the guilt, chained and locked away.

But for now, she just wanted to get this over and done with. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long…

Sadly, that was furthest from the truth…

Since the sudden rumbling caused many Shades to crawl out whatever hole they were hiding in and go on the attack as whatever they perceived as a threat.

Caim slaughtered more and more Shades before coming across the first of the five that had been marked. The place in question looked to be a makeshift hideout from fallen debris where a massive Shade lay in waiting.

Just perfect. Reina thought. Why do I get the feeling something similar will happen in the other three places we search?

Little did she realize that it was what she thought would come to fruition, and with each new encounter of a mass of Shades, Reina's frustration grew as her anxiety did the same when they came across the heaping remains of those who remained hidden in these makeshift hideouts. All skeletal with only darkened black stains where blood had once been and rotted away, but the smell was still potent. It made Reina gag each time they came across such heaps when they had died.

Yet, there was also another issue. Whenever the two came out of one of these makeshift hideouts, there would be faint signs of rumbling. The Shades would come out. The last of which was a large enough tremor that caused Reina to use her weapon to keep herself from falling. Her light blue eyes were frantically trying to spot where this was coming from, but just as quickly as it started, it ended.

Reina lowered her head as she closed her eyes while she kept her hands tightly gripped on her weapon while she controlled her breathing to keep it slow and even as she could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears.

When she heard a constant snapping, it made her realized that Caim was snapping his fingers to get her attention. When he made a gesture of what was going on with her, she merely relaxed and said. "It's nothing," she said, quickly changing the topic. "What do you even think that was? It doesn't seem like an earthquake."

Caim shrugged. He had no idea either.

Reina then looked around as they made their way closer to the Church, they had six now but were still missing the other four, and they had no idea where even to start looking. And before Reina could voice any possibilities her mind suddenly burst into pain as she dropped her weapon to clasp both sides of her head. Her legs gave out as she fell to her knees. Her mouth open but not a single sound emerged. The pain was intense greater than last time as her eyes burned. It was like when they had entered the Church in the City of Mist. Only far more intense, it was like the back of her eyes were burning.

She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt Caim approach. A loud ringing was emerging from inside of her skull. Or perhaps it was coming from somewhere else, for when she opened her eyes, she saw Caim looking towards the Church's direction. Were bells ringing?

But what concerned her most was what accompanied those obnoxiously loud bells.

The singing had returned. Mostly drowned out by the bells, but it was still ever-present.

And in her pain-filled haze, she had vaguely noticed that Caim had moved her inside a nearby building.

How he got her there, she didn't much care for asking at the moment. She just wanted the pain to stop.

"Make it… stop…" she managed to find her voice. "Please…!" she was now huddled on the ground into a small as she could get as tears formed in her eyes blurring her vison.

And as she lay prone on the grimy earth of dust, dirt, blood and death. Her mind went back to the nightmare she had, of fire, red eyes, and Legion running through her village and people crying for help while many were slaughtered.

Reina shook her head, wanting to send those thoughts away into the black of her mind. She'd much rather focus on the pain than recall that again.

"Caim… hurry…"

"Why would anyone help you? Just like before, you're alone, but… you have us. We will always be there for you no matter what…"

She felt those same hands moving to grasp the side of her body, trying to turn her over onto her back, an all too familiar feeling—an unwanted one.

On instinct, Reina's eyes snapped open as she forced herself upright. Only to find that she was now alone and the bells had stopped. Along with the singing. All that was left was a deafening silence.

Slowly, Reina stood, using her weapon as extra support. Her mind still felt groggy, exhausted from whatever it was that had struck her—making her way out of the building where she saw Caim coming for the direction of the Church.

He must have stopped the bells and almost seemed surprised that she was up and moving already to where he picked up speed only to stop dead in his tracks when the ground began to shift once more.

This was far greater than any other time as they tried to maintain their footing, the ground itself forming deep cracks and gave way to the empty void of darkness below, where the arms of something other then Shades emerged from that darkness dragging Caim down into those depths. The look on his face was one of anger as he held his sword up in both hands to swing at the things that took hold of him as he was dragged down.

When tremors ended, Reina made her way over to the now vast chasm of darkness that was before her. It had taken a whole chunk of the ground as if it were swallowed whole.

Part of her knew that she should jump after him. But she didn't know how far this went. She wasn't as reckless as Caim, she wasn't willing to risk broken shins among every other bone in her body to jump down into such pitch-black darkness. Nor did she have fire magic.

She thought about throwing a bomb down to see what might be below, but what if she hit Caim in the process?

"Goddamnit…" she hissed through her teeth as she clawed at the asphalt in frustration. "Why can't I do this? This should be nothing new to me… so… why… WHY?"

"You've grown soft…" that same voice returned. "That's why you can't do it. He's helped you several times now, and because of those small acts of what you think is kindness, you feel like you owe him. It's why you're here, after all. How ironic would it be if you tried to do the same, only for it to backfire and kill him? But would that be better? Don't you want that? That this would make such a great opportunity to be finally rid of him for good."

She ground her teeth and shouted at herself for what she truly wanted. "WHY CAN'T I BE LEFT ALONE IN PEACE?!"

"You think it's possible?" the voice hissed in her ear. "After all that you've done?"

A cold chill ran down her spine as she felt something, someone, rest their hands along her shoulders, their body pressed along her back as she felt warm breath along her cheek as those words whispered into her ear.

"Think about it." The voice continued. "Why else would this place remind you of such misery? The blood… the dead… and all that came with it in that blaze of destruction in that hot red insanity… why should you ever receive a happy ending?"

As that voice spoke those words, Reina could feel more hands coming from the darkness behind her, reaching for her to take her body whole.

Reina ground her teeth, and as her body shook in self-loathing, she picked up her spear and whirled to face this foe while still kneeling on the ground. But what she saw instead was not the owner of the voice, but someone completely different.

Someone entirely new.

A man dressed in all black.