SEQ CHAPTER h r 1Eternal Darkness: Origins
Resurrection of the Mad Goddess
Disclaimers: Oh, hallelujah, Chapter 8 is OVER! Oh, YEAH!! Ahem. Sorry. Got a bit distracted there. Anyway. Nothing's mine. At least, nothing recognizable. But Jen, Colin, Minerva, Anna, Jonathan, and Alex Number Two who is really the Evil Psycho Xel'lotath Liche do belong to me! (If you didn't know about that last part, you shouldn't be reading this chapter yet.)
Chapter 9 The GatheringMinerva stood alone at the window, looking out at the streets below. The Liches had arrived.
By instinct, the Liches would fight amongst themselves until only one remained. However, with Mantorok gone, the balance amongst the Ancients had been thrown off. It was impossible to predict who would emerge victorious. In fact, it was quite possible that none of them would; that their masters would stop them before anything could happen. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she didn't care to contemplate.
Beside her stood the ghost of Pious, looking out on the same scene.
"Vale, Pious." She turned to him, speaking in Latin. "Why are you here?"
"Vale, Minerva." He replied, surprised at how easily his language came to him after 2,000 years. "I came to watch, just like you." He was silent for a moment, then looked back at her. "The Keeper is dead, is he not?"
"He is." She nodded.
"I see." He turned back to the scene unfolding below. "I have never understood why humans did not see the Keeper in the same light as the three. After all, Mantorok was no less maleficent towards humanity. He merely could not do anything about it."
"Indeed." Minerva agreed. "The Ancients have only one thing in common, and that is their hatred for us."
"And yet you helped Mantorok, in a way, by fighting against the three. You helped him, even though you knew that, given the chance, he would gladly retake Reality from humanity." Pious smiled to himself. "In a way, you were like me. A Liche. A servant."
"Perhaps." Minerva conceded. "But remember, I could hear the three Ancients speak. I knew that, when they decided to retake Reality, their first goal would be to get the Keeper out of the way." She too smiled. "So even if I helped him in the beginning, he would be no threat."
"Excellent thinking." The centurion commented. "No less than I would expect from the Tome's creator. But your efforts have been for naught. The Ancients have counterattacked, and they have learned from their defeat. They will not make the mistakes they did before."
"I was not aware that they made mistakes." Minerva replied sarcastically. "Only that unforeseeable details arose."
"I mean the Tome, Minerva. They likely have learned of the Tome's powers. They will ensure that it will never be used against them again. And there is also the matter of the Guardian of Light..."
"What about her?"
"Surely you can tell." Pious did not look her way. "It is only a matter of time before she is claimed by Xel'lotath. The Guardian of Light will become the Liche. And you, Minerva, will have one less ally."
"I still have the other ghosts with me, and the last living Chosen besides."
"Do you really think that that will be enough?"
Minerva didn't answer.
Dr. Lindsey looked up, disoriented. The dark, dreary interior of the temple had been replaced by a steel-grey sky. Red, blue, and green light filled the air. Colin–the Liche of Chattur'gha, rather–had vanished from sight for the moment. Ellia hovered rather uncertainly next to him.
"Where are we?" He asked Ellia, getting to his feet.
"I believe we are back in Washington. This is where the Keeper of the Light lives. Minerva and the Tome are here as well."
"And, refresh my memory, how did we get here?"
"I do not know." Ellia apologized. "I believe that the Chattur'gha Liche must have transported himself here. We must have been caught in the spell's effect area."
"Hmm. Well, that does explain a lot." Lindsey looked around. "Where should we go?"
"Back to Minerva and the Keeper, I should expect. They will be awaiting us--" Ellia trailed off, staring at the sky behind Lindsey. Lindsey followed her gaze.
Amid halos of light, three seemingly human beings stood apart from one another. Colin was among them. One of them–a blond, green-eyed girl dressed all in black–was speaking to the other two.
InterestingShe smiled. I suspected that you would attempt to counteract my effortsEven so, the advantage is mineThe Guardian of Light will soon serve me
With that, she disappeared, and the other two shortly followed suit.
"What were they talking about?" Lindsey asked, as Ellia hurried along.
"That was most likely the avatar of Xel'lotath." Ellia replied. "He hopes to claim the Guardian of Light as her Liche soon. If I am not mistaken, though, the others will try to kill the Guardian before Xel'lotath can claim her. We should get back to the Guardian and Minerva as soon as possible." Ellia added, turning back to him. "I expect they will want to hear what we have learned."
Alex leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess that would explain why she's been following me around." She concluded. "But why was she goofing off at the art museum if she's the embodiment of an Ancient?"
"Mantorok told us that, when Xel'lotath wasn't using her as an avatar, she was a normal person, but with...he called it an 'infant consciousness'. I think she's like a little kid in Alex's body. Or something." Dr. Lindsey stared out the window. "Frankly, I'm finding it a little hard to believe myself."
"No wonder." Alex finished, looking expectantly at the ghosts and Lindsey. "So what can we do about it?"
"Very little." Ellia replied. "We are supposed to form two new Runes to create a new Spell. It will destroy the Ancients, but only once they are within the Veil."
"Within the Veil?" Jonathan looked surprised. "I thought that the whole point was for the Ancients not to enter the Veil. If they're allowed to enter, than even if we have the Runes, it will be too late by the time we cast a Spell. They will have had their way with our world."
"And there's another matter to consider." Anna added. "Xel'lotath won't enter the Veil without her Liche. And the Ancients have to be within the Veil in order for the Spell to be effective. If we allow Xel'lotath to enter the Veil, then we have to allow her to take Alex."
"This isn't a good situation any way you look at it." Lindsey concluded. "Plus, there's the problem of the Runes--"
A sound of shattering glass and splintering steel cut him off, and Jenny–the Ulyaoth Liche–flew across the room, not stopping until she hit the wall on the opposite side.
Anna, Jonathan, and Edward were quick to react, coming between Alex and the Ulyaoth Liche. However, it payed them no notice. Instead, it glared out at the sky through the hole it had left in the wall. Levitating just outside of the hole in the wall, a smile on his face, the Chattur'gha Liche stared back.
The Ulyaoth Liche disappeared into a blue portal, reappearing just behind the Chattur'gha Liche. He turned around just in time, avoiding a blow to the back.
Anna got up. "We're leaving." She stated. "Now."
Alex was about to protest, but Anna cut her off. "It's not safe for you here. If we stay, the avatar will hunt you down in minutes. We're leaving." She took Alex by the wrist and ran toward the door, and once again, Alex was surprised that the ghost's hand felt solid. Minerva and the other ghosts followed close behind, instants before a Spell from the Chattur'gha Liche reduced the wall to splinters.
"What are we going to do now?" Jonathan asked in frustration, looking up at the Liches. "If we don't have a way to get to the Runes..."
"There is nothing we can do." Minerva said bluntly. "We cannot fight back, not for long. And we cannot keep Alex hidden forever. Eventually the avatar will find her. And, even if we had the Runes, we could not use them, because the Ancients must be within the Veil for the Runes to be used." She sighed. "All we can do is keep running as long as we can and hope we learn what we need to do."
Perhaps a mile away, the Liches were still locked in combat; their Spells devastating the area around them. The streets were vacated, save for the twisted wrecks of what had once been cars, but one could just observe crowds of people gathered at the windows of the hotels and offices, watching in confusion.
As they watched, the avatar just barely danced out of the way of the Chattur'gha Liche's fists, laughing as she did. Before she could retaliate, the Ulyaoth Liche suddenly appeared behind her, gripping her by the wrist. Blue lightning crackled up the avatar's arm, and she briefly cried out in pain. Then, the Chattur'gha Liche took advantage of the momentary distraction and caught the Ulyaoth Liche by the throat, tossing her to the ground. The Ulyaoth Liche disappeared into another portal, this time reappearing behind the Chattur'gha Liche.
The avatar caught her breath, then turned to face Alex. For the first time, Alex noticed that the avatar had let her hair down, letting it fly around her head like smoke in a strong wind. Her eyes shone vivid green, and as she stared in Alex's direction, she grinned and laughed again.
That laughter reverberated in Alex's ears, ringing louder and louder till it seemed to pierce through her, seeping into her mind, drowning her consciousness. Alex clamped her hands over her ears, but the laughter did not stop.
Suddenly, the laughter ceased, and Alex chanced a look upward. The Liches and the avatar were once again at one another's throats, and the avatar seemed to have forgotten about her for the moment.
"Are you okay, Alex? What happened?" Jonathan touched her on the shoulder.
"The avatar." Minerva replied. "She has seen Alex; she will try to claim her as soon as she can. We should not stay here long."
"It won't make any difference if we do." Alex said. Everyone stared at her, surprised.
"What are you talking about?" Anna asked. "Of course it will make a difference–if we keep running, we can keep her from getting to you--"
"But if Xel'lotath never takes me, the Ancients will never be Summoned. If we have the Runes, they'll be useless." Alex looked back up at the double of herself. "Once we find the Runes, I'll have to be taken."
Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Jonathan cut in. "You may be right, Alex. But that's not a problem at the moment. Let's worry about that once we have the Runes."
"In the meanwhile, we're getting out of here–Alex, look out!" Anna's voice rose to a shout. Alex turned around and caught sight of a portal open directly behind her. She scrambled out of the way just in time to avoid the Ulyaoth Liche, who fell from the portal without taking much notice of her. Immediately, Anna grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled her back.
"Come on. We're going." Anna demanded.
As Anna dragged her away, Alex looked back, catching sight of the Chattur'gha Liche lunging for the Ulyaoth Liche, a hand outstretched to seize her by the throat. At the last moment, the Ulyaoth Liche stepped back and opened another portal right in front of her. The Chattur'gha Liche was too late to turn away, and his arm disappeared into the blue of the portal. The Ulyaoth Liche then closed the portal around his arm, severing it cleanly from his shoulder.
The Chattur'gha Liche cried out in pain and clutched at the bloody wound where it's arm used to be, and Alex could hear two voices screaming–the thunderous roar of the Ancient and the unmistakably human voice of Colin.
But before she could see any more, Anna pulled her away.
She looked up just in time to see them fleeing. The Keeper, pulled along by her mother's ghost, looked back at the Liches–at the bodies of her two friends–tearing each other apart.
The avatar wasn't concerned. For the moment, it didn't matter if the Keeper ran away. She couldn't escape for long, After all, everything had been planned perfectly, down to the last detail...
Still, it couldn't hurt to have a little fun...
Leaving the two Liches behind, the avatar silently followed Alex.
Alex sat down to rest on the side of the road, trying to catch her breath. The streets were all but empty, most of the people having fled to their homes or offices at the sight of the Liches. The emptiness of the streets had allowed Alex, Lindsey, and the ghosts to put quite a lot of distance between themselves and the Liches, and the Liches were no longer visible.
"There's no point," she said, in between gasps. "In running like this. It would be better if you went to find the Runes. I can keep running, buy you some time. There's no point in you all guarding me."
It only took one look at Anna to see that that would not be an option. Anna's mouth had become a tight, thin line, her fists were clenched, and she was glaring, not at Alex, but at the horizon, as though staring at the distant Liches. With a voice like tempered steel, she said. "I will not give you up to the Ancients, Alex. And I will not leave you alone with her."
"Anna..." Jonathan started. Anna whirled toward him.
"Don't you remember?" She snapped. "We gave ourselves up–we gave our lives to keep Alex safe from the Ancients–and you think I'm going to just let her go?"
Before she could continue, Alex jumped up, looking around frantically.
"Alex? What's wrong?" Edward asked.
"The avatar is here." She replied. "I saw her just now, and I heard her laughing. She's following me." She turned to Anna. "If you want me to run, there isn't much time. If you want, I can go on alone while you--" She stopped, and her eyes were fixed on a spot in the sky.
"She's here again?" Anna got up and lay a protective hand on her daughter's shoulder. Alex flinched at her touch.
"Yes. I heard her again." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You all stay here. She's not after you. I should leave now, so you all will still have time."
"I don't want you to go by yourself, Alex." Anna started, but Alex shook her head.
"There's no other way. If you keep following me, it will be to late when you do create the Runes." She took a step backward, putting a hand to her mother's. "This...we may not see each other again...if we do, I won't be myself. I won't recognize you..." She sighed. "If I try to hurt you...I'm sorry."
Then, before any more could be said, Alex turned and ran.
The avatar started, caught, for the moment, off guard. What was she doing? Why was she running away already? She hadn't even gotten the chance to really scare her yet.
Had she still been an empty body, the avatar would have pouted. This girl was ruining everything.
But the fact remained that her prey was trying to escape. It would take maybe few minutes to catch up to her, and she was certain that the other Liches would notice her own absence soon. It was best to just finish it all up quickly, before things got complicated...
Suddenly, everything stopped.
The observers, watching from within their homes and offices, were surprised to see the combat between the two Liches stop dead. As one, the Liches turned and stared ahead of them, in the direction that the avatar had gone.
A crunching, snapping sound filled the air, and the Chattur'gha Liche's arm had regrown from the empty socket. The flesh of the arm was pink and new, and in some places the skin had not completely grown in, and the sinew and veins were still exposed to the air. The Ulyaoth Liche did not seem to notice. It was focused too intently on the horizon.
It would not be long before the avatar completed her mission. If she could be stopped before then...
For the second time in two thousand years, Chattur'gha and Ulyoath had a common goal.
And a common enemy.
The two Liches hurried off to follow the avatar, paying no notice to the silent crowds of humans watching from the windows.
Alex had to stop and duck into an alley, out of breath and exhausted. She doubted that she had totally lost the avatar. She had a few minutes to catch her breath, at most.
She wondered if Anna had followed her as well. After all, Anna had not been thrilled with the idea of letting Alex run off alone. She probably wasn't far behind her now.
At that moment, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
Knowing what she would see, Alex slowly turned around. Sure enough, the blazing green eyes of the avatar stared back at her.
Before she could say a word, the avatar's icy hand clamped down over her mouth. How long did you think you could run from me, Alex? She asked, her voice echoing that of her master. You could only delay the inevitableNothing more
Then, all around her faded into nothing, and there was not even the cold of the avatar's hand nor the beacon of her eyes to tether Alex back to reality...
She did not know where she was or how she got there. She was in a narrow hallway, which disappeared into the darkness with no visible end. The walls looked as though they were made of stone, but, upon closer inspection, amorphous images seemed to flit through the stone wall like shadows.
"Where am I?" She heard her own voice, although she had not opened her mouth.
Welcome, Alex The avatar appeared behind her, half-lidded eyes sparkling and loose blonde hair twirling in a vortex around her face. Do you like it?I made it myself
"What is this place?" Alex looked up and down the hallway. The stone seemed to be shifting, as though it wasn't sure whether it really wanted to be a stone wall, or if it would rather be a hedge of briars or a wall of ice.
This is your own mind, AlexIt should be quite familiar to you
"What do you mean, my mind?"
This, Alex, is your subconsciousYour dreams, your memories, your thoughts, spun together and shaped into the maze you now find yourself in
"But where did this come from? How did you make it?"
I had her The avatar indicated herself. She was created with you as a model, after allHer mind was exactly like yours, except hers was newborn–no memories, no dreamsShe was my blank canvas, on which I could experimentI learn to shape and twist her thoughts and her subconscious into whatever shape I desiredBy the time she found you, I could create this maze in your mind in a matter of instants
Now, Alex, I want you to play a little game with you The avatar smiled, a picture of absolute calm. I want to see which of us knows your mind better--you or meIf you can get out of the maze before I catch you, you winBut if I catch you...you loseUnderstand?
Alex nodded, knowing that she had little choice.
GoodNow, I'm going to be a good sport and give you a head startI would suggest you use itStart running
By the time Edward, Jonathan, Lindsey, Ellia, and Minerva caught up with Anna, she was lying beside the unconscious bodies of Alex and the avatar, trying unsuccessfully to wake her daughter.
"She will not wake, Anna." Minerva walked up to her. "We are too late. The avatar found her first."
Anna was silent for a moment, then turned to the rest of the group. "This is our chance..."
"What do you mean?" Minerva looked puzzled.
"She's unconscious. If we kill her before Alex is taken--"
"Their minds are entangled." Minerva cut her off. "If you kill her, you kill Alex."
"Anna, now that the avatar has found Alex, the two Liches will try to kill the avatar before Alex becomes a Liche. We have no time. We must get Alex and the avatar somewhere safe. Yes, the avatar too, Anna." She added, in response to Anna's look of ire. "Otherwise, the Liches will kill her and we will lose Alex." She turned her attention to the rest of the group. "Edwin Lindsey?"
Lindsey nodded in response.
"When we reach a safe place for the two of them, you will guard then with your life. Do not allow anyone to come near them–either of them. If the Liches appear, hold them off as long as you can and try to get the two of them away from the Liches. Do you understand?"
The doctor nodded again, then asked, "One question. What do I do when Alex wakes up?"
"Considering that she will be a servant of Xel'lotath when she wakes," Edward took the limp body of his granddaughter in his phantasmal arms, "I would advise you to get out of her way.
There was no end to it.
Alex had been running for what felt like hours, and the maze kept going. She had long ago stopped trying to remember where she was and where she had already been.
The maze changed every time she looked at it. The hallway she had just run down had stretched out straight behind her; now, as she looked over her shoulder, it seemed to turn off to her left.
Alex soon regretted not keeping her eyes on the path. Instead of solid ground, Alex put her foot down on something that gave way underneath her–something that felt like it was moving. Losing her balance, Alex fell forward. She looked back to se what she had landed in and saw what seemed like a million spiders, swarming in a hole in the floor, scrambling manically up her leg, biting her through her clothes.
Alex cried out in shock and tried frantically to shake them off, but the arachnids clung to her desperately. Panicking, she got to her feet and ran blindly through the halls.
Around her, the maze was changing again–the stone became woodwork, and the floor turned to carpet underneath her, and those portraits of all those cold, aloof, distant Roivas' gazed down at her...the maze had become Roivas Manor.
The sick perfume of blood floated in the air, and the trio of voices echoed around her–her father's cry of pain as the Great Guardian tore him apart, her mother's last, choked breath, and the sound of a Guardian ripping through her grandfather's flesh...
Not here, she thought. Please, God, anywhere, I don't care where, but, please, not here...
Now the maze rang with the avatar's laughter...
Thankfully, the occupants of the street-side café had long since fled, so the building was completely empty Now, with the avatar and Alex locked in the kitchen, all that Lindsey could do was patrol the premesis.
Granted, a restaurant kitchen was probably not the safest place in D.C., but it had been the closest place that was vacant and reasonably far away from the Liches. Plus, it was small, dark, and easy to overlook.
Lindsey wasn't as worried about the Liches as he probably should have been. After all, the avatar would know that she was being pursued. She wouldn't linger and longer than she had to.
He was more worried about what was going to happen when Alex woke up. Once she became the Xel'lotath Liche, the first thing she would do was escape–most likely killing him in the process.
Taking a hasty look back at the kitchen, Lindsey tightened his grip on his handgun. The handgun–and the precious little ammunition he had remaining–was all that he had had with him when he went through the Chattur'gha Liche's portal. He had only about a clip and a half left, and Minerva had instructed him not to enchant it for fear of attracting the Liche's attention. He felt terribly vulnerable; it was just him and his ordinary handgun and a few bullets against the supernatural power of the Ancients.
The three Ancients will be unleashed on the world Within, all three at once. The minute they are released, they will destroy each other. In spite of their efforts, they will accomplish nothing.
But, because of their power, their combat will end this world. The Veil will be ripped to pieces –the curtain that shut the Ancients out of this world will finally fall. The remaining Ancients, those that still dwell Beyond, will reclaim what is rightfully theirs, and the humans that survive the destruction of the Veil will be driven mad and eliminated by the Ancients.
The world shall return to the way it should have been, before humans tainted the universe with their imperfections. There will be no such blights in the new universe–only the glory and power and perfection of the Ancients and the Eden of darkness...
And you, Guardian...you, Alexandra Roivas, you, who were fated to fight the Ancients at every turn...you will begin it all.
Pious indulged in a laugh. The irony was almost too much. Humanity's last defender would betray them.
He could see the last moments in his mind. All over the world, humans would watch, terrified and confused, as the precious, comforting illusion that their ancestors had built for them was violently stripped away, dissolved before their eyes. He could hear their fragile minds shatter in the presence of the Ancients. He could hear them scream, pray, beg for the ignorance and oblivion that they had immersed themselves in.
And this end would be well-deserved, on the human's part. After all, what right did they have to the universe? Had they been greater than the Ancients, had they been more powerful and wise, it would have been different. One race would have been succeeded by another; such was the natural order of things. But no, it had not been that way. A species of inferior, pitiful creatures, no more that insects in comparison to the Ancients, had crawled out of the shadows with nothing, nothing to make them worthy successors of the universe. Nothing but their fear of the Ancients. Nothing but their inborn belief that anything greater than them, anything that they could not enslave, had to be driven out–their belief that the universe was theirs by right.
And yet, with only their belief and their fear, they had driven out the Ancients. They had taken control of a world they did not understand and could not appreciate. They had subjected the universe to their ignorance. They had twisted and defiled it and now marched over it's body as it bled to a slow death. But now, there would be retribution. The pestilence of humanity would be swept away. And he was here, at the epicenter, watching it all.
Alex had to stop running. Once again she was out of breath and exhausted. She had not yet seen the avatar, but the maze kept changing. She was fairly sure that she had been running in circles, but more likely the maze had changed around her. The path she had come down probably did not exist anymore.
And it wasn't just the pathways that changed. Impossible things sprang from the walls and floor wherever she ran. At some points, the floor had turned to a carpet of glass shards, or Guardians leaped out from the shadows, clutching at her.
Alex caught her breath as best she could, then got to her feet again. But the path ahead of her had vanished, and a solid stone wall had replaced it.
She turned around to run in the other direction, but the path behind her had closed as well. Now all that was left was perhaps fifteen meters of blank, empty hallway.
You seem to have run into a dead end, Alex Startled, she whirled back around. The avatar stood there, smiling nonchalantly at her. There is only one more way out
Alex ran back the other way, frantically searching for an opening, a way out or up or over the wall. The avatar walked slowly toward her, unconcerned, taking her time. There is nowhere for you to go, AlexExcept, of course, with me
Alex stared the avatar in the eye, trying to conceal the panic that was working it's way up her spine. "There never was an exit." She said, quietly. "Was there."
Of course not She and the avatar were just inches apart now, and the avatar reached out a hand. Why would I give you that chance?Besides, how can you escape from your own mind?
The cold hand now rested on Alex's shoulder, and the next thing she knew she was falling–falling down into a dark emptiness, into a pit with no bottom and no sides, touching nothing, numb with the cold and the rushing of air past her body...and the darkness and silence pressed in on her eyes and ears and skin until it was seeping into her, filling her, crowding out her consciousness–and then there was nothing in her anymore and she was nothing but an empty shadow falling away...
Back in the world within the Veil, the Liche of Xel'lotath opened her eyes, got to her feet and surveyed the small, crowded kitchen. The door, she noticed, had been locked and bolted–for all the good it would do.
On the floor next to her, the avatar stirred and held a hand to her head. She looked up at the Liche, and her eyes were black. "Is it..."
I promised you that the answers would not be far behind, once this all beganYou have your answerAre you satisfied?
"What? What do you mean?"
The Liche ignored her. Instead, she walked toward the door, which twisted and shuddered and tore off it's hinges. She entered the empty café, noticing that the human Lindsey was nowhere in sight. He must have known what happened and fled already. Not that it mattered, really...
Seconds later, everything shattered. Fragments of glass and steel and insulation poured down like rain. The Liche walked, untouched, through the clouds of metal and debris.
The avatar was not so fortunate. Falling glass and metal fragments cut at her skin and filled the air and ground at her lungs when she breathed them in. Panicked, she ran blindly through the cloud, reaching the outside only seconds before the Liche did.
"I don't understand what you mean." She gasped, coughing as she spoke. "I don't know the answer. Why can't you just tell me?"
The Liche sighed impatiently. You were my key She explained. You were my way inThrough you, I could learn how to break the Keeper's mindThat os what you were created forNothing more
"But you've already done that, haven't you?"
Yes
"So what do I do now?"
The Liche began to look angry. The lock has been openedYou are of no further use to meGo do whatever you pleaseIt matters not
At that, the Liche disappeared.
The avatar stared into space, focused on nothing, lips moving soundlessly as though trying her hardest to grasp what had just been said to her. Eventually, three whispered words escaped her.
"I don't know..."
She was shaking now.
"I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want to do. I don't know anything. I need you...I need you to tell me...I don't know anything..."
Her whispers turned to shouts.
"Come back! Please, please come back. I need you–I don't know anything–please, tell me what to do!"
This time, there was no answer.
End Chapter 9