CHAPTER XXXIV
Faster, Stronger
Ivory was headed back to the dorms when she ran into Demetri, who was heading to the campus quad.
"Good afternoon, Ivory," Demetri greeted her with a bow.
"There's no need for such formality, you know," she said.
"Do you miss the old ways?"
"Not really. Don't get me wrong, I place order at a high value, but there is also something to be said about having a free spirit."
"You must be referring to your cousin."
"Are you going out for some food?"
"I was thinking of visiting the student life center. Apparently, the three restaurants there are actually quite good."
"Yes, although pricey. I often wonder how it is that some of these students can afford to eat there."
Demetri led the way to the student center. "From what I know, the Jupiter Family sponsors much of the Shade Academy students' education. There may not be any government grants or scholarships the way it is in Atlas or Mistral, but there's still some kind of support system here."
"One could say that Jupiter Enterprises is Vacuo's government."
"Much like the Schnee and Holland Families back home."
They chose the nicest of the three campus restaurants to dine at. The overwhelming majority of the meals they usually enjoyed on a day to day basis were of the much more affordable and convenient cafeteria variety, periodically supplemented by food trucks and small stands. The number of times they actually ate at restaurants was vanishingly small.
"I once thought I wouldn't miss this level of dining," Demetri said as they sat at a table.
"It's hardly fine dining," Ivory said, "but I've overheard some of the students give high praise to their lobster thermidor."
"Is that what you're having?"
She nodded, browsing her menu. The selections were not overly pretentious, but she could sense a tinge of desperately-trying-to-fit-in.
"Thank goodness there isn't any fois gras on the menu," Demetri said.
Ivory chuckled softly. "That would be a little too on the nose, don't you think?"
"More like pathetic. You know, it's difficult to look at veal on a menu the same way as before."
"Has Lilly's humane attitude affected you, too?"
"I just can't get myself to eat anything that's gone through that kind of thing in life."
"I find myself thinking the same lately. I used to be able to enjoy fois gras and veal and shark fin, but now all I can think about is my cousin crying about the suffering they endure."
"You almost sound sarcastic about that."
"No, not really. She does have a point. I don't know how I'd feel being force-fed all day long just to get my liver cut out of me later. Or kept immobile so my muscles would stay tender."
"Or get one of your arms sawed off and left to wander the streets right afterward."
"I think that was word for word what Lilith said, wasn't it?"
"It was. Strangely enough, she has more compassion for animals than she does for humans."
"'No other animal in all of Remnant has ever committed genocide except this one.'"
"We are both quoting her now, are we?"
They placed their orders, having hot tea for drinks. Ivory looked off to the distance. Meanwhile, Demetri couldn't help but admire how much his childhood friend had changed in the past months. She had once been so aloof to everyone around her, as cold as the winter snow, but now it was commonplace to find her conversing with random passersby. Shade students who had once been wary of her were now regularly hanging out with the two Schnee cousins.
Of course, none of the group shared what they were doing every day in the facility underneath the campus. If the existence of a parallel world filled with monsters ever came to light, it could easily cause mass panic, which could have an adverse effect on the entire Labyrinth given its connection to the real world.
"She's bound to snap under the pressure," Ivory said, holding her mug in both hands.
"You're referring to Lilly," Demetri said.
She nodded. "Have you seen her surface at all since that last Labyrinth?"
He shook his head. "Actually, I haven't been seeing much of Lilith either. I see her out and about, but she's been spending more and more time alone."
"I wonder why that is." She sighed heavily. "If only my cousin didn't take so much of the burden on her shoulders."
"It can't be helped. It's just the way she is."
"I know. Meanwhile, Lilith is the opposite. She doesn't have a care in the world."
"That's not the vibe I get from her."
"Oh?"
"They're both basically the same person, just with some variation. Where Lilly has compassion for the entire world, Lilith takes all of that care and intensely focuses it on a few people."
"I think you're right. We've witnessed more than once her brutality toward the Corrupted when one of us is in danger."
"Yes. That side of her scares me more than anything."
"Almost like it could become twisted and she keeps us in a box where nothing could ever hurt us, huh?"
"Please don't come up with such horrifying scenarios. I'll be sure to share that with Ariadne, however."
Ivory took a sip of her iced tea. She remembered the conversation she had with Lilith a few days ago. The odd thing was that the two personas were starting to become more and more distant from one another, even as their similarities came to light.
"Almost like...sisters," she mumbled.
"Hmm?" Demetri said, taking a bite out of one of the complimentary breadsticks on the table.
"I was just recalling something from the morning after our last Labyrinth. Lilith and I were discussing how she and Lilly were actually diverging in some ways while converging in others."
"Is that really the case, though?"
"Hmm?"
"We haven't really known Lilith for long. Who's to say that she hasn't always been the way she is?"
"Lilly is changing for sure, though."
He shrugged. "Maybe. Or perhaps there are certain traits of hers that have become amplified over the past year. You know your cousin more than anyone. How was she when you were growing up together?"
She reminisced on those days. "I don't remember a single day she didn't have a smile on her face. And that was in spite of the constant torment I put her through for no real reason."
"You haven't forgiven yourself for that, have you?"
"Of course not. And I won't for a long time. I have no doubt I must have a budding Labyrinth myself because of that."
"If you keep going, one will probably sprout somewhere in the other world. But it's okay. Leon and I will be there to rescue you."
She set her mug on the table with an audible thud.
"My distraction was a success."
"Have you been chatting with him online? Is that where your infection is originating?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations at this time."
"That is absolutely something he says."
He smirked as he draped a napkin over his shirt, thanking the server as he laid their plates on the table.
"I am keeping my eye on you, Demetri Holland," Ivory said.
"Oh, wow, fancy dining today, huh?"
"Lilith?" Demetri said to their new guest.
"Yeah. Lilly's still in here somewhere."
"She's been quiet, has she?" Ivory said.
"Mm-hmm."
"Please, sit with us."
"I'd love to enjoy that really fancy looking food, but I actually have a date with Ariadne in ten minutes."
"You're off to terrorize her, are you?" Demetri said.
She chuckled. "Her brother called me a terrorist, too. Nah, we're running a few tests and stuff. She kinda got freaked out by the shit that happened during that last Lab run. Says her equipment picked up on all sorts of readings she wanted to confirm."
"Will you tell us if she breaks her silence?" Ivory said.
"Of course, dudes. You'll be the first to know. You're our team, after all. Speaking of which, technically there's four of us going in at the same time." She spent some time brainstorming before she cringed.
"What's the matter?" Demetri said.
"Nah. Forget it."
"What?" Ivory said. "Did something happen with Lilly?"
"Nope. I just thought about a name for the four of us, even though Lilly and I share a body. And Team DILL came to mind, and I'm not naming us after a fucking pickle."
"I, too, refuse to be a shriveled, salty, green thing."
"I don't know," Demetri said, cutting into his steak. "You can be very salty."
Lilith began chuckling, holding her fist out to him, which he bumped with his own fist without looking.
"What is it with your incessant teasing today?" Ivory said.
"All right, prince charming, don't make my little cousin cry now," Lilith chuckled, heading out of the restaurant, but not before giving him a kiss on the cheek and winking at Ivory in an unambiguous attempt to tease both with a single action.
Was that peck on the cheek really necessary?
"Of course it was necessary."
Ugh, you only did that just to mess with them.
"Not just them, you dork. It was for you, too."
Uh-huh. Thanks, by the way.
"Hmm? For kissing Demetri?"
No! For not telling them what we've been doing.
"I told you it would just be us two, didn't I?"
Yeah, I guess you did.
"What, you don't expect me to keep my promises?"
That's not what I was gonna—
"Because I will have you know, Lilly Schnee, Lilith Schnee is the most honest Wraith you will ever find in a million years."
Why do you sound so phony?
"Ah! I dooooo say!"
Lilith, what are you even saying anymore?
Ariadne was the only one in the Rift Complex today. A few technicians and maintenance personnel wandered about, but none of the central staff were present other than the youngest one.
"Heeey," Lilith growled as soon as she had successfully crept up to Ariadne from behind.
The youngest of the Jupiter family shrieked before turning around abruptly.
"Jumpy today, are we?"
"Please stop sneaking up on me like that!"
"Can't. It's too fun."
Ariadne sighed before fixing her glasses. "Lilly, if you're hearing this, please rescue me from this real-world Labyrinth I'm stuck in."
"No one is here to rescue you, my little Princess of Vacuo."
"Princess?" she scoffed. "Me? I don't think so."
"Yeah, probably not. Anyway, I'm here. What's up?"
"Right. I wanted to talk about what happened a few days ago."
"You mean when we fucked up another mission."
Ariadne hesitated.
Lilith took a seat across from her. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. We fucked up. Three in a goddamned row. I don't particularly give a shit about total strangers, but the fact that we failed three Labyrinth runs in a row is pretty irritating. So, what about that day?"
"The monitors all picked up on some strange readings, and more than once, too. I also heard from Ivory and Demetri that you warped away from the team just before entering the Labyrinth core."
"Yeah. That. Right. I forgot to tell you that we found your brother."
"Perseus?"
"Yup. And he's being judged by the Rune of Atonement."
Ariadne stared, dumbfounded.
"Typical Labyrinths are formed out of an intense trauma that begins to corrupt a person's Shadow, the end result of which is the birth of one of those Corrupted. But Perseus's Labyrinth is different. It's a projection of the Rune of Atonement, probably meant as some kind of trial."
"My brother is on trial?"
Lilith nodded. "No one can interfere with anything a Primal Rune is doing. Not even me or Lilly. It's the highest order of, well, everything back in Ecumene."
"Your home world."
"Yeah."
"What's going to happen to him?"
Lilith shrugged. "He's on trial by the very crystallization of the concept of Justice. If he's found innocent, then he returns to us. If he's found guilty, er bleibt in seiner hölle für immer."
"What?"
"We'll never see him again."
Ariadne looked off to the side.
"If your brother's not a complete evil bastard, he's got a shot. Don't sweat it. And it's not like you can do anything for him now."
"You're right. I'm sorry for losing focus."
"Oh, thank goodness you're rational. The typical anime protagonist woulda been like 'we have to do something!' or some bullshit like that." She tilted her head. "Actually, that's probably word for word what Lilly would say."
"I was thinking the same thing."
You guys both suck.
Lilith chuckled. "Anyway, what about all the other stuff the computers read?"
"Yes, there were a number of other strange readings that have been concerning me, particularly the emergence of the same wavelengths and particles present at my family's manor."
"Nexus stuff?"
"Yes."
"I'm pretty sure we were not on top of a Nexus on the other side. Either way, Nexuses don't exist in the World of Shadow. They're strictly a physical world thing."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because back in Ecumene, a Nexus was defined as a place where ley lines converge. Ley lines don't exist in the other world because the whole damn World of Shadow is a swirl of chaotic magical energy. In the real world, those magical energies are concentrated along ley lines, within magical beings, and in runes."
"I see. And it is at those ley line convergence points that magical energy overflows into the physical domain."
"Exactly. It's why all sorts of weird shit happens on top of Nexuses."
"Like mass disappearances."
"Yup."
"Why would those kinds of readings appear in the Labyrinth?"
"I'm guessing a lot of that has to do with those Greater Daemons."
"But we haven't seen any of them in Vacuo. They've been mostly operating in Mistral and Menagerie."
"Right, but that's only because the other Labyrinth Task Force encountered them and confirmed their operations in the area."
"I think you would've run into them by now if they were operating here."
"I wouldn't be so quick to underestimate their clandestine operations. Don't forget, the Greater Daemons are masters of Thaumaturgy. Their control over magic is enough that they can form castles in the other world. Purely out of their own will."
"You rescued Ivory from one of those, didn't you?"
"Yup."
"Where did you say that castle was located?"
"I don't actually remember." She paused. "Lilly and I had warped all the way to Atlas before warping again to that castle. Whether that castle was on the Atlas continent or another place entirely, I have no idea."
"So Atlas could be their base of operations."
"Or Vale. Who knows? It might not even be on this planet."
"Are you suggesting they could be operating on the broken moon?"
"Maybe a space station. I dunno. C'mon, dude, we're talking about beings who can manipulate space-time in the Labyrinth."
Ariadne sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Anyway, how 'bout we do some rune extractions?"
"You're volunteering yourself again?"
"Yup."
"But, what about Lilly?"
"She's sleeping. I think she could use an alarm clock."
Not cool!
"I don't think that's very nice," Ariadne said.
"I'm just messin'!" Lilith laughed. "It'll be all right. I kinda wanna get this shit over with myself. You have two more gemstones to test, right?"
"Yes, an emerald and a sapphire."
"Then, let's hop to it!"
—
Yesterday was exhausting.
"Don't be a wimp, dude," Lilith said as they neared one of the Labyrinth Red Zones she had designated for training. "They only extracted three runes from us."
Three is a lot!
"C'mon. It's time to wake up."
Her eyes flashed gold as Lilly returned to the surface. "I've been awake, you know!"
Yeah, yeah, quit whining. The daemons are headed your way.
Lilly allowed her power to swell to the surface, intuitively summoning an Earth Rune in the air and deploying its defensive and offensive bolstering spells on herself before vanishing, moving with enough force to crush the concrete beneath her feet.
—
"Has anyone seen Lilith?" Ivory said as she walked into their dorm room.
Demetri and Ariadne looked at her.
"Wasn't she with you?" Ariadne said.
"No. I was at the gym getting some exercise in. Wait, what are you two doing here?"
"Ariadne has been tutoring me on Thaumatology," Demetri said. "There's still a lot we don't know, but a good deal of it is quite well-established. At least, until observations change those facts."
"It is technically still a science," Ariadne said. "Just one that involves magic."
"Back to my cousin," Ivory said. "I've been calling her scroll and it keeps going straight to voicemail."
Demetri shifted in his chair. "Maybe she has it shut off? Or she may be somewhere with really weak reception."
"There are very few places in Vacuo like that," Ariadne said, pushing up her glasses before typing away at her laptop. "Huh. Her signal doesn't exist anywhere in the city."
"Anywhere in this world, you mean," Ivory said.
"You think she went into the Labyrinth on her own?" Demetri said.
"Hang on," Ariadne said. "I'm commandeering the equipment back at the lab."
"You can do that?"
"Of course I can. Who do you think I am? Here. If I run a scan right at the exact point where her signal disappeared...yup, I knew it."
"A rift," Ivory said.
"Why would she go in alone?" Demetri said.
"Why Lilith would go in alone is a mystery to me, too, but I'm willing to bet it has something to do with Lilly."
"Should we prepare to cross over?"
"Both of you, gear up," Ariadne said. "I have to be at the controls back at the lab to try and establish comms with her."
"Roger," the two replied.
—
Hey, calm down.
"Huh?"
You're using up too much strength. Relax, take a step back, and focus. You remember how you were yesterday, don't you? Do that.
"Okay."
Lilly heeded all of Lilith's instructions. Her every move needed to be deliberate, but nearly reflexive as well. The whole of her combat style needed to be integrated into a single, fluid concept. She recalled the way Ivory fought, though she needed to discard how flashy her younger cousin tended to be, something she picked up from Weiss Schnee.
"Mom," Lilly mumbled before dashing forward.
Her enemies during these past solo excursions came from a part of the Labyrinth that was previously known only to Lilith. The Labyrinth Task Force had known for some time now that the Third Layer was the most dangerous because of the high density of monsters, but for the most part, it was still possible to navigate without encountering a single one, or very few. Lilith knew of a place where so many gathered that it would be impossible to survive without proper preparation and equipment. They designated these areas as Red Zones.
Myrtenaster transformed into Caliburn as Lilly drove it into the heart of a monster that stood on two legs. A single horn grew from its head. It swung at her with its claws, but she blocked and dodged, putting distance between herself and the demonic beast.
You jumped too far back again. Notice its reach?
She surveyed the beast's arms and legs. From the looks of it, its reach was only about five or six feet. She was thirty feet away from the thing.
You wasted a bit of energy leaping so far away from your opponent. Doing it once doesn't really have much of an effect, but if you do it twenty, fifty, a hundred times, you'll find yourself exhausted more quickly than you otherwise would be.
"So, that's why."
That's why what?
"I always wondered why you barely put any distance between yourself and the things you fight. I always thought you were gloating, or being smug. I had no idea there was an actual strategic reason for it."
Well, you aren't wrong. Obviously I'm smug and gloating all the time.
She giggled. "Maybe. But from where I stand, you have every reason to be so confident!"
Eww, I'm gonna throw up.
Lilly rushed in again, engaging a pair of those two-legged monsters at once. This variety of monster was different from the Corrupted, which were technically lost souls wandering through the Labyrinth for the rest of time. These, on the other hand, were like the other alien monsters they encountered from time to time, monsters which seemed to have an innate contempt for humanity.
Good work, Lilith said as her counterpart finished both monsters with simple throat slashes. Stabbing everything through the heart takes more muscle work and brings you too close to the enemy for comfort. It should only be done if there is no other recourse.
"I figured their necks were soft enough that they'd make good targets."
And you did it from an ideal distance, close enough for the tip of your sword to connect without getting too much within the range of their claws.
Her scroll began vibrating.
Someone's calling you?
Lilly pulled back from the Red Zone, returning to the general Third Layer of the Labyrinth before continuing until she was in the Second Layer.
"Hello?" she said into her scroll.
"Lilly!" Ariadne's voice crackled through. "Oh, thank goodness you've picked up. What's your status?"
"I'm fine. Is Ivory there with Demetri?"
"Yes. I was going to send them in if you didn't pick up on that last try, but now that you've answered, I have to ask you to retreat to base for the time being."
"Okay."
"Huh?" Demetri's voice sounded in the distance. "Did she just agree without a fuss?"
"That is Lilly on the other end, right?" Ivory said.
"I'm on my way back now," Lilly said.
"That's affirmative," Ariadne said. "Will you be emerging here or elsewhere?"
"I can sense a rift about thirty yards this way. No need for a retrieval unit. I'll see you guys at the dorms."
"The dorms, huh?" Ivory said, her voice getting progressively louder. "Lilly, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"You're not injured, are you?"
"Nope. Not a scratch."
"Okay. We'll be waiting for you at the dorms. Are you hungry?"
"A bit, yeah. Why, whatchu thinking?"
"Something simple. Instant ramen?"
"Those are soooo bad for you!"
"But delicious," Demetri said.
"You're a bad example," Ariadne said.
"Instant ramen it is!" Lilly said.
