As soon as Gideon's body fell to the ground and all of the travelers were certain that he was dead, Therion and Tressa retreated to the cell door once again. It didn't take them anywhere near as long as it had previously for them to get the door open, and from there, the travelers carefully pulled the victims of Gideon out into the main room. Luckily, all of them were still alive, and the only murdered one of the group was the man the travelers had found first. One of them was an old man who couldn't seem to move his knee the way he should have been able to, and another one of the hostages helped him to his feet carefully. If Cyrus had to guess, he would assume the second of the two was one of the newest captives.
The girl Cyrus had seen first was still motionless as she stared up at the ceiling. Cyrus wasn't certain if she was conscious at all given the circumstances, but judging by the gentle rise and fall of her chest, she was still breathing. After everything Gideon had done, that was an accomplishment to be proud of, though Cyrus didn't know if the young woman had the energy left to be grateful for her luck.
The old and young men collected themselves as much as they could before moving towards the door, and Cyrus turned to watch them go. He was glad they were still in good enough condition to get themselves out since he could only imagine that he and the rest of his traveling companions would be caught up for a while longer caring for the young woman. Cyrus waited until the two men were out of the room before turning his attention elsewhere, but along the way, something peculiar struck his gaze.
A small book had fallen free of Gideon's robes when the man collapsed, and miraculously, the cover had been spared the bloodshed that came with the dark mage's wounds. The book had seemingly been hidden away in some well-concealed pocket of Gideon's robes, but Cyrus opted to not ask any questions on the matter. The book was surprisingly well made, its covers flawlessly bound together and the pages shockingly neat as well. Cyrus crouched down carefully before picking up the tome, though he had to turn it over in order to see just what the volume was.
He never could have expected what he was going to find.
"What's this? It couldn't be... A copy of From the Far Reaches of Hell?!" Cyrus yelped, and immediately afterwards, all of the travelers whirled to look at him. They waited patiently for him to explain his findings, but Cyrus said nothing, instead simply flicking through the pages of the volume for any hints as to what could have prompted a book like that to find itself in Gideon's hands. After a few heavy beats of silence, he shook his head. "Well, that's unfortunate."
"What's unfortunate?" Olberic questioned. Each word seemed to weigh much more than it had any right to, as though his hope for the end of Cyrus' quest had been shattered with those final two words the scholar spoke.
"It's but an abridged copy, translated into the modern tongue," Cyrus explained. "And aside from the basic instructions on performing the rites of blood crystals and the reagents required... All other details have been all but omitted. Why, it doesn't even mention the possible uses of these blood crystals."
"So much for wrapping that up in a timely manner," Primrose muttered to herself with a shake of her head. "Still, I would argue that finding an abridged copy of this book is a victory. If it vanished completely years ago, this is a step in the right direction."
Cyrus gasped before anyone had the chance to follow up on Primrose's words, and he pulled out a small piece of paper that had been wedged between the other pages of the book. "What's this...?" He examined the page carefully, and the air seemed to swell from tension as the travelers waited for his follow up explanation. "Calculations on the number of test subjects needed to make a single blood crystal. I see... And there's a note. 'First specimen successfully synthesized and delivered.'"
"Delivered... Someone wanted that stone on commission then," Alfyn frowned to himself. "In other words, stoppin' Gideon didn't really put an end to all of this. There was somebody else out there who asked him to do all this dirty work, and we need to track them down next."
"If I had to guess, I would assume that the one who commissioned the blood crystal has the book in their hands," Ophilia declared. "How else would they have been able to give Gideon an abridged explanation of everything he needed to do to make one? The original copy has to be around here somewhere, likely with his superiors."
"We should take his journal with us when we go then," Tressa suggested. "Maybe we can give it to Odette and see if she's able to find anything from it that could help us out. There's no way to say for sure, but it's something we should try to look into as long as we're here."
"I certainly did not expecten for us to stumblen so easily upon the truth of the tome," H'aanit mused. "I assumed that we would be engaged in a search efforte for quite some time, though it seemeth as if fortune chose to smile upon us on this day."
Cyrus nodded at that as he tucked the small notebook away into his back. Ophilia claimed Gideon's journal from her place by the desk, though she didn't move to grab any of the blood crystals. Cyrus couldn't help but feel guilty for having even two of the stones on him, and even though they were only there to help him find the truth behind everything he had found, he still hated the idea of having to associate with them. He wanted the crystals gone as soon as possible, and the prospect of walking away with two of the stones on him made a shiver sprint up and down his spine.
"Where... Where am I?"
The travelers fell silent at that, all of them turning to face the young woman on the ground at the center of the room. She had finally pulled herself free of her trance, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hands as she blinked away her exhaustion. Cyrus didn't even want to imagine what could have left her in such a petrified, silent state, but he didn't want to ask either. All that would do was put more pressure on her shoulders, and he refused to be the one to burden her after all she had already been through.
"Ah! You're back with us, good miss!" Cyrus declared as he approached her. He quickly shoved all thoughts of Gideon and the blood crystals as far from his mind as he could before leaning down at her side. Ophilia concentrated her energy from nearby, allowing healing magic to flood the young woman's body.
However, the girl didn't seem very grateful for it, and she glanced around the room with panic in her eyes. "I... I don't..." she murmured, and all of a sudden, Cyrus understood. She hadn't been asleep or in any kind of trance previously; it had been the influence of outside agents. If Cyrus had to guess, Gideon had given her some sort of drugs to keep her quiet and in a state where she couldn't fight back. He truly was a monster.
Cyrus reached out one careful hand to her, and the girl stared at him with wide eyes and confusion. "The drugs that awful man gave you are still in your system. Pray rest until your strength returns," he insisted softly.
The woman blinked at him a few times, but she relaxed after a handful of quiet moments came and went. "Who... Who are you?" she asked when she finally had the confidence to shatter the silence.
Cyrus helped her to her feet slowly and steadily, and the young woman watched him with wide eyes all the while. "We should return to Quarrycrest first, but I would be more than happy to explain along the way," he assured her. The woman paused before nodding with a small smile, allowing Cyrus to escort her onwards without a beat of hesitation despite her previous fear.
All the way back to Quarrycrest, Cyrus didn't seem to notice the kind, gentle grin the woman was giving him. Therion rolled his eyes from the back of the party while Primrose simply shook her head.
At this point, Cyrus shouldn't have been surprised when the first thing Odette did after hearing about his recent misadventures was laugh at him.
After dropping off the girl in the town's infirmary and leaving her in the capable hands of Quarrycrest's healers, the travelers headed back to Odette's home to explain everything they had found to her. She listened intently all the while, examining the abridged copy of From the Far Reaches of Hell, Gideon's journal, and the blood crystals with quiet lips and a keen eye. Everything about her had been solemn as could be.
Or, at the very least, that was the case until Cyrus brought up the young woman he helped to save. As soon as the scholar finished with his explanation of what had happened with her, Odette burst out laughing once again. Cyrus brought one hand up to hide his forehead from view, but not even looking away from Odette's obnoxious laughter could stop him from hearing the sounds. Once again, Odette seemed to enjoy his misery, and Cyrus wished that she could have at least had the decency to not do this with the other travelers standing right there.
When Odette finally managed to get her laughter under control, she slammed one hand against the table in between her and Cyrus with a wild grin. "Wooing a poor girl just awakened from a coma? Have you no shame?" she asked.
Cyrus sighed and shook his head, knowing that there was no deterring Odette when she got this way but still wanting to try something to end this ridiculous storm of embarrassment. "Don't be silly, Odette. I was simply trying to be a gentleman," he insisted.
Odette snorted and rolled her eyes. "Clearly," she muttered. Her laughter seemed to die away, but Cyrus could still feel a mocking gleam to her eyes.
He ultimately opted to ignore it though, instead glancing down to the artifacts gathered on the table between them. "At any rate, Odette, there is a favor I would ask of you," he said, desperately trying to get the conversation back on track. At least Odette wouldn't have a reason to make fun of him if they focused on the dark subject at hand.
"Another one?" Odette asked with a raise of her eyebrow. "Note my complete lack of surprise." She pointed to her deadpan expression at that, an incredulous sarcasm painted plainly across her features.
"I already showed you the abridged copy of From the Far Reaches of Hell we found in the sewers beneath the town. Needless to say, this could be a tremendous lead. I need to find out where, and by whom, the volume was translated," Cyrus explained. "I suspect that the one who translated the volume was behind the experimentation. Gideon was no doubt commissioned by an outside figure, and if we can unravel just who asked him to do such horrific work, then we may find the one who took the tome. We may be able to catch them along the way as well, and given what we saw... We can't simply allow the mastermind to roam freely after all they've done."
"Let me have a closer look," Odette told him as she reached for the small book. She took a few minutes to flip through the pages, her eyes narrowed in determination. She stepped away from the table in her intense examination, and when she was finished, she glanced up to Cyrus. "Whoever bound this volume spared no expense."
Cyrus nodded. "I thought the same. There are few bookmakers in the realm that could produce such a tome," he agreed. "The mastermind of this operation must have quite the impressive list of contacts to create something of such high quality."
Odette thought for a few moments longer, looking at the book's front and back covers carefully. Once she was done, she looked up to Cyrus with determination glittering in her irises. "Fine. I'll help."
Cyrus smiled as he bowed his head in her direction. "You have my utmost thanks," he beamed.
Odette glanced up to the other travelers, crossing her arms along the way. "Cyrus and I should probably get to work as soon as we can. Judging by those nervous looks of yours, I somehow doubt you're planning on staying in town long, and I don't want to drag out your time here," she explained. "If you have other business to take care of, you can go and resolve it now. No offense, but you don't seem like the types to enjoy the sort of stuff we get up to."
Tressa looked to the other members of the group at that, and Ophilia glanced back to her with a light nod. "I think it might be a good idea for you to go back to the inn," she explained. "You look a bit nauseous, and I don't want you to collapse if there's somewhere you can rest."
Tressa hesitated, clearly trying to think of the best way to respond, but she ultimately sighed and nodded. "Yeah... I've been feeling a bit woozy ever since we first realized those crystals were made of blood," she confessed. "If I'm going to restock our supplies before we leave town, I should probably try to get a bit of rest."
"Then we can take you back to the inn, and Cyrus can stay here to learn all he can about that book," Alfyn told her. He turned towards the door before glancing over his shoulder at Cyrus. "I hope you're okay with us leavin' you here for a bit. If you really want us to stick around, then we will, but-"
"You don't need to worry in the slightest, Alfyn," Cyrus assured him with a shake of his head. "Odette is right, and since we've worked together in the past, we'll likely be most efficient on our own. Tressa, return to the inn and rest as much as you can. The rest of you should do the same. I wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen given all we've already witnessed here today."
"We shall returnen later to checken on thy progress," H'aanit declared, and Cyrus nodded his understanding. "Until then... We wishen thee luck."
Cyrus nodded once more and waved to the travelers as they left Odette's home behind. Primrose looked over her shoulder a bit longer than normal at Odette, but the blonde scholar had already turned her attention to the books stacked on the shelf in the corner of the living space. Primrose frowned to herself and tapped the door shut behind her, and Cyrus made a mental note to have Primrose and Odette speak before the party left Quarrycrest.
Odette set down a stack of books on the table a few moments later, letting out a thin huff along the way. "This is as good a place to start as any," she declared. She returned to the shelf a moment later to sift through the other titles found there, leaving the books on the table for Cyrus to examine in a bit more detail.
He sat down and reached for the top volume on the stack. He flicked through the pages with a light frown on his face, though his expression slowly but surely slipped into neutrality. As tense as the circumstances behind the search were, he was glad to be back in his element. Given the horrors he had witnessed earlier in the day, this was exactly what Cyrus needed.
If all went well, this would help him to reverse the damage that was done too. Cyrus could only hope.
Tressa sat down on her bed at the inn with a heavy sigh, her eyes already drooping at the corners from the events of the day. Ophilia watched her with concern, wishing there was something more she could say or do to alleviate Tressa's suffering, but she knew no words would possibly be able to fix everything they had endured over the course of the last few hours. The air even seemed heavier as the travelers streamed into Tressa and Ophilia's shared inn room, and the cleric knew exactly why. Nobody wanted to be left alone after everything they had witnessed, Ophilia included. She felt terrible, and she knew everyone else did too.
For a long while, nobody dared to speak, uncertain as to what could even be said. Tressa was the one who ultimately mustered the courage to break the silence, and she shot everyone a weary and lopsided smile. "Thanks for this," she announced. "I didn't realize how much I needed a break until we came back here, but I really did need a few minutes to just breathe."
"Judgin' by how pale you are, I would say that it's going to be more than just a few minutes," Alfyn frowned. "I think it might be best if you took a few hours to yourself. All of us could use the rest. That fight against Gideon was tough, and that doesn't even factor in everything we saw in the sewers. Something like that... It's goin' to stick with us for a long time."
"I can't believe there are people out there who could dare to be so despicable," Primrose muttered angrily, her expression distorted from pure, unfiltered rage. "I'm glad the culprit only claimed one victim's life, but those people are going to have to live with the weight of what he did to them forever."
"I still feel sick when I think about it," Tressa confessed. "I know everyone is fine for the most part, and I know that the captives are being treated elsewhere in the town. But... I'm scared that it's going to happen again. Even if we went back there and fought everyone who was working under Gideon's command, there would still be someone else out there for us to fight. The mastermind could just ask some other scholar to handle the research from here on out."
"Cyrus won't allow these injustices to stand. He'll do everything he can to figure out the identity of the culprit and bring them into the light," Olberic assured her. "He and Odette will continue to search for the truth regardless of what might get in their way."
"I doubten it will be simple to uncoveren the truthe," H'aanit frowned. "The one who brought so much suffering upon the victims of the abduction remaineth at large even now. We must carryen ourselves with as much care as possible."
Ophilia nodded her agreement, but she couldn't seem to stop the anxiety that continued to attack her nerves mercilessly. She had an awful feeling about all of this, and she didn't know what could even be done to hold it off. She glanced over her shoulder almost instinctively, and Olberic gave her an unreadable glance. All of a sudden, Ophilia felt even worse about all of this, and she hadn't even realized that was possible.
"I don't know how we're supposed to just gather our things and head back out again tomorrow," Alfyn admitted softly. "After everything we saw, I feel like nobody is going to be in the mood to leave so soon. Things like that..."
"It's the sort of image you'll never forget," Primrose finished for him, and Alfyn nodded. The dancer hesitated, shooting a cautionary glance in Ophilia's direction, before she continued. "Hypothetically, we don't have to leave tomorrow. If we need another day to cope with the fallout of what we found beneath the city, that would be alright. Right now our main destination is Victors Hollow, and we're incredibly close."
"A tournament is set to take place in the city in a few days' time, and if we remain here for another day or two, we'll still arrive in time to see it," Olberic declared. "I doubt we'll have a reason to get involved with it, but the option is there if we choose to take it."
"If we do stay here, we're going to have to be careful with whatever we choose to do next," Therion pointed out. "We've already seen just how much hell Morlock is capable of bringing down on the people of this town, and if we step out of line, we could find ourselves as the next targets of his rage."
"How can someone be so callous even after finding out that people are going missin' under their watch?" Alfyn questioned. "I don't understand. I would have thought that there would be a dedicated effort to searchin' for all the people who went missin', but Morlock... We haven't heard a thing about him carin' in the slightest."
"That is why the culprit decided on Quarrycrest as their quarry," H'aanit pointed out. "If Morlock was too concentrated on his owne actions, then the culprit wouldn't needen to worry about being caught. Morlock would have had no reason to act against them even if he was maden aware of the tragedy as it was unfolding."
"He cares too much about his own profits to do anything to help the people who live here... What good is leadership if you only use it to suit your own ends?" Tressa muttered bitterly. "I don't understand how anyone can treat others that way. It's just not right."
"We want to leave him alone and minimize our troubles here, right?" Therion asked, though nobody found the resolve to answer him. "Then we should leave him be and try to minimize any actions that could have us crossing paths with him. At this rate, at least based on the way we've been talking, it seems like we're going to start a fight if he decides to stand between us and the city's exit."
"It would be safest for us to avoid him, but... I don't know. I'm not sure I can just do that given what I know now," Alfyn confessed. "I mean, we already knew before we came here that he was going to be a pain in the neck. He's brought so much pain and sufferin' against the people of Quarrycrest over the last two decades or so he's been in power, but... I don't know. I didn't think we would stick around for so long to see the full consequences of his lack of care for his people. I didn't think it would end with us findin' crystals made of human blood since he didn't want to search for everyone who had gone missin'."
"I don't know if it would be a good idea for us to try and find Morlock and fight him," Olberic frowned. "I want to do everything I can to help the people of Quarrycrest to see peace, but I don't think we'll be able to push back against him without facing massive consequences. He's not a good person, and his position of power is unfortunate, but we won't be able to fight him without sending the entirety of Quarrycrest into chaos. If we want to do anything to fight Morlock's policies, we'll need to think everything through carefully and likely seek outside assistance."
"It feels wrong to think that we could just leave as long as he has so many people under his thumb," Primrose muttered. "I know that you're right about us not being able to act without putting ourselves in danger. Still, knowing that so many people are suffering and not being able to do anything about it... It feels wrong. I want to be able to assist everyone who he's hurt, but we don't have an easy way of doing it."
"I hate all of this," Tressa sighed to herself. She remained silent for a few long moments as she stared down at the floor before glancing up to the rest of the travelers. "I... I'm going to say something that might be a bit controversial, but... I feel like somebody has to say it."
"Go ahead," H'aanit said with a sage nod. Linde seemed to curl around her mistress' legs in anticipation, her tail flicking ever so slightly along the way.
"I don't think we should leave Quarrycrest tomorrow," Tressa declared. "I don't like the idea of staying here any longer than we have to, but... Cyrus is still trying to learn more about From the Far Reaches of Hell, and beyond that... I don't think I'm going to be ready to just move on with life tomorrow."
"It would be safest for us to leave town as soon as possible so we don't risk bumping into Morlock," Therion frowned. Even as he spoke the words though, everyone could see that he didn't like the idea of simply leaving Quarrycrest so soon after everything they had seen. How could anyone be ready to walk away when they had seen such horrors beneath the city's streets? They needed time to grapple with it, and one afternoon wasn't going to be enough.
"I don't think any of us are going to be ready to leave though," Primrose confessed. "Tressa is right. Staying here a bit longer is going to be dangerous if we want to avoid Morlock, but as far as I'm concerned, he's probably going to stay in his mansion and not bother us. People like him enjoy the taste of power, and he no doubt thinks he's above having to speak with the rabble who do his dirty work for him."
"What do you think, Phili?" Alfyn questioned as he shifted his attention over to Ophilia. "You're the one who's got the most to lose if we stick around here for any longer than necessary. If anyone should get to make the final call, I feel like it's going to be you."
Ophilia bit down her lip at being called out, though she knew it was just a matter of time before everyone asked for her opinion. She didn't like the idea of having to stick around in Quarrycrest for any longer than was absolutely necessary, but at the same time, she knew it wouldn't be right for them to just walk away after everything they had seen. Ophilia couldn't ask Tressa, Alfyn, Cyrus, or anyone else to pack it up and start walking to Victors Hollow when they had stumbled onto the scene of human experimentation earlier that day. They needed time to process it, because if they didn't address this before leaving town, they would be in the wrong headspace for a fight. When they were inevitably attacked by monsters, they needed to be able to defend themselves, and Ophilia didn't trust herself or anyone else to be able to do that as long as they were thinking about everything Gideon had done under the command of the mastermind behind this sickening operation.
"I think we should stay a bit longer," Ophilia finally forced herself to say after a few heavy seconds of silence. "I don't want to stay in a place where we could be caught by Morlock, but at the same time... I can't just walk away so soon after all that we've seen today. It wouldn't be right. Given what we know about Morlock now-that he did so little when people were going missing-I don't like the idea of leaving him in power either. I don't want to exact vengeance against him since I swore I wouldn't do that, but..."
"It wouldn't be revenge," Therion interrupted. "Trying to stop him from sending people to their deaths isn't revenge. He was the one who dug that hole of bloodlust and power, and he's going to have to face the consequences for it one of these days. I don't know how we would address something like that with grace, but I don't want to just ditch so many people when Morlock doesn't give a damn about any of them."
"We can think about it a bit more later on," Tressa suggested. "For now, I think we should wait until Cyrus gets back. If this really is going to end with us facing off against Morlock and potentially destabilizing Quarrycrest, we should talk to him about it first. He's the one who knows how to handle tactics, and I don't want to plan this without him."
"We shoulde plan to remain here in Quarrycrest for one more day," H'aanit declared. "We muste taken this chance to recoveren from the battle and replenishen our strength. We know not what awaiteth us in Victors Hollow, and we must ready ourselves."
Ophilia nodded her agreement at that. She yearned to leave for Victors Hollow as soon as possible, but she knew that if they tried to set off when they were initially planning to, all any of them would be able to think about was the fight against Gideon and the tortured souls they had found beneath Quarrycrest. The horrors were unspeakable, and Ophilia knew it needed to be addressed and left behind, at least as much as something like that could be abandoned.
Until then, Ophilia turned her attention towards the ceiling. She prayed that Primrose was right about the group not needing to worry about running into Morlock, but she feared what might happen if the dancer was wrong. There was no use panicking about it too much, but Ophilia's anxiety was a brutal, ruthless beast, and she didn't have the slightest idea how she was meant to face it. Only time would be able to tell if she needed to think about Morlcok at all, but until then, the suspense felt like it was going to crush Ophilia from the inside out.
It's just one more day... How bad can it be?
She already knew the answer, and she hated it.
On with the tale! Woohoo!
We're making good progress with Cyrus' chapter two, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. There are only a few tweaks to be found in this chapter, most of them just shifts in dialogue in the opening sequence. I don't have all that much to say about it, all things considered, but I love how this chapter turned out.
Let's address the ending before wrapping things up here. I wanted to offer a reasonable justification for the group staying in Quarrycrest longer than they needed to, and I thought the emotional trauma of witnessing human experimentation certainly qualified. This is going to be addressed more throughout Cyrus' chapter as well as Tressa's, and we're getting closer to hers given the circumstances. Let's just say that they won't need to talk much more about what to do with Morlock, and I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like it adds a bit more emotional pull to everything that happens with Tressa's story since it's a lot more light-hearted than the others. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do when the time finally comes.
Next week, we'll head back over to Cyrus and see how he and Odette are doing. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital