Descending into the depths of the Agarthan base proved to be more nerve-wracking than Ashton expected. It was only a few seconds into the descent upon Seiros' back that the light from the surface completely disappeared, and he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Arawn alleviated this, creating a spark of light in the palm of his hand that, while not illuminating the whole area, provided enough light to see where they were going.
No one spoke. Even the sound of one of them moving was subdued and quiet. It was as if the darkness that surrounded them absorbed all noise.
Just like at Fort Merceus.
Eventually, after what Ashton thought might've been several minutes, Seiros landed. Disembarking, he looked around carefully, trying to spot the wreck of the giant metal spider that had attacked them. Before long, he found it.
It had become nothing more than a giant pile of metal, with its legs twisted beyond recognition and the hundred-eyed face completely smashed in. Black ooze leaked out of the crumpled metal, gathering in a pool around it. Oddly, there was what appeared to be a trail leading out from one of the holes in the pile, as if something had dragged itself out of the wreck and deeper into the cave.
While the walls of the cave were solid rock, the angles were completely smooth; they were not natural.
In a flash of light, Seiros was in her human form again. She stood beside Ashton, looking at the trail that led further into the structure.
"Was someone controlling that creature?" Seiros asked.
"How would they've survived?" Shez asked, scratching her scalp. She jumped slightly at her own voice echoing in the chamber before sighing. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"I have not seen anything like this before, I must admit," Flayn stated. "Not even Uncle Macuil could create something as monstrous as that."
"What matters is that we can kill these things still," Catherine said, crossing her arms. "Not gonna lie, I was concerned for a second; Thunderbrand did nothing to that thing."
"I am sorry the bones of my people were not good enough," Arawn said pointedly. "Prometheus is not of this world, so it only makes sense to not make assumptions on how its minions work. I once fought against a creature I can only describe as a multi-dimensional wraith; a giant mechanical spider does not surprise me, nor does the fact that it may have been piloted by someone. Probably one of the few Agarthans to escape Prometheus' wrath."
"Well, what're we waiting for?" Cyril asked, axe in hand. "The longer we mope around here, the longer this thing had to prepare."
"Indeed," Ashton hummed. "Let's go. I want to know where that trail leads."
The farther into the Agarthan base the group went, the more it looked like something straight out of a science fiction story. Ashton could barely remember such things; he had long forgotten a great many concepts from his old world. He could remember the stories of laser swords and rifles, though, and with the eerie, pulsing lights that surrounded them, as well as the rock walls being replaced by blackened metal, he felt as if he was in some sort of horror recreation of the Death Star.
…Where did that name come from again?
"This place…" Seiros began, and Ashton saw her visibly swallow before continuing. "It does not feel right. It is wrong, somehow. I cannot describe it."
Ashton couldn't help but agree. And the further they went in, the stronger that feeling became.
There were side passages that led to elsewhere in the base, but the group continued to follow the black trail down what appeared to be the main hallway.
Before they could go much farther, however, a deep, metallic rumbling resounded through the underground structure. Ashton's hand was on his hammer within the moment, and everyone else followed suit.
After a few moments, it subsided, but not before a howl resounded through the halls, as well as the sound of metal slamming against metal.
Looking around, Ashton wondered where such noise could have come from. Whatever it was, he was not looking forward to meeting it.
"GREETINGS, CHILDREN OF FÓDLAN AND OF STEEL," said a voice that seemed to come from the walls themselves, causing Ashton to recoil as if he had been stuck with an arrow, and for everyone else to stop in their tracks. "WELCOME TO THE CITY OF SHAMBHALA. WHAT IS LEFT OF IT, I SHOULD CLARIFY. THERE IS NOT MUCH WITH A PULSE IN THESE HALLS, ANYMORE. BESIDES YOU, OF COURSE."
Another rumble through the structure caused Ashton to force his eyes forward. The lights of the Agarthan base, Shambhala, turned on fully, bathing the hallway in a clinical and bright light. It nearly blinded him, and he snarled as he blocked his eyes. After allowing his eyes to adjust properly, he looked forward. While a lot of the lights had turned on, the very end of the hallway was still pitch black. That didn't matter for the moment, however, as Ashton was finally able to see what had made the black trail.
Whoever it was, Ashton could not identify them. Even if he had known the person, their body was mangled beyond all recognition, with bits of metal and wires sticking out of their frames. Both of their legs were missing, and they had propped themselves up against the wall, their chest practically ripped open.
"YOU MUST HAVE SEEN WHAT REMAINS OF THALES, THEN," Prometheus continued, "DO NOT FEEL BAD FOR HIM. HE DESERVED THIS FATE. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO MEDDLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF THOSE INFINITELY THEIR GREATER. DO NOT WORRY, I DO NOT COUNT YOU ALL AMONG THEM. EVEN IF YOU HAVE MEDDLED, IT WAS BY MY OWN, HASTY HAND."
"Your plan failed," Ashton said, his voice barely above a whisper before it steadily gained strength. "We may not have an army behind us, but we have a plan. You're not going to be here for much longer."
"SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE LORD. YOU HAVE BECOME A PART OF THIS FLAMING UNIVERSE. LET US SEE IF THE CYCLE CAN BE BROKEN WITH YOU."
"What cycle does this creature even mean?" Seiros said, her sword already unsheathed as she cautiously moved forward. "It sounds like the ravings of the mad."
"MADNESS? PERHAPS," Prometheus' voice reverberated throughout Shambhala. "YOU WOULD HAVE BECOME A MADWOMAN YOURSELF, IF CIRCUMSTANCES WERE DIFFERENT, SEIROS OF NABATA. LOOK UPON THIS RUINED STRUCTURE, THIS LAST REMNANT OF THE AGARTHANS, AND KNOW THAT IN ANOTHER WHEN, IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE."
"I will melt you down into nothing but molten iron, beast," Seiros hissed in response.
"IT WOULD REQUIRE HOTTER FLAMES THAN YOU CAN PRODUCE TO MELT ME DOWN, SEIROS. AS FOR THE CYCLE… NO, I SHALL NOT SPEAK OF IT YET. YOU MUST EARN THAT RIGHT. AND YOU WILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO DO SO. I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU."
Another rumble, like an earthquake, surged along the floors and walls, as Ashton heard what sounded like an entire army further down the hall. He readied himself.
"IN EVERY WORLD, IN EVERY AGE, THERE MUST BE A CATALYST FOR CHANGE. A HARBINGER OF DARKER TIMES, THAT WILL ONE DAY LEAD TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE. MEDEUS, GRIMA, IDUNN, FOMORTIIS, ASHNARD, NERGAL… NEMESIS. IF YOU REQUIRE A VILLAIN, ALLOW ME TO SUPPLY YOU WITH WHO HAD BECOME MY CHAMPION. MY DISCIPLE. HIS FLESH MOVES, YET HE IS ABSENT, WHILE ANOTHER'S BODY LIES BURIED IN NOTHINGNESS. I SEE YOU, EPIMENIDES."
Ashton couldn't help but raise a brow at that. He had never heard of an 'Epimenides' before. The name was strange, however, as if he had heard it in his own world, at some point. He heard something clank to the ground behind him and he turned to see Shez, her sword on the floor and her face as pale as a sheet.
"HEED THE CALL OF YOUR GOD, EPIMENIDES. I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME."
Ashton wasn't sure if Shez could even hear Prometheus anymore. Nonetheless, his eyes remained trained on her as power began to swirl around her. He had never seen such a thing before; it was as if the air around her was charged. Horns grew from the sides of her head, and her eyes became a dull golden color. It was as if she was partially transforming into a dragon, as white scale-like structures emerged from the bottom of her jaw.
"You are not my god. Agarthans need no gods," Shez's body said, in a voice that was completely unlike her own. "I will not be bound by you. Not by you, or by the Children of the Goddess. I will see you destroyed as well! You are no god! I know what you are!"
"OF COURSE YOU DO. GO ON, THEN. REVEAL ZAHRAS. FULFILL YOUR OBLIGATION, CHEATER OF DEATH."
Ashton remembered that Prometheus couldn't laugh, but it almost sounded like it was in that moment. He moved forward, his hammer at the ready as whatever was controlling Shez's body looked at him with a scowl.
"This is the worst possible time, it seems," Shez's body stated. "Surrounded on all sides by enemies, including the very man who killed me! Unlucky does not begin to cut it. If you will not get out of my way, then I will force you to move. I will not be toyed with by a false god, yours or theirs."
Ashton saw Arawn place his hand on Shez's shoulder before the whole world flipped over on its head. Ashton was on the floor, blinking in a daze as he saw Shez run beside him. Grunting, he brought himself to his feet and looked forward.
It wasn't just Shez at the end of the hallway, standing beside the mangled body they had followed. The forms of several people were there, silhouetted against a glowing, red light.
"I am sorry, Thales, but I will ensure that our sacrifice is not in vain," Shez said. Ashton tried to get up but was rocked back to the ground as the rumbling from before came back and did not stop. "I will end this, once and for all!"
Shez plunged her hand into the body's chest, ripping out a cylindrical, purple object before crushing it in her hand, with the sound of breaking glass following it. After that, Ashton knew no more, as the world was consumed in darkness.
When Ashton awoke, he found himself in a void. At first, he thought he was still knocked out and merely dreaming. After a few moments of blinking, however, he knew he was awake. He groaned, sitting up as he scanned his surroundings.
As far as he could tell, he was on a rock floating in the void. It took him a few seconds to truly grasp how screwed he was as he pressed his lips into a thin line and brought himself to his feet. Luckily, he still had his hammer in hand.
"Alright," Ashton grumbled, looking around. "Yell, or do not yell. One of three things could happen…"
THEY ARE NEARBY, ASHTON.
The voice didn't come from around Ashton; it reverberated throughout his skull, and it echoed as if bouncing around the walls. Even though he knew that, he instinctually looked around as if he'd see the machine god somewhere.
"What is this? Where in the goddess' name am I?" Ashton said aloud, looking up only to see small pinpricks in the darkness, as if he was somewhere in space.
THAT IS A QUESTION THAT CANNOT BE ANSWERED IN THE TIME YOU HAVE REMAINING, Prometheus stated, THIS PLACE DOES HAVE A NAME, GRANTED TO IT BY THE AGARTHANS: ZAHRAS. AT TIMES, IT HAS BEEN USED TO DESCRIBE A PERSON, BUT HERE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING. EPIMENIDES HAS SENT YOU AND YOURS HERE. THEY DO NOT KNOW THAT IT IS MY DOMAIN, AND THEY CANNOT ESCAPE ME.
"Why are you telling me this?" Ashton demanded, lips pulling back in a sneer. "What do you hope to gain?"
I COULD SAY NOTHING, BUT WHERE IS THE FUN IN THAT?
"So, this is all just a game to you."
YES, IT IS A GAME. PERHAPS THE GRANDEST GAME THERE IS. BUT NOT ALL GAMES ARE FUN, ASHTON. ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE INVOLVED.
Ashton marched forward. "I'm going to find them."
BE CAUTIOUS, CHILD OF STEEL. I WILL NOT INTERVENE NOW, BUT YOU AND YOURS WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO FIND YOURSELVES IN THIS WORLD BETWEEN WORLDS.
If Prometheus said anything after that, Ashton did not hear it. Instead, he started to walk. The rocky walls of whatever he was on directed him forward, so there was only one way to go. It wasn't long, however, before he felt as if he was being watched. Turning to his right, he thought he saw something at the edge of his vision, skulking in the shadows that the little light could reach.
Thinking it was nothing, Ashton continued only to hear footsteps, somewhere. It started as footsteps, anyway, before it sounded like someone was barreling toward him at a full sprint. Ashton did not wait; his hammer at the ready, he swung forward just as something spring out from the darkness and directly at him. The sound of crunching bone and squelching flesh reached his ears as whatever attacked him was sent tumbling to his left. He had struck it across the shoulder, and when he got a good look at it, he recoiled.
A deathly mask covered its face, with two red pinpricks for eyes deep within the otherwise empty sockets. Its armor was strange, unlike anything he had ever seen. Chains were attached to a metal collar, along with a metal hat and loose leggings. Otherwise, the creature's purple flesh was on full display, along with black blood that oozed onto the ground as the red embers in its eyes vanished.
Before long, the body was gone - vanished into smoke, and Ashton was left gobsmacked. Turning, he saw many small points of light in the dark areas of the small valley he was in, and each one began to move.
Ashton ran.
He could hear the things behind him, running with all of their undead might - for they were almost certainly undead, or at least something similar. Deep in the depths of Zahras, Ashton swore he could hear fighting, but he had no time to focus on that. He needed to get away, and fast.
After what felt like an eternity of running, however, Ashton came upon the edge. There were other giant masses of rock within the unending void of Zahras, but from his vantage point, he would not be able to reach any of them. They were all so far away, it would take several bounds even from him to get to them. Taking a deep breath, Ashton turned, looking what might be his death in the eye.
There were dozens of them, maybe even hundreds. He wagered he could kill around half of them before he succumbed to his wounds.
Luckily for him, he was not alone; the sound of flapping wings reached his ears, just behind him, and he knew that he had a chance to get out of his situation.
Ducking, Ashton watched as Seiros' Aurora Beam surged forward, cutting through a good portion of the undead while the others attempted to get away from the energy. Ashton moved forward, swinging his hammer with reckless abandon as several undead fell to him before the others could mount a sufficient defense. His hammer clashed against the swords and axes of the undead, breaking several of them before he went on his rampage once again.
It was over in less than two minutes. Once the battle was over and Ashton stood, panting and sweating, all he could see were the shattered weapons of the undead, their bodies having disintegrated moments after their second death.
Seiros landed right beside him, her head moving to and fro, looking for any more targets before finally settling on Ashton.
Ashton felt no shame in admitting to himself that her gaze made his spine shiver.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her amplified voice reverberating through Zahras.
Ashton stood still for a moment before nodding, walking around Seiros until he stood right in front of her. "I've been better, honestly, but I'm not dead, so I'm better than I could be."
"Now is not the time to be glib, Ashton," Seiros said, "we are trapped in this… world? Dimension? It seems uncertain. The machine thing called it 'Zahras'. I suppose that will do for now."
"Trust me, I have noticed," Ashton replied, looking up at her. "We need to find the others, then. Find Shez. Find out what in the goddess' name those things were, and then we'll- there's a lot we need to do, is what I'm saying."
"Settle down, then. Focus on what you want to say rather than slur your words together, my love," Seiros chastised, "You are right, however. Climb on."
Atop Seiros' back, Ashton expected to feel the wind whipping across his face, making it difficult to see. However, there was nothing. There was no wind, no temperature, no air. It was as if he was in actual space. The fact he could still breathe was messing with his mind once he realized he could feel nothing from the 'air', as if he should've been drowning outside of water.
He was able to get over himself after a while but just not thinking about it.
After what felt like several years of travel, but what was likely only around an hour, they were found. Seiros saw them first, if her rapid descent towards a particularly large rock in Zahras was any indication. Ashton saw them a moment later; lights in the dark, surging against figures he could not see beyond dark silhouettes.
When Seiros landed, Ashton wasted no time in disembarking and sending the first shadowy figure straight into the abyss. He was able to get a better look at them up close: they were surrounded in a deep purple aura, with glowing golden eyes. Not unlike the creatures he faced before when he first arrived, but different in a way he could not describe. They looked mostly human, if not for the completely placid expressions on their faces that didn't change, even when he slammed his hammer into them and sent them cartwheeling through the air. The ground was wet with water instead of blood.
Ashton saw that almost everyone except for Shez was in a circle, completely surrounded by the golden-eyed monsters. He broke through their ranks, allowing the group a way out. Arawn used his axe to cut several in half with a single blow, followed by Cyril attempting the same thing, though not completely succeeding. Catherine cut through them, even through the armor-plated ones like a hot knife through butter, Thunderbrand glowing red all the while. Lastly, Flayn was at their back, using her healing magic to keep the others from falling in combat, while sending blasts of magic towards any that got too close.
What had been a legion of enemies quickly became nothing more than a few dozen, and after a few more moments, even they fell to the group. Ashton was completely soaked in what was apparently fresh water by the end, and he shook his head a little bit as drops fell from his hair. Looking around, he saw little puddles form in the pits and crevices of the rock they stood upon.
"Alright," Ashton grunted, slinging his hammer across his back. "Now that that's over… what do we do now?"
"Pray," Arawn said, "pick a god you think is fair and pray, for we are in the world between worlds, and no one else can hear us."
"Someone's feeling grim," Catherine grumbled. "You'd think you couldn't turn into a dragon."
"It takes energy, energy I might not have, and mother has wasted two transformations today alone," Arawn snapped back, "And mine takes more energy. A testament to my human heritage, no doubt."
"Do not speak of me as if I am not here, Arawn," Seiros stated, "If it is required, I will stay like this for as long as I am able."
Arawn crossed his arms and looked up at Seiros with an unimpressed stare. "And how long do you wager you will be able for, mother?"
"This arguing will avail us nothing," Flayn stated. "What matters is that we are all here, yes? We need to find a way out of this place!"
"Easier said than done, I'd say," Cyril replied, "I can barely see off of this rock. Who knows where Shez is, either."
Ashton didn't miss the way Arawn's eyes twitched at the mention of Shez.
"I do not know what that was about. Everything was fine until Prometheus began speaking. How- why-"
"We can discuss that if and when we find her," Ashton said. "I'd say we should create a perimeter and gather our bearings, but honestly, there isn't much to gather around here and not a lot to fortify. So that leaves us with jumping around this-"
As if in response to his unanswered command, a sound stretched across the dark void of Zahras. It was like someone had blown into a broken and rotting horn, and it was so loud Ashton was surprised his eardrums didn't burst. He turned to where it was coming from to see a faint purple light gathering in the far distance.
"Well," Ashton began again, coughing into his hand. "That's where we should go, I'd wager."
"We should not have brought her. I should not have allowed her to come," Arawn said, his eyes closed as he walked beside Ashton. "I should have left her at Fort Merceus. Something must've been wrong; I just could not see it."
"There was nothing you could have done, son," Ashton said.
"Damn you for thinking so!" Arawn snapped. "I am better than this! I should not have let feelings get in the way of saving this thrice-damned world!"
"Yelling about it won't fix it," Ashton pointed out, "So, help us fix it."
"Oh, I will, father," Arawn replied, "I just- I needed to get that off my chest before it ate me from the inside out."
The group decided to approach the purple light from the ground, as flying around atop Seiros' back would only draw attention, especially if the light was being produced by the enemy. It was decided that Seiros would wait for any potential fighting to begin before she took to the 'skies', as her dragon form was not exactly inconspicuous. Ashton missed her already.
It was when they were around halfway towards the light that they were ambushed.
Ashton heard them before he saw them, watching a shambling monsters came from the sky and the ground, landing in a heap before standing up again with weapons in hand. His hammer was out in an instant, pointing at the desiccated corpses. Unlike the golden-eyed freaks and the masked monsters from before, there was no denying that the creatures before him were undead through and through; their bodies were decaying, and with the little light available, their remaining skin was pale and flaky. Many of them had only empty eye sockets, with not even a hint of light or life in them.
They paled in comparison to the thing that came upon them after, though.
A sword plunged into the ground, causing an explosion that sent Ashton tumbling back, alongside the other members of the group. He looked up after dusting himself off and beheld the Sword of the Creator.
Impossible. It cannot be here.
There it was. It looked exactly like it, though instead of a slot for a single Crest stone, the one planted in the ground in front of Ashton held two, and it glowed a dark, twisted red. A moment later, and he landed right by it, hand on the grip.
It had been almost a year in Ashton's time since he had seen the hulking reaper in front of him. Though his face was mostly the same, bits of red metal clung to his pale skin, like a patchwork of armor that barely covered his muscles.
It was Nemesis, and Ashton only had one thought go through his mind.
Well, fuck.
Hail there, traveler. You are safe from Engage news here.