Chapter VIII- Ruin of Dreams
Lombardia sailed through the clouds once again, this time heading into dangerous waters. Indeed, it was water-a massive ocean stretched endlessly beneath them.
"This is incredible!" Gallows shouted over the wind. "A world of green and blue! Just like the Prophets said!"
"It's a toy world," Lombardia replied. "Do not forget who wrought this world."
The archipelago that once was had broken apart. The islands had drifted to vast corners of the mainland infrastructure. It was almost as if the earth was expanding. This assumption was almost confirmed by Lombardia's next comment.
"This flight feels longer to me," she said in frustration.
Virginia spotted the smallest island in the middle of a coral reef with the small structure that was barely a dot at their present height.
"Lombardia!" She called. "Down there!"
"I see it, little one!" Lombardia replied.
The dragon's wings lifted, and she set herself down slowly, with Gallows and Virginia clinging to her back. They landed with a soft thud on the dull earth. Lombardia nodded to them and they headed into the ruined cave-like metal formation.
The machines that once littered these hallways were now long gone. They had been ripped from their foundations. All that remained were wires, scrapped shells and the occasional unnecessary add-on part, such as a monitor or plug-in. This seemed very familiar to Virginia.
"It's been scrapped. Just like the Yggdrasil Generator," Virginia gasped.
"So that settles it then," Gallows cursed. "She really is alive."
Virginia didn't want to believe it, but all the evidence pointed there. As she stumbled down the hallways, her mind reflected on the journey that had led her here.
They had all met on a train. Call it fortune, chance, coincidence, fate. It all led to the same thing. They helped Gallows grandmother, Halle, and received their first mediums in exchange. During what should have been their parting celebration at Jolly Roger, Virginia suggested that they team up and become a Drifter party.
They got caught up in a mess from there, with her leading the way. They fought against Janus Cascade and his lackeys. Janus sought the powerful Dark Spear, but what she didn't know until later was that this search was not for his own needs, but the needs of the Prophets.
These three Prophets turned Janus into a demon using the Dark Spear and sought the restoration of the planet Filgaia by morphing it into a Demon world. Evolution and terraformation were words they tossed around casually. But their Yggdrasil system failed… or so it seemed. But, with Janus sacrificing his life in the process, they restored the Demon Lord Siegfried.
The Demon Lord wanted to use Filgaia as a planet to raise demons, and a star ship for taking over the entire galaxy. He attempted to use nanomachines, an ancient technology, to cause this terraformation. He would have been successful, especially since he utilized the powerful gem, the Teardrop, in his efforts, but at the final moment when things seemed hopeless, they stopped him.
And, in the last phase of their journey, the dream demon Beatrice revealed herself. She had manipulated everyone of them into creating her world. A Filgaia of her own creation. She manipulated Lamium, the Order of the Ark of Destiny and killed him, a crime for which Virginia and her friends now held the blame. She tried to use Shane to summon the powerful Surge of Gaia, which would provide the energy she required. She used to monster-producing Demondor Pillars to invoke fear in the population of Filgaia.
And Virginia and the others defeated her. And yet here she was… once again prepared to destroy Filgaia for her own desires.
Virginia rounded a corner, where the final chamber rested. And she saw something amazing. The area that had once been caved-in was now open. A long dark tunnel led down, like the one she had taken upon leaving Gunner's Heaven.
And the body of Catherine's father was not there.
"Where do you suppose this one goes?" Gallows asked.
"I don't know," Virginia said. "But I'm going to find out."
"Why?" Gallows asked. "What happens if we get stuck in here too?"
"The professor's body isn't here," Virginia said. "Somebody moved him."
Gallows eyed Virginia suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. You're the boss."
The tunnel wound deep into the earth like a spiral staircase. Virginia's feet started to hurt from the steady decline and the long path. Just when she felt she could bear it no longer, she heard a voice. It was soft, but it was definitely a man's voice. She could not hear what he was saying, but she could tell that he was muttering to himself, mainly because she did not hear another voice respond to his statements.
Gallows heard the voice to and without any ceremony took the lead. They rounded the corner a few more times and the path ended. They were in yet another strange tunnel with massive pulleys, but this time there was no water, just endless void.
And standing in front of them was the silhouette of a familiar man in a long auburn coat. He was standing over a long-decayed corpse which he had apparently moved himself. Virginia was about to rush over and hug Clive, when Gallows put his hand firmly on her shoulder.
"What?" Virginia asked, almost annoyed.
"Listen," Gallows hissed.
Virginia turned back to Clive and finally his words were clear to her.
"Oh yes, Professor. Boot Hill is lovely this time of year. What's that? No, Professor, I don't recall anything like that. You must be thinking of that Janus Cascade. I hear he's a world famous Drifter. Not that I'd know anything about that, mind you. So do you think we'll be able to find the cause of Filgaia's decay here, Professor?"
"Does he think that the corpse is talking?" Virginia asked.
"I sure hope he's crazy. We've seen weirder things happen on this journey," Gallows replied, a slight tremble in his voice.
Clive jerked his head in the direction of Virginia and Gallows. He wasn't wearing his glasses, his forehead had a terrible gash and his eyes were hollow and distant.
"Oh," he said with a hint of a smile crossing his lips. "We have visitors."
Clive walked over to the two of them. Gallows stood in front of Virginia and Clive stopped abruptly.
"My word," said Clive, now putting on his glasses. "You must be a Baskar. I've only read about your ilk in books. And who is your enchanting young friend?"
"Clive," Gallows shook. "Don't you recognize us?"
"How did you know my name?" Clive asked. "Are you friends of the Professor? I'm sorry, he must have introduced me to about a hundred people by now, but I'm not good with faces. Oh, Professor. You have visitors!"
Clive turned back to the corpse, who did nothing.
"I'm afraid the Professor is a bit busy at the moment. He tends to get wrapped up in his work. Anyway, you should head out now. This is an archaeological dig, and we can't have you accidentally tainting our findings," Clive put his hand on Gallows arm and made to escort him back the way he'd come.
Gallows grabbed Clive's free hand and shook him fiercely. "Clive! Get a hold of yourself!"
"What's the meaning of this?!" Clive shouted back. "Unhand me this instant!"
"Listen to me! Your name is Clive Winslet. You live in Humphrey's Peak. You're married to a woman named Catherine and have a daughter named Kaitlyn!" Gallows shouted.
"Married to the Professor's daughter?" Clive laughed. "You really are mad. Now come on, is this some kind of joke?"
"The Professor is dead!" Virginia shouted, unable to take it any longer. "You've been talking to a corpse!"
"Of course he's not dead, he's," Clive looked back at the disfigured body of his former mentor. "Professor? Professor?!" Clive ran back to the body and tried to lift it up. "Come on, wake up! This isn't funny anymore. Professor! Professor!"
Clive was wailing now, tears streaming down his face. "Your daughter! You can't leave her now! You can't leave me! We're going to discover the cause of Filgaia's decay! Didn't you say that you wouldn't stop until you were finished? Please, Professor."
Suddenly, the corpse slipped from Clive's grip. Clive lifted his ARM, a massive rifle, and turned to Virginia and Gallows.
"You killed him," he said, in a voice that Virginia had never heard come from a human.
Clive began to fire, but Gallows pushed Virginia to the ground and rushed up to Clive. He tackled him to the ground and kicked his ARM to the side. He used his free hand to slap Clive across the face, but Clive continued kicking and struggling against Gallows. Suddenly the ceiling gave way and a massive vein of water broke, spilling the cool liquid on them both.
Clive stopped struggling, and opened his mouth wide, drinking the fresh water. He pushed Gallows off of him and greedily partook of the liquid. He laughed even harder than he had before and turned to Virginia.
"Water," he smiled. "Amazing thing isn't it?"
And then, he passed out.
He was revived twenty minutes later by Gallows, who had sat over him, forcing him to drink water from his canteen. Virginia stepped back a bit, but Clive waved her forward.
"Virginia? Is that really you?" Clive asked.
"Yes," Virginia sighed. "Are you alright?"
"Heat sickness," Gallows said. "Didn't have enough water and went mad for a bit. Think about it. He must've been stuck on this island for at least four days now. No drinkable water anywhere."
"My canteen ran out after the first," Clive said. "I don't remember much after the evening of the second. I'm sorry if I scared you all."
"Well you damn near blew our heads off with that cannon of yours," Gallows chuckled amiably.
"I'm so sorry," Clive gasped, standing up.
"It's okay, Clive," Virginia nodded. "You weren't yourself."
"My God though. How in the world did you get here?" Clive asked.
Virginia and Gallows spent the rest of the day filling Clive in on their respective journeys and told them about Lombardia joining them once again. At the end, Clive added his thoughts.
"Well then. We just need to find Jet. And, based on what you have said about your landing places, I have an idea of where he would have been thrown… and where he would have gone," Clive said.
"What's that?" Virginia asked.
"Jet would have been thrown to the mainland," Clive said. "Somewhere near Little Rock, by my guess."
"And he would've gone to Humphrey's Peak, because that's where we agreed to meet!" Virginia shouted.
"No," Clive said. "He wouldn't have been thinking about that. He wouldn't gone to the only place he has ever known as a home, even if he didn't know it at the time."
Gallows gasped. "Of course."
"What?" Virginia asked. "Where is he?"
Clive glanced upward. "The Leyline Observatory."