New Chapter!
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Aquila walked out of the infirmary section of the Observatory, nodding to the Celestrian who sat behind the healing counter. His strange illness and injuries that had come from the pink light had disappeared right after the attack. Unfortunately for himself, as well as several other Celestrians affected, the strict Master Healer had demanded that they all stay in the Observatory for a week, resting by the roots of Yggdrasil to make sure they were completely healed.
The time had passed with agonizing slowness. The other Celestrians unaffected by the blasts were immediately sent out in search of the seven lost figs, which took priority over everything else. Columba had been visiting Aquila daily with news of more Celestrians not returning from the Protectorate, saying that there was a chance that they would stop sending out searchers soon to avoid further losses. And all Aquila was allowed to do was sit around and wait.
But now, a week had passed and the Master Healer deemed Aquila fit to return to his duty. Columba had been the one to come get him and take him to the Master Healer for his final health examination, and now she was standing outside of the infirmary.
"Apus Major wants to see you immediately," Columba said, walking up to him. Aquila nodded and walked towards the stairs with Columba falling into step next to him.
"Did he say what it was about?" Aquila asked as they reached the second floor.
"No. Only that he had a pressing matter to discuss with you privately," she said, stopping at the base of the stairs up to Apus Major's chair. The guards that usually stood at the top of the stairs were now stationed at the bottom, blocking the way up. They stepped aside to allow Aquila through, but took up their positions again almost before his wings were cleared. He looked back, sending Columba a mildly confused look before continuing up.
"Ah, Aquila," Apus Major said as he spotted the bald Celestrian. Aquila gave him a customary bow before straightening up. "It's about time you got healed up."
"I've been fine for six days, but I was forced to rest," Aquila said. "It looks like you ignored that rule, even though you were closer to the light than I was."
"I can not rest until the Observatory is put back in order," Apus Major said. Aquila watched the old Celestrian closely. He was moving slowly with a new rigidness that definitely did not come from his age. "Any way, Aquila. I must task you with something, I'm afraid."
Aquila remained silent, waiting for Apus Major to continue.
"It has come to my attention that the Gittish Empire is becoming active again," he said quietly. Aquila clenched his jaw. He could remember when his own Master fell down to the Protectorate and fought the Gittish Empire, destroying most of it before disappearing.
"Are you sure?" Aquila asked.
"Yes. The missing Celestrians were searching the Iluugazar plains and Snowberia, and it is my belief that they may have headed west over the Gittish Empire and were brought down," Apus Major said.
"Who else knows of this?" Aquila asked.
"No one. Now, Aquila, I am giving you an important task," Apus Major said, beckoning his friend closer. "You will not be hunting for figs or the Starflight Express. We have enough Celestrians searching for those. I want you to find whoever did this."
"Are you sure?" Aquila asked. Apus Major nodded solemnly.
"We must bring them to justice before we leave the Observatory on the Starflight Express. Someone with that power cannot be permitted to remain with the mortals," Apus Major said. "They must be brought to justice, and I will place the responsibility on your shoulders to decide exactly what kind of justice they deserve. Will you do this for me?"
Aquila looked at the old Celestrian with a small amount of surprise. Apus Major had not given him an order that he would be forced to obey. He was giving him a choice whether or not to take on the task. "Yes, Apus Major," he said.
"Good. You are dismissed," he said, leaning back in his chair.
"Thank you," Aquila said, turning around to leave. He stopped at the top of the steps and turned around.
"Yes?" Apus Major prompted.
"What of my apprentice?" Aquila asked. Apus Major just shook his head.
"We have not heard from her. We do not know where she landed, or if she even survived her fall," Apus Major said. "I'm sorry, I truly am. We must trust that Millie will return to us in time."
Aquila said nothing, turning back around and descending the steps. Columba was still waiting at the bottom, clearly wanting to know what they had been talking about. Aquila brushed past her, heading for the stairs.
"Aquila? What happened?" Columba asked, following after her friend.
"He asked me to take care of some things in the Protectorate," Aquila said. Columba frowned.
"A little vague, don't you think?" she said. They were now beside the blue, star shaped portal. The flowers around it were dying, and the guard had been relieved to search for figs. Aquila jumped up onto the concrete ledge before turning to Columba.
"I won't be back for a while. If you hear any news of Millie, tell me the moment I return," Aquila said.
"Yeah, of course," Columba promised. She grabbed his hand before he could jump. "Stay safe, okay?" He gave her an unreadable look.
"Of course," Aquila said. Columba nodded and released his hand, allowing him to go through the portal and into the Protectorate.
She couldn't help but feel that something terrible was going to happen to Aquila.
...
Millie walked through the well-lit corridors of the Hexagon, her sword ready in her hand. It was surprisingly beautiful for a place that was supposed to be a crumbling, monster infested death trap. The floor and walls were smooth, rectangular brick while the ceiling was giant square slabs. The corridors would occasionally open up to a hexagon shaped room with pools of water next to the path containing dark green lily pads with tall, glowing flowers.
When she first entered, she almost had to turn back. There had been a giant door less than a hundred meters in, sealed because of "Monster-related fatalities". Before she could even start looking for a way to open the door, a ghost of a man appeared behind her, staring at her intently but not saying a word. When she approached him, he turned and led her back the way she came, showing her a corridor that she had missed when she first entered.
Deciding to listen to the ghost's directions, Millie followed the long side corridor, eventually coming to a tall, weathered statue. To Millie, it looked a bit like a knight, or perhaps some sort of saint. She honestly wasn't sure what the ghost wanted her to do with it, so she just started looking at it. After walking around it slowly, she ended up stopping at the back and taking a step away from it, trying to see whatever it was that she was supposed to see. She jumped when the ghost appeared next to her.
"On...it's neck..." the ghost whispered before fading away again. Millie again decided to listen to the ghost. Climbing onto the back of the statue's pedestal, Millie could just see a small button, painted to match the color and texture of the rest of the statue. She reached up and pushed it, hearing a loud grinding noise. With no other idea of what to do, Millie headed back to the door and was pleased to find it open. She followed the stairs down into the maze...
And got lost for about five hours. She went up stairs, down stairs, left, right, to this dead end and that one. Everything was so confusing to her. She couldn't tell where she had been before and where she hadn't. She looked as carefully as possible while still moving quickly, every instinct ready to pick up on a monster before it attacked.
But none did.
Now, Millie was familiar with monsters running away and hiding from people who looked scary. She also knew about monsters that charged at people no matter how strong they looked. She wasn't seeing any of those. The entire Hexagon just seemed deserted to her. The warning label on the door seemed silly to her now. There was clearly nothing to worry about, but something at the back of her mind stopped her from relaxing and putting her sword away.
She searched through the maze, calling out for the missing woman's name wherever she went. It took her another hour before she got a reply.
"Patty of Stornway? Are you here?" Millie called as she walked around yet another hexagon shaped pool. She was about to head down a passageway to the left when a voice called out.
"Hello? Can somebody help?" the voice yelled weakly from the stairs to the right of the hallway. Millie ran up the steps two at a time and came into another hexagon-shaped room. In the middle of the room was a woman in a bright red and orange dress, laying on the ground. Her long, purple hair was falling messily out of a ribbon. Her leg was trapped under some rubble that must have fallen on her from the ceiling.
Millie rushed over to her side. "Are you Patty?" she asked.
"Yep, that's me, sweetheart," she said with a tired smile. "Say, could you be a hero for me and move these rocks off my leg? It's been on there a few hours and it's starting to hurt again."
"Of course," Millie said, her eyes widening as she went to work, pushing smaller pieces of rubble away before trying to tackle the bigger chunks. She felt bad for Patty, who had been stuck in the confusing maze for well over a week. Millie spied a bag of supplies near her and could see medical herbs spilling out of it, along with some wrapped pieces of bread and a metal canteen. Millie felt a bit better knowing that Patty wasn't starving.
She began pushing on the piece of rock that was actually pinning Patty's leg down.
"Ah, yes! That's the ticket!" Patty said as she began to pull her leg out slowly. Suddenly, the ground began to shake causing Millie to slip and drop the rock back on Patty's leg. "Oh brother! It's back!" Patty cursed, watching as more of the ceiling began to fall.
"What's back?" Millie asked, looking around for whatever was causing the shaking.
"The Hexagoon!" Patty said, frantically trying to pull her leg out. "I was running from that thing when I got trapped under these rocks! You better be careful!"
Millie spied the monster emerging from the dust and she understood why she hadn't seen any other monsters while she was coming in: they were all hiding from this one. It was huge and pink with thick brown skin that acted like armor on its shins, back, face, and tail. It was bright green fur covering its neck like a mane. Two enormous green horns curled down by its face and similarly colored spikes erupted from its back. Dull pink eyes stared at her over a muzzle full of razor sharp teeth.
Suddenly, the Hexagoon jumped, landing heavily on the ground and shaking rubble from the ceiling loose. Millie was knocked off balance from the miniature earthquake that occurred when the monster landed. She had to dive forward to avoid being crushed by a giant piece of rock.
"I told you to be careful!" Patty called out. Millie ran forward as the Hexagoon lunged at her, swinging its horns at her. She barely swayed out of the way to avoid the attack before bringing her sword down on the creature's neck, only to have it glance off. She stumbled forward and the Hexagoon swung its horns into her side, throwing her across the room.
"The brown part is like armor!" Patty said helpfully. "Aim for the pink parts!" Millie nodded to show that she heard. The Hexagoon roared loudly, jumping up again, but this time Millie was expecting it. She jumped an instant after the monster did, avoiding the tremor and keeping her balance once she landed. She dodged falling pieces of rubble and darted up to the monster's face again. The Hexagoon began to swing its horns, moving forward. Millie danced back from the attacks, dodging them with grace. The monster lunged forward, getting too close to Millie. She brought her sword up to deflect a horn that got dangerously close to her face. This left a small opening to the Hexagoon, who took full advantage of it by chomping down on Millie's upper arm. She let out a yell of surprise and brought her sword up through the monster's throat and into its brain, killing it.
The monster fell to its side, bringing Millie down with it. There was a pause before the Hexagoon's corpse vanished, leaving behind a large sack of gold and a strange, misshapen hide. Millie quickly pocketed the items before hurrying over to where Patty was. She was surprised to see that the purple-haired woman had managed to free herself. She was now standing on her own but clearly favoring her right leg.
"Thanks for saving my hide, doll," Patty said with a smile. "You really are a lot tougher than you look." She hobbled over to where her bag lay, scooping the contents back into it and securing the flap closed. "Let's get out of here," she said, shouldering the bag.
"You're hurt, let me help you," Millie said, trying to take the bag from her.
"I can walk just fine, thank you very much," Patty snapped, taking a few wobbly and clearly painful steps forward. Millie was still right next to her, a hand still out to take the bag. Patty sighed and handed her the bag and putting her arm over Millie's shoulder, allowing her to take most of the weight off of her injured leg.
"I just realized that I have no idea how to get out of here," Millie said once they made it down the steps.
"Well, lucky for you, I've traveled through here dozens of times," Patty said proudly. "Now, go left."
Chapter done!
I honestly don't really know what the purpose of the blue star-shaped portal of light thing is in the game. I assume it's important?
I have no idea.
And since Patty went through the Hexagon during the earthquake, doesn't it make sense that she was there for a week, since that's how long the protagonist is with Erinn?
That woman would not be okay. She'd at least need supplies, right?
And tell me what you thought about the section with Millie. I felt like it didn't flow well.