Note: I do not own Sony Computer Entertainment America or any of its affiliates. Consider this a disclaimer to the ideas/characters presented in this story.
This story's gonna take a long time. Just so you know.
Chapter Three: Lolithia's Tomb, Part Two
They had passed some groups of warriors, and both parties did their best to ignore the other. There truly was no competition for payment; only pride was the prize to be won, and everyone seemed to strive to kill more than the next man. They did receive some off hand looks from people though, mainly of confusion, and mainly pointed at Jack. It was probably because he seemed to be enjoying the company of the two "children" who followed his trail. When they arrived in a large chamber, however, there was no-one left to question Jack's peculiar team. All that stood in the room was a giant statue of a winged devil, poised to strike fear in those who dared near it. Directly behind it was a large door. The strange thing was that it stood in the wall at least ten feet above the ground.
"A puzzle," Catherine said almost immediately. "But we're meant to be warned away, I believe."
"Yeah," Jack said, eying the statue. "That's a face only a mother could love."
"You two should get along great then," Hanpan muttered under Jack's cloak.
"Hey—"
"Let me see it," Hanpan said, jumping from Jack's coat and dashing across the ground. The trio followed him to the statue, feeling shrouded by its long-cast shadow. Rudy in particular felt himself physically shrink under its presence. It towered over them, its large jaws twisted in a face of rage and contempt—
"It's probably got something to do with the statue," Hanpan said, running around its base. "Somewhere where someone wouldn't dare going."
"Did you try its back?" Jack asked folding his arms across his chest and peering up into the devil's face.
"Are you sure we should be going on with this?" Catherine asked. "Emma requested that we only deal with the threats, not to explore the ruins ourselves."
"You know as well as I do that she was being a little shifty on her terms," Jack explained. "Besides, if we find something ourselves in here, I bet it'd be more than just the five hundred gella she's promising us."
"I'm not so certain, Jack," Catherine said softly, looking genuinely concerned. "It's not that I'm worried about disobeying Emma's outlines, only that this may affect the festival."
Jack gave her a blank stare for a second. "You kidding me? We won't damage anything. Heck, we'll probably be helping her out. She obviously couldn't figure this one out on her own."
Rudy, of course, stayed silent, though he strongly agreed with Catherine. He didn't like the feel of that room; he often had a keen sense for trouble. Well, most of the time. The earthquake was just a tragic mistake.
"Nothing here," Hanpan reported, peering his head over its shoulder. Rudy looked up at the mouse, then back into the monster's face. It seemed so terrifying to look at, but he somehow felt some sort of connection to it. He dropped his gaze to its body, trying to avoid that heated gaze, and then—
"Its right hand," Rudy said before he could stop himself, pointing to the outstretched limb. "It's got something on it."
Everyone followed his gesture, and Hanpan scurried along its shoulder and down its arm. Sure enough, inside the devil's palm was a protruding circle of stone, and Hanpan saw that it could be pushed in. He looked back down at Jack. "Should I try it?"
Rudy would have said "No". It's watching us, Rudy thought. Something's going to go wrong.
"Let me," Catherine said, then stepped forward. Rudy nearly bugged his eyes in surprise as she stood on her toes, reached up and grasped the devil's hand; at that moment, Rudy realized that the gesture was a handshake. Catherine squeezed its hand firmly, and everyone heard the audible click as the small button was pushed in.
The statue began to sink into the floor. Hanpan leapt hastily onto Jack's shoulder, scurrying across his back in a blur. The trio began to back up; as the statue lowered into the ground, steps began to rise behind it, one by one, the gears groaning in protest from years of disuse as it slowly rose the staircase. They watched as the last step ground into place before a long, large platform began to ascend, grumbling with ferocity and causing the room to tremble. Within minutes, the path was laid out for them as the platform came to a rumbling halt just below the two grand doors.
Jack looked back at Catherine, cocked a grin, then waved an arm dramatically. "After you, milady."
She laughed her chime-like laugh again, then started up the steps with Jack, but Rudy hesitated. Catherine looked back at him. "I think Jack's right: this may be more beneficial to everyone if we proceed."
A little bit of manly pride and the love of adventure got caught up in Rudy when Catherine said this. So what if Emma didn't want them poking around? The others would be fine fighting off monsters on their own, and going off on small excursion was Rudy's idea of a little pick-me-up. Sometimes it was just best to not look before you jumped.
"Right," Rudy said, then continued on up with them, trying to push away his feelings of unease. Maybe Catherine was just as eager for adventure, too.
However, when they got to the large doors, the realization came upon them that there were no door handles, no mechanisms to open it; there was nothing for them except an inscription.
"Hey, Hanpan," Jack said, leaning over to the small print. It wasn't in their tongue, but in some ancient language. "Can you read this?"
Hanpan darted around Jack's shoulders, then twitched his nose as he studied the inscription.
"Lie here a force 'twixt good and ill; no man nor demon shall have her fill. By the will of our Guardians be, face her iced breath by Light of the Land may she."
"Crap," Jack said with a bemused laugh. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It most definitely means that this was the place that the recording was referring to," Hanpan stated matter-of-factly. "But the inscription says 'she' may enter with the Guardians' permission. And it says 'Light of the Land' instead of 'Land of Light'. Maybe it's referring to... oh, damn, what was that called again?"
"Ah, that whatchamacallit that the royal family has; I know what you're talking about." Jack stood tall again, turning to the two teenagers. "Anyway, that's a shame. Looks like we can't get through. I was looking forward to doing some exploring. Let's head back and give those loonies with swords a hand."
Rudy turned with Jack, but he looked back over his shoulder at Catherine. She didn't follow right away, and she looked like she was rubbing her palms together in front of herself, looking up at the grand door. Then Rudy saw something he thought was a trick of the light, but it lasted longer than imagination would have, and he could have sworn the gentle haze surrounding her for that brief second was light blue.
The doors began to creak louder than the stairs had, and foot by foot, they slid back into the walls, shaking dust and small debris from the walls in the entire chamber. Jack turned around with a triumphant laugh as he watched the doors open, but Rudy only stared in wonder at Catherine's back. She was standing before the door, her hands folded behind her as she looked up to the parting doors, with her right hand clutching something securely. In between her fingers, Rudy could just make out the dimming of faint, blue light.
"Hey, it opened!" Jack called out over the loud gears, making his way back to Catherine. "You pulled some sort of hocus-pocus trick on it or something, C.?"
"No, it began to move on its own," she said, but Rudy could see through her thin lie. All his suspicions were confirmed then, but he didn't want to give away her secret. He knew she worked hard to conceal it from them both. He just didn't know why he hadn't realized it before.
"Well, kick-ass!" Jack cheered. He peered into the cave, but he was only met with blackness. "I guess no-one's been in there for a really long time, eh?" He motioned to the black room beyond. "No torches."
Catherine didn't make any reply; she simply moved forward beyond the door. "Hey, watch yourself, C."
"Oh, come now! The great adventurer, scared?" she said, looking back over her shoulder with a teasing grin. Just then, her hair flew back with a gust of wind, and she yelped, jumping back.
"What, is the little lady scared?" Jack retorted playfully, but Catherine didn't answer his question. A low growl rumbled from beyond the black doorway, and the floor shook. It wasn't gears groaning and creating the quakes again—they were footsteps. Large footsteps.
"Oh, no," Catherine muttered, stepping slowly backwards ever so slowly. Jack drew his sword from his sheath.
"Rudy, maybe you'd better hang back on this one," he said, and Hanpan scurried back into his breast pocket. Rudy began to oblige, backing across the long platform with them.
"Jack—" Catherine said fearfully, grabbing at her wand hastily. Rudy stepped down onto the stairs again, and at that moment, the rumbling became louder and quicker, and then—
A large, ugly black head of a turtle-like beast emerged from the darkness, adorned with tusks on its skull and its large, arching shell, and it gave a deafening roar. Jack dropped into a defensive position, and Catherine whipped her wand, sending a jet of flame flying at the giant. Rudy, despite his desire to fight, turned and fled down the stairs, searching for cover.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Rudy ducked behind the side, watching the battle above. The burst of flame struck the giant tortoise, but it kept stomping forward on its large, gnarled legs. It snapped its jaws with a loud crack, and sparks of lightning shot out from its jaws in nearly every direction. The two of them were knocked from the platform, and they both fell heavily onto the ground below. Rudy winced, then rushed to Jack's side (for he fell closer to Rudy), taking the opportunity when the monster paused to roar again.
"Jack!" Rudy shouted, "you okay?"
"Crap!" Jack said, starting to sit upright. "I thought those things were a myth! Hanpan, you all right?"
"I'm outta here!" he chirped back, then leapt from Jack's pocket deftly. Jack then sprang to his feet, watching the giant tortoise make its advance across the platform. On the other side of the stairs, Catherine popped into view. Both of them made eye contact, and nearly at the same time, they shouted to each other: "The Magtortous!"
The giant snapped its jaws again, and this time everyone ducked as the beams of lightning flew past their heads, colliding with the walls behind them. Rudy had heard the story of the Magtortous as well: it was a mythical creature made by the Guardians to protect things most precious to all of Gaia. Rudy ducked by the ten-foot tall platform as Jack and Catherine rushed back up the stairs to face the Magtortous again. When Catherine called out and a large stomp rumbled the room, Rudy knew what he had to do, but he couldn't possibly do it...
They need you, he thought to himself desperately, but I can't do it to myself again...
Rudy stood again and moved to the stairs, peering up its length. Catherine cast a shielding spell on her and Jack, and he was dodging to the sides, swiping at the monster's underbelly to no avail. The tortoise dipped its head low, aiming one of its tusks at Jack, then swept upwards. Jack dodged to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding being ripped in half like paper.
"Rudy, I changed my mind!" Jack shouted. "Any help would be appreciated!"
Rudy reached for his sword again, then stopped. He would be of no use to them with that. His bag weighed heavily on his shoulder, and he fought internally with the idea...
Jack yelled in pain, and he fell on the side of the platform, just in front of Rudy. "This ain't good," he moaned, trying to get back to his feet again, pain etched on his face.
Rudy looked up with fearful eyes at the Magtortous towering over Catherine, watching her back up slowly in horror as it closed in on her, its large yellow eyes reflecting her fearful face for Rudy to see. It growled, lowered its head again, and rushed forward to gouge Catherine.
"Rudy!"
He moved faster than he thought possible—with two bounds, he covered the stairs and passed Jack, tearing the ARM from his satchel. The thin material tore from his shoulder and flew away, and Rudy pointed the Hand Cannon at the Magtortous's lowered skull. Time seemed to slow, and the creature was still in space, ever slowly moving closer to Catherine with its tusk. Rudy aimed, and without a moment's hesitation, fired.
The animal's body jolted in place, collapsing on its legs and dropping its head to the ground. Rudy could see where the projectile had struck—there was a deep gash on the top of the monster's head, and blood began to pool there. Catherine gasped, stumbling backwards from the creature, while Rudy moved forward slowly, his steps full of authority and domination. He fired again, and the Magtortous jolted a second time, moaning out a long, loud wail. It stumbled back onto its feet and tried to back away from Rudy, and he paused, lowering the Hand Cannon. The Magtortous lifted its head, then contemplated Rudy with its gold-like eyes, snorting in agitation. Rudy didn't dare fight back; he knew when someone or something was surrendering, and he would not abandon his merciless nature, not for anything. The Magtortous began to lower its head, then it dropped to its front knees before its hind legs gave out. The giant spiked shell on its back quivered with its weakness, and Rudy had the distinct impression that the creature was bowing.
A flake of the creature broke off and floated up, fading into white and disappearing as it rose, as if it were an ember or some ash escaped from the fire. Another piece broke off, then another, and soon the entire Magtortous began to disappear like wood in flame, and the three of them witnessed the spectacle in awe.
"What's going on?" Jack said, a little dumbfounded.
"It really is a divine creature," Catherine said quietly. "It was sent by the Guardians."
The Magtortous gave a low, satisfied growl before it disappeared completely into the air.
Rudy was watching the place where it had disappeared with a certain sense of defeat, partly from guilt of killing the magnificent creature, partly because he had given away his identity. He had ruined himself once again. He hung his head low. He couldn't bear to face them.
"Kid..." Jack said, shock lacing his voice. Rudy didn't turn around. "Hey, Rudy, pal, let me ask you something."
He certainly wasn't expecting that kind of response from anyone, so he turned around out of surprise. Catherine and Jack were both looking at him, wide eyed with slack jawed. Catherine recovered quickly, but Jack allowed his maw to hang open ungracefully. "When the hell were you planning on flashing that bad boy?"
Rudy couldn't muster any sort of response for a moment, for he was confused—why weren't they cursing him? "I wasn't," Rudy said quietly, unsure of himself.
"My God, Rudy," Catherine said. "You saved our lives. My life. Thank-you."
He couldn't reply. His mouth moved a bit, as if his mind was prepared to respond, but he was speechless.
"Here you were, lagging that sword around... I thought you were some hyped up kid who just wanted to slash things! Why didn't you pull out your ARM earlier?"
Rudy was beyond confused. He didn't understand how these two individuals could be so open and welcoming to him being an ARMs wielder. He had the forbidden power to use such a fatal tool, like the Demons thousands of years before. Why weren't they frightened of him? Why were they complimenting and thanking him?
"Silent as ever, I see," Catherine said, giving a sly smirk. "We'd be hard pressed to get two words from you, it seems."
"I was exiled because of this," Rudy said suddenly, motioning the ARM slightly. "I've always been on my own. Everyone thinks of me as evil."
"After what you just pulled?" Jack said, folding his arms over his chest. "You might as well be Guardian of the Lucky Stars Shooting From People's Rear Ends!"
It had been a long time since he'd done it, but Rudy smiled genuinely at Jack's remark, scuffing his boot on the platform bashfully. "I guess we're all keeping secrets, huh?"
Catherine laughed weakly before saying: "Truly, Rudy, your gift is a blessing, not a curse. I am grateful."
"Yeah, me too, kid," Jack said, making a small bow. "You should be teaching me a few tricks, not the other way around."
Rudy laughed slightly with his smile, looking down at the Hand Cannon. It had never seemed so bright and shiny to him before; he would have thrown it away had it not protected him, had it not come from Gramps. For the first time since he received it, Rudy held his ARM with pride.
He slung it in the leather tool loop in his belt, letting it rest in the open for them to see. If those two accepted him for who he was, he didn't care who saw his identity hanging from his belt. As long as he was with them, he could feel included.
"Hey, look," Hanpan said, dashing up onto the platform from across the chamber. "There's light in that room now."
Everyone turned their attention to the room beyond, and sure enough, beams of light fell from the ceiling across the old, dusty floor. Rudy briefly thought that the lightning attack from the Magtortous blasted holes through the thin layer of dirt above by sheer coincidence.
"Let's take a look," Jack said, moving forward. Both Rudy and Catherine were hesitant, and met each other's eyes. They both shared concerned expressions for a moment, but Rudy was still high on his elation of acceptance, and a smile broke across his face easily. Catherine gave her own.
"I suppose we've come this far, right?" she said, moving forward. Hanpan dashed between her feet and leapt up onto Jack's shoulder in one bound, and they each went into the room beyond, once guarded by the Magtortous—
—Lolithia's Tomb.
Jack cursed out loud once he stepped into the grand chamber; the beams of light streaked down from the ceiling across the room, most of which fell across a giant statue that rested at the back of the room. Its head nearly touched the ceiling, and its long body was thick and dominating. Rudy found it more eerie than the devil statue preceding it.
"Is this...?" Catherine started, looking over the statue with shock.
"This is a golem!" Hanpan declared. "So, the stories are true!"
"That's Lolithia?" Jack said, eying it up and down. "Damn, that can't be the Power. I wouldn't be able to lift that thing!"
"Wait," Catherine said, turning toward Jack and Hanpan, whom rested on his shoulder. "You mentioned 'Lolithia'. Where did you hear that name?"
"In some Elw ruins," Jack replied, "not to far from Adlehyde."
"So, all this time, you were looking for Lolithia as well?" Catherine asked, bewildered.
"'As well'? You were on a treasure hunt, too?"
"No, I..." Catherine hesitated, then shook her head. "I just heard the name before. It caught me off guard."
"Well, I hate to ruin your party," Hanpan said, "but I think this is what Emma was looking for. I think we just meddled in her festival plans."
"What're you talking about?" Jack said with a scoff. "We just made her plans! She obviously couldn't get through this part of the ruins, and we did it for her! She should be thanking us for this!"
Rudy caught Catherine gazing up at Lolithia for a long moment before she brought her gaze to Jack again. "We should inform her of what we've found, then."
"Yeah," Jack said, peering up at the golem. "Someone ought to know why she's so goddamn important."
"I hope so," Catherine said softly, seemingly deep in thought. Rudy wondered what it was the princess of Adlehyde was so concerned about.
"Gurdijeff's ass," Emma cursed, looking up at the dormant golem. "You weren't kidding!"
"I apologize for violating your terms of agreement," Catherine said quietly.
"No, I... damn! I never expected a bunch of grunt workers to crack the ruins!"
"Hey, lady," Jack blurted, "watch your mouth."
"Sorry," Emma said, though she didn't turn from the golem, nor did she seem genuinely concerned about insulting the man. "I just don't know how you did it. You know how long we've been searching?"
"I suppose a very long time," Catherine offered. Emma only nodded slowly.
"I'll get my excavation team rearing to go," Emma said, finally turning to the group. "I'll offer you five hundred gella each for the find."
"Only?" Jack said, but twitched a bit and choked a noise in his throat. Hanpan always bit a little too hard.
"Hey, that's a good deal compared to what those other barbarians are gonna get." Emma waved a finger towards Jack. "You mind your pretty little head, boy."
"...Boy?"
"Let's get a move on!" Emma cheered, cutting off Jack and moving past them. The trio lagged behind her a bit, and Catherine chuckled quietly, looking sideways at Jack. He glowered back.
"She is a little bossy, isn't she?"
"That's not the word I was going for," Jack mumbled back. Catherine laughed. Even Rudy chuckled.
When they made it back out of the ruins, Jack, Catherine and Rudy offered to stay behind and wait for Emma to return with the excavation team. Three by three, men who'd been hired by Emma to clear the ruins emerged from the giant doors covered in dirt and blood. All of them gave Jack and his two young companions smug, dirty glares. Jack smirked back, even waved at a few.
"See ya later, you lousy—"
"Jack, not so loud."
"Hey, I'm the condescending one," Jack affirmed. "No one's allowed to look down on me."
"At least you know you've outdone them for gella."
Jack gave her a sidelong glance. "They don't know it. Not yet, anyway."
"You're a proud man."
"Amen!" Jack said under his breath.
An hour later, they could see Emma blowing over the horizon with several more Chariots following closely behind. She all but jumped off of her vehicle as it came to a rolling stop, then marched over to the trio with a broad smile on her face.
"Gentlemen, meet our saviours!" Emma called, holding her arms out to them as if putting them on display. "All right, team, care to escort us to our bright and beautiful baby?"
"Beautiful?"
'Let's move on out!"
They traversed through the empty ruins, and this time there were no men or creatures to greet them. They were able to avoid the same traps and tricks from before with ease (Hanpan whispered instructions to Jack so that he wouldn't have to make another appearance) and after a short journey, they found their way back to Lolithia's tomb once again.
"Holy cow," a worker whispered to the next, "I thought it was a myth!"
"Alright, get a move on! Oh, and be careful what you touch. When you're—hey, watch what you're doing with that pulley! Make sure you don't disturb anything around her. We'll get a demolition team up above—I said watch it!"
The three of them made their way to the outside again, and by the time they arrived, a crater large enough to lift the golem through was blasted through the ground.
"They mean business, huh?" Jack said to the others, watching the workers set up the Emma Motor and prepare to lift tonnes of weaponry from the tomb. "Makes you feel kind of small, don't you think?"
"Hardly."
"Oh, right. You could probably do the same with a flick of your wand."
"That's not what I meant!" she retorted. "I just don't think our jobs as muscle work should be underminded by technology."
The motors started to whir, and men began to shout orders and directions to others. Everyone rushed around as the pulleys from the motor drew in closer and closer...
"Lift the crane!"
A wooden pillar laden with metal reinforcements began to rise from the ground. The rope ran through a small, thick ring attached to it, and it was lifted along with the plank as it rose.
"'Ere she comes!"
The smooth, round head of Lolithia appeared first, facing Jack, Rudy and Catherine. It rose up from the crater, and the three of them looked up to watch it be pulled up into the air. With a sudden jerk, the motor stopped, and Lolithia was suspended mid air by the crane, rocking slowly and gently, as if it were a hunk of metal rather than a dormant weapon.
"Isn't it cute?" Emma said from behind them. They all turned to look at her. She had her hands clasped in front of her chest, and her eyes were glossed over as she looked up at the golem with a gleeful smile. "Wow."
"I wouldn't say 'cute'," Catherine whispered.
"Ah, my, you've all been such a help." Emma looked down at the trio, inspecting each of their blank faces. Rudy offered a small smile, fidgeting around when she kept staring at him. "For you, I'll add a big bonus. Come see me at the festival tomorrow; I'll show you the collection."
"Collection?" Catherine asked.
"This is the third golem we've excavated," Emma said, looking up at Lolithia again. "There's supposed to be eight hidden around the world. Now they're just old relics of an ancient war, but back then... man, were they something. I'd be happy to show them to you myself, so you have to come by. Please?"
"Uh, well, look," Jack said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I wasn't planning on sticking around for the festival..."
"Oh, but you have to!" Emma said, reaching out and grabbing his hands. "There's never been so much history, so much—so much—stuff in one place before! You can't just walk away!"
"I would recommend it, Jack," Catherine said. "You might find something interesting there."
"She has a point," Hanpan whispered.
"Ah... okay, yeah. We'll meet you tomorrow. You got a problem with that, Rudy?"
He shook his head.
"Right."
"Oh! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! I'm so excited! Tomorrow's going to be so successful!"
She looked to the horizon. "Well, it's getting late. You all should better get back to Adlehyde for the night. The inn is actually nice to stay in; I recommend it."
"Yeah, thanks," Jack said. "So, C., take you up on that driving deal?"
She laughed lightly. "Of course."
Emma went back to staring up at Lolithia. "Glorious..."