Chapter x10
Impediments
IOE: Hello, everyone! Ergh, though! I keep trying to make lines in my story, and they don't show up. Why is that? It makes my writing seem even worse! For this chapter, I'll put (there's a line here) where there are lines…. Fehize, thanks for the review! I've been trying to put more detail into the story, so I'm glad that it paid off a bit! Dream Adept, thanks so much for the review as well! I'm so glad you remembered my story enough to check for it! HOLY CRAP I want a DS so I can play Golden Sun DS! If people get in the way of me playing that game, I'll curse their names forever and include them in this fanfic as punishment!
Feizhi: (sweatdrop) I made Nathaniel a golden ring….
Flotsam: Let's go to the pool today!! Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun. Those people who do are very lucky, in her opinion.
IOE: With great video games comes great responsibility! Enjoy this chapter!
(there's a line here)
Felix's eyes blinked open. At first, he'd forgotten where he was. The smell met his nose, and he remembered. Gingerly, he sat up, not wishing to aggravate the muscles he'd exhausted on his way down the tunnel. He could already feel the aches all over. Part of him wanted to go back to sleep, but sleep couldn't help his muscles now. He looked around. It was very, very dark. He was swallowed by shadow. He assumed that the Mars Djinn must've fallen asleep.
"Is anyone awake?" he asked softly.
Nathaniel answered him. Felix told Nathaniel to get some rest, that he, Felix, would take watch. Nathaniel refused, saying that he wasn't very tired.
"Should we wake the others?" asked Nathaniel. Felix could detect the hidden eagerness for some action. He half-smiled.
"Have we all been asleep for that long?" he asked. Nathaniel estimated that it had been hours. Felix doubted what the boy said about not being tired.
"Very well," he said, sighing. He felt his way along the cold stone and felt around until he was certain he'd found a sleeping Adept. He gently nudged the sleeping form.
"Aaron, stop it," muttered Garet.
"It's Felix," the Venus Adept replied, "We ought to get moving."
Garet stirred and slowly awoke. He yawned, making a sound similar to that of a bear, and sat up.
"How long have we been out?" he asked.
Felix heard his sister stir.
"Mmm…are we getting up now?" she asked, and yawned. Felix heard her move around and nudge someone.
"Sheba, it's time to get up. Let's leave Piers and Ivan here and see how long it takes for them to find us," she said mischievously.
"Nnn…" replied Sheba.
"You've all been asleep for a while. We should probably get going now," said Nathaniel.
The room started to glow orange as the Mars Djinn began illuminating themselves. Sheba sat up, rubbing her eyes and winced at the light.
"Get going where?" she asked. Jenna put a hand on the Jupiter Adept's shoulder.
"Sheba, dear, do you remember where you are?" she asked.
Felix asked some Djinn to scout the area for any foes.
Nathaniel approached Piers and reached out to awaken him, but the Lemurian rose on his own and sighed.
"I've been thinking," he said. Felix listened. He stretched a little, which he regretted to some degree because his entire body was in awful pain.
"We're in a bad situation here. We have limited supplies such as our more effective armor, cut off from the outside by a long, winding tunnel that may still have some reanimates in it, and the others don't know where we are and may need assistance," said Piers.
Felix nodded. He was right.
"We may need to get supplies and tell the others where we are, but we ought to find out what's happening in this cave," he said.
Sheba shook her head.
"It's probably just some horrible monster, per usual when we encounter a cave with supernatural events associated with it. Considering that this cave is dangerous and what Piers just assessed, we should go back, and have Felix make this place cave in, even though we've come so far. Even so, we could end up in a grave predicament. For instance, Sheba and I left our Djinn on the ship," said Ivan, who had apparently been listening quietly for some time. He seemed unperturbed that no one had attempted to wake him. Sheba nodded in agreement with Ivan. Felix knew they had a point, but he was reluctant to just up and leave.
"I'm inclined to agree with the Jupiter Adepts," said Piers, "but we don't know if a cave-in will solve anything because we don't know what we're up against. We should get our armor, tell Hamma and the others where we are, come back, and investigate."
"I agree," said Felix. He ran and battled all the way down to this point. It made sense to him to continue from here and see things through. The other Adepts agreed as well.
"Nathaniel," said Piers, "go with Garet and Sheba to meet with the others and get some equipment from the ship, and stay with Hamma and the others incase they need assistance."
Nathaniel's expression reminded Felix of the expression Jenna would sometimes get when she was too short to climb up to the tree houses he, Garet, and Isaac used to build. A younger sibling's forlorn look.
As Nathaniel, Sheba, and Garet started off with some Mars Djinn to light the way, Felix realized the Djinn he'd sent to scout for enemies had not returned. He voiced this concern to Piers. Jenna overheard.
"Should we call for them, or look for them?" she asked.
"We don't want to attract attention," replied Felix.
"What could have happened?" wondered Piers aloud.
(there's a line here, too)
As Isaac and Kiri boarded the boat, he felt uneasy.
"Kiri, this isn't going to be terribly out of the way, is it? This shouldn't side-track us from reaching the Uranus shrine," said Isaac.
Kiri shook her head.
"No, we just have to take a ferry in order to get across this river. It's that time of year when storms get frequent, and I don't want to walk all the way to a bridge that might be under water. 'Sides, the shrine's located across the river, too," she replied. Isaac was relieved.
He gazed around him. It seemed like everything reminded him of Weyard now. It occurred to him that Erutun and Weyard had so many queer similarities, if they could be called similarities, that made each world seem like a parody of the other. Why was this so? Did it have anything to do with why the Wise One had no power here? What was it that Isaac had to figure out for himself the reason he was here? Then again, considering their previous encounters, to fail to explain everything clearly was the modus operandi of the Wise One. He sighed.
The ferry was roughly the size of the one Isaac had boarded on the Karagol. Around it now was sparkling, blue water that was clear enough for him to see below the surface. It was gorgeous. On either side of the river was lush forestland, almost the opposite of the arid region Isaac and Kiri had traveled through for several days. The sky had a fair amount of clouds, but wasn't overcast. Everything felt comfortably warm.
Isaac felt a tugging on his shirt. He looked down to see Kiri.
"Guess who's here, too," she said, and gestured with her head. Isaac looked in the general direction she was indicating to see a tall man, whose back was to him, with long, dark blue hair. It was the lascivious Neptune Proficient Isaac and Kiri had encountered several days earlier. He wore an elegant, black robe that reached just below the heeled, shiny boots Isaac could see…Ethan, was it?...was wearing. The clothes were obviously not that of a poor traveler.
"Why is he here? Did the Love Shack cave in?" asked Kiri. Hearing young Kiri ask that, Isaac was tempted to chuckle.
"I don't know, but I'd rather avoid him," he said, and then a thought occurred to him.
"Kiri, if this area floods a lot this time of year, and the scale is buried, what if it's been moved by the water?" he asked. Kiri didn't have time to answer, because as soon as Isaac closed his mouth, something struck the boat. It rocked violently. All gasped. People swore. Kiri cried out. She and Isaac instinctively reached out for the rail. The side that Isaac and Kiri were on lurched towards the water. Isaac grabbed both the Uranus Proficient and the rail tightly. The boat then slowly fell back to its normal position.
"Did we hit something, or did something hit us?" asked Kiri, regaining some breath. Isaac, used to this sort of thing occurring during his travels, headed towards the side of the boat that had been struck. As he did so, he heard Kiri say:
"A storm? But it was clear just a moment ago."
Fearing the worst, Isaac peered into the water, expecting a hideous monster to look back at him. The water that had been clear but a moment ago was now murky. Rain was starting to fall, and so the surface rippled and splashed. For a moment, he thought he couldn't see into the water, but then he noticed a lot of movement below the surface. He knew his eyes weren't tricking him; there was something moving. The whole boat was now being pushed by something, but not forcefully enough to tip the boat. People hollered. Isaac squinted at the water, and then he saw a pair of eyes glint. They were the size of a man's eyes.
Rain was now pouring and pouring. The sky was black as pitch, and Isaac could hear thunder. The pair of eyes was not gazing at Isaac, but at something further to his left. He looked. Ethan was gazing at the eyes in fascination. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were wide. His dark locks of hair, along with his robes, were soaked. His long, pale, dainty fingers poked out of lace-ended sleeves. They gripped the rail so tightly that his knuckles were pale.
Isaac, alarmed, looked back at where the eyes were. He could now see a beautiful woman treading the water. Isaac immediately noticed that she was naked, other than what looked like a necklace with a single charm around her neck. Her thick, green hair was soaked, and floated in the water. Her skin was fair, and she was gazing at Ethan with the some look of awe and fascination that was on the Neptune Proficient's face. Isaac wondered what the Hell was going on. The woman suddenly noticed that her clothes were gone, shrieked, and let herself sink into the water. Her head was just enough above the water so that she could still gaze upon Ethan, but then it fell below the surface as the water became rough. The woman fought to reach the surface again. She gargled a scream as it became harder and harder to stay afloat. Her hands splashed at the water hysterically, trying in vain to stay above the surface. Her eyes were wide with horror. Was something pulling her?
She'll drown! thought Isaac, who immediately set to removing his scabbard and pack in order to dive in and save her. Before all of his equipment was removed, however, there was a splash. Ethan had dived in first. Isaac watched for the Neptune Proficient to resurface, but he didn't. The boat was still being pushed by whatever was under the water. Isaac wiped some of the rain from his face and squinted into the water, looking for a sign of the woman or the Proficient. Had he waited too long? What if they both were being attacked or something by whatever was pushing the boat? The Venus Adept could definitely see that something was still moving. Isaac stripped the rest of his equipment off, tucked a dagger into his belt just in case, stood on the rail, and dove. Just before he penetrated the surface of the water, he had a feeling of utmost dread. Somehow, he knew this was a trap. Everything became darker as Isaac splashed head-first below the surface.
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There was a horrible scream. Alarmed, Felix recognized Sheba's voice. He and a Mars Djinni immediately ran for the other side of the chamber. Jenna and the others, along with three Djinn, followed. Felix felt it difficult to run at this pace; the temple's invisible pull was now physically keeping him from escaping it easily. The farther away he got, the more sluggish he felt.
"Sheba!" he cried. Behind him he heard Piers call for Nathaniel and Jenna halt to call for Garet.
"We're coming!" called Felix desperately. It was now like running into a slingshot. It was harder and harder to fight against the pull. It felt like if the Venus Adept stopped, he'd be flung backwards across the chamber. He made it to the long, dark tunnel. He huffed and strained. The strain was not welcomed by his already aching muscles. Suddenly, Sheba, Nathaniel, and Garet came running down the tunnel towards him. Felix halted and grabbed a wall.
"Felix!" yelled Garet. When they were close enough, they halted.
"Are you alright?" Felix asked them. They all looked sweaty and alert, but none of them seemed injured. The Djinn Felix had sent earlier as scouts trailed behind them.
"We're fine," said Sheba.
"But I heard you scream," said Felix.
"We can't leave the cavern," said Nathaniel.
Piers and some Djinn managed to catch up as Nathaniel spoke.
"What? Why?" he asked.
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(line-age)
Isaac was propelled into the river. He let himself go as far as his momentum would allow, but he was bumping into things he could not see. There was a flash of lightning from far away. It provided light, but also fears of electrocution. By the light, Isaac could make out what he was bumping into. He wanted to yell in surprise. Under the water, swimming around and pushing the boat, were women. Or at least, they had the torsos of nude women. From the hip down were whirling, muscular tails that propelled them around. Isaac could see now that he was close enough they had slits for nostrils that protruded from a bump on their face, so it seemed like a nose. Several of their dark eyes glinted at him. Purple auras whirled around them every now and then. They were Casting, but Isaac didn't know what sort of Psynergy.
A handful saw him, and rushed towards him, arms outstretched. They had long, webbed, clawed hands. Isaac gurgled out a "stone spire". The women screeched, and swam away, but he didn't know where. Isaac quickly propelled himself to the surface to get air while they were surprised. His head breached the surface eventually and he gulped air. He swallowed some rain and coughed. Isaac struggled to stay afloat long enough to regain himself and submerge again. He gasped, but then something pulled him below. He pulled out his dagger and opened his eyes to see two furious women holding both of his legs. They were remarkably strong. He slashed at them, and managed to make some severe enough gashes for them to let go. They screeched in agony. Blood seeped into the water. The monsters swam away, licking their wounds with tiny cat-like tongues. Isaac wondered if they were going to the same place the other monsters he'd wounded retreated to.
Isaac looked around to see if more were coming. By the occasional illumination of Psynergetic light or lightning bolt, Isaac estimated that there were fifteen creatures pushing the boat, a handful of which were either swimming away because he'd wounded them or had noticed him and were very angry. All of them were women. Isaac knew he couldn't keep resurfacing; it made him vulnerable. Where was Ethan? The woman must have been one of these monsters. Was Isaac too late? He squinted. Far off, he saw a human form being dragged away by one of the monsters, just as four monsters charged at him. Their long hair whipped with the current, and their lips, which Isaac now noticed were quite fishlike, were curled into snarls that revealed long, sharp teeth. He wounded them with a Grand Gaia, tucked his dagger back into his belt, and then rushed to get air from the surface. As soon as his head was above the water and in the rain, he gasped for breath, and then swam across the surface to where he estimated Ethan would be.
Please don't be dead he thought. He thought he heard Kiri, but she sounded too far off. Isaac hoped she didn't follow him in the water; it'd be too dangerous for her and it was hard enough trying to protect himself and trying to rescue Ethan.
He was a short swimming distance from the boat now. Isaac took a breath and went below the surface and peered around. It was dark, and he was starting to feel very cold. He saw nothing. He started to curse in his head. Why the Hell was he here, anyway? He could get struck by lightning trying to save someone that was probably already dead, when he ought to be saving the ferry from the women. He was about to turn around, when
He was about to turn around when he saw a purple, swirling aura. Isaac nearly jumped to the surface and swam after it from there, for it was just below the surface. He could see now that there was a small…island, if it could be called that, which barely breached the water's surface. It was only large enough for about five people to stand on. Something crawled onto it, Isaac could see, and was dragging something heavy. Isaac's first thought was to scramble for it, but then decided to swim as quietly as he could, and sneak up on the woman. Isaac carefully made his way to the island. The woman's back was to him, he was sure. Isaac would sneak up on her and stab her in the back with his dagger. Suddenly, there was a horrible sucking and coughing noise. Isaac thought it was the woman struggling to breathe above water, but she seemed to be breathing fine. He recalled that when she was gazing at Ethan, perhaps enchanting him, she seemed to have no trouble breathing. A purple aura whirled around her, and Isaac heard Ethan gasping for air. Isaac was confused, but continued swimming. The woman's aura swirled again, and Ethan was silent. Isaac was now slightly over arm's reach from the woman's back. This was the most crucial part. He treaded, so that he could reach into his belt….
But the woman felt the ripples and whirled around. Isaac was face to face with her; beautiful black, round eyes gazed into his. Isaac saw that she was beautiful in her own way that resembled a human woman, but was ugly by women's standards. She looked surprised and frightened. Isaac knew he'd waste time trying to reach for his dagger to stab her, so he called out:
"Odde--" But the woman launched herself at him. She was quicker than her kin. She fell on him, and there was a big splash as they went below, into the dark water. Isaac was choking; he had been completely surprised and forgot to take a deep breath. He felt an incredible, searing, burning amount of pain in his shoulder, and, despite the fact that he was underwater and had little air, screamed in surprise and agony. The woman had bit into him, and was letting her teeth sink into the flesh. He felt a little tongue lap up the blood. He was in an incredibly strong grip, and felt them sinking deeper into the depths. Isaac's view was obscured by her long, thick, seaweed-like hair. He couldn't breathe, only coke on the water that was coursing into him, filled with some hair, mud, and his own blood. He struggled to free his arms, but the woman had him in a good grip that kept his arms at her back. They were descending. He was drowning and bleeding. She was feasting on his shoulder. Isaac wondered if he would pass out before she managed to dislodge his arm. Everything was dark.
He knew he had to move quickly or he was dead. He would never see the surface again, never see Weyard again. He kicked and kicked, but all his kicking really did was make them turn, instead of go anywhere. He could feel her claws digging into his back, her tail flicking to keep them in a descending direction, but mostly just letting gravity do that for her. Isaac knew now how Felix felt that day when the storm hit Vale, what it was like to feel hopeless and weak, and watching the surface get farther and farther away. Now, he, too, knew what it was like to drown.
And what happened next, Isaac never knew whether it was a hallucination or a vision. He felt that parts of it might have been real, but others were just imagination.
It was an out-of-body experience. He was floating in the water, watching himself die. His arms were dangling from behind the monster's pale back. There was blood everywhere. Isaac could see that he was conscious, but he'd given up fighting. All he could do was gasp at the water, gulp in an attempt to breathe. Isaac could only watch himself drown. He was aware of flashing lights. Red, purple, blue, and yellow. Suddenly, sinisterly, the drowning Isaac's head turned sharply, and looked directly at him. "No," it said. And he bumped his head straight into the monster's head, startling her, and sending her top half back a bit. Pieces of his shoulder that were in her mouth flew with her. Isaac freed his hand in a split second, and his blue aura swirled. Her shoved dagger straight into the woman, up and into her torso, and lifted them both up and out of the water with a force. Isaac didn't recognize the Psynergy. The woman roared an inhuman roar of agony and surprise, a hideous sound. Isaac swam up to watch in amazement. The three of them reached the surface. The colored lights followed. The other Isaac launched himself and the monster onto the island. He coughed and wheezed. He'd freed himself and somehow made it to the surface, but he still couldn't breathe. Isaac felt everything growing dark. He was starting to feel faint. Before everything went black, he looked to the flashing lights. They weren't following him. They were inside him.
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The group was sitting on the steps to the temple once again.
"The Djinn were trying to reopen the tunnel. They didn't come back because they thought they could do it," said Garet.
"I saw a wall of burned bones and things like that all of a sudden, so I screamed," said Sheba.
Jenna was flicking dust off of her boots.
"So, all of the skeletons and zombies that we burned and stuff made themselves into a wall? That's so creepy," she shuddered.
"And there are boulders and stuff, too," added Sheba.
"Not quite as creepy," replied Jenna.
"We have no choice. We can't leave. We have to follow the force that's pulling us inside this temple," said Felix. All nodded. Everyone was more anxious than before now.
"How long ago d'you think the tunnel was blocked? Do you think something was listening to us when we were talking about leaving?" asked Garet.
Ivan shook his blonde head. Felix noticed how the orange glow of the Mars Djinn made Ivan look like he had red hair. He looked like an older Aaron.
"If I were trying to kill a bunch of Adepts, I'd wait for the smaller group we were supposed to send to get supplies to leave, and then block the tunnel, so I have fewer Adepts to deal with," he said.
"Why was it so hard this time to get farther away from the temple? We could barely make it to the other side of this chamber," Jenna thought aloud.
"Maybe whatever's causing all this is getting stronger," offered Sheba. Felix shook his head. That didn't make sense, considering they'd killed a bunch of the source's reanimated corpses.
"Whatever the case," he said, "We need to finish this. Let's follow this pulling."
They all stood. Felix's heart was beating very fast. He unsheathed his sword. He was filled with dread and excitement. He and some Mars Djinn entered the temple first. Felix glanced around the room, blade drawn. Nothing approached. He motioned for the group to follow. The stink inside was worse than it had ever been. Inside, the temple was no bigger than the first floor of an inn. It looked like a more or less ornate version of the Sol Sanctums Felix worshipped at in each town. It was a one room temple with various tables, a tabernacle, an altar, and various ornaments, all of which were thrown about or smashed. Some of the damages looked recent, but other tipped-over tables, for example, had cobwebs on them. It was evidence of a very old struggle, the likes of which were unknown. Felix sheathed his sword and inspected a table that was broken in five or six places, then walked around.
"What could have happ--" Sheba's sentence halted. Felix turned from a wall to look at her. She looked confused. Her brow furrowed.
"What is it?" asked Ivan.
"I can't cast Reveal," she replied. The Jupiter Adept stretched out a hand. Nothing happened. Her aura didn't even appear. Felix thought he saw something on her arm.
"Sheba, your wrist," he said.
Alarmed, Sheba held her palm to her face to inspect her wrist. Little inspection was necessary, as there was a purple, rune tattoo the size of a fist on her wrist. Shocked, she held up her other arm, which had the same tattoo.
"My Psynergy's been Sealed!" she exclaimed in horror.
Everyone immediately checked their wrists for the same tattoos, but no one reported the same condition.
"How could this have happened?" Sheba said in disbelief, looking from her left wrist to her right wrist.
"Oh no, Sheba," said Ivan, "our Djinn aren't here. You can only use your staff."
Sheba's metal staff was strapped to her back. She reached behind her to stroke the runes carved into it. Felix worried how long she'd last in battle without Djinn or Psynergy to protect her.
"Well, I can't stay up here. It's more dangerous for me to be up here alone than to go with you all," she said.
"Go…where? This temple's built into the rock, and there're no other doors," said Nathaniel.
A look crossed Ivan's face. He gave an apologetic look to Sheba before saying "Reveal". Felix was relieved to see Ivan's blue aura swirl. The Jupiter Adept's eyes widened. He walked a few paces forward and stopped, bending down to look at something.
"There's a trapdoor," he said. He got on his knees and pushed a moldy, holed carpet out of the way. There was a little slot in the floor. He slid his fingers in and pushed upward with some strain. The stone lifted some.
"Garet, help me with this," he said. The Mars Adept approached and lifted the door open. A rancid, putrid odor seeped out. Both boys coughed. Ivan looked at his hand.
"What? I'm Sealed!" he exclaimed.
"But you just Casted…could the trapdoor have something to do with it?" asked Jenna. Alarmed, Garet held both of his hands up to his face immediately, and as a result lost his balance a little. Felix didn't see any tattoos.
"No," said Garet, "I can Cast."
"There's writing on this!" said Piers, leaning towards the flipped stone. Everyone looked. Runes were carved into the stone. Felix only recognized one symbol at first, which was the Psynergetic seal rune. Then he saw another that was familiar, one that he knew he'd seen recently, but could not for the breath in him recall what it meant. He pointed it out to his sister.
"Yeah, hey…," she said, brow furrowed, as she focused on it, "That was on the robes of one of those creeps who-who attacked Isaac!" They all heard her voice crescendo. Felix remembered now. That symbol that looked like a cross between a 'P' and an 'L' was printed on the robes of the man with the glasses.
"And there's the symbol of Jupiter," said Ivan, pointing at what looked like a number four.
Garet looked at the group.
"Anybody know any other symbols? No? Then we don't know what it says, I guess," he said.
Nathaniel turned to a Mars Djinni.
"Can you look and see if there's a ladder or something?" he asked, gesturing to the trapdoor. The Djinni hopped over and peered down. He shook his head.
"I see some stuff that you could stack up down there, though, if you'd need to get out," he offered.
"Would we get hurt if we jumped down there?" asked Jenna.
The Djinni peered down the hole.
"No," it squeaked, "The drop's taller than a man with his arms raised, but not much taller than that. It should be OK to jump."
Felix pictured the fall in his mind. He approached the trapdoor. It was a square, almost perfectly carved out of the stone, the height and width of a doorway, maybe a little larger. Everyone ought to fit, he estimated, if they held their equipment close to them. The stink wafting out of it was almost indescribably awful. Was it possible to be killed by a stench?
He unhooked his scabbard and held it to his breast. He took a deep breath, and jumped through. His knees bent when they met the floor, absorbing the shock. He could barely see; his shadow obstructed some of the light from the Mars Djinn above. Felix managed to keep his balance and not fall. He straightened up and immediately unsheathed his sword and glanced around. He could see little. He listened carefully. There was a horrible sound of deep breathing. It didn't come from a particular direction, but rather, it felt like the room itself was sighing. Felix's hair stood on end. He could feel the cold air go back and forth evenly, as though the room was slumbering, unaware of his presence.
"Felix! Are you OK?" called Jenna. Her head blocked out some more light.
"Fine!" he called back. Jenna warned him she was coming down. Felix stood aside, being cautious about his footing.
His little sister dropped down, her skirt flying up. He looked away. Felix was glad he was the only one down, otherwise he wasn't sure how he'd handle his elder brother instinct. She landed clumsily and banged her knees. She lifted her head and looked around.
"Woo," she said, and rose, brushing off her knees and straightening her skirt. Felix gestured for her to come. to him, and then they called for Sheba to come down next.
The Jupiter Adept left down, staff in hand. Felix looked away for a moment, and then looked again to see Sheba land with such grace he was surprised she didn't use Psynergy.
Eventually, all dropped down. The Djinn followed. Orange illuminated the small, cramped room. The room glittered.
Felix gaped. The room was walled with, floored with gold and gems. Like the room above, this was filled with ornaments, tables, altars, and ornaments, and was quite trashed from some sort of struggle. The symbol Jenna had identified was carved into the walls.
"What the Hell?" said Garet.
"Hey, look at that! Djinn, light that up!" said Sheba, pointing across the room. Felix looked. A short distance away was a leering shadow. The Djinn approached, but nothing lit. They looked at each other confused. This defied nature. Felix was alarmed.
"Come back, guys," he said, and then realized: "That's what we've been looking for." The pull, he realized, was gone. They were where they needed to be.
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Time was a relentless force. Time was all it really knew anymore. It was very old. It was ancient. That was all. It no longer remembered its name. Did it ever have one? It didn't even remember what it was. A ghost? A God? It had power. It had a consciousness. It had a presence. It had no body, no name, no identity. It was restless, but it would not leave this place…what was it? Things that wandered in called it a "temple", which meant a place of holy worship in their language. That felt like a clue. It's faint inkling of a need for vengeance had something to do with it.
A time ago, so long ago, this had been a secret, sacred place for the Rich One. It didn't know what that was anymore. Perhaps it was the Rich One. This had to be hidden so that something could be safe. Was that something an item, or a being? It had to be safe from…what? Not something natural…it had something to do with the beast called Man. This room, this secret temple, was the real temple. It had been lavish once. It was bigger than the decoy above. It had since been raided. The gilded walls and floor, along with the carvings, were all that remained. At this thought, if it could be called that, it felt an echo of what one might call pity…or maybe remorse.
It had been…not quite dormant, but less of itself for the longest time. It probably would have decayed into nothing eventually had not something happened one day. It never knew what it was, but whatever it was, a part of it felt rejuvenated. It was too old now to ever return to whatever it used to be, but it could survive now, and it was more awake than it had been in a very, very long time. It's spirit stretched all the way across this arid land, but no further than that. It had never meant to, but all of the animals were suffocated by it, and became part of it, too. Men could withstand it somehow, but wouldn't last especially long without a special man. A special being that could not be harmed by its presence like the others.
By no means was the supernatural man immortal; there were other means by which to take their life. It was much more challenging to kill those types of men, but it was worth it. Their life energy would help restore parts of it. Pursuit of comfort, or some minor form of fulfillment was all that drove it now. It did not know if it could ever truly die, and so it was much better to try and find a purpose. Now, it was consumed by the pursuit of these extraordinary men. It must have as many of them as possible.
And now, what felt like seven of them entered the true temple. It could sense their immense power. They intrigued it. Power like this would be hard to obtain indeed, but it didn't matter. There was ample time. Death was not known to be an option. It was probably too old to feel pain anymore. They saw it. It wondered what it looked like. It must have some sort of appearance, as they were all now looking at it.
They attacked. It was ready. The burnt remains had served as a wall. The bodies of Adepts served as ammunition. As several appendages and an arm flew at them, the warriors recoiled in disgust. One of the females screamed. The Adepts had not completely rotted yet. Even the oldest corpses were not completely skeletons yet.
They unleashed their magical attacks. These didn't hurt, but it could feel weakness. These men were more powerful than any Adepts it had ever encountered. Their powers were strong, but not enough, even in numbers. Three stood behind, watching hopelessly. Two were Sealed, and the other, the youngest, for whatever reason, would not attack. They all watched, with their weapons uselessly at their sides. It wondered if it lacked a physical appearance, and so they refused to physically attack.
It unleashed its own attacks. The room became intensely hot, and the temperature climbed and climbed. It let its essence enwrap them, slowing them down and poisoning them. It would do more, but it needed to save energy, in case their attacks wore it out. It knew their attacks made it steadily weaker.
After the shortest amount of time, the two Sealed were downed. It took longer to down others, but it managed to take down another two. Two men fell eventually. The youth had been protected by one of the fallen. He now stood, his arms outstretched, his sweaty face heavenward. He breathed heavily. The other two, a male and a female, continued to battle. They were drenched in sweat and covered with blood, some of which was their own, some of which was left over from the dead Adepts it had been using as weapons. The woman was using her powers to heal the three of them, and then attack. It found her healing abilities inconvenient, and so halted its heating of the room to use that energy to take her down. It launched a toxic piece of itself at her. She tried to dodge, but it followed, and consumed her. She began to suffocate. She choked something, and then fell on top of a corpse. The remaining fighter roared and launched a dozen attacks on it.
It was feeling so weak now…this group was so strong; they had obviously seen many battles. It just had to eliminate these remaining two and they would all be dead soon…
And suddenly, its mind was clouded, foggy. It didn't understand what was going on. What was doing this? It was confused, sluggish, almost immobile. How much power could possibly be left in such a man? It didn't know how long it could last like this. With one last launch of an Adept's half-rotted skull, it had wasted all. It didn't know what was happening now, but it felt like what its victims had experienced. It was certain this was what it was like to die. It didn't know what would happen afterward, or if anything would happen, but it was unconcerned. It was too ancient.
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(line-ary!)
Felix fell to the ground, exhausted. The room was making short, shallow breaths now. The shadow was dying, he knew, and just in time.
"N-Nathaniel," he said in a hoarse whisper, "y-you…"
He tasted sweat and blood. He watched the boy's feet approach him. Felix was impressed with the boy. His abilities were amazing. If Piers could have seen him….
"Felix, you have to get up. We have to get everyone out of here," he said.
Felix wanted so badly to tap out. He was so close….
He reached over and put a palm on his sister's face. Her eyes were closed. Her forehead was unusually warm. Her face was very damp. She was breathing, however.
"P-potent Cure…" he whispered, and felt the last of his energy drain into her. His hand fell, and he closed his eyes.
Before he was gone, he heard her stir, and somehow, he knew everything would be okay.
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(lah-lah-lah-line!)
IOE: And that's the chapter! Long, no? Did you like it? Geez, everyone's fighting monsters. Excited for the next one? I hope so!
Feizhi: I didn't get what just happened.
Flotsam: (is happily playing in the water, splashing around, squirting water) Please review!