Merry Christmas, everyone.
Chapter fifteen: Hideout
Jack woke up. The Valkyries had been so kind to let him sleep in the Sanctuary—another exception Herskagul had made for him, he'd been told. She must really like him.
He got up and stretched. Despite having been given a decent bed for the first time in a while, he hadn't slept very well. A feeling of unease had been hanging over him all night, being in the Valkyries' domain like this. Most of them obviously didn't like him much. He doubted they were going to kill him in his sleep, but there was always a possibility that he was wrong about that…
He hadn't seen Tristan since their argument in the throne room. Jack reckoned the Overseer was still mad. Hopefully he'd reappear later. Disagreement or no, Jack could use his help.
Jack left his room. He was met with what seemed to be an empty Sanctuary; there weren't even any guards. Most Valkyries were probably out patrolling or something.
Still feeling uneasy, he passed room after room. He wasn't sure if they liked him roaming around the place, but he needed to find someone. The sooner they'd get the map that pointed him to the portal, the better.
Finally he heard voices. He quietly sped towards them.
"—yesterday was yet longer and warmer," said one woman. Jack recognized the voice of Brigul, the snarky Valkyrie who'd greeted him and Skotur at the entrance of the Sanctuary. "More so than last week."
"I know," Skotur's voice responded.
"For the past year, the days have been getting longer and warmer. This isn't natural."
Jack stopped at the doorway, listening.
"You're too worried about this," Skotur said.
"The Blight has been growing weaker, Skotur."
"Good."
"We know these symptoms! Something's wrong…"
"Karthuul is dead, Brigul. You're looking for dangers where there are none."
"Dangers?" Jack said, stepping into the room.
Both Valkyries turned to him. Brigul's frown deepened.
"What dangers?" Jack asked.
"How much of that did you hear?" Skotur asked.
"What dangers? Who is Karthuul?"
"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," Skotur said. "Now that you're awake, we can leave. The Queen has agreed to let us go today."
Jack turned to Brigul. The snarky Valkyrie looked hesitant for a moment, but finally gestured for him to follow her. "This way, human."
She led him to the armory, where the same set of Gravitite equipment was waiting for him.
Jack wasted no time putting on the padded gear first. He then walked over to the remaining armor, took a greave and sat down to put it on. He then reached for the cuisses—protection for upper legs and knees.
"I've heard it said you're from some other world," Brigul said. "Are the humans there as destructive and cowardly as the ones in the Overworld?"
He glanced up. "Subtle. But we don't have mobs to hunt on Earth."
"Humans always find something new to destroy."
Jack paused.
"Hurry up with the armor, will you?" Brigul huffed.
Jack let out a chuckle, fastening the first of the two straps on the cuisse. "Man. Who hurt you?"
"What?"
"Did some human insult you in the past or something?"
She scoffed. "Don't condescend me. Your words mean nothing."
"Whatever," he absently said. He fastened the second strap, then took the second cuisse and resumed his work.
She remained silent for a moment. Finally she said, "You know, you're right; I am insulted."
Jack locked the cuisse in with the lower leg plate—a feature the armor apparently had to keep it in place more easily. Was that a Valkyrie thing, or did human-made steel plate armor have it too?
"Insulted," Brigul said, "that something as low as you is allowed in our Sanctuary."
"Tell that to Herskagul. She's the one who let me in." He fastened the first strap.
"You should be thankful. If it were up to me, I would never have helped you."
The second strap was done easily. His leg plating was pretty much complete. Now the rest of the armor. "Funny. The Hunters were happy to help me when I was at Ironhand for the first time."
"Don't you dare compare me to them," she growled. "I am not a human."
"You're acting like one. An entitled one." He stood up.
She clenched a fist. "I could kill you…"
He brushed past her and grabbed the Gravitite hauberk from its stand. "What, because you're offended? You really are no better than them."
She didn't respond. Jack took a moment to examine the hauberk in his hands. He'd need help putting this on. At least Brigul could make herself useful—
He turned just in time to see the Valkyrie stalk out of the room.
He sighed. "Really?"
He examined the hauberk. Maybe he'd be able to put it on by himself with how little it weighed, but he doubted he could do the same with the rest of the armor.
Thankfully, Skotur entered.
"Oh, hey," Jack said. "Can you help me with this?"
With magenta armor and poleaxe, Jack followed Skotur to the throne room, where Brigul and Herskagul were waiting for them. Brigul was wearing black light armor in addition to metal gauntlets and a helmet without visor. She carried her greatsword like Jack would expect to see someone carry a musket—with her hand holding the pommel, the blade pointed upwards and leaning against her shoulder.
Herskagul didn't come to greet them. She told something to Brigul, who headed over to Jack and Skotur shortly after. She pointedly kept her gaze forward, not looking at Jack directly. Honestly, that was just fine by him.
"Let's go," Skotur said, and she led them away. Jack gave Herskagul one last glance before following Skotur and Brigul to the Sanctuary's entrance.
"Where're we going?" Jack asked.
"There're many locations where we suspect the map is," Skotur said. "But there might be a document that will help us find it."
"A map that leads to a map…"
"The map itself was considered very valuable, once," Skotur said. "It would provide great tactical insight if one wanted to invade the Overworld—or the Aether. So it was hidden away."
"But you know how to find out where it is."
She nodded. "We know of a document that'll reveal the map's location, but we never bothered to take or memorize it. With most portals gone, the map has become a lot less valuable, and we've no interest in its contents."
"At least you remembered where this document was."
"It wasn't hard to remember," Skotur absently said.
"Does the document also say more about that artefact Herskagul wants?" The Queen had shown him a detailed drawing of the artefact in question the day before—an item she wanted Jack to bring as well if he came across it. That was the deal Tristan was so angry about. The artefact itself didn't look like much, but at least it was easy to recognize.
"If it did, we would've taken it," Skotur said.
"Right."
They reached the entrance and crossed the Aercloud outside. They didn't take the same way back as they'd come up—instead Jack turned to the edge and dropped down to the island below. He landed with a thud, his gravity-defying armor protecting him from harm. Skotur and Brigul, in turn, spread their wings and flew up.
Jack examined his armored hand. Time to see what this Gravitite was really capable of.
He carefully started to run, clutching the lightweight poleaxe in one hand. Soon enough, he was traveling forward at relatively high speed, his steps becoming leaps.
He approached a hill and jumped high up. He made a rough landing on the summit. Despite the jump's clumsiness, he felt…free. It was a little like using Aerclouds, but with more control.
He looked at the view as Skotur and Brigul landed next to him. The Aether really did look amazing, with floating isles and mountains all over the place, unfamiliar with the Overworld's concept of gravity. The grass was an ethereal light green, and the trees and their bright leaves added a level of variation to the colorful landscape that he hadn't ever seen on Earth.
"Where to?" he finally asked Skotur.
She pointed. "If we get on that mountain over there, we'll be able to see it."
Brigul nodded and ascended again.
Skotur looked to Jack. "Do you need help getting up there?"
Jack looked. The mountain itself was an island away, but there was an uncanny number of Aerclouds surrounding it. Something told him he could use the practice. He just needed to keep in mind that gravity worked a little differently for him now.
"I'm alright," he said. "You go ahead."
She nodded and flew off. She didn't land on the top of the mountain though, instead landing on the side, where she could watch him. Jack appreciated that; it was always good to have a backup plan in case he fell.
He found a nearby Aercloud. It would've been too high for him to reach otherwise, but with Gravitite he easily made it. He examined the path ahead, thinking of a plan.
Then he jumped onto the Cloud and ran forward. He jumped off at the edge and landed on a blue Cloud, which launched him up like a trampoline. He flew straight into gold from below, propelling him upwards even more.
Right into purple.
As he'd expected, that Cloud was aimed in the right direction, and he shot towards the nearby island. His trajectory forward eventually slowed, and he crashed onto the grassy ground.
He got up. Somehow, he hadn't dropped his weapon during that whole thing.
He approached the mountain and jumped onto its side, where he landed on a relatively flat part. From there, he just walked up; jumping at a steep angle seemed dangerous. If he accidentally pushed himself off against the mountain's side, he'd propel himself away.
Soon enough he reached the top.
"There," Skotur said.
Jack looked up to where she was pointing. "What am I looking at?"
"That sphere."
Only then did he notice it; another floating island in the distance, albeit one with a strange, spherical shape. Its smooth surface contrasted the rough bottoms of a regular Aether island, but he wouldn't've given it a second thought if he didn't know it was important.
"That's where we're headed?" he asked.
"Yes."
His grip on his weapon tightened. "What should we expect in there?"
"Expect? I doubt there's anything we need to worry about."
He looked at her. "… Then why'd we spend half a day sparring?"
"Because the map isn't here, remember? It might be located in a location that is dangerous."
"But it might also not. Maybe we wasted an afternoon training when we could've come here earlier."
"Herskagul wanted to wait until today; I thought we may as well prepare for any encounters. Besides, you wouldn't've been able to keep up with Brigul and me if you hadn't gotten familiar with the armor."
She had a point there. The armor had taken some getting used to. But couldn't they just have flown him the whole way?
No, probably not. After his sparring match with Skotur, he'd learned that Gravitite didn't just affect gravity; it apparently weakened any kind of force applied to him, including the force the Valkyries would've had to exert if they carried him up. That meant his weight wasn't actually any different to them, regardless of whether he wore the armor or not. Superhuman as the Valkyries were, they were bound to grow tired at some point.
Also, he didn't feel like being carried all the way.
Jack still wasn't sure why the armor didn't weaken any force he applied, but that was another one of those things not worth questioning. He was sure there was some logic behind the whole system of how Gravitite worked, but results were the only thing that really mattered.
Jack leaped off the mountain and landed on the ground below. Using his new armor and the nearby Clouds, he returned to the familiar routine of traveling from island to island. Once again he felt fear rise as he looked at the endless depths below, and once again that fear faded as the journey went on. He was actually starting to get used to this. In fact, he felt a certain freedom as he soared through the air, his trajectory guided by the Aerclouds he'd come to know.
The Valkyries flew overhead, keeping a close eye on him. That helped—even if he'd fall, they'd be there to catch him.
Before he knew it, they were there. Jack felt a strange disappointment wash over him as he reached the island below the floating sphere; there weren't any Aerclouds present to help him get to it. He'd need the Valkyries' assistance.
Apparently realizing that too, said Valkyries each grabbed one of his arms and flew him up to the entrance, where they entered the hideout. A wall of warm and dry air hit Jack as he stepped inside. He glanced around the red-bricked room. Just like in the Sanctuary, the walls were decorated with markings that gave just about enough light to see.
He raised his visor, dropping his poleaxe on the ground. "What is this place?"
Skotur raised her own visor. "This was a hideout of an enemy of ours. The Sanctuary—the nearest one, that is—was built after his defeat."
"What enemy?"
"Karthuul. A spirit. Not like the Overseers, but nevertheless powerful enough to pose a threat to us."
"We tried and failed to kill him," Brigul said as she crossed the room to a small alcove with various shelves and chests. She looked to Jack pointedly. "In the end, only one thing proved to be able to match his level of destruction."
"It was a human that did him in?" Jack guessed.
"In short, yes."
"Well, on behalf of humanity, you're welcome."
She scowled and started searching through the scrolls and documents on the shelves.
Jack reluctantly joined her. He opened one of the chests and was greeted by a collection of strangely shaped tools, weapons and other items, made of materials he didn't recognize. Probably not valuable or useful enough for the Valkyries to take.
He turned to the shelves and grabbed two of the scrolls that rested on them. He opened one and looked at its contents.
He immediately sighed. "Well, that's just great."
"What is it?" asked Skotur.
Jack held up the scroll. "I can't read any of this."
Brigul snatched it from his grip and glanced at it. Then she tossed it away. "It's not what we need. Let Skotur look instead. You'll just get in the way."
Jack sighed quietly but stepped back. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right.
He then realized he was still holding the second scroll. He opened it. Might as well take a look, even if he couldn't read anything.
The first thing on it that drew his attention wasn't a written record, but a drawing. It looked like a black circle with some kind of gloss effect on it. No—not a circle; a sphere. The drawing was accurate to the point where the depicted item reflected light, and the wavy patterns on the surface further decorated it. The artwork looked quite realistic.
It was also familiar. "Isn't this what Herskagul was looking for?" he asked, showing the others the drawing.
Skotur nodded. "Yes, that's the artefact. But that document doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, and none of the scrolls in this place tell us where to find it. We already checked that."
Brigul took the scroll from Jack's hand. She examined the texts with a frown.
Minutes passed as the two Valkyries continued their research. Jack felt useless—and increasingly less hopeful. The document had to be here, right?
"Here," Skotur finally said, holding up a piece of parchment. "I found it."
"Good," Jack said. "What does it say?"
"That's the bad news," Skotur said. "The map is located in the Labyrinth."
"The Labyrinth?"
"The Slider's Labyrinth. It used a Valkyrie storage vault, but no one has been there for a long time."
"The map we're looking for," Jack slowly said, "is in a Valkyrie outpost…"
"An abandoned Valkyrie outpost. One with active defensive measures that we lost control over long ago…"
Jack looked at her in disbelief. "Lost control? Wait—you're not saying they turned against you?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. We should return to the Sanctuary and reorient."
"No, no, no—we should go to the Labyrinth right now."
"If we go there right now without preparing, you're more likely to die without reaching the map."
"What is there to prepare? Let's just go and tear the place apart until we find that fucking map."
"We've got documents on the Labyrinth's defenses," Skotur said, stoic as ever. "If we know what to expect, we know how to overcome them more efficiently."
Jack clenched his teeth but swallowed any counterarguments. There wasn't any rushing this if he wanted to get back to the Overworld alive. "Fine. Let's go." He turned to Brigul—who was still reading the scroll he'd given her, a thoughtful frown on her face.
"Brigul?" asked Skotur.
Brigul glanced up, saying nothing. Her usual sternness had softened and was replaced by uncertainty. She glanced to Skotur, then to Jack.
Finally she placed the scroll back on the shelf. Without another word, she stalked to the entrance.