Chapter 30 – Crystal Clockwork (William)
William stumbled as something crashed into his back. Murky, violet energy washed over him, draining his stamina and the color from his vision. He planted his club on the ground, keeping himself from falling over.
"Will!" Chase hollered ahead of him. "Are you okay– what is that thing?!"
William pushed himself back up and turned to face his assailant.
A few yards away was a floating specter with a large, pointed hat and red gemstones on their chest: a Mismagius. Yet something was off about them. This Mismagius wasn't colored purple like he had read about– it was black and shimmering like oil, and their eyes were entirely red.
Things had changed so fast since William and Chase regained consciousness in a rocky pit. They were alone, their only path forward being a stone, hexagonal tunnel, with glowing red crystals on the walls and holes in the ceiling. The only other notable feature was a strange, black liquid dripping from those holes, forming small puddles.
Just as they spotted a trace of purple light at the end of the tunnel, William was attacked by this shadowy specter.
And the gems on that specter's chest glowed violet, prompting William to leap behind the cover of a crystal– another Shadow Ball rushed past him.
"Yikes!" Chase yelped, jumping out of the way.
William retrieved an Oran berry from his pack and bit into it, kickstarting his rejuvenation. "Chase, keep going!" he called. "I'll hold them off!"
"Okay!" Chase bound toward the next red crystal, weaving to take cover behind it.
Meanwhile, a fiery orb formed in front of Mismagius, which bloomed into a Mystical Fire that rushed toward the Bulbasaur. The blue-rimmed, orange fireball illuminated the hex tunnel and raced past Chase.
"Wow, that's hot!" he exclaimed.
William glanced down at his bone club and its geometric runes. If that Mismagius was using fire, he could harness it and fight back. As the Oran he ate restored his vitality, he rose to his feet.
"Almost there!" Chase called, scampering closer to the end of the tunnel.
Their pursuer conjured more swirling flames and launched another Mystical Fire down the corridor.
William leaped out of cover, raising his bone club high. Flames washed over his club as he stood defiant against their searing heat. Once again his cudgel glowed red with tendrils of fire, its runes alight, and he made the power his own.
He swung his club, lighting up the tunnel with a streak of flames.
The demon began conjuring a Shadow Ball, but reeled back as William's infernal wave crashed into it, stunning them.
"Will!" Chase called.
"On my way!" William answered, and he ran toward him. The violet glow at the end of the tunnel grew brighter as he ran past the red crystals.
"Wait, slow down!" Chase warned.
William promptly skidded to a halt as he caught up with Chase. The two swept their gaze over the sight before them.
The end of the tunnel didn't lead to an exit– it led to a massive, amethyst shaft. Below and above was a spiraling, vertical tunnel of purple crystals. Many of the shards were large enough for them to climb and stand on. Several other tunnels bore into the walls, though there was no telling where they might lead.
"This place is enormous!" Chase remarked. "Where do we even go?"
William glanced all around, knowing that the Mismagius would pursue them again soon. Down below, the shaft plummeted into a dark hole. It was too deep to see the bottom– that wasn't an option. Above, the other tunnels looked identical to each other– they could lead to dead-ends. But the very top of the shaft was visible.
"Look, up there," William pointed with his still-flaming club.
The ceiling was a luminous dome of geodes. Among the shimmering fractals was a large, luminous crystal, pointing down. It was bright enough to light the whole shaft, and the edges of the dome's rim appeared to be a wide opening– an exit.
"We can climb up," William said, tightening his backpack's straps. "We'll jump across the crystals."
"You sure about that?" Chase questioned. "That's a loooong way down."
But before they could argue, a blood-curdling shriek blasted through the corridor behind them– Mismagius was coming.
"We don't have a choice!" William swung his club, hurling another fireball towards Mismagius. He didn't wait to see if his shot landed– he took a running start and leaped left to a nearby amethyst.
Clack!
Latching on with his flaming hook, he hauled himself up onto the platform.
"Wait for me!" Chase hollered. He jumped and shot his vines out, grappling himself onto the same platform as William. And not a moment too soon– a Mystical Fire shot out from the corridor.
The crystals shimmered with fiery, orange reflections as Chase hauled himself up.
"Keep moving," William urged, and he leaped towards a higher crystal.
Clack!
As he pulled himself up Chase was right behind him, tethering himself to the crystal with his vines.
Meanwhile, the dark Mismagius burst out from the tunnel. Their red-eyed glare locked on to the two.
"That ghost is back and we've got no cover," Chase said, glancing around the shaft. "Now what?"
William's mind raced. There was nothing between them and the ghost's attacks, and he knew that they couldn't endure them for long. They had to use tactics.
"Chase, you jump and I'll cover you," William said, readying his club.
Another Mystic Fire swirled around the ghost, painting them with an ominous incandescence.
"Go!" William urged before Chase could argue.
Chase leaped to another crystal, latching on with his vines and pulling himself in.
Mismagius took aim–
Woosh!
William hurled forth a flaming Bonemerang, forcing Mismagius to jet aside. Their Mystic Fire faded as their concentration broke.
"Now you cover me!" William called, and his hot Bonemerang blitzed back to him, leaving a ring of fire in its wake. As soon as he caught it, he ran and leaped over the dark below.
Ghostly fog converged in front of Mismagius, charging up a Shadow Ball.
But they flinched as a volley of Razor Leaves peppered them, breaking their concentration again.
Clack!
William clambered onto the next crystal. Chase wrapped his vines around him, helping him climb up.
"Th-thanks," William huffed, catching his breath.
"Our attacks aren't doing much," Chase said. "But that big crystal, it feels like sunlight! I bet I could charge a Solarbeam!"
A crystal infused with solar light? This dungeon raised questions faster than William could ever ponder them– especially with the demonic forces hunting them down.
William nodded. "Charge your beam and keep climbing!"
They repeated the same process. Chase would jump, and William would draw the ghost's attention by attacking it. After Chase landed, he would return the favor: attacking the ghost so William could catch up. They escalated through the shaft at a breakneck pace while keeping Mismagius too busy to launch an attack.
But their luck didn't last. After four more jumps, the flames of William's club faded, reverting back to its normal form. More urgently, Mismagius also changed their tactics.
As William ran and leaped, the ghost ignored him and focused on Chase. The Bulbasaur launched another volley of Razor Leaves, but those leaves burst into flames as Mismagius finally shot a Mystic Fire, aimed at him.
"Ack!"
Chase jumped away from the infernal blast, hastily shooting out a vine to the next crystal. He swung over the chasm as the Mystic Fire flared the spot he stood on a moment ago.
"Chase!" William called as he climbed.
"I-I'm okay!" he replied, awkwardly spinning below the next crystal. One of his side pouches had popped open, and a handful of berries spilled out, falling into the abyss. "…My snacks aren't."
Nearby, Mismagius charged another fiery attack.
"Pull yourself up!" William urged, and he swung forth a Bonemerang.
Once again the ghost flipped out of the way, letting the speeding bone club whizz past them. They locked eyes with William and charged a new attack, pulling murky darkness from the ether, forming it into a sphere.
But Chase was still hauling himself toward the next platform– he couldn't cover William.
Bonemerang flew back to him just as a Shadow Ball formed. Mismagius launched it, and the ghostly projectile raced right behind William's weapon.
He caught his club and shielded himself–
FWOOOOuuum…
Phantasmal energy enveloped William, washing over his skin, invading his pores. It spread to his very sinew and bones, infecting his whole self with a chilling burn. As the darkness faded, the world was drained of color, and exhaustion took its place.
"Will!" Chase shouted, muffled.
The Cubone planted his feet, holding himself steady. By force of will his energy rekindled, and a fraction of his strength returned. Colors filled his surroundings, and his eyes were drawn to something dark and violet.
But it wasn't the amethyst.
His bone club resembled the depths of darkness. Its calcium turned black with an outline of luminous purple. The geometric runes glowed as well, flickering like a candle in the wind. The air around the bludgeon shimmered like a mirage, distorting everything around it.
He stared at his weapon in awe, as if he wielded shadows-made-solid.
Had it absorbed Ghost-type energy?
"Look out!" Chase called, finally clambering on to the next crystal.
William's attention went back to Mismagius, who had already charged up another Shadow Ball. William deftly swung his club, weaving a dark blur and launching a Shadow Ball of his own.
The projectiles collided, and both fizzled into dark fog as they canceled each other out, fading into air.
"Hang on!" Chase hollered, and fired another Razor Leaf barrage.
Mismagius bobbed and weaved, spiraling around the Bulbasaur's attack.
Meanwhile, William took his shot and swung again, casting another Shadow Ball from his ghost-infused club. Energy rippled the air as it soared across the shaft, then crashed into Mismagius.
The ghost reeled and flipped back as dark fog washed over them. The attack was far more effective than anything else they had tried.
"That's amazing!" Chase exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"
William glanced at his club, still black and purple from the ghost-type energy it had absorbed. "No time to wonder," he said, and promptly jumped towards Chase's crystal.
Clack!
Chase wrapped his vines around William, helping to lift him up again.
"We're almost to the top," William said, pointing toward the ceiling. "Just a few more jumps."
"Okay," Chase nodded. "Let's–"
WRRRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRUUUUGGH!
An ear-rattling shriek echoed through the shaft. William and Chase both flinched as the noise eviscerated the air.
"Owww…" Chase hissed, taking his hands off his ears. "What was that?"
William dared to peer over the edge.
Below, a black whirlpool formed in the depths of the shaft. Its liquids churned clockwise, echoing a dull roar as it drained into the unknown. From the tunnels, dark liquid flowed out, cascading down the amethyst clusters, funneling into the whirlpool. Mismagius glared up with a blood-red gaze, and from the murky waterfalls of oil, other shapes materialized.
New creatures rose from the liquid, all resembling ghost-type mons. Haunter, Drifblim, and Sableye. All of them bore the same, oily-black skin that resembled the night sky, and the same malicious red-glow where their eyes should be.
They all stared up at him.
William tightened the grip on his club. "Trouble," he answered. "Move!"
The shadowy creatures rose through the shaft, and William rapidly swung his club. One, two, three Shadow Balls surged toward the demons, striking all but Mismagius with ghostly energy. The three shuddered, floating and dazed from the impact.
Meanwhile, Chase tethered and pulled himself toward the next crystal platform. He was only a few jumps away from the top.
Mismagius rose through the shaft, their robes wavering in motion.
William readied his fourth swing, his arm sore from exertion. But as he held his club in front of him, the darkness within faded, the glow dulled. As he swung, the Shadow Ball he produced was half the size, and moved at half the speed. Mismagius dodged the diminished attack easily.
Did his rapid swinging deplete the infused energy? It certainly took a physical toll on him, between that, the climbing, and the hit he took just recently.
"Solarbeam's almost ready!" Chase called. "Just need a little more…"
As William panted for breath, Mismagius rose to his level, their gaze locking onto him. The gem on the demon's chest glowed white, charging up a new attack.
"Watch out!" Chase warned from up high.
A lance of white light erupted from Mismagius, grazing William's helmet as he fell onto his back. The beam of Power Gem struck a crystal of the shaft– and it instantly split into a number of smaller beams, shooting out of the facets. The smaller beams spread out and struck more crystals, further refracting into smaller laser beams, until they faded.
William's mind raced. The crystals could diffuse and spread beams of light. If Power Gem refracted that much, what could a stronger light-based attack do?
Grrrrrrr…
Guttural growls rose through the shaft. Those other demons were recovering, and they were about to regroup with Mismagius. Haunter, Drifblim, and Sableye all rose up beside them. Their eyes locked on William, casting his skull in a shade of red light. He rose to his feet and backed away, pressing himself to the wall.
"I've got it!" Chase called. He stood on the edge of his crystal. An orb of white light grew above his bulb, and he tensed his body. "Just gotta aim!"
Not only would aiming down be awkward, but there was no way Chase could hit all of them. Unless…
William looked up at the top of the shaft, toward the large, luminous crystal. The one that lit the shaft and charged Chase's Solarbeam.
He pointed his club straight up. "Shoot that!"
Hesitation flickered on Chase's face, and his eyes darted between the solar crystal and the ghosts. But as the latter conjured their next moves, he nodded.
Across from William, the four ghosts gathered their energy– a curtain of dark fog, staring him down like the void. He raised his club, but he knew that blocking what came next would be futile. The mass of ghostly energy expanded, distorting the air as its summoners growled. Then, suddenly–
Peshow!
White light flashed above. Chase's Solarbeam struck the luminous crystal. The crystal brightened, and from each of its facets, refracted rays lanced out. The light spread out to other crystals– which spread more light to more crystals– and within a second the whole shaft was flooded with light.
Solar lasers ricocheted all around the amethysts, accompanied by a cacophony of noise –screaming, wailing, howling– all echoing alongside the light. The entire shaft heated up, as if every single crystal had spontaneously combusted. William shielded his eyes, guarding himself from agonizing sensory overload.
…
The chaos ebbed as quickly as it had arrived. The crescendo of noise and heat vanished. Reluctantly, William opened his eyes. Everything looked as it did just a few seconds ago, except the shadowy demons were gone. Once again, he dared to look over the edge.
Below, cascades of dark liquid continued falling into a swirling, black whirlpool at the bottom of the shaft. In the center of that vortex, numerous red lights flashed, flickered, and ultimately faded, blending with the oily current.
"It worked," Chase called from above. "I… I can't believe that worked!"
"Neither can I," William replied.
He took a step back, fell to his rear, and expelled a tense sigh.
Only a few minutes ago, he and Chase had awakened inside of this twisting, crystalline labyrinth. In that short time, they had been attacked by bizarre monsters, climbed a shaft of amethyst to escape, and discovered new, unexpected ways to use their abilities. Chase could use his Solarbeam on crystals to spread it out further. But more surprisingly, William's bone club could absorb more than just fire.
He glanced down at his club, recalling how it let him hurl Shadow Balls at those ghostly demons. The islander Marowaks he had heard about– they were fire and ghost types. Was this another clue to William's origins? Was it possible for his bone club to absorb other types of energy? In either case, given how dangerous this dungeon was, he would have to use his weapon's power to the fullest if he and his teammates were to survive.
At the thought of his teammates, William stood up.
"I don't know if there are more monsters waiting for us," he said. "But we better get out of here and find the others as soon as we can."
"Gotta agree," Chase said. "We're almost outta this place. Just a few more jumps. Ready?"
William nodded. He and Chase resumed their ascent, taking their time now that they weren't under attack. Soon they had reached the top of the shaft, arriving at the opening they had spotted earlier.
This tunnel was taller than the ones below, and thankfully, had no trace of that strange, dark liquid. More notably, a few yards in the passage veered right, leading up a slope.
"Any idea what we'll find next?" Chase wondered.
William stepped forward. "Only one way to find out."
William and Chase traversed the gray stone passage, which seemed to be a gradual spiral that coiled upward, around the amethyst shaft. More red crystals jutted out of the walls, shading the corridor in dim, maroon light. Curiously, these crystals didn't hold a steady glow. Their light flickered like fire, casting waving shadows over the stone. When William reached out to one, he found that it was warm to the touch.
As the slope leveled out, their ascent led them to a pair of metal doors, each one about six feet tall.
"That looks big and heavy," Chase noted.
"And unlike anything else we've seen," William added. "Almost like someone built it…"
"Probably those Eidolons." Chase tensed his body, aiming his bulb toward the metal. "What if they're behind those doors?"
William pondered that possibility. The only other place they could go was back to the shaft to explore the other tunnels. But he had no intention of turning around. "I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice," he said. To the right, he spotted a lever embedded in the wall beside the door. He raised his free hand, gripping the lever.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Chase's expression hardened. "Ready as the sunrise."
William nodded and braced himself. With a grunt of effort, he pulled the lever.
Cur-lank!
A series of clicks and clanks echoed within the walls, building up a mechanical chorus. The floor rumbled, and the noise rose further as the doors slid apart. William swept his head up, watching the spectacle with a sense of awe. It crescendoed into a dull boom.
Beyond the barrier was a chamber shrouded in darkness, with only a few dim lights glinting inside. William stood frozen in place, club held high to defend himself. Behind him, Chase was spring-loaded.
The glints of light before them were equally still. The echoes faded, leaving only silence.
Quietly, William cleared his throat. "…Hello?"
…
The dark silence held steady. The glints remained still.
William glanced back at Chase. The two nodded at each other, and William stepped across the threshold. One slow step after another he ventured inside, with Chase following. Each step taken, they were ready to jump back. The glints of light subtly shifted. Everything else remained still and silent.
"I think," Chase dared to whisper, "it's just us in here."
"It seems that way," William agreed. The chamber looked spacious, but there was no way to tell how big it really was– or what was in it– unless they found some way to light it up. "Let's look around. Maybe we can find something useful."
"Alright." Chase slithered out a vine, using it as a feeler as he checked the left side of the chamber.
William, meanwhile, checked the right side, sticking close to the wall. His vision adjusted to the low-light environment. Along the wall he found a table, which had an assortment of objects laying on it. They appeared to be various metals, minerals, and powders. Further down were flasks containing colored liquids. At the edge of the table was a toolbox with a hammer, pick, and brushes, as well as an earth-coated shovel leaning against the table.
"This looks like mining equipment," William said. "Have you found anything, Chase?"
"Got some bookshelves over here," Chase said. "And some cots. No one's sleeping in them, though. Almost like this is some kind of dorm?"
So this place had equipment, books, and bedding. All that leaned into the theory that this chamber was artificial– created by the Eidolons instead of the dungeon itself. Assuming this was true, it raised even more questions. How did they carve this space out of the dungeon, and for what purpose?
If they were going to find more answers, they'd need some light. "Do you see any candles over there?" William asked. "Or lamps?"
"Hmm…" Chase walked around, prodding his surroundings with his vines. "No, no lamps or candles. Wait… I feel another lever on the wall. A small one."
Another piece of machinery. If this chamber really is a safe spot within the dungeon, created by the Eidolons, then there shouldn't be any ill-effects from using it. "Let's test it," William said.
"Alright, here goes." With his vine, Chase pushed up the small lever.
Click!
Soft, warm lights instantly illuminated the chamber. William glanced up and spotted a series of orbs embedded in the ceiling, emitting the light.
"Whoa, that was fast!" Chase remarked.
"All these lit up, just from that lever?" William asked.
"Seems like it!"
William glanced at Chase, spotting him next to the shelves and cots.
Chase's glance drifted from the ceiling back to the lever. "I wonder, what if I flipped it again…?"
Click!
The lights instantly vanished, shrouding the whole chamber in darkness once again.
Click!
And once again the orbs lit up, bringing light back into the chamber.
"Wow," Chase awed. "Instant lights. How'd they set that up?"
"I have no idea," William replied. Perhaps they had some system to bring fire to those orbs in the ceiling. Or maybe those lights came from a source other than fire? "Since we have lights, though, we should–"
He stopped as he looked toward the center of the chamber.
There were several floating geodes: smooth, egg-shaped rocks with vibrant crystals jutting out of their sides. These levitating stones were arranged in two rings– an outer ring, and an inner ring. The outer ring contained geodes with black and white minerals, such as opal and obsidian. The inner ring had chromatic geodes, like ruby and sapphire, housing all colors of the spectrum. The floor beneath the geodes was a smooth, deep-blue agate, with a small hole under each geode.
"What…" William pointed toward the floating geodes. "Is that?"
Chase glanced over, shook his head, and did a double-take with wide eyes. "Whoa…" His awestruck gaze reflected the crystalline glints. "This dungeon's been something else, but I've never seen anything like this."
William's mind blitzed through his memories, his thoughts swept by a tide of déjà vu. "I have."
"Really?!" Chase turned toward him. "Where?"
"In a dream. A long time ago."
"Oh." Chase tilted his head. "I'm not sure that really counts…"
William recalled some of his earliest memories. The night he had spent in the clinic, he experienced a dream of white fog and vibrant, floating geodes, like the ones before them.
"In that dream," he continued, "these crystals had different reactions to the touch. So, maybe if we interact with these…?"
He approached the outer ring, silently counting the floating rocks. Each ring had twelve geodes, bringing the total to twenty-four. One geode caught his eye, it had clear minerals jutting out, like diamonds. William stepped toward it, holding out his hand.
"Careful," Chase warned, tensing his bulb. "We don't know what that'll do. It might blow up, or something."
To be fair, that did happen in William's dream.
"That's a possibility," he admitted. "But we won't learn unless we try something."
He reached the geode and gently rubbed the smooth, stone exterior. It was cool to the touch, but also had something subtle lingering within. It was almost undetectable, yet he was sure he could feel it– a pulse of power.
The diamonds glowed. The whole geode slowly spiraled down, embedding itself in the small hole. The floor around the geode began to glow with two rays of golden light, crossing each other.
William stepped back, observing the various glows, listening to their humming energy.
"…Did that happen in your dream?" Chase asked.
"No."
Questions flooded William's mind faster than he could answer them. Why were there twenty-four geodes? Why were they arranged in two rings? Was there any reason why they were arranged with different colored crystals? But most importantly– what was this device, and what purpose did it serve?
"I wanna try it!" Chase declared, and he hurried up the right side of the outer ring. With his vines he poked an obsidian geode. The black, volcanic glass reacted similarly to the diamond geode: glowing minerals, then slowly spiraling down into the floor, conjuring a crisscross of golden light.
The diamond geode reacted. The lights on the floor beneath it faded. It twisted back to its original position, levitating like all the others.
"Fascinating," William raised a hand to his chin. "It seems that only one can be 'active' at a time."
He observed other features of the device. In the center of the inner ring were two half-circles, joined together. One half was black, and the other was white. The whole circle contained a cluster of arrows, pointing in all directions like a compass.
Outside the rings, toward the back, was some kind of metal pillar, fitted with levers, gears, and transparent pipes. And behind that was a large arch, against the chamber's back wall. Still, none of these offered clues as to the purpose of this device.
"What about that inner ring?" Chase asked. "The one that's all rainbow-like?"
That was a good question. They had touched two geodes of the outer ring, but none of the inner ring. William approached the inner ring and moved left, reaching out toward a sapphire geode. As he touched it, the floating stone reacted like the others: spiraling down and creating glowing lines once embedded in the floor. He glanced back and saw that the obsidian geode of the outer ring remained in its place. Moreover, the black and white compass in the center then began to glow, as if inviting them.
"That's gotta be the last part," Chase said.
"Let's see what it does." William moved toward the half circles, and stepped onto the black one. It sank into the floor with a quiet click.
From the two geodes in the agate floor, colors washed over the ground, like ripples in a pond. The golden rays of light snaked across, moving toward the compass. Once they touched the center, the arrows shined with a golden hue.
Seconds passed as William and Chase waited.
"…Did that do anything?" Chase wondered.
Just as he asked, the lights above began to fade. The room didn't return to total darkness, but it was definitely dimmer. William glanced up.
He hadn't noticed it until now, but the ceiling above the device was some kind of dome. And right now, that dome was a deep, murky-blue, with strokes of purple and a red glow along the edge, and white dots speckled throughout.
"D-did it get chilly in here?" Chase said, and he looked up, too. "What is this?"
"An evening sky," William said, walking away from the center. He observed the device. The two geodes they had touched returned to their original position, and all the crystals glinted under starlight. There was also a new detail on the arch toward the back.
The top of the arch had three orbs embedded in it, and the one of the left was now glowing blue. That had to be in response to what they just did, but he still had no idea what any of it meant.
"Brrrr," Chase shivered. "Can we turn on the sun again?"
"Perhaps," William replied. "If we can figure out how." They would need to keep using this device if they were going to understand it.
"Lemme see," Chase said as he scampered to the upper end of the rings. He touched an opal geode on the outer ring, then a ruby geode on the inner ring. Finally, he stepped onto the white half of the compass in the center. Colors rippled over the agate, golden rays traced into the compass, and the dome above brightened. The artificial sky shifted from dark blue to cerulean, and the stars were replaced with fluffy clouds.
"Now this is more like it!" Chase said, basking in the dome's daylight.
William rubbed his chin with his club. "So, this device takes input from these geodes, one from each of the two rings, and one of the two buttons in the center. Then it shows a different time of day above."
"So it's got something to do with time?" Chase said.
"That seems to be the case," William nodded. "There are twelve geodes in each ring. In this context, they're like the hour and minute hands of a clock. "It's like a 'Geode Clock'."
"Hmm… how about 'Crystal Clock'?" Chase suggested. "Sounds better with alliteration, right?"
"Either name is fine." William looked toward the metallic arch again. "Though I have a feeling that this device does more than emulate the passing of time."
Another orb on the arch had lit up: the middle orb was red. Perhaps if they lit up the last orb with another input, the arch would activate. But what would it do, exactly? As he wondered about the possibilities, it dawned on William that he hadn't checked the metal pillar between the geodes and the arch, so he walked over to it.
The pillar was made of a warm-colored metal, adorned with gears and clear tubes on one side, and a series of levers on the other. As he walked around it, William noticed something laying on top: a book.
"Find something?" Chase asked.
William grabbed the book, rubbing a hand over its worn, maroon, leatherbound cover. He opened it and turned its amber-colored pages. He soon found an eye-catching illustration: a drawing of the floating geodes before him, all twenty-four of them. Above the drawing was a label.
Notes on the Dimension Dial.
"I have," William answered. "I think you'll want to see this, too."
Chase walked over, and William kneeled down to show him the drawing.
"Whoa," Chase breathed. "'Dimension Dial'? …I think I like our names better."
"Maybe, but a name like this leads me to believe that this device does do more than show an artificial sky."
"So like, is this some kinda instruction book?"
"We're about to find out." William turned the page, ready to read its contents. However…
Supply Depot
Ext: E (Obs.), S (Dia.), W (Ony.)
Int: W (Sap./Ame.), N (Rub.), SE-A (Cit.)
Core: 1, 1, 2
Bunker
Ext: SE-A(Opa.), W (Ony.), NW-B (Obs.)
Int: SW-A (Eme./Sap.), NE-B (Top.), SE-B (Cit./Eme.)
Core: 1, 2, 2
A series of codes spanned the whole page, as well as the next one. He flipped to the next page, and once again there were more codes. Yet there weren't any notes that explained them.
"The heck does all this mean?" Chase said with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know," William admitted. He turned back to the page that had an illustration of the device. "But maybe we can figure it out?" He walked around the rings, constantly glancing between the device and the illustrations in the book. There had to be some kind of correlating pattern.
The outer ring's geodes alternated between black and white. The inner ring's geodes followed the colors of the rainbow. The center depicted a compass. William double-checked the notes, looking for any mention of the crystals' colors. But once again, all he found were more strange codes.
"How about we change the time some more?" Chase said, walking around the other side. "Put in some other combos, see what happens?"
"Go ahead," William nodded.
Chase went on to test various combinations of the Geode Clock, changing the time of day depicted by the dome above. Meanwhile, William observed the changes, still trying to decipher the meaning of the codes. He also watched the three orbs on the arch. After Chase entered a new input, the third and final orb on the arch lit up. But otherwise, it had no reaction.
As Chase continued shifting the chamber's time between midday and midnight, the glowing orbs on the arch reset anytime he entered more than three inputs. Was it just some kind of counter, or did it serve some other purpose? If it was the latter, did it not react because their combinations were invalid? Or was there another element to using the Geode Clock that they weren't aware of?
As time flowed, so too did new ideas in William's mind. He pieced together logical links between the geodes and the cryptic journal in his hands. Chase, after trying at least a dozen inputs, approached him.
"I'm tempted to make it night and take a nap," he said. "You figure anything out?"
"I may have," William answered, and he kneeled down to share the journal with Chase again. "These codes could be abbreviations."
"Abbreviations?" Chase repeated. "So like, shorthand?"
William nodded. "This device has three layers to it: the outer ring, inner ring, and center compass." He traced a finger over the codes. "With this in mind, these first abbreviations, 'E-X-T' and 'I-N-T', may mean 'exterior' and 'interior.'"
Chase glanced between the journal and the device. "Okay, that's a start. And you said the center looks like a compass?"
"Yes, that brings us to the next part of the code. They contain letters such as S, W, and E. In this context, it most likely refers to direction, such as south and west."
Chase looked on, focusing on the center of the Geode Clock. "When you put it that way, yeah, it makes sense! But… that compass has no letters on it. How do we know which way's north?"
"We use the next abbreviations," William said as he pointed to the text, highlighting 'Dia.' and 'Ame.'. "Since these are geodes. We can see that these letters represent the different crystals. 'D-I-A' could stand for 'diamond,' and 'A-M-E' could stand for 'amethyst.'"
Chase's forehead wrinkled as he processed William's words. "Then which one is next to 'N' for 'North'?"
"'R-U-B'," William read. "Which has to mean 'ruby.' Look, that's the one closest to us." He pointed toward a floating rock closest to the metal panel. Brilliant red crystals protruded from it.
Chase's expression softened and he nodded. "It's all coming together! So then there's that compass in the middle, split between black and white."
"Right. That one is straightforward, since there are only two options. It's just a matter of understanding which is '1,' and which is '2.'"
"So assuming all this is right," Chase said slowly, "we can use those codes, and maybe something will happen?"
"It's a possibility we can't ignore," William said. "So far, all of our inputs have changed the time of day on that dome above. That arch behind it hasn't reacted much, yet… Since these codes are labeled with locations, I believe that this arch may be some kind of portal machine."
"Portals?" Chase said with a raised brow. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, it reminds me of that portal we crossed to get in here, over the water. But besides that…" William couldn't quite explain why he felt this way. He had little evidence to work with, and the device before them was so arcane and alien. "Just intuition."
"Hmm…" Chase glanced at the arch with a quizzical expression. "If you're right, maybe it can get us out of the dungeon! After we find everyone first."
"Exactly. Though, we still don't know what this metal pillar is for." William's hand glided over the smooth, cool bronze, feeling the gears and levers.
"Let's pull some levers then," Chase suggested.
William closed the journal and, one at a time, he pulled the levers on the right side of the pillar. They clicked into place, and a gear would turn. But otherwise, there was little reaction from the mechanism. Even as he tried different combinations of levers, nothing from the arch or the Geode Clock changed.
"There has to be something we're missing," William said.
"Is there anything else in that journal?" Chase asked. "Maybe deeper in the pages?"
William once again flipped through the amber-colored paper, darting past the various shorthand codes listed throughout. Soon he found a new set of illustrations, depicting the very same pillar and arch that he and Chase had been working with.
"Right here," William pointed, explaining the illustration he had discovered. "It looks like there's a panel on the back side of this pillar. According to this, it's meant to be a cavity that holds…" He squinted at the page.
The drawing depicted a round, colorful stone, with countless splinters of the spectrum displaying every shade of every color. It looked like a dark rainbow contained within smooth glass. Something about it seemed familiar.
"Hey, haven't we seen this before?" Chase said, conveying the same sense of familiarity.
William set down the journal and swung his backpack around. He reached inside, feeling something round and smooth. He pulled it out, revealing a brilliant stone of rainbow fractals.
"That shiny rock we found," Chase recalled. "Back in Amber Heights, near that frozen part of the aqueduct!"
William then placed the stone on the ground, next to the illustration in the journal.
They were an exact match.
"This stone," William began, "goes inside of this pillar. And if it does," he glanced over his shoulder. "This portal machine, or whatever it may be, should activate."
With a quick glance William found the hatch on the metal pillar. He pulled it open and sure enough, there was a socket inside built to house the stone. After a moment of hesitation, he lifted the colorful rock into the cavity.
As soon as it was fitted, the stone and surrounding machinery glowed. The gears within clicked into place, and the transparent tubes filled with a bright liquid that resembled sunlight. The levers slowly flashed with new lights as the device hummed to life.
"Now we're getting somewhere!" Chase said.
"We're making progress," William agreed. He eyed the golden liquid and numerous levers, then double-checked the book. "Though, it seems like this journal doesn't explain which levers to use."
"Guess we'll have to try 'em one at a time." Chase went ahead and wrapped a vine around the lowest lever, then pulled it.
Cur-lank!
The gears churned, and soon the floor emanated with a rumbling chorus, hinting at an intricate web of mechanisms below their feet. A steady drone sounded off behind William, and he turned around. He expected to see a portal form within the metallic arch.
The arch hadn't changed. But the wall behind it had.
A clean split appeared in the middle of the wall and the two halves parted, sliding in opposite directions. The rumbling stopped with a dull boom as a hidden passage opened, showing a new space shrouded in darkness.
"This place is fulla surprises," Chase said. "Wonder what's back there?"
Out of caution, William took the journal he found and stored it in his backpack. He squinted into the dark. There wasn't much he could make out from where he stood. He wasn't inclined to explore it now, not when they were just figuring out how to operate this Geode Clock.
But he spotted something that demanded his attention. From the shadows, a pair of red eyes met his gaze.
William raised his bone club. "Trouble," he answered. "Again."
Chase noticed that they weren't alone, and he too assumed a defensive position.
The red eyes slowly approached, moving out of the dark passage and into the light of the chamber.
The eyes belonged to a disc-shaped creature, with a steel-blue exterior and a spike for a nose. It had two other appendages: a pair of claw-tipped arms protruding from its lower side. It didn't have any legs– it hovered above the ground by some unknown means.
The creature stopped under the arch, glancing between William and Chase with an unreadable expression.
"W… What is that?" Chase wondered aloud.
William traced his eyes over the newcomer. Even with his limited memory, he had been able to recognize several mons he had encountered. Those shadowy demons from earlier resembled mons, tainted by unknown corruption. This creature was unlike anything he had ever seen. Even Chase couldn't identify it.
"…Who are you?" William ventured.
The metallic creature stared at him, silent and unblinking. Yet William could make out some kind of text engraved on its metallic shell.
"…'Metang'?" he read aloud.
"Bless you?" Chase said uncertainty.
"No, that's what it says," William corrected, pointing at the engraved text. "Metang #08."
The creature, Metang, sounded off with some kind of metallic resonance, as if responding to William. It inched closer to him, red eyes appraising the Cubone.
William took a step back, raising his club higher. What did this 'Metang' intend to do? Was it some kind of defensive sentry? Would it attack them?
"Easy now," Chase uttered. "Nice, uh, metal… crab?"
Metang paid no attention to Chase. It was focused solely on William, shortening the gap between itself and him.
"Can you understand us?" William asked.
Metang stopped. After a pause, it once again buzzed with a metallic resonance. It raised one of its clawed arms, aiming it at William.
"What's he–" Chase began, but before he could finish, reddish-purple energy coated Metang's arm. The psychic power spread to William's bone club, which was yanked from his grasp.
"H-hey!" William sputtered, falling forward as he tried to hang on.
His bone club zipped into Metang's grasp like a magnet, and the metallic creature promptly turned and soared away, retreating into the chamber it had emerged from.
Chase's mouth hung open. "D-did he just…!?
It took a moment for William's shock to settle in. His club– his weapon, climbing pick, the extension of himself that had always been at his side– was just taken from him. And as Metang receded into the secret passage, the walls that had parted to reveal it began to close once more. All sense of William's cautious curiosity evaporated. In its place was a fervent, single-minded goal.
William pushed himself back up and sprinted after Metang, not caring if the wall would close behind him. He had to retrieve his bone club, whatever it took.
"I've got your back!" Chase called, following William. "Let's get 'em!"
They ran after Metang, leaving the Geode Clock behind, along with all the possibilities it presented. Whatever they could do with it, they'd have to come back later… If they could.
William and Chase rushed past the converging walls. They closed with a muted boom.
William and Chase sprinted into the dark, rushing in pursuit of Metang. But as William blindly ran into the passage, his feet flailed beneath him. The Cubone's stomach dropped, then the rest of him fell with it.
He quickly discovered that there was no floor.
He and Chase yelped as they fell, though they soon landed on a smooth slope, which they slid down.
"Gah!" Chase gasped, splayed out on his belly. "What's going on?!" He lashed out with his vines, trying to grab onto something to slow himself down.
William did the same, following the motions to stake his notched club into the ground. The force of habit made him forget that it wasn't in his grasp. After seconds of rolling and sliding, the slope leveled out and launched them forward.
Thump!
They landed on a hard surface, tumbling across until they finally slowed to a stop. William stilled himself, his head spinning within his skull helmet.
"Aye-yeow," Chase groaned. "That's nothing like sliding down the aqueduct…" He pushed himself up. "Will, are you okay?"
William took a deep breath, then sat up. "I think I am," he answered. "How about you?"
"Kinda shaken up, but my bulb's still on my back. Where are we, anyway?"
Just as Chase asked that question, William became aware of the sounds around them: rumbling, rattling, churning, and humming: an omnipresent chorus of mechanical resonance. He rose to his feet, craning his head around.
There was no trace of stone or crystal in this wide, open place. Everything around them was metal: a series of interconnecting rods, cogs, gears, and chains, ranging from steel to brass, all held together by a skeleton of metal beams. All throughout the structure were glowing lamps and pipes of liquid sunlight, illuminating the cavernous space like street lights. It was a vast machine, a massive fortress of moving parts.
"Inside of a marvel," William said, awestruck.
Chase tilted his head up, his mouth hanging open. "Whoa… This is like, some kind of machine maze!"
William traced his eyes over the moving metal around him. Beams, chains, and cogs stretched above him, reaching into a muted void. There were no lights overhead, except for a curious, deep-blue halo, looming over the mechanical fortress like a moon. Once again questions assailed his mind. What was this place, how was it formed, and why was it here? He had only speculation: this had to be another one of the Eidolons' constructs. But as he felt the emptiness of his right hand, he remembered that couldn't afford to wonder.
"That metal mon, Metang," William said. "Where did it go?"
They both spun around, scanning the area for any signs of the dark-blue mon. Fortunately, they spotted it quickly. Metang was a decent distance away, its back turned to them as it levitated over the machinery. In its psychic grasp was William's bone club.
"That-a-way!" Chase hollored.
William tensed himself to run, observing his surroundings. Between him and Metang were several vertical cylinders, threading through massive, horizontal gears, all turning each other. The gears were big enough for several mons to walk on, and could serve as platforms.
He burst into a sprint, leaping onto the gauntlet of gears. William ran clockwise, the same direction as the gear turned.
"I'm right behind you!" Chase called, joining the pursuit.
Between the absence of weight in William's right hand, and the moving floor below his feet, he was thrown off-balance. As he reached the outer-edge he stumbled to the left, leaning dangerously close to the edge. The motion had him tipping over one of the gear's teeth, his body hovering over the deep dark abyss below…
"Gotcha!" Chase shot a swift vine towards William, grabbing his wrist and holding him steady.
William regained his balance as the gear kept turning, bringing them closer to the next. "Thanks," he said as Chase retracted his vine.
As their gear connected to the next, they leaped across and ran counter-clockwise, further building up their speed. Once they jumped onto the next gear, they shifted their direction again, keeping their balance. As they crossed the gauntlet of revolving metal, William and Chase gradually shortened the gap between themselves and Metang.
Meanwhile, Metang turned around as it moved, spotting William and Chase hot on its trail. At the end of the gear gauntlet, it arrived at a towering piston pumping up and down. Metang spun toward the piston, turned its body ninety degrees, and began floating up in a vertical ascent.
"Wh– huh?!" Chase sputtered as they reached the final gear. "How are we gonna follow that?"
William threw his gaze left and right, searching for stairs or anything else that would help him go up. He spotted a pair of vertical chains, rising and falling, just a few paces away from the piston. He recalled how he, Corvo, and Andrew used pulley ropes to escape a mine in Cloudcroft.
"Grab those if you can!" William directed. As he ran around the spinning gear, he leaped off the platform and toward the chains. Several links rattled as his hands collided with the chain, but it didn't slow down, and William rode up the metal current.
"I'm on it!" Chase called. He leaped and shot out both of his vines, coiling them around a section of the chain beneath William. He pulled himself in, though the quadruped awkwardly hung around the chain as he ascended.
William tightened his grip on the chain and threw his head back. Above, Metang scaled the piston at the same speed as the chain. So he thrusted his arms up, climbing the moving chain and using its momentum as he had with the gears.
As he neared closer and closer to Metang, he spotted a set of strange metalwork that they were fast approaching– a series of pipes with valves coiling around each other. These coiling pipes formed a pair of tunnels, one above and one below.
Metang reached the top of the piston and leveled out, preparing to enter the upper tunnel. William saw his opportunity as he rose above Metang. With a quick pull back, he swung off the chain, leaping towards Metang–
Thunk!
–and he landed right on top of the metal mon, who bucked slightly under his weight. Though Metang had no other reaction to the Cubone now riding atop its head.
"Wait for me!" Chase hollered. Though he didn't have as much dexterity and awkwardly threw himself from the chain, landing on the pipe passage below William and Metang.
"Chase!" William called just before he and Metang drifted into the tunnel. The intertwined pipes eclipsed his teammate from view. He'd have to regroup with him later– now he had to focus on the task at hand.
As he turned, he saw that he and Metang were moving down a long corridor– its end was too distant to see. William's bone club was right in front of Metang's right arm, held in psychic stasis. He knelt down, straining his arm as he tried to reach out for it.
Yet his weapon was too far to grab. If he stretched any further, he would fall off. Meanwhile, Metang bobbed and weaved around small obstacles in the tunnel. The pipes around them groaned, hinting at something surging within the metal. Ahead, a puff of steam burst from a vent, hissing and forcing William into a prone position. Scalding steam brushed against his skin, threatening to burn him if he were an inch closer.
The longer this pursuit continued, the more dangerous it would be. William had to act decisively. So he reared his head back, then hammered his skull helmet down on Metang–
Thunk!
His Headbutt barely made Metang move an inch. William repeated his attack twice, but the result was the same. Not to mention, soreness bloomed in his forehead. More pipes and valves raced by, groaning with steam.
William changed tactics. He leaned over the right side of Metang, grasping its thin forearm and giving it a yank.
Metang reacted immediately– the pull caused it to buck and tilt left, and William's bone club swayed in its psychic grasp. The metal mon struggled to right itself, but William pulled harder, yanking Metang's thin forearm as if he were pulling a weed out of the ground. Each yank destabilized Metang further, giving William a turbulent ride.
By the fifth pull, Metang had lost their balance and capsized, flipping upside down– with William hanging by its forearm. The psychic field around his bone club vanished and it fell. William reached to catch it, but it was too far. His weapon clattered to the pipes below, ringing the metal.
But just as William cursed under his breath, he heard a familiar voice.
"Gotcha!" Chase's voice rang out from below. "Will, I got your club!"
Though William had no time to savor relief, he still dangled beneath the upside-down Metang, and their rickety flight was taking them steadily down. The metal mon tried to right itself and shook its arm, attempting to shake William off. Yet he hung on tight, even as the pipes below were fast-approaching. They skirted close to a large valve…
Clang!
They crashed into it, and William finally lost his grip. The world around him spun as he tumbled across the pipes, then fell away as he rolled over an edge–
Thud!
Cold metal broke his fall, knocking the wind out of him. Nearby, a heavy clank! reverberated. Dizziness swirled his vision as he laid wherever he had landed, slowing his senses.
"Will!" Chase called out. The pitter-patter of the Bulbasaur's footsteps grew clearer and closer, until his friend was looking over him. "Will, you okay?"
With a deep breath, William reclaimed his senses. "I… think so," he replied, sitting up. Chase held something out for him using his vines– his bone club. He accepted it. "Thank you," William nodded.
"I've got your back," Chase nodded in return. "But what about that guy?" he pointed behind William.
William turned and saw that Metang had landed just a few yards away from him, slightly crumpled. The metal creature slowly rose up, levitating in the air once more. It turned to face William and Chase.
William sprung to his feet, holding up his club defensively. He wouldn't let his club be stolen, not again. Chase stood behind him, his bulb tense and ready to fire Razor Leaves.
Metang remained still, its red eyes fixed on the two of them. No one moved. In the tense standoff, William's eyes darted around his surroundings. They stood upon a circular platform with a metal tower threaded through the middle, similar to the gears below, yet this platform wasn't spinning.
Suddenly, Metang broke the tension. Its underside hummed and crackled with electricity, and small bolts of lightning shot out from Metang and into the floor. The platform they stood upon glowed with fractured energy, humming with amplitude.
The floor shifted, and they stumbled as the gear began turning. William spun his club and planted it down, bracing himself.
"What's it doing now?" William asked.
"No idea," Chase said. "I dunno about you, but I'm ready to get off this ride."
Churning machinery droned in their ears as the gear ascended. The metal around them slowly spun as they revolved, and Metang hardly moved, hovering on the opposite side of the gear.
As William warily eyed the metal creature, a flash above caught his attention.
A brilliant light of ebony and ivory appeared– a swirling mass of energy that looked just like the portal they used to enter the dungeon.
"Looks like you got your wish," William said.
"Oh yeah? In that case, I'm ready for a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate." Chase's expression turned dreamy. "Mmm~"
Behind the portal, that blue halo William had spotted earlier loomed distantly.
The portal flashed, and a wave of energy pulsed out of it. It shimmered downwards, and a sense of warmth cascaded over William. "If we're lucky," he began, "maybe we'll get answers from whatever is on the other side of this portal."
He cast one more glance towards Metang. The metal mon turned and moved away, levitating away from the platform, into the dark.
The portal bathed William and Chase in luminous light. Chase opened his mouth to speak, yet William couldn't hear him. A humming drone of energy phased out his hearing, just as the intense light forced his eyes shut.
An otherworldly ringing sound enveloped him, and all sensory input vanished.