Ch 56: Heaven and Hell

Riding in Vasuki's handmade flying machine, Karis and the Lorem Academy students head out to find the Sacred Dragonshrine.

            Flying through the skies in Vasuki’s flying machine, Karis and the others were almost to their destination after just an hour’s flight. The flying machine had two large wings which it glided through the air on, as well as a fan like tail in the back to help steer. Engraved on the wings were magic runes, which when activated served to generate great bursts of wind, allowing the flying machine to travel at great speed. The thin and long body was where the riders sat in the two seats from which it was controlled, and while Karis and Marcyl were packed into the front, Johnny and Pyro had squeezed into the back. As Johnny struggled to adjust himself in his seat more comfortably, Pyro glanced back at him and grumbled, “Quit brushing up against me!” Johnny quickly retorted, “Like I actually wanted to! We’ve been packed in here like sardines for an hour and my back is all stiff!” 

Suddenly Karis called back to them from the front seat, “We’re here! Landing is kinda tricky, so pay attention to my directions!” Taking hold of the controls, Pyro nervously answered, “R-right!” Yet as Karis started giving out directions, staring down at the large mountain spring down below them, Marcyl said, “Ooooh! The view from the air is so pretty! So cool! Hey Karis, look! Doesn’t it look amazing from up here?! Well?! Don’t be shy!” Frustrated, Karis stopped directing and said, “D****t you’ve been saying stuff like that nonstop since we started! I’m busy!” Making a pouting face, Marcyl said, “Aww but that’s what you always say! You’ve hardly talked to me at all the whole time! Meanie!” Her temper flaring, Karis shouted, “PIPE DOWN!” Hearing this somewhat selectively, Pyro said, “D-down more? Got it!” As a result of the misunderstanding, everyone felt a sudden lurch as Pyro sent the flying machine into a nosedive. Plummeting straight towards the spring, they all let out cries of terror.

            Crashing into the spring with a mighty splash, the flying machine sank into the water. Extracting themselves from their seats, Pyro and Johnny swam to the surface and took in deep breaths of air. Looking around for Marcyl and Karis, Johnny said, “Are they ok too?!” In sudden realization, Pyro exclaimed, “Oh no! Karis can’t swim!” Just as she was about to dive back down though, Marcyl burst out of the water, dragging the unconscious Karis up with her. Helping her haul Karis through the water and over to a large, flat circular rock near the northeast edge of the spring, as they all got up onto the rock, Marcyl used CPR to bring Karis around. Sitting up and coughing a bit, Karis glanced in the direction of the sunken flying machine and choked, “Damn it… That thing was his life’s work too…” Hanging her head in shame, Marcyl said, “I’m sorry Karis, I got too excited.” Turning to her in frustration, Karis replied, “Damn right you did!” 

Just as Pyro was about to give Karis a piece of her mind, Karis smiled reluctantly and said, “But you saved my life just now, so I owe you one.” Standing up and looking around, she added, “I’m not the only one who needs saving though, so let’s get going!” Standing as well, Johnny said, “Where the hell is the place though? Johnny Spark don’t see no shrine!” Suddenly noticing something about the rock they were on from where she sat wringing out her hat, Pyro put it back on and said, “Guys! Look at this!” All gathering to see what she’d found, they laid eyes on a strange crest carved upon the stone. Kneeling down and examining it closer, Karis said, “This crest is similar to the ones belonging to the different dragon families! This is definitely the place!” Looking over at Marcyl, Pyro asked, “Time to bring in Marcyl then?” Nodding and making way for her, Karis replied, “Yep! Marcyl, come over here and place your hand on the crest. That should get it should open.” Kneeling down and placing her hand on the crest, Marcyl cheerily said, “Right’o!”

            The crest glowed brightly at Marcyl’s touch, and forming from the edges of the large rock, a dome of magical energy rose up around them like a barrier as the rock began to descend into the water of the spring like an elevator. Passing through the bottom of the spring, the elevator continued down through the rocky insides of the mountain. After a certain point, it stopped descending, and then began moving horizontally until it finally came out into another body of water and slowly rose up out of it to stop at the water’s surface. The barrier of magical energy fell away, and Karis and the others found themselves in small pond within an underground cavern lit by luminescent crystals. Not very large, the cavern had a large closed doorway with doors made of solid looking white stone set in its walls just beyond the small bit of shoreline around the pond, a small pedestal also made of white stone sticking out of the ground in front of it. Wading through the rather shallow pond towards the pedestal, as they examined it they found another stone bearing a crest sitting upon it. 

Looking around at the scenery while Marcyl merrily placed a hand on the stone and opened the door, Johnny said, “This white door here is about the only thing I’ve seen that looks like it belongs anywhere ‘sacred’ to me.” Shrugging her shoulders as they headed towards the door, only able to see darkness in the room beyond, Pyro said, “Well, I don’t think we’ve actually entered the shrine yet, but it sure is in an odd place. What really bothers me is that if the disease is coming out of here and into the springs that supply the rivers with water, why aren’t we all infected with the rapid strain after falling right in?” Freezing up in fear, Johnny looked at her with eyes wide and stammered, “Y-you don’t think that we’ve got it already but just don’t know yet, do you?!” Standing just outside the door with Marcyl, Karis said, “I doubt that considering what happened to Vasuki, but it’s all the more reason to figure out a cure as soon as we can! Let’s go see what’s in here already!”

            Stepping through the door into pitch black darkness, as Marcyl fumbled around blindly, she said, “It’s a little dark in here!” Unable to see well enough to even roll his eyes at her, Johnny responded, “Thanks Captain Obvious!” Snapping her fingers, Pyro created a small spark of fire at the end of her fingertip and held it up to cast its dim light on the surroundings. A small circular room, there were two identical doorways to the top left and top right of the one they had entered through, and in the center of the room was a large, strange looking circular device that resembled a platform. Staring at the other doors, Pyro said, “I’d bet those doors are entrances just like the one we came through! If there are a bunch of elevators like the one we came here on, then maybe the disease made its way outta here and into the river through one of the other tunnels!” Looking at the strange device as she stepped onto it, Karis said, “But where’s the Sacred Dragonshrine then?! This pile of junk can’t be all there is!” 

All examining the strange device closer, they once again found a sacred dragon crest upon what resembled a control panel. Stepping on and placing her hand on it, Marcyl eagerly exclaimed, “Here we go!” Yet after a moment or two, it became clear Marcyl’s touch had triggered no effects. With a disappointed look on her face, she muttered, “I guess it’s broken…” Leaning against one of the device’s metal components, Karis clutched her head and sighed as she muttered, “Great! Now what should we do?” Looking around more, Pyro said, “Let’s not give up just yet. Maybe the power is off, or it got unplugged or something.” Hearing this, Johnny grinned and said, “If the thing needs some juice, look no further! Johnny Spark’s in the house!”

Spying what looked like a box with wires sticking out of it attached to one of the device’s components on the outside of the platform, which looked as though it might have been damaged by some form of wild animal, Pyro glanced over at him and said, “Well get outta the house and get your a*s over here! I think I found something.” Begrudgingly, Johnny walked over to look at the damaged wiring, and placing a hand on the wires he started gathering EDE as he said, “Ok, let’s see some sparks! Stand clear!” Lightning crackling around his hand, Johnny poured it into the wires and the device began to hum as various lights lit up upon it. Still standing upon the platform with Karis, Marcyl jumped for joy as she started to cheer at Johnny. Suddenly though, there was a flash of light, and both Marcyl and Karis vanished. Staring in surprise, Pyro exclaimed, “Marcyl?! Karis?! Where the hell did they go?!”

            As the circular room where they had just been faded away before their eyes, Marcyl and Karis found themselves in a dark, dank place they were not familiar with. Using her somewhat limited fire magic, Karis managed to imitate Pyro and light a small ball of fire at the tip of her finger, its light revealing them to be standing on another strange device within a large underground cavern with a large lake in the middle of it. A putrid smell coming from it, Marcyl quickly clutched her nose and tried to operate the device as she exclaimed, “EWWWW! Let me outta here! I wanna go back to where Johnny and Pyro were! It stinks so bad in this place!” Try as she might though, she could not manage to get the device working, and watching her futile attempts, Karis finally said, “Well, I’m less than thrilled about it, but it looks like we’re stuck here together. Let’s just look around a bit. Judging by the smell, we’ll probably find something related to the disease in here.” 

Following after her reluctantly, Marcyl still clutched her nose as they both made their way over to the putrid lake. Standing before it, as Karis raised her small concentration of fire magic to cast its light over the lake, they looked out across its polluted waters to see a veritable graveyard of dragon bones lying sunken within it. The water itself red like blood, polluted by what Karis was sure was the same fluid that the creature that attacked Vasuki had been made of, the scenery was chilling. Staring at it all in disgust, Marcyl’s voice was constrained by her pinched nose as she said, “What is this awful place?” Looking at the dragon bones as she puzzled over what they’d discovered, Pyro not having told any of them about the fact that the disease actually came from the blood of infected dragons, Karis said, “This has gotta be the source of the disease. I have no clue why so many of my elders’ bones are here, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Suddenly a strange, gurgling cry sounded through the cavern, and as the polluted waters rippled violently, the polluted fluid beast rose up before them once more.

            Struggling to get the device to work a second time, as Pyro fiddled with the controls, she muttered, “Man, what the hell is with this thing?!” Watching her struggling with it, Johnny said, “Maybe it still needs more juice?” Heaving a sigh of defeat, Pyro turned away from the controls to face him and shrugged her shoulders as she said, “I haven’t got any better ideas. Marcyl didn’t touch the crest when it was actually working, so it must have malfunctioned when you turned it on with your electricity. If the lock was damaged, we might be able to run it ourselves if we power it up again.” Rubbing his hands together, Johnny smirked confidently and said, “Leave it to old Johnny Spark!” Going over to the exposed wires, Johnny once again placed his hand on them and poured on the voltage. Seeing multiple lights come to life on the control panel, Pyro shouted, “I think it’s gonna do its thing! Hurry up and get on!” Rushing onto the device, Johnny was just in time as they both disappeared in a flash of light. 

The room they were just in vanishing before their eyes, Johnny and Pyro found themselves in a large open air area surrounded by a circular stone wall, a stone staircase heading down in a winding path the only visible exit. Beyond the stone wall, all that could be seen were clouds and specks of the darkening sky, and walking over to the wall to get a better look at their surroundings, Pyro looked over it and exclaimed, “Whoa!” Staring down at the great tower of white stone whose top floor they stood upon, Pyro could see it was not just any tower. It was a tower built upon a small piece of land that was floating in the sky over Rusfa Isles, shrouded in a veil of clouds. Coming to look as well, as Johnny laid eyes on the same sights, he exclaimed, “Holy crap! So this is the real Sacred Dragonshrine?!” With a reluctant grin, Pyro glanced at him and said, “Well, you wanted something sacred-ish right? I’d say a tower in the heavens fits in pretty well.” Moving away from the wall as Johnny continued to stare, Pyro headed for the stairs as she said, “It’s a nice view, but we’d better move our butts and catch up to Marcyl and Karis. Wherever the hell they are…”

            The polluted fluid beast looming over them once more, Karis and Marcyl quickly stepped back, and Karis muttered, “D****t, this thing again?!” Seeing its body begin to ripple, Karis reached for her sword and pushed Marcyl aside as the fluid beast flailed at her with a slimy tentacle. Swinging her sword at the appendage, Karis severed part of it as she shouted, “Didn’t learn from the last time huh?!” The creature cried out in pain and seemed to move back, and after she helped Marcyl up, Karis faced the creature with a cocky grin and shouted, “That’s right! Get lost before I chop you into pieces!” Suddenly the creature’s body rippled again though, and this time it formed multiple tentacles across its body, letting out a gurgling roar as it began to creep towards them. Her cocky grin wiped from her face, Karis turned to Marcyl and shouted, “RUN!” Both fleeing from the fluid beast as it began picking up speed and lashing out at them, Karis and Marcyl headed back for the device, Marcyl clutching her nose and shouting, “Nooooo! Bad pudding, go away!” 

Paying more attention to her nose than her feet, Marcyl suddenly stumbled over a hunk of stone, falling flat on her face. Reaching out with its tentacles, the fluid beast quickly snatched her up, and turning to watch with a look of terror, Karis shouted, “No, Marcyl!” Struggling in the grasp of the fluid beast, Marcyl shouted, “Let go! Let me go! Karis help me, I don’t wanna be eaten!” Clenching her teeth and gathering her determination, Karis poured all the fire magic she could muster into her sword, and as the blade crackled with flames, she charged at the fluid beast and shouted, “Take your slimy hands off my friend!” Leaping up high, Karis severed the tentacles holding Marcyl with her flaming blade. Glancing back to watch Marcyl fall back to the ground, Karis was suddenly caught in mid air as the fluid beast formed a tentacle and grabbed hold of her exposed arm, and wincing in agony as its very touch seemed to burn her skin, Karis fought the pain and slashed through the tentacle with her sword. 

Pulling all the severed tentacles off of herself, seeming to have been unaffected by the creature’s touch, as Karis landed beside her with a thud, Marcyl rushed to her side and shouted, “Oh no, are you alright Karis?!” Managing to look up at her, Karis was surprised by her immunity to the creature’s touch. Struggling to speak, in a pained voice she choked, “Forget me… run…” Karis passed out just as the creature arrived to loom over them both, and glancing at it with tears in her eyes, Marcyl flung herself over Karis to protect her as she shouted, “NO! I WON’T LET YOU HURT KARIS!” All hope seemed lost, but suddenly erupting around Marcyl’s body, the blue light of Vas Initio’s power radiated across the cavern. It completely disintegrated the polluted fluid beast along with all the water of the putrid lake in an instant, and slowly coming around, feeling completely fine now, Karis found Marcyl lying on top of her, unconscious. Sitting up, she looked around the cavern and said, “What just happened?”

            Standing by himself in the dark chamber within the Sacred Dragonshrine where Pestilence hung chained to the ceiling, his body slowly regenerating, as Malum stood there before him, he muttered to himself, “It concerns me somewhat that Pestilence was so easily defeated. I still don’t know quite what that power Vanitas displayed was exactly, but if that power is from the All Heart that was locked inside Alastor’s heart when it disappeared 15 years ago… No, it shouldn’t matter. Alastor has already begun to muster his full forces to attack the Vinculus. He’ll no doubt be confident of his victory, and that confidence shall be both his and his dear nephew’s undoing.” Continuing to stare up at Pestilence, who looked to be recovering nicely, his entire face and body formed but wrapped in bloodstained bandages except for his exposed right eye and the top of his head, from which grew a full head of long hair that was white but turned blood red at the ends, Malum finally turned away and placed the Sacred Dragon Gem upon a nearby pedestal as he said, “At any rate, I suppose I’ll be going. It’s quite clear you won’t be able to join us for the festivities, but rest assured Pestilence, I’ll be back to finish your revival soon enough.” 

Raising a hand, Malum summoned up four of the Nameless One’s monstrosities, and then a dark vortex of his own as he said, “Just to ensure we don’t have to worry about unwanted guests, I’ll leave you with a few defenders. Although I honestly doubt you’d need them.” Stepping into the dark vortex and looking at Pestilence once more, Malum simply grinned creepily and said, “Ta-ta!” With that he disappeared into the dark vortex, and coming down the stairs just at that moment, as Johnny saw the monstrosities, he quickly grabbed Pyro by the hand and dragged her behind one of the pillars spaced out around the outside of the room. Confused and irritated at how he dragged her along so suddenly, Pyro started to exclaim, “The hell are you-” Covering her mouth with his hand to silence her, Johnny quietly said, “Shut up!” 

One of the monstrosities having turned its head in their direction due to Pyro’s outburst, it stared at the pillar a moment, but then simply turned away again. Both cautiously sticking their heads out from behind the pillar to survey the room, as Johnny and Pyro saw Pestilence, Johnny quietly muttered, “Who the hell is that, and why are those things here?!” Noticing the Dragon Gems spread out around Pestilence, Pyro quietly responded, “I dunno who he is, but I’d guess that he’s with Altera Veritas! Those feathery freaks are their minions now, and the glowing stones around the guy hanging from the ceiling have gotta be the stolen Dragon Gems!”