Chapter LVII: Paper Fortress

            Three days passed by in a blink of an eye as our main characters make their way to the Divine Library, a.k.a. Paper Fortress, with the Emu assigned to them, Violet. Whatever happened in those three days, I assure you dear reader, that they were not entirely eventful. Nothing happened, really. Trust me. Don't look at me like that, thinking that there'll be another omake chapter or something.

 

            The ship touches down the surface of the large floating rock... thing... I don’t know what to call it. The large floating rock they landed on is barely as big as the earth’s moon from your world, dear reader, because it only stretches up to a few hundred miles and is completely empty except for the large building protruding next to their landing spot. Redish moss seem to paint the blackened surface of the rock, but aside from that, the only other thing that seemed to be alive in this planet is... Those are Humans. Why are there Humans in here?

 

            “Alright, listen up.” Violet had them lined up again near the entrance of the ship. “Those things out there aren’t people anymore. Their brains are inhabited by tiny parasites called Schmekels so try not to get close with any of them.”

 

            “Question”, Therese calls her attention.

 

            “Yes, Therese. Schemekel means small d*ck. The parasites look like d*cks under a microscope. That’s why they’re named that way.”

 

            “I was actually going to ask if I could take a few rock samples with me but-“

 

            “No. We’re going straight into the Library. I don’t want any of you getting taken over by these things.”

 

            “Okay”, Therese says as she pouts in disappointment.

 

            “As soon as I open the hatch, walk straight to the Library. The place is a bit humid, but we won’t need anything to support our breathing so don’t hold your breath. Also, don’t make eye contact with the infested. Just keep walking, understand?”

 

            ““““““““Yes.””””””””

 

            And so, they venture out. The air feels thick in their lungs as they move through the red-stained rocks. A white mist looms about the Library, and the air hangs heavier the closer they get to the entrance. Violet was in front of the line with her eyes fixed on the large double doors. A few glowing runes were randomly etched all over the door’s hard obsidian surface. I don’t think they mean anything, though. The writer just wanted it to look cool.

 

            While they pace cautiously in the alien environment, the infested Humans were slowly approaching them from all around, but not too close. Once they’re almost uncomfortably within proximity, they just stand there with a dead smile on their face. There seems to be something radiating from their eyes; some sort of red dripping from the corners of their sockets. Most of them were wearing either lab coats or military uniforms. They must be from the previous voyages when Humans still had time to do these kinds of things before the Plaguelands, but surprisingly, none of them look old enough, considering that it’s been years since the last Human voyage here.

 

            “Don’t look-Don’t look- Don’t look- Don’t look- Don’t look- Don’t look- Don’t look!”

 

            Solis was having trouble keeping himself away from their blank stare because most of them were facing him now. He notices this and quickly grabs hold of Mea’s hand in front of him.

 

            “Solis?”, Mea asks. “Are you-“

 

            “I’m not scared! I am not scared at all!”

 

            Man up, Solis! You’re the main character here!

 

            “Pick up the pace, people!”

 

            Violet already reached the door when Solis was startled. I bet he’d be dying to go on a Hunter’s Rampage if those things weren’t Human, though.

 

            “You think these things can affect us?”, Lux asks Tenenbaum as her partner is holding onto Mea.

 

            “You wanna try?”, Tenenbaum replies.

 

            “No way. Hey, Rylai! What do you think?”

 

            “We don’t have brains because we’re spiritual links”, Rylai answers. “So no, I don’t think so.”

 

            “We don’t have brains?”

 

            “Who are these people, anyway?”, Anna wonders as they reach the door.

 

            “They’re from the first expedition.” Violet presses the switch in the middle of the door and unlocks the clasps. “They were collecting geological samples when those parasites suddenly leapt from underground and went inside their brains. As long as you don’t touch them directly, you won’t get infested.” She pushes the door open but it barely moves. “Help me out here, will you?”

 

            They all push against the large door until a sufficient amount of force (Mostly from Credo and Violet) was able to go against the friction on the flooring. Upon opening, Violet welcomes them all.

 

            “Welcome to Paper Fortress, Marks.”

 

            The Divine Library... Well, it looks as much as you’d expect it to be. It’s all just bookshelves filled in each section and staircases connecting the seventeen floors leading to more bookshelves like that library under the [1] Scarlet Devil Mansion. The materials used to hold these once glorious halls are at the brink of failure as time slowly rots the wall’s surface. The books themselves seem ancient enough to disappear into a cloud of dust upon touching. The only problem was that the language these books are printed in died a millennium ago so no one really knows what sort of knowledge these books hold. Perhaps they could tell us about the meaning of life, or how to create a Philosopher’s Stone, or maybe they could tell us why the f*ck the writer is still writing this story.

 

            “Try not to start a fire, Anna”, Violet forewarns as they move inside.

 

            “Yes, ma’am”, she answers promptly.

 

            “This smell...”, Naiya takes a whiff of the ambient. “I feel I may be accustomed to it.”

 

            “Don’t bother reading. None of these things contain any known language from our timeline. Plus these things are really old so try not to-“

 

            Violet was interrupted when the sound of a book’s pages falling off its covers echoed behind her. Solis was holding the cover but the pages were at his feet.

 

            “I... I was looking for pictures... Sorry.”

 

            Violet palms her face. “Don’t touch any of the books, please.”

 

            “Good job, Solis”, Tenenbaum says sarcastically.

 

            “Shut up, Tenenbaum.”

 

            The rest of them were looking around the place when Violet called their attention.

 

            “Alright, everyone. Up the stairs.”

 

            “Oh, great”, Yvaine says, looking at the spiral staircase leading all the way up to the top.

 

            “What? Were you expecting a lift or something?”, Violet teases.

 

            “Heh, yeah right.” A glorious smirk forms on Yvaine’s face. “I’ll meet you there!”

 

            In a flash of lighting, Yvaine runs up the stairs as quick as a virgin finishes in a w***e house, leaving the rest of them in the dust.

 

            “Wait for me!” Kat spreads her wings and flies up after her partner.

 

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            Yvaine made it to the top first with Kat following up next.

 

            “Great. More books”, she says while exploring the top floor.

 

             It doesn’t really look any different from the other library floors except for the glass door directly near the end step of the spiral staircase. The glass revealed a Nether Brick wall some distance away from the surface, and as Yvaine approached it...

 

            Well, it turns out, there was an elevator.

 

            The first one who walked out the door was Violet with a mocking grin on her face. The fact that she didn’t even bother to say anything smart irked Yvaine even more.

 

            “Well then... Now that we’re all here, I’ll show you what you’re up against.”

 

            Violet walks over to some randomly placed book and pulls it off the shelf, revealing a cliché hidden entrance as the shelves part sideways, a standard in crappy fantasy novels like this one. The group assembles behind her as she opens the door. Behind it, a symbol, which may or may not be familiar to you, dear reader, can be seen glowing light blue: a middle circle with four other circles with the same radii were connected to the top and bottom. From the light it produced, an image is projected of a man in his mid-thirties wearing a lab coat.

 

            Everyone was amused at what was happening, except for Yvaine who still seemed to be mulling over her defeat earlier.

 

            “Now, as you can see, this guy isn’t moving”, Violet presents as the image just stood there like a paused GIF. “There are sensors at the door hinges, but it didn’t seem to react to anything except for Elemental DNA, particularly Yvaine’s father.”

 

            “What happens when it senses Elemental DNA?”, Mea asks.

 

            “Why don’t you go ahead and find out?”, Violet prompts her.

 

            With that, Mea approaches the small opening, curious as to-

 

            “Hey there!”

 

            Looks like the GIF is un-paused.

 

            “Um…”, Mea says, confounded as she steps back.

 

            The guy had a friendly smile on his face and strangely looks a lot like the writer now that I get a better look at him.

 

            “Now-Now. I know what you’re thinking: ‘Why set up a base inside the Divine Library?’ Well, that’s because I hate people in general. Hell, those infested by Schmekels from the last half millenium are better company than those idiots from Draconia.”

 

            “What’s he talking about?”, Cisqua asks.

 

            “Just listen”, Violet answers. “It’s a pre-recorded message.”

 

            “Oh, Master Mauro”, the guy suddenly turns away as if talking to someone else. “I’ll be with you shortly and we can discuss about the design.” He turns back. “Now, where was I... Oh, yes. Draconians are uptight morons who keep going on about safety and so Antonio told me to discontinue the project with them. Instead, we shall continue experiments here with a bit of help from the Avians in construction of the facility. What lies beyond this wall will only be accessible for a handful of people, but if you’ve activated the sensors, chances are you’re probably qualified... unless you’re one of those infested. If you are infested and permitted entry within the wall, you will breed those Schmekel and the facility is more or less f*cked. I say this as a forewarning to those entering. Please proceed with caution as the inhabitants of this facility may not be in their right minds anymore. In any case, once you enter, please note that all this is a work in progress so I’d advise any criticism be made with discretion.” The guy breathes an exhausted sigh and scratches his balls. “Hey, is this thing still on? Turn it off, Ryan-“

 

            The image dissipates.

 

            “I’ve got nothing from that”, Mea says.

 

            “Well, neither did I, but you’ll probably find out more inside”, Violet explains.

 

            “Inside that wall?”, Credo asks.

 

            “Yeah. I’ve never been inside, but Osiris Luno was able to explain it briefly for us the first time he went in. He says there were four test chambers in there for four Demons. From how he described it, it seems you’ll all be entering a Blood Well before you get to the place where you’ll supposedly merge after defeating the Demon inside each Blood Well.”

 

            “Sounds tedious”, Yvaine comments.

 

            “Don’t worry. You’re all prepared for the challenge ahead if you ask me. We - I’ve been observing you Elementals for the past three years and my organization made sure you would all make it here at the right time. The only thing we ask of you is to merge the key for us, and we’ll take care of the rest.” Violet lets out a sigh. “To be frank, I hate to put kids into such dirty jobs and that’s why I apologize if it feels like I’m forcing you into this, especially you, Yviane.” The Lightning Elemental raises and eyebrow. “But... No one can actually change his ascribed role in society, so please fulfil your roles, Marks.”

 

            “You’re a really nice person, Miss Violet”, Anna suddenly blurts out. In truth, she reminds her of her late foster mother before she passed away.

 

            Violet chuckles lightly at her comment. “I doubt you’d say the say the same if you were really my student, but thanks, Anna.”

 

            Anna laughs weakly with a blush as a reply.

 

            “Any more questions or violent reactions?”, Violet asks.

 

            No reply.

 

            “Then, off with you!”

 

            At Violet’s mark, they all entered the small room and touched the wall. One by one, the Elementals dissipated with their Anima the same way the hologram guy did.

 

            Once they were all gone, Violet palms her face and sighs.

 

            “Plan B is in motion... Let’s hope we won’t need Plan C.”

 

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            A year before the Elemental Incident...

 

            “I can’t believe Antonio’s making me halt operations for The Passing. It’s not like we’ll be doing anything that week.”

 

            The man that looks exactly like the guy our main characters saw from the projection sat at the rotating chair near his desk with his head hanging back on the chair head. He was situated in a six by six room with no windows. It was dark, but a bit of light spills from underneath the door. The place was dusty and piled up with various books and documents about Entanglement, String Theory, Dark Matter, [2] and lots of other five-dollar words.

          

            The guy’s name is Zachery Marquis... At least according to the code he’s been given. Now that I get a good look at him, it seems he has dark blue hair, meaning he's probably a Darkness Elemental.

 

            He was the head of the science and technology department of Anion, a position given to him by the leader of the nation, Anthony Redgrave. Apart from him, there are two others that make up Antonio’s circle: Ryan Perez, head of the church that serves the One True God, and Osiris Luno, head of the Anion Military Corps. These four have been trying to bring Anion back in the map and renewing the laws of the state for foreign affairs. For years, the Elemental nation has always been focused on its own rather than cooperating with other-

 

            [3] Bah- I’m spouting expositions again, aren’t I? Apologies.

 

            Anyway... We’ll talk about that stuff later on. Right now, someone’s knocking on Zachery’s door.

 

            “Come in”, he prompts.

 

            From the door comes a woman wearing a labcoat similar to his and a pair of glasses that looks exactly the same as the one Therese is wearing.

 

            “I’m done recalibrating the condenser”, she says, barely enthused. “Wanna give it another go?”

 

            Zachery takes a deep breath and stands up. “Yeah, sure. Maybe one hundred twenty-third time’s the charm.”

 

            The two traverse the facility toward the other sector. The hallways all had uniform design: white tiles and white lighting with rooms separated at 6 meters (19.69 feet) each. If not for the room signs, it’d look like you were looping across the same halls over and over again. A few other scientists were present doing God-knows-what for research purposes, and as the two walked across the hall, they were politely greeted by those that passed them. Near the end of the hall, the design slightly differed as a window was stretching across the wall with the view of some rocky terrain where the machine’s burnout is exhausted. At the end of the hall, a steel sliding door stood before them.

 

            “Don’t look so sad. Maybe it’ll work this time”, the woman says.

 

            “Thank you, Rikka, but this attempt is most likely one in tens of other attempts later on. We are far from getting any conclusive analysis.”

 

            Rikka..? Where have I heard that name before?

 

            They make it to the end of the hall, and a steel door slides open for them.

 

            “Besides... If it works, I’ll have to buy Geno lunch for a week.”

 

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            As soon as Solis touched the wall, his vision went dark. The sound of a loud electrical surge, similar to a Xen Emulator, rattled in his ears. The next moment, the sound stopped as his sense of sight starts to fade back. He squints his eyes to focus his sight. The scent of collective flowers wafts in front of him as he hears Tenenbaum whisper to him.

 

            “Bro... Are you seeing this?”

 

            He finally gets a clear picture after looking around. All before him, colourful shrubs and bushes stretch as far as the eye can see. He saw his friends wandering a short distance from him, admiring the place as he walks across the small flowering plants. A golden radiance illuminates the entire field from above as its light reflects against the dew seeping from the leaves.

 

            Anna seemed especially delighted by this as she goes around and inspects all the different kinds of flowers.

 

            “Hey, ‘Rese”, Sierra calls out to her sister. “Is it just me or are these flowers mom’s favorites?”

 

            “I know.” Therese looks around to confirm. “Probably just a coincidence, though.”

 

            “So, where the hell are we supposed to go now?” Yvaine shouts out her question while everyone was still in awe of the place.

 

            Upon hearing this, Anna’s mood shifts slightly.

 

            I don’t think she’ll get along with Yvaine.

 

            “For now, let’s look around and figure out what we can do”, Credo suggests before Anna starts speaking up against Yvaine. “There’s gotta be something here that’ll explain what’s happening.”

 

            “Over here”, Naiya calls out from afar. “There is something peculiar about this tree here.”

 

            The rest of them went over and found a large oak tree towering above all the other flora.

 

            “So... Should I... hit it or something?”, Solis absentmindedly says, unsure what to do.

 

            “Maybe it’s fake”, Sierra suggests.

 

            Mea approaches the trunk and flicks it. “Hmm... Feels pretty much like a tree though, and it doesn’t seem to be hollowed out.”

 

            “What about up here...” Tenenbaum hops off Solis’ shoulder and lands where the tree branches out. “Oh! Lookie! There’s a button here!”

 

            “Try pressing it”, Therese tells her. “Maybe it’ll lead us some-“

 

            “Wait!” Anna interrupts. “What if it does something bad?”

 

            “Like what?”

 

            “I... I don’t know... What if it teleports us to a room full of giant cockroaches or something?”

 

            “That sounds awesome!” Solis excitedly remarks. “Hit it, Tenenbaum!”

 

            “No, wait-“

 

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            Our main character blacks out once again with the same rattling sound still lingering in his ears for a few moments. This time, however, he was facing upward. Something heavy was on top of him as if...

 

            Look, dear reader, I think we both know that someone landed on him after the impact in order for the writer to spark a sh*tty Rom-Com trope.

 

            To make things more exciting, try guessing who landed on him.

 

-

 

            Well?

 

-

 

            Come on, guess!

 

-

 

            Don’t just scroll down!

 

-

 

            What if I’ve hidden an easter egg between these lines?

 

-

 

            Don’t miss anything.

 

-

 

            Just keep thinking.

 

-

 

            Re-evaluate each probability.

 

-

 

            With everyone possible.

 

-

 

            I sure hope it’s Sierra.

 

-

 

            Or Mea.

 

-

 

            Wait, what about both?

 

-

 

            That would be pretty awesome!

 

-

 

            Wait, what if it’s Naiya?

 

-

 

            And all this sh*t ends up with incest.

 

 

-

            Like [4] Yosuga no Sora.

 

-

 

            Or even AkiSora.

 

-

 

            I sure hope not.

 

-

 

            Well, other than that, chances are it’ll either be Yvaine or Therese.

 

-

 

            Hmm...

 

-

 

            What if it’s Anna?

 

-

 

            It feels pretty flat on top of him, actually.

 

-

 

            Whoever landed on him has flat breasts...

 

-

 

            So... Sierra, Anna, or Naiya?

 

-

 

            Wait you’re still reading this?

 

-

 

            Just scroll over to the answer already!

 

-

 

            Hey!

 

-

 

            Down you go!

 

-

 

            A little further!

 

-

 

            A few more lines left...

 

-

 

            Pomegranate!

 

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            [5] I have the shiniest meat bicycle!

 

-

 

            And the answer is...

 

-

 

            God-f*cking damn it all! Why the hell is it Credo!?

 

            “Oh, sorry about that”, Credo says as he gets back up.

 

            He reaches out his hand and helps Solis up.

 

            They look around and the place was nothing like the colorful bloom earlier. Instead, four cold steel walls enclose against them, the floor and ceiling having the same material. Wherever our main characters have been transported, there seems to be a large metal rod coiled with thick wires in the middle of the room. As soon as she could recover, Therese curiously approaches the rod and inspects the parts surrounding it.

 

            A set of ties were surrounding the base of the rod and pulling it toward the floor. The bottom part of the rod seems to repulse the hole on the floor which was radiating something blue, like two magnets brought together at the same poles. At the top of the rod, a flat diamond-shaped piece of metal was attached with its top vertex glowing the same blue as what was emanating from the floor.

 

            “Anything is a d***o if you’re brave enough...”, Mea whispers into Therese’s ear as cryptically as possible.

 

            Therese stares at the shaft intently... “Hmm... Maybe... But we have something to do so let’s figure out what Violet meant about Blood Wells.”

 

            “Haah...”, Solis sighs. “It’s kinda disappointing to see such a cold room. I was expecting giant bugs or at least a couple of anthropomorphic mantis or something.”

 

            “Thank God, it’s not”, Anna says as she shudders to imagine such horrors.

 

            Suddenly, one of the lower wall panels slid and opened up a new area when Naiya accidentally touched the surface. The same hologram guy from earlier was at the opening standing still, projected by a blue light appearing from the floor. He was paused for a while until a clicking sound was heard, allowing him to relay the pre-recording.

 

            “What you’ve just entered was a ‘Dimensional Pocket’. Now, I could go on and explain this stuff to you the way Draconians do, but since I’m not entitled to their rules anymore, I’ll go ahead and say that we just created another f*cking dimension! That’s right! Another dimension! And the best part is that we can control what’s inside- a flower field as per Rikka’s request. If you’re not convinced, remember that materials are only thirty percent matter plus space and seventy percent dark matter according to previous research that have survived through the Cataclysm. According to my current research however, only sixty-nine percent of dark matter are within materials. That one percent of added matter was due to Cataclysm, and so the laws of science of the previous world had additional anomalies. These anomalies are what we call mana, which can only be manipulated by Aristocrats. My experiments, however, yielded results far beyond my expectations! I was able to harness an additional three percent of matter using the power of none other than the Equilibrium Gate. If only Antonio would let me open it, we could unlock its full potential and gain the power of creating more dimensional pockets! We could design an entire world using its ability to convert dark matter into something usable!” The guy turns away for a second. “Hmm? What... Oh, right.” He looks back. “Almost forgot to mention, the portals used for teleportation is courtesy of one of the few Draconians who actually have more than half a brain, Sakamoto Rikka.”

 

            “That guy knows mom!”, Sierra exclaims when the recording ends.

 

            “I know, Sierra. Calm down”, Therese tells her.

 

            “What’s she talking about, Therese?”, Mea curiously asks.

 

            “It’s our foster mother, Rikka.”

 

            “Rikka? The guy mentioned something about her.”

 

            “Yeah. She was able to develop portals using-“

 

            “Hey, Therese!”, Sierra scolds.

 

            “It’s okay, Sierra. It doesn’t matter if they know”, she reassures. “My mom went rogue after developing a small device that could instantly warp you to waypoints when she figured out the truth about the people who were supporting her: The Emperor of Draconia is trying to start a war.”

 

            “Well... I don’t know anything about Draconia but... That sounds pretty bad, I guess?”

 

            Mea sees the rest of them exiting the chamber but she doesn't follow along and instead hold Therese back with a question.

 

            “You know about that?”, Mea asks, intrigued by Therese’s declaration, her tone drastically changing to a more sinister tone compared to earlier.

 

            “Yes... And I know for a fact that the Tearju are trying to start a coup’ against him.”

 

            Mea smiles. “You’re not as oblivious as I thought. We need to sit down and chat in private sometime, you and I.”

 

            Therese makes a facial expression that matches Mea’s. “Agreed.”

 

            Once those two ended their conversation and headed out, the other main characters had already explored part of the facility outside. A long steel corridor stretches from the exit with white lights illuminating the path. To their right, the wall is parted at the middle with transparent glass that exposes a rocky terrain as they walked through the path.

 

            “So where do you think this leads?”, Solis asks Tenenbaum.

 

            “The nest of a giant tentacle monster, perhaps?”

 

            “Oh~ I hope so~”

 

            “Solis, why are you so excited by monsters?”, Anna asks her bluntly. “What if you get yourself hurt or something? Don’t you think it’s dangerous to be looking for things that could kill and/or rip you apart?”

 

            “Nope.” He smiles innocently. “The truth is, the only time I feel alive is when I’m taking the life of things that mean harm.”

 

            “Really?”

 

            “Yup. There was this one time when I got swarmed by-“

 

            The windows were replaced by white tiled walls as they made their way into the hallway, when something sparked across the floor. “Um... Oh, crap, it’s on...” A blue light from the floor suddenly projected an image with matching audio triggered by Solis last step. The image projected, however...

 

            “Luno!” Solis suddenly exclaims.

 

            He was standing there like a ghost, looking quite exhausted with the ordeal he had to put up with.

 

            “Alright... So I checked the other rooms and what we’re looking for is the one with a star symbol. Before you enter, make sure you have the kids’ Anima and Matrices with you. Kill the monster inside and you’ll be able to get the key: Rook. I’ll get the other half of the amulet from Edith and we can end Geno’s project. Oh, and... Once we take on the kingdom of Xan, I probably won’t get the chance to say this again, so tell Yvaine... I tried my best. It’s been-”

 

            Whatever was left of the message to be relayed by Osiris Luno was gone once Yvaine shot the projector.... multiple times.

 

            She had a soulless expression as she shoots the floor panel, sparks flying haphazardly across the trajectory. No one reacted as she continued firing, but when she felt like getting her hands dirty and took out Kirin to slash at the panel, Anna spoke up before she could start hitting.

 

            “Have you lost your mind!? That could’ve been valuable information for all we know!”

 

            “I don’t care”, Yvaine scornfully replies.

 

            “Well, you didn’t have to-“

 

            “Shut the f*ck up...” She curses in a quiet yet serious tone. Anna was slightly taken aback by Yvaine’s statement, but before she could say anything... “Listen, princess. I don’t like you, and you obviously don’t like me, so what do you say we just finish this job and we never have to see each other again? You have no idea how much I hate that man.”

 

            “I think you’re right”, Credo speaks up before Anna could start mouthing off. “If we’re going to get out of here and finish the job we’ll have to cooperate with each other. This... Luno person said something about a room with a star symbol, right? Since you’re pretty fast, why don’t you go on ahead and see how far this hall stretches while we take a look at the other doors you might miss?”

 

            “Well, if it makes our journey quicker... Alright, I’ll do it, but you’d better have your b*tch in a short leash when I get back.”

 

            “Why you little-“

 

            “Go ahead, then.”

 

            Yvaine’s last statement struck a nerve on Anna, but she knew better than to cause a scene.  Especially after Credo already cut her off twice. In her mind, she figured that now was not the time to stoop to this delinquent’s level so she swallows her pride and bites her lip.

 

            “I shall accompany you”, Naiya declares.

 

            “Can you keep up?”

 

            “Yes.” Naiya is bathed in a white glow as she starts levitating.

 

            “That’ll do.” Before she goes, Yvaine smiles back at Credo. “Good job keeping your girl’s mouth shut, Credo, but next time you’d better muzzle her before she starts barking.”

 

            Anna wasn’t the slightest bit annoyed... in the surface. She merely smiled, trying not to lose to Yvaine’s provocation with one hand balled to a fist behind her.

 

            Unfazed by this, Yvaine flashes out and Naiya follows suit whilst they carry each Anima on their shoulder.

 

            “Alright, while they’re busy with that...” Credo looks both ways and notices doors lined up left and right.

 

            “Me and Sierra will take the ones on the left”, Therese declares, raising her hand.

 

            “Yeah, and Solis can go with them while we take the right”, Mea suggests.

 

            “But I wanted to-“

 

            “Okay”, Therese agrees. “Come on, Solis.”

 

            He reluctantly goes along with the plan...

 

            And so our main characters traverse the hallway, randomly entering doors that looked rather interesting.... In one of the rooms, there was a [6] catcher’s mitt sitting on a pedestal. In another one, there was a shrine for [7] Lady Dibella at the corner of the room next to the bed. Another room had a pile of papers on structural design, but underneath all the documents, a book entitled [8] Homuraya Milk Collection was placed. It seems to be worn out as if soaked from something wet. All the other rooms, however, were just boring devices and doodads for science and stuff that you can probably add in an [9] RPG Maker XV game.

 

            Solis, however, didn’t bother with any of this.

 

            Why don’t we find out what’s going on our main character’s head?

 

            “Back in Elias’ ship, I dreamt that I indirectly confessed my love to Mea... I should probably set the record straight and tell her for real this time. Luno always told me that if you love someone, you tell them, otherwise, you’re wasting your feelings. It doesn’t matter if they return the feelings or not, as long as they understand... I just can’t get the right time to do it.”

 

            His thoughts were a bit mixed up. From the start, he didn’t think this journey would take longer than his regular slaying jobs. Now he finds himself struck with revelations he never cared about in the past as if he were in some sort of... sh*tty shounen manga. Despite this crappy trope playing along, he was able to find things to value more than just his position in the Hunting Guild. Mea brought him along not knowing that they were playmates as children, and now all he can think about is the time he has left to spend with her...

 

            That’s when a feeling of uncertainty sunk into him:

 

            “When this is all over, will I just go back to being just a Slayer?”

 

            He didn’t want that. Living for the sake of what he enjoys -no matter how insane it sounds- was the way he thought he could pass the time until his master comes back. Now he knows the man is dead, and when he gets back home, he’s sure that he won’t be waiting on anyone anymore.

 

            That’s why he wanted to be with her. He admired the girl so much as a kid, and during their time together in this journey, when she found out about his old team mates in Crestfall Glades, when she held him close when he was having that nightmare in Xenovia, and that time in Quinholm when she stayed by his side until he woke up from being fatally wounded... It puts his heart at ease to feel that this girl cares so much about him.

 

            Unbeknownst to her, Mea gave him the feeling that there are a lot other things to value in life. If she hadn’t led him where he is now, he wouldn’t have found out about all the things that surround him and the circumstances that put him where he is, not to mention all the friends he now has that fits in as his kinsman.

 

            “I have to do it!”

 

            “Watcha’ thinking about, bro?”, Tenenbaum asks him after noticing him involuntarily fist-pumping.

 

            “Um... Nothing really... It’s just my... uh... sword arm’s itching to swing at something.”

 

            “Look, man, we don’t have to share the same conscience for me to figure out you’re lying. It’s written all over your face.” Tenenbaum smirks at him and jumps at his shoulder. She brings her mouth up to his ear and whispers: “You’re thinking about Mea, aren’t you?”

 

            Solis blushes slightly. “S-So what if I am?”

 

            “Well, isn’t right now the best time to tell her how you feel?” A harder blush is insinuated. “Everyone’s bored out of their mind and have no idea what they’re doing, that means any sort of topic is interesting by default!”

 

            Solis thinks for a moment, and with a snap of his finger, he realizes that now’s the time to summon his resolve and tell Mea how he feels about her.

 

            And so he takes a deep breath... His mind was plagued with discouragement from how nervous he was, but he doesn’t stop. With one loud step, he launches all the force he can muster on his leg and dashes toward-

 

            “We’re back-“

 

            Just as he took his chance to proclaim his love to the girl, he collides head first on Yvaine as she flashed back from her survey at the end of the hall. The result is a classic demonstration of how Yuuki Rito defies the laws of physics, resulting a show of the second law of Thermodynamics.

 

            “What the hell, man?”, Yvaine scoffs as she nearly tripped and fell upon colliding with Solis.

 

            “Watch where you’re going!” Kat shouts at him after landing her face on the floor.

 

            Oh... Well, I guess it wasn’t going to be as ecchi as I thought.

 

            “S-Sorry”, he mumbles, losing all the strength he mustered earlier.

 

            Naiya then walks toward them and announces: “The hall stretches 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) along a curved path, and at the end we found the star symbol that Osiris Luno may be referring to.”

 

            “Great. Let’s get to it then”, Credo says as he makes his way, the rest of them following along.

 

            Solis scratches his head and follows them reluctantly.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

            The star symbol on the door glows light red as it swings open toward the room automatically. Inside the room, a machine resembling the Xen Emulator from Berial Magus was charging up for teleportation. As our main characters enter, the guy from earlier appears as a hologram once again.

 

            “Test chambers one to four. This thing uses entanglement instead of the prototype condenser in order to chain all four of them into one exit dimensional pocket, code: Blood Well. To test this, I’ll have a couple of Avians enter. It’s programmed to transport the entrants into the Blood Well once certain conditions are met. We’ll have them kill the monster generated in each room of the four dimension pockets in order to exit. Why do they have to kill them? That’s because the machine is imperfect, and the only triggers that work for complex commands is the death of anything from Kingdom Animalia that has a mass of no less than 10 kilograms. Why does it have such complex conditions? I honestly have no idea, other than the possibility that the Equilibrium Gate has a mind of its own.”

 

            The pre-recording ends. A small spark flashes from inside the machine and a reddish vortex is spawned from its wake.

 

            “I’m guessing this is the fight Violet was talking about”, Mea says.

 

            “That guy said something about fighting monsters, right?” Solis excitedly draws out Grace. “Let’s go already!”

 

            “I’d rather not experience being teleported again...” Naiya shudders to think about her experience with Cebu and her brushes.

 

            “I don’t know about this one”, Therese speaks up.

 

            “Why? What’s wrong with it?”, Sierra worriedly asks.

 

            “What if we get teleported into a dimension full of tentacles and we become their meat slaves for their primitive carnal desires-“

 

            “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to ask.”

 

            “Well, there’s no way to go but forward. So far we’ve been teleported without incident so this will probably safe too.” Credo approaches the vortex. “See? It’s not that different from-“

 

            He gets sucked in along with Lina.

 

            “Credo!”

 

            Anna runs after him and gets sucked inside with her Anima as well.

 

            “Damn”, Mea says and turns toward Therese. “You think they’ll have coitus if we leave them alone long enough?”

 

            “That’s a great idea!”, Therese replies.

 

            “I don’t think so”, Sierra opposes as she pushes her sister into the vortex, sucking both of them in, both their Anima following next.

 

            “Ikimasu!” Lux hops off Mea’s shoulder and enters the vortex.

 

            “You guys coming?” Mea looks back at them. She sees that Naiya was holding onto both Solis’ and Yvaine’s arm. “Is there something wrong?”

 

            “I am holding onto them to prevent parts of my body from being displaced”, she says calmly. “Please go ahead so the three of us can fit into the machine.”

 

            Wow. She must’ve been really traumatized.

 

            “Um... right, then.”

 

            Mea enters the vortex. As she gets sucked in, Naiya takes a deep breath, her companions somewhat unamused by the situation.

 

            “Alright. Please wait a moment while I take time to prepare myself mentally-“

 

            “Stop being a baby!”

 

            Yvaine pulls the both of them into the vortex.

 

            “No-No-No! I don’t want my feet to be-“

 

            They get sucked in with their Anima.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

1. The mansion in Gensokyo where the Scarlet Devil, Remilia Scarlet, lives from Touhou Project by ZUN

2. Quoted from Atlas' description of a Research Camera from Bioshock

3. Quoted from Sir Hammerlock on Liar's Berg from Borderlands 2

4. An H-Game with twincest route by CUFFS (R-18)

5. Quoted from Krieg from Borderlands 2

6. Same scene from the episode You Made Me from Adventure Time

7. One of the Divines from The Elder Scrolls series

8. Collection of H books by Homura Subaru (R-18)

9. Game making program by Japanese ASCII and Enterbrain.