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“I… I must make preparations!” Ashani blurted out uncharacteristically, momentarily breaking the serene goddess persona she seemed to always exude.
“Preparations…” Vir said, staring blankly.
“Y-Yes! This is all so sudden…” Ashani cried, stepping back from the Gate. He’d never seen the goddess so flustered before.
“What preparations could you possibly have? Do you have any supplies you’d like to bring along?”
“Well, not especially,” Ashani said. “I have no need for sustenance like organics.”
“Changes of clothes, then?” Vir asked, scratching his head, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
“I form my clothes through my prana, so… no.”
Vir waited.
“Well… There’s… There’s the wolves, for one!” Ashani said, looking both relieved and smug, as though she were proud she’d found a halfway decent reason.
“What’s there to discuss?” Vir asked. “We’re taking them with us, aren’t we?”
“We… Can?” Ashani replied, caught entirely off guard. “I assumed…”
“We can,” Vir said with a warm smile. “And we will. Besides, do you really think Shan would leave his family behind? Again? Would you?”
“A valid point. Then, well… I suppose I must prepare myself mentally, then.”
The corners of Vir’s lips crept upward. “You do know that if we combine our powers, we can return as we please, right? This isn’t a one-way trip. I’m hoping we can come here regularly from now on. I might even bring some demons over if they can handle it.”
That was very doubtful—it was only thanks to pranites that Vir had survived, and he was more naturally attuned to this realm than most—but at least the option was there. Even if his troops couldn’t enter, Vir definitely wanted them training and meditating near an Ash Gate that led to Mahādi’s suburbs. That in itself would cause their prana capacity to soar.
“Of course. I knew that. It’s just… so sudden,” Ashani said, her shoulders sagging. “You should understand that, only minutes ago, I thought I would spend the rest of my days in this horrid place. Now…”
“I understand completely,” Vir laughed, feeling a cathartic joy overcome him. “This is quite the change. Two whole realms to explore. Two new worlds you’ve never seen. Take all the time you need. Actually, there’s a matter I need to attend to while I’m here, so that’s perfect.”
“Oh? I was under the impression you had a tournament to return to? An important one, yes?”
“I do…” Vir said, narrowing his eyes. “Which is why I need to resolve this quickly. The time difference will help, but I don’t want to risk missing my next match. It’s imperative I return in time.”
“Then this must be quite the task for you to risk so much. Is there any way I might help? I fear I owe you a debt I cannot possibly repay.”
Vir shook his head. “There is no debt, Ashani. If you hadn’t saved my life when I first came here, I’d be dead.”
“If I hadn’t spied on you, you would never have been at risk of death.”
Vir rolled his eyes. “Really? Are we going to argue this?” He held up a finger. “Firstly, the pranites you gave me have helped me immeasurably outside of this realm. Second,” he lifted another finger, “the prana density gains my body has undergone have given me such an immeasurable advantage over every other living being, I don’t even know how to quantify it. I am one of the only beings who has so much prana in their body that I can freely use it to wield magic. And then there’s Shan, who has been of immense help. Need I go on?”
“N-no,” Ashani said, looking a little embarrassed. “Even so…”
“Ashani, believe me. Whether you like it or not, your mere presence will be an immense boon for me. You’ll be worshiped as a goddess. Anyone near you will benefit.”
“That’s… I’m unsure I want that,” Ashani said. “I am no goddess. You’ve managed to treat me as an equal, have you not?”
“I assure you, I’m an exception. They consider me a deity as well. Just that I’ve kept that identity under wraps. And besides, I had a tough time when we first met, if you remember.”
“I do,” Ashani replied. “‘Twas quite amusing, though it would be quite inconvenient if everyone I met had the same reaction.”
“For humans and demons alike, you are a living, breathing goddess,” Vir said. “Nobody will care if you say you’re an Automaton created by the Prime Imperium—in their eyes, you’re a being from the Age of Gods. That’s all that matters to them.”
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“I see,” Ashani said softly. “What a conundrum.”
“I won’t lie to you,” Vir said. “Having you come out and announce yourself to the world would help me greatly. It’d add legitimacy to my claim to the throne in a way that very little else can. Just… I know for certain that is not the sort of life you’d want to lead.”
“Indeed. I shall have to think carefully about this. Thank you, for informing me. You did not have to.”
Vir shrugged. “It’s what friends do.”
“I believe aiding one another in their time of need is also ‘what friends do’, yes? There must be some way I can help with this task of yours, yes?”
“Actually,” Vir said, thinking it over. “I think there is. We should talk. I discovered something I need to share with you.”
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Vir told Ashani all about Janak’s chambers while they returned to the lab. About the one he’d found in the Demon Realm, and the map he’d hastily transcribed while he’d been in that bizarre fugue state. He told her of the vision he’d witnessed of Janak after the fall, looking haggard and weary.
“I never knew,” Ashani whispered, halting at the front door of the abode. “To think Janak survived… Or could it have been his replica?”
“I don’t know,” Vir replied. “Either way, it strikes me as odd how he never contacted you. Which either means he had some good reason for staying away, or…”
“Or he was unable to,” Ashani completed. “We must find these chambers. If Janak or his replica thought them significant, they could hide the secret to the end of days, and why the Imperium fell.”
And they could also hide the secrets surrounding the purpose of my existence, Vir thought darkly. It was merely a hunch, but the more Vir contemplated it, the likelier it seemed. When he first encountered Janak in Valaka Amara, Janak knew exactly who—what—he was. Janak knew. And maybe these recordings would tell him.
“In the vision I had, Janak created a map out of thin air, above the worktable in his lab. It showed the locations of all the tablets. At least, I think that was what they showed. It seemed as though he erased it when he fled, but is there any way to access it again?”
Ashani nodded. “We can most certainly try,” she said. “Now that I know what to look for, I should know soon.”
They entered the home and proceeded down to Janak’s lab, which was as white and pristine, and filled with as many unknowable contraptions as the last time Vir had seen it.
Ashani touched the square table at the center of the room and frowned. “I’ve searched through our records.”
Vir’s brows shot up. “All of them?” Ashani couldn’t have touched the table for longer than a second.
“Yes. There are precious few that are not my own, I’m afraid. All the data before the fall has been wiped.”
“Probably by Janak,” Vir said, biting his lip. That was a downer, but if nothing else, it at least proved the vision he saw was grounded in reality, and not some delusion.
“Nothing, then?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
Vir’s shoulders slouched, but when Ashani brought up a map—identical to the one he’d seen in Janak’s vision—all negative emotions were immediately forgotten.
“This is what I saw! In the vision! It’s the same map. Or, similar,” Vir said, frowning. It only showed Mahādi, for one. “The location of the chamber is missing.”
“I see,” Ashani said, scrutinizing the map. “You said you had transcribed the locations, yes? May I see it?”
Vir hurriedly produced the folded-up map from a pocket and unfurled it. “You can ignore all of these other ones. As far as I could tell, only one lies within Mahādi.”
“The one at the center, yes?” Ashani asked, pointing to the location Vir had marked.
“Right. I tried to jot down as many landmarks as I could…” He looked away. Now that he was actually showing the scribbled mess to someone else, it looked little better than the drawings of a child.
“I… was not entirely in control of my body at the time,” Vir said with a cough. “It was the best I could, given the circumstances.”
Ashani gave him a wry smile. “But of course.”
She stared at the sheet for a moment, and then, without warning, a blue pillar of light appeared on top of the map.
“As best I can tell, it ought to be in this area,” she said.
“It’s deep,” Vir commented grimly. “Quite deep.”
“Indeed,” Ashani replied. “‘Tis deeper than I’ve ever delved. I’m afraid such prana density poses a real danger to my circuitry.”
“Sorry? Your what?” Vir asked.
“My body,” Ashani said with a small smile. “I’m not designed to withstand such environments.”
“Neither am I,” Vir muttered. He couldn't be sure just how much denser the prana there was, but it grew dramatically the closer one ventured to the core spire of the city. Ordinarily, the prospect of expanding his body’s capacity to cope with that density would make Vir giddy—if he had the time. He couldn’t afford to spend weeks meditating to grow that.
“I’ll have to minimize my exposure, then,” Vir said. “Go in fast and quick. And pray that I find it.”
Ashani frowned. “I dislike this. What if you run into danger?”
“I’ll be safe,” Vir said, giving the goddess a reassuring smile, understanding the meaning behind her words. “I’m not going to leave you here alone, Ashani. Not again. I promise.”
With a nod, Ashani moved her hands through the air, manipulating the map to focus on the area in question. It rotated slowly, giving them a birds-eye view of the location.
“I don’t understand,” Vir said, gesturing to the map. “This looks like a spire?”
“So it seems,” Ashani replied. The inside of the spire populated, showing floor upon floor of empty rooms. “As far as I am aware, there is nothing of the sort of door, or wall that you mention here. Nor do I see how Janak could have altered the structure to insert his own room. Not after the fall. He would’ve lacked the means to bypass the preservation inscriptions, or his work would have been undone.”
Vir walked around the table, arms folded in thought. “It could just be that I jotted it down wrong. Can you try searching a wider area for possible matches?”
“Of course, though this area of the city is dense with spires and buildings. I fear Janak would have been unable to construct anything of the sort you mention… Unless. Could it be that the wall you touched was not created by Janak, but rather repurposed?”
Vir stopped walking. “I honestly hadn’t considered that,” he admitted. “Though if true, who would have built them? And how would the Imperium not have known about it?”
“A fair point. Nothing of that sort could exist within the city. But perhaps… What about under it?”
Vir’s eyes widened as Ashani moved the map, focusing on the area directly below the spire. A maze of halls and tunnels crisscrossed within the ground under the city, and it just so happened that one tunnel intersected exactly where the blue light shone.
“It’s possible,” Vir said. “Unlikely, but possible.”
“Will you go?”
Vir stared at the map for a long moment, but the answer was clear. He’d spent far too long in the dark. He needed answers.
“Yes. Yes, I think I must.”