'A short while,' she'd said. The walk was anything but short. It felt like an endless trek of winding corridors, empty rooms and spiraling staircases.
One positive was the lack of monsters during the start of their journey. Alphonse enhanced his perception randomly as his mana pool filled in order to discern any possible foot traffic. The only prints he picked up were from what appeared to be a set of heavy boots. Unfortunately, the tinges of yellow were so faint and disjointed that he couldn't be entirely certain. His first guess was that they belonged to the other catgirl, Kirie, and she'd passed through quite some time ago.
Alphonse stared in awe when he scaled the most recent staircase and beheld what appeared to be the ruins of a destroyed city. Man-made structures threatened to crumble from a breath of air. Canted platforms struggled to support crippled statues that dutifully kept their silent vigil. Purposeful paths were partially obscured by debris and corroded with black scars. What appeared to be an hourglass-shaped natural formation at the center of the cavern was actually a purposeful structure with winding stairs carved into the outside. It melded into the floor and ceiling, breaking off at sections with narrow stone lengths akin to the gnarled branches of a tree.
It was no mystery that the dungeons beneath the continent were created by an ancient civilization, but he'd never seen the remains for such a large populace. The architecture was far more defined and held a bit of gothic inspiration. The opportunity to savor such a sight was certainly rare.
Alphonse shook himself from his reverie when he noticed Asa skirt off to the side with her staff raised. She flicked its end a couple times and an orb of white light appeared. Its glow seemed to smother as it extended a few feet out to reveal the faint outline of a doorway.
She led him off to the side as they went through, and they skirted the city on a winding path in the cavern wall. Alphonse remained wary of what unknown enemies might lurk within the ruins, despite the carefree strides of the catgirl healer.
He did well to hide the discomfort as his leg complained. Outworld adventurers healed faster than native adventurers due to the extra health regeneration, but even that could only accomplish so much. It also provided even less to recover his fatigue.
Asa seemed to read the dissatisfaction between his short gasps. “You arrived on the opposite side of the sanctum. I deemed it necessary that we start your treatment as soon as possible, but perhaps my sister pushed you too hard.”
You're one to talk. I just woke up, Alphonse thought.
Most of the journey from the dungeon was a blur. He remembered Kirie showing up and assisting him, but the rest eluded him. Plenty of walking. More hiding. It had been much of the same as the three days following the betrayal, but at least he was able to share it with someone else rather than alone.
“Why did you help me?”
The response from the catgirl was immediate, “Mother will explain.”
Back to their mother again. Alphonse figured they held her in high regard. She seemed more like a commander of a catgirl army rather than an actual mother. Asa's responses were also painfully concise. Any attempts at conversation to defer attention from his exhaustion were shot down.
A short while later, they arrived at a narrow, arched bridge that extended over the remnants of what appeared to be a large plaza. At the cliff's edge Alphonse could make out what appeared to be a dried fountain, more statues and mounted slabs that looked like benches. His adventurer's instinct kicked in as he wondered what sort of loot might be hidden amongst the rubble.
"Nothing of value remains," Asa assured him. "Perhaps we should rest. It would be unfortunate if you succumbed to exhaustion as we crossed."
Yeah, no kidding, Alphonse thought. The strange ruins had been a great relief as a distraction, but the pain flared in his leg once again as Asa diverted his attention.
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He limped over to what remained of a squat building that might have once been a small lookout, judging by the broken parapets and small sitting space. He settled himself down on the rubble and extended his leg out to alleviate the stress. The catgirl healer sat cross-legged on the ground and rested her staff delicately in front of her. They sat in silence, with only the occasional sound of released air traveling through unseen, distant openings somewhere in the vast cavern.
To Alphonse's surprise, Asa broke the silence first, "Why are you here?"
Alphonse extended his arms behind him and propped himself up as he interpreted the question. "You should know already. I'm an adventurer, and this is a dungeon."
"No, I mean Hovestile. I ran an advanced appraisal to confirm it. You are indeed an outworlder."
"Maybe you could answer my question first."
Asa pursed her lips and nodded at his reasoning. "It isn't that I don't want to. Even Mother doesn't have a full grasp of our situation, but she will be able to explain it far better than I can. I only hope that we reach a conclusion that is mutually beneficial."
"That's...pretty vague." Alphonse let out an exasperated sigh and decided not to broach further on the subject. "Well, to answer your question, I'm supposed to be here to save my world."
He raised his hands in a dramatic flourish as if preparing to recount a grand tale. However, he quelled any sort of high expectations the catgirl might've had for his answer.
Instead of going into greater detail, Alphonse lowered his hands into his lap and simply shrugged. "But, well, I have my own personal goal."
Asa gave him a half-smile when she realized no further explanation was forthcoming. "That's pretty vague."
"It is."
The silence returned, but Alphonse found that it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as before. Despite the catgirl's calm countenance and impartial attitude, she had a bit of good-natured humor about her.
She kept a respectful distance and only approached when Alphonse made a slight wince as his leg stung. She applied some healing magic as a precaution and gave him a sip of water from her canteen.
"What is this place?" Alphonse asked.
Asa stared out over the decrepit buildings below. Her eyes locked on to the grand hourglass structure at its center. "It was once an ancient city, as I'm sure you surmised. It shared a name with two others not far from here, but they were each given a number. This one is known as Hollow'dys One."
Alphonse followed her gaze and examined the impressive structure. "Strange. What's so special about that building?"
"It was a library," Asa said. "Most of the books were burned or illegible. What we were able to collect and preserve is at our home."
"I'd sure like to read some of those."
"I'm sure Mother would have no objections." She began walking towards the bridge as a sign of finality. "Time to go."
Alphonse clapped his hands on his knees and forced himself up. "Alright, lead the way."
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The rest of the trip was fairly straightforward. Once they'd crossed the narrow bridge, it was more spiraling tunnels and seemingly unnecessary staircases. They seemed to extend as wide as they were long with the edges vanishing into deep darkness. They were forced to slow down and maintain close proximity in order to make use of Asa's orb of light.
The final leg of the journey was a long hallway with smooth walls of swirling gray and amber hues. A natural sort of faint light emitted from peculiar sections where the colors melded to form shapes like whirlpools at distinct intervals.
After what felt like hours, they arrived at a massive set of double doors that reached tens of feet above. Strange runes and symbols decorated it with no surface left blank. They overlapped, mirrored and traded foreground and background. Some of them seemed faded and ghostly, as if the design was intended to appear between two planes of existence. When Alphonse moved closer, some of the shapes moved like a lenticular image.
A large, brass knocker on each door depicted the heads of some ferocious cat creatures. Asa reached for a ring hanging in one of the mouths and banged it against the door. After waiting a few seconds she moved to the other. The dull sound of heavy metal colliding didn't echo around them, but seemed to drain away into the slits of stone slabs mounted on the walls. The doors slowly opened inward without so much as a groan.
Revealed beyond was an impressive chamber bathed in pure white. The size was generous enough to fill several hundred people comfortably, but most of the space was reserved for small ponds fed by intricately carved fountains. Statues of faceless individuals wielding various weapons dotted the stone walkways with a milky luster. At the center of a circling stream was a short pedestal holding a thick book with black binding.
Alphonse found the room captivating, but the individual who sat on the far opposite side was even more so.
A beautiful woman rested her hands on the arms of a throne raised by a short dais. She wore a simple silk dress of sky blue with a transparent fabric trailing the bottom that revealed up to her ankles. It split and held at the shoulders, much like a halter, to reveal a bit of her pure white skin.
Upon seeing Alphonse, she rose gracefully from her seat, rested a hand to her chest and bowed. Her emerald hair brushed the ground with the movement and revealed a familiar pair of cat ears.
She righted herself and displayed a charitable, relieved smile. “Welcome, Adventurer, to the Submerged Oasis.”