Charlie
“What is this?” Charlie asked, looking at the bracelet in his hand. The bracelet was cool to the touch. It was made of bone and shaped like a serpent swallowing its own tail.
Themis and Canano exchanged a look. “How did that scaler get that? It should be deep within the dungeon’s walls now.”
Charlie looked up at him. “You’ve seen this before?”
Themis nodded. He started talking as he walked. “I have, and so have you. That bracelet is the sealed form of the skeletane wyrm. You saw how it grew tremendously between when we first encountered it and the fight just now. It possesses the ability to rapidly expand and alter its body. When the dungeon sealed it, it was forced into this form. That was how it looked when it was brought here by a companion of the Hero of Aysela.”
Merlin’s eyes grew wide, and he stared at the necklace in Charlie’s hand. “Is it safe to be holding it? Shouldn’t we get rid of it or something?” he asked.
Themis laughed. “It’s safe. It was only set free because of the disruption of this dungeon. The rogue core that caused the issue is gone now. The previous seal was created when Zephyr was much less powerful. This one will hold. Short of intentionally breaking it, we have nothing to worry about. In fact, it might be safer with Charlie than anyone else.”
Orb floated between them. “Wait, are you suggesting we take it with us? What the heck, Themis? I thought you were cool back there, but I am seriously reconsidering that now. Why can’t you keep it?”
Themis’ face saddened. “You’ll understand soon enough,” he said. The researcher picked up his pace and walked ahead of them. He suddenly didn’t seem in the mood to talk.
Charlie felt Koi Levi’s presence in his head. “Charlie, I’ve been listening in. Send the bracelet to me. I will keep it safe and ensure the seal isn’t broken, even if your dungeon collapses. Entrust this responsibility to your core guardian.”
“Vault Transfer!” Charlie said, and the bracelet disappeared. Koi’s idea sounded like a good one to him.
Merlin and Orb both turned to look at him. “Please tell me you didn’t…” Merlin said.
“Merlin, it’s Charlie. Of course, he did. He transferred that thing to his dungeon without a second thought. Fantastic,” Orb said.
Bonehead plodded along after them. “That still begs the question, how did Bone…” Vetica paused mid-sentence. “Nope. I’m not calling him that. How did the scaler collect that?”
Themis didn’t turn around to answer. Canano did so in his stead. “It’s possible Zephyr’s influence is responsible. Even though he was fading away, I’m sure he maintained a connection to the dungeon until the very end. It’s likely he made sure this scaler received it so that Charlie and Parent could take it with them.”
This piqued Parent’s interest. “Why would we do something like that?”
Canano smiled, showing off his sharpened fangs. “Why else? He trusted you two.”
Parent didn’t respond. His rings floated close to Charlie as he reflected on Canano’s words. Charlie adjusted himself in Vetica’s arms and looked back at Geby. She was eyeing Bonehead hungrily. Wait, no, she wasn’t just eyeing him, he could see her getting ready to lunge.
“Transfer!”
Bonehead disappeared just as Geby made her move. Instead of scaler meat, she got a big bite of dirt. Apparently, she couldn’t tell the difference. She chewed the dirt contentedly, a cheerful look on her face. The sound of a ferry horn filled the tunnel.
Merlin shook his head. Vetica covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
“Well, that was a close one,” Charlie said. He turned back to look at Themis and noticed his head was low. Charlie directed a message to Vetica’s mind only. “Hey, can you catch up to Themis really quick? I wanna cheer him up,” Charlie said.
She looked down at him with a surprised look but nodded. Her strides grew longer, and she quickly caught up with the researcher. It turned out that his head wasn’t hanging because he was sad. Themis was staring down at a book. It was Lusafeen’s journal. He was so engrossed in it; he didn’t even realize that Charlie and Vetica had caught up to him.
“Themis,” Charlie said.
Themis’ head snapped up to look at them. He was so surprised that he nearly dropped the journal, but he managed to fix his hold on it before it fell. “Oh, it’s you. Hello Charlie, is something wrong?”
“No. Did you figure out Lusafeen’s message?” he asked.
Themis frowned. “No, not yet. I see why Canano needed me to translate it myself. It’s clear she left behind a message, but I don’t believe she still had the key we used to use to encode messages in our work. I can translate part of it, but other parts read as if she was just doing her best to remember.”
Themis’ words echoed in the hallway. It was hard to have quiet conversations when that happened. Merlin overheard them. “Speaking of that,” Merlin said. “I was wondering. Lusafeen didn’t know she was going to end up being defeated, so why exactly did she leave a message for you in her journal? Do you think she planned to send it to you or something?” he asked.
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Themis sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve been wondering the same thing. We hadn’t talked since our argument. I’ve wracked my brain over and over, trying to answer that very question. But we haven’t had a free moment for me to try to decipher it until now. I think I’m close. I just need to figure out…wait!” Themis started whispering to himself. “If she…then that could mean…yes. I think this is it!” Themis smiled. He pulled a pen from the pocket of his robe and started circling letters in the journal. He started writing the message out on the margins of a page.
His eyes widened in shock. His head fell.
“What is it?” Charlie asked.
“It wasn’t a message for me.” Themis took a moment to read some more. “We always took our notes in code. I insisted on it. I was worried our research might fall into the wrong hands. At some point, Lusafeen told me she’d gotten so used to it she even wrote more personal things in code. Her journal, for instance.”
Merlin twisted his head. “But we could read most of her research notes just fine. Why didn’t she use the code for the entire book?” He asked.
“It’s likely she made these notes for the cultists. She intended to turn to them over. But she also recorded some of her personal thoughts in code. That’s what Canano found. Lusafeen had truly embraced a darker path in life, but even then, she had her doubts. She wondered if it was a mistake to side with the cultists. Lusafeen had doubts they were the best people to help her accomplish her own goals. She felt her research might be wasted on them, with a few exceptions. She also wrote a lot about someone named Dremmon. A lot. She seemed to really care for him. I wonder…”
“Squeak!” Mousifer said from Vetica’s opposite shoulder. He’d crawled off of Charlie and took refuge amongst the long hair that fell over her shoulders.
“Yup!” Orb said. “Dremmon was some kind of panther creature. He was helping her try to sacrifice the villagers of Troa.”
Themis nodded. “I see. Well, it’s nice to know she had a companion. Even as misguided as they both were. I know it shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does. I was all she had, and I let her down.” Themis sighed.
“Was that all? Just her talking about her doubts?” Charlie asked.
Themis nodded. “So far. Let me skip ahead a bit.” He flipped through the pages and frowned. “She stopped taking notes for a while. It coincides with the period after she got her hands on the egg of an evolution koi. She must have thrown herself into her work at that point. After that…” Themis flipped through page after page until finally he stopped. It was the last page with writing on it. Lusafeen hadn’t gotten to take anymore notes beyond that point because, well, Charlie had defeated her. This page was written fully in code. It took Themis a while to translate it.
The only noises in the hallway were the sounds of their footsteps, Geby’s breathing, and Themis’ pen furiously scribbling away.
And then his pen plummeted toward the earth and clacked against the ground of the dungeon’s hallway.
“Oh, that was dramatic. Dramatic usually isn’t good in a situation like this.” Merlin frowned, already preparing himself for bad news.
Charlie looked at Themis expectantly.
The researcher stopped walking. “She rushed her experiment in the end. She wanted the egg to hatch before the cultists came to collect it. Lusafeen had changed her mind about helping them. Not because of any moral quandary. She had a limited opportunity to accomplish something she’d hoped to accomplish for a long time. If she returned the evolution koi to the cult, that opportunity would pass her by,” Themis said, summarizing the notes.
“We already know she was trying to get the egg to consume large numbers of people to create a special human vessel. But what was her goal? You said she had something she wanted to accomplish. Was there more to it than just completing the research you two worked on together?” Merlin asked.
Themis grew solemn. “Truth be told, Lusafeen wasn’t just my research partner. She was also my niece. When she was young, hex beasts attacked her village. Both of her parents were killed. I didn’t find out for some time. It was common for me to get lost in my research. Several years had already passed by the time I found out. But I was determined to make things right. I took her into my care. When she showed an interest in science, I taught her that as well. I researched my work because I believed a powerful vessel could protect this kingdom. Lusafeen claimed to share that goal, but deep down, I think she was pursuing something else entirely. I believe she was looking for a way to bring back her parents.”
Vetica sucked in a breath. “Is that why your research involved necromancy?”
Themis nodded. “It was Lusafeen’s idea. The theory had potential. By using the closest form of beast to a human, we reasoned we could control it. To seize upon whatever remnants of humanity remained inside it. But I wondered at the time if Lusafeen was interested in the undead for other reasons. Her notes confirm it. She doesn’t say it outright, but in her notes, she’s conflicted about something.”
“What was it?” Charlie asked.
Themis turned to look him in the eye. “Lusafeen was stuck. She couldn’t choose which of two ‘subjects’ to resurrect when the time came. She wasn’t even sure if it would work. But even that hypothetical situation paralyzed her. It seems she delayed the ritual for a long time because she couldn’t decide. She couldn’t decide which of her parents she would bring back to life given the opportunity.”
Orb floated up to Themis. “So, when she learned the cult was eager to collect it, she decided she had to make a move? I don’t understand. She was eager to turn Charlie and I over to them. If she was betraying them, why would she be trying to hand us over?”
“I don’t have any idea. I only know what’s in her notes, and what I knew before. Who can say what her motives were at the time. Perhaps, she thought handing you over would mitigate the fallout from her betrayal. She may have planned to lie and say the two of you had destroyed the egg. Of course, that’s all speculation. What concerns me is the reason the cult was coming to collect the evolution koi. She doesn’t say it outright, so I had to read between the lines a bit. But from what I gather, the cult is extremely close to resurrecting Cendra.”
Canano stopped in his tracks. “You’re serious? But I thought that was beyond their means. Sure, it’s an open secret they’ve pursued his resurrection all this time. But you’re saying Lusafeen believed they were actually making progress?” he asked. The fur on his body was standing up.
Themis nodded. “Yes, and if that’s the case, if Lusafeen was already preparing for it, she must have had information that convinced her of its viability.”
Merlin swallowed. Charlie could feel Vetica’s heart beating faster in her chest.
From what he had gathered, both of them would’ve been children when the Hero of Aysela defeated Cendra. He still didn’t know too much about Cendra. Who he was or how he threatened Aysela. But their reaction worried him. What kind of man could create so much fear in them so many years after his defeat?
“So, if Cendra comes back, what does that mean?” he asked, trying to understand the implications of it all.
Themis took a deep breath. “It means the end of the world as we know it, Charlie.”