“I don’t think she’s kidding kid.”
“Who the fuck are you?!” Said all of them in unison. Even Jean stumbled out a few words in surprise.
“A medic, I can heal this person, if you can even call him a person at this point. You look like a zombie, honestly.” The man had an unkempt stubble, short buzzed hair hidden under a camo-hat. A camouflage vest and camouflage pants. Either a fake military, or real military.
“What’s a zombie?” Asked the teenager, having dropped the idea of returning home for now, his fingers rapidly tapped on a special device in his pocket.
“You’re from earth… does that make you trustworthy or should I kill you as well?” Ru Shi asked herself mostly, scanning the scruffy, well-built man from head to boot.
“Calm your horses young lady. I’m from the army, if you could really not tell by the clothes. The New United Nations army to be more specific. Joseph Carter.” Said the military man as he brought out his badge, he walked forward past Ru Shi and crouched down next to Jean. He pulled a large chain of golden links hidden under his military attire, an emerald bigger than an egg dangled from his neck., embedded into a circlet of gold. He brought his hands over Jean’s chest, right above his solar plexus and closed his eyes.
He exhaled a deep visible breath and green light turned into slime, spread all over Jean’s body. It dug under his bandages and all his clothes, the grime and oil, and came into contact with his skin. It flooded around him suspending him in the air, yet inside of its mucus consistency. With a push of will Joseph urged the energy deeper, moved it faster. It drove through him unrelenting in its passage, yet leaving behind a body much better than it had been.
It was a much, much later when Joseph, wet with sweat, guided the energy away, now a dark muddled green and let his will over it dissipate over some street corner. The shimmering green qualities of the floating blob disappeared and all the grime slapped onto the ground, sticky, smelling of rotten fish.
“I have to commend you man…. For you to stay alive as long as you did with those injuries? Not only that, you did not utter a single noise as I worked my magic, well, this bad boy’s magic. That’s almost terrifying.” Joseph grabbed the jewel at the center of the golden chained necklace before carefully placing it back inside his clothes.
“There’s many things I want to ask of you now Joseph. I’m pretty thankful I didn’t attack you.” Ru Shi crouched down next to him and Jean, she checked Jean herself, after Jean nodded in silent acceptance. “It did great work, essentially stabilized him. Though he is still a broken mess, and if he doesn’t get intensive care he’ll just deteriorate, and eventually die.”
“Great, happy to see I still got it. This item is very hard to use when you don’t know exactly how it works and what exactly you are doing.” Joseph plopped down on his ass, arms stretched behind him, he motioned for the unspeaking teen to come sit as well.
“What’s your name kid?”
“Bi-Ran… And I’m not a kid, gramps.” Bi-Ran said as he sat down, back on a wall. His voice coming slightly distorted through the mask.
“There’s fire him.” Joseph nodded sagely.
“So, mister.” Bi-Ran continued. “Did the chaos down at the ‘Heavenly Mirage’ disturb even the army stationed outside the Tower? Enough to send one of their precious medics out in the streets of this labyrinth to find out?” His eyes sharp with a solid glint.
Joseph Carter grinned at the line of questions.
“You{COUGH!}, Said the army is fighting at the Tower?” Jean jumped up, his body not taking to the movement too well. “Stop, immediately. I bet that treasure was gained from the Tower as well? How far have you gotten!?” Jean grew erratic.
“There is no way we can stop. It’s a source of weapons, treasures, training. It’s the only key we have to actually understanding what is happening. What is this Cultivation system? How come the locals don’t seem to have it? Why did Earth expand in size? What caused this mayhem?! You can’t expect me to stop, not now when so many have been already lost to the trials of that Tower!” Joseph stood up, fists clenched, neck flushed bright red.
“It’s all fake. It’s all a rouse. Can’t you tell?” Jean inched forward, his hands rose weakly. They clenched at Joseph’s combat pants.
“I have gone into that store only twice and I can still tell that this polished little trinket your treat as treasure was produced and planted by the Crystal Palace. Everything in that tower other than the monsters does not belong! I know, I heard it... I saw it~” He almost whispered, as if he didn’t want to hear himself speaking of it.
“They were boasting, easy they called it. Right at my sisters face, she only smiled, gave them praise. They were laughing at the intelligence of the bravest humanity had to offer, and she only giggled along.” Jean struggled to push himself to a standing position. He slipped and fell, his face smacked the hard rock.
{GAHU!} He spit bloody phlegm from his mouth. He continued. His face morphed into that of a rat. His voice took a different cadence as well.
“’Training? They're learning nothing, the fools!’ They laughed. ‘Using their little machines to take on the Trials is nothing but a joke! Savage monkeys playing war games… What an uproarious joke!’ They mocked. And there I was, listening to all this spiel bastard slaves spewed from their oily lips, they detailed to my sister how the moment enough trials were completed the first seal would be broken, a seal placed on the portal of the Pavilion, and actual cultivators would be allowed to move through its gateways.”
“From then, the Earth was their. Colonize it, conquer it, take it. Might makes right! They will enslave us and use us, and we won’t have the strength to stop even the weakest of their Cultivators.”
Jean looked straight at Joseph’s eyes. A faded blue, taking on gray after the smoke of his beloved cigarettes. “Can you truly say the war you are currently fighting is worth dying for? When the whole planet if going to burned to the ground and milked for all it’s worth not soon after you achieve victory?!” Jean shouted all in one breath. He collapsed soon after, blood dribbled down his chin. He was spent. Yet all he did was laugh, looking down at his body.
“Look at me… I deserve this. Here I am lecturing you, when I’ve already caused so much harm… Ru Shi, I’ve said my piece. Let’s go get your cousin back.” His face relaxed. Muscles frozen taught turned warm, back into a peaceful smile. Maybe once, this short man with hair as white as snow and eyes as muddled as a swamp had once been more than a broken mess.
The rest of the Party though did not respond. Took notice of the self-deprecating end of his speech. Their minds rushed a thousand miles a second. Even Bi-Ran seemed lost in thought. His black eyes shone with a mysterious light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atlas stretched his neck over the rope railings of the long and thick bridge of wood he stood on. He stared into the black void below and it stared right back. Deciding that his time was better spent taking in the best parts of the Undercity, those that did not cause nausea, He stared at the buildings spread around him. Hundreds of floors growing smaller the further they dipped into the ink abyss, wide bases with foundations of unknown quality stuck to what should be the ceiling.
Some had water flowing from them, collecting at the bottom and flowing back up, in a rule breaking loop. Others were doused in light, almost like a a constant rave party. Other structures were covered with mist, others with smoke. Some were pretty normal until you saw the one eyed stumpy humanoids that lived in the expansive labyrinth they seemed to enjoy inside of their eight walls. Little doors and knobs and things jutting out and leading to somewhere all over the building.
And eventually Atlas spotted where they were heading. A building that wasn’t visible hidden behind dense purple smog. They stopped at the edge of a bridge made of thick logs, straight and clear cut. A step before the borders defined by the smog, which moved as if alive, yet never outside its invisible boundary.
“Now. I’d like you two, to hold your breaths when we walk into the Mother Smog. The moment we do, I’ll provide you with two masks, my own and this spare.” Al-Sen said as she pulled a crystal mask from the duffel bag she had been carrying all along.
“Understood.” Atlas answered and drew as big a breath he could. He slapped Carius’ hand, waking him from his shock. Carius smiled and scratched the back of his head and gulped before following suit.
The two of them dove forth into the thick smog, it was almost elastic, it resisted their advance, dragging their hands and feat and faces backwards, outwards.
Atlas didn’t take his eyes off Al-Sen, who thankfully for all of them, acted quickly, placing and locking the mask on his head. He breathed out when she gave him a nod, finally relaxing. He flexed his wrists and flicked his fingers, his hidden aggression subsiding. He had taken a real gamble there. One his Father would have berated him for strongly. The teaching of the Assassins that had been beat into him had accounted for every situation. And his actions had clearly gone against them.
{FU~~} Al-Sen basked in the glorious smell of the Mother Smog, taking it in through her nostrils hungrily.
“Your People can’t breathe normal air?”
She nodded. “It’s toxic for us, the Chasm People.”
With Carius fidgeting at every step the two talked as they walked. Atlas letting Al-Sen guide them in the dark, purple expanse.
“Would you still consider yourselves humans then?”
“It’s not really one of our concerns. Though just to be spiteful to those up above, I would argue so.”
“… There’s a story there, and I’d actually like to know. But maybe some other time. The whole affair is rubbing me the wrong way.”
“I could tell. It was one of the reasons you were so handily dealt with, that and you inability to be lethal.” Al-Sen eyes of black, ringed in purple shone through the smog.
“I don’t see a way of dealing with this ordeal other than to comply. The Old manager showed I clearly don’t have the strength. I have the knowledge though. The Qi here is dense, Magnitudes more than back home, and the techniques are all in my head. Maybe I can get it to work with me?” Atlas stretched his hands out, grasping it around a particularly thick clump of purple colored Qi, it didn’t react.
“Work with you? That’s rare.”
“What is?”
“Speaking of Qi in such a way. It’s a philosophy that has long been lost to the Cultivators of Hearth. Even me and my people have lost touch with it. Though not by choice, really.”
Atlas raised a brow. “How’d they take your Cultivation when they locked you here?”
“We didn’t have our own Manual to begin with. Maybe when my people were first born. But the world we left a few hundreds of years ago was a much different thing. I’ll explain. But first we should get you all looked at, and maybe get something to drink. I am not used to being rude to my guests, not that I have often have any. What with the ever present Smog fueled by the spirits of my ancestors."
“From the spirits of your ancestors? The Spirits take physical form?”
“Almost, they don’t in your world?”
“It’s been stated to happen in a far forgotten time. But for thousands upon thousands of years since then, only in scary stories.”
Suddenly Al-Sen pulled out some small, jagged, crystalline device from her pocket and placed it near her ear. She nodded along at the message that had been sent. “It seems your little friend has other ideas about this situation. I learned from Bi-Ran just now that she threatened him with the injured man’s life in order to stay above.”
“Damn. I knew something was up with her attitude. I need to go.” Atlas walked up to Al-Sen, he grabbed onto the communication device.
“Don’t worry. It seems something else happened. We have time. Not to mention that without a plan there is nothing you can do, You’ve said it yourself.” Al-Sen said as she gently took Atlas’ hand off the device.
“Sorry.” Atlas apologized, flustered.
Eventually the group stopped walking on the long bridge, they had transitioned to a flight of stairs. They walked in a circle with walls and rooms and houses on the inside and nothing but the void on the outside. Up and up they went, round and round.
They walked for some time until, undisturbed by others, they reached what seemed to be a private room meant purely for a select few. A plain room with a bed, a drawer and a closet, a single night light as well as a small room light stuck to the ceiling. “Here we can talk safely, freely. No restrictions, no overhearing.”
“Honestly Al-Sen I would not have expected you to still have a teddy bear in your room. It’s pretty cute.” Atlas said as he picked up a blue little teddy bear, cleaned, groomed, and clothed. Clearly still used for its comforting qualities.
Al-Sen flushed a dark purple as she rushed forward and took the teddy bear from Atlas’ hands. Blindingly fast, elegant and with impeccable form. She was bigger than any normal female human after all, standing at an enormous 2 and a half meter height with arms as long as her legs.
“Whatever it is you want to say, my mistake. I’ve been rude once more. I ask for your forgiveness.” Atlas bowed. A snicker hidden in the glint of his eyes. Al-Sen merely turned around, placing the teddy bear with care next to her head pillow.
“But onto important matters… Will you help us?”
“I don’t see it happening.” Al-Sen offered a seat to both Atlas and Carius. She took one herself, only after the hot brew of tea was done. She filtered the water into three sets of white porcelain tea sets and served them with a little moss green colored cookie. She served some type of pink milk on the side and cubes of what could only be some type of sugar, to add to taste.
Carius partook in the milk and the sugar, he swirled the mix with a crystal clear little spoon until they became sufficiently combined and took a sip. “Ah~ Yeah. This ought to calm my nerves a bit. It’s delightful miss. You should drink some too, Atlas.”
“I will, I’m not known to be ungrateful. But I have to say, I’ve been socked. I didn’t expect such a clear denial.” Atlas blinked in stunned perplexity.
“It wasn’t a denial though. Miss Al-Sen was clearly saying that she just doesn’t see any possibilities of succeeding right now, or any reason to try very hard at this moment. So it is our job to sweeten the deal, to provide the path, the reward required for her to put enough effort. Which we’ll do, don’t you worry miss. Now, sorry to pass the ball so early, but I expect Atlas you’re gonna have to come up with those terms yourself.” Carius had almost flipped a switch the moment he had some of that warm, incredibly tasty, and calming liquid in his belly.
Atlas took a few moments to make his own tea, shaking away the shock. “I’m gonna gloss over my surprise that you caught all that. But instead, let me ask a few questions, if I may.” Al-Sen nodded and Atlas continued. “You require this Smog to live?”
“Yes.”
“And this smog exists because all the people that die in the clan willingly give their spirit up for the, next generations?” Al-Sen took a sip from her tea, Atlas took that as confirmation. “But not all spirits are equal. A Cultivators spirit is much better, but as you have said, your cultivation philosophy was taken, your methods as well. You’re stuck.”
“We are stuck. Our Grand Poison Refining Manuals had been taken long ago, when we were ostracized they were destroyed. Our grand elders and scholars were captured or killed, only the young generation was left to run and rebuild. Ending up stuck in this horrid place.”
“Why stuck? There are so many portals I bet you could have gone to another corner of the world and built a new home. Even before our own world became… connected.”
“Even if it wasn’t impossible to leave, we would still need a Poison Qi Source to sustain ourselves without this self sacrificial smog.”
“It’s impossible to leave?”
“Those with any type of cultivation, with Qi in their body more than the lowest of possible levels, can not exit this place. It’s been like this even from the Era of Stars. Eternal City has existed for a long time. Before this Era and the Era before it. It’s always been an important place. For tens of thousands of years.
“I see.”
“That’s why I said, young man. I don’t see it happening.”
Atlas suddenly smirked. “Then, I wonder what you’d say If I told you I think I can solve your most major problem? The Source of Poison Qi that is.”
“I would doubt you.” Al-Sen leaned forward. Her tea cup placed back on its porcelain saucer.
“Then you only need to come outside to confirm.” The smirk bloomed into a smile. He got her.