Probably Somewhere North of Anchon

The Real Nyx

Woah, you’re back!

I was worried I’d lost you for good this time.

And I had this whole introduction prepared and everything. You know, since I expected our reunion might be awkward. We left things on a weird, confusing, and ever-so-slightly crazy note. So, I took the time to write down my thoughts. I just wanted to give you a more “normal” experience this time. You know, ease you back into things slowly.

I know it has to be here somewhere…

Err, or not. Shit. It’s just really hard to check my pockets with these new bracelets—

Ahh, which is to say, I’m so glad you’re here!

All of you. At the same time. Which is just perfect.

Definitely doesn’t make me feel self-conscious at all. Especially since I have to wing it now. Ahh, and there’s that expression I’ve missed. You seem confused…

I just knew this would happen. That’s why I prepared talking points!

Get it together me. Be cool. Be normal. Or at least pretend. We’re finally back and I told me that we weren’t going to do this. We’re more mature now. Sophisticated even. A world-traveling Nyx. We’ve grown emotionally and intellectually and bromantically.

Err, which is to say, we’ve talked about me a lot already. So, uh… how have things been going with all of you? Been reading or watching anything fun during the break—

Okay, screw this! You were gone for sooo long.

Was it me? Did I do something to drive you away?

Or maybe it was the murder babies? The endless hellhole of shit and death? Or was it Fang? I know he can seem cold-hearted and emotionally distant but… well, he’s a good provider, you know? Or was it The Lair Warming Party? Oh, I know, it was the revelation that all vessels have a spirit! No? Huh, then maybe that whole deep dive into the inner working of my [Broken Mind]? You know, the one where I was talking to myself? All ten thousand of me? That was probably a lot. Too much, right?

I knew it was too soon to reveal all my ghostly baggage—

SMACK.

“Thanks, Lili,” I muttered.

“No problem. Besides, you really need to focus!” she snapped back.

In my defense, that was pretty hard with all of the screaming.

Everyone was apparently super excited to go on a tour of the Hellforge. Just another stop on our whirlwind family vacation! It had been a bloody good time so far!

Speaking of which, I was currently standing in a long line of other would-be sightseers, each of us wearing these pretty, custom bracelets that our tour-guides had given us. It was really thoughtful of them. Introducing a buddy system was a great idea! I mean, I’d seen firsthand how easily vessels died inside a gate. Practically none of the guests to my Lair Warming Party had survived. It was pretty depressing after I put in all that work.

Which is why I was tied to the slender elf beside me!

I know, you thought it would be Fang, right?

Well, it was okay, he was buddies with the babies. However, they didn’t let furry murder demons into the tour, which sort of made sense… for other families. But my babies were special. Obviously. So, I’d—

“Nyx!” Lili snapped.

Ahh, sorry. Anyway, where was I?

Oh, yeah! My safety buddy. His name is Cole.

At first, I thought maybe the buddy system was to help us avoid getting lost. I mean, the Hellforge was huge! And the tour-guides had really been militant about us sticking with the group. They even chained us together and made us march single file! Plus, they brought a ton of tour-guides to help keep us all super safe.

They obviously took our security very seriously.

Although, I was a little, well… disappointed with the tour so far. Everyone else seemed into it – screaming and wailing and carrying on. And, I mean, I got the “forge” part. This room in particular was palatial, mostly empty, and lined with thick stone blocks and a thicker layer of dust. There was an average-sized furnace – unlit. An anvil or whatever. Obviously, it was some sort of ancient, magical forge.

But where was the “hell” part?

Maybe the dusty-forge or the condemned-forge, but Hellforge? They might have oversold that a bit. Could I get a refund? Do you think they’d be open to that? I mean, I was starting to think this might be a scam—

Waaaaah! Gurgle. Thud.

Uh, what was that? What was that sound?

Ahh, nothing. Just another tourist hitting the ground. So, dramatic, but at least the screaming stopped for a moment. The other members of the tour group were just muttering and sobbing and several had apparently really, really had to go to the bathroom. Like they just couldn’t wait anymore. In their defense, we’d had very few breaks on the hike down here, so accidents were understandable. Besides, we all respond to stress in different ways.

[Therapy] had taught me that.

And this situation was a little stressful. On my end, I was trying to figure out how to politely ask for a refund while keeping my pretty new bracelets. For the others? Well, the rest of the tour group was being “ritually slaughtered” by our much-more-heavily-armed tour-guides. I assumed this was all part of the “Hellforge experience.”

It just felt pretty forced and I was expecting more.

“For the hundredth time, these aren’t tour-guides—" Lili tried again.

She was technically right. My understanding was that our guides were actually independent contractors hired by a group of merchants that owned the tour company. They’d probably structured it that way for liability purposes.

Oh, what was that? What were they trying to do?

Nothing much. Just opening a corrupted gate.

Yeah, this was Graven Ground! And I know exactly what you’re thinking – it looks way different than that grove outside of Anchon. Well, that would be because we weren’t in Anchon anymore! Also, apparently, corrupted spirits weren’t a monolith. They liked to haunt different places – not just creepy groves of willow trees. Who knew? Although, looking at the décor, this spirit must have been a workaholic—

Another scream tore through the air.

Some members of our group were also, well… a little rude? Don’t you just hate it when people talk during the tour? And these people never shut up. They were all, “save me!” “Let me go!” And don’t even get me started with the screaming! The first time felt organic, but the twentieth?

“Honestly, I think they’re just looking for attention?” I muttered.

“Please… please,” a woman sobbed, hanging off one of our tour-guides.

See? Ridiculous attention-seeking behavior.

Everyone thinks they’re the main character these days!

Which is silly. Clearly, that’s me.

Fang just snorted in agreement. Oh, or my bad. He was just snorting a line of nimbus off his claw while glaring at me with those glowing yellow eyes. How had he even crushed it up with his hands tied? That was pretty impressive, honestly.

Even better, he wasn’t allowed to talk! We had a bet going.

Frankly, I was enjoying the quiet time – or I had been until everyone started talking and screaming during the tour. Besides, the two of us didn’t really need to use words to communicate anymore, not since we’d rekindled our [Bromance]. We shared a deeper connection now. Plus, Fang’s eyes were really expressive. I could feel the seething waves of pride and adulation just rippling off of him.

Yeah, this tour had been my idea!

That’s why I was so invested in its success.

“Nyx?” Lili urged again, sounding worried. “Cole is up next and it looks like he’s about to pass out. Are you going to actually do something?”

She was right. The thin elf beside me was shaking like a leaf, his face super pale, his eyes round, and his hands trembling – probably because he was so angry with the other members of the tour group. See? He wasn’t screaming or crying! And his pants were almost completely dry. Perfect tour etiquette. We were basically best friends already.

That’s probably why they’d made us safety buddies.

In fact, Cole was the one who set us up with this Hellforge tour.

Another scream tore through the air and a body thudded to the ground with a whoosh of dust. Hmm, Lili was right. It looked like there were only a few of us left. Frankly, I was glad they’d kicked some of the others out of the tour. It was good to finally see a company that enforced its own rules. Plus, I bet we’d get a more personalized experience with a smaller group. Maybe asking for a refund would be premature.

I might even have to add that star back to my review…

“Nyx. Do something!” Lili snapped.

Fine. She was right. It was time to finally speak up.

I waved at my safety buddy with my bound hands. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

“No… don’t—” Cole began, his eyes going wide.

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Which was a weird reaction. Ahh, I know! He was probably nervous about public speaking. I’ve found that the trick is to imagine that the audience is trying desperately to murder you. The rush of adrenaline really helps calm the nerves… and it makes your fingers tingle! Also, you can’t be disappointed that way.

It’s important to set realistic expectations for yourself.

[Therapy] had also taught me that.

“Is this really necessary?” I piped up, dragging along Cole as I addressed our tour-guides. “I mean, I can see my new best friend here is next up for the whole “ritual killing” but he’s a nice guy. Just seems like a waste, you know?”

Cole’s eyes went wider – if that was even possible – and he pushed forward. “That’s, uh, not actually true – the friend, part, I mean. I don’t even know these two, they just kidnapped—”

I knocked him aside – maybe a little too hard. “Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just shy and a little awkward. He’s still pretty sensitive about it, but he actually has an extremely rare and weird medical condition that makes him—”

Ahh, Cole was glaring at me from the ground.

“Anyway, that’s, uh, confidential.”

The head tour-guide just shook his head. “You think talking will get you out of this? We don’t need your vessel’s medical history – just your nimbus to open the gate.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, cocking my head.

Shit, I must have missed that part.

See? This is what you get when the other members of your tour group won’t shut up! You miss critical details. Like the fact that this wasn’t actually a tour…

It was an escape room! Obviously.

“That’s not even remotely right—” Lili began

“Oh!” I muttered, smacking my hands to my forehead, my safety bracelets making a smallish bruise. “That makes waaay more sense. So, you’re “killing” these people for their nimbus? I thought this was just part of the tour – you know, this whole performance.”

My eyes skimmed down to the bodies. The blood was really authentic.

I kicked one. “Wow,” I murmured. “Not even a grunt. They’re fantastic actors.”

The head tour-guide just stared back, his blade hesitating at my neck, and the others were murmuring to themselves in confusion. Meanwhile, Fang let out a hissing chuckle, Lili cursed in the back of my mind, and Cole groaned on the ground.

“W-what?” the tour-guide muttered, shaking his head. “Are you crazy?”

Wow. That was offensive. I was rationally-challenged, thank you very much.

They definitely just lost a star on my review.

Although, I guess he wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Actually, that’s complicated—” I began.

“Yes!” Cole croaked as he began to recover. “The two of them are insane. You all need to run… run now. They’re so much more dangerous than the gate—”

A gentle kick was enough to silence my safety buddy. “Ahh, what I think my new friend here means is that this is obviously an escape room mistakenly marketed as a Hellforge tour. In which case, there’s a much more efficient way to do this, isn’t there?”

The head tour-guide looked back and forth between us – Cole now temporarily unconscious on the ground; me standing there with my hands bound in front of me and a broad smile on my face as I gave our tour-guide a long, slow wink.

Oh, and Fang was… actually, where was he?

Ahh, he was on the other side of the forge, mist blooming through the room and his clone slowly breaking apart beside me into coils of vapor. His bracelets struck the ground with a rattle of metal, leaving his safety buddy standing there awkwardly. The mute trash goblin was using the huge anvil to prepare a fresh line of powder. I almost got on his case, but stopped myself. I needed to stop nagging him.

This was his family vacation too.

And they hadn’t said we couldn’t do drugs on the tour/escape room.

Our tour-guides all jumped in surprise as they realized Fang had moved, metal scraping and their spirits flaring as they prepared to attack. Fang didn’t even react. He just tapped out a fresh line and loudly snorted it up while making gratuitous eye contact.

“What are you doing? Don’t move!” the head tour-guide snapped.

“Me or Fang?” I asked, suddenly standing beside his shoulder.

He started and whirled, his blade slicing through the air—

And chopping clean through Fang’s safety buddy!

Only for the two halves to separate, the blade destroying the coat that I’d made for my murder babies. Speaking of which, their beautiful, furry faces soon appeared as their disguise collapsed, the three of them scurrying free of the coat and taking up a position around me as they chittered in excitement.

What I really didn’t appreciate was the screaming from the tour guides.

Stuff like, “What the hell are those?”

And, “Good gods, why?”

I mean, sure… they’d been clear I couldn’t take them on the tour.

But, again, I assumed that rule was for other people.

Obviously, my babies were special.

“Woah, that doesn’t seem very safe,” I offered as the head tour-guide raised his blade again, my arm chain rattling as I showed my empty hands. “I know you have a job to do, I’m just trying to help move this long.”

“Then you can help by dying,” he guide grunted, trying to gather his composure, but his blade hesitating. It was possible I’d undermined his whole sacrificial murder event.

He was also committed to staying in character. You know what? I was going to add another star back. And the pools of blood were so thick. The real thing gathered just like that – I should know! They must have spent a fortune on special effects…

“Like I said, I might have an easier way,” I suggested. “If all you want is nimbus, I’m not sure why you wasted time with those other vessels. They’re not particularly juicy.”

With Lili’s help, I’d gotten really good at guessing if my prey was “ripe” for the devouring. Plus, I was pretty sure I knew how to solve this escape room now. Sure, the tour-guides had to give me a hint – but it still counts!

“For example, you put the bodies in the wrong spot.”

I nudged the head tour-guide with my elbow conspiratorially. “To throw us off the scent, right? Clever. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed.”

“What are you talking about?” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Ahh, right. Staying in character.” I shot him a finger gun. He deserved it.

“You mind if I give it a try?” I offered then. “If it doesn’t work, you can always “kill” us afterwards, right? I mean, there are a lot of you.”

“Why does he keep making quotes with his fingers?” one of the other tour-guides muttered. His buddy just shook his head in confusion.

Their leader hesitated, eyeing the others. They looked equally puzzled – bordering on flabbergasted. Probably because they’d never seen someone offer to solve the escape room this quickly. What can I say? Sometimes, being a genius was a struggle. You couldn’t just flaunt it in front of the less-intelligent – they would get bitter and upset and resentful and try to reject the obvious. I’d seen Fang do it a million times.

The trick was to rub it in their faces. That was the only way for them to learn.

“Sure… uh, I mean… that seems fine, I think?” the head tour-guide offered finally.

“Perfect!” I chirped.

“Nyx, what’s the play here?” Lili demanded warily. “Can’t we just eat all of these idiots and be done with it? I’m huuuungry.”

“Just give me a second. This will totally work,” I shot back.

From the way the tour-guides were looking at me oddly, I was guessing I’d said that last part out loud. Oh well, there was a lot going on.

Meanwhile, I was approaching the cluster of darkness looming right before the forge. It was a dense black ball that reminded me of Maribel’s core – you know, before she moved into my left hand, the tattoo of a rat still inked into my scarred skin.

Do you know what was even weirder? The tour-guides were acting like they couldn’t see it. The ball of darkness, I mean. They weren’t even reacting to the shadowy spiderwebs that were creeping across the dusty floor and devouring the corpses.

“Uh, what are you going to do?” Lili demanded.

“Oh, that’s easy! We’ve got lots of nimbus. I’ll just let it borrow some.”

“Wait, what? No, that’s a terrible—”

Too late! I shoved my arm into the darkness.

This wasn’t the first time I’d felt this weird, tickling, burning, icy drain feeling. I mean, there was that time back in Anchon, obviously. Also, the fight with the ratkin shaman. Still, this spirit seemed hungrier than normal. It really didn’t hold back.

Shadows whipped around my arm and trailed up across my torso, the energy flaring outward in a powerful blast that sent the dust spiraling away in a wave. Although, I barely felt it. I’d gained a lot of nimbus since the last few times I’d let a corrupted spirit nibble on me. Meanwhile, the tour-guides were shouting and yelling and a few were screaming… which was flattering but seemed like a bit of an overreaction.

This is exactly how I imagined a child felt when their parents oversold their achievements. Not that I knew for sure. You know, since my parents were super dead. All I had was Fang – who wasn’t even paying attention!

I tried waving and shouting at him, but he must not have heard me over the screaming.

And then it was too late – it was all over. Asshole.

The shadows released me and I turned. “See? Told you I could solve it!”

Huh, where did everyone go—

Oh, there they were! The tour-guides and surviving sightseers were all huddled around the door in a big group, staring at me wide-eyed and weapons drawn. Also, there was this weird rumbling sound and the floor was trembling.

Huh, was this part of the tour/escape room?

Something slammed into the top of the forge and the entire structure shook from the impact. The source soon became apparent as a gate crashed down through the ceiling – which, judging from the big hole in the roof, probably wasn’t the first time. And here I’d thought that was to help vent the heat from the forge.

Just goes to show that even a genius can be wrong sometimes.

Ancient wood crashed down into the furnace and the waters of Cocytus rushed out in a roaring wave, glowing white and flickering rainbow washing through the room and bathing it in sweet, sweet nimbus. More than enough for my [Shadow Aura] to replenish my reserves, turning those waters dark, black, and sludgy and blunting Lili’s complaining. It was important to bring snacks on the tour – which also wasn’t against the rules. I’d checked.

And following close behind were familiar, weathered doors. Like the hull of a ship, oars mounted in place as handles.

However, the gate did something new this time.

The wood began to fuse with the surrounding stone. The rest of the water turned a solid black before bursting into flame like oil – those fires burning bright and hot as they stoked the forge back into a full blaze. With a creak and groan of machinery, the floor around the gate shifted, panels of stone sliding away to revealing a mawing abyss. The sludge leaked into those holes in the floor, tumbling down, down, down into the depths of the forge, only to be replenished by the gate. An endless, inky, flaming waterfall.

More fires soon bloomed all around the room. The torches along the wall, the lamps in the adjoining hallway. The entire structure gave a screeching lurch of grinding metal and a rhythmic thump, thump, thump started underfoot.

Huh, that was weird. Maybe this place had been a factory before?

My guess was that the gate’s nimbus had restarted the whole building.

Oh, and those doors were creaking open now, more water spilling forth and rancid steam rising into the air as the fire burned it away. However, no mawing black void waited for us this time. Instead, it was a blazing inferno of hellfire.

Ahh. I got it now! I really shouldn’t have been so critical.

“Woah, that’s cool! So, this is the Hellforge?” I asked, turning.

Half the tour-guides had already made a run for it. The other half were still standing in the doorway in shock with the remaining tourists. Why were they all looking at me like that?

“You mean at the madman, grinning like crazy in front a portal to literal hell that you summoned from thin air?” Lili offered dryly.

Hmm. You know what? She may be right.

Maybe… maybe this wasn’t an escape room.

“You think!?” Lili nearly screamed.

Which just meant this was something else. My attention shot to Fang, his eyes staring at that portal with a weird expression. Fear and curiosity and familiarity.

Like… Like he’d seen it before.

Maybe I’d been wrong again. I know, lightning really can strike twice.

Oh. My. Gods. I knew exactly what this was now. Fang must have planned—

Just then, Cole woke up, saw the hell portal, and started screaming and crawling toward the doorway, the chain rattling along behind him. I’ll admit, that one stung a little. We’d been getting along so well. I’d even consider us friends.

But now it felt like there was this distance between us…

Which was an easy problem to solve. I just snatched my safety buddy’s chain and hauled him back… toward safety, of course. This was for his own good.

What? Why are you all looking at me like that?

Ahh, I bet you’re just upset because you missed the beginning of our family vacation. I mean, you’re family too, right? Sort of. And you missed everything! Sorry about that. That was actually part of my introduction. I had the whole story written out since it’s super long and I didn’t want to forget all of the many incredibly important details.

But, you know what? I can just wing it—"

“Nyx, we don’t have time for that! These are just the weaklings. They’re going to bring reinforcements once they realize the gate is open,” Lili snapped. “You can’t just start monologuing like you always—”

Nope, she was wrong. Besides, how will you appreciate anything that happens if you don’t have any context? Like you even missed me meeting Cole! Great guy and super interesting backstory. Did you know he caught an STD from a corrupted spirit?

That’s a spiritually transmitted disease, by the way.

Yeah, like I said, you’re missing critical information.

Plus, it’s also incredibly important to raise awareness surrounding the risks of accidentally having sex with a corrupted spirit or beast. Sure, it might not happen a lot. Or ever really. Okay, fine maybe it only happened to Cole. But I’m an ally of the STD community now. That’s part of what it means to be a friend.

Actually, that might also fall under my purview as safety buddy too.

Besides, we have plenty of time.

Fang still has a bunch of nimbus gems and my precious babies are eating the so-called “bodies” – they aren’t even moving! Now, that was commitment.

Even Cole was finally embracing the buddy system as he scrambled behind me. The others quickly followed suit, fleeing deeper into the room. Probably because of the thick, bloody mist wafting out of the doorway. The cloud was soon followed by a small army of mechanical sentries with sawblades for arms that rolled down the adjacent hallway as they hunted the tour-guides that had fled.

Which was awesome! I wanted one so bad!

Maybe I could build my own? It would probably help to take one apart first—

No – no, I refuse to get distracted. I owe you a story. Don’t you hate it when someone starts a tale and then immediately gets sidetracked? Yeah, me too.

Alright, so this all started a few weeks ago…