No one had noticed this person getting close to them, but everyone immediately reacted. Alliana had an arrow ready to shoot, Mon looked ready to pounce, and Ilai hid behind Valery who had a dagger in her hand. Cian tried not to react. That person had the same crimson eyes as The Twins, and if this person also was an Immortal he knew it would be useless to strike them with normal weapons. Not that he was that confident in his combat prowess. When Cian’s eyes met with the strangers, his heart pounded remembering the familiar feeling of fear.
Cian put his hand on his chest on nodded at the person. «Greeting. We have heard a lot about the Immortals. I have especially heard a lot about them since I am a part of the Ar’awn tribe who worship the Immortals on the surface. We are here with a humble request to receive the wisdom of the great Immortals.»
Ilai looked at him like he was betraying them, but Cian signaled for the others to stay silent.
They carefully studied each of them with their crimson eyes. «Yes, the Ar’awn tribe.» Their voice sounded sore as if they weren’t used to talking a lot. «It has been such a long time since they have sent any new individuals for the ritual. You are late. But what has it been? A few months maybe? Since your tribe has sent five individuals instead of three then I presume it will be fine.» He nodded at them. «I am Number Three and I will be your guide. Please follow me.»
The stranger who called themselves Number Three did not care to keep their guard up against them and started walking away. Cian looked at the others, but they chose to follow.
When they had walked through a small corridor they arrived at what Number Three called Eden. It looked like a town inside a huge underground cavern. The cave was scattered with the same weird shining crystals lighting up the entire cave.
They continued following their guide and saw people from all manner of races. Humans, demons, elves, dwarves, and Cian also saw some fairies who were supposed to be an extinct race. The building likewise had the architectural style of several different nations. Cian was expecting people to stare, but for some reason, no one cared about their presence. All but a few other masked individuals like Number Three seemed to have their guards up.
***
«There is even a bakery here!» Alliana said.
They both went towards the bakery and a smiling middle-aged woman was working. She looked like a demon with small horns on her head, but one of them was broken. They walked over to her and she looked over at them smiling.
«New faces! Please, have some bread.»
The woman was working in the kitchen continuously making batches of bread.
«How come you can make food here?» Cian asked.
The woman answered without stopping knitting her dough. «Miss Alisa runs a small farm where she plants crops. With the blessing of the Immortal, we can harvest crops in this place.»
«So, what’s your story?»
Number Three coughed. «Let me answer lest Miranda diminish her accomplishments. Miranda was a war orphan when war ravaged the demon lands. At those times there was no order with a demon king reigning. Her dream was to be a baker. After a lot of work, she made her bakery and fed the kids. Later on, the Immortal rewarded her with entering Eden.»
«Before the demon king?» Mon said. «That is a very long time ago. For a weak demon to enter Eden your requirements must be low.»
«Mon!» Valery said.
Miranda laughed. «He is right. I am not that strong of heart, but do the best I can.»
Number Three gestured ahead. «Let’s continue.»
The rest followed him, but Cian took one last look at the bakery. Miranda was making bread, a lot of bread. Piles of bread were staked up on each other, and he could swear he saw some green patches. It did not look like the Immortals ate a lot of bread.
They continued ahead to an old man training his sword. They found an explorer that had made a small pile and was climbing it up and down. The people here did not seem to have a lot to do. Or, rather they only focus on doing the same action they must have been adept at.
«Melissa?» Valery said.
A woman looked at them with a lifeless expression on her face. «Yes?»
«It’s me, Valery.» Valery got closer to her.
The woman was lost in momentary confusion before she finally came through. «Valery? Oh, my daughter Valery.» Melissa burst into tears.
«Melissa? She was supposed to have died at the previous expedition. How did she survive?» Alliana commented.
It looked like it was going to take time so they chose to give both of them some space.
Cian nudged at Alliana trying to be careful that any inhabitant of Eden wouldn't notice them. "Do you sense something from the earth?"
Alliana shook her head. "The spiritual energy here is almost nonexistent. Little spiritual energy in a cave is expected, but not to such a degree. Perhaps I should look around. Maybe there are some roots from one of the massive spirit trees shucking off the spiritual energy."
On that note, they decided to split up. Mon said he wanted to fight the swordsmaster while Ian was too terrified and chose to stay close to Valery.
***
Cian had no idea what was going on anymore. His head started spinning and his body felt lethargic. It must have been the lack of fresh air so he decided to take a break, sitting down on a bench in between the houses, looking at the people walking past them. They must all have been extraordinary people in their prime, but what happened to them?
He noticed a weird contraption on the ground. There was a section that was cut out. Cian pushed at it and the contraption started playing music. He couldn’t recognize it since a woman was speaking in a foreign language. «What is this?»
«That’s a music player.» It was one of the enlightened ones. They walked closer to Cian and sat beside him. They did not bother to tell him what number he was, but Cian noticed a small zero painted at the bottom of his mask. «It is one of many inventions from Evernight City.»
«Evernight city?» There was a city down here making contraptions he had never seen before. «Does it run on magic?»
The enlightened one shook his head. «It is purely scientific. Immortals do not rely on magic too much. What is important is their nature and inventions of the material realm.»
«No magic.»
So what they knew so far about the Immortal is that they liked to acquire people with strong ambition. They receive a blessing and become enlightened, getting closer to becoming a true Immortal. But why? «What is the meaning behind this place? Why make everyone immortal, and why are the enlightened ones special?»
The enlightened one did not say anything. The sound of a bell ringing echoed throughout the massive cavern. «It is time. Follow me.»
Cian followed the person to the town square to be met with the sight of Alliana and Mon, wounded. Valery was standing on the side defeated, and Ian was lying motionless on the ground.
«What happened while I was gone?»
Mon grunted. «Sneak attack. These people have no honor.»
***
All of them were thrown into the red room. The exit was sealed off and a crowd of onlookers gathered. It looked as if all the inhabitants had arrived to look at them, squeezed into the narrow cavern corridor. At the front stood the enlightened ones wearing their odd getup.
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Alliana grunted. "This room. It is absorbing all of our spiritual energy! But how? Let me see."
Valery sighed. "Guess this is it."
"Wait," Cian said. According to the previous expedition his father had said the Immortal can be killed in this room. And what he had learned was that the Immortal living here gathered people with extraordinary abilities, but only a few of them could become enlightened ones. "Perhaps the ritual is a way to see if someone is compatible with the Immortal. He must not have a real body." Cian suggested.
"That ... sounds correct. It does explain why Melissa said she had become chosen by her master. But that does not help our situation?" Valery said.
Cian shook his head. "It does. All the repetitive action. The Immortal does not have a proper grasp on emotion and why people become extraordinary. That is why he does not understand what actually makes people compatible as an enlightened one, and therefore a host."
"I got it!" Alliana exclaimed. I managed to reverse the flow of the spirit roots."
"Reverse? A high wood elf, in an underground cave?" one of the enlightened ones said. "What a blunder on my part."
Cian looked at the crowd. The inhabitant of Eden. Immortality had made them all lose their purpose, and he had to set them free. "I know you all are tired so take a rest. Come into this chamber and end your nightmare."
They looked confused at each other and then at him. One of them stepped into the room. Nothing happened.
"Where you wrong," Mon asked. "I could kill them for you?"
The resident of Eden who had walked into the chamber suddenly hunched his back and pucked a sea of black goo. They wailed as the goo escaped their body and fell onto the floor motionless.
Valery got closer and checked the body. "There's no pulse."
She jumped back as the crowd of onlookers ran into the room. The former red chamber was now full of people puking black goo and collapsing onto the ground.
Due to the crowd surge, the enlightened ones also fell into the room and black goo trickled out from behind their mask.
The sight was grotesque. The entire back section of the room was full of corpses piled upon each other in a pool of black goo. They had all chosen to end it, all except one person still standing in front of the entrance.
"Meli... I mean, mother. Why aren't you going too?" Valery asked.
Melissa shook her head. "I am the youngest one, so I haven't fallen too far into my madness. Meeting you helped me, and I am still not ready."
"Then come with us. We can be a family again."
The woman looked at Valery with an obviously forced smile. "I am fine dear." Then she left back towards Eden.
"Is it smart to leave her alive?" Alliana asked.
Cian stared at the corpses. "She is one of the Immortal's subjects, the parasite. But there must be a reason why he chose some of them as enlightened ones. I don't think he can occupy her body, and she isn't like the other Immortals I have seen. An imperfect Immortal. She should be fine."
Valery sighed. "We could visit her later. Now let's leave this place."
Mon held onto the stone slab sealing the entrance and punched it opening up the exit.
***
They went back to the corridor where they came from. Everyone looked tired and no one said a word to each other. The existence of the Immortals had been proven, Ilai was dead, but Cian did not feel any closer to understanding what goal the Immortal had. At least he had some inkling about their weakness, spiritual energy. But if that was the case how could they survive on the surface in the past, and why come to this planted filled with spiritual energy in the first place if it was their weakness?
After they exited the red room a horrid laugh echoed. The sound came from the other direction the cave split into, the path that wasn’t lit by the crystals. They couldn’t see what it was until the source came out of the darkness. It was another Immortal.
This Immortal looked much more like The Twins than the parasite. He was made of the same black goo with the same crimson eyes. A body not as tall as The Twins but similar to Mon’s height. It looked like an old man with a hunched-down back leaning on a stick with a long beard that fell to the ground. Black marks were left on the ground where the Immortal walked as if the ground had been sullied by its touch.
The Immortal looked at them with a wicked grin and continued laughing. «Funny. Funny.»
«Run!» Cian shouted. «This one isn’t like the Parasite. We can’t win against it.»
Mon scoffed. «This is weakling. I am strong.»
Before Cian could try and dissuade Mon, he jumped at the Immortal and threw a punch at it. His arm with blue rocks lit up with the power of mana. The punch silently struck the Immortals skull, but it nonchalantly looked like Mon as if it hadn’t felt a thing.
«Funny.»
The Immortals raised one of its hands and held the side of Mon’s arm. Black mud seeped out of its body into Mon’s arm. The blue rocks on his body turned black.
«Get off!» He roared in demon tongue.
His entire body lit up with blue light and a spark sound came from his arm. The arm filled with black goo exploded throwing parts of his blue crystal body all around. Mon wailed from the pain.
«Funny,» the Immortal said, snickering without a care in the world.
An arrow struck at the Immortals and wines sprouted on its body immobilizing it. Valery threw a small ball at the feet of the Immortal which exploded into a cloud of smoke obscuring its vision.
«Don’t be stupid. We have to run,» Cian pleaded to Mon.
Mon looked reluctantly between Cian and the Immortal, then at his wounded arm. Luckily he saw reason and started running behind Cian and the others. They did not stop to look back, but it did not sound like the Immortal was following them. All they heard was horrid laughter as if it was forced out of a dying animal.
They ran to the entrance where they shouted at Serial to open the seal. The mage looked confused as to why Ilai wasn’t there but listened and called the other mages. They let them back into the surface and recreated the seal.
It was daytime and the sun was up. Cian all fell onto the warm soil of the wastelands and tried to catch his breath. That Immortal must have been the guard the others at Eden mentioned. Cian had been so overpowered by confidence from their fight against The Parasite Immortal that he had completely forgotten how overpowering seeing an Immortal was. That made him wonder how they had managed to defeat The Parasite in the first place. Probably because it did not have a main body, but it still felt too easy. There was no way The Parasite was so much easier to kill than The Twins and that Immortal that attacked them.
[That is correct. I look forward to our time together, my new host body.]
***
Melissa stared blankly at her broken paradise. Eden was gone. The Immortal who had promised her eternal happiness was gone without fulfilling his promise. What she was left with was a half Immortal body. No, she probably wasn’t Immortal anymore. She had no idea how much time she had left.
At her feet lay the song device. She picked it up and turned on a song. The soothing melody, a person singing in a language she didn’t understand. So many unknowns.
She did not know what the future held for her. Once again Melissa looked around at her broken paradise. Perhaps she could rebuild Eden?
«Wow. I missed out on the fun. Bummer. ACIB234X, can you sense him?»
Melissa turned around and saw a little girl who was speaking in the immortals language she had been taught while living in Eden. She wore a little pink dress with frills and a huge ribbon on her head. Small pointy ears protruded from her messy hair. Her appearance looked out of place in the dim cavern.
She heard a strange vibrating noise and saw up at one of the huge crystal that lit up Eden. It was now a completely black color.
«Individual Scrux The Parasite cannot be located in this room. Presumed situation: returned to the unchanging.» A voice said.
The little girl sighed. «So he found a way to escape.» The girl's eyes which used to be normal with black pupils lit up with a crimson color, just like the enlightened ones. She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands. «How selfish.» The Immortal looked at the corpse of the boy Ilai who had been killed by the enlightened ones. «Duo, wake up already!»
The corpse vibrated as if alive and turned into black mud. A hand stretched out from the pool of mud, and pulling themselves upwards was a tall immortal. They had an angry expression on their face wielding a scythe. «Being a human is so infuriating. Why couldn’t Uno have done it instead? He would have enjoyed hiding.»
The crystal vibrated. «Is the target still alive?»
The body of the tall Immortal vibrated and their stomach opened up to reveal a person inside of them. It was a young woman who wore the familiar battle gear of the Ar’awn. «My house is the best at preserving biological mass. It’s probably alive.» The Immortal pushed the human girl out of his body making her fall to the ground. The girl grunted in pain but did not move. «See? Her muscles might have been slightly damaged though. So much work, having to stay on the surface only to kidnap this thing? This creature better be worth it.»
The little girl smiled. «Scrux is a lot to deal with, but he makes the best toy. She has to be the best match with the boss.»
«We advise you to continue with the mission and bring the target to the workshop. The time to proceed with our leader's order is approaching.»
The little girl sighed. «Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I won’t try and go to the surface again. I am sure they are going to continue into Forevernight City anyway. Tell him to be lenient with guarding the entrance. We should welcome our guests personally. I am sure the boss wouldn’t mind us having a little fun. This will after all be our last chance before this planet dies.»
That was when the little girl noticed Melissa. Melissa took a step back but instantly knew she had no way to protect herself against this Immortal. The little girl. She had heard of her being forbidden from entering into Eden. But with her master gone, there was no one to stop her.
The little girl's face lit up with a huge grin. «He left one! Looks like I will have someone to play with today after all.» All of a sudden the little girl punched into the air.
Melissa felt something strange and looked down at her body. There was a hold in her stomach. She screamed. However, Melissa was part Immortal. She couldn’t die.
The little girl skipped towards Melissa and giggled while she continued punching in the air. Every punch tore a hole into her body, but Melissa was immortal so she could not die.
Another punch. Then another punch. The little girl did not stop punching holes in Melissa and she could feel that her body had fallen to the ground. She could not see anything anymore. Only felt the pain and the cold rocks her body had fallen onto.
Melissa still felt the little girl punching her, tearing her body into pieces. She couldn’t scream anymore, but she could still feel the pain.
«It hurts.»
After what felt like an eternity, the little girl had stopped punching. She had left, but Melissa could not die because she was immortal. Her body was left on the cavern floor in the middle of Eden. This must have been her punishment for sinning. She should have followed Valery. Now she was left all alone to become a part of the cave, her mind left to fall into madness.
Perhaps she would go to the afterlife and reunite with Raul someday. However, Melissa knew she was only lying to herself. She could not die for she was Immortal.