A month ago, while Frost and hundreds of innocent lives found themselves lost within the bowels of the Derma layer, the highest powers of the Golden Index held a distinguished meeting within the summit of Carpal Tower.
The tower was evacuated for the declared emergency as all 4 Underbosses of the Golden Index stormed through the floors with haste. A heavy march of stomps bombarded each silent floor as they speculated just what this sudden emergency was.
“There must have been an attack on the city!” A woman dressed in a green business suit exclaimed as they cradled mounds of paperwork. Green, transparent arms flung out and caught any stray paper that dared to attempt an escape.
This woman was the Golden Thumb Underboss; Evergreen. Her eyes were as green as her messy hair that resembled the silhouette of an evergreen tree. Her skin was on the darker side, but it was slightly lighter than Jury’s.
Evergreen was essentially the highest-ranking individual of all the Golden Thumb and commanded accordingly to Carpalis Will. The same was true for the other esteemed individuals who answered Carpalis’ call, which resonated from the gemstone rings they wore.
“Did you hear that crack of thunder!? Something moved so fast that the brickwork lifted across one of D-Q’s main streets!” A man adorned in a red business suit and a comedically thick tie.
He was a mountain, with a body built like an Adonis. It was the kind of body that warriors aspired to achieve. In their dreams, that is. His veins were like serpents, and they bulged right through his super tight suit as he carried along a tiny cup of coffee, caring not to spill it on Carpalis’ magnificent carpets.
Additionally, he wore an oversized hat that completely covered his head.
This man was Secure-80; and was one of a hundred individuals that were chosen to undergo rigorous training for the role of the Golden Middle Underboss. Suffice to say, his name designated his number and although it wasn’t his real name, the man wasn’t bothered enough to revert it.
Rather, he was proud to wear the name Carpalis had bestowed him with… even if it was supposed to be temporary.
“Glorious Carpalis rarely summons us directly. It must be of paramount importance! Hurry!” Another man dressed in a formal blue suit bearing multiple ties which hung all the way down to his knees exclaimed.
This person was none other than the Golden Ring Underboss; and focused primarily on closing deals with large entities including and not limited to companies, bands, mercenaries, and even settlements beyond Brandar.
His name was Paciscor, and he had a relatively normal appearance compared to most of his peers. Thanks to this, dealing with foreign entities was slightly easier.
“… I have a bad feeling about this.” An extremely low-pitched voice spoke, which was coupled by an eerie echo.
The last individual was a man dressed in a fabulously pink suit that resembled someone one would wear in a wedding, or a funeral depending on how one looked at it.
Insignias of white clovers were woven across his entire suit; a flower representing promise. This man could not be anyone other than the Underboss of the Golden Pinky, who specialized in personal promises.
They were also responsible for the disappearances of those that failed to uphold them.
Between every clover was a cypress; a flower that represented death. The man did not allow a single inch of his skin to be revealed, and his head was nothing but a black void, topped with a pink top hat.
His name was Promised Oath and was easily the most mysterious out of the 4 due to the nature of both his work and his powers. To require all 4 of them at once brought the severity of the situation into perspective.
They were all among the very few level 200 Exalted.
As the color schemes of each floor flickered and changed, they further speculated on the issue at hand.
Was it another Atelier War between the 2nd Branch and Scarlet Logic?
Did yet another Dungeon disappear in the blink of an eye?
Did another Golden Index personnel betray them? If so, then just how high were their rank?
Or worse: Did something happen to Carpalis?
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
The only three times they were summoned was during the Atelier War; the attack of the Big Red Heart, and the very same day that saw the city of Paradise collapse. The latter was the unlikely scenario, but they could see the 2nd Branch launching yet another offensive against the Scarlet Logic.
“Whatever it is, we must not falter! Magnificent Carpalis needs us!” Secure-80 exclaimed as they reached the final few floors.
They could hear the sound of scratching through the floors and walls. They came from within Carpalis’ final floor. It sounded like the clattering of multiple legs; like there were spiders crawling within the walls.
Then, they heard Carpalis’ voice.
“Oh no… Is this… the end?”
It sounded like she was in pain.
“GET READY TO FIGHT!” Secure-80 howled with a frightening battle cry that caused the second last floor’s poker tables to fly across the room as they stormed up into the final floor.
They were suddenly met with a horrifying sight.
An eight-legged monstrosity raised its two front legs high above its head, ready to pounce on Carpalis as a small child also lifted its arms up. To them it looked as though the child was surrendering or begging for help and was being held hostage on the head of the giant golden beast.
Magus; Carpalis’ Consigliere, was gripped with emotional trauma as he clutched at his card-like head, possibly suffering from an injury or worse, a mental attack. The 4 weren’t going to take any chances and prepared for a legendary battle as Carpalis also lifted her arms up and stretched in one direction, mimicking the beast.
“I, Hope itself, cannot even decipher the language of another hopeful being? Could I be any more useless?” Hope itself was drunk on despair.
“…. I can’t… stretch any further… Snap… hahaha… are you indirectly calling me… old?” Carpalis lacked the flexibility of a normal person due to her Faustian Bargain, which crushed her waist.
The legendary beast, which went by the name of Snap, shook its head in a ‘no’, as did the child who flashed a strange picture above her head that depicted a panicked version of herself.
“Madam Carpalis! We’ve arrived!” Evergreen exclaimed, drawing attention to them.
“Hehe… Quick. Do the interpretive dance.” Carpalis told Snap, who instantly began shuffling left and right whilst waving their front two hands up in the air, trying to get some sort of message across.
It was…
“Cute.” Promised Oath deeply uttered beneath his breath.
“Adorable.” Evergreen nearly spilled her paperwork, fascinated by the dance and the speechless child.
“A golden Anid?” Paciscor was more curious about the spider itself, having never seen such a fuzzy spider before, never mind one of gold.
“I see… Ma’am Carpalis. May I speak?” Secure-80 asked, folding his arms as Carpalis sluggishly tried to match Snap’s movements.
She didn’t even look like she was trying, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Carpalis was… physically inept despite being one of the all-mighty Beholders. It was one of the reasons why she was always regarded as the weakest.
But a Beholder was still a Beholder… even if someone’s grandma possessed better flexibility than her.
That being said –
“You may…” Carpalis allowed.
“Did you call us here to help exterminate that?” He genuinely asked, causing Snap to instantly back off to the furthest end as the child hopped down and threw her arms out, trying to protect the spider. “… I suppose not.”
“Translation. Hehe. You’ve heard by now that we’ve lost 2 Captains to a disappearing dungeon… A trusted friend of ours is also with them. Ahaha… Through Snap we can communicate with them. But… I don’t speak Snap.”
“Snap… Language… Done.” Evergreen shuffled through the paperwork, and just by merely looking at the contents she was able to change what was written.
She added an addendum that reminded her to update the list of known languages with ‘Snap’. Their attitudes suddenly shifted for the better after hearing that Snap was their link to communicating with those affected by the disaster.
Suddenly, there was a combined effort into deciphering the dance which resembled the playfulness of a jumping spider. Except this spider could essentially teleport at will.
The greatest minds were put to work as they took their seats around the poker table. Their presence alone reignited Magus’ passion as he closely studied Snap’s every movement, stroking an invisible chin.
They began with high hopes and boundless energy.
In the next hour, they had to readjust their approach seeing that they had gotten nowhere.
In the following two hours they were tapping on the desk and shuffling through cards, half awake as only Carpalis, Snap and the Little Frost possessed the mental fortitude to continue chipping away at the communication hurdle.
After 12 hours all 4 of the Underbosses were left entirely hopeless about the situation.
As for Magus he had to wonder if he really was the Archetype of Hope, as he contemplated his own existence.
All thanks to one spider.
“Brrrr. Zzzt. Brrrr.”
“… Bzzzzzzzz…” Magus buzzed defeatedly.
“Brrrrr! Bzzz! *Snap*!”
“Bzzzzzz. Brrrrrrrrr… oooooh… Carpalis… I have failed as Hope…” He slumped into his seat dejectedly.
Carplis didn’t reply. She had turned her attention to the Little Frost now, who tried communicating through a deck of cards. She arranged them in foreign characters unlike anything she had ever seen. The issue with the Blessing of the Nexus’ auto translative magic was that it could not translate anything written; only things that were spoken.
The only time that written words were translated was only if the writing itself carried auto translating properties, like what many stores use for their signs.
This was where the Scribe Profession came into play and were a necessity for the Golden Index, who catalogued every conceivable transaction within the Nex Megalopolis.
“BBBBRRRRRRRRRRR!” Snap suddenly rushed at Magus, waving its hands frantically as if something had suddenly clicked.
“Brrrr. Bzzzz. Brrrrr… Wait… Brrr? Bzzz. Brrrr. Br?” Magus’ invisible brows furrowed as if he too arrived at an epiphany.
“Brrrrr. Bzzzz. BBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!”
He exchanged a gaze with Snap, slowly rising from his seat right before he slammed both palms against the table.
“UNDERGROUND!?” He exclaimed, somehow managing to piece Snap’s message together.
The Little Frost threw him a thumbs up, as did the emoji above her head.
“*Snap* *Snap* *Snap*”