Chapter Twenty-Five: Penance Aflame

~Run 4, Entrance, Floor 1, Sewers of Aerlyn~

As I awoke in the sewers beneath Aerlyn's vibrant streets, the world above became a faded dream, and I found myself once again ensnared in a realm where daylight was but a distant memory. The gray brick walls of the sewer, usually slick with the moisture of neglect, now seemed dryer than the desert city above. As I looked at the walls in the dim torchlight, I could see something I thought I hadn’t before: dozens of images on each wall illustrated in simple but beautiful art.

At first glance, the images on the wall were perplexing—simple, basic forms that depicted scenes with an almost charming innocence. There were figures armed with spears, animals in mid-flight, and indecipherable symbols whose meanings were as lost to me as the civilization that created them. One mural showed a gathering around a figure slightly larger than the rest. Was this a leader, a hero, or a figment of ancient imagination? The scenes shifted, with basic shapes and lines attempting to convey meaning I couldn’t comprehend. Another portion of the wall was dominated by a dark blotch, encircled by lines that could be walls, mountains, or even waves.

My eyes widened, taken aback. Were these murals always here? I took a step closer. The texture, the faded colors, the rough scent of the sewer-stained walls. Except. The stains were gone. The wall was now pristine. I reached out a hand to the wall, and then I remembered My feud with Crystal could wait for later, though—Goblish! The ruby allows me to understand Goblish! I could finally get to the bottom of these stupid murals.

I rushed to the crate in the center of the room, happy that at least one mystery of this place would finally be answered. My heart pounded in anticipation of one of Penance’s secrets being revealed as I lifted the ruby out of the crate and asked, “Crystal, how do I equip the ruby?” A pregnant pause came and went before I prompted Crystal again. A feeling of dread centered itself in the pit of my stomach. “Crystal?” I eyed her warily, afraid she might vanish on me again.

[I'm waiting.] Crystal's voice, tinged with impatience, echoed through the damp air.

A part of me was overjoyed that she was back, but the other, dumber part of me was angry, especially since she didn’t want to help me decipher the strange murals.

My breath hitched painfully in my chest as words failed me. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, an unconscious reflection of the turmoil swirling within, all thoughts of the mural completely forgotten. “For what? An apology? You destroyed my last run–that was worse than what I did to you.”

My shoulders slumped, my tone teetering on the abyss of anger. “I was doing great, and then you left me to die. We'll never get out of here if you keep that up.” The chill in the room seemed to deepen with Crystal’s silence, and I watched as my breath slowly faded into the dank air. I struggled to steady my breathing, each exhale a fight, as I struggled to maintain control in the face of overwhelming emotion. I just wanted to hit a wall again, but I clenched my fists to stop myself—no need to ruin yet another run.

[Your last run was never going to make it past level two.] The room seemed to close in around me, the walls echoing her disdain, magnifying the isolation I felt at that moment.

“I was doing great,” I repeated to myself. Why wouldn’t I have made it? But the doubt nagged at me. I hadn’t been doing great. I was crippled in a limb, and other than the evasion, the damage output of the class was outrageously bad. I felt useless in my previous role, even though speed and stealth came naturally to me. The only reason I won against the boss was sheer dumb luck.

A flicker in Crystal’s radiance suggested the equivalent of a smirk, made evident by the tone of her voice. [Do you mean besides the fact that almost all of your weapons were shattered and that it took you three entire runs to kill the easiest boss room in the dungeon?]

My face twisted in a grimace, the sting of her words opening a fresh wound. I knew I wouldn’t make it that far, but still, “You made me miss out on death boons. Who knows? There could have been more rare weapons like that necrotic staff I still could have used.” Crystal’s silence was heavy in the already oppressive and cold air.

“Look, I know I messed up, but you overreacted. You’re stuck here with me, too, and the longer I take to leave, the longer you take. I didn’t mean to insult you earlier.” I let my words hang in the air, giving space for their weight to settle in the dim light she generated. My next words stumbled out of my mouth like a kid learning to apologize. “It’s just, you’re not… you know, human right now. That’s all I meant. No insult intended. So if you took offense, I am sorry, I think.” I hoped that wasn’t a lie. I felt no guilt for bruising her ego; she needed to learn to grow up. But I was apologetic that my actions led to the past hour.

Crystal’s dim light flickered above us, casting shadows that seemed to dance with the unsaid words hanging in the air, mirroring my uncertainty. And then she spoke, her voice softer, almost a whisper. [I already warned you about sins here. You need to be more careful. Stealing is a sin. And the guards on the second floor are beyond dangerous. I still don’t know how we will get out of this one.] And then, as if she had never dimmed, Crystal brightened to full strength and said, [But you are right. I overreacted a little. If I ever want to be a human or get home again, I need you to survive this place.]

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“Where’s home?” I asked, hoping to change the subject from our little lover’s quarrel.

[Nowhere, you know. Nowhere, I can remember.] Her light flickered, and a wistful sigh escaped. [I’ll equip your Ruby for you. It will take a second, but the words will automatically translate. Every floor has a language and a hidden quest to translate it. Sometimes, these messages will tell you the history of penance; they also give power or reveal a secret boss or Ayleric.]

“What’s an Ayleric?” I said, distracted by the word. It sounded old and powerful.

[Ayleric’s are items that unlock a bonus for the duration of a run. Unfortunately, they do not appear until you clear the second floor, and then they get added to all boss chests. Some Aylerics are situational like boots that allow you to double or triple jump. Some Aylerics will allow you to build items, and others still will stop you from dying. Unfortunately, they also have a cooldown like classes, but it is much less severe. Usually, only a one or two-run cooldown.]

Honestly, as cool as it all sounded, I lost interest halfway through her talking, my mind instead going back to the big reveal. I tried not to come across as a jerk when I said, “Wow, that was helpful. Thanks, Crystal. I can't wait to get one. That said, I’m going to see if I can read Goblish yet.”

I walked to the first mural and glanced at the alien letters below the mural before taking in the obtuse images. The ‘hero’ sat on his throne with eyes cast on a giant block. Square? Thing? The image still didn’t make sense to me, but as the image bored into my soul, I stared back defiantly. And then I dropped my gaze to the still alien letters, confused that there was something I had missed about applying the language learning skill, but as I read the alien words, knowledge came unbidden in my mind like a whirlwind of understanding. As I looked at the Goblish, I read the words aloud in common:

"Sitting, lone guardian on throne, Penance oversees entirely, catches eye. Gaze frozen, connection to Penance conveyed."

I had to repeat it to myself a couple of times before I got used to the sensation of knowing a language I didn’t speak. Even worse, My brain kept translating each individual word rather than understanding what was being said, so the sentence came out choppy and weird. But the images suddenly made more sense. It was the history of Penance. The Being on the throne was mightily important. And he oversees Penance? Does that mean he’s watching me? I felt a headache building as I glanced around, looking for secret portholes through which this guardian could watch me. I shuddered, but I moved on to the second mural.

The intensity of the pain was building, which was odd as I hadn’t felt prolonged pain since coming here. I blinked a few times to clear the discomfort as I moved to the second wall. Like last time, the second mural had a wider variety of images. Simplistic depictions sprawled across the brickwork, and the accompanying text expanded to narrate these scenes. My eyes immediately shot to the Goblish text:

“Departing Penance, Elric established a great settlement, Oasis's Shore. Departure, mockery of silent expulsion. Sword high, leading great forces, Penance aflame falls to ash.”

The headache grew as I stared at a series of enigmatic shapes and lines that seemed to pulse. Magic sparkled over the ancient, flaking paint of the wall.

The headache was now a light throbbing as I stared at the abstract imagery assaulting my senses. I cast my eyes down, hoping to avoid staring at the shapes. The pulsating was now like an all-consuming fire as I cradled my head in my hands; however, I couldn’t turn away as I stood transfixed. This figure held aloft an object, possibly a weapon, pointing towards what could be the sky. Around them, smaller shapes clustered, perhaps allies or followers, their forms varying from basic outlines to slightly more detailed figures, all moving away from the turmoil behind.

The scene became even harder to identify as it turned from images to obscure figures—horizontal lines and rounded shapes that might have represented land and water. The central figure reappeared, this time with their object pointed downward. This act, set against a backdrop of other simplistic shapes, might represent structures and figures engaged in various activities.

Further along, the mural depicted a confrontation between two prominent figures, their forms tangled in a complex and abstract struggle. The space around them was a frenzy of lines and curves that made less and less sense as I stared at it. My headache had built to a peak, and I dropped to the ground, grunting in exhaustion. The wall was cooking my brain.

[You okay there, Rod?] She said from her new spot, just a couple of feet off the ground.

“No. What the heck is with these Murals? It's like someone jammed a spike into my head.” I said as I wiped blood off my nose. I looked at the blood on my hand. My wounds weren’t healing.

[Oh.] I had a thought that if she had been human, her eyes would have widened. [I am so sorry, Rod. I forgot. These are Magical Murals. I might have messed up.]

Magical Murals. The word shouted in my mind, like Crystal’s volume was maxed out. It felt like my head was about to split in two. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the pain lessened, and the words faded. I took deep, calming breaths, but my heart was erratic. I didn’t dare look at the words again, but they were all my mind focused on. A memory stuck like words on the tip of my tongue and clung there. I could tell this was something important. And then, the Memory Core formed in the air, which overwhelmed every thought, the pain, my actions, and everything else as I reached out for it. My hands moved of their own accord, desperate to escape the pain of the present.

{Memory core 8/???}

{Would you like to view the memory?} {Y/N}

“Yes.” My hand made contact, and the world vanished into a dark, inky black and purple mist.