Surprisingly enough the next one to break out of the illusion was Bob. Looking like he did not quite understand what was happening to him, the sunless then took a look around before walking up to Sofia’s group and sitting there next to them.
“Are you doing good, Bob?” Sofia asked, uncertain of whether Everelle’s Sunless could even understand the common language or not. Bob turned in Sofia’s direction when she said Bob, but that was all she got for an answer.
Oh well… The others will be out soon.
Ihuarah shook off the illusion soon after, starting to stretch after he quickly glanced around to check how everyone else was. “This was certainly something,” he finally said, “a bittersweet moment to be remembered. How do you fare?” he asked Sofia while he walked up to Everelle to check on her.
“I have conflicted feelings…”
“Such is often the case when one confronts their past. You are young still, lady Sofia, one learns to accept and work with these emotions, eventually. Although they never quite disappear… Perhaps discussing what we saw would help you sort out your feelings?”
“I… That might be an idea…” Sofia accepted without thinking.
“I see you are more shaken than you let on, well, let me start, in this case. Hopefully it will help distract your thoughts. Do you remember the story of my Empire?” Ihuarah asked.
“Of course, though you never said much… It was somewhere north of Exidia, right?”
Ihuarah paced around the room as he recounted his story, “Indeed. Though the Exidians had yet to settle in those plains, back then. I was second in command, the Empress’ right hand, so to say, a demon and a woman ruling a vast land in the desert and jungle. Empress Xuali was my closest friend and confidant for hundreds of years. We sought to discover the path to ascension together. It did not end well.”
“Is that who you saw? That must have been difficult…”
“It was a welcome sight, in a way,” Ihuarah admitted, his tone a bit shaky, though his expression was obscured by his shade physique, Sofia could feel the pain in his voice, “The last I saw of her before was not a pleasant sight. She had already been in a bad state before my own unfortunate passing. And with the war… It is no wonder that our Empire fell. Sometimes I wish I could have preserved her soul like I did mine, but alas, our great Merciful Mother’s power is precious and limited.”
“You died before her? Is there no chance that she survived, then?”
“No,” Ihuarah decisively answered, shaking his head, “She was a loyal and dedicated ruler. If Eoct fell, she fell with it. For her citizens, she would have fought until her last breath, of that I have not the faintest sliver of doubt.”
Bookie stood up, wanting to say something, “Do you not want to take revenge for her or your Empire, senior Ihuarah?”
“Ahah… No, young man, there is no vengeance to be had here. Vengeance rarely bears fruit, to begin with, but in this case, we have only ourselves to blame for our Empire’s falling. Or am I to hunt the remote descendants of the savage tribes that once sought us gone from their jungle?”
“Oh… But I want to avenge Sofia’s friends…” Bookie muttered.
Ihuarah walked up to the short skeleton, putting a shadowy hand on his skull, “Vengeance rarely bears fruit, boy. But sometimes it does,” he said, a wicked smile in his voice, “and what better than a few divine artifacts to contend with a god, wouldn’t you agree?”
Bookie nodded and walked back to Sofia, “Sofia! I'll get all the divine artifacts for you!” he announced proudly.
“Ahahah. Thanks, Bookie. I’m sure you will. But for now… Can you summon Crowie?”
Sofia played with the small bird to distract herself while she recounted her experience with Clarice to Ihuarah.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Truth is, I was going to go crazy if I didn’t cut it short…” Sofia finished her story.
“The ways of life…” Ihuarah said with a sigh, “If we live long lives, people close to us are sure to pass at some point. As painful as it is, I, personally, am happy I can remember them. Things can never be as they were, but the memories stay…”
----------------------------------------
Cinthia woke up next, her face covered in tears, eventually explaining that she had seen a childhood friend without saying more.
Everyone was getting worried for Everelle, as she had already been there for more than half an hour and still showed no signs of waking up, but she finally regained her senses at last, showing no visible emotion.
“Did I make you wait?” were her first words for the group.
“It’s fine. I needed some time anyway…” Sofia answered.
Ihuarah approached Everelle, “Are you holding up?”
“Thank Iwa, I’ll be fine. Had a lot of time there… To think things through. I never expected to see my dad again. It was a dead giveaway that there was something wrong when he instantly recognized me like this, not to mention the other things… But I wanted to spend some time with him anyway. I’m good to go now. Bob wasn’t a bother, I hope?”
“He’s just been sitting there, playing with Crowie,” Sofia said with a shrug, she had let Crowie down at some point and somehow it had ended up in Bob’s spindly black arms.
“Alright, well, time to come rest, Bob, say goodbye to Crowie for now,” Everelle told the Sunless architect. Bob seemed reluctant to let Crowie go and Everelle unsummoned him, a small piece of Sunless debris flying from his disappearing body to her hand. “Where to now?”
“They’re all staying silent in the chat now…” Cinthia said, “They only send donations and face like Death...”
“Lots of viewers?” Sofia asked.
“Fluctuates a lot today. Only six right now.”
“I’m sure it’ll go up when we’re close to the end. Any reactions from the traps Iwa?” Sofia continued.
“None. It’s safe to say no one entered, or if they did, they have the capabilities of an adult Dragon or are an expert in the field of bypassing traps and alarms,” Ihuarah confidently assured everyone.
“Let’s get going then. I’ve already found the way forward,” Sofia said, walking up to the open tomb which had been the one that opened for Bob. Her mana senses had picked up a weird disturbance there as soon as she had woken up, and deducted that it was probably some sort of optical illusion. She just walked through the back which led to a long and narrow unlit corridor.
The group was rather silent as they advanced through the winding corridor that took turn after turn through the bowels of Sorrow’s palace, until Everelle broke the silence.
“First a riddle, then a mental trial, I wonder if we’re up for a fight next. Could be some sort of labyrinth too, considering how this corridor is starting to look.”
“Please no… I seriously hope you’re wrong,” Sofia complained, “I know you’re the dungeon expert here but I’ve had my share of labyrinths for this life and the next…”
“Ahah… Sorry about that. It’s just a classic, you know. Labyrinth, trapped doors, scorpion pits… There might not have been any actual dungeons back in my old world but we certainly had them in fiction. Just a pain that the censor always stops us from sharing that in detail. I guess they don’t want heroes to impact Veliandren’s culture too much,” Everelle explained.
“And the dungeons here are like the ones from the fiction in your world?” Bookie asked while turning around and walking backwards to look at Everelle.
“Kind of? At least my class is heavily inspired by it. Saria’s too, from what I could tell.”
“Woah! Did they have skeletons?” Bookie asked next.
“Very often, actually. Even if necromancy wasn’t actually a thing back there, it was quite popular in books and stuff. They were usually the bad guys, though.”
“If it’s anything like necromancy here, unsurprising,” Ihuarah commented, “though we are lucky to have sane necromancers around now, this hasn’t always been the case throughout history…” he said like he just remembered something unpleasant.
“Had some bad necromancers in your Empire?” Sofia asked.
“One witnesses all kinds of things when they oversee a few million humans. From turning to necromancy to try to bring back loved ones to using said loved ones to further their necromancy… I myself have unclean hands, necromancy being part of Sorrow’s domain, let us simply say that our Empire’s soldiers were not free of the battlefield even in death…”
“Well… Necromancy is necromancy alright…” Sofia commented, ”I like to think that I am using it as ethically as I can. I’ve yet to murder anyone for their skeleton. If ogres don’t count…”
“Ah, wait, stop here!” Everelle warned, “Not to interrupt, but I found something. Not sure if it’s a secret path or a trap, though, but look how this brick on the wall sticks out a bit. Typical dungeon design right there.”
----------------------------------------