Chapter 18 (J) - Descent

  This descent into the darkness is never pleasant. In some ways, the corpses littering the floor make it even worse than usual. Under normal circumstances, at least I see our targets standing before they fall. This time, I don’t have the luxury of knowing whether a body on the floor is alive or dead. Any one of them could rise behind me, a weapon in hand, without a moment’s notice. And without the vision granted by a mask, the darkness we always inflict on them is taking its toll on my own psyche for once. Calypso’s silent analysis of their files as her dim glow barely illuminates a few feet in front of us only compounds the pressure further. My eyes and ears strain for any sign of life in the darkness, but there is nothing to see, and nothing to hear but air blowing faintly from a distant vent, and my own breath and heartbeat.

  As time passes, the halls blend together. I’ve done my best to follow Calypso’s map, but I can only hope I have not missed a hall or door in the darkness. With no power running in the facility, there’s no way to know if we’re truly where I think we are. I stumble over a corpse’s arm. Their white sleeve, spread across the hall’s floor, has absorbed so much blood that in the dim light, I failed to distinguish it from the black floor tiles. I take a moment to slow my rapid breath and regain my bearings. Looking back, I see a trail of bloody footprints leading to where I stand. I must have stepped in one of the countless pools of blood at some point along the way without realizing it. But there’s nothing to do about it now, so I continue on.

  I’m always glad to learn that none of a facility’s subjects are human or chimera. But for once, I almost wish this one had. We never destroy the lighting system of a laboratory that experiments on people. They’ve suffered enough already. We don’t want to inflict the cruelty of sitting in this darkness for long after everything else they’ve been through. If there had only been people held in this facility, we would have left the lights operational. We wouldn’t have had to bear this oppressive darkness.

  A face suddenly appears out of the darkness. Startled, I drop Calypso into a puddle in surprise as I stumble back, drawing my sword. The face does not move. Slowly, I approach, blade extended. The face still does not move. Slowly, I crouch down and pick Calypso out of the blood, and shine her light on the face. It’s a poster depicting their greatest enemy whose identity they know, Fierte’s princess, giving some sort of speech. It must be to remind each and every member of her visage, so they can kill her on sight should they get the chance, even here across the sea. …I’ve been scared out of my wits by a simple sheet of paper.

  “...Huh? Did something happen?”

  “...Nothing happened. I was startled by a poster.”

  “Oh. So, are we close yet?”

  “I think so. If I haven’t made a wrong turn, it should be in a room just off the hall around this corner.”

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  “Oh, alright. Lemme know if something actually starts happening.”

  “I will.”

  I pause a moment, before wiping her clean on a spare coat hanging on a nearby hook. Thankfully, she seems to have already returned to her analysis, and does not notice. I round the corner, casting an uneasy glance at the poster as I pass. I know it’s only a trick of the barely-present light, but it feels as though the princess’s eyes are following me, almost as if even her photograph is sharply aware of everything.

  Setting my unease aside, I make my way down the hall, shining Calypso’s light at the placards next to each of the facility’s doorways. As we advance down the hall, I see more and more doors which do not lead to the room I’m searching for. Did I err in navigating? Could I have gotten lost in the facility? Will we be able to get our bearings and get out? Just as my anxiety feels as though it’s about to reach its peak, I find the door to the armory. Letting out a sigh of relief, I slowly reach out for the handle, and the door slides open without a sound.

  Scattered about the room lie the remains of several scientists. I vaguely remember a few attempting to barricade themselves inside the room, desperate to make one last stand to keep me out, at the expense of their coworkers’ lives. Fortunately, they never considered securing the air vent, and they went the same way as the rest. It was a simple matter to enter from the next room over. Some never even got the chance to see me emerge behind them. Perhaps they presumed the powerful fans, still operational, would counter an attempt to traverse the oversized ventilation system, forgetting that it would be a simple matter to dismantle them.

  I bring my thoughts back to the present. The weapons in here they staked their lives on are of little use to me, and I already possess one of their own shields. There is only one item here of significance… and here they are. At the far end of the room is the shelf of masks. Most lie strewn across the room, damaged during the struggle that ensued, but a few still remain in their proper place. I carefully remove one from its rack, and place it over my face. It powers on, and finally, I can see once again. The vision it grants is strange, only black with white lines, but I can clearly make out the white outlines of the objects around me.

  “Mask acquired. Have you found anything?”

  “Not much. There’s a little in here about some sort of project, but I can’t say if it’s anything we should care about yet.”

  “I see. …It won’t be long until an investigation team arrives. We need to get out of here before we’re caught.”

  “Good idea.”

  I slip Calypso into my pocket, her light no longer needed, and make my way down the hall once more. With the mask’s vision, the poster of the princess now appears only as a simple rectangle, hanging on the wall.

  As I round the corner, I’m met with the last thing I hoped to see. Partway down the long hall ahead of me stands a tall masked man with a fireball in hand. Even from this distance, I can make out the familiar outline of a wyvern’s command whistle hanging around his neck.

  “Oh, there you are. I insist you return with me, Shade. We have much to discuss.”