{-Casrane-}
“This is more or less the final stretch,” she warned. She looked back at the twins, whose resolve only faltered to apprehension. “Do you think you’re both ready?”
After a moment, Llewel and Myr both nodded.
“Are you sure you have everything?” Llewel asked, another automated line. “We’re probably not going to be able to go back for long after we enter. We should make sure we’re prepared for everything.”
Casrane gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m certain we have everything we’ll need—maybe even more than that. I’m ready as soon as the two of you are.”
So together, the three walked up to the gate, and Llewel walked up with the key. They must’ve all been holding their breath, whether they meant to or not, as he pushed the key into its place. Slowly, the gates opened, and with one last look to make sure they were all ready, they walked in together.
Casrane didn’t really know what she was expecting out of Anseshara. Maybe she imagined it being a place that was obviously wrong, where it was clear there was something eating away at the land. And, well… she wouldn’t exactly have been wrong, but she wasn’t really right, either.
It was more like an unnatural beauty, where it was certain that things weren’t meant to be like this, but they seemed to fit in just the same. There was nothing inherently wrong about it, not really, but a sense of unease couldn’t have been shaken, either. After all… being surrounded by the runes with pulsing glows, jutting out of the landscape, it was hard to forget why they were there.
What these runes would do if they weren’t taken care of soon.
“We’ve got to be careful,” Llewel warned as they walked through it. “They might not look like much, but these are powerful runes—we can’t really be sure of what they’re capable of.”
“We should be prepared for anything,” Casrane agreed with a small nod. She hadn’t warned them about the other half of what would happen here, but… she didn’t want to panic them. She figured she’d just keep an eye out for the signs and hopefully catch it early.
Myr cautiously looked around. “We need to find the Heart of Anseshara, don’t we? How are we going to figure out where it is..?”
Just then, there was a glimpse of a shadowy figure darting from one tree to another.
Only at that point was Casrane confident enough to answer, “We just follow the story it wants to tell us—the memories this place has hidden away.”
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Both of the twins nodded and the three of them once again took to taking slow, deliberate steps. They didn’t want to miss whatever this place had to tell them, after all, or be too careful of what might come once they’re distracted.
“Almost done,” they soon heard a voice mumble. “I’m so close to something great, I know I am. I just have to get past this…”
The owner of the voice appeared behind another tree. The projection actually looked a lot like Llewel so, before there was even any confirmation of his identity, Casrane was able to guess that it was supposed to be Emmyth. They simply followed him from a distance, watching him weave through some trees and masses of runes while seemingly walking right through others or moving around something that wasn’t there.
Another clearer sign that, although most circumstances were rather similar, that projection and the three of them weren’t doing the exact same thing; there were bound to be issues one would face but not the other, and they needed to be prepared for when that happened.
“Then it’ll be over.” Emmyth’s projection didn’t seem too confident that time, so he repeated, “It’ll be over. It has to be. I didn’t do all of this for nothing—the people aren’t holding out for nothing.” He passed behind a tree to just be standing still, staring at his necklace and letting out a soft chuckle. “It’s you and me, buddy. I hope you do all that you’ve made yourself up to be…”
The projection disappeared for a moment to make some way to some monsters. Casrane had meant to warn them, but why came too close together. It wasn’t a problem, though; the twins proved to be a bit stronger than they’d been earlier, even if that wasn’t actually a good thing…
Casrane was about to mention that, too—she didn’t want to panic them, but she knew they should have some kind of warning—but she was once again interrupted. The illusion of Emmyth appeared right beside them, darting off towards where more and more runes seemed to be.
The twins looked between each other and followed, leaving the somewhat-startled Casrane to catch up with them.
She knew that they’d probably be chasing this illusion of Emmyth for a while, until they eventually found themselves in the Heart of Anseshara. And while they were definitely closer to it than before—practically right in front of it, in fact—it wasn’t anything said or done by the illusion of Emmyth that got them to stop.
They stopped because, even though Emmyth continued, other people stood in the way.
People that very clearly belonged to the Rune Reactivation Project.
“We’re not trying to get into any trouble,” Llewel said cautiously.
“And do you think something like that’s gonna work on us?” one of the Rune Reactivation Project members—possibly their leader—questioned. “We know who you are and we’re definitely not just going to let you walk away.”
“We might need to fight them to get past,” Casrane said, even if her tone was uncertain. “We need to keep following that projection…”
“I’m afraid you’re not going to be chasing over any projections,” the leader remarked. “We’ve got a job to do and we’re gonna make sure it’s carried out. It’s nothing personal—just business.”
Another member nodded. “Turns out you’re more of a threat than just trying to ruin our plans. It’s about time all this has caught up to you, you know. And we’ll be glad to be the ones to do it…”