“What are you proposing?” Audrey spoke aloud.

“An excursion. I’ve been inside one of those Gates before, I know my way around them,” Victor told her. And it was the truth. Which is why he’d made sure he was alone with Audrey when he’d proposed it.

He’d rather avoid the headache that would come from having to explain his powers to the others.

“I’ve got a Seed already. It’s weak though, so I need another one to defend me and my people,” Victor told her. “You need the same. So, why shouldn’t we help each other?”

Audrey looked pensive. Lillie and the Englishwoman were beside her, and they whispered amongst themselves on their plush red couch. It was a bit weird being in the same room again, especially since Victor had seen it destroyed last time by a Vintaric.

“Who do you want to bring with you?” Audrey asked.

“The Butcher twins, Leo and Ashley. And I’m hoping you too, Lillie,” Victor told her.

“Why me?” Lillie asked.

“You’re capable. Look like you can handle yourself,” Victor told her.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m terrible with directions,” she told him.

“What? No, you’re not. You’re just underestimating yourself!” Victor insisted.

Audrey raised a hand to silence him.

“I can’t very well send three unarmed teenagers with you, boy. But I’ll be willing to consider it… if you take Daphne with you,” Audrey told him. the Englishwoman perked up and waited for his reply.

“Her? She’s still wearing a skirt!” Victor replied. Not to mention her age. Could she even heft a rifle if it came down to it?

“I’m plenty spry, young man. You needn’t worry on my account. Simply take care of yourself and yours while we’re out,” she told him.

“Whatever, Mrs. Doubtfire,” he replied. The woman gave him a scornful look as he addressed Audrey once more.

“Are you sure we have to take her, Mrs. Wilson?”

“I can’t budge on this, Victor. It’s either her or nothing,” she replied.

“Why not Dean?”

“He’s a healer. We need him here for the injured.”

“Tsk.”

It really did look like he had no other choice.

“Fine, I’ll do it. But only on one condition,” Victor conceded.

“Which would be?”

“You get us fuel as well. We’ll need it for the car if we’re going to make it to the other side of the country,” Victor replied.

“Consider it done.”

They hashed out the details a bit further, yet Victor was miffed at bringing a liability along. Who knows what would change in the other world had he need to care for a new member. And it wasn’t as though she was glad either.

Daphne’s silver locks twisted in the air as she huffed and walked away from the room. And a good evening to you too, lady.

But despite his annoyance with her, he was glad. He’d need only wait a while before being able to get another Seed. He’d rather have spent that time beforehand strengthening the guns in Angel Heights’ armoury, but that was impossible now for him.

So, instead, Victor went wandering, right up until he found the Butcher twins playing with Elsa. It was a rare sight to see, as the pale little girl laughed softly while chasing Ashley. The way he remembered them, both of them were much more moody.

Victor chuckled on seeing it. At least he’d done something right by bringing a smile to the girl’s face. Her parents were outside of the room, working on the control panel for the entire floor. They gave Victor a nod and went back to their work once more, and Victor explored some more.

****

An AR-15 brought comfort to Victor like nothing else. He felt unsure unless he could feel the cold steel in his fingers, protecting him from the bugs and monsters that threatened to overwhelm him.

Beside him on the road stood six other figures. It was a larger group than he liked, but it was also the only one he could have.

“Amadeus, grenade,” Victor asked with hand outstretched.

“W-Sure?” he said, handing it over to him.

Victor pulled the pin with a finger and through it right through the Gate. It disappeared through and Victor counted to himself for a few moments. He saw something forming in the light of the Gate, and a splash of mud fell upon the road.

That’s one of them taken care of, Victor smirked.

“Come on! And keep your weapons ready!” Victor told them.

The entire group rushed through the Gate altogether. They must’ve felt the lurch in their stomach, but Victor ignored it. To his surprise, Daphne kept her rifle well-handled, as if the weight didn’t impact her at all.

He brandished his rifle as the blue bioluminescence of the caves flooded in around him.

Metamorphs surrounded the portal. Their claylike bodies ungulated and sharpened, showing signs of anger towards the group. These ones were little more than animals, hunting humans as their prey.

The others recoiled at the sight of the monsters, but Victor took aim at the biggest of them. He shot a hail of bullets that ripped it into shreds and screamed.

“Amadeus, fire!” he told the man.

Amadeus snapped into action, lightning crackling along his fingers as it shot off. It seared and solidified parts of the Metamorph. Leo came in next, smashing apart the solid clay with a sledgehammer.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Metamorphs broke apart. They repeated the pattern a few more times. Loki disarmed their sharp handmade weapons, while Amadeus locked them in place. Leo and Ashley took care smashing them apart, until the entire group was taken care of.

He was surprised with their efficiency, but more so with the lack of a Metamorph Brute among the enemies.

Victor looked around at the wreckage after the Metamorphs were defeated. Nothing among the corpses, which annoyed him. He’d been hoping for a Seed, but no cigar.

“We’re moving on,” Victor told them.

He looked over to his group to find them more than a bit shaken.

Right, they’re not used to it…

So instead they took a little break. Mostly so they could clean the mud from their clothes.

“What’s up with Amadi?” Ashley asked Loki.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s walkin’ around like it’s a normal Tuesday. Doesn’t that make you a little suspicious?” She said.

“Victor is used to these things, I suppose,” Loki replied curtly. He dusted off his clothes and hiked up his backpack.

“You and him, two peas in a pod alright,” she scoffed.

On the other side of the cave entrance, upon a platform held up by connecting bridges of stone, Daphne and Victor spoke.

“Those were much too dangerous, Mr. Amadi. We should reconsider the group we’ve brought along for this,” she told him.

“Not a chance. If you want Seeds, those three are your best prospects,” Victor countered.

“And what if they get killed in the process,” Daphne asked.

“I’ll save them.”

“Just bec-”

“End of argument, Daphne. We have to be quick with this mission,” Victor told her.

The old woman didn’t seem pleased with it, but she desisted. She huffed and moved to join the rest of the group, while Victor looked out towards the rest of the cave system. The memory of the old one was foggy in his mind, but he could remember one thing for sure.

It didn’t look like this. The last time he’d been here, it’d been a cacophony of blue. Now there were different paths leading into the stone, coloured red, green and a rainbow of other colours.

He stepped down from the platform he was on and instead consulted Lillie.

“I don’t know? I’ve never been in the caves before,” Lillie told him.

“Couldn’t you… analyze the surroundings? Maybe it’d help us find the more important locations.”

“You want us to run into more of those monsters?”

“Metamorphs,” Victor corrected.

“What about them?” Lillie asked.

“Where they are, is where we’ll find the Seeds. It’s how Amadeus and Loki got theirs.”

“He’s right,” Loki added very helpfully.

“If he says it’s where we’ll find ‘em...” Ashley shrugged.

“That doesn’t solve the main problem. Dear Lillie can’t find them for us,” Daphne replied.

“I guess we’ll have to wander then,” Amadeus said.

“We shall,” Daphne added, taking off in a random direction. The others followed behind her, even though Victor had other ideas. He had his AR-15 raised the entire time, yet his finger was off the trigger.

They came down a winding tunnel covered in scarlet glowing flowers, the sides of which held the same small buildings that they’d passed before. But something felt off about the camps. they weren’t like the ones he’d seen before, that were abandoned for much longer.

Victor brushed it off, however, as another group of Metamorphs attacked them. His group made quick work of the creatures, even though they were abundant. It worried Victor.

He’d run into his fair share the previous time. but they seemed much more numerous this time. Just what had happened to the Metamorphs to make them so?

“You could’ve helped out more back there,” Leo scoffed.

“Excuse me?” Victor exclaimed.

“You were cowering behind us all while we did all the work,” Leo said, coming straight up to him. Victor knew Leo was an immature sort, but blaming him when he was the only hope for the lot of them? It pricked at his pride.

“I got us through, didn’t I? Why don’t you stop whining and search around for something we can actually use,” Victor reprimanded.

“And who said I had to follow your orders? Last I checked, Audrey didn’t appoint a leader,” Leo replied, giving Victor a push. He would’ve let the comments pass, but that was the last straw.

Victor decked Leo across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. The man looked back up with hateful eyes and a cracked lip.

“Both of you, stop it!” Daphne proclaimed.

“Push me again and I’ll leave your corpse to the Vintarics,” Victor told him. Leo spat to the side in defiance, cheek bruised and rage boiling behind his eyes.

He lunged at Victor, tackling the man to the ground. Victor was about to return a punch when something came over him. What was he doing?

He was supposed to be the reasonable one among them. the peacemaker. Not some idiot who gives in to a little provoking. So what had…

“We left one alive!” he shouted for the rest to hear. That seemed to surprise even Leo, who’s anger faded and fist rested.

“What are you on about?” he asked.

He pushed Leo off of himself and stood up straight.

“A slithering bitch of a monster. One that does something worse than kill you,” Victor spoke out into the open, his words echoing off every brick and building.

“I know you’re out there. You’re what turns men against each other. You’re a weak little coward, who’s only power is to influence the minds of humans,” Victor spoke.

He caught breath from behind one of the houses and fired. Something screamed from behind and rushed out. A metamorph mimicking a man, with its monotone colour stretched over every part of its body. It was like a Greek statue made of mauve.

“How did you know?” it asked him. One of the only kinds of Metamorphs he knew that were capable of it in fact. That ability came only at its isolation from others of its kind. [3]

“I’ve dealt with enough of you for one lifetime,” Victor replied.

The monster screeched and came for him in one last desperate attack.

“Am.”

Lightning crackled and hit the monster before it could reach Victor. The monster petrified in an instant, halfway between its human form and the sludge that Victor associated with other Metamorphs. Only its head remained intact, which struggled to escape the rest of its body.

“What were you doing hiding out? And for that matter why are there so many more Metamorphs down here?” Victor asked him.

“More? Were you expecting emptiness, human?” the Metamorph Thinker asked him.

“I’m expecting a straight answer, unless you want a bullet through the head.”

Not like he wasn’t going to do it regardless. But he’d give the Metamorph some hope. However, he’d failed to account for its feverish determination. Victor felt a pulse of something from the Metamorph that dispersed into the air. It echoed around the ruins of the caves and seemed to be going upwards before dissipating.

“What did you do?”

“I called down a Star,” the Metamorph replied, its face turning into the facsmile of a smile.

“Loki,” Victor ground his teeth in anger.

A second later the Metamorph’s face was dissescted and what remained liquid turned into a harmless puddle. Victor started pacing around the cave floor they were in, muttering to himself madly.

“Vic, what’s wrong?” Amadeus asked him. the man seemed in control so often that seeing him worry had caused the others to follow suit.

Victor glanced around the little pocket they were in. he lifted his feet, slick with Metamorph flesh and shook his head.

“We need to get out of here. this isn’t a good spot. Not good at all,” Victor proclaimed.

“Why? What’s coming?”

“A Star, Am. It’s what they call an Angelo. An incredibly strong kind of monster.”

“S-shouldn’t we leave, then?” Leo asked.

“I concur. There’s no point in risking if they’re as terrible as you say,” Daphne added.

“No! No… We can’t just leave empty-handed.”

“You gone mad from greed?” Leo asked him.

In a sense he had. He wanted Seeds, needed them if he was going to feel safe in this loop. Yes, he had some strength now, but nothing could come close to the comfort of actual powers.

But more than that, he knew something more. The space inside the caves was vast, but unstable. If they were really moving around routes through the caves that often, they either needed to have the meticulous sense of structure the Weaponsmith Heart had given Victor, or the work was shoddy.

He was banking on that latter probability, and to that end dragged the entire rest of the group outside into an opening.

“We’re going to need to make a stand. Angelos are as varied as they come. But they’re all winged idiots the size of a 7-Eleven. If we can bring down some rocks on them…”

He eyed Amadeus and his hands.

“How confident are you in your aim?” Victor asked.

“Not very?”

“Could you hit something over there?” Victor pointed towards one of the looser formations of rocks. He’d picked one relatively far from their location, which he hoped would protect them in case of a chain reaction.

“I… maybe, Vic.”

“It’ll have to do, then. Collapse that entrance, Amadeus,” Victor ordered him as he crouched down.

He began to scrawl on the dirt floor of the cave with a rock. He placed the positions hastily, hoping that they could improvise on the spot. Those preparations continued well underway until they heard the drop of something massive echoing from the halls of the cave system.