Chapter 73: Defeat This Demon! (Part 2!)

While the Elf on the ground was busy running to get to Vega, the Elf in the tower was busy trying to search for Vega.

“Vega! Now is not the time to be looking for treasure! This place is gonna come down on top of us!” Krimm yelled out, as the halls of the floor they were in buckled under the weight of the tower. This hall was lined with sculptures of various styles now laid decrepit, as the shower of brick defaced much of the beauty of it.

“Hold on, give me-me a sec!” Vega shouted back, her voice muffled underneath the rumbling and crashing.

The scarecrow had made the executive decision to risk her life to search for the Soul Gem. More specifically, a map for where she could look for it. Running around various rooms full of papers and crates, even her speed and frantic pace could not find anything that listed the contents of the tower, much less where.

“God, why couldn’t Kaliber label this shit-shit down?” Standing knee deep in paper and books, Vega threw aside them in an effort to catch a glance at any close to important looking.

“Vega!” Hearing the fairy’s worried filled shouts did not give Vega much hope of finding it. Like an auditory clock, telling how much time she has to find the solution to this battle. And it was getting close to midnight.

“Give a minute! Damn, I-I really need a map right now! Like, how-how am I supposed to find…” Vega stopped as a rock struck the top of her head, as an idea came to mind.

Looking back on the paper where she had written down her purpose, she believed she didn’t need any map. After all, this is a Soul Gem! She should just be able to feel it out, Vega thought

“OH! I get it. Find your way, realize- yep! Fuck maps, I’m the girl that gonna write the path down!”

“Get down!” Tackling Vega to the floor, Krimm got on top of her as part of the ceiling collapsed just a few feet next to them. Not soon after, the floor cracked open and by Krimm’s foot was a huge opening where more and more papers fell down.

“Hey-hey Krimm. I know where the Soul Gem is!”

“That’s good, now please tell me it’s somewhere close.”

“That’s something ya won’t need to find out. I’ll take care of it myself-self, don’t ya worry!” Getting up and holding Krimm close, Vega ran out of the room and brought Krimm to the stairs.

Being the only part of the hall that remained unharmed, there was no doubt that this was safe. But with the growing shaking, how long it would be safe to go down, they did not know.

“Is it here?” The fairy questioned, trying to make sure Vega hadn’t gotten any details wrong. Taking two steps down, Krimm turned back and forth to Vega and where the stairs were heading down.

“Nah, this is just the stairs dude-dudette.” Vega chuckled, like nothing was the matter. Thrusting her arm downward, Vega prepared to order Krimm. “Get out-out of here and defend the city. I've got to find this Soul Gem by myself. No one else can-can!”

“Wait! You can’t be serious.”

“Lady, this is not the only life threatening situation I’ve been in-”

“You’re going to die, this place can’t hold itself together long!” Krimm grabbed Vega’s wrist, urging her to continue. She turned away from the stairs, pleading with her new friend not to risk it. “I’m gonna stay!”

“No-no, ya can already help them now. Plus, ya can’t sense where Soul Gem is. Only I can.” Vega ignored the debris that was falling around her, not scared of what will happen to her. Only scared of what will happen if she doesn’t do this.

“Screw the Soul Gem, come on! I… I can’t lose you.” Krimm whimpered out, not ready to be alone so soon.

Vega couldn’t hide it, not even on her face that she wouldn’t if she could even find it, this mystery Soul Gem that Kaliber had promised, much less get out in time to save the city.

Her eyes carried a great worry for herself, but her heart carried a greater worry for those she must save, including Krimm.

“Sister, there’s nothing in this world that can crush little ole me. And there’s nothing out there that can crush ya.” Putting on her bravest smile, the scarecrow gave Krimm the boost of confidence to go on by herself. Seeing the hope rise in her scarred face, her uneven eyelashes, and her eyes made her feel happy. She helped someone. “Now go get them!”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“...Vega. You got it!” Giving a quick salute, Krimm headed to the stairs and gave one last look to her. Vega waved and proceeded to search for the Soul Gem. The columns that held up the halls shattered and covered the entrance to the stairs, creating a cloud of moon colored dust.

“...Ah… I see Runtaii has made his last mistake…” Speaking alone on the lonely waters a mile outside of Uvi Jantok, an armored menace stood on the lake itself. His fiery chainmail hair glowed violently and his steel suit that supported him gleamed white, like a blade.

Ani Arma had made a special occasion to go visit Runtaii after the report he had given him. Several Blight Elves had reduced much of the base camp on the Isle in a squashed mess. One that Ani had yet to clean up.

Now, Ani was going to enjoy this firework show Runtaii was making out of the city. Even a mile away, the flames grew high in the sky, and if he listened close, he could hear the death screams of the ones fighting.

In an act of pure ego, he had decided to use a Soul Gem to walk on the very water, as if to spite any spirits or Gods watching him. Laying a steel finger to his lips, Ani thought of what had caused Runtaii’s rash actions.

“Was he dropped when he was a boy? No. He’s still a boy.” His weak voice raged as best as it could. Even if his mask portrayed an exaggerated smile, his inner soul was frowning bitterly.

Then he arrived at an idea. Perhaps it wasn’t Runtaii’s fault. Perhaps it was his own. Ani clenched his gauntlet fist hard enough that sparks ignited from the rubbing metal.

“...what was it that I had said to him? That he was a tool, my tool? Is that what caused him to tantrum like a pathetic whimpering child? Ah, reminds me of something… rather… someone…”

“Go! Go! Go-go go!” Cheering herself on, Vega went on a rampage through two floors of the tower. Whenever she encountered a boulder blocking her way, she climbed over it. Wherever she found a hole, she slid through it. And wherever she faced a wall, she slammed her pickaxe with all her might, making her pathway through.

While the average mind might be thinking Vega was using pure brute force, Vega was actually being very intellectual.

As the Tripolian philosopher Azu Tmir once said, ‘when God closes a door, blow it the fuck up’.

Wise words.

But in all seriousness, there was a legitimate strategy Vega employed in the tower, specifically about momentum. If she could properly carry enough speed without slowing down, she could then avoid the hazards that were appearing below or above her. Plus, she could then search the rooms before they collapsed, so that was nice.

Throughout the floors she explored, most of them were the same libraries she had seen at the top, nothing beyond papers she didn’t have time to examine.

However, the floor she was now on contained a greater variety of rooms, serving less niche purposes. Packed full of kitchens, lounge areas that seemed untouched, and a series of fountains that flowed uninterruptedly, this floor was less for recording and more for living.

Asides a few bits of ceiling fragments and the ever constant shaking, this floor could be mistaken as not being connected to the main tower itself.

What was happening here, Vega did not yet understand, but she wished to. Turning on her heels and navigating the furniture with impressive acrobatics, Vega searched for any sign of magic, especially Soul Gems.

“Hmm. How-how can I sense it? How can I find it, and soon?” Digging her feet into the floor to slow down, Vega knew that this was the closest she had gotten to properly finding it. Checking around the adjacent rooms, Vega chose to stay by the fountain area, as there were no pipes or aqueducts to explain the presence of flowing water, especially so high up.

This wasn’t a floor she could just blast past, there was something more than what met her sight.

“Now that I think-think about… instead of sight… how about rhythm?” She spoke calmly, taking the guitar from her back and putting it in her hands. Another shaking hit the floor, but the scarecrow didn’t lose balance. In fact, she had gotten her center.

Strumming two strings and closing her eyes, Vega tested the rhythm of this place. The flowing of the water was constant yet soft, and the abrasive shaking cut in like an annoying and booming set of drums.

She could sense the peril she was in by the very abrupt and sharp rumbles, knowing how close each part of her surroundings was going to break. Steeling herself, Vega needed as much time as she could have to listen.

As the ground beneath started to loosen, Vega did not open her eyes, only darting a few feet to the left. When she did she played her guitar, trying to gauge any magic rhythm. And then, it happened, the strings began to sound off as she came closer to the water fountain. The constant softness responded with a high pitch ringing, and with that Vega looked to see what had caused it.

Reaching deep into one of the fountain’s holes (god that just sounds wrong), Vega felt a smooth and geometric edge at the end. Multiple edges, as if pre cut into the shape. With the water flowing all over her, she felt the promise of a Soul Gem. Not the promise, but rather the rhythm from it. Like the melody of a harp.

“Come on. Come to Vega!” Placing both of her feet on the side of the fountain, she pulled with all of her might. Feeling the shape loosen, this melody grew clearer in her mind, like she could hear it not with her non-existent ears, but with her very soul.

“Gimme-gimmie!” With one last pull and forceful grip, what she was grabbing onto made a popping sound and she flew back on the ground.

Lapis colors shimmered in her lap, along with the continual flowing water. An octagonal shape of blue grey stone, this Soul Gem was a flask. A flask of near infinite water.

“Huh. Doesn’t seem-seem like it will be useful.” She stared at the Soul Gem. Admittedly, it wasn’t what she was looking for. She was looking for something to pair with her guitar, to do the same magics she had done back in Obstacle One.

Strangely, Vega thought the flask looked cute, sort of how she thought of herself when staring into her reflection in the water.

“Ya know… even if ya aren’t what I need, I think I can still use ya help.” As she finished her sentence, the floor shook once more with additional power. This whole floor was losing stability, and losing it fast.

The windows at the end of the lounge cracked open, becoming large openings. And through those openings, Vega could see the battle raging on. Great fires were eating the wooden city like a horde of locusts, buzzing and cracking horribly.

“Let’s not waste anymore time-time! I need to find the other Soul Gem. The one for me!” Getting back up, Vega continued on her search, heading up and hoping to find any more signs of Soul Gems.

Vega wouldn’t turn these magic artifacts into tools, as Ani Arma had done with so many, like Krimm. No, she would let them be art.