The Blackwood castles gates forced open by the green sub. How lucky was Paper, to just happen to gaslight the right person into breaking open the gate? Well, that and the fact that they didn't even question his capability of exposing them as an Assailant.
'I'm not taking a risk like that again.'
After all, how would he expose them without exposing himself? Utterly ridiculous behaviour from the green-eyed sub. The blonde man seemed mortified by the loss of the sub, but Paper couldn't care less. He rolled his eyes, pointing past the body.
"Blondie. Lead."
The blonde man looked like he wanted to argue, but looking at the state of the green-eyed sub's corpse, he quickly grimaced and led the men.
The inside of the blackwood castle was nothing short of the cruellest joke Paper could have ever experienced. The outer shell was so refined and elegant that when entering the inside, he didn't expect it to be so...
The walls were painted grey, maybe a century ago, strips of paints peeling themselves down like some of the nightwomen oft did in the night city. By that, whatever was behind that cover was laid practically bare, and even then, there was no appeal, just rotting wood threatening to fall. The floors, despite being made from marble, seemed eaten through time and whatever insects could possibly be strong enough to eat through it. Endless corridors sprawled out from three, two to the direct left of him and one in front of him. A chandelier swung treacherously massively above them, each movement sounding like an attempt to grate the very air itself. It was about a distance of fifteen Aster's on top of each other.
Strange comparison.
Not only that, but there was a mirror placed at the top of one of the upside down staircases. In fact, a strange amount of them.
Countless artifacts, vases, and plates and mere furniture that would've been treated like gems back in the Underworld, laid ruined on the grounds.
And not just that...
"The staircases are upside down."
The blonde man spoke grimly as Paper nodded. There was nothing else he could do, could he?
Nothing else but investigate.
"Men. Split up and look for clues as to what could be done."
They didn't have to be told twice, splitting up with haste, each inspecting every corner and crevice.
Meanwhile... he had a reward to check out.
Once again, he summoned the new Starbound Tool he received. Tools were... more questionable than weapons. Some were useless, to be frank, and some were mouthwatering in the range of their uses. Having received a tool was a joy and a curse simultaneously because if it was valued enough? People would kill you for it.
Unlike the weapon, however, the tool was summoned revolving around his body cleanly and much slower. Behind it was a faint trail of luminescent dust that glowed all sort of vibrant colours. He shrugged, taking it without hesitation.
In his hand, wrappings of gold fabricated into reality, conforming as strings formed between arches of what seemed to be a divine material, stretching taut and holding the arches together. It was... a Lyre. Who could've guessed?
[Lyra Family's Heirloom.]
[Tale: A Broken ■■■■■■■.]
「Traits: [Decaying (Temporary)], [Charming Suggestion], [■■■■■■]」
[Your star does not burn with enough power.]
[Your star does not burn with enough power.]
[Your star does not burn with enough power.]
Paper paled massively, dropping the Lyre, which only floated in the air, his jaw going slack.
It hurt enough to have that unfamiliar surge of information overwhelm him, but this time... the surge was trying to split his skull in two, and his brain in its panic completely discarded the remaining things he couldn't know. He couldn't even view the tale of how it came to be.
"...you're joking. Right?"
He smiled uncomfortably, shivering as he hugged his shoulders to himself. Yeah, no. He was used to people dying brutally for scraps of food, not the concept of information able to tear his mind apart.
And the worst of it was that he could not desummon the Lyre. Not until he finished the trial.
The world... felt like it was spinning. It's just a little too much. A little too violently. A little too jarring.
'This... is the worst.'
"Aster, boy! I found something. Do you have anything?"
He blinked, snapped out of his revery. Aster? Oh. Right. He was Aster. Meant to be, at least. How was he meant to act? Aggressively? Coldly? Intelligently? Joyfully? His mouth opened before he could even comprehend it.
"Just... a second, okay!? I'm losing my mind here!"
There... were no glares. Just a disappointed look from the man and a few bystanders who muttered under their breath.
"He's just a kid. What made him join?"
Ah. Right. They looked to him because he was the only one seemingly unphased by the horrors. Or was it simply that he alone was the one who seemed in control once the Noble was gone?
'Haaaaah. Okay. Whatever.'
He walked over to the man, snarling. "This best be important."
The man only shrugged, pointing to the ground. A large shovel suddenly caved his skull in, his head bursting, but nobody cared. Nobody even reacted. He wiped some of the blood off of his face, reading the thing the man pointed at. Or well... trying. He couldn't read.
"...You." He pointed at the man with the shovel before pointing at the runes. "Read. Out loud."
The one he pointed out was... surprisingly, the blondie. He blinked as if snapping out of a dream before nodding, his eyes glazed over and glossy, yet he wiped it away, clearing his throat.
"Near the final hour, it will toll, signifying the beginning of Nihil. It shall inverse, it shall claim lives, and it will take them. They with wisdom know that the key to survival is distance."
The final hour... it was nearing nightfall. The world was significantly darker, the light from the orbs dulling from that of the sun to that of mere stars. About the same time the bell did toll. But the answer, distance?
Was it distance between the men? Did they have to huddle together? Was it that the larger the distance between them, the more will survive? And Inverse? What could possibly be inverted? All that was there were...
Upside down staircases.
"...hm."
He looked at the blonde man, tilting his head with feigned innocence.
"What do you think?"
The blonde man, suddenly given a role of importance, seemed to grimace, deeply unsettled by responsibility. Though that was fair.
After all, none of the deaths felt significant. Not a single one was remembered. Not until Paper got rid of all the Fragments Of Self. Right?
So he had to just... take a wild gamble. Inversion... if it meant the place itself inverting, then it'd be a quick yet distressing death to anybody not under a stair case.
Which gave him a thought.
"I think we should all stick together. Huddling. Distance is key, right? If we huddle under the chandelier, even if it falls, we can probably use our tools to keep it from killing us, and it probably means everything not close will invert. Otherwise, why are only the staircases inverted and the chandelier not on the ground?"
That was... a surprise. He didn't expect the Blonde man to be sharp enough to come with a conclusion whatsoever. But thankfully, it worked wonders. Paper feigned an impressed look, smiling internally as he nodded.
"Men! Huddle together. I'll go and search for now."
One of the men, however, was very off put by this.
"B-but why?"
They all echoed his concerns. Were they worried about him?
Foolish.
"Don't worry. Just stick together. I promise everything will be fine."
He just loved how easily they listened. Like sheep to a shepherd. Despite his age, they listened, as none were able to match his composure.
So he walked under the upside-down staircase, the Lyre floating over to him as he smiled. The plan was simple. The bell tolling was the key to inverting the place. So, he stood under the closest step and then lay on his back, the Lyre floating down near his face.
If the world did invert like he assumed, he'd be able to stick his legs out and hopefully not break his legs from the minor boon of strength he was gifted. If the staircases themselves inverted, he could roll out the way. Hopefully.
'A charming suggestion... Well, let's take a shot.'
"I think the bell tolling would be rather impressive. What say you?" He winked salaciously at the Lyre, flirting with the object.
An object.
Had he lost his mind? Nope. Not at all. In fact, he was the sanest there. He'd have sworn it on the Orbs had the men not been looking at him incredulously as if he truly was the least sane. He considered pointing a middle finger up at them, but upon realising his situation...
Nothing happened.
He had flirted with a Lyre of all things, expecting something to happen. An absent-minded grin found its way onto his reddening face as he died internally.
'Please, just do something dammit!'
Finally, the orbs had dimmed almost fully into mere bright stars, a subdued light shining over the castle, and a sudden reverberating bell toll struck their ears furiously. Before he could even blink...
The world was turned upside down.
He landed with a grunt on his feet at the top step of the now...
Inverted mansion.
He looked down... or well, up. His movements themselves were mirrored, causing a strange desynchronisation from his intentions and his behaviours. He couldn't even see what happened, but he certainly heard it.
The Orb's Constant Notifications.
「You have indirectly murdered a Dormant Beast, Fragment Of The Self's possessed vessel, Tale Justitia.」
「You have indirectly murdered an Unnamed Siege Member.」
「You have indirectly murdered an Unnamed Siege Member.」
「You have indirectly murdered an Unnamed Siege Member.」
「You have indirectly murdered...」
His head was rending itself into tattered bits of his own sanity as the sound of thirty-seven souls being lost entered his mind.
'H-how was it an indirect... kill...?'
「You have broken a promise.」
Oh. That was how. Dang it! Of course he slipped up on accident!
「You have been Cursed already.」
'...haha... So, I get to negate the downside from my promises? How lucky...'
「An Elderly Orb Watcher shakes his head in regret. The Orb Watchers look at you expectantly!」
He didn't let himself relax, however, his smiling nervously at the sky. Internally, he was begging for something survivable.
'Please, just let me survive. I don't care about anybody else here. Just me. Please?'
Almost as if hearing his wishes, the voice of the Orb spoke softly to him, almost as if calming its own excitement down.
「Latent Human, Ink, has been given a curse!」
「You will receive an additional curse at the end of the Trial!」
His heart started beating in his throat, his eyes widening as he started at the floor, which now served as a ceiling.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no.