[Arc 1: No Light Left For Us]
….
Raven whispered, "The monsters are hibernating."
He pointed towards the sky.
The red moon loomed above them, its pulsations growing louder by the minute. What had once been silent now carried a faint, echoing chime— like distant bells swallowed by fog.
Everyone stilled.
Mist and Archer traced the hymns to the sky where the red moon hung strenuously. At a corner of the moon, a tinge of blue emerged from the contrasting crimsonness.
"I see. So the looming question is… how long do we have?" Mist chuckled as her eyes darted around, taking in the beauty of the ruins. "Cool. Really cool."
If before there wasn't any, now there was a sporadic urgency about their mission.
But that wasn't so bad.
At least, they didn't have to worry about becoming monster food in the short run. That would have sucked.
The trio rushed their focus, searching for something, anything substantial.
Most of the mounds were completely useless… inaccessible, their doors had broken down, leaving the insides to melt… literally. The mounds had caved in, frozen in its liquified state.
Thus, the scouts set out for the intact mounds— the ones still adorned with faint red markings, reminiscent of their experiences at the tower.
They stopped in front of one mound, staring at the organic door that seemed to be made out of the same organic material as the biotic mounds.
The surface of the mound thrummed as though the door was coming to life. Tendrils slowly emerged from the door, extending to the closest of the three scouts— Mist.
"Well, this isn't ominous at all." Mist said dryly.
Raven smiled. "It certainly isn't."
"It's only right it's you, the boss of our group." Archer nodded, thankful the door didn't choose him.
Raven's smile widened. "Yes, leave it to our daredevil leader."
Mist groaned as she stared at the eager tendrils, "Ahh, whatever. As the saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"Actually, that's quite infactual." Archer quipped, "Even if that doesn't kill you, it could definitely take your arm."
"I preferred you when you were quiet." Mist shot a glare at him.
"I—"
"Say something, pretty boy." Mist hissed. "I dare you."
Archer closed his mouth instantly.
Mist heaved a breath. "Here goes nothing."
She stuck her hand toward the tendril.
The tendrils reacted instantly.
Its bioorganic skin latched onto her arm forcibly. Her head lunged backwards as her pupils dilated.
Veins popped across her skin, slowly crawling to her hand.
She winced as more blood was sucked away from her body. Her skin quickly turned pale as though the nightly bloodsuckers were feasting on every patch of her skin.
Raven and Archer grew concerned. They had half the thought of intervening, but before they could contemplate, the tendrils retreated and the door cracked open.
Staggering slightly, Mist gasped for breath as she rasped, "Never. Again."
"Here goes nothing." Archer took a soft heave before stepping into the mound. "Stay close. We don't know what to expect."
Mist asked, "What's up with him? He's awfully jolly."
"As if I know," Raven shrugged. He was the last person to ask.
Still, he had to admit, the golden boy was becoming more lively, annoyingly so.
The guy used to be stiff. Quiet. Stolid.
Now?
Now he was just being pesky. But perhaps… he was opening up to them? Like friends?
'No, that can't be.' Raven shook his head, banishing the horrid thought.
There was a much simpler explanation.
Archer was just… what was the word—
Overstimulated.
As they stepped into the mound, Raven leaned closer and whispered to Mist. "It might be that time of the month for Archer."
She whispered back, shocked to the core. "Is that even possible?"
"I don't know." Raven winced. "It sounds possible though, right? There was definitely some medical breakthrough before we got abducted… right?"
"..."
"Who knows."
They found themselves in a dim hallway, the only source of light was the dimly glowing mystical symbols etched into the stone hallway. Symbols of myriad shapes and texture carved with the eerily familiar pale red, glowing with a comfortable warmth.
The air inside was humid and stale, carrying a faint metallic stang.
From further ahead, Archer's voice echoed.
"Hey, you might want to see this."
They picked up their pace.
Archer stood a few meters down the hallway, crouched near the ground, squinting at something as he extended two fingers towards it.
A trail of arid grey blood stuck out from the greyness of the ground floor.
"Do you smell that?" Archer sniffed the humid air.
Raven nodded. "Is that blood?"
"Dried blood. The magic here might have preserved the smell. What we should be worried about is who or what bled so tragically?" Mist mused.
Raven added. "And where is it now?"
The idea that they might not be alone in the mound was unsettling, to say the least.
Tension hung in the air, their bodies tightening along with their throats. The stubborn fear lingered in the vicinity, all the way to the depths of the hallway where the trails ended.
Archer returned to his feet, dusting his hands. "We checking it out?"
"I don't know. What does our survival expert say?" Mist asked.
Archer rolled his eyes. "Firstly, I'm no survival guru. I just took a few survival classes before the abduction, and that was a really really long time ago."
"Secondly, we definitely have to check it out. Raven, what do you sense?"
"Uhh… me?" Raven tilted his head. "I kinda tuned out my senses ever since we arrived. I've got no idea what to expect."
Archer nodded, faintly understanding the situation.
Stepping in front, he led them deeper into the hallway.
The further they went, the dimmer the hallway became. The magic symbols at the depths were broken, out of symmetry and incongruous with the rest of the system.
They came across one or two rooms along the way, but nothing was there— the rooms were plain and empty with earthen soils for floors.
Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway, faced with a door left completely ajar, revealing a small space inside with a carved hole for a ceiling, leading all the way to the very top.
In the center of the room stood a single object— some kind of lithe bioorganic pillar device that stretched all the way to the highest floor of the mound.
The device hummed softly, shimmering with familiar mystical symbols.
Raven noticed. "The trail ends here."
The three of them stepped closer.
And the moment they came within arm's reach—
Something reacted.
With a quiet shimmer, glowing constructs appeared out of thin air. Panels upon panels filled the void with the familiar aberrant language and mystical symbols.
"Wow, this is— this is real!"
The group slowly reached out for them, feeling the cool surface of the models. A mechanical sound whirred from the models and the bioorganic device reverberated.
"Okay… this feels techy." Mist quipped, tapping on one of the floating displays.
To her side, Archer had gotten busy, studying every panel that had risen to life after their arrival.
Meanwhile, Raven had an enthralled glow in his eyes, curiosity flickering within his pupils.
Wonder.
This was magic.
A very different and riveting magic distinct from the arcane sigils they knew.
Despite suppressing [Seventh Sense], he could hear it… beautiful chimes woven in the very fabric of the magic. Not random. One of chaos.
Yet precise.
Harmonic.
A nigh-perfect tune.
'A civilization built this,' Raven realized.
A magically attuned civilization once roamed this land, boasting magic that probably rivaled humanity's technology or even more.
Throughout the events that succeeded their awakening, Raven had come across all kinds of magic— blood magic, symbol magic, arcane magic.
But upon seeing this construct, he knew right away.
They didn't just use magic—
They understood it.
Refined it.
Turned it into something… more.
This was the fruit of their brilliance
Raven quietly muttered.
"Their magnus opus."
For the first time since—like—forever, the world came to colourful life in his eyes. The boring shades were fading away.
Things were finally getting interesting. Really interesting.
He wondered… if, one day, he would be able to master this marvellous centerpiece.
Raven slowly walked to the center of this magnus opus, the strange pillar-like device. The chimes drew him in.
There was a certain instinctive sense of how things worked.
Mist called out. "Raven, what are you doing?"
"It's okay." Raven's voice came out in entranced drawls. "I think… yes, this is—"
Reaching out his hands, the device shot out tendrils that pulled him into its gnarly depths. The whirings ascended to a high octane as Raven entered its entrails.
Suddenly, the device shook and a ring of red light travelled across its surface.
….
Mist scowled, "That fucking idiot. He's the overstimulated one!"
She turned to Archer. "We have to go after him."
"What if he's…" Archer spoke in a careful tone.
"He's not dead. That idiot is simply too curious. In a twisted way, his arcane sigil is similar to him— both thrill seekers. I have never seen him this lively. He's probably on cloud nine right now."
As she spoke, Mist reached for the device and said, "Also, I think I have a guess about what this is. Let's go."
In the next moment, she found herself vanishing into specks of light.
Her mind ceased all functions, her soul exposed bare to the void. Gazing back, the void stripped every fiber of her essence, and whispers slithered their ways into her soul.
The next moment, the memory vanished, and when she came to be, she was standing, wobbly, on another floor.
She saw Raven's sparkling eyes staring into her.
"Mist, it is a fucking elevator. Can you believe that?" He was almost drooling. "All that for an elevator. That's so–"
Mist glared, "Raven."
"Yes?"
"Shut up," hissed Mist.
She looked around, taking in the beautiful scenery— a green landscape of unimaginable proportions was painted into her view.
A garden of fruits, organized into sections of cultivated chambers.
Raven was currently munching what seemed distinctly close to an apple, but it was blue. He offered Mist the other fruit, to which she cautiously took.
Mist asked, noticing the strangeness, "Where is Archer?"
"He found the trail of blood. It seems that is more attractive to him than juicy fruits. To each their own, I guess," Raven answered.
Mist turned, her gaze looked at Raven from top to bottom. "Speaking of interesting, you are awfully jolly. I don't think I have ever heard you speak with this much gusto."
Raven returned the stare, gazing back into her eyes with a growing smile.
"It's nothing. I just realized something. This world is so interesting. We get to engage monsters and then experience this. T-This is basically a disney wonderland."