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OOC Note: Finishing this without Keeks due to an extended absence on his part.
The remainder of the journey through the tomb would prove to be only somewhat harrowing, and more tame than Charlotte had initially been expecting. But also... more surprising than she would have guessed. Nameless had made it seem as though a number of great trials awaited her and Kiku, but perhaps this might have only been true of those who were truly unprepared for what lay ahead. Charlotte, however, was someone who had arrived with purpose, dedication, and no ulterior motives in her heart. It was The Gentleman who had speculated to her, in her head, that this was likely the reason that the tests that faced her here were all fairly simple to overcome.
After the duo had found the dead rat, cautioned that something within the tomb may have been out to get them, they proceeded. The magical light that Charlotte had produced grew dimmer as they delved deeper, which was a troubling realization, and eventually the two had found themselves plunged into darkness once more. Kiku, of course, had no shortage of smart remarks about the situation; in particular, some choice words about whomever designed this place to snuff out light so that Ajatars couldn't see through the dark and even magic spells didn't work. He wanted to give them a good punch or two.
Charlotte, however, was able to determine something interesting once she managed to get Kiku to quiet down a bit: natural light would be able to penetrate the darkness somewhat, within this place. She had Specs to thanks for that discovery, as it took a bit of meditating to glean out. With that in mind, Kiku agreed that a bit of cheating wasn't out of the question - using the Gentleman's evocation, Charlotte produced a small stick, grown from the earth below them, and then struck it alight with a magical spark. The magic flame did nothing to light the room, but the after-effect it had of lighting the stick on fire naturally seemed to do the trick.
They now had a torch, and with its aid were finally able to proceed deeper. And it was within the room bathed in this pitch darkness that they discovered a chest, and an epitaph upon the wall.
"Yee who wouldst plunge into the darkness, that which smothers false truth, knoweth now thy luxury. Here lieth the resting place of Sabine's magic. All things in dedication, All things sacrificed."
It was a curious phrase, but Charlotte understood it well enough. Sabine, the final avatar of Streike, was known in legend as Streike's most dedicated avatar in history. And this place was her tomb. If she had dedicated her everything to Streike - even her magic - then what else would lay in store for them?
She concluded that the smothering of her magical light must have been a symbolic quality of the room as well - if Sabine had sacrificed her magic, then it stood to reason that the room which symbolized that would quash any attempts at lighting it with said magic. Kiku, meanwhile, wanted to investigate the chest, and Charlotte deemed that they were likely supposed to, and so permitted him this act (even if it was probably motivated by greed on his part. He was a thief, after all). What they found inside were several black marbles, which Kiku was apparently disappointed by. But sifting through them also revealed a key, which they were sure to take with them. It would likely prove useful later.
It was around then that they began to notice the sounds of skittering. Something nearby was moving through the tomb, and whatever it was was close enough that they could hear the sounds of many feet. It was a bit unsettling - Charlotte didn't know if what they were hearing was a many-legged something or just multiple somethings. The sound was most loud beyond a wall that lay ahead of them, which Specs informed her was flimsy enough that they could break through.
Charlotte didn't quite like that idea. It seemed disrespectful.
Instead, they proceeded through a different exit, one that had been concealed in a corner of the room and would likely never have been discovered under the cover of darkness. As Charlotte and Kiku grew further away from the previous room, they found that the torch grew brighter. The effects of the previous room seemed to be diminishing, and so with that Charlotte smothered the torch and returned to utilizing her crystal ball as a much brighter, more magical light source, pleased that it was again working as intended.
"Hey Rose... do you hear squeaking, or am I just going crazy?" Kiku asked, and now that he had pointed it out Charlotte realized he was right. Only somewhat distantly, she could hear the sounds of squeaks ahead. Many, many squeaks.
She exchanged a glance with Kiku and they both took a deep breath before moving forward again. The sound grew louder as they reached the next room, and when they stepped inside its source was obvious. Hundreds, no, thousands of rats filled the place, all of them hording amongst themselves, perched on walls, shelves, urns, and occupying almost every inch of the place. Only a single walkway through the room's center remained free of the them, and sitting dead center of that walkway was another chest, with a single large rat perched upon it. Charlotte had her orb ready, and Kiku produced his knives, both of them ready to fight their way out of this, but something stilled Charlotte as all the tittering rodents stared at the two of them... They weren't really moving.
They all seemed cautious of the two, but not a one of them had made a move to attack the intruders, and it was rather conspicuous that despite the rats occupying as much space as they could, they were still careful to leave a very visible path through the room.
"Kiku," Charlotte said, lowering her hand and letting her orb fall back into a gentle hover rather than poising it to strike. "Lower your weapons."
"Are you crazy?" he asked, scoffing. "Look Rose. This place is filled with rats. Like, lots and lots of rats. And rats? They bite. And there's a ton of them. If I'm gonna die in here I'm at least taking a few with me."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "You're not going to die. It will be fine, I promise. Lower your weapons." Kiku still seemed unsure, hesitant. Charlotte frowned. "You came with me because you wanted to help, correct?"
He glanced at her, uncertain. "Well yeah, but--"
"Then help. Do as I ask. Please."
It took another moment of deliberation, but finally he did as she requested. He put the knives away and dropped his aggressive stance. Charlotte offered him a light smile, and then stepped forward along the walkway. None of the rats moved to stop her, all continuing to watch, and they did the same for Kiku as he followed after her. When at last Charlotte approached the chest, she offered a small bow to the rat on the chest.
"We mean no harm. We only wish to find a clue to save the world from the Doors of Death."
She had actually thought it a long-shot to try talking to the rat; at best, she'd hoped maybe it would understand her and move aside. She did not, however, expect the rat to talk back to her.
"Well I am glad for that," it responded in a somewhat nasal-sounding voice.
Charlotte and Kiku both startled slightly, but Charlotte held her composure otherwise. "You... speak."
"I do," it responded. "I am, now and forevermore, Sabine's familiar. While she lived I served her dutifully. And even as she breathes no more, my family and I watch over her tomb. We stand guard against those with impure intentions. That you approached us with peace speaks volumes."
Charlotte nodded. "I have no wish to desecrate this place, and you did not move to hinder us in any way. I saw no purpose in attacking, as such. I am here only to complete my task."
The rat nodded back to her. "And I can sense your intentions are noble. I will not hinder you, thusly."
The rat proceeded to use its tail to unlock the chest it perched upon, and then stepped aside for Charlotte to open it. Kiku was still too busy marveling over the fact that they'd just had a conversation with a rat to be concerned with any potential treasure, leaving Charlotte alone to see what lay inside. A bundle of cloth awaited her, and she carefully lifted it from the chest, curious as to what lay inside. There was clearly some weight to it.
Carefully undoing the cloth, Charlotte was... shocked, honestly, to find a brain. And what's more, the brain looked fresh. Still perfectly in tact, as though it had only just been placed in the chest minutes ago. She stared for only a moment before wrapping it back up, just as carefully, and then shooting the rat a questioning look.
"Yee who wouldst plunge into paranoia, that which deceives good sense, knoweth now thy purity and strength of will. Here lieth the resting place of Sabine's mind. All things in dedication, All things sacrificed," the rat stated simply.
Charlotte nodded in understanding. Truly Sabine's sacrifices were greater than even she had at first dared to imagine. She handed the brain to Kiku to carry, not wishing to send it into her storage charm for fear of what the magic might do to its preserved state, and he did not look like he relished the opportunity hold it, but was thankfully only kind of snarky about it. The rats had all cleared more space, and Charlotte could see an exit waiting for them ahead. She thanked the rat, and then the duo pressed on.
What awaited them next was a branching pathway, one that proceeded forward, and one that veered right. It was here that Specs chimed in, telling Charlotte that she should go right; the path forward would best be saved for later.
"I appreciate the insight, but why speak now? You were awfully silent in the previous room," she mused, only to then realize her error when Kiku gave her a confused look and asked her what on earth she was talking about.
She supposed it would have only been a matter of time before she'd make that kind of slip-up. She'd come to be used to Kiku's presence already in their two days spent together, and so she was less guarded about the prospect of speaking aloud to her sponsors. Specs, meanwhile, explained that he had held his silence because some of these trials were meant to be overcome by Charlotte alone. He couldn't hold her hand the entire way.
Kiku still wanted an explanation, though, and so Charlotte decided it was time to fill him in a bit. She explained to him the reason she was aware of the impending apocalypse they were trying to stop, and also explained how it was that she was able to use so many kinds of magic in varying intervals. Kiku, of course, had very little education on the actual schools of magic; he'd probably never received any formal introduction to the topic given how he grew up, but he did seem to at least grasp that it was weird for Charlotte to be capable of so much. Now, it seemed, he had an answer as to why.
"Hey, Rose..." he said, after her explanation was through. "...Thanks. We haven't really known each other long, but you telling me about this shows me that you've got to have some level of trust in me. And I appreciate it."
Charlotte gave Kiku a long look at that, peering at him as though seeing through him. They'd fought together, protected each other. It was a situation born of necessity, and yet when the cards were on the table, Kiku came through. All for a stranger he knew nothing about. Perhaps he was somewhat annoying, but he also possessed a good heart. And when Charlotte had been unconscious, knocked asunder by overreaching herself, Kiku had dutifully watched over her until she awoke, expecting nothing in return. He just wanted to help.
She did trust him.
"Charlotte," she said.
He blinked. "What?"
"My name. My real name. Charlotte Firiana." Kiku looked at her for a long moment, and then smiled. She offered a small one in return.
"Well, Charlotte Firiana," he said, making a dramatic, flourishing bow. "Kikuriku Gouken trusts you too."
With new trust established, they proceeded, Charlotte now speaking openly to her sponsors when they spoke to her and filling Kiku in on what they were saying. He came to understand quite quickly that The Gentleman was a polite, if standoffish, fellow, while Specs was rude at the best of times. Though it couldn't be argued that Specs was also immensely helpful. It was after a great deal of traveling through twists and turns, and making their way through some large, spacious rooms that seemed to only serve the purpose of holding traps, that they eventually arrived in a room that was shaped like a large dome.
The first striking thing about this room was that it possessed light. Actual light. There were no torches or sources of magic present, but rather, it seemed that whatever void-like sorcery was at work plunging the pyramid into darkness was simply not at work in this one room. As such, sunlight from the desert beyond the glass filtered in easily, illuminating the place and even making it quite warm. The second striking detail, however, was the body. Suspended above the center of the room was the body of a woman, hung upside down by a rope that seemed to hang from the ceiling, only to disappear into nothingness if one's eyes traveled along its length. The woman's body was unmoving, unbreathing, and Specs confirmed it was no longer living either.
And yet, much like the brain Kiku held onto, it looked perfectly preserved. The skin was rich and supple, brown of color, decorated in tattoos from top to bottom. If this woman was dead, she held the appearance of one who had only died minutes ago. And yet Charlotte knew that that likely was not the case. Sitting on the ground, directly beneath the woman, was another epitaph.
"Yee who wouldst plunge into pain, that which tests thy mettle and taxes thy nerves, knoweth now thy gifts. Here lieth the resting place of Sabine's body. All things in dedication, All things sacrificed," Charlotte read.
This created a complicated problem, however. Charlotte had been sure to take one of the marbles from the first chest they had found earlier, and they also now possessed the brain... but this was a body, not merely some trinket that represented it. How were they meant to take an entire body with them, as Charlotte suspected they might need to?
"We could try cutting the rope?" Kiku suggested, but a glance with Specs's eyes told Charlotte that that would be impossible; the rope was deeply magical in nature, bound in some kind of lock-and-key magic that would prevent it from being tampered with, and the body was bound to it. She told Kiku that Specs had said they would need to come here first, so clearly there was something for them to do here.
It was Kiku's sharp eyes that pointed out the chest. Despite how well-lit the room was, there was a chest that was almost concealed, tucked into one of the corners of the place and hidden behind some rubble. Charlotte and Kiku decided to investigate, carefully removing some of the rubble and exposing the chest more fully. It was locked, but the key that they had obtained earlier proved to be the perfect fit - and it even vanished after use, its purpose fulfilled.
Inside the chest were two items: one, a vial filled with an amber liquid. A small slip of paper on its face depicted the image of an eye. The second object was a silver ring, inlaid with faint etchings along its polished expanse that required a bit of squinting to make out. They were not written in any language Charlotte knew, but Specs provided her with the sight to decipher it.
"To my beloved," Charlotte read. "May I dedicate my all to you."
All things in dedication, All things sacrificed, she thought. Kiku was frowning at it, as though having the same thought. They'd come to understand by now that Sabine had given up many things - all things, apparently. If Sabine also had a lover...
"We should continue," Charlotte stated. Specs didn't seem to have much more to say, indicating that perhaps now it was time to return from where they had come and figure out the solution to the body later.
But then they heard the scuttling.
The sound from earlier greeted their ears once more, now alarmingly close, and Charlotte and Kiku quickly spun to see its source approaching them rapidly. A monstrous centipede, easily fifty feet long and as wide as a carriage, was charging across the sandy ground with clearly aggressive intent. For the first time since entering the tomb, Charlotte felt a legitimate sense of danger. Was this thing a guardian? Or a trial?
The rats had not aggressed, and so Charlotte had not attacked them. But this thing did not appear to have the same docility.
Charlotte and Kiku dove out of the way in opposite directions as the monster came barreling towards them like a freight train, crashing into the wall and making bits of dust and rubble fall from the ceiling.
'Size aside, it's still a bug,' Specs stated.
'And I suppose I'm a fair potent fly swatter, wouldn't you say love?' The Gentleman reminded.
He was right. He was Charlotte's most infrequently-present sponsor, and so she rarely enjoyed his gifts. She had needed the reminder.
"Kiku, keep the brain safe," she advised, and Kiku was already scrambling away with the bundle held protectively. The Centipede had turned around, rearing up with a low screech as it prepared to crash down on Charlotte. Charlotte would not give it the opportunity.
Thrusting out one palm, she generated an immense fire ball, tapping fully into the power The Gentleman was providing her with, and let it fly forward. The fire exploded on contact with the beast, igniting its body immediately. It flailed wildly at this, throwing its body along the sand in an effort to quench the flames as it screeched indignantly. Charlotte was forced to move a good distance away as the creature did this, its wild and erratic movements dangerous. Kiku was already clear of the mayhem, thankfully, so with some new distance placed between herself and the beast, Charlotte generated more fire and barraged it with more blasts.
Furious and apparently realizing that it had no hope of putting the fires out, Charlotte would have almost suspected that the Centipede was fully sentient, like the rat, because it seemed that it was now at least determined to take Charlotte with it into the afterlife. It continued to screech in pain, but it no longer writhed along the sandy ground. It charged, a great, flaming mass of death making a beeline straight for the Seeress. Glancing back, Charlotte realized she had positioned herself just near the hanging body of the woman. Even if she dodged away, the Centipede might destroy the corpse. And she couldn't allow that to happen.
'Time for a change in approach then, Charlotte dear,' The Gentleman stated calmly, and Charlotte nodded in quick understanding.
The fire had done its job. Now it was time to use its opposite. Spreading her palms to either side, Charlotte felt a deep chill envelope her as the unfamiliar magic came. The charging beast was merely dozens of feet ahead, and would be on her in seconds. Charlotte slammed her palms together in front of her and then splayed them like a blooming flower, and a spray of frigid mist was released in front of her. The centipede came charging headlong into it, the mist wrapping around its body like a blanket. Charlotte determined right then and there that The Gentleman must have been enacting some kind of protection on her from the backlash of the spell, he must have been, because so cold was the mist coming from Charlotte's hands that it immediately stifled the flames on the centipede's blackened body and encased the creature in an immobile block of ice. The monstrous centipede now sat before her, halted mere inches away, completely flash frozen.
Charlotte was sure her palms probably should have fallen off from producing such an effect, but instead they were merely tinted an unhealthy blue color, and she was shivering all over despite how warm the room had been.
'Deep breaths, dear,' The Gentleman advised, evoking more warmth to come to her, beginning to counteract the effects his own magic had wrought upon her. This was probably why he offered his power to Charlotte so sparingly; evocation was not something Charlotte possessed a great degree of control over, no matter how often he allowed her to practice. It was, more than any of her other temporary talents, a magic she was clearly never meant to wield. And that lack of control could take a toll on her.
"Charlotte? You okay?" Kiku asked, approaching her now and looking to be shivering lightly as well. Charlotte must have dropped the room's temperature by several degrees.
She nodded. "It is reckless of me to use The Gentleman's power. I am ill-fitted for it. But it was also necessary. Is the brain unharmed?"
Kiku gave her a grin and a thumbs up. "A-Ok thanks to you. And hey, call it reckless all you want, but I call it badass. That was awesome! I really need to learn some magic."
Charlotte offered him a rueful chuckle, starting to feel a bit warmer, and got back to her feet. Examining her palms, though, showed her that the skin was quite ravaged. It had been scorched while she wielded fire, and then frozen when she switched to ice. Some of it was blackened and dead, and some had already fallen off, exposing a harsh, stinging red layer beneath. She hissed at the feeling.
'You'll need to bear with it,' Specs advised. 'Remember Charlotte. This is the room where one must know pain.'
She nodded her understanding of that. She would not ask The Gentleman for healing, not now.
It was afterward that Kiku pointed out a new door had opened, one they hadn't seen before. It had appeared almost as though from nowhere... Charlotte suspected it may have only become visible once they had indeed known pain, and thus surpassed that trial. They proceeded onward.
Traveling through this new door led them into a room guarded by a tripwire trap, which was easily enough evaded even despite the unwelcome return of the magical darkness, thanks to Specs's advisory. Inside this room was a well, which looked as though at some point it had been decorated lavishly, intricately, beautifully. It had been carved of white marble, but time had taken its toll on the color. Stepping forward, Charlotte and Kiku peered into the well and could see that it still contained water... and something else. They could see a creature swimming in the water, a short ways down. After a moment, they noticed that the creature paused in its swimming, and Charlotte could barely make out the silhouette of a head with the light her crystal ball provided. Was it staring at them?
Slowly, it began to grow closer, and Charlotte and Kiku both took cautious steps back. But as the shape grew more clear, Charlotte became aware that this was not some monstrous creature in the water; it was a merfolk woman. A merfolk woman who, to Charlotte's surprise (or perhaps lack of surprise when she thought about it), possessed a fish's tail. An Old Strain Merfolk... those who were supposedly extinct.
She surfaced slowly, her head poking above the water as she cautiously regarded the strangers at her well.
"Who art thou?" she asked.
"Uhhh," Kiku replied first. "Who are you?"
Charlotte elbowed him.
"Ow!"
"Forgive him, please," she said, ignoring his cry of pain. "My name is Charlotte. He is Kiku. We have come in search of Sabine's wisdom. A dire threat looms over the world outside, and that wisdom may be all that can stop it."
"Oh... I see..." The mermaid adopted something of a sad look at that, a rueful smile visiting her features. "I suppose it wast only a matter of time. This place wast built to protect the knowledge thou speaketh of. Obviously, there wouldst be those who wouldst seeketh it. I am sorry, but I shalt not betray my beloved's purpose." She turned away then, making to duck back into the water, but Charlotte held her hand out.
"Wait, please!" she urged, and her words did seem to make the mermaid hesitate if only for a moment. "I may have something for you."
The mermaid did halt then, looking at Charlotte quizzically. Charlotte was glad she could think quickly, for the thought had only become apparent the moment the word 'beloved' left the mermaid's mouth. There was a clear reason Specs had wanted them to go to the dome before coming here.
Charlotte produced the ring she had pocketed earlier, holding it out to the mermaid. "We discovered this already, as part of the trials we have already completed. I believe it must be for you. Sabine's familiar has already recognized us; I pray you will do the same."
The mermaid, upon seeing the ring, now looked taken aback. Her eyes softened as she slowly reached out and took the ring in her fingers gingerly. "Oh, Sabine..." she said, barely above a whisper. She held the small band between her hands, staring forlornly. "This... wast our engagement ring. She bestowed it upon me when we were to be wed. A wedding which wouldst never occur... for Sabine received her divine task not long beyond. She gaveth her everything, to construct this place. She sacrificed everything..." The mermaid held the ring aloft, peering through the hole as though she could see into the past with it. "Mind. Body. Magic. Soul. All were to be offered. And I could do naught... naught but watch, as the woman I adored lost every piece of herself."
"Oh... well jeez, that sucks..." Kiku muttered.
The mermaid seemed to only barely hear him, still adrift in the past. "I am sorry. My name is Viana. I beseech ye forgive my rudeness. Only one who hath surpassed Sabine's trials could have obtained this. Beest that the case, then I shalt offer you my ear."
Charlotte nodded. "I believe our task here is to collect the pieces of Sabine which she gave up, and gather them together. We possess her magic, and... her mind."
Kiku brandished the covered brain. "You probably don't want to see this."
"...And I suspect I know where the body is. Tell me, Viana, what did Sabine look like?"
Viana appeared concerned at the way Charlotte spoke, but she adopted a fond smile as she recounted her love's appearance.
"She wast a woman awash in golden glow, with skin that reflected the light. Tall and proud, and decorated in markings that spoketh of her devotion. And her eyes, more golden still, wert pools of beauty."
It was certainly colorful, but Charlotte could match the description to what she had been suspecting. A tall woman with brown skin, covered in tattoos. She hadn't seen the eyes on the hanging body, but she imagined they must have been gold. Her thoughts went to the vial of the gold-colored potion, which held the marking of an eye on it.
"Her body remains, I believe," Charlotte stated, after another glance at Kiku. "In the room we just came from. She hangs, as though untouched by time."
"What!?" Viana asked, now more alert, looking affronted. "She wast to be properly entombed! She assured me!"
"Well... maybe that was her idea of properly entombed?" Kiku suggested. "I mean, this place is called the Glass Tomb, and all, and she is inside of it..."
"Oh, mighty Streike..." Viana lamented, hanging her head. "Thou hast already taken her everything. Could she not properly rest upon the conclusion of her tasks? I..." Viana looked back up at them, seeming equal parts determined and unsure. "I wish to see her. But... prithee tell, dost thou knowest of the centipede? It ravages these halls, another of the tomb's traps... it terrifies me, and I dareth not peek above the water's surface when it makes its ghastly rounds..."
"Oh, that? Pft, no problem. Charlotte already took care of it," Kiku said, smirking. "Fried it with fire then froze it with ice. No worries. You'll even see it when we go back."
"You hath defeated the centipede?" she asked, seeming surprised. "Then... very well. Let us go."
Before Charlotte or Kiku could question how she intended to accompany them with her tail, she slipped the ring Charlotte had given her onto one of her fingers - her wedding finger - and the two watched as Viana's tail was transformed into a pair of legs. She pulled herself out of the well then, hoisting over the edge and standing shakily as though it had been a long time since she had done this last - and honestly, Charlotte could only imagine how long. She used a steadying hand to help Viana keep her balance, and once the mermaid offered an assuring nod, they began moving back the way they came, avoiding the trip wire carefully once again. Eventually they returned to the dome, and Viana gasped when she saw the hanging body. It must certainly have been Sabine, for tears sprung to her eyes immediately and she raced forward without Charlotte's aid, cupping her beloved's inverted face in sorrowful hands.
"Oh, mine Sabine... here ye be... It beest as though thou hath not changed by a single moment. Thine body, thine everything, still imprisoned here... Oh to see thine eyes once more..."
Viana carefully opened one of Sabine's eyelids... but when she did, nothing greeted her. The socket was disturbingly empty. She gasped, and checked the other, finding the same result, and more sobs came to her.
"Thine sight. Mighty Streike saw fit to taketh even that... Body, Soul, Magic, Mind, and Sight. Thou art left bereft..."
Charlotte had a thought. She reached into her cloak and pulled forth the potion from the chest, staring at it for a moment. She could hear Specs humming in her mind, seeming to indicate that her suspicion may have been correct.
"Viana," she said, stepping forward and grabbing the mermaid's attention. "Perhaps this was meant to restore her sight."
Viana looked surprised at the potion Charlotte offered, but then sadly shook her head once she got a look at it. She took it from Charlotte's hand, and pulled the small slip of paper off of it, the paper marked with the eye. Charlotte was surprised to see small text scribed on the back side of the paper.
"Yee who wouldst plunge into the truth, that which does not yield itself to sight, knoweth now thy own sacrifice. Here lieth not the resting place of Sabine's sight, for that alone hath transcended Ephilroa's depths. All things in dedication, All things sacrificed," Viana read. She looked back up at Charlotte. "This potion is meant for sacrifice. If thou seeketh the same knowledge which Sabine cultivated... then thou must be prepared to make a similar sacrifice. One whom imbibes this elixir wilt gain the eyes of Streike... I know it well. And those eyes shalt be demanded in tribute."
This caused Charlotte's blood to run cold. She would need to drink that... and then sacrifice her eyes to Streike? She would be blind? She swallowed. Was that a sacrifice she was prepared for?
Before she could come to that conclusion, though, Viana was already uncorking the vial, and she drank deeply of it before Charlotte could stop her. Charlotte and Kiku watched as the mermaid's eyes became the same golden color she had described to them earlier, and then were both shocked as Viana reached for her own, now golden eyes. "Streike hath taken enough from us. She shalt not taketh more from thou."
To describe the process of removing one's own eyes would be a gruesome task that Charlotte would be grim to retell. But there before them both, Viana did exactly that. Her eyes were removed, and she held them out, waiting for Charlotte to take them. They would be needed, she told them. Just like all of Sabine's pieces were needed. Charlotte tried not to think about the fact that she was now holding two fresh eyeballs in her hands. She instead tried to focus on Viana's words.
"Mine task... it must be to release mine beloved now. That is why I hath remained here, all this time. Why I hath not aged, these centuries past... Look now, mine beloved Sabine, with thine eyes made sightless. See now how we match," she said, smiling through her excruciating pain as she took Sabine's cheeks between her bloodied hands. "At long last, let us be reunited. Body and Soul."
She kissed Sabine then, and as she did, she melted away. Her body became like liquid, absorbed into Sabine's dried out and yet preserved form, and then moment's later Sabine's body crumbled into dust, freed from the rope by which it was hung. Or... not quite dust. Littering the floor now was a small pile of runic stones, poking out from the dust and sand, and Charlotte and Kiku stared at them for a long moment.
"Body and Soul?" Kiku asked, though his tone suggested that maybe he'd pieced together the conclusion.
Charlotte nodded. "The etchings on the well. Specs deciphered them for me, but I was not able to focus on their meaning during our time with Viana. 'Yee who wouldst plunge into solitude, that which begets no catharsis, knoweth now thy folly. Here lieth the resting place of Sabine's heart and soul, without which shall she beeth forever incomplete. All things in dedication, All things sacrificed.' That is what it said."
"Viana was her soul... and she gave her up, too," Kiku said, morose. He hung his head in what Charlotte suspected was a quick prayer. She could understand his sentiments. Perhaps now they could both find peace.
Specs guided them forward then, beyond another door which they had not explored, and eventually led them into a room that was a dead end. A great wall loomed ahead of them, decorated with four orbs of different colors, and a single statue of a hand that reached out from the wall with its palm upraised, as though awaiting an offering. Its fingers curled upwards, tipped with sharp claws, and Charlotte let her intuition guide her on this final challenge, not requesting Specs's advice.
She stepped forth, and though her hands were already damaged and pained, she forced herself to endure just a bit more. She pricked each one of her fingers on the hand's claws, each finger matching the claw she pricked it upon, and watched as the blood flowed its way down into the statue's palm, which collected it like a bowl. She then instructed Kiku to do the same, which he did with only mild reluctance.
Once their blood had been collected, the orbs on the wall began to react, jutting outward and revolving slowly until the top halves of each orb had been folded back, turning the orbs now into hollow bowls. And each bowl would require an offering, much like the hand. In one, they placed the black marble; Sabine's Magic. In the next, they placed the brain; Sabine's Mind. In another, they placed the runic stones; Sabine's and Viana's remains, her Body and Soul. And in the last, they placed Viana's golden eyes; Sabine's Sight, as well as her love's. The wall reacted once more. The bowls retracted into the wall, and the wall began to pull apart, opening to reveal a path.
Kiku and Charlotte stepped forward, sensing their journey here was nearing its end. Ahead of them was a path guarded by swinging axes, but this proved to be trivial - an illusion that was easy for Charlotte to see beyond. It hardly held a candle to the powerful illusion the Nameless of Guadaro had trapped them within. They moved through the axes without fear, and finally found themselves in a small, circular room.
There, sitting upon a raised pillar in the center, was a scroll. Surrounding it were what appeared to be a horde of corpses, all on their feet, and all frozen. Charlotte and Kiku both had an inkling of what was likely coming.
"We need that scroll, don't we?" Kiku asked.
"Yes," Charlotte responded. "This is what we came for."
He sighed. "Then let's do this."
She approached the pedestal. She took the scroll. The zombies came to life.
Nightfall outside The Glass Tomb saw Charlotte and Kiku finally making their exit, both looking exhausted and battered, but with the scroll in-hand. They had succeeded, and they'd done so with their lives still in tact. Streike had taken many sacrifices, but today, she gave something back. Sabine's Scroll contained knowledge of unparalleled importance. It contained exactly what Nameless had promised: detailed instructions for how one might find and open the Doors of Death. And with that knowledge in hand, Charlotte could potentially do the very opposite. She could ensure the Doors were never opened, by finding the one who was trying to break these detailed seals and stopping them, or by eliminating the means of opening one of the seals altogether.
Charlotte could avert one of the apocalypses. At long last, she finally had a way.
She and Kiku made away from the tomb that night, and took refuge inside the tent that Charlotte usually used as a shop when she was setting up in a city for a long time. There she took the time to heal their wounds with her stock of potions, and at some point during the night she prepared another bath for them; they both needed it.
And before the evening was through, the two of them would discuss what came next. Kiku, while still wishing to help Charlotte, also had his own agenda he'd been trying to achieve for some time. And now that he knew she was a seeress, he asked if she might be able to help him. She was all too happy to provide; it was the least she could do after all of his help. Kiku was looking for a long lost mother. The information he had was not enough, unfortunately, for Charlotte to find the woman herself. Even with her full name as provided by Kiku, Charlotte could not discover her whereabouts. This left only the possibility that she was either dead, or that she'd been living with a new name entirely. A name that she now regarded, at least to herself, as her true name. If she had adopted and embraced a new identity, then she would be beyond Charlotte's sight until Charlotte knew what that identity was.
But what Charlotte could determine was where Kiku could go for a clue. Artavia reached out and called to him, Temos's voice urging Kiku towards her home, and Charlotte relayed this to Kiku. Artavia is where he could go to find a clue. It could lead him in the right direction. This sounded perfect to Kiku, as he claimed there was something else he could do in Artavia as long as he was up there. Apparently he'd had a run in with a guy he suspected to be a cannibalistic serial killer in Aurcaele, and had been meaning to break that story to The Tablet. Charlotte had to chuckle at that. This man clearly had a lot going on, and yet he'd decided to stop some stranger in the desert out of the blue a few days ago and get himself tangled up in the apocalypse?
He was as much a fool as Charlotte had suspected.
But he was also a fool who harbored a strange darkness. Charlotte had not forgotten his brief shift in demeanor on the day they'd met, how bloodthirsty he'd seemed. And when she performed her scrying for him, she detected this darkness again, sensing it churning within him, a force suppressed. She couldn't know its full breadth, not without delving deeper than he'd asked her to, but she could warn him. And that's exactly what she did.
The next morning, before they prepared to part ways with the promise of meeting up again in the future, she told him of what she had seen. She warned him that she had sensed a darkness that could unravel him, and that he must be wary of it. He had suppressed something within him, deep down, something which evaded her sight either by its own will or by Kiku unknowingly hiding it from her, and if Kiku was not careful, if he did not properly examine himself, it could ruin him. It could turn him into a man they both knew he wasn't.
"I'll do it then," he had said, surely. He looked grim but determined. "I've suspected something like this. For a long time. Now that you've pointed it out to me... I guess I really should try and figure it out. Leave me to it, Charlotte. I'll find the answers. And when I do, we'll meet again, and you can be all super proud of me."
She chuckled at that and nodded. "Then I will do as you ask. Do not hesitate to ask me for help if you ever feel you need it, though. I wish you my best."
And with that, they parted. Kiku needed to head to Artavia. And Charlotte... Charlotte decided her first stop, guided by intuition, would be in Niseca.
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