PreCursive

  I breathed out through my nose at the Lich’s words. “You and everyone else down here, it seems.”

  “Do not compare me to that collection of drudges and beasts,” Travers said sharply, a pulse in the air warning of his Mantle. “Most are little better than spiritual impressions left upon their own corpses. The rest are actively monstrous. There are none others left in this tomb that would even speak to you in this manner, only I. And I have only lingered these millennia because of a promise. The instant you leave these moldering halls with Aveline, I shall crack my own phyctery and be done with this mockery of life.”

  I raised my hands in defeat at the tirade I received from the undead doctor. “Okay, okay. I get it.”

  Travers eyed me evilly for a moment before nodding sharply. “Good. Then the only thing left is to get her out of this cursed pce, and you are my only option to do so. Unfortunately, that will be quite a task considering the curse that Lucretia id upon our home. Especially because of the lynchpin.”

  “…is it Akhoroth?”

  “Oh?” The Lich attempted to raise a single, bare eyebrow at me. It only resulted in a piece of skin falling from his brow and drifting into dust. “And how did you figure out that name? Nevermind, I don’t care. But no, Harlow isn’t the lynchpin. He’s merely the enforcer, the whip that it uses to torment the dead in these halls.”

  I opened my mouth to ask the obvious question, but I was cut off by Travers raising one hand with a put upon sigh. “Yes, yes. You’ll have to know if you’re going to unwind this knot. Harlow, the man who became Akhoroth, who conspired with Lucretia to undermine this sanctuary from within. Many years ago, he was the head of security for this facility. That bitch seduced him with promises of many a kind, chief among them power and herself. I believe the fool was under the belief he would be elevated to the same false Divinity that she and her companions sought. Only, once she had impnted her anchor, she betrayed the fool and cacklingly forced upon him a monstrous transformation and a task. He was to guard the hellish effigy she had turned her former home into, and torment those she had sin at the same time.” He paused for a moment, staring off into space with an almost vindictive cast to his decayed features. “I can’t say the man didn’t have it coming. Have no sympathy for the wretched creature. I certainly don’t.”

  Oookay.

  “That’s…horrifying, but what am I actually supposed to do down here, to get out? Can I just go through the entrance again?” I said, raising one hand to stop the spiteful tirade. I paused myself, though, another thought occurring. “Wait. If Lucretia locked this pce, how did I even get in here? I thought I got into the other one because I was a Prec-”

  Traver’s fming eyes snapped back my way and interrupted me. “You’ve been to another facility? Where? Was it still active?”

  “Ah…” I almost stuttered, from the intense focus he was fixing on me. “It was below a hill around the center of the main continent, just south of the rge forest. It…kind of spiraled downwards, if that helps? But no, it was pretty empty and destroyed. There was a barely active computer in there with a map that led me here.”

  “Hmm. I see.” Travers rubbed his chin, fking off more decayed skin to expose the yellowed bone of his jaw. “That sounds like the education and training facility. I’m unsurprised it was hit harder than we were. But none of that matters, I suppose. What does is that you must excise the lynchpin of Lucretia’s curse. Before she left, she impnted a creature of her own design into the Aetheric Fusion Collider, the core of this facility. With it, we powered our home for centuries, but now all of that energy goes towards feeding the beast. You’ll have to rip it out, root and stem, in order to break the curse. That damnable Wyrm…”

  My lips part at that st word, as a realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. “Wyrm…?” I breathed.

  So many things began to fit neatly together, then.

  Akhoroth, Maw of the Wyrm.

  Tatsugan, the Oblivion Wyrm.

  Masayuki Asahiro’s request on behalf of the Kawamaran throne, to find the source of Tatsugan’s immortality and strength…

  I leaned forward suddenly, uncaring about the Lich’s prickly attitude. “That’s the source!” I said excitedly, banging one fist down on Travers desk.

  In response, it colpsed from the force of my blow. Both Travers and I watched as the entire ancient, corroded piece of furniture folded in on itself, halfway colpsing into rust and dust.

  I blinked as Travers glowered at me, but I didn’t let that stop my enthusiasm. All I needed was confirmation, now. “Do you know what this ‘Wyrm’ is doing with all that power?!”

  For the first time, Travers looked taken aback by my questioning. “Not particurly. I’ve examined the creature, on the rare occasions I’ve been able to slip beneath Harlow’s notice. As far as I can tell, nearly all of the power is being projected outside of the facility. I always assumed the traitors were siphoning it off for some purpose. I can occasionally feel it, as the gathered power transits to some destination at the mountains peek.”

  I slowly shook my head. “Hah. Ha ha ha… that’s…that’s it, isn’t it? This…‘Aetheric Fusion Collider’ is the source of Tatsugans immortality. His real form is down here in the core, while the dragon on the surface is just a projection…” I paused, suddenly, as something occurred to me. “Shit. Shacklock is going to sacrifice himself for nothing. It doesn’t matter how powerful the Shōmetsu no Kiba is, because what he’ll kill isn’t the real body.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, pretender,” Travers said bluntly, bringing me back to reality. I had started speaking more to myself than to him a few minutes ago and hadn’t even realized it.

  With how he had been holding his mantle over my head the entire conversation, I was unapologetic. Still, I took the time to expin the situation on the surface to him, if only to see if he had any further insight into the situation.

  Sadly, he had little.

  When I was done speaking, Travers sat quietly for a moment. “I see. Lucretia impnted a parasite into our core, to create an endlessly returning Behemoth. What we called your ‘Camities’,” He said, at my curious look. The Lich shook his head. “Typical of the woman, really.”

  I leaned back in my chair and stared at the corroded ceiling, causing the ancient seat to creak warning. I ignored it. “What a waste,” I said with a frown, as much to myself as to Travers. “I struggle to call him a good man…but Shacklock doesn’t deserve to die for nothing.”

  To my surprise, Travers had something say about that. “I would not worry,” He said, shaking his head dismissively. “With the direct activation of her trap upon this facility, meant to torment potential other Netherim that sought to come to our aid, time is not something you need worry over. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, pretender, but this entire complex is now out of phase with reality. Time flows differently until the trials and tests Lucretia set out for the incautious are completed. I would not be surprised if you exit this spider's web only to find that mere seconds had passed after entering. You may yet be able to save this Shacklock.”

  I…well. That was a weight off of my shoulders. I had been worried that Bel and Liora, waiting for us on the barge outside, would have to abandon us if we took too long. The waters of the caldera were only going to grow more treacherou as time went on. But I didn’t have to worry anymore. I suppose that strange sequence reminiscent of the Concord just after we had been sucked into the bunker by ‘Lucretia’s’ trap had been the curse fully activating, and slowing time within.

  Even if they were false Divinities, it was still an impressive and...kinda intimidating thing, that they could have set up something able to affect time itself.

  Still, the Grandmaster of the Order of Solstice’s Fme had his Core Colpse to contend with. I’m not sure how thankful he would be for any kind of rescue.

  The man wanted his heroic sacrifice.

  I frowned at something else Travers said, though. “What trials are you talking about?”

  “Ha. Use that brain of yours, fool.” Travers shifted his fleshless jaw at me, almost as if he were smirking. “If you’re up and about enough to have rescued the girl, that must mean you survived an ordeal set out by Lucretia. My investigations over the years have led me to believe they would be personalized to each of the victims, drawing on old fears and insecurities to torment them.”

  I stilled as I realized what he was talking about.

  So that’s what that had been. The strange corroded closet I’d awoken in just after entering the bunker had been my ‘trial’. Lucretia’s curse had somehow drawn up ancient, half-forgotten memories of childhood bullying to torture me. That entire sequence had been deliberately designed to trap me, likely unto my death.

  I was starting to hope that this Lucretia had been one of the gods who had died in the War in Heaven. I probably wasn’t that lucky, though. For all I knew, she was Ixiah.

  Travers noticed my understanding. “Yes, you know of what I speak. Every person who entered the facility with you is undergoing their own version of it. You’ll need to find and assist them through their torment, and once they are all freed, tackle the final problem. Harlow will be guarding the core and its occupant, and both need to die before the hex upon my home is lifted. And with it, your freedom, and more importantly Aveline’s, will be guaranteed. You’re in luck, however,” The Lich stood up from his own rotting chair abruptly and started moving away from the remains of his desk. “One of your fellows already freed himself and found this office before you did.”

  My eyes widened, and I scrambled to my feet, following after the ancient Lich. I barely even noticed as I passed the illusionary boundary, the infirmary returning to its falsely pristine state.

  So there was someone else in here! I thought I’d seen movement behind one of the curtains

  “You could have told me that earlier,” I whispered fiercely to the disguised Lich, as we came to a halt before one of the beds. I wanted to shout at him, but I was aware that Aveline was likely still asleep from her Stasis-born exhaustion.

  Travers spared me a single disinterested gnce before reaching for the curtain. “There were more important matters at hand. This one would keep for a few minutes more.” He said, the undercurrent of soul speech in his voice hidden once again.

  Before I could reply, he abruptly drew back the curtain, allowing me to see which of my companions had triumphed over their own trial before I did.

  I…couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.

  Lying in the bed was Kazuma. The Kawamaran samurai appeared to be sleeping fitfully, almost as if he were trapped in a nightmare. To my eyes, he looked a bit worse for wear, with new rips and tears visible in his red and green robes. His katana had been removed from his waist, and Kazuma looked to be hugging the weapon close to his chest in his fitful rest, clutching at it tightly in his unconscious state. I couldn’t help but notice that the man looked a bit…desperate.

  While I was taking in Kazuma’s appearance, the Lich was still speaking. “He stumbled in here maybe thirty minutes before you did, barely coherent from whatever trial he experienced. The man was mumbling and nearly sobbing to himself. He didn’t protest when I put him under and id him in this bed,” He gnced at me from the corner of one fake eye. “You should be thanking him, you know. If he hadn’t stumbled into this office and woke me from my slumber, I wouldn’t have been on the lookout for others and been able to rescue you and the girl. My tomb would have still been in its original location, and I wouldn’t have thought to move it around the facility in search of more. As it is, I can now feel the presence of your five other companions that you’ll need to rescue if you want to lift the curse.”

  I barely reacted to the knowledge that Travers could apparently move this entire room around the bunker as he pleased. I was caught up on something else he had said, instead.

  “What do you mean,” I said slowly. “Five companions…?”

  Myself, Venix, Azarus, Renauld, and Kazuma ying before me. That was four companions. We were the only people present when the trap had been activated, drawing us into these cursed depths.

  Had Liora or Bel changed their minds and come up after us?

  Fuck.

  I just didn't know.

  Before Travers could answer, my attention was caught by Kazuma shifting on the bed before me. It looked like he was waking up. Sure enough, I watched as the samurai’s eyes shot open abruptly, revealing their bloodshot nature to the world. They roved around wildly until they settled on the two people standing over his bed.

  Unseeing panic bloomed in those blue orbs, and he started to draw the sword he was cradling like a child.

  I didn’t even get the chance to react, before one of Traver’s illusioned hands shot out, quick as a snake, and stopped that movement cold.

  Fast. Impossibly so.

  Strong, too.

  “Cease,” Travers growled, a note of his true voice slipping out of him.

  I didn’t normally see that kind of movement from Magi, only Cultivators. I’d been so put off by the appearance of the Lich that I hadn’t even thought to question which he had been, in life. But it was equally as possible that he was neither. Those bels were something distinctly modern.

  Who knew how personal growth had been achieved by the Netherim?

  Kazuma blinked, and recognition dawned in his wild gaze. “H-Hart…?” He said, wild hope in his roughened voice. Before I could even nod, the man abruptly sat up from his bed and lunged my way. Initially, I thought he was about to attack me and tensed in preparation.

  But no.

  Instead, the Kawamaran man tched onto me tightly in a hug and started to quietly sob into my shoulder.

  As I awkwardly returned the embrace with one arm and patted a shoulder with the other, I met Travers eyes over top of Kazuma’s head.

  I was surprised at the sympathy I saw in them directed at the distraught samurai, as the Lich waited patiently off to the side. Maybe, though…

  Maybe it was just me he had an issue with.

  Comforting.