They sat that way for hours, praying to some higher power. They didn't even know if I'd answer their prayers, but they prayed and when they were done, Eloise turned and laid down. As those "what if's" and "if onlys" ran through her mind she couldn't bear to stay in the world of consciousness any longer. She shut her eyes tight and bit her lip as she forced herself to drift off into a state of repose.
Durthu sat in silence, listening to the constant pitter patter of rain against the window. The boy himself was going through his own "what ifs" and "if onlys". If he had only grabbed Cyrus, if he moved just fast enough to pull him out, maybe… He looked over at Eloise and then at his own reflection in the mirror. He looked at his gruff appearance, stared into his own bright red eyes, and at his gleaming tusks. The Orc touched his hair and let out a grunt. He needed to cut it, next time he would make sure he'd be able to clearly see anything he needed to see, so he grabbed a small axe from his hip and went to the connected bathroom.
By this point, it'd been days. Neither of the two had made a single effort to leave their room to make any progress on that floor. Eloise was constantly sleeping and even when she wasn't, she was lying in her bed and staring at the wall whilst trying to hold back tears. The poor girl was crushed, anyone in her position would be. She had made friends, genuine friends, and two of them were gone. To her knowledge they were dead and were never coming back, and she didn't know how to handle that. She was feeling something new, some deep and crushing pain in her heart that made her never want to move again.
Durthu was staying in the room as well. In his culture, rain was a sign the Ancient One was crying and grieving a warrior who shouldn't yet have died. The constant rain of this place just seemed to worsen the pain deep in his own heart, especially with the cultural background of it. He had cut his hair and placed it in a ponytail. Not just that, but he also cleaned himself up better than before. The feeling in his chest, the pain in his heart, was not something he was used to. But he treated it like anything else and decided to just go out and train in the rain.
Neither of their tactics helped them, in fact it only worsened the pain they felt in their heart. They had no name for it at the time, but what they were feeling was depression. It's very common for living beings, especially after the loss of an important person to them.
And so they stagnated. They made no progress, but instead just allowed themselves to wilt away. Maybe then, they'd feel better if they fell into an eternal rest. Maybe they would feel better if they closed their eyes and forgot it all, if they just abandoned everything and gave up. They had no more hope, there was no anger, there was nothing left but pain and grief. So the stagnation continued, in hopes that maybe they'd be allowed into a warmer embrace, that could help them forget this pain.
Then something unexpected happened. While sitting in their room, with Eloise staring at the food in front of her and Durthu watching the rain tap against the glass with thunder echoing in the distance, they saw him. I didn't notice this at the moment, in fact, I had to replay this moment in time over and over again before I could see what they were so deeply shocked about.
In the center of the room, as if projected by some unseen force, a familiar figure and face appeared. He looked just a tad beat up, but it was Cyrus. He was using his sword to swing at something. Just behind him was Meri, shooting off lightning at something as well. They were fighting, but they looked healthy and okay. I have no idea where they were nor what they were fighting, I don't know where this projection came from, and neither did Eloise and Durthu. But this was motivation. She wasn't sure if she was gaslighting herself into believing he was still alive, or if she was just using this as fuel to a fire that was dying, but some life returned to her long dead eyes. The vibrant red they used to be returned, even if only for a second.
Durthu stared for a long, long time, even after the projection had disappeared. That was too good to be true… but it was definitely Cyrus's fighting style. He could recognize that from anywhere, it was him. The two of them stared at where the projection had been for those few short seconds and then looked at each other. They didn't know if some god had answered their prayers, or if it was some sort of shared hallucination, but it gave them all they needed.
Eloise looked down at her lap, the pain in her heart was still there. That depression she was feeling was still present and as strong as ever, the feeling was stuck to her like her hair was to her scalp. But she needed to press on, and so she did. She stood and looked at the big Orc in front of her. No words were spoken between them, only a long stare before he stood up and held out his hand to her. She took it and felt herself get lifted off the ground and placed upon his shoulder.
"We need to get off this floor." He said, hearing the rain that was so violently beating down slow just a tad and became lighter, if only a little bit.
"Yeah." Eloise nodded, feeling her eyes were puffy from crying for days, "We need information, other Climbers should have something, maybe those two top rankers have it."
"Yeah, let's go find them." Durthu agreed and left the room with his companion on his shoulders.
That projection didn't clear up all their pain. They had no idea if it was real or not, but if it was real, on the off chance. It meant that Cyrus was still alive and fighting, the depression stayed and that pain wasn't going away anytime soon, but they pressed on regardless. Eloise still felt like she wanted to return to the warm embrace of her home, but she couldn't. Durthu wanted to join the Ancient One's hall, but he couldn't do that because that wouldn't be a dignified way for a warrior to go out. They wanted to give up, it was still a strong feeling in their hearts, but they didn't. They couldn't.
And so they pressed on.
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It took, like, forever for them to find even a trace of those two rankers. Yamauchi was drifting around this kingdom, going from place to place. Onuphrius had somehow become intertwined with their cathedral and was almost impossible to reach. They'd only been on the floor for a few days, maybe a week and a half at most. How these two humans did so well on their own was a mystery to the duo. But eventually they did get into contact with them, Yamauchi came first.
"So you guys came to talk to me, whaddya need?" The Japanese man asked, scratching at his steadily growing beard.
"Information about this floor." Eloise got straight to the point.
Yamauchi looked at her and that same battle hungry grin spread across his face, "How interesting. Information is valuable in this place y'know. You got anything to–"
He was cut off by a large bag falling from Durthu's hands, "Things we collected from previous floors. That should be good."
"Oh-ho-ho, quite the negotiators you two are. Well, the Egyptian will know more than me because he's intertwined with their cathedral, but this is what I know." Yamauchi took the bag and shoved it into his inventory.
To start, this place is surrounded on all sides by an artificially created mountain range–
"How do you know it's artificial?" Eloise asked.
"What's that mean?" Durthu whispered.
"It means it was made unnaturally, and I know because I could clearly detect Magik when I approached them." Yamauchi said, "Now stop interrupting and let me finish."
The mountain ranges were placed purposefully to surround this kingdom. Not only that, but there isn't a single monster in sight on this floor. I searched literally everywhere for at least one and came up with nothing. The next thing is the castle here. I broke into its ground several times over the past week or so and have yet to see a single human there despite all of the civilians here being humans. Then I figured out that there are routine shipments of up to six people being taken into the castle itself, but there's no sign of them ever coming out.
"My guess? This entire floor might be the Boss Pillar, whatever we need to fight is probably inside the castle itself." Yamauchi leaned back and kicked his feet up, "That's about all I could figure out. Onuphrius probably knows more."
"Thanks for your help. Come on, D." Eloise stood to leave.
Yamauchi sharply inhaled, "And it seems this place has a habit of showing events from other places. It's rare, it's only happened once to me. A projection of my wife and child from my home appeared in front of me clear as day, but only for a second."
The two looked at each other and then at him, "What do you mean?" They asked in unison.
"It was like a projection of my wife and child. It was clear as day and only lasted a few seconds, but they were there." Yamauchi said.
The projection they saw of Cyrus seemed to be glitchy or unfocused, but that would mean it was real. If only for the time being, he may not be safe but he is alive. That was good enough for them.
"Thanks for the info, Mr. Noboru." Eloise bowed and then left.
Durthu followed her lead.
The next goal was Onuphrius. They somehow needed to convince the bishops of the cathedral to tell them his whereabouts, but they vehemently refused the request, talking about some seal or restriction they had due to their religion. Eloise was beginning to get frustrated and because she wasn't in the best place mentally, she was going to do something rash. But before she even got the chance, Durthu did it first.
The Orc took one of the Twin Axes out and pressed it against the priest's neck, letting out a sharp exhale laced with rage. He didn't even have to say anything before the priest began to sing like a bird on a summer morning.
"He's in the back of the cathedral with the head bishop! You cannot interrupt, it would be blasphemy against the gods!" The priest shouted, sounding close to tears.
"We care not for your gods." Eloise walked forward, "Drop him, let's go."
Durthu huffed and tossed the man to the side and followed the girl.
Eloise, just to establish herself, spread her wings wide. They shined brightly and lit up the entire cathedral brighter than any lanterns could hope. Her halo as well as her eyes began to shine just as brightly, radiating and letting everyone there aware of her status as one of my most perfect creations. She was vibrant and holy, those were the descriptions these people would remember her by and her companion who walked beside her.
The two walked to the back of the cathedral and Eloise stepped out of the way to allow Durthu to get into the room. He grabbed the handle of the door and crushed it, pushing the door open gently. The bishop, who was still eerily calm, looked away from the Egyptian man and at the two who just entered the room. He looked at Eloise first and his eyes seemed to light up as he stood and knocked his chair from under him. He was old and looked rather frail, but that excitement and the speed he moved across that room was unnatural for his physical age.
"By the gods, you're beautiful! Your skin, your eyes, your wings! How extravagant!" The bishop reached out to touch her face, "But this scar… it sullies your beauty."
"Don't touch me." Eloise flinched back, "I never told you that you could lay your hands on me."
"Oh come now, I won't hurt you." The bishop tried to touch her face again.
Durthu grabbed his wrist and stepped in front of his companion, "Do not touch her."
Eloise had her sword behind her back, unknown to the bishop, "Who are you? What filth are you to lay your hands upon my flesh?"
"Bishop. These are my… associates." Onuphrius stood, "That is Durthu, he is an orc."
"Yes I can see he isn't human. He has been forsaken by the gods and he dares to travel with such a…" The bishop looked past him at Eloise, "Divine woman."
"Onuphrius, sir. We need to speak with you about this place." Eloise said from behind Durthu.
"Of course, follow me out of this place." He led them out.
Durthu took one last look at the bishop. The two looked at each other with genuine hate, though it seemed the bishop didn't like him solely because of his appearance. This was something new to Durthu, but he did not care. He let the old man go and left to follow Onuphrius and Eloise. He was quiet as he walked behind the two, but that silence was broken by Eloise and Onuphrius.
"Durthu–"
"I'm very sorry–"
"Ah, you may go first." Onuphrius smiled at Eloise.
"Thank you, sir." She nodded, "Durthu, thanks for protecting me. If you hadn't I may have done something stupid…"
"I'm very sorry about the bishop. It seems these people are not used to other species from other places coming here and it looks like this discrimination culminates at the cathedral. I deeply apologize on his behalf." Onuphrius bowed to the Orc.
"No, no, it is okay. It did not bother me, let's go inside so we can speak." Durthu opened the door for the two of them.
The three walked into the tavern and sat down to talk. Onuphrius mostly told them the same thing as Yamauchi, but the bishop had decided to let him in on a few secrets because not only was Onuphrius extremely kind and respectful, but he could very easily pretend to follow their religion. He was quite good at acting, maybe he was an actor before all this began.
"I was told that the lord of this kingdom is not a native to this world, but rather appeared here hundreds of years ago." Onuphrius spoke quietly, "He's been ruling this entire time and is the main contributor to the cathedral of this place. I've no idea what he looks like nor anything about him other than the fact he calls people to his castle every few days for some unknown reason."
"Thank you, Mr. Onuphrius." Eloise bowed her head.
"Have you seen anything weird? Like uh… what was the word the other man said?" Durthu looked at Eloise.
"Yes, have you seen any odd projections? Of family or friends?" The angel looked over at him.
Onuphrius smiled, "I have no friends or family. I am what is called a hermit. But I did see my cat, Meowmmy."
"Thank you, sir." Eloise bowed once more and got up to leave.
When they stepped out of the tavern and felt rain hitting them on their heads, they looked at each other. Any more information they wanted, they'd need to figure it out themselves and the first thing they needed to check in the leads they currently had was the cathedral. Eloise visibly shuddered at the thought of speaking to that weird bishop, but Durthu just stared at the large castle in the distance.
He narrowed his eyes and squinted. He could swear he just saw someone looking at him through one of those windows in the castle… maybe it was something caused by the rain. He followed Eloise back to their inn and sat in his bed with an audible sigh. He shook his head and used his clothes to wipe rain from his face… he didn't think about the fact his shirt was also wet.
"We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Eloise said.
"Yeah. Let's get some sleep." Durthu smiled at her.
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For a little bit, just for a tiny bit, I found a crack. It was small, but there was a very tiny crack in space-time. In that crack, I found them. Cyrus and Meri were inside, I couldn't get a grasp on the environment or any of the creatures they fought. His system as well, it didn't work. It was gone entirely and was replaced by something else. Before I could get any more information or see anything more, I felt it. An existence on par with my own interfered and sealed up that crack, kicking me out. This was just the beginning though.
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Durthu woke up the next morning to the rain slowing ever more. The Orc sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked around their room in confusion, he couldn't see or smell Eloise anywhere in the inn. He stood and instantly knew where she had gone. She had gone off to the cathedral on her own, but he was an Orc. They had no concept of harassment of any kind, so he didn't think he needed to rush at all. He got prepared and looked out of the window at the cathedral across the town, an eerie feeling climbing up his spine.
Eloise had left at the crack of dawn, or at least she thought it was dawn. It was hard to see through the murky gray of the clouds and rain which only helped obscure her vision. She had gone to the cathedral all on her own, clad her in armor and her guard was up. The people of this "kingdom" , both woman and man alike, looked at her with a certain kind of hunger. It made her uncomfortable and put her on edge. This feeling reached its apex at the cathedral, where it overflowed to the point where it felt as though someone was physically touching her.
She touched her scar on her face and took a deep breath. She'd been through worse than just a few looks from people. She walked forward and opened the door to the cathedral and navigated the seats. There was a sermon going on and she sat down and decided to listen in as the priest who was giving the sermon spoke. It was typical religious talk, but then something was said that genuinely put her on age.
"The fabled woman has come! Our king shall greet the envoy of the gods with open arms and together they will bring us an age of peace! Our species shall be elevated to the level of the divine through their union!" The priest shouted aloud, which caused the cathedral to erupt in cheer.
Eloise was hoping they weren't talking about her, but then she remembered the phrasing of the bishop, "Oh fuck."
She was about to get up to leave when suddenly something covered her mouth. She quickly drew her blade and attempted to stab at whoever was covering her nose and mouth, but whatever they had coated that cloth with had her out in mere seconds. She felt the weakness in her arms first before her legs gave out, then she felt her consciousness fade away into darkness.
Durthu was moving towards the cathedral, feeling looks all around him. He was able to finally figure it out. The closer to the gate he was, the more accepting the people were. The inn owners were living so close to the gate that they showed no negative emotions towards him, but the further he got away from it and the closer he got to the cathedral the more palpable the hatred became. He scratched at his tusks and drew his axes, holding them in his hands as if he was ready for battle.
That alone was enough for everyone to stay away from him. He was large and imposing, but most of all he was different. You humans know much about that, considering how rampant that whole… racism is in your cultures. But Durthu was different, he did not feel afraid or sad, but he did not feel angry either. He felt nothing towards these people, because they were all weaker than him. He got closer to the cathedral and felt something ominous pouring out of it, but along with that ominous feeling he could strongly smell Eloise.
He hummed and tightened his grip on his axes. The Orc, with absolutely no respect for this cathedral, kicked the door in and began to walk. He smelled Eloise close by and when he looked over at where she sat, he saw one of her thorns embedded into the stone.
About a year or so ago, the little group had created signs if they were in danger. Eloise's sign was to leave one of her thorns somewhere nearby. The fact one of her thorns was embedded into the stone told him all he needed to know. The orc let out a roar of anger.
"Where is she?!" He shouted.
"Kill the heretic! He has sullied the Divine Messenger!" A priest shouted.
Guards rushed into the cathedral and surrounded Durthu. The Orc, who was battle hungry, felt a grin spreading across his face. He had long since abandoned that sense of morality surrounding killing other people, but this? These humans? These were not "people" but instead, they stood akin to beasts.
At the same time, the drug used on Eloise didn't last very long. She awoke inside one of the upper rooms of the cathedral. Her hands were tied behind her back and her wings were bound close together, which was causing clear discomfort. The girl let out a deep sigh and discreetly pulled a dagger out of her inventory to cut the ropes binding her.
She paused when she heard a loud shout. She knew it was Durthu, he was the only person who would do something like that. She cursed and began to cut the rope faster, when suddenly the bishop entered the room with a sly smile across his wrinkled face.
"You, again." Eloise snarled, hatred lacing her voice.
"Hello, my angel." The bishop spoke so calmly, "I've come to speak with you."
"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, undo these binds before I kill you." She hissed, "You are committing blasphemy against one of the Fathers creations."
"Blas–?" The bishop looked at himself in a mirror, "Oh dear! I forgot I looked this way!"
The old, wrinkly, man began to transform. The wrinkles faded, his skin didn't look so plagued, his posture fixed itself. After a few seconds, the once disgusting and wrinkled old man became handsome. His skin was clear and pale, but it looked so healthy at the same time. He was taller now and had gained muscle, his hair was long and silky, and his eyes shone a green that even rivaled her own red eyes… but this man was not one of my children.
The smile on his face became all the more disturbing, as his eyes which were so bright had such a deep and unfathomable darkness in them that it rivaled that of the Voidborn, and his smile was so disingenuous that Eloise could just tell he was up to no good. But that transformation, his aura, everything felt so familiar that she had to scurry away from him and put her back against the wall.
"Who… what are you?" She asked.
"I am the ruler of this place, the Emperor. My name is Cain." He spread his arms wide, "It's nice to meet you, Envoy of The Father."
"What are you?" Eloise asked again.
Cain pondered for a moment, "I've no clue what I am. Think of me as a force above you but under the Father."
"Why… no, that's not right, How do you know of The Father?" Asked the Angel, cutting at the binds on her wrist.
"I know many things you do not and I will share all of my secrets when we become one." Cain approached her and leaned over her, "Because who else could be one with your divinity, if not me?"
"Stay away from me!" Eloise kicked him off of her.
Cain was thrown up and into the air. He was caught off guard for a second, but immediately he fixed his positioning and landed on his feet. That cold smile was still on his face and he looked even more excited than before, as if her resistance was something he had planned ahead of time.
"Eloise, you are the envoy of the one above! Of our creator!" He was about to start monologuing.
"You are not one of His creations." She snapped, "Unbind me, or I will personally slit your throat."
Cain blinked at her threat and the smile on his face grew wider, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are not the first woman to try this, but all of the rest stopped resisting eventually."
"I'm already spoken for." Eloise had finished cutting the rope.
She used her inventory to pull out the Sword of Thorns and swiped at Cain. He stepped out of the way, but when he saw a small vine had circled around his wrist he paused. He could feel as his arm was taken over with numbness. The man ripped the vines off and shook his arm, regaining feeling and looked from his arm back at where Eloise was. Regrettably, he didn't do enough research on the woman he planned on assaulting.
She already the tip of her sword at his eye, ready to kill him with one decisive move. The room was small, so there wasn't much room for him to move but he managed to get out of the way. Eloise, using the tight space to her advantage, began to use her Magik to coat the room in spears.
Durthu could hear a commotion above him, but he needed to finish cutting through these guards for. The Orc roared and swung his axe in the air. He swung Hypnos in specific, which caused a cloud of deep purple gas to permeate through the air. He took the chance to cut a man clean in half as others fell into a state of slumber. After they began to crumple, he swung Thanatos in the air, this time a swarm of ethereal blue butterflies flew everywhere. These were particularly Common Blue butterflies. The moment they touched down on one of the sleeping soldiers or priests, their aging was sped up until they turned into a mere pile of dust.
He stepped through the piles of dust, causing them all to disappear. He growled and quickly rushed up the stairs to where he could smell Eloise more strongly. The second he found the door, he kicked it down and the sight in front of him caused every thought he had to disappear and be replaced only by rage.
Holding Eloise by her throat was a man with pale skin, bright green eyes, and silky black hair. His skin was far too clear, his eyes too dark, his body shape too perfect. He was coated in thorns yet they seemed to not do anything to hinder him, no, instead this man was holding Eloise by her throat with a filthy look in his eyes. It was the same look those people looked at Eloise with.
"Oh. The filth." The man looked at Durthu.
"D!" Eloise tried to yell for him but the hand on her throat tightened.
Durthu was just standing there. He looked too calm for the amount of killing intent radiating from him, "This will be the last day you live."
The Orc ran forward and grabbed the man. This caught even Eloise off guard, she'd never seen Durthu move so fast. He kept running forward and dove through the wall, prepared to slam this man into the ground and kill him on impact.
Eloise held her throat and coughed, but she quickly flew out of the hole in the wall to help Durthu. She dove down to help him when the two males hit the ground. As she got closer she could hear loud laughing as smoke cleared.
"Oh this is amazing! Yes, yes!" The man, Cain, laughed, "To be touched by such a filthy creature!"
He swung his hand and Durthu flew off of him, "Durthu!" Eloise shouted and flew to her comrades' side.
"What is he?" Durthu coughed and stood.
"I don't know, but nothing I did hurt him… Do we think we could win?" Eloise asked.
Durthu analyzed Cain closely, "... No. We can't win. Not alone, not right now. Where is the man in the weird hat?"
"That's the bishop. He can change the way he looks." Eloise was about to call forth her blade and a spear when the little bit of light was suddenly blocked.
When had Cain gotten so close?
"The rain here is so tranquil, isn't it?" He asked.
Eloise stabbed him in the stomach with her blade, "Durthu, we need to go. Now!"
The two quickly turned and ran. Cain didn't attempt to stop them, no, he just watched them run off. He watched Eloise in specific, a creepy smile was on his face. This… obsession he had with her, to this day I cannot figure out why he was so interested in her.