The doors of the Vault of Splendor didn't lead to a dark abyss, but into a chamber so radiant it felt like stepping into the heart of a fallen star.
This wasn't a dungeon or a tomb; it was a sanctuary of greed. Rows of shelves groaned under the weight of artifacts that predated the Kingdom of Glass – chalices carved from single rubies, armor forged from the scales of extinct drakes, and scrolls that hummed with the trapped voices of dead poets.
But Asteria's gaze ignored the mountains of gold. Her vision locked onto a central dais draped in heavy, midnight-blue velvet.
There, sitting atop a plush cushion, was a beautiful, golden laurel made into a crown.. It wasn't made of mere metal; the leaves seemed to shiver as if caught in a permanent breeze, each vein etched with runes of absolute sovereignty. Yet, it was the item beside it that made her heart stop.
Encased in a pillar of seamless glass was a Jian – a double-edged straight sword of exquisite, alien design. The blade looked as if it had been forged from captured starlight, translucent yet impossibly sharp. The hilt was wrapped in a material that shimmered like glass but felt, in her mind, like the softest silk. The pommel was shaped into a weeping eye, a twin to the one on her talisman.
Most hauntingly, a thin, crimson vein ran perfectly down the center of the blade, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic light. It looked like a living artery trapped in ice.
'That sword...' Asteria's breath hitched. 'The knight before... The one who told me to end it. It was here all along.'
"So... can I take them?" She turned to Valerius, her eyes wide and pleading. The weight of the spark in her chest seemed to thrum in recognition of the blade. "It's not stealing if they don't have an owner, right? Technically, the Queen is.... busy."
Valerius looked around the room, his eyes scanning the impossible wealth with a weary sort of detachment. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long, ragged sigh. "Do whatever you want, Asteria. We've already committed high treason, absorbed the kingdom's power source, and broken into the most secure location in the world. Being a looter is probably the least of your sins at this point."
Asteria didn't need to be told twice. She ignored his sarcasm, her mind already racing. She couldn't exactly carry a Jian and a crown through the secret tunnels of a collapsing palace.
'I really hope this works for more than just rations...'
She closed her eyes and focused on her soul sea, summoning a shimmering memory. [Oasis' Greed].
A spectral, wooden crate manifested in the air before her, its lid creaking open to reveal an impossible, shadowy depth. Valerius's jaw dropped. The professional mask he wore finally cracked, replaced by a look of genuine shock and mounting confusion.
"I was going to ask where you keep pulling these things from," he muttered, stepping back as the crate hovered near the dais. "But I believe it would be better for my sanity if I stayed silent. Is your soul a warehouse, girl?"
"Trade secret, I'm afraid," Asteria smiled, though it was a tight, nervous thing. She prayed he wouldn't pry further; how could she explain that this world isn't real and she's just a visitor to the past?
She reached out, her fingers trembling as they touched the glass case. The Spark within her flared, and the glass simply turned to mist. She grabbed the Jian – the hilt felt warm, the crimson vein pulsing faster at her touch – and slid it into the crate. The golden crown followed a second later.
The crate groaned, the wood splintering slightly at the edges as it struggled to contain the sheer density of the items, but it held.
Asteria's eyes darted hungrily to the rest of the room. A set of silver throwing knives, a cloak and a scepter.
"Asteria," Valerius warned, his voice regaining its edge. "The 'trade secret' box is full enough. The ground is shaking."
He was right. The lack of the Spark was starting to take its toll. The very walls of the Vault – the most protected place in the kingdom – were beginning to crumble. The silence was being replaced by the sound of grinding stone and the distant, frantic ringing of alarm bells from the surface.
"One more thing," Asteria muttered, her hand diving toward a murky glass pane at the back of the room. It wasn't treasure, but a window. A window that looked out over a dark, swirling void beneath the palace.
"Valerius, the floor," she gasped.
"We leave now," Valerius said, grabbing her arm. "And we take the treasure with us. If the Queen wants her sword back, she'll have to find us in the dark."
He kicked the velvet cushion aside, revealing a spiral staircase carved from bone-white stone that led straight down into the murky depths.
Asteria took one last look at the room of gold and glass, then plunged into the darkness with the smartest man in the kingdom and a crate full of stolen god-hood.