CCXXVI. | Ch. 226: 'O, avatar of clarity...' (Patreon)

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Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Six: 'O, avatar of clarity...'

Hector didn't understand. "What?"

'The others have all disappeared,' said Pauline. 'You're the only one left.'

She wasn't saying that everyone had been... killed. Right?

"What are you talking about?" Hector walked past her and continued toward the terminal. "I saw them heading underground. I'm sure they're fine."

'Perhaps they are,' she said, 'but something happened to them when they went down there, and I don't know what it was. They simply vanished from my sight.'

Hector's jaw clenched, but he didn't stop walking. Waiting around wasn't going resolve anything.

Pauline hopped up and glided to keep pace with him. 'Are you alright, by the way? Your aura has changed.'

He wasn't much in the mood for questions--asking or answering them--but he felt like he'd regret it later if he didn't inquire further on that point. "My aura?"

'Auras are sometimes reflective of one's emotional state, though it's not a direct link. Your soul and your will are more likely to have an effect on it.'

His will, huh? "I'm still not even sure what an 'aura' is."

'Hmm. How to explain? It's like your 'presence,' I suppose. It can't normally be felt with purely physical senses--though there are certainly exceptions.'

"Are you talking about the field density of my soul?"

'Ah. Servant terminology. I'm less familiar with how your reapers describe things, but I believe a soul's field density is only one aspect of an aura. It's the aspect that links souls and auras together, I believe.'

"Then I still don't understand."

'Agh. It's difficult to explain to someone who lacks strong psychic abilities.'

Hector climbed through a gaping hole in the terminal's southern wall. He touched it as he passed, and more of it came crumbling down, prompting him to remake his iron armor. Nothing fell on him, though.

Pauline flew up above the building and began circling. 'An aura is like your own little... energy space. It goes wherever you go. It shifts and changes as you do, growing more powerful or more weak as you do.'

Hector had to push a few boulders aside. "You mentioned 'profound effects' before, didn't you?"

'Yes. A powerful aura can make a soul... more resilient in certain ways, though not all. And the opposite is true, as well. A powerful soul will almost inevitably emit a stronger aura.'

This sounded vaguely familiar, Hector thought.

'I should admit, however, that auras remain somewhat mysterious even to us Sparrows. We can perceive them far more clearly than you can, but it is difficult to identify what is influencing them in each specific case. One aura might be enhanced by an uncommonly strong soul, while another is enhanced by an uncommonly strong will. Or by emotions, as I mentioned before.'

That put a question in Hector's head. "And what about this Beast of Lorent? You said it has a powerful aura, didn't you?"

'Yes. Monsters are among the more mysterious specimens. They don't generally have strong wills, since they are typically driven by instinct alone, and emotions are not really a factor for them, either. I'm less familiar with how soul power works, but as I understand it, most monsters cannot wield it.'

"Then are you saying that the Beast can?"

'I think that is quite likely. If not, then there must be some other explanation for its imposing aura.'

"Like what?"

'I have no idea, but I cannot imagine it would be anything good.'

Hector had more he wanted to ask, but he arrived at the staircase that he'd seen the others use. It was partially clogged with debris, so he materialized iron in between the gaps and then pulled it all out at once.

Before he completed the task, though, he ran into a problem. As much as he tried, it wouldn't budge. At first, he was confused, until he realized that he couldn't materialize any more iron.

So this was his current volume limit. He'd almost forgotten about that problem, but he could hardly be disappointed with himself. He'd left enough iron outside that he probably could've built a brand new air traffic control tower for this poor airport.

Not that it would've been a good idea to make a building entirely out of iron.

He annihilated the iron he'd left outside. It took a couple solid minutes to get it all.

Hector stared down the open stairwell and saw only pitch darkness waiting for him. It wasn't so surprising that the electricity wasn't working anymore, considering the state the rest of the airport was in, but that rationalization didn't make that big black hole in the floor look any less menacing.

'You sure you want to go down there?' said Pauline.

Scary though it might've looked, the Scarf was telling him that it was just an empty room. No movement other than the air itself. Only a bunch of large boxes and maybe some debris. He didn't sense any other way out, either, but he was sure that he'd seen the others heading down there.

"Do you sense the monster's aura down there?" he asked.

'No. I don't sense anything.'

Hector sighed. There was no helping it. 'Hey, Garovel, is Voreese with you?'

'Not at the moment,' came the reaper's echoing response, 'but I can go get her. Why? What do you need from her?'

'Well, I don't mean to alarm you, but... I need to know if Roman is still alive.'

'Ah.'

'And also, where he is. We've gotten separated.'

'...Hector. I have a lot of questions.'

'I figured. Can you ask Voreese about Roman first, though?'

'Alright. One second. Just need to... eh... hmm.'

Hector waited, but the silence went on a little too long. 'Garovel?'

'Uh... I swear, I sensed her somewhere around here like thirty minutes ago...'

Hector's eyes widened. 'Please don't tell me she's missing.'

'No, of course not. I'm just. Having trouble locating her. I'm sure she's... aha... oh shit. Yeah, okay, I think she's missing. Or she's playing a killer game of hide-and-seek, right now. How unfortunate would that be, huh? Talk about bad timing.'

'Garovel, that's not helping.'

'Okay, so how fucked up is your situation, right now?'

'Well, the Lorentian Secretary of State is also missing,' said Hector.

'Oh. Fantastic,' said Garovel.

'And so is everyone she was with. As well all the Rainlords who came with me.'

'Holy shit, Hector. You're alone, right now?'

'Well, Pauline Gaolanet is with me.'

'What?!'

'Look, uh, let's focus on what's important here. What about the Rainlords' reapers? Can you sense Mevox? Or any of the others?'

'Ugh. One second.'

Truth be told, Hector actually kind of appreciated Garovel's attempts at levity, because his imagination was already running wild in the worst way. How could Voreese be missing? She was in completely different country. Surely, it was impossible for--

'Yeah, I can't sense any of them, either,' said Garovel.

'Fuck,' said Hector.

'I'm gonna have to tell the other Rainlords about this,' the reaper said. 'And sooner rather than later. Assuming they haven't noticed already, that is.'

Hector could see where this was going. They were going to send reinforcements. It was only a matter of time.

That could complicate matters significantly. But it could also help significantly.

Well, he had bigger things to worry about, right now. If Voreese and the other reapers had somehow been brought here against their will, then everyone was in much more danger now. He wanted to believe that they would be fine, considering how strong they all were, but this situation was just so weird.

'Do whatever you've gotta do, Garovel. I'm going to look for everyone.'

'Alright. Try to be careful. And maybe give me a warning if you're about to do something that might make me mysteriously go missing as well.'

'Okay. Um. I'm about to do that right now, actually.'

'Excuse me? What're you about to do?'

'Go down into the hole where everyone else disappeared.'

'Agh. Okay. Well. Good luck, I guess.'

'Thanks.'

Much to his dismay, however, the short trip down into the airport's underground area proved fruitless. It really was empty, just as the Scarf had told him.

Hector half-expected to be attacked or to be teleported somewhere or to at least find a hidden escape route, but he combed the place quite thoroughly and found nothing.

He returned to Pauline outside. "You said you could find the monster, didn't you?"

She was perched atop one of the few remaining portions of the terminal's roof. 'I did. The creature's aura is like a lighthouse to me.'

"Well, we've already wasted too much time here. Lead on."

'I admire your proactive mindset, but are we even sure that this so-called Beast of Lorent is responsible for everyone's disappearance?'

"No, but do you have any better leads?"

'I do not. However, if the monster has truly abducted them, then it seems especially strange to me that I never sensed its aura at the location where the abduction occurred.'

"Hmm." Hector thought about that new piece of information. "I'm new to auras, but as I understand it, they only go wherever the body they're attached to goes, right?"

'Yes. Why?'

"Maybe the monster abducted them from a distance," said Hector.

She ruffled her feathers. 'How could it have done such a thing?'

"Teleportation."

'Excuse me? Such a power does not exist, does it?'

"Oh, it definitely exists. I've personally witnessed two different forms of it. This seems different from either of those, though."

'You're joking, surely...'

"Believe me or don't. It doesn't matter. Please, just point me in the right direction. I can go find the monster on my own, if you want to head back to Atreya. I certainly wouldn't blame you."

'Oh, please. Things are just getting interesting.'

Hector frowned. "This is serious, Pauline. We have no idea what this thing is capable of."

'I am aware of the severity of the situation.' She bounded off the roof and began gliding northward. 'Follow me, Lord Goffe.'

Hector started after her. She was flying pretty close to the ground and at low speed, presumably for his benefit, so he figured he should pick up the pace. And what better opportunity would there be to practice flight?

He'd refined a bit with Zeff's help since he'd first discovered it, and it was significantly easier when he only had to worry about keeping himself aloft and no one else.

Where before it had just been a platform to stand on, now he'd made almost a full pod for himself, keeping only the top open so that he could see. There were grips for his hands as well to help maintain his balance.

The outer layer of hovering iron--or the "holster," as he'd come to think of it--was what actually allowed him to go against gravity. It was a constant mental effort, requiring the continual reapplication of velocity states and the annihilation of any iron that would have fallen away from the holster.

All in all, it was still a bit rough, Hector felt. There was probably still room for significant improvements to be made--like making it somehow more aerodynamic, perhaps--but it was certainly more stable than that haphazard platform he'd used before. Plus, he was more experienced. Turbulence wasn't quite so worrying, anymore, though he doubted he would've been able to handle that tornado.

'You can fly?!' came Pauline's silent voice.

The rushing wind was too noisy to talk over, so Hector merely responded with a simple look. He couldn't even say anything with his expression, either, because he was armored up again.

Instead, he just flew up higher and faster than her, hoping that she would get the message.

She certainly did. Her huge wings flapped, and she soared into the lead again.

Hector did his best to keep pace, but holy crap, she was fast. She ended up having to slow back down a little for him.

The Imara Forest was truly sprawling. It filled the entire horizon, save only for a few distant mountains. He'd already seen it from the airplane, of course, but now that he was a bit closer, the sheer scale of things was coming even more clearly into perspective. The notion that the Beast could be anywhere in this place was truly unsettling--as was the notion that he might've had to wander around aimlessly if Pauline wasn't here.

She turned invisible again. 'We're almost there,' she said. 'I'm curious. Can you sense the monster's aura at all? Oftentimes, humans can pick up on the particularly strong ones, if only a little.'

They were descending now and slowing down. Hector concentrated on his senses. They weren't telling him anything especially abnormal, nor was the Scarf.

But... there was something. A vague discomfort, of sorts. As if his whole body were only a step or two away from shivering. He didn't know how to describe it. If she hadn't mentioned anything, he probably would've just chalked it up to the forest's natural atmosphere--or to the understandable unease that came with hunting an unknown creature with unknown powers.

On second thought, maybe it really was just because of that last thing.

When they were landing, he answered her. "Sort of. Feels like my senses could just be playing tricks on me, though."

'A rational thought,' said Pauline, perched amid the verdant canopy over Hector's head. 'You may be right to not trust your senses in this place. Some auras can have very disorienting effects.'

"Which way now?" he asked.

'That, I don't know,' said Pauline. 'We've entered the nucleus of the aura. The creature could be anywhere nearby.'

Hector frowned. "You can't sense its exact location?"

'As I said, some auras can have very disorienting effects.'

Great.

Hector looked around. They were well into the middle of the night now. Thankfully, there was a very bright moon out tonight, and the canopy wasn't so thick as to block all light from it. The contrast was incredibly stark, however--pitch blackness interrupted by visible bars of moonlight, each only able to illuminate a small patch of the forest with its pale white glow.

It was beautiful, Hector thought. And a bit haunting, perhaps. Almost like a painting. He'd never seen anything quite like it before.

He was again grateful for the Scarf of Amordiin. With it, so much more of the surrounding area was perceptible to him. However, he still decided to materialize a hovering cube of red hot iron above his gauntleted hand. The extra light wouldn't hurt.

As long as he didn't accidentally start a forest fire, he supposed.

Even with the Scarf, though, he couldn't yet tell where the monster was. This 'nucleus' that Pauline spoke of must've been pretty huge, still.

He decided to just pick the same direction that they'd been going in earlier. If he somehow ended up leaving the nucleus, then he figured she would warn him.

Man, it sure was quiet. The only noise seemed to be coming from himself. The clink of his armor. The rustling of leaves and branches as he brushed past them. The subtle hiss of his iron cube.

Even Pauline was completely silent. Was she masking the sound of her own movements? Or did her feathers just allow her to be that quiet naturally?

He supposed it didn't matter. He needed to stay on task, attentive with all thought processes. No distractions.

But as he thought about it more, he still had some questions for her that might prove relevant to the mission.

"So what are some of these 'disorienting effects' that we should be watching out for?" said Hector.

Pauline took so long to respond that Hector stopped and looked toward her. 'Oh. Ah. There are various things, but a skewed perception of the passage of time is perhaps the biggest one.'

"Hmm." He didn't like the sound of that, but he started walking again. He still wasn't sensing anything other than plants in the areas. Not even any wild animals.

'Spatial awareness as well can easily become compromised,' she said. 'My father believes that this is because auras themselves are a component of spacetime. So if spacetime is like a blanket, then an aura is like a liquid soaking that blanket through, making it much heavier than you are accustomed to.'

"I think I understand. Anything else?"

'...Ah. Sorry, did you say something?'

He stopped again. "Are you feeling okay?"

She glided down closer to him. 'Frankly speaking, no. This aura is very uncomfortable. But I will manage.'

"Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?"

'Heh. Actually... your own aura seems to be helping.'

He blinked. "What?"

'I mentioned it before, didn't I? Your aura is different from a while ago. Come to think of it, you never did explain why that was.'

"That's because I had no idea what you were talking about. And I'm still not sure I do, even now."

'Well, in any case, I think I will stick a bit closer to you from now on, if you don't mind.' She was still invisible, but Hector could sense her there on the ground next to him now. 'I sense something ahead, by the way. I think it's a building.'

That information acquired his full attention, and he tried to reach out farther with the Scarf. If it was there, he couldn't sense it yet.

They trudged on together with Hector clearing some of the underbrush for her hulking avian body. He figured the trail they were leaving behind would at least help them to not get lost.

After a while of walking, Hector still didn't sense this building that Pauline was talking about.

But he saw it.

A modest structure, it looked to be little more than a single room. Beams of moonlight illuminated its rusted metal exterior.

Yet the Scarf couldn't sense it there. Air flowed right through it.

He stopped a few meters short of the building, and so did Pauline.

"...It's an illusion," said Hector.

'It is?'

Slowly, he began moving closer. "Can you not tell?"

'Hmm. Hold on a minute. No, I see the issue now. You're half-right. It's only partly an illusion.'

He stopped again. "What do you mean?"

'Technically, this building is not here. But it used to be.'

"...What are you saying?"

'It's the aura. Messing with our perception of time. On the other hand, though, you might call this building a kind of "memory"--one that has even been preserved in physical reality. It's quite special, when you think of it like that, no?'

What the hell? A memory?

'I'm going to try touching it,' she said. 'There may be historical information I can discover by doing so.'

"Uh. You sure that's safe?"

'Nope.' She shuffled past him. 'Please make sure nothing springs out and attacks me. Also, if I begin violently convulsing, make sure I stop touching the building.'

"Pauline, this doesn't seem--"

'I know. I'm a little scared, quite honestly, but we're in need of direction, and this is our best chance, right now.' She was very close to the building now. She puffed her feathered chest up and exhaled deeply. 'So just. Keep me safe, please. And I'll do my best, too.'

Well, shit. "Okay..."

Pauline reached out with one of her wings and touched the illusory building.

Hector could see that the structure was slowly shifting in a strange, ethereal way. One moment, it appeared old and rusted, and the next, it became significantly less so, merely a bit dull and weathered-looking. Then the next, it looked almost new. Then back to rusted.

Hmm.

He felt like he understood. The perception of time. That was what she'd said, wasn't it? He was seeing the building over the course of the many years, compacted into only a minute or two.

How odd. Was it really just this monster's "aura" or whatever that was causing this phenomenon? He had to wonder what Garovel would make of this situation. He considered asking him, but he wasn't even sure how he would begin to explain. Maybe later.

More importantly, he wanted to know how much longer this would take.

Because nothing was happening.

Hector waited but did not see, nor feel, nor sense any changes in the environment or in the Sparrow herself. At length, he had to say something. "Pauline? Are you okay?"

'Hmm? Ah. Yes, I am fine. I understand now. This place is a reservoir of psychic information. And also a minor point of geographic resonance. There seems to be... perhaps a hundred years or so of knowledge preserved here.'

"A hundred years?" said Hector, surprised. "That sounds like... quite a lot."

'Well, not every moment in time has been kept. Only moments of "psychic significance," you might say. But yes, there is quite a lot to go through.'

Hector had questions, though he wasn't certain which to start with. Just how deep did all this psychic stuff go?

'By your silence, I assume you are still confused. I could share with you what I am able to see. I believe that would explain much better than I ever could with words. But you will have to either take off your helmet or place your bare hand on my back.'

Ah. An extension of trust, was it?

Well, Hector didn't think Pauline would try to do him harm. In the back of his mind, though, he supposed she could've been somehow deceiving him this whole time and that perhaps she was in some way responsible for everyone's disappearance, but...

Nah. It was one thing to be cautious. It was another to be paranoid. Plus, even if she did try to assault his mind like her father did, it wouldn't work. Probably.

He went up to her, removed his right gauntlet, and put his hand on her avian body. Her feathers were huge, yet still quite soft and fluffy, almost like that of a stuffed toy.

'Okay,' she said. 'Brace yourself.'

And that was all the warning he got.

The night melted away, replaced by a world of swirling and ethereal grays. Everything had a soft glow, not entirely unlike the moonlight from earlier, but now there were images playing all around him. Movies, of a sort. All unfolding simultaneously.

And yet, it wasn't overwhelming. So much was happening all at once, but he wasn't struggling with any of it. He couldn't tell if that was because of his Focus or if it was somehow Pauline's doing, but either way, it was less like actually watching a film and more like the information was just being poured directly into his mind.

This place. This little building. It was much more than it appeared to be. In truth, it was the entrance to an underground facility.

One that was being run by the Lorentian government.

Or no. Not being run. Not anymore. It was long gone now. Only a collapsed hole remained. That was just the strange perception of time playing havoc with his thoughts, Hector supposed.

Time was...

Hmm. Suddenly, Hector felt like he understood Rasalased a little better.

But that was neither here nor there. He concentrated on the vision--or whatever this was.

This government facility was being used for a multitude of things, it seemed. This little entrance here was only one of many, and it served primarily as an emergency escape route.

Hector could see it being used on several occasions. People with indecipherable faces flowing out of it. Rushing. Running. The only thing clear about them was their panic.

He wished he could understand the timescale better, but it was foggy, at best. One thing was evident, though. It ended with an explosion.

That was why this small building wasn't actually here anymore. It had been blown to smithereens.

And not everyone escaped that time. He could see people on fire rolling in the grass. Smoldering corpses among burning trees and underbrush. The whole forest around was aflame.

And roars. Piercing, guttural roars.

He couldn't actually hear them with his ears, yet he could perceive them through the vision nonetheless. There were so many of them. And not all were angry. Some were more pained. Some were whimpers.

Vast rooms with cages lay deep underground. Empty one moment, then filled to bursting with animals of all sorts, then empty again, then filled again. And perhaps there were also some creatures that... weren't animals at all--or at least, none that Hector recognized.

And there were people moving between them. Prodding them. Antagonizing them. Sticking them with needles. Tranquilizing them. Taking them out and tying them down.

And dissecting them. Opening them up. Then stitching them back together, different from before.

With the help of reapers.

Those were somehow less clear, so it had taken Hector longer to recognize them. They'd been there all along, he realized. Murky specters, always in the background, sometimes indistinguishable from shadows. He couldn't tell how many there were, though. It could've been two. It could've been twenty.

This was a place of experimentation. He could hear it in silent conversations among the lab workers. Entire dialogues fell into his mind at once like buckets of water, too much information to process normally, yet he was still mostly able to understand. Calm discussions. Loud arguments. Cold observations. Angry diatribes.

They spoke on many subjects. Philosophy. Biology. Ethics. Law.

So many words. Over the course of years. At times, they blended together. Muddied. Insignificant. Becoming little more than routine.

Until some catastrophic event or another shook everything up again. Reestablishing significance.

Experiments getting loose. Tearing lab workers limb from limb. Requiring violent suppression. This happened multiple times. Difficult to tell how many. The cycle just kept repeating.

Until a certain creature arrived.

This one was more distinct. More significant. The vision made sure that Hector could tell it apart from all the others.

At first, it was small. A puppy. Then a kitten. A lizard. A scorpion.

Its form seemed to shift by the day, baffling its captors. If not for the direct insight of the vision itself, Hector might've misunderstood what he was seeing with his eyes alone and believed them all to be different creatures.

But no. They were one. And it grew. Both in size and in intellect.

A sly tentacle discovered how to unlock its own cage.

But it did not flee. It stayed. Why, the vision could not make fully clear. Perhaps it knew that merely escaping its immediate confines would not be enough to truly get away from this place. Perhaps it had seen what had happened to the other creatures that rebelled unsuccessfully.

But during its time here, the creature was subjected to numerous flesh-rending experiments. In time, it suffered more than any other captive. The "researchers"--if they could be called that--were fascinated by its mysterious body and by its resilience.

Time and again, they cut the creature open. Time and again, they stitched it back together, oftentimes with limbs or organs that previously belonged to other animals. On many occasions, they thought it dead and tried to revive it with reapers.

But it was never necessary. It lived through everything they did to it.

And its form continued to shift in new and grotesque ways, perhaps attempting to conceal its excess of new body parts. A horse with seven legs. A crocodile with three heads. A lion with an eagle's wings and a scorpion's claws.

It only ever grew larger. The experiments continued for years. Countless conversations took place among the researchers, expressing all manner of concerns and curiosity. They did not understand. The beast seemed docile.

Until one, final experiment. More abominable than all the rest.

A severed human head. They attached it to the creature.

And just like every time previously, it absorbed it into its body.

The researchers celebrated their triumph. Few expressed reservations, mostly because they never thought it would work. They spoke of what a tremendous leap forward this would be, of what new "legitimacy" this might mean for government funding.

The fools did not realize what they had done.

But the creature told them. It spoke in a guttural, twisted voice that struck every listener dumb with terror as soon as they heard it.

"You have finally listened," it said. "My will has been done. Now let me share with you... my joy."

The slaughter that followed was unlike anything Hector had ever witnessed. Which was saying something. The creature tore through them like paper, its claws and tentacles and hands appearing from seemingly nowhere all the while.

But it was more than just that. It made them turn on one another, as well. It forced them, against their will, to rip each other apart with their bare hands, screaming but never stopping until breath no longer filled their lungs.

And it didn't end there. The creature triggered a series of explosions that were designed to bring the facility down, to bury it and conceal everything that had transpired here in the case of imminent exposure to the outside world.

Only a handful of people escaped that fiery doom, and none made it out unscathed.

But the facility was not fully destroyed--or rather, the creature did not allow it to be so. Instead, it began gathering up sundered bodies of its victims and stacking their corpses upon one another, seemingly organizing them into piles.

It took Hector a while to understand what it was doing. Dragging them each onto the same table that it had been dragged to so many times before. Cutting them open, digging through their flesh like it was looking for something. It wasn't until it started stitching them back together that Hector realized.

It was conducting experiments of its own.

Whether it was because it was genuinely curious or because it merely wanted to revisit the same torture it suffered upon its captors, Hector could not tell. The vision did not seem to understand the creature's mindset terribly well.

With some of the lab workers and even some of the lab specimens, the vision had been able to impart emotional states, at least to a degree. They were often foggy, but occasionally, such as during arguments or periods of great stress, the emotions flared up and became quite clear.

But not with the monster. It was always subdued. Its emotions, if it even had any, were hidden.

And once or twice, Hector thought he caught a moment where it was... looking at him. Through the vision. But how could...?

Hector focused. The vision wasn't done.

The creature's experiments continued for some time. Never succeeding, of course. Perhaps it didn't comprehend that its victims were already dead or that their bodies were not like its own.

But eventually, the monster stopped experimenting.

Instead, it fell still and silent. For long period of time, months or perhaps even years, it did not move. It merely sat there among the wreckage of the facility, alone.

Hector could only guess what it was doing. Contemplating its next move? Or...?

Meditating?

That thought sent a shiver down his spine for some reason. Just how intelligent was this thing? He had to wonder. In some ways, it seemed naive or even childish, but in others...

Hector almost didn't want to know.

When it finally began to stir again, it was not the same. The beast was shapeshifting again--only this time, it was transforming into people. It struggled because of its bulk, its overabundance of limbs, but it was working on that problem. It would compress its body down to shocking levels, smaller and smaller with each new attempt. Other times, it would actually transform into two people and try to conceal the linked flesh between them with camouflage.

It could camouflage itself? That was another new thing.

But where was its ability to control the weather? Hector still hadn't seen any sign of that yet. And he was growing a bit impatient, too. All these details about the monster were certainly important enough that he didn't think he should ask Pauline to skip to the end of the vision--assuming she even could--but he sure wanted to give it a shot, anyway. It was impulsive of him, he knew, but he wanted to ignore everything that didn't have to do with where Roman and the others might be.

Were they even going to be at the end of this vision? He was afraid of the answer.

Or. Wait a minute. His perception of time was all wrong again, wasn't it? This vision wasn't really taking long. It just felt like it was. It was all there, already in his head.

Agh.

Well, if the entire vision was already in his mind, then perhaps he didn't need Pauline to control it for him. Perhaps he could skip to the end himself. He hadn't yet seen how the monster had acquired weather powers--and possibly teleportation powers--but he figured it wasn't a priority to know that information, right now. It would be good to know more about how they worked, sure, but Roman and the others had been missing for hours already. There was no telling what their situation was like, right now.

And hell, maybe he could go back and rewatch these parts of the vision later.

He concentrated on what he wanted. To see further along the timeline. To see his friends.

The vision responded. Time distorted and warped before his eyes, before his mind.

He saw them.

They appeared in a cloud of smoke, all seemingly confused and even having trouble keeping their own balance.

But they were not in the underground facility like Hector might have expected. They were somewhere in the forest. Somewhere very strange-looking. Giant mushrooms that glowed in the dark were almost as numerous as the trees, and a slight mist filled the area. A thin layer of water splashed with each stumbling footstep, and more strange creatures began to appear.

What in the hell was he even looking at? How many more were there now? How much time had he skipped?

He saw the Beast, though. It was different again, but the vision made it somehow clear that it was the same creature. And these weird critters all around it, were they its children?

It had created a little empire of its own.

And Roman and the others had been sucked right into the middle of it. Hector could see the reapers with them, too.

None of this made sense. Where the hell were those glowing mushrooms? It wasn't that long ago that he and Pauline were flying through the air, overlooking the vast reaches of the forest. An area that glowed in the dark so much should've been like a beacon to them, but he didn't recall seeing anything like that.

Not to mention, wasn't this vision supposed to be a "memory" of the building? This part obviously wasn't taking place anywhere near this building.

...Or was it?

If all those glowing mushrooms hadn't been visible from the air, then... could it be that they were underground? Mushrooms could definitely grow in such a place. But there were trees there, too--and a lot of them. They couldn't grow underground, right?

The vision made it difficult to tell, since it was nighttime. He couldn't see the moon. Or any beams of moonlight among the trees. But that could've just been because the light from the mushrooms was washing them out.

Agh.

"Pauline," he said. It was his first word aloud in what felt like ages, and it was somehow strange to hear the sound of his own voice again. "Where are those giant mushrooms?"

The vision was still going on, but it was faltering, either because the events were now to too recent or because he'd fractured it by speaking up. Hector could see everyone, though, and that was all that mattered. They were just standing there, surrounded by so many of those unknown creatures.

Were they talking? Hector thought they might be, but it was too hard to tell.

Why wasn't Pauline answering him yet? Argh, this fucked-up-time shit was so annoying.

'I think they might be underground,' she finally said.

Really? But what about the trees? Ah, whatever, that wasn't important, right now. "Can you guide me to it?" he asked.

The vision was barely holding together now. The Beast of Lorent and its army of children were inching closer to everyone.

'I don't know,' came Pauline's reply. 'The aura makes everything more difficult.'

Well, if they were underground, then maybe he wouldn't need her to guide him. He could just start digging.

This vision wasn't yet done, though.

The crowd of monsters were rushing everyone like a flood. But at the last moment, everything seemed to slow, and Hector could see the Beast of Lorent looking back at him again.

Its form was shifting constantly between that of a rather average-looking human man and that of an almost indescribable abomination of meat and bone.

"I know you are watching, aura warrior," it said in an deep, unfamiliar voice. The sound wasn't twisted and horrible like the last time he'd hear it through the vision. It sounded much more human. Normal. Almost pleasant, even.

Which was somehow even more horrible, Hector felt.

"Find me quickly," it said, "or I shall break your toys before you get here."

Hector's jaw clenched. Toys? Did this fucking thing really just say that? And how could it possibly know--?

The vision returned to its previous speed. The fighting that broke out was immediately furious--so much so, in fact, that Hector couldn't even make sense of what he was seeing.

He put his questions out of his mind. This wasn't the time to agonize over details. He knew more than enough already.

Hector summoned all his concentration.

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