Ch. 35 – Sirinê (II) (Patreon)

Tinuriel laughed, “Really? They think that’ll keep us in here?”

But why lock us in here? Felix thought. He activated Ghostwalk...

...and kept going forward, coming upon another door.

This one was locked – and trapped. He disabled both and used a small mirror on a stick to peer inside after cracking the door open. The space was dark, and his sight shifted to Lucifer’s red dark vision once more to compensate. There were cages with people inside. “Those bastards,” he muttered as he flung open the door and put away the tools. “This is suspension?” Hellfire Wick.

A small flame appeared next to him, illuminating the large room.

The people in the cages were seemingly suspended in space, frozen in time. They were in various states of shock or in a pose that showed some type of attempt to push away someone or something. A few were in a defensive, hands-raised posture. Tinuriel clicked her tongue, “Tsk. See? Can’t trust magi.”

Well, first time using this. Felix went to one of the cages and held up his hand, focusing on the young woman who was suspended in time and space. “Rebel Against All Odds.”

The woman’s body dropped, and she breathed in sharply as she was cleansed of the negative effects. “Who are you?”

“Felix. Versewalker. What happened to all of you?”

The woman spoke calmly, filled with the resolve of Beacon of Free Will’s effect. “We had a club, and we were looking at other sources of Anima. One of our members figured out that you could tap into the Tiers themselves and draw up the Anima. It was the perfect blend of both Heavenly Realms and Primal Chaos: power and control. One of our members went to the other College, and we were planning on publishing our findings in a joint paper. But as soon as we put forward the proposal, we were all suspended.”

Tinuriel wheeled around and pulled her sword out as a loud bang of a door being slammed open came from the hall they had just exited – the far door. She ran over and closed the inner door, bracing herself against it. “We have company!” she shouted.

Felix looked at the woman and grabbed the bars of the cage, “Stand back. Hellfire Beam.”

The red and black flames shot between his hands, melting the bars as he made a hole for her to exit. “Stay down, stay back.” He deactivated Hellfire Wick and pulled his bow out as the room plunged into darkness. As he pulled the string back, he whispered, “Hellblade.”

The arrow of light sparked with crimson and black fury.

They imprisoned people for trying something new. Don’t let them off easy.

I won’t. Felix got to a place opposite the door where he had a clear line of sight. “How many?”

Tinuriel held the door tight as a loud crash echoed out against it. “No clue. Too much noise. Ready?” she asked, glancing back at Felix.

“Ready.”

Tinuriel jumped away from the door as it blew inward. Two of the mage-guards ran inside with magical barriers shaped like shields surrounding their arms, and in their other hand, truncheons that were surrounded by blue-white light. Felix released a flurry of shots. The two magi caught them on their shields, but their faces went from smug to shocked as the Hellfire ate away at their magic constructs, burning away their Anima.

Tinuriel wheeled on one of them, slamming the flat of her blade into their chest and flinging them across the room with a crunch. The other mage guard brought his truncheon down onto her and the sparking light exploded on her armor. She was launched down and slid back across the ground from the impact of the blow.

Felix shot the guard, scoring hits on his arms, torso, and legs. The man keeled over a moment later. More guards were approaching down the hallway. Felix swapped his knives and ran forward, ducking several glittering beams of white-blue light that shot toward him. He got to the door, slammed it shut once more, and looked over at Tinuriel. She got up and was breathing heavily. “I don’t think we can fight a whole mage college.”

The woman he had saved ran up and muttered a Magic effect as a small, green circle appeared on the ground. “Get my friends out of the cages, and we can go through this!”

Felix held the door tight as more Magical effects slammed into it. “Do it!”

Tinuriel shook off the daze and stood up, going over to each cage, and shattering them with a single blow each, the metal warping and screeching. Within a few moments, all the cages were broken, and she began tossing the still-suspended bodies of the students into the portal. The young woman looked up at Felix, “On the count of three?”

Felix nodded, “One…Two…Three!” He ran from the door and dove into the portal. Tinuriel dropped in right behind him, and the woman he’d rescued dropped in a moment later, the portal closing behind them.

[Experience Awarded = 10]

They were in a dark space. “Hellfire Wick.” The room was full of crates and the frozen bodies of her allies.

The woman sagged slightly and leaned against one of the crates. “Thanks. They should be okay,” she said gesturing to the twenty-something other students. “The cage’s effects should wear off in an hour.” She giggled in relief, letting out pent-up fear. “That was scary!”

Tinuriel shuffled over to Felix, “Want to open up the VBV?”

On it! Lucifer began the four-hour timer and dedicated some of his willpower to the task.

Felix nodded, “It’s going.” He looked to the woman, “We didn’t get a chance to exchange names.”

“Gina Egonta.”

“Good to meet you. This is Tinuriel. Where are we?”

Gina smirked, “In the College of Chaos’s storage rooms. I was a transfer student.”

“Then we won’t be followed?” Tinuriel asked.

“That’s right. College of Heaven staff can’t come to this place without escalating issues.”

“I think we did that,” Felix muttered. “You had others in your club from this college, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, go get them. In four hours, you’ll have a new place to study.”

She looked at him quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“You wanted a place to study this new source of magic, right?” She nodded. “Well, I can get you into my VBV – my realm – and you could stay there or go to Dirge.”

Her eyes widened, “The Dark Lord’s desolation?”

“He’s not that bad of a guy. Just go get your friends from this College.”

Gina nodded and left through the door. Tinuriel stood by the door with her sword at the ready, looking over at Felix, “We get them out of here, and then what? Clear the Dungeon?”

“Yeah. Exactly that. Hopefully, us clearing it and resetting it will cause the rivalry to stop for the time being.”

“We may have to do more,” she replied. “That other College will know that we let these out and took them away.”

“Honestly? Not our problem,” Felix stated. “We did what that possible deity wanted.”

She smirked, “True.”

After an hour the various people who were in stasis came to, and Felix explained the plan to them as they roused. Gina returned another hour later with a group of twenty other students in tow, and they began chatting excitedly, filling the room with a flurry of hopeful conversation. Tinuriel stood at the door, keeping guard. The remaining few hours passed quickly, and Felix led them into the VBV.

There were ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’. He turned to the group, “You need to be on Heficyre to tap into the Tiers, right?”

“That’s correct,” Gina confirmed.

“Then out this way,” Felix replied, leading them into Roy’s throne room.

The Dark Lord looked at the balking mages with curiosity, “What have we here, Felix?”

“Mages.”

Felix launched into an explanation of what had happened in Tier 2 before introducing Gina as the de facto leader of these students. Roy invited them to take up residence in one of the several towers of his citadel.

The students glanced apprehensively at each other. Felix used Beacon of Free Will to soothe their emotions, and they relaxed visibly, their faces filled with determination and resolve. They went off to the tower, thanking Felix and Roy as they went.

Roy looked over at Felix, “Thank you for bringing them. I’ll make sure they are well cared for.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “I have a request.”

“Go ahead,” Felix replied.

“I think it would be appropriate to have a joint-defense force within your VBV and here on Dirge. Since we already have this portal here, having an official response team of some type would be beneficial.” He smirked, “I’d like to be in charge of your military as well.”

“I don’t mind,” Lucifer chimed in, still inside of Felix. “It’s getting more difficult to manage the VBV with the influx of people. I could use more help.”

Felix thought for a moment. It would make sense to have a peacekeeping force if he was going to be building up his realm – hell, the VBV was seemingly taking off on its own now that Dirge had this permanent portal. I’ll need a council to advise me. Felix knew he was not all-knowing. Smart, sure. Well-read? Absolutely. But managing a whole realm? No way. “I’d be honored to have the Dark Lord as my military advisor.”

Roy nodded, “I’ll coordinate with Lucifer.”

“And we’ll bring decisions to your attention as necessary.”

“Thank you both.”

Felix returned to the VBV with Tinuriel. From his vantage point, where all the portals were arrayed and marked, he saw the vast farmlands and ranches that extended from the medieval-styled city. It was teeming with life. “How many people are here?” Felix asked.

“Twenty thousand. Roy has been sending a lot of more monstrous folk in here. You should consider setting up other Rooms and Functions.”

“I want a Trading Post that can interface with multiple Universes through the portals. Also, a Renaissance-styled city like Mercantus. And to future-proof, let’s also do something to entertain the masses.”

The grey void of the VBV appeared and mountains shifted in the distance as new roads appeared. A building with the sign TRADING POST appeared a short distance from the portals, with several of the automated-style machines that were in the Shop – but meant for bulk sales and purchases and marked as such with accompanying signs that gave instructions.

Far off in the distance, where one of the mountains sank, an enormous lake appeared, and a city rose in the center of it – just like Venice back on Earth, full of bridges and canals. Adjacent to the lake, an enormous, square structure thrust up into the sky.

“You have a lot of Functions waiting to be used also. Six of them.”

“What do you think Tinuriel? What should I do with them?”

“It would be wise to ensure that violence between your subjects cannot occur,” she said as she glanced at the portals. “Also, ensuring that those in here can defend themselves against those Multiversal Horror things.”

“Good idea,” Felix said. “What about you, Lucifer? Any suggestions?”

“Not currently. I’d advise keeping a few in reserve. You have six to spend.”

“Let’s enact both of Tinuriel’s ideas.”

“Done. You have four more Functions and one more Room.”

“Let’s save those. I need to shop and restock.”

[Items purchased]

·         <Rank 5> Health Elixir (x5)

o   2500 VC

[Monies Paid]

·         2500 VC

[Current Balance]

·         16,050 VC

Melanie came up to them, “Hey, Felix?”

He turned to her, “Hey! How’s things going with Roy?”

She smiled, “Good. I’m looking forward to our plans. But I had a question.”

“Sure, go for it.”

“I…I want to be one of your advisors.”

Tinuriel let out a small, barking laugh before she silenced herself with a sheepish look, “Sorry.”

Melanie glared at Tinuriel before looking back at Felix. “I already talked with Lucifer about this. I know how to work my way around factions and perform politicking. It’s what I was raised for. I want to be your political advisor.” She smiled, “Plus, I’ll be the effective ruler of Heficyre when you get me back on the throne.”

Felix nodded, “If Lucifer says it’s fine, then I’m good with it.”

Melanie curtsied, “You won’t be disappointed.” She stood back up. “What did you find out so far? It’s been a few days since we spoke.”

“We confirmed that your uncle is the one who ordered the assassination. We have a bunch of evidence and figured out how it happened. I’ll spare you those details. We have some stuff to finish up on Tier 2, and then we’re going to abduct your uncle.”

Melanie held up her hand for him to pause, “You won’t be able to get close to him.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Tinuriel asked.

“When you get to Ethdellin, get into the Eternal City. Then, open the VBV and bring me through. I can remain in disguise, and you can use your title to get into some meetings with lower nobility. I can then talk to them, establish my legitimacy and identity, and show them the evidence you’ve gathered.” She smiled, “We can build up support, and then confront my uncle with backing and evidence.”

Tinuriel frowned, “More waiting around while you talk to people?”

Felix put a hand on her shoulder, “It won’t be us talking at least. And I’m sure that it won’t be boring.”

Tinuriel looked down at him and nodded curtly, “Fine.”

Melanie curtsied slightly, “My thanks. If you’ll excuse me…” she went past them and into the portal to Dirge.

“Ready?” Felix asked his companion. Tinuriel nodded and they went back into the basement of the College of Chaos, the portal snapping shut behind them.

Next Chapter >