Abandoned Crossroads
Even by morning, Riyxia’s spectre had likewise felt so worn that she had spent the entire night just relaxing on the floor, so unfocused on anything as if she was herself also sleeping. As exhausted as this, none of the girls were willing to get up until dawn had fully completed its arrival.
Riyxia had actually wished her spectre could fall asleep, she didn’t want to spend the night thinking of things, she herself wanted rest in much the same way as her body was. Still, after learning about how dreams worked, she suspected that the only unique consequence for her was how long the night had felt, the other girls really being left with haunting thoughts over a night that at least felt much more compressed. Her case though still seemed unique, as while the other girls would be haunted by thoughts of the day previous, Riyxia’s thoughts were more directed to the day to follow. She had asked for time to discover a few things about her current self, and had accomplished a lot of personal learning, but she couldn’t run from the influences of her other essence forever. She was pretty established in her current identity too, the fact that the other girls were also in reality foreign to their own bodies only proving to help resolve many concerns in that area as well. However, she could still remember how overwhelming it was to be seen as someone she wasn’t, and walking into such a historical site would return her to such expectations.. as Khyzae’s successor.
The three eventually got ready for the day, abandoning any pretense of making use of the alternate outfits they had, symbolic of their destructive impulses, the visual appearance of their aspect of destruction as a dusk shade. They style seemed to fit that description so well by this point, but it didn’t suit any of them individually that well otherwise. There was plenty of reason to go feeling comfortable as themselves, Riyxia especially, but there was also reason to not associate their trip with feelings of destruction. Even facing a pack of thieves, slipping into such an augmented form would be overdoing it. With everything ready to start a new day, the girls left across the Irongate Bridge, to wait at the nearby bus stop. Vwyx already had the trip planned, having made use of her cell again to map out a clear route. They were only going to the academy again though, to meet up with Eqriuxzl at the train station. He had actually gone home overnight, and would be doing stuff at the academy mostly today, but would spare enough time to show them to their destination. It didn’t take Vwyx much time to bring them back to the academy either, where they caught the 130 bus to complete the trip. While it was the same bus they had tried the time previous to get to the academy from a nearby park, this bus continued from the academy in another direction, being simply the continuation of the same route. They then followed Eqriuxzl when he disembarked from the bus at a chosen stop, continuing a short distance before stopping at a large fenced property, looking rather neglected over the past year. Eqriuxzl then rushed back to the bus stop, eager to return to his studies yet still leaving behind some well wishes.
Riyxia walked towards the main gate, looking up at the sign.. almost identical to the one from the village’s mansion, clearly the original inspiration. While she had never been here before, she knew this used to be a place her predecessor had once called home. She had no memory of the place herself, but it was so incredibly obvious. She started casually approaching the gate, only to stop suddenly. Something here wasn’t right. Sryine was actually the first to spot it at that point, the remains of the skeleton that was left behind by a previous visitor attempting intrusion. Following her concern, she quickly identified the same sight, then also recalled Eqriuxzl’s warning. This place was highly secured, leaving him compelled to turn away, and that was incredibly obvious to her as well. Even with his passion, even after detecting a rift left behind by a gate, he would have no resources to deal with this level of security, this much danger. Vwyx meanwhile looked at the detering sign beside the gate, something both of the elves had missed. Do not trespass, indeed. Riyxia however found this really perplexing, could the gift have really managed such intricate traps? That didn’t even make sense, to have such traps run automatically, it wouldn’t have even been possible. Most of the traps must be then mundane in nature, but something beyond that didn’t seem to fit completely.
Vwyx pulled out a small card of sheet metal, then converted it into a long stone pole. She actually had a giant stack of the stuff, replacement for the raw metals she had used before, a metal that was actually really compact but with poor durability. It was only poor until she changed the composition of the material, at least, but it gave her a really light and compact supply of resources for her to manipulate in any way she wanted. Ayzherie had actually obtained it for her, believing it would suit her really well. The pole was then used to prod open the front gate, to see what would happen. The gate meanwhile did not budge, being completely sealed. Vwyx went a bit closer, inspecting the design. This wasn’t just a gate, it was an instrument, allowing the person to pass simply by using their gift to activate the front gate. That was easy enough, Vwyx approached the gate to have it open for them. Riyxia watched over the span of a moment, still observing the traps, still wondering why this didn’t make sense. Almost out of reflex, she reduced Vwyx’s kinetic resistance and threw her out of the way of the gate, interrupting her after a spanse instant of applying her gift, before increasing Vwyx’s impact resistance once airborne. Once charged by even that amount, a burst of flame erupted from other instruments setup on the other side of the fence, blazing forwards in reply, the metal gate also surging with a current of lightning. Riyxia herself had only barely managed to fall out of the way herself, having thrown Vwyx away from behind like a suplex. Sryine, herself not being as unpredictable, screamed in fear at the surprise and fell backwards.
“This is really clever, having passages that require the use of the gift to proceed, then using the provided gift to empower a series of traps. There should be a lot of mundane traps too, protection against people who figure out the gift factor. Thinking about it though, it is otherwise just a gate. Vwyx, why not make it something easier to pass through for a while, something that doesn’t block movement and won’t need the gift to get passed. Watch for any other traps in the process, anything could be rigged, but you could always just change it to something else. Sryine, considering our easiest way forward is to simply wreck the traps, can you start poking stuff with some elementals, just in an attempt to wreck stuff. If we break all the traps from here to the door, we won’t have to worry about anything like the fountains of flame anymore.” Riyxia did not miss how their approach was successfully following instructions in that it did not use their augmented form, but still managed to be an act of brutal destruction regardless. If required, she would just need to help Vwyx in repairing all the traps as they left, maybe even provide some upgrades. Sryine would be useful in that process as well, if the fountains of fire didn’t convince her otherwise.
The gate was itself adjusted to becoming a quite brittle wood, as were the flame traps. Encouraging Sryine to not pay attention, she triggered the gate again, having its own flame incinerate both the traps and the gate. A passage was crafted atop the ground made out of smooth crystal, something incredibly durable and yet also transparent. Sryine iced all of the ashes before scouring the place in a low wind, designed to throw away any loose traps in the area. The combination brought them to the front door, after sufficient crystal platforms were set along the way. The door was also similarly locked, waiting for the gift, and already wooden. Worried that the solution here might be more flame, Sryine took initiative in freezing the door solid, forcing the ice to cause it to expand and break through the frame, the door then clattering to the floor inside and shattering into many tiny pieces, slamming a spiked metal gate down on them above. Discovering that this provided a lot of tiny sharp pieces to stab their feet on entry, she also used a wind to gather the shards into a tiny pile in a nearby corner, while Vwyx started at work on converting the metal to a soft clay. A short while later, the entrance was finally clear of it’s own traps.
Stepping inside, Riyxia knew instantly that things were wrong, and not the same kind of wrong. The walls were ripped and torn, violent destruction was already repeated before them everywhere, and it all looked rather fresh. Pieces of things didn’t look like it had been forced out of position, or anything like that. Instead, portions of the hall looked like they had suddenly vanished into spots of empty space. It was thus all too obvious that someone had already been here, and maybe not even all that long ago, no more than half a lunar cycle.. at least based upon the freshness of the wood in its void spaces. To have made it inside, been forced to deal with all the traps here, but to have negotiated all the traps outside without leaving a sign of their presence. There was only one way that could have even been possible, teleportation. The damage also looked like sections of things were just teleported away too, weaponization of gateways leaving rift damage behind. Riyxia rushed forwards, searching for signs of anything left, but it appeared that so much was missing already.
Vwyx started looking down the hallways, taking account of the layouts. It was weird that this place was where Riyxia’s family had lived, she could find nothing that even felt like it, no library, no way to a basement workshop, nothing that reminded her of Riyxia’s parents. Sryine entered another corridor and froze with a gasp, looking at the stone steps climbing upwards. Too occupied looking at the ground for traps, they had both missed an important feature of the structure visible outside, the large towering observatory. This place had never been a home for Riyxia’s family, it was personally owned by Khyzae herself. Riyxia started up the stairs, still concerned at how the place had been completely empty, devoid of everything. She opened the doorway at the top, entering a room that looked important but still not familiar.. at least to her. Vwyx and Sryine walked in slowly, pale as a ghost as they looked around. Vwyx stopped before a major dias at one side of the room, familiar marks etched into the ground in a pattern, her mind spinning as it went over some of the details that such a plan had asked of her. It was the original dias platform of the original lunar gateway Khyzae had tried to make, before she had to start over in the village. The same setup that had instead opened up to the Astral Flame, leading to the death of at least one girl that night, maybe up to three. The room was instead devoid of all equipment and documentation, visibly appearing recently disturbed as well. Someone had been here, searching, but it was still questionable if something had been found, or if there was nothing left to find.
Riyxia looked around the room, perplexed. She had managed to come here, to find answers, and all she had was more questions. She wandered to the window, looking outside, only for Vwyx to pull her away with a surprising urgency. Vwyx and Sryine were both shaking at the setting, accounting for the missing parts with their memories. Even the giant scope in the room was missing, clearly removed as well. Vwyx and Sryine took turns explaining parts of the room for Riyxia, sharing their fears with the one who deserved to know too. Riyxia knew that it wasn’t completely her that was there, but it technically wasn’t completely Sryine or Vwyx that was there either. This was just where and how everything had begun, in a similar observatory. Riyxia looked around for herself, checking out the patterns on the dias, looking at the location of the giant scope. A giant instrument, designed to look closely at the stars, with full sight of the moon itself. Even the idea sounded wondrous and compelling. She looked up at the spot in the ceiling above where the instrument would rest, there being designed to provide a window to view such magnificent sights, it was so compelling for her.
She began trying to climb up, a challenging task in the best of circumstances, even with the room filled with objects to climb from. The other two girls started to get alarmed, watching intently as Sryine prepared to cause an updraft to slow Riyxia down while Vwyx could repair any injuries. They had fallen from far worse heights too, Riyxia’s rage could even keep her safe if the need was serious, even if she were to fall from the height that had killed her predecessor, actually. This knowledge still didn’t keep them calm, but Riyxia knew she needed to learn from this situation for herself. She climbed up to the tiny window in the ceiling used for this sort of thing, and looked out at the bright sky beyond, though a tiny lens. It really was an interesting sight, even with daylight obscuring her vision. She braced herself against a part of the roof to get a better view, interested in how this design came together. She was then startled to find that the part she had used to brace herself had shifted, as if it had expected that very movement. Riyxia pushed the panel fully aside, finding a dusty tome waiting for her on the other side. She picked it up, the only clue yet remaining, and brought it to the ground. The others came to check out what Riyxia had found, themselves also curious as to the knowledge inside.
“Dear Reader, I’ve left this here to account for anyone with ambitions to follow in my footsteps, for a curious soul who also desired the secrets of the stars. Your arrival has been entirely anticipated, as I know leaving something for the future would be integral for my own ambitions. By the time you find this, I should have already made my attempt to reach the stars, and so I worry that the only reason people would still rely on such weak measures would be due to my own failures. If so, I apologize for still leaving you as well denied of the stars, to pick up from where I left off. Odds are, you’re probably a descendant of my own, maybe even my very own child, grown to the same ambitions. Hopefully, you too have found companions to share your vision with, this isn’t anything that could be accomplished alone. I have my best friend to account for much of my progress, leaving me firmly in her debt, and it is why I have ambitions to share in her dream as well as my own. She will also know of my wishes for her success, I’ve also left something for her to discover in the event of my absence or demise, something which would either end up in her hands or those who continue her dream for her too. If you didn’t know, she dreams of discovering an alternate source of power, something more than the gift and all of its limitations, something that could allow people to do more than they usually could. I could firmly appreciate this vision myself, such resources could allow us to discover more than was possible, maybe even guide us through the stars. In reverse, she understands that such a resource might not be found anywhere on Celese, that we might have need of leaving our world in order to find such power. This mutual interest has had us share in each other’s vision, helping each other along the way.” Riyxia flipped the page as she kept reading.
“I have no idea under what terms I might have left a descendant, but I still hope you find success no matter what terms you’ve found yourself with, you and Liyuzhe both. If you yourself wish to reach the stars, realize that my path had led me to failure, that is why you are here now, reading this book, instead of leaving it to decay to an unreadable state. Before reaching for the stars, you must know why my own attempts failed, and ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. Don’t depend on my own research, do your own, find your own way to reach our dream. Be aware, your own actions will help my friend’s dreams every step of the way, I’ve promised her no less. Because of this, I expect nothing you’re looking for will be found here. If you want to begin your own research, you must cross to the other side of the mountains, to find the secret hidden within the wilds, the secret hidden by our world, the key to achieving so much more. Liyuzhe has seen it herself, it being vital for her own plans, so you may find your arrival there to still be a little late.” Riyxia paused at that statement, itself seeming to predict they were even still walking in the footsteps of others, not quite able to keep up. It lent reason that she might herself need to eventually track down this Liyuzhe, the girl from that call so long ago, and see what she could learn herself from such a meeting.
“See for yourself the inspiration that gave me my own answer, and from it find your own. The moment you find this book, I fully expect circumstances to have prepared themselves to conveniently provide you passage beyond the mountains, you simply need to be ready to ask for it once the right people approach you. Look around for yourself at the inspiration that started my own project, and be sure to find the lens of the crescent moon once you arrive, I’ll share more details with you at that time. The lens of the crescent moon will be your guide. I wish you luck in your own dreams with all of my heart, Khyzae.” Riyxia flipped to a new page, finding the note had ended, the pages after simply being garbled nonsense of astrological observations. Even the base notes were interesting, but were even harder to understand than the letter, forcing Riyxia to leave such for another time. Riyxia was in shock by the letter hidden in the tome, clearly designed waiting for her predicted arrival. It was also putting her to tears, the simple concept that Khyzae had written the letter treating her like a daughter of sorts. While not completely accurate, such a perspective wasn’t completely wrong either, she just represented a very different sort of daughter than Khyzae might have predicted.
Khyzae seemed to have been so excessively prepared in other ways, predicting that they would come and everything, leaving a trail for them to follow. Even after her death, Khyzae still seemed to continue influencing the world she left behind.
Luminaeris 