Genesis Locorum

The night was calm, Trainqulaitas hung over the city Noir. A young boy played some games with his sister throughout the day. Their dyed raven locks marked them in the night.

A third child soon joined them, a young girl with light brown hair, almost blond, tied in two short tails. She approached the brother with curiosity. She had always wanted friends especially since she had just moved into the apartment on Palimpsest last month. She had spent several months playing with the two, to the point where she saw the brother as a dear friend. The brother in turn came to develop a platonic relationship with the girl.

The sister looked at the neighbor jealously. She had never wanted to share her brother with anyone else.

Storm clouds began gathering a year later as the brunette child was lured toward a strange device. The machine was cubic. A rectangle the size of a refrigerator, with a transparent “door”. She was told there was something special inside. The naive child went into the chamber to retrieve whatever was teased inside. The door soon closed on her. The pigtailed girl tried to push it open, but her strength was not enough to force it open.

Hours passed and she heard murmurs from outside. She banged on the door, and she cried for her, but her voice could not reach them.

“…faking it.” She heard a familiar voice say, but she could not recognize who it was.

Her breath grew heavier. She could not know why, but she knew that something was wrong. She grew more dazed and lightheaded as precious oxygen left her lungs, never to return.

The room outside was dark, but she could make out the expressions of the two figures outside. One had a nonchalant expression, a look of indifference. The other instead held a look of horror plastered throughout. Yet he seemed unwilling to open the chamber. The child desperately tried to call for help, unaware that the mere action would deplete her already limited supply of oxygen. Her legs gave out and she landed by her bottom, unable to lift them up, nor was she able to lift her arms. Soon her lost consciousness, as she breathed her last.

That was the beginning of what occurred fifteen years ago.

✦✦✦

In the present, Norman woke up. A cold sweat dripped from his temple. He saw the apparition.

“Good morning!” Sadie said with a cheerful smile.

The ghost’s greeting was not what Andrew wanted to hear. To him, it was the continuation of his nightmare. An extension of a memory of days long past. “Morning,” he said groggily as he got out of his bed.

He approached his closet and took out several items. Including a jacket and some sunglasses.

“Are you going to…” Sadie asked.

“You know Master Hathor wants the deliveries soon.” Norman put on the jacket. He then took something out of the gauze and left the apartment. Sadie followed him.

The ghost tried to plead with him not to do this, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as they walked down the hallway. Barricaded doors and men clad in grey jackets and gauze bandages lined the halls.

“Ey, boss,” one of them said. “One of the tenants is almost done. Your sister is already at her apartment.”

“Noted,” Norman said. “How close are they?”

“We have already received four livers, four hearts, twenty gallons of blood, and a liver from her before the ‘Symphallian Regeneration,’ Spell failed. We’re certain she’s as good as dead now.”

Sadie is repulsed to hear that from the Tombraider.

“I see, thank you.” Norman walked past the man and entered a barricaded apartment. Inside were Patricia and the dwarven mage they had abducted recently. Eleanor’s face is frozen in fear and shock. Besides the dying dwarf lay several canopic jars.

“Glad to see someone didn’t oversleep this time,” Patricia said in a playful tone. Her feline smile turned into a frown upon seeing Sadie here. “You should go, twerpette. This isn’t a place for girls your age.”

Sadie looked at the corpse with a repulsed expression. Norman simply walked toward the operating table. “Is the ‘sarcophagus’ ready?” he asked in his usual tired tone.

“Of course, dearest brother,” Patricia said. She directed his attention to a device similar to a certain manameter. Besides it was a box of gloves.

“Please don’t do this!” Sadie said.

“What about the other two?” Norman said, ignoring Sadie.

“The meathead elf still has a few more in him. The singing cat? Don’t think he can provide much more than a gallbladder at this rate. Hapi put in some work with that spell today.”

Norman sighed and put on a pair of gloves. He saw Eleanor’s eyes move in horror. She tried to speak but remembered that she had a toungebind spell placed on her, sealing her mouth shut.

Norman opened the sarcophagus and tried to load the dwarven body into the device. As he placed his arms on the table, he hesitated.

“Aw, Normie, having second thoughts?” Patricia said. As she approached her brother. “You know there is no place for us out there, right? Not after what we did to her.”

Sadie gave a disapproving look at Patricia. Norman could only avert his eyes from both girls as she pushed the body into the sarcophagus.

The chamber closed and sealed Eleanor in. She tried to scream, but the toungebind spell prevented it.

“Don’t worry,” Norman said. “It will be all over soon.”

“Look on the bright side,” Patricia said while rubbering her hands gleefully. “We’re going to have mashed potatoes tonight!”

Eleanor grew lightheaded…before long, she collapsed into unconsciousness. Her eyes were still wide open.

✦✦✦

At the restaurant. Emily and her group sat at a table. Though the Maahes attack still damaged the building, they were able to clean up the wreckage enough to ensure the renovators could work safely. They sat at a table on a terrace outside the restaurant.

“You didn’t have to do this,” the manager said to Emily. “Thank you.”

“It was no problem,” Emily said. “Someone had to help you clean up after what happened.”

By that time, Esteban and Julia had arrived.

“What happened,” Esteban said.

“Well, we had a bit of a beastly encounter in the restroom,” Azalea said.

“That reminds me,” Elizabeth said. She took out some of the notes she and Hydrangea took while she was at the library.

“What are those?” Raimundo said.

“While we were researching the [Maahes],” Elizabeth said. “We came across several newspapers about the days the three children had vanished.”

“What did you learn?” Esteban said.

“The [Maahes]’s shapeshifting powers change the form over a short period. During this time, its body is enfeebled as the cells are forced to change to match the new form. If it takes an attack in that in-between state, it can be wounded.”

“That explains why Tim was able to rip off some of its flesh,” Anemone said.

Raimundo read through the notes. His eyes widened. “This can’t be right!” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Strelitzia said.

The notes referenced the Bugleblitz issue about certain real estate moguls’ deaths—the Bales. Raimundo knew them as the owners of the Bale apartment network. He explained what he knew about the couple that hired them, and reminded them that they used a proxy when they hired him to investigate the three disappearances.

“Something doesn't add up,” Esteban said.

“Do you have the articles with you?” Raimundo said.

“We didn’t bring them,” Hydrangea said. “Sorry.”

“So what does this mean exactly?” Raine said.

“Yeah I’m kinda lost,” Rose said.

“The Bales were the eponymous owners of a condominium apartment chain right?” Emily said.

“Yeah,” Tim said.

“One of the more expansive ones to boot,” Heathcliff said. “These were Empyrean magnates we’re talking about. Whoever could send them to the Pathfinder would need to get past some very tight security to get to them.”

Julia mused on that. “Come to think of it, that ‘made man’ we found at Club 4706 did mention rumors that the missing siblings were originally heirs to the apartment business.”

“Hmm,” Heathcliff noticed something. “Apartments you say.” He presented his own list. The paper detailed several sightings of Tombraiders in streets like Blackmint Way, Firestorm Way, and Palimpsest Boulevard.

“These locations,” Elizabeth said. “They are all near the condos?”

“Seems like it,” Raine said.

Raimundo surveyed the list. “Palimpest Bolvevard hmm. I was told that it was where the three children went missing.”

“That was collaborated by our own research,” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah,” Lily said. “The Bugleblitz mentioned that they went missing too.”

Anemone was busy trying to track the Maahes with the patch of severed flesh. But she listened in the conversation and chimed in. “They also detailed a special manameter.”

Raimundo looked over Elizabeth and Hydrangea’s notes. “I noticed, It was supposed to be used for experiments involving vacuums, right?”

The cyan-bobbed girl nodded. “The newspaper mentioned that a corpse was discovered, but it and the mana meter eventually vanished. From what the article said. It seemed like they couldn't even identify who was inside it when it vanished.”

“Maybe that happened to the first kid?” Streltizia said.

“It’s certainly possible,” Raimundo said.

“I found it!” Anemone shouted. The lilac-haired lycanthrope saw the blue patch of fur glow with her magic.

“Found what?” Rose asked.

“She was looking for the Maahes you dummy!” Raine said.

“Oh,” Rose said.

“Where is it?” Clover asked.

“It seemed to be at Blackmint Way?” Anemone said. “Sorry this spell is difficult to maintain and the monster was wandering throughout the Madison area.”

“Guess we got a lead then?” Heathcliff said., “Allons.”

“Hold it,” Esteban said. “This might be misdirection.”

“If The Tombraiders knew we were searching for them,” Elizabeth said. “They would attempt to lure us away from their operations.”

“Besides,” Raimundo said. “There is another area of interest here.” He placed the notes and list back on the table with the Palimpsest address circled.

“Maybe we can split up again?” Emily asked.

“That would be wise,” Tim said. “We can cover both grounds that way. And if there is a trap, then that means we wouldn’t be completely incapacitated.”

“Okay then,” Rose said. “But who—”

“I’m heading to Palimpsest,” Clover said.

“Ditto,” Streltizia said.

“I want to go to Palimpsest,” Azalea said. “While I’m certain we’ll get some fresh insight at Blackmint. I want to give would be trappers there the slip.”

“At the very least, we could find something of use at Blackmint,” Hydrangea said.

“I’ll be right back,” Emily said. “Need to ‘change’.”

While Emily looks for a proper place to transform. Heathcliff turns his list to blank side and writes the words “Palimpsest,” and “Blackmint” there. “Alright chers,” he said. “Write your name under the place you want to investigate.”

Clover, Streltizia and Azalea wrote their under “Palimpsest” while Hydrangea wrote hers under “Blackmint,”

“Blackmint for me,” Anemone said as she wrote her name. “The tracking spell works better the closer we are.”

“I’ll go to Palimpsest,” Raine said. “Someone has to keep an eye on you two.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Strelitzia said while the phoenixian girl wrote her name.

“I wanna go to Blackmint!” Lily said as she wrote her name. “I heard there was a souvenir shop nearby and I want to get some for Elesa!”

“Guess, I’ll head to Blackmint too,” Rose said.

“So that is three for Palimpsest and five for Blackmint then,” Heathcliff said.

“I’ll wait until Emily’s back to decide,” Tim said.

“I’m back!” Emily said as she returned. Her body has changed to resembled Raimundo’s more.

“Hmm,” Raimundo said. “I think I should investigate Blackmint,” the porcine man said.

“Why?” Elizabeth said.

“You think they booby trapped Palipsest as well?” Heathcliff said.

“If that woman is connected to the tombraiders, then it is possible that she could be there,” Raimundo said. The private investigator said as he looked to Clover. “However I do not think this is mine to verify. Besides given the recent revelation I can’t say for sure I was hired in good faith. That the investigation isn’t itself a trap.”

“Guess that means I’m here to Palimpsest,” the disguised Emily said.

“Me too,” Tim said.

“Rather lopsided,” Heathcliff said. His list now has Emily, Tim, Clover, Raine, Streltizia and Azalea for Palimpsest while Lily, Anemone, Hydrangea, Rose and Raimundo decided to go with Blackmint.

“Might be for the best,” Esteban said. “We could split into small groups after reaching Blackmint,” Esteban said.

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Julia said. “Just in case.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Raine said. Azalea giggled.

“Heathcliff and I will head to Blackmint then,” Esteban said.

“I’ll go too,” Elizabeth said.

With the names written, Julia decided to join Emily’s group while Heathcliff, Elizabeth and Esteban joined Raimundo’s. At the time that had happened hwoever, they noticed the sun was ready to set.

“Guess we should find a place to rest first,” Heathclfif said. “I don’t think these sleepshells would be convenient in closed spaces.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” the fairy exclaimed.

“Lizzie,” Emily said gently.

The pink-haired fairy sighed. “Fine. Those spells shouldn't activate unless we are miles off from bads anyway.”

The group decided to find a nearby hotel and stay the night there.

✦✦✦

Within the Palimpsest condominium. Norman and Patricia begin eating dinner. Before the two siblings are a pair of platters. Each has a serving of mashed potatoes with some meat mixed in and gravy.

Patricia consumed her food unhesitatingly, while Norman is careful to not touch the meat. Sadie, who doesn't need nourishment looked on in disgust at the food.

“Why do you—” Sadie said. “Are those ‘roots’ really so important to you?”

“Well they helped us out thus far,” Patricia said. “Master Hathor said our mana capacity increased tenfold after eating them.”

“Of course,” the ghostly child said. She wondered if she could somehow get them to break rank from the Tombraiders.

A while later, both siblings had finished their meals. Their plates were scrapped clean. Norman took the dishes out to the sink and noticed something next to it. A broken picture frame. The photograph contained within had its top half torn off. The intact portion depicted Norman and Patricia in happier days. Norman sighed upon seeing the image.

Meanwhile, Patricia walked past Sadie and whispered something in her ear. The ghost recoiled in shock.

“What do you mean?” Sadie said. “My soul is still the same as it has been.”

“It sure looks the same,” Patricia said with a cheeky grin. “But do you think you are as incorruptible as you claim to be?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“I guess it doesn't matter,” Patricia said. “After all it only matters if Normie and me die, right? I can assure you that will not happen.”

“Do you believe that minotaur’s lies?” Sadie said naively.

“Why not?” Patricia said. “How many Administrators started out as morals.”

“Those were pure of heart!” Sadie said.

“Oh year, Lucifer, the Fallen. Real paragon of virtue here,” Patricia sardonically commented. “Besides, whose job is it to steer us to the straight and narrow again?”

Sadie was speechless.

“Thought so,” Patricia said. She left Sadie to prepare for bed. “Sweet dreams!” she said with a venom in her voice.

Sadie looked back at the moment she had died, and the moment she found herself floating in the Sea of Souls.

✦✦✦

Within the Sea of Souls, fifteen years ago. A soul floated in the waters, still unable to move her arms and legs. Now was she unable to see around her. Yet she could still feel. She felt like she was underwater, unable to swim, unable to drown. Yet she could hear. She heard the murmurs of other souls bubbling around her. She heard the whispers of those who had recently perished, gurgling and bubbling in the waters. Above all, she heard a voice.

“So,” the voice said. “Tell me what happened, young one.”

The girl tried to speak but could not hear her voice. She was concerned it was a hallucination. She had barely recalled what had just happened.

“Þis is no illusion, child,” another voice said. “You are currently wiþin me, child. You are wiþen þe Sea of Souls.”

“The Sea of…,” the girl is shocked. She had passed into the afterlife. The subsequent realization of the true identity of the voices dawned on her shortly after.

“Tis a tragic fate,” the first voice said. “Yet þat your soul had not dissolved in þe water tells me it has not ended yet. Tell us, child, how did you meet þy end?”

The girl tried to recall the events of her death. “I was looking for something.” Her thoughts were audible to her now. I thought that there was something in that chamber.”

The Reaper saw an image of an unusual manameter. A special tool meant to analyze the reaction of mana in objects in airless circumstances, with pumps and runes designed to create a vacuum after it was closed and sealed.

“Oh dear,” the Pathfinder said. “Didn’t your moþer tell you not to go into strange places?”

“[Ereshkigal],” the Reaper said. “Look at þis.”

The Pathfinder sighted the two figures outside the manameter. “Þere be some interesting souls. [Revotos], what say you?”

“Bring [the Fates]. Let us scry þeir destinies.” The two divinities summoned three more to observe the past, present, and possible futures of the two children.

✦✦✦

Throughout the night, Raimundo had coached Emily on how to act like him to sell her act better. The next morning, the two groups prepared for their respective destinations.

“So who is going where again?” Rose asked.

Raine turned to the lamia child. With exasperation. “Rose, did you forget already?”

Elizabeth fluttered to the two children. “Emily’s heading to Palimpsest Boulevard. Tim, Clover, Raine, Streltizia, Azalea, and Julia will go with her. Raimundo will take me, Lily, Anemone, Hydrangea, Heathcliff, Esteban and you to Blackmint Way, Rose.”

“Oh,” Rose said.

“Everyone’s ready?” Emily said.

“Ready!” Rose said.

“I’m here,” Elizabeth said.

Everyone else gathered outside the hotel. Esteban already rented a card for the groups. “Heathcliff and I made sure proper seating is provided.”

“It is hard to find one that could accommodate a Centaur around these parts,” Heathcliff said.

Emily looked at Raimundo and noticed a detail that she hadn’t noticed until now. Above Raimundo’s head floated a familiar yet strange shape—two cones interspersed by a ring. The shape reminded her of her own core. Her true form as the Black Box. She wondered about the significance of this shape.

“Emily!” Elizabeth cried out. “Are you ready?”

The fairy’s call snapped Emily back to the present. She saw that Julia was already in one of the vehicles, while Tim, Raine, Clover, Azalea, and Streltiiza were in the backseats. Emily walked to the passenger side front seat of the vehicle and buckled herself in.

The longer vehicle had Esteban and Raimundo in the front seat, while Heathcliff, Elizabeth, Rose, Lily, Anemone, and Hydrangea were in the back seats. Lily’s equine frame in particular was too large for the seats this time and she was instead strapped into the vehicle floor next to the trunk’s door. The two vehicles drove off to the condominiums at Palimpsest and Blackmint.

✦✦✦

Julia drove through the bumpy streets of Noir’s surface. Despite wearing a seatbelt, Azalea banged her head on the ceiling of the car. Her bubble caused the fabric liner on the ceiling to grow wet.

“Why is this road so bumpy?” Raine said. “I thought the surface was supposed to be nice!”

“It is better maintained than the underground,” Julia said. “But even it has some areas wanting for care.”

“Ow,” Azalea’s head collided with the ceiling again.

“Is something wrong?” Emily said.

“Oh no,” Azalea said. “Just the usual ‘floating in the air’ problems,” Azalea said. “Nothing Anemone’s gravity spells couldn’t fix…if she were here that is.”

“And here we go,” Streltizia said, dreading that Azlaea had begun a stand-up routine in the car. Julia slowed down the vehicle enough to ensure Azalea doesn’t bang her head again. Tim meanwhile tried to ignore the conversation and focus on meditation. He focused on how he could gather the last slivers of mana he needed for his breakthrough. To enter Albedo.

“Us merfolk tend to be very nimble beings,” Azalea said. “Since we can swim through the air, we tend to be lighter than most people. It is said that we could float up into the atmosphere if we wanted to. Granted most of us can’t breathe ice, so few care to verify that. It would be ice if someone did, however.”

“If you liked ice puns so much, why do you favor water spells?” Raine said.

“Water you talking about, Raine?” Azalea said. “That’s like asking why you use fire despite your name being ‘Rain’”

Clover noticed something. “That reminds me, why did you call yourself Raine Carnation Cadenza?”

“The Cadenza part’s obvious,” Raine muttered.

“That isn’t why she asked,” Streltizia said.

Emily looked at the rearview mirror. “Come to think of it, why did you girls use musical terms for your names?”

“There are also vernal themes there as well,” Julia mused.

Raine was stunned to hear that.

“Oh, that was easy,” Azalea said. “The musical terms were Raine’s idea!”

Raine blushed. “Why did you go and say that?”

“Because it’s true,” the minotaur chimed in. “Rose on the other hand was the one that added the flowers.”

“Come to think of it,” Azalea said. “Rose was the only one who didn’t change her given name, and you said you forgot yours, Raine.”

“That…what does that have to do with naming conventions!” Raine tried futilely to steer the conversation away from her forgotten name.

Clover giggled. “It has everything to do with names, Raine. You and Lily are the only ones with three parts in it.”

“Why did you change your names anyway?” Julia said.

Tim chimed in as well. “It does seem strange.”

“Well,” Clover said. “We’re magical girls first, so Whisper said we must have aliases to match.”

“That implies you have more normal names,” Emily said.

“Well, Raine wasn’t the only one that forgot hers. I have trouble remembering what happened before I even came to Noir,” Azalea said. “Nothing but darkness before Rose and Raine found me.”

The other three Coloraturas were made aware of the specific details but were reluctant to tell Emily and Julia about it.

“You two can’t remember your pasts?” Emily said. She is reminded about how she can’t remember anything before awakening as a Dungeon core. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Azalea said. “I’m not going to let a silly thing like amnesia drive us apartment.”

Raine and Strelitzia groaned.

“But Azalea,” Clover said. “Does this mean you can’t remember your life under the sea?”

The clionid cheerfully nodded.

“Lucky her,” the minotaur muttered under her breath.

“I’m sure I had a good life back then,” Azalea said. “My parents were loving, and very supportive of me! I’m sure that if they…”

Emily and Julia were suddenly reminded of the fact that the Coloraturas were all orphans. Azalea noticed she brought down the moon with her lament and pivoted to another topic. “I’ve been wondering. Is there is a Stardeck, then wheres the Starboard…”

A while later, the vehicle stopped a few yards from their destination. Julia noticed that the surrounding buildings were devoid of any people. The group departed form the vehicle.

“Keep your guard up,” Julia said. “Something is not right here.”

The group walked the rest of the way down Palimpsest road. Their steps were met by only eerie silence and desolate echoes. Yet despite all indications otherwise, they can’t help, but feel like they were being watched.

✦✦✦

Raimundo’s group meanwhile arrived at their Blackmint Way. Raimundo stepped out of the vehicle first.

“It’s quiet,” the porcine detective thought. “Too quiet.”

Esteban, Heathcliff, and Elizabeth dismounted from the car. Esteban preferred to use his cloaking arts on himself and Raimundo.

“This part of [Noir] seems,” Elizabeth said. “Eerie.”

“Hello?” Rose yelled. “Anyone there? Yoo-hoo!”

“Oh boy,” Heathcliff said as he heard the Lamia child jeopardizing any element of secrecy they had.

Rose’s cries were met with no response. Raimundo cautioned everyone, including Rose, to stay quiet as they approached the building. Esteban used his spells to cloak himself and Raimundo as they came across a pair of men in tattered Ebony Guard uniforms.

“‘Ello there,” one of the uniformed men said. His expression seemed cheerful, but at the same time, Anemone noticed something off coming from him. “What brings you here? Can’t you see this street is being quarantined?”

“Quarantined?” Lily asked curiously.

“Oh yeah,” the uniformed man said. “Been an outbreak of the retrograde virus. Very nasty stuff. Street’s been closed down for weeks.”

“Retrograde virus huh?” Heathcliff said.

“Why haven’t the rest of the city been put on notice?” Anemone asked. “Surely a virus as dangerous as that would’ve spread beyond just this city block?” The loosed patch of blue fur, the werewolf had on her glowed dimly.

“Whose to say?” the man said. His silent partner took a look at the lilac-haired werewolf and more importantly the faint flow in her fist. He let loose a menacing growl before his partner calmed him down.

“Isn’t that the virus rumored to change your body to a younger form?” Heathcliff asked.

“A younger form?” Rose asked. “Like a child?”

“That’s the primary effect, yes,” Anemone said as she eyed the silent man in uniform.

“It isn’t uniform, however,” Hydrangea said. “It affects each part of the body differently. The brain could regress to a younger age. Skin could shrink over bones, or bones would shrink and leave gaps in the tissue. The side effects were such that people had died from things like a mismatched lung, or the blood flowing in reverse. It isn’t the kind of thing people should lie about.”

The Maahes patch in anemone’s hand glowed more as she approached the silent partner. With each second, Anemone, and the others grow more suspicious about the uniformed men.

Sweat dripped from the talkative man’s brow. “Dammit, they are onto us.” He tried to press a button, but before he could, He was suddenly decked onto the floor by an invisible force. The other man suddenly transformed into a Maahes and confirmed everyone’s suspicions. Mis transformation, Rose struck the beat.

“Presto Electro!” she yelled as she rapidly slithered past the Maahes and slashed it with a draw of her rapier. The electrified sword left wounds on the shapeshifter and forced it to flee. Hydrangea froze the wounded beast in a block of ice.

Rose sheathed her sword and a bolt of lightning stuck the ice. “…So there wasn’t a retrovirus pandemic?” the lamia said.

With the exception of Lily, everyone had sighed.

“Rosie,” Hydrangea said calmly. “It was clearly a trap.”

“Or part of it,” a cloaked Esteban said. “The Tombraiders are operating here.”

“We must be on our guard at all times now,” Raimundo said.

The group moved towards a run-down building further down the street. The condominium at Blackmint Way.

✦✦✦

A group of travelers arrived at the condominium in Palimpsest. Red brick lined the outer walls. The windows were decorate with gray blocks that broke the continuous pattern of red rectangles. The door to the lobby sit atop a concentric stack of rounded steps, with rails placed at diagonal angles.

From their apartment in the building. Patricia looked out the window. She saw the envoy. Led by a Porcine man, it consisted of a woman, a minotaur girl, a mermaid, two winged children, one being a fawn, and a teenage man.

Patricia went to her brother. “Are you in the mood for pork tonight?”

Norman lounged on the couch, he was tired from the previous day’s events. “What are you talking about?”

“Maybe some venizon instead?” Patricia said playfully. “There is some beef on the side, as well.”

Norman stood up from the sofa. As he does so he hard someone yell from outside their room.

“Boss!” a tombraider said. “We bot a breach. Adventurers had entered the front door!”

Norman’s eyes widened. He turned to Patricia. “How many?”

“Looks like seven. Our defenses are already mobilized.”

Norman put on his coat and gauze. He then handed a jacket to Patrica. “Let’s go.” He said in an somewhat apathetic tone. Patricia eagerly donned the uniform as she followed them out.

At the same time, Sadie also looked at the travelers. “Maybe they can help me save them?” she thought. Thoughts ruminated through her head. “But how can I contact them?” a moment later, she had an idea and phased through the wall. A nearby radio suddenly turned on as the ghost’s ethereal body and mana caused the wires to short circuit. On the way down, she passed a manameter chamber, she looked at the device and recalled what had happened after she met two of the Administrators.

✦✦✦

Long ago, in the Sea of Souls, the soul of a dead girl heard the Pathfinder and the Reaper discuss the circumstances of the former’s death. She had learned that the figures that were with her were the siblings she had encountered earlier. The boy she tried to befriend, and the girl that let a scornful gaze upon her.

“I-it was an accident right?” the girl said.

“So it seems,” the Reaper said. “Yet þe sister’s left many questions.”

“Are you sure þis is what you want to do?” the Pathfinder said. “[The Fates] had said—”

“I’m sure,” the girl said. “I want to try, at least. Maybe there is a chance that…”

“You make a dangerous wager, child,” the Reaper said. “To entangle yourselves with them means you will follow them to þe hereafter. You þree will be judged together. And none will be able to save you when judgment is rendered.”

“You bore witness to the crimes þey might commit,” The Pathfinder said. “You witnessed what had befell you after you perished, and you wish to help them? Knowing þat you risk tainting your own soul?”

“I’m sure,” the child said.

“Þe youthful make the most surprising decisions,” the Reaper said. “Very well, child. You shall have your wish. You will become þeir guardian spirit, their conscience. Pray that you will not come to regret it.”

Light began flooding the girl’s vision. Before she knew it, she was back in the manameter the one that for a scant few hours, housed her in her final moments. She noticed she was able to move but not feel. To see, but not be seen. She noticed that she could walk outside the confines of the chamber. As if she was nothing but air, no not even air. Her new ethereal form felt weird to her. She could see, hear, and smell, but could not feel, or taste. She felt no pain, no hunger. Such is the lift of a spirit, destined to haunt, but also to guide. She hoped that she would be able to steer those two children away froma grim fate.

✦✦✦

In the present, A disguised Emily, Tim, Clover, Streltizia, Azalea, Raine, and Julia encountered Tombraiders and several constructs. Several of them were wrapped in gauze. Strelitzia rushed ahead of the group, using her earth magic to block attacks directed toward the others. Julia used her shadow guardian to incapacitate several of the gangsters, and Azalea flooded the entire floor with water before using her knifework to create water blades.

“Get them!” a Tombraider said. The opponents rushed toward them, but “Raimundo” warded them off by drawing swords and unleashing a flurry of wind-powered slashes. The adversaries were dispatched.

“Is it just me,” Raine said. “Or does this place seem bigger?”

Emily looked around. “I wonder…” she thought. They delved deeper into the apartment. They saw hallways lined with doors barricaded by wooden bars.

Clover tried to remove one of the bars, but the seemingly normal piece of lumber refused to budge.

“They must be using a spell to reinforce the doors,” Emily said. She attempted to sound as close to Raimundo’s voice as possible.

“Excuse me?”

The group turned and saw a pair of men clad in the uniform of the Ebony Guards. Azalea looked at them and noticed something was amiss.

One of the uniformed men approached the group. “We heard there was a disturbance in this here building. Care to explain what you lot of doing trespassing here.”

Emily stepped forward, trying to sound as masculine as possible. “We’re here to investigate the disappearances of three children in this apartment.”

“Children?” the “guard” asked. “No kid got lost here here in fifteen years.”

“That’s what I’m investigating,” Emily said. “I was hired to find out what happened to them and since this was where they were last seen—”

“Sir,” the “guard” said. “It’s been a decade in a half. If any trace of them remained it would've been found by now. Or do you think someone took their skeleton and placed them in the walls?” The other man laughed at his partner’s absurd suggestion.

Azalea noticed the uniforms of the two men had tatters on them. A small rip here, a tear there. “Excuse me sirs, but why are your outfits so worn out?”

The first “guard” glared at the clinoid. “What are you talking about missy?”

Julia noticed the imperfections in the outfits. “No, she has a point, the Ebony Guards are the official guild of Noir. They have a reputation as elite adventurers and enforcers of law. A reputation that comes with certain standards that you have failed to live up to.”

The second man growled. “What are you insinuating, woman?” he asked.

Tim looked outside. “Tell me this, if you two are who you say you are then why are the streets so quest. Why can’t a soul be seen around the apartment?”

“And why are there barricades on the doors?” Emily asked. In the guise of Raimundo, he pressed the “guards” further about Palimpsest Boulevard’s abnormal circumstances.

“We are in the middle of an—an epidemic. That’s right, an epidemic.” The second man said.

“Of what?” Emily asked.

“Yes,” Julia said. “Tell us what plague would befall only this part of Noir while lying beneath the notice of the nearby communities?”

The two men felt beads of sweat drip from their faces. “We don’t have to explain nothing to you! You guys are trespassers!”

“You want to subject us to physical removal then?” Tim said as he assumed a horse stance. “Well then, you’re welcome to try.”

The “guards” cracked their knuckles, but for all their showboating they fell quickly to Tim’s attacks. As they collapsed onto the ground, their uniforms faded away into dust, replaced by the telltale gauze and jacket combination of the Tombraiders.

“So they were Tombraiders,” Emily said.

“Poor raiders,” Azalea said. “They arked up the wrong tomb there.”

Clover noticed a glint from one of the unconscious men and moved closer to them. She saw a strange stone inscribed with a rune hanging from a keyring. She relieved the man of the keyring and brought it to Emily.

“A runestone?” Emily asked. The rock was smooth, and the sigil on it resembled a keyhole. A thought came to the disguised avatara’s head and she took the runestone to the door behind them. The barricade turned to dust and the door unlocked.

Strelitzia opened the door. The group entered the unlocked room and saw a figure hooked up to several rubs. Besides the bed lied several jars, each emitted a foul stench.

Azelia looked into one of the containers and immediately recoiled from repulsion. “Don’t look into these. They are for the faint of heart,” she said before gagging.

“She’s right,” Julia said. “The Tombraiders used these to store organs.”

Clover’s attention was not on the unconscious person or the rancid jars but on a large box on the opposite side of the room. One side of it was a transparent screen, while the other sides were opaque. As with the jars, a fowl stench emanated from its boxy appearance.

Raine and Azalea tried to rouse the sleeping figure but were unable to wake them from their slumber. Julia observed that several magical fetters were placed on them. “Can I borrow that keyring?”

Emily handed Julia the runestone, the indigo-clad woman pointed it at the figure, but it did nothing to rouse the man or unbind the fetters.

“Looks like there’s nothing that could be done here,” Julia said. “This runestone won’t undo the bindings.” She noticed that the figure had a pallor on them.

Strelitzia noticed Clover examining the manameter. “Clo?” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Is this the manameter Lizzie mentioned?” Clover said.

Emily, still in her porcine disguise, looked at the box. “It does match the description on the notes.”

“What is a device like that doing in this room?” Tim asked.

“Another mystery for us to solve, right ‘Raimundo’?” Julia said.

“Right,” Emily said.

“Speaking of which,” Azalea said. “I wonder how the others are doing?”

✦✦✦

While Emily and her group are at Palimpsest. Raimundo’s are locked in a battle with a gigantic humanoid golem. The golem brandished two cleaver-like weapons and a golden mask.

“Get ‘em Imsety!” A tombraider called from nearby.

The automaton’s swords clashed with Heathcliff’s shield. Heathcliff pushed Imsety’s weapon’s back.

Anemone and Lily use illusions to befuddle the tomberaiders rushing to attack them and support Imsety. The addled spellcasters directed their buffs to the two girls and allowed them to gain enough strength to contest the golden-asked golem. “Take this, Lumiouse Chanson!” Lily used this stolen boon to pierce Imsety with with lance and then lick it with her hind legs. This attack nearly toppled the golem, but Imsety regained balance by stabbing the floor with one of its cleavers.

Rose and Elizabeth used lightning spells and bardsong to strike at the golem while it was vulnerable. Hydrangea attempted to freeze the Sentinel solid.

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, Esteban and Raimundo defeated several Tombraiders through a mix of Esteban’s cloaking magic and Raimundo’s capoeira. They found a terminal near the fallen tombraider. The terminal overlooked the battle where Heathcliff, Elizabeth, Rose, Lily, Anemone, and Hydrangea were fighting Imsety.

“The runestone,” Raimundo said. Esteban handed him a keyring with several stones attached to it. Raimundo held it up to the terminal to see if it could affect the boss.

Imsety managed to return to its feet, but the terminal, operated by Raimundo caused it to short-circuit further and Hydrangea’s spells froze the golem’s joints solid. Imsety turned and attacked the Tombraiders.

“What the—” the gangsters said as they tried to defend themselves from the renegade Sentinel. Eventually, Raimundo managed to shut off the golemn. Defeating it and causing a treasure chest to appear in its place.

Rose opened the treasure chest and found gear that was of a visceral aesthetic. Crimson red with a texture evoking blood vessels. The nauseating sword and greaves nearby caused the lamia to vomit.

Anemone took the items without looking at them. “This chest, these weapons,” She said. “Does it mean?”

Rose grew delirious from the stench of the sword and armor. She hallucinated a gigantic brain with eyeballs and tried swiping her sword at thin air. Lily and Hydrangea kept her from harming herself or others while moving away from the cursed weapons.

Elizabeth looked at Anemone. “This is no doubt about it, the apartment has become a [Dungeon].”

Esteban and Raimundo leaped from the terminal. “Seems the Tombkeepers had been busy,” he handed Heathcliff a document from the terminal. It detailed the operations of the modified manameters. The knight’s eyes widened. “Sacrebleu,” he said before handing the document to Raimundo.

“What did it say?” Lily asked innocently.

“You do not want to know, cher,” Heathcliff said.

With Imsety gone they take the newly appeared staircase to the next floor up.

✦✦✦

Later, Emily and her group arrived at a chamber lined with boxy manameters. By now the group learned that the Palimpsest apartment is somehow a Dungeon and behaves as such. Having battled through shifting corridors and tomb raiders. They are now in what seemed to be the first Sentinel’s arena.

“Why did this place become a dungeon?” Clover said. “It makes no sense?”

“Emily,” Tim said. “Can you sense the core?”

“No,” Emily said. It brought something to her mind. “Could I be able to sense other Dungeon Cores?” she thought.

“Do you think the missing kids had become the core of this place?” Clover said.

“It’s possible,” Julia said. “But only one of them is likely to be the core.”

The group wondered when did the apartment’s transformation happen. Their questioning is interrupted when the glassy sides of the manameters begin to glow with an eerie blue light.

An apparition crawled out from one of the manameter’s screens. Her figure was ethereal but barely perceivable. Her hair was white but stringy. What could be seen of her attire was similar pale. She tried to call out to Emily and her group, but they couldn’t hear her. They could only hear what sounded like guttural vengeful moaning. They mistook her for the Sentinel.

Streltizia tried to fight the apparition, but her axe phased through it. The ghost faded from view and appeared in front of Emily. Emily reflexively placed the being with one of the twin swords, and her lightning-enhanced attack caused the phantom to recoil in pain. Emily noticed something was off. The ghost didn’t feel like a Sentinel.

“Please…” the ghost whispered. “…help me.”

Before the avatara could respond. The floor rumbled as a large number of tombraiders stormed the floor, aided by a winged golem with a golden falcon mask. The Garuda-like figure used its wings to buffet the room. The ghost was thrown into the glass door of one of the manameters.

Emily sensed an intimidating aura coming from the Sentinel. The golem swooped in and flew close to the ground. Emily and Julia were hit by its wings and were forced back.

“By the mighty wings of Qebehsenuef,” One of the Tombraider cheered. “You will be repelled.”

Azalea swam after the aerial golem and used her knife as a conduit to create blades of water. The spells were evaded by the gardua-like golem who turned around and manifested a forked weapon. Qubehsenuef then flew towards Azalea.

“Oh come on!” the clionid petulantly “It’s garuda of you to reject a lady’s gifts!” she encased the golem in an orb of water, but Qubehsenuef was not trapped. Instead, it flew out and resumed its course.

Azalea tried to fly away, but the little clionid was too small and too slow to evade the fork of the falcon-masked golem.

Qubehsenuef was close to skewering Azalea before being thrown off course by an errant earth-enchanted labrys. The weapon curved around and returned to Streltizia’s arm. Angel filled the child’s expression at the sight of the forked weapon on her opponent. Qubehsenuef hovered over the minotaur.

Clover posied herself to counter the winds created by Qubehsenuef’s wings with her own wind magics and her fan, Streltiiza used heart spells to create boulders for Clover to hurl with her wind powers. The peryton fawn used her spells to lift the boulders and hurl them at the golem, but they missed the entity. Tim and Emily followed suit, with Tim propelling himself to the back of the golem and the other two using their own magic to strike Qubehsenuef.

Tim landed on the garuda-like golem and stabbed the back with his Qiang. The lance-piercing Qubehsenuef caused it to crash onto the floor.

Julia and Clover went to help the others wail on the golem before it could take flight again, but they noticed one of the manameters glass doors turned blue again. The apparition appeared near a door and vanished as soon as they could.

“Emily!” Julia called, she directed the avatar’s attention to the door. The disguised girl was about to move toward them, but Tombraiders descended from the ceiling to assist Qubehsenuef. Strelitzia and Azalea drew their ire away from the golem and towards themselves.

The minotaur turned to her friend “Go, I got this!”

Clover hesitated but decided to leave her friend to help Julia investigate the door. They went to the mysterious room and unlocked it with the runestone. There they found a terminal and an unconscious tombkeeper, Clover saw a glint from the man’s pocket and discovered another runestone, with a purple sigil on it. Julia approached the terminal and saw the name “Qubehsenuef” written on it.

“That’s odd,” Julia said. On a hunch, she pointed the new runestone to the terminal. The nameplate glowed purple as Qubehsenuef rose to eh skies with a mighty caw. It flew erratically around the arena, attacking friend and fore alike at random.

“What’s wrong with Qubehsenuef?” a tombraider asked.

“Someone hijacked it!” another responded. The gangsters headed toward the control room.

The golem descended toward the ground to swoop at everyone. Julia tried to use the runestone to get it to self-destruct, but Qubehsenuef instead took random actions. As it attempted another dive bomb, Streltizia saw an opening. “Tim!” she called out to the martial artist. “I need a lift!”

Tim obliged and used his wind arts to conjure a gust that propelled the young girl up high enough to land on the golem. She saw that his Qiang was still lodged in it and used it to steer Qubehsenuef towards the Tombraiders rushing towards the control room.

Clover used her fan to repulse the approaching mobsters but for everyone she successfully fended off, two more took their place. The Tobraiders were set to overwhelm her. The deerlet braced for the imminent attack and closed her eyes. But rather than feeling a myriad of blows on her flesh, she instead heard a loud thought and opened her eyes. There she saw that Qubehsenuef had crashed on the present mobsters, with Streltiiza standing proudly on its back.

The golem was defeated and began to turn into gold dust. The Tombraiders not knocked out by the impact fled the arena in fear. In place of the winged Qubehsenuef now lay a treasure chest. Emily opened it and retrieved a spear, a shield, and pauldrons all with a red moss-like texture. She put the items away as everyone regrouped.

The manameter’s doors and screens flashed with the same blue glow and a staircase descends from the ceiling.

“That ghost was odd,” Clover said.

“Were they the core?” Emily mused, she was unsure why the dungeons’ core would come to directly aid them. She recalled the words the ghost uttered before vanishing and wondered if she is connected to the missing children case.

The group ascended the staircase onto the next floor.

✦✦✦

Last night, within the tomb of the house of Hathor. The eponymous patriarch walked into an ornate room set aside for a special guest.

“We’re honored to have you at this hour, Master Ra,” Hathor said.

A tall man, clad in golden adornments sat opposite the minotaur. The man wore gold and black armor adorned with solar imagery. His cap evoked the image of a god among men, and a god among gods.

“You remain as diligent as ever, Hathor,” Ra said. “I heard the House of Thoth had made a breakthrough thanks to your efforts.”

“It was my pleasure,” Hathor said.

“As for recent projects,” Ra said “How were your efforts in gathering fresh tributes?”

“They are proceeding smoothly, Master Ra. We and the House of Anubis had worked diligently to gather many people from all throughout Noir.”

“All of this so that one day we can reclaim our thrones over these puny mortals,” Ra smirked.

“Indeed,” Hathor said.

“I must say,” Ra said. “Alkahestry yielded excellent results for us. I must thank you for the proposal.”

“You’ll all to kind, Master,” Hathor said. “Serket and I were well versed in the matter of cultivation.”

“Though the House of Horus remained discontent with the …methods you proposed.”

“Efficiency is key,” Hathor said. “The House of Seshat had reported rumors that the Voorhes Gang had made strides in their cultivation efforts. Sure they must understand the risk they pose to us, and to your ascendancy, Master Ra.”

“They were understanding enough to contribute the guardians at least. The House of Montu specifically enjoyed their presence.”

“Yes, the Canoptic Guardians were quite excellent for the Sarcophagi,” Hathor said.

Ra took a sip of tea. “Onto other matters. How are your students faring?”

“Which ones?”

“The orphans from Palimpsest.”

“Ah,” Hathor said. “Patricia and Norman continued to show great promise and potential. Perhaps one they they might become future leaders of the houses.” Hathor laughed heartily.

Ra chuckled. “Perhaps. It wouldn't be the first time. You and Serket have proved quite invaluable despite not originally being of the houses.”

“That reminds me,” Hathor said. “It came to my attention that a private eye is looking into the circunstnaces of their ‘disappearances’.”

“Seshat told me about that,” Ra said. “She said she had collaborated with the house of Tatenen for a feint. Using the latter’s shells to gather those drawn to the cold case to execute them. Palimpsest Boluevard would be the site of their execution.”

“That’s a bold plan.” Hathor expressed concern. “Did they weight the risks?”

“Our spymasters are certain that with all known information,” Ra said. “That there would be minimal chance of failure.”

“A minimal chance is still a chance,” Hathor said. “Improbabilities are not impossibilities, Master Ra.”

“Perhaps,” Ra said. “Still there is no need to fear. As with all things. The weak would perish. That is the way of Noir, and not even the pitiful rouge can stem the tide.”

“A great change is coming, Master Ra,” Hathor said. “Though you are great, thought you are wise, you are still vulnerable. If we do not sucked before that change comes we will be left behind, buried in the sands.”

“Duly noted, Hathor,” Ra said. “I have lived a great many years, but even my experience paled in compassion to yours and Serket’s, to Thoth’s and Khonsu’s. I hope you shall continue to offer your consul.”

“One last thing, sir,” Hathor said.

“What is it, Hathor?” Ra said gently and calmly.

“The House of Bastet has expressed concerns about Project Stronghold. Specially that our sarcophagi Dungeons would be at risk of being raided and bereaved of their cores by the rest of the syndicate.”

“Their concerns are misguisded,” Ra said. “As logn as our allience holds the Syndicate would not date to lay afinge ron us. And in the event they do, they will be met by the crushing force of the Houses of Khonsu and Montu, and all of the force of the Tombraiders.”

“I fear that might only embolden them, sir,” Hathor said. “They are already predisposed to claiming you seek to claim the unclaimed title.”

“Why that is because I am the most fit to claim it,” Ra boasted. “I’m certain if Vladimir Draconus or Viktor Pygmalios were in my shoes, they would think the same things. Yet it is not ready to be restored yet.” Ra stood up from the table. “I must go. The hour is up and I must visit the House of Anubis next. I think you for this talk. We will meet again tomorrow, just as we always had.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Ra left the tomb and his entourage carried him to the next one.

✦✦✦

The girl wandered the apartment in search of her friends. She had noticed that it had been a week since she had perished. And that whenever people had mentioned her, it was in claims that she had vanished, not that she had died in a dangerous arcanological instrument. She saw no one had noticed her presence.

“Right,” the girl said. “They probably didn’t have enough man to see me.” She sighed upon knowing that only a few people were able to perceive her. That she could not say goodbye to her parents one last time. She wondered what they must’ve been thinking. She headed towards the apartment where they lived.

The ghostly child saw the Morrigans, her family, stricken by grief. The father, a Yanese man with black hair, glasses, and a brown suit, held a melancholic expression as he set out for work. The mother, a Libertéan woman with brown hair, had eyes and ears on the radio, desperately waiting for news on her daughter’s safe return. News that the child knew would never come. The mother’s eyes remained glued to the radio, and vacant

She left her parent’s apartment, unable to bear seeing her mother in such a state any longer. It was at this point that she heard indistinct chatter.

“Why did…horrible idea…”

“…in trouble for…”

The child recognized the voices, they were the same as those that were with her in her final moments. Those that refused to release her. Yet also those that she sought to save from themselves. No matter the cost.

Sadako steeled herself for the reunion. For her first encounter in undeath and for the beginning of her afterlife as a conscience.

✦✦✦

In the present, Emily’s group wandered the Palimpsest complex. There they saw a woman limping in the wide hallway.

Clover rushed to the woman’s aid and noticed that her skin was a pale blue. The woman’s breathing was shallow and there were several gashes on her body.

“Please…help,” the woman said. Julia, Stretlizia, and Tim knew that she was about to meet the Reaper. Emily and Clover tried to help the dying woman but to no avail.

“Please,” Clover said. “Hang on!”

“Damn…dastards!” the woman said. Referring to the Tombraiders. Emily tried everything she could to heal the girl, but nothing she could think of was able to save the woman. The victim passed on with regret at being caught by the Tombraiders and her failure to save herself.

Tears streamed down Clover’s eyes as she saw the stranger die in front of her. The latest instance of death in this place.

A group of Tombraiders then arrived, besides then were steal-winged Stymphallias. Clover’s grief gave way to rage as she took her fan and faced the intruders.

“How dare you?” she yelled at them. “How could you abduct innocent people and use them like this?” she summoned a strong wind that forced the rest of her party to hand onto the barricades and swept the Tombraiders off their feat.

The birds used the wind to their advantage and circled the fawn. They fired metal quills at the girl, but her equally metallic fan deflected the projectiles. More Tomeraiders arrived, alongside a baboon-masked Golem wielding a spoon-shaped axe. The Dungeon’s third sentinel, Hapi.

Strelitzia clashed her axe with the golem’s, but the larger foe swatted her aside and rushed down the hall. Clover, enraged, rushed toward Hapi and sliced at it with her fan. The blades of the fan slashed at the joints as the fawn fought viscously. Her indiscriminate rampage caused the barricades on the rooms to be dispelled and the effects of her winds affecting the people trapped within without her realizing it.

The others noticed something was off with Clover. Her savage use of wind magic and her fan toppled the golem easily and left the Tombraiders scrambling to try to defeat the peryton fawn. Clover, consumed with rage rampaged through the hallways, causing the Dungeon itself to retaliate by trying to seal her within their walls.

“Justice will come for you!” Clover yelled as she threw her fan toward the opponents. The mobsters dodged the attack, but several of them were left with cuts on their jackets, pants, and extremities.

The fan returned to Clover’s arm after arching around the corridor. Before she could strike again, She felt someone restraining her.

“Let me go!” she cried out. “I have to…these guys deserved—”

“Clo, stop! This isn’t you!”

The person who retained the peryton fawn is Streltizia, with a tearful yet determined look in her eyes. The deerlet saw the look of the downed golem, the doors busted open by her winds, and various people bound to their beds, unable to escape the damage to the hallway or their rooms by the fetters the Tombraiders placed on them. Several of them were harmed by the winds.

Clover realized what she had done in her lasing out. “This…I didn’Y” She collapsed into unconsciousness while in Streltiiza’s arms.

“Clover!” Stretlizia cried for her friend.

✦✦✦

Clover suddenly found herself in a dark swampy forest. She saw murky dark ooze where water should’ve been. She saw leaves being ripped off blackened trees by gale-force winds. Winds that somehow never affected her.

As she walked around the forest, she saw that the trees and critters took the form of various mementos of her parents. A quadruped resembled a childhood bed, a tree looked like a pillar her father worked on for his job. Another tree had warped pictures of herself.

Clover didn’t know what this place was, but she did know it wasn’t the Palimpsest apartment, and that it evoked the domain of a Strega.

She heard a voice giggle from behind the trees and gasped. She saw the shadow move around the oozy floor and the darkened trees as if toying with her. Clover summoned a fan and used a powerful spell to clear the trees. The revealed figure shocked her with her appearance. Resembling a winged cervitaur with green ooze instead of fur.

Clover recalled what Azlaea told her and Stretlizia. “A…are you? Is this…?”

“I wish…” the figure said. “…want to.”

“Absolutely not!” Clover said as she glared at her counterpart.

“…control? …to you?”

Clover mused on the words of her counterpart. She knew she had lost control of herself. But she wondered why she would ask her about justice. “I know what justice is!” she said to the cervitaur.

“…parents approve? Is…would see…?”

“I guess not,” Clover responded.

Fog rolled in the swampy forest.

“Good luck…me,” the cervitaur said. Fog engulfed them both.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Raimundo and his group wandered the Blackmint complex. They had just finished with the second Sentinel fight and were near the top of the complex. By this point, they were aware of the use of the Manameters as euthanization chambers and also that organs were harvested throughout the building-turned-Dungeon.

“Alright,” Heathcliff said. “We fought three Sentinels right now. That would be it if we were going for normal things there.”

Raimundo looked over several documents he found along the way. One of which caught his interest. It mentions that the House of Tateten had covered up the demise of the owners of the Bale parents and took up the condo chain. This furthered his suspicions that this was a trap. He mused over other documents showing how the manameters were modified, and what purposes they were used for.

“So they used the organs for reagents and consumed the rest,” Raimundo said, the thought of it made him sick to the stomach.

“It’s a huge departure from what we knew about them,” Esteban said. “Prior knowledge claimed that they instead enthralled them as servants.”

“The twenty-four houses remain enigmatic even among the syndicate,” Heathcliff said.

Elizabeth is more stuck on the recent interest the Tombraiders have in cultivation and the references to “chthonic mana” scattered through the documents. The information that Jingyu had downloaded onto her mind mentioned “demonic cultivators,” those that gathered mana through unorthodox and unscrupulous means, but she could barely fathom the lengths they went to for those ends.

“Oh come on!” Rose said. “Why can’t we read those?”

“Oh, now you want to read?” Hydrangea said in a deadpan manner.

“These documents are…to be frank, not suitable for people your age,” Raimundo said. “It is best that you do not peruse their contents.”

Anemone and Lily meanwhile talked about movies as they wandered the Dungeon. They talked about “La Libertad”, “The Lighthouse Keeper”, and Pearl’s upcoming film. Hydrangea brought Rose into eh discussion as a means of distracting her from the forbidden documents.

Raimundo gripped the papers in his hand, within is evidence of great misdeeds. Evidence that would be of utmost importance to those willing to protect the innocent of Noir. Evidence that shed light on why Blackmint Way seemed abandoned.

The rest of the group wondered how Emily’s group was fairing and hoped that what they found in Palimpsest was less disturbing than the discoveries here.

Raimundo turned to the group. “Thank you for accompanying me on the investigation. I think we have learned all there is to know from here.”

“You want to leave then?” Heathcliff asked. “Fair enough.”

“We will need to find a way to deal with the cores of these Dungeons later,” Esteban said. “These ‘sarcophagi’ present a clear danger to Noir.”

The group prepared to leave but knew that the remaining Tombkeeprs would bar their escape. They prepared to fight their way to the entrance. Sure enough, the last Sentenal is already waiting for them at the lobby.

✦✦✦

Clover woke up in the hallway. She saw Strelitzia’s concerned face. “Are you okay?” the minotaur asked.

“I’m fine,” Clover said as she stood up. “Did any of you get hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Raine said.

“Fresh as the morning dew here!” Azalea said.

“There remained no injuries among us,” Julia said. “But as for everyone else.”

“Clover,” Raine said in a concerned tone. “What was up with you? I’ve never seen you this mad.

“You made those Tombraiders feel like deer caught in the headlights!” Azalea said.

“Oh…” Clover recalled her prior rampage. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.”

Azalea noticed something in her eyes. “Did you have…”

Clover nodded.

“Have what?” Emily asked.

“It’s…complicated,” Raine said.

While Clover was unconscious, Tim looked around and gathered various files. He learned through them the purposes of the manameters. “Cthonic mana huh?” Tim mused. He looked back at Clover. “Should we continue?” Tim asked the group. “It doesn’t seem like there are any more clues here.”

Streltiiza noticed her deerlet friend was lost in thought. The minotauride assured Clover that she be at her side regardless of what happened. Clover heard the group discuss the possibility of leaving the complex and initially denied that option.

“We can’t leave!” Clover shouted. “There is more to be found here. I don’t know why, but I can feel it.”

“We could try finding the core?” Emily said. “Maybe it knows what happened to them.”

“The apartment has four stories right?” Azalea said.

“It seemed that way,” Julia said. “But…”

Clover wondered about Patricia. A part of her had remained hopeful that she wasn’t involved in this. But at the same time, she can’t help but feel that she is in the Dungeon with them, and even if she hasn’t she had seen enough here to conclude that the Tombraiders must be stopped.

Emily and Clover then saw the presence of the ghost from before.

“Please…help me… find them!” the ghost said.

“Are you this Dungeon’s Core? “Emily asked.

The ghost shook her head, and before more questions could be asked, she faded from the room.

Emily wonder if she was the ghost of the first missing child. Clover gave a determined look at the door and knew her decision was the right one. They have to press on, reach the core… and defeat it. Emily made sure to disguise herself as Raimundo again before leaving.

The group left the hallway and ascended to the forth and final floor.

✦✦✦

Eventually, Emily and her group arrived at where the Core of the Palimpsest Complex is held. There they found two strange figures, clad in the uniform of the tombraiders.

“Well, didn’t expect you to make it this far,” the feminine one said in a condescending tone. “But it’s a shame your long trip here has to come to an end. Oh well.”

Clover and Stretlizia recognized the voice. The fawn tried to reason that it was someone else, but deep down, she knew it was the woman they had just met. Stretlizia meanwhile didn’t need much convincing.

The masculine one took out a berimbau and began strumming. As in on cure a fourth golem landed between both parties. This one wore a golden jackal mask and brandished a large knife. The core became visible above them and took the golem as its vessel for the battle.

“Duamutef,” the woman said. “Please keep them nice and tender.”

The jackal-masked golem roared and charged at the party. Azalea and Raine combined their magic to conceal the party in mist. Azalea then swam around Duamutef. “Things are about to take a sharp turn!” the mermaid said as she took out her knife and sliced at the golem.

Strelitzia rushed forward and used her axe to pin the larger boss’s blade to the ground. The golem tried to swash her with its other arm, but Emily countered by using ice spells to freeze the water vapor around the golem.

Julia’s shadow then gripped the pauldrons of Duamutef and forced the empowered golem to kneel. The guardian held the canopic golem in place while Tim took his Qiang and sliced the joints with wind magic.

Clover noticed that Tim’s spell damaged the joint heavily and took her fand to further buffet it, but the female Tombraider intervened. “Oh no you don’t missy,” she said in a playful voice. She landed a roundhouse kick on Clover and sent her flying back. The winged fawn recovered her foot and clashed with the “dancing” opponent. Strelitzia saw Clover In trouble and was about to abandon the golem to aid her, but with the movement, she loosened her Labrys’ hold on the larger knife, Duamutef retracted the blade into its hand and pointed it at her, unsheathing the sword at her. Strelitzia dodged the imminent thrust.

The other one played his instrument more vigorously. The party was besieged with an urge to give up through the apathetic man’s tune, but they refused to yield against their opponents. Time rushed towards the man and tried to destroy the implement, but he countered by drawing a small blade from the tip of the instrument and using it to parry Tim’s Qiang’s strikes. Tim tried to use elbow strikes to disarm it, but the musician evaded by leaning back and countering with an upward kick. Strumming three notes between attacks to channel dark Bardsong spells at Tim.

The female Tombraider headbutted Clover and then followed with a cartwheel kick. Clover tried to dodge, but the attacks were too fast for her. She is pushed to the floor by the attacks. Clover panted heavily, “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” the female Tombraider asked as he placed a foot on Clover. “Not that it matters, I’m not telling you.”

Emily, Julia, Raine, Azalea, and Streltizia try to fall Duamutef, while Tim continues to try to disarm the musician. Clover struggles to get out from beneath the boot of the female Tombraider.

“This isn’t right!” Clover tried to reason with her. “Patricia, why? How could be so cruel?”

The woman is surprised to learn that this child has learned her name. She then recalled how they encountered her. “Oh, the little yearling from the other day. You were useful in getting that detective off my back.” Patricia removed her gauze and sunglasses, no longer seeing a point in hiding her identity. She licked her lips as she looked at the fawn. “I’d bet your root must taste...excellent.” She lifted her left to Stomp her again, but Clover rolled away from her and used her wand to propel herself into the air.

Patricia danced in a triangular manner, evading Clover’s fan and countering with sand strikes and kicks before resuming her “dance”. Clover tries to smack Patricia with her fan, but the momentum from her continuous movement allows her to evade easily and counter with a scorpion kick on Clover’s stomach.

Duamutef used its knife to attack the party, but Emily used wind magic to attack the other joints and Streltizia hurled conjured boulders to attack both the golem and the musician. The attacks cut off Duamutef’s bladed arm. Emily then used the discarded weapon to slice the rest of the golem. Mana leaked from the empowered golem’s arm. Emily took the opportunity to approach the core, but as she does. The core flashed and engulfed everyone in a brilliant light.

Images, thoughts, and memories flooded through everyone’s minds. The flashbacks show them two children standing over the corpse of another, then them being found by Hathor, a minotaur and then them overseeing the installation of a modified manameter in their apartment building. All of those and more showed them what had happened to the missing kids. Through this, they learned that the musician was Patirica’s brother and they both were complicit in the consumption of forbidden flesh.

The light had faded, and the core went missing, having been absorbed into Emily. The musician looked at what seemed to be a porcine man with shock. Emily shed her disguise and glared at the man.

Patricia used the opportunity wrought by the core’s disappearance to try to defeat Clover, but her blow was interrupted by Strelitzia.

“What?” Patricia said. Her foot was repulsed by Streltiiza swinging her axe. In the woman, she saw a reminder of who she had escaped. A fate that she had vowed to never let happen to herself, Clover, or their friends.

“You,” the minotauride said. “You psychotic scum!” she swung her axe at the woman again. Patricia again, but she dodged and tried to counter, but Strelizia simply gripped her foot.

“Clover! Now!” Strelitzia said.

Clover unfolded her fan and channeled wind art. “Patricia, what you have done is unforgivable! I won’t let you continue to hurt people. You must answer for your atrocity.” A tempest circled the fawn as her fan glowed. She glared at the woman. “Supercell Chord!”

The spell propelled the two Tombraders to the wall, slashes of wind tore through their jackets and gauze badinages. The windows broke from the sheer force of the whirlwind within the building.

“You little…” Patricia said as she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Clover calmed down, resolving to not last out again, and calmly tried to take the unconscious siblings away, but before she could, the building started to rumble. The Core’s absorption at Emily’s hand and Clover’s spell had caused large structural damage to the building, and the fourth floor was posed to collapse all around them. Before they knew it, they were in free fall to the third floor.

Raine acted quickly, and flew to catch Clover while Azalea grabbed Streltizia before she could fall. Julia used her guardians to protect everyone from falling debris while Tim and Emily maneuvered around and used spells to destroy the rubble before it could cause total structural collapse and harm those still alive in the building.

Clover and Raine saw a shadow rush quickly past them as they rapidly made their way out. Emily and Tim also saw the ghost again, seeingly guiding them towards rooms about to be crushed by the rubble.

Julia and the four Coloraturas made it to the third floor and endeavored to shield the floor from crushing eight of the fourth floor and the damage caused by the dungeon returning to normal. Clover and Strelizia also make sure to free the captives in the process and help them escape. Along the way, she tried to search for Patricia and her brother, but was unable to find them.

A few hours later, several people brought to the complex were not outside the ruins. Once every one of the captives was confirmed alive and safe, Emily and her group left the premises beneath their notice.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, another Duamutef has just fallen at the hands of Raimundo and his group. The collapsed jackal-headed golem was no longer able to bar their egress. The group took the spawned chest and rushed outside the condominium at Blackmint Way. The Tombraiders were unable to catch up to them.

Both groups reconvened at Anesidora Park, away from both streets, where they shared their results.

“So,” Raimundo said. “The siblings were not only part of the Tombraiders, but did the unspeakable as well.” His expression was solemn and grim.

“Rai,” Julia said. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll have to write a report on this,” Raimundo said. “With all that has happened…”

“These ‘Sarcophagi’ [Dungeons],” Elizabeth said. “They are likely to be considered Rouge regardless of their core’s actions.”

“If the core condoned this,” Heathcliff said. “Then they’re complicit, plain and simple.”

Clover told Rose, Hydrangea, Lily, and Anemone about what they had learned. Rose and Lily gagged and rushed toward a nearby tree upon hearing the grisly details.

“That’s horrible!” Anemone said. “How could they do such a thing?”

“And you guys defeated the Tombraiders in charge of that place?” Hydrangea asked.

Clover was unsure. While she prevailed with her spell, she was uncertain about their survival.

“Calling them ‘monsters’ would be an insult to monsters!” Rose said after she finished hurling.

“What are you planning to do next, Raimundo?” Emily said.

“I will need to not only file a report,” Raimundo said. “But also talk with the affected victims about what had happened. There are many people grieving the loss of their loved ones, and they would need to know for closure’s sake.”

“Closure,” Emily said. Her mind flashed back to the Hamlin incident and Carla’s plot. The memory left her wondering. “Do you think people will put themselves at risk? To try to attack the Tombkeepers out of vengeance?”

“Revengance is an inevitability,” Raimundo said. “And as mobsters and murderers, they will elicit no sympathy. I’d imagine some of them will likely join the guilds just to avenge them or even seek aid from the rest of the Syndicate. Despite all appearances, the other gangs do not have a rosy relationship with the Tombraiders.”

“The Rouges will endeavor to ensure they do not harm themselves if it comes to that, and that the justice they mete will be proportionate. I’m not certain about the Ebony Guards, however.”

“A great change is coming,” Raimundo said. “At least I hope it is, this is but one of the many symptoms of the Illnesses Noir had contracted.”

“That apartment chain is on the hook as well, right? “Azalea said. “It was their proprieties they were being reeled to.”

“Correct,” Raimundo said. “The involvement of the Bale apartment chain, and the revelation that its heritors are alive, would be grounds for an investigation. That however is beyond my scope.”

Tim, Emily, and the Coloratura noticed a power welled inside each of them. Emily is certain this meant they had gathered enough mana. Emily’s mind then flashed to the Pyrosphere.

“I’ll see you around,” Raimundo said. The porcine detective began to leave.

“Raimundo…” Clover said.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry,” Clover said. She knew that she had unfairly judged him that day, and accused him of being what he was not. “I shouldn't have…”

Raimundo looked at the fawn. “It’s alright. You didn’t know the full details. Tchau.”

Raimundo left the group. Emily gathered the others and returned to the Black Box. After a harrowing day, they could use some rest.

✦✦✦

Patricia and Norman woke up in the Underground. The Maahes carried their limp bodies on their backs.

“Ugh,” Patricia said. “That girl was like a tempest in a tea kettle.”

“Good morning,” Sadie said with an unusually cheerful smile.

“Ugh, you again,” Patricia said.

Norman looked around him and saw a newspaper dispenser. The Bugleblitz was proudly displayed on the dispenser through the window. Its headline read “BALE-FIRE!” and the accompanying article mentioned that Palimpsest Sarcophagus is being renovated and that the Bale board of directors are being questioned for suspected Tombkeeper ties.

“What a pain,” Norman said. His apathetic tone this time had a ting of rage.

“Oh no,” Sadie sarcastically asked. “Now you guys won’t partaking in those vile act. Whatever shall we do?” her tone was clearly playful and sarcastic.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you, twerp?” Patricia said.

“Maybe,” Sadie said.

“Heh,” Patrica chuckled. She saw the ghost child’s mockery of her as proof that she is rubbing off on her, and that the child is not incorruptible.

Norman turn toward the girls. His expression is calm. “The tomb of Hathor is not that far away, right?”

Sadie’s face turned from a smile into surprised expression. “Norman?”

“We’ll explain what happened there and who was the cause,” Norman said with a determined expression. One that gave Sadie concern. She hoped that the destruction of their apartment would've mean that they would cut their ties with the Tombkeepers, and also that Patirica wouldn’t use her demise to cow Norman.

“Alright,” Patricia called the Maahes. “Surely, Master Hathor can’t get too mad at us?”

The siblings embarked for the Tomb of Hathor. Sadako followed them, her mind began thinking of another plan to convince them they should leave the Syndicate behind.

Norman looked back at the ghost. “I’m sorry, Sadie,” he said beneath his breath. “But where you want us to go, there is no room the three of us.”

✦✦✦

The next day. The radio told of a shocking development in Noir. The revelations brought forth by Raimundo’s reports had elected furor from the Exsecratii and Elegere population of Noir, and the Ebony Guards held a press conference to announce their launching investigation into the “sarcophagi” dungeons and the Bale condominium chain. The follow-up piece mentioned that the board of directors of the apartment chain has been questioned for involvement with the Tombraiders.

Meanwhile, in Rosenkreuz. Minerva had visited the theater.

“Hello there, Minnie,” an antarean ticket taker said to the Arachnid. “Here to see a movie today?”

“What could’ve given you that impression, Delia?” Minerva coyly said. The Arachne had met her the other day and introduced to her the world of romantic comedies. Minerva had got a kick out of pointing out the question decision the couples in those films made and spend the previous day marathonning the movies. Delia was the employee she met that day and the two had hit it off fairly well.

“Which one will it be today?” Delia said. “We have Phantom Isle, Night at the Roxbury, La Libertad…”

“I heard there was a film about a Carolingian knight and an Albionian queen?” Minerva said.

“The Many Missteps of Ser duLac?” Delia said. “That’s screen in thirty minutes.”

Minerva purchased a ticket for the film, said her farewells to the clerk and entered the box office.

As she approached the room where the movie would be screen she bumped into another employee. The collusion caused him to drop a peculiar box.

“Oopsie,” the employee said “Sorry about that!” he picked up several objects. “Boss wanted me to move these to the other closet.”

Minerva noticed a strange film reel among the wares and picked it up. As she handed it to the man, she noticed her finger had a bit of black sludge on it. She wiped it off with a tissue and moved to the viewing room for The Many Missteps of Ser duLac. Blissfully unaware about what the reel she picked up truly was…