Long wait, I know. Excuses ... I've got nothing.
But to make up for that, here's the longest chapter yet! A bit of a breather, too.
No, I totally did not write this in the last ten hours, wtf.
*
VI. Sequence of Yearning
Something was smacking repeatedly into Sirius’s side. He wished it wouldn’t, because it kept him from believing that he was happily dead. He was content to remain in the darkness whirling around him forever, and though a thousand garbled sounds rang in his ears, it was merely white noise that he would happily sink into. He could forget everything quite easily here, which was lucky because, for the first time, he wanted nothing more than to forget absolutely everything.
He was treated with only a few seconds of this bliss, however; the blackness suddenly gained streaks of vivid color, which grew broader and more vibrant as they spun. From the depths of the meaningless noise a single voice emerged, its echoing quality fading as it grew clearer.
“—nora’s team arriving in approx—
five! We have a tagalong incoming!"
His motion came to an abrupt halt as the colors around him solidified, dumping him back into the world with an unceremonious
thump. His mind only had time to sluggishly decide that the hard surface beneath him was a floor; then there was a soft whooshing sound behind him, followed by a sharp blow to the back of his head, nearly snapping his neck from the sudden whiplash.
“HA! Take that, you foul would-be ruffian! Thought you’d infiltrate this base that easily, did you? Well, you sure as hell picked the wrong place! Let’s skin your—”
“
Broderick!” another voice snarled, and the first was cut off with an abrupt squeal. “That is
enough. This is the third time, you thickheaded buffoon! Three strikes equals no more chances!”
“And no more chances,” a third voice chimed in, “equals
you’re fired. We’ve warned you not to jump to conclusions about tagalongs, you know.”
“But – but – I – but—” The first voice spluttered indignantly. “You can’t – you can’t
fire me! I’m the most effective Badge traffic guy you’ve got—”
“You might want to recheck your dictionary,” the second voice growled. “Effective. I don’t think that word means what you think it means. You have ten minutes to pack your stuff.”
“Well – I’ll take this up with—”
“With who?” the third voice asked coolly. “Ariana? You do realize that she wanted you kicked out the
first time you pulled this, don’t you? We defended you then. We’re firing you now. Ten minutes.”
There was a moment of tense silence. Then a swift pattering of feet was heard slapping against the floor, growing gradually softer.
“Report?” the second voice asked, as if nothing had happened.
“She’s dead,” Lenora said huskily, and there was a sound of something soft scraping gently against the floor. “It was an Archangel.”
A sharp hiss. “Ambassadors’ Union won’t be pleased. Which Archangel?”
“The Togetic, what's-his-name.”
“Damn. Gideon, send a notice for an emergency mission, won’t you?”
“Already done.
Your mission, Lenora?”
“Successful, I’ll guess. Headed straight back from the Fields just a few hours ago.”
“And the Houndour?”
“James brought him. Said the poor pup’d been in the Fields when he first saw him. He’s a Pilgrim.”
“A Pilgrim in a mystery dungeon?”
“Apparently. Look, these kids are hurt. Where’s Charity?”
“Running a bit late. Our, er,
guest had a bit of an urgent need.”
“Course he did.”
“Smashed skulls have that unfortunate effect. Now about the Houndour, we should send him up to—”
“
No.” Lenora’s voice thundered echoingly. “He needs
rest. Poor thing’s been through enough for the day.”
“He’ll need to see them as soon as possible. You know that.”
“At least let him
sleep!” The words rang in the air for a while, punctuated only by heavy breathing. Then the floor trembled slightly as heavy footsteps drew close. “Look at him, you two. He’s
shaking. Poor thing’s been traumatized through and through. He watched
him tear her eyes out. I heard him scream. James and Blair here were trained to expect that sort of thing. He wasn’t.”
A pause, followed by a sigh. “You’re right, Lenora. I apologize. They do need sleep … but first – Blair! Yes, you. Repeat the fourth line on the obelisk in the Fields.”
“’These strange aeons unravel, vast corpses in the storm,’” was the recited reply, though in a slightly unsteady voice. “Can I head up to the hospital wing now?”
“Sure thing. Congratulations, by the way. Lenora, you want to take them all up?”
“Better believe it.” She patted the prostrate dog’s back, her powerful paw feeling surprisingly soft. “It’s okay, hon,” she murmured, before gently grasping the scruff of his neck in her teeth and setting him down on her furry back. “You can rest now, Sirius. You’re
safe.”
With that, his body, as if it had been awaiting permission, relaxed into a limp sprawl at her words; eyelids drooped shut as he sank into the comforting blackness of sleep.
*
Someone lightly shook him awake.
“Hnngh …?” His eyes slid open, stretching the cracked residue of dried tears. He didn’t want to wake up, not to this world of monsters; but the security of sleep was already melting away.
“Good evening,” a voice whispered sweetly from above. “I’m so sorry to be disturbing your rest like this, but they need you to get up. The Overlords are expecting you.”
With a sleepy grunt, Sirius pushed himself into a sitting position, taking in the sharp scents of the large room. A hospital, he decided. Then he froze, realizing he had just come face to face with a huge feathery pink-and-white egg.
“ … I don’t even …” he blurted thoughtlessly.
She giggled. “I’m Nurse Charity, at your service. Nice to see you awake!”
Extending a stubby arm, she helped him get off of his cot, letting him have a moment to get his footing before turning and leading him across the stony floor. A few more strange creatures passed them, moving from light to shadow as they passed the golden sunlight shining through tall high-set windows. One of the creatures seemed to be on fire; he turned his head to stare as it crawled past, wondering how it didn’t melt the floor as it moved. Upon nearly tripping over his own paws, though, he decided to keep his focus on following the giant egg.
One cot was completely surrounded by curtains. As they passed, a low moan emanated from whatever poor soul lay inside, a quiet, tired, anguished moan that spoke more of pain than any raw-throated scream ever could. Sirius shuddered, his pace morphing into a trot.
Outside of the hospital wing stretched a long hall bustling with activity – so many strange things – Sirius wasn’t quite sure he had really woken up. A gentle push from the egg brought him out of his disbelief, though, and she directed him towards three creatures in particular who appeared to be waiting for them.
“Sirius, is it?” said one of them, a large lavender cat whose voice Sirius recognized from his earlier terrified haze. “I hope you’re rested enough. If not, our apologies; we’ve already stretched the rules enough, not sending you to the Overlords immediately.”
“The Four Overlords,” a tall black fox went on, noticing Sirius about to ask, “are the rulers of Asphodel – that’s the land we’re in, by the way. They’ve been doing research for ages on Pilgrims—”
“—amnesiac guys like you who just show up out of nowhere,” the cat clarified. “But the Overlords are pretty sure they come from
somewhere, so they’re trying to figure out—”
“—where they came from, how they got here—”
“—why they left, if they left willingly—”
“—why they never remember anything—”
“—if their past memories can be unlocked—”
“—and the general workings of an age-old mystery!”
They beamed at him. He failed to notice this, however, as his brain was spinning too much.
“They’re twins,” Nurse Charity explained, sounding as if she was rolling her eyes.
“Yes indeed.” The black fox wagged his tail briefly, the yellow rings on his body growing a little brighter. “I’m Fabian—”
“—and I’m Gideon,” the cat finished. “Deputies of Team Phoenix, that’s us.”
Sirius opened his mouth, tried to think of something relevant to say, came up with absolutely nothing, realized he looked stupid, and clammed up again.
“Much as we’d love to stay and chat,” Gideon said after an awkward pause, “we’ve got a meeting with the Head of the Ambassadors’ Union. You can bet your black bottom they won’t be happy that we let one of their own get killed right under our noses.”
“So if you have any questions, concerns, or meaningless complaints, Blair here will be happy to take them for you,” Fabian added, tilting his head to gesture at the third, and so far the quietest member of the little group. “You met Blair, didn’t you? Almost died together or something? Splendid! Now follow him over to the Castle, there’s a good pup.”
With that they trotted off side by side, tails swishing in unison behind them.
“Those two,” sighed Nurse Charity, shaking her body in the way that most people would shake their head. “Well, you’d better be off then. When you come back here, could you drop by me first? I want to change that bandage, check on that burn again, you know. Sirius, dear, you can rest at the hospital wing as long as you like, so until then try not to fall asleep on your feet, all right?”
As she waved them off, Sirius got a good look at his blue companion for the first time. He stood quite a bit taller than the Houndour, though still not as tall as Fabian and Gideon. His light blue fur seemed to faintly glow in the light of each hall window they passed, providing even more of a contrast to the royal blue fur adorning his waist. A large shell hung at each hip, swinging slightly with each step he took.
“So … Sirius, huh?” Blair finally said. “Nice to finally meet you. Meet you for real, I mean, because I don’t think almost getting killed by Veel and blood loss and fire and smoke and Archangels and various other dangerous things would count. Where’re you from?”
Sirius frowned at the question. Where
was he from? He hadn’t really considered that particular mystery yet, wrapped up instead in his mysterious past. What sort of city had he lived in? Maybe a large imposing place, or a humble little town full of smiling people? Or maybe he’d lived in the country, fending for himself in a vast wilderness.
“I don’t know,” he said at length. “I’m a Pilgrim.”
Blair’s mouth morphed into a perfect O-shape. “Huh, that’s right,” he said. “I forgot about that. But we’re heading out to the Castle
because you’re a Pilgrim, aren’t we. I remember now. That was what Fabian and Gideon were talking about before, weren’t they …?”
“Yeah, they were,” Sirius said, feeling a familiar confusion creep up on him as they passed through a large door at the end of the hall and stepped outside. Several tall buildings loomed over them all along the broad street, creating a view of wood and stone that looked positively rich in the evening light. As they set off to the right, Sirius noted that many of them seemed to be small castles spaced neatly apart from each other – including, to his surprise, the one they had just left. “So … I guess you must not have met many Pilgrims, then.”
“Oh, but I have!” Blair said, nodding in passing at a weasel in silvery armor. “I’m a Pilgrim myself, actually!”
“You’re—!”
“I know! Part of the Great Pilgrimage, in fact. That was a whole five years ago. I think. I don’t remember anything from before either. Maybe we’re actually dead … nah. That wouldn’t make any sense. But anyway, loads and loads and loads of people came in during the Great Pilgrimage … me and Lenora and Nurse Charity … a lot of nurses, actually … then there’s Duchess Caitlin and her consort … my pal Bianca … her friend Joey … Bill the science guy … Cynthia from Team Impact … that crazy Eusine … oh, and Cheren, can’t forget about him … I think that’s it. Well, maybe a few more that I can’t remember were there too. I’m a Dewott, by the way. Anyway, it’s weird being a Pilgrim, isn’t it? I remember when I was brought to the Castle myself. Some street kid, I think it was a Pichu, or maybe a Pachirisu. Unless it was a Wailmer? But yeah, somebody threw a flower at me. It was a nice gesture, though I think it would’ve been nicer to take it out of the pot first …”
Blair’s voice went on and on for so long that the words stopped meaning anything, which was fine with Sirius because he wasn’t in the mood to go cross-eyed. His attention went to their surroundings instead. They crossed an intersection clogged with even more strange creatures carting various goods, the traffic pausing and pulling back and pushing forward as each attempted to navigate their own path. Its overall movement was not so much of a flow as it was a trickle; more than once Sirius caught sight of someone actually napping on their paws, only to be nudged awake by a grumbling neighbor as their cluster edged forwards again.
They passed a towering fountain carved into strange shapes: a huge spiked monster, its head arched towards the sky as water bubbled up from its jaws, while the two smaller shapes faced it with stances that might have been defiant once but now, after years of wear, only seemed tired. Water trickled through their mouths and eye sockets, splattering against pits in the monster’s hide which Sirius assumed were wounds. At its base stood a small sign whose words were all but illegible beneath the graffiti, one could still make out the hopeful phrase:
Donations to Team Conundrum (Treasure Provinces).
Despite the sign, though, the fountain held only water.
As the road beneath them thinned slightly and passed emerald-green lawns on either side, Sirius was struck by a sudden, horrible thought. “James!” he exclaimed, mostly unaware that he was cutting off Blair’s monologue about the perils of water balloons. “Is he still alive? Is he okay? He was in the hospital, probably, since his face was cut open and … oh no. He died, didn’t he? I saw him there, he was all crumpled on the ground and—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” Blair waved his forepaws as if to fend off the Houndour’s wave of speculation. “James is perfectly fine! Better than I am, actually. Only some heatstroke, at least that’s what Nurse Charity said. I think. And maybe a bit of ego coming down around his ears, too, I heard that his parents actually came over and started chewing him out about going on the mission. Because apparently he wasn’t supposed to go on the mission without talking to them first, see, which is pretty reasonable since I’ve never heard of someone graduating apprenticeship without at least getting tired enough to sleep through two days. Though I did hear that Ariana did it in like two days and didn’t even break like a claw or
anything. And maybe somebody else, like …”
But he’d seen James there, collapsed beneath him, through the haze of heat and smoke. Or was it terror? The Deerling hadn’t moved, he was sure of that. His face had been slashed wide open like the fox’s, dripping blood and all manner of foulness from a new gaping hole … but the angel … was it called a Togetic? An Archangel? The thing hadn’t come near them, at least not until the very end. So James wasn’t dead after all. Except that he was. How could he be dead and alive at the same time?
“Here we are!” Blair cheered, gesturing up at the enormous stone castle that appeared suddenly before them. He frowned, squinting over at some sort of commotion at its base. “But what’s that going on over there, hmm …?”
Sirius, jerking out of his brooding, noted that in spite of the towering castle’s sheer size, it didn’t look nearly as impressive as he might have imagined. It was surrounded by more lawns rather than a moat, and no drawbridge yawned imperiously to greet them. Instead there were a couple ordinary doors spaced here and there along its side, with windows glinting in several other places.
He voiced his opinion, and Blair replied with a laugh, “Well, of course not! This is going in by the back way, after all. The front looks much nicer, but it’s for important people. And by important I mean more important than us. But there’s a bit of a scuffle here, it seems.” He pointed at one of the doors, which was partially ajar; two broad-shouldered, burly guards had just stepped through it, each keeping a firm hold on a dainty-looking creature wearing a pale yellow dress. Her hair was tied back in a thick black ponytail, which was bobbing up and down slightly as she struggled in vain to break free from her captors’ grip.
“And stay out!” one of the guards growled, before he and his companion tossed her several feet away. With satisfied huffing, the two of them turned and marched back inside, slamming the door behind them with an echoing bang.
She hit the ground with a squeak, and at the impact a few vividly colored small objects flew from her dress. With a gasp she scooped them up and stuffed them back in, though where exactly they had gone was a complete mystery.
Shadows fell across her. She looked up.
“Hello!” Blair said cheerfully, giving her a wave.
Sirius, who seemed to be alone in observing the colored objects, frowned thoughtfully. “Are you all right, miss?”
She rolled her red eyes, but it was so brief that he couldn’t be sure he’d really seen it. Clearing her throat, she spoke up in a fairly high voice. “Oh, d-don’t mind me,” she stammered, getting to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster. “I’ll b-be quite all right. It’s j-just a m-misunderstanding I’ve gotten into, that’s all.” She sighed, pushing her black bangs out of her face. “They have such t-trouble remembering my face. If you’ll excuse me …”
“She seems nice,” Blair said, watching her go with mild interest. Then he shrugged. “Not that it matters, since we’ll never see her again. Such is life.”
As they made those few final steps towards the castle, something sparkly in the grass caught Sirius’s eye. It was one of those things the girl had dropped, he realized; its deep green color ensured that the surrounding grass concealed it almost perfectly. He considered calling her back to point this out, but a glance over his shoulder revealed that she had somehow vanished. With that possibility out of the question, he instead made a mental note to remember its location.
Blair knocked on the door, and was consequently almost knocked off of his paws as it was opened immediately by a guard who appeared to be made entirely of rocks. “NOW LOOK HERE, WE TOLD YOU TO — oh.” The guard paused mid-bellow, frowning down at the two. He lowered his four arms, looking slightly abashed. “Sorry. I thought that … well, doesn’t matter. You here on business?”
“Yep! I’m Blair from Team Phoenix, sir—” He pulled something small and shiny out of nowhere, letting it flash at the guard for a second before returning it to wherever it had come from. “—and this is my buddy Sirius. He’s a nifty guy.” He glanced around, as if wary of eavesdroppers, and then added in a near whisper, “He’s a Pilgrim.”
The guard nodded. “Come on in, then,” he said, pushing the door open for them.
Beyond the door they found a dark corridor, and as it shut boomingly behind them the room fell into complete blackness save for a few candles weakly lighting the way. “This way,” he grunted, pushing to the front and stomping off into the shadows. They followed, and Sirius felt his ears flatten against his skull as the gloom swallowed them. He tried not to think of his first memory, the darkness and the screaming.
Only a couple of minutes passed, though, before they felt the ground beneath them tilt upwards and the earth turn to stone, and by the time they leveled out again the air smelled fresh again, with hints of other flavors – Sirius’s nostrils flared, and he let himself smile a little at the faint scents of rose and cinnamon.
“Well,” the guard finally said as they reached another, rather ornately carved door. “Here we are.”
He stepped back, gesturing for them to go ahead. Sirius obediently started forward, only to stop again as Blair pushed him back. He then did something that Sirius thought was very strange: he stomped on the floor three times, then broke into a sudden tap-dance, paws pattering and claws clicking against the stone. Before the Houndour had time to fully register this, the Dewott paused for a couple of seconds, then stomped again and smacked a wall, which gave way beneath his paw.
The guard chuckled. “Good on you, Blair of Team Phoenix.”
Sirius could only stare for a moment as he watched Blair step through the new opening. Then he cautiously followed, mind still reeling from what he had just seen. As he passed the still-shut door he thought he could hear a faint sound: something chittering hungrily. He shuddered, quickly deciding not to imagine what could be behind it.
They emerged into a dimly lit room that seemed to be a study, lined with books and richly carpeted. A few comfy-looking armchairs faced a lit fireplace, and seated in one of them was one of the oddest creatures Sirius had yet seen. Its blue, decorated body was vaguely bell-shaped, and from the top of it grew a pair of flat arms. Said arms were currently holding a book, which for some reason was concealing its lower body.
“Ah,” it said, and its metallic-sounding voice could be construed as a male’s. He closed his book, revealing a pair of unblinking red eyes that skimmed briefly across the newcomers. “You’ve arrived at last. Thank you, Liam.”
“Sir,” the guard grunted, raising its hand in some form of a salute. He turned and stomped through the hole in the wall, which then closed up again, making it impossible to tell that there was anything behind that expanse of dark wood.
The giant bell than floated out of his chair. Sirius was only a little astonished at this; he was starting to suspect that everything in this place was mind-bendingly strange.
“Good evening to you, Blair and Sirius. The Overlords have been waiting. Please follow me.”
Outside the study stretched a vast hallway, similarly-carpeted; they set off, and their paws sunk into it with each step, making no noise at all. Sirius strained his hearing, but the quiet was only broken by faint whisperings from some distant part of the castle. Flickering lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting eerie shadows.
“A-are you an Overlord?” Sirius asked nervously, as much to break the silence as out of curiosity.
Soft clanging emanated suddenly from the bell. Sirius jumped, but at the sight of Blair’s grin, he decided that it was probably a strange form of laughter.
“You flatter me, Sirius,” said the bell, regaining his composure. “But I am not as noble a being as those you will soon meet. I am but a mere Bronzong, Lucian by name. I am charged to escort Pilgrims such as yourself to them, but that is the extent of my importance. Unless one considers the scholar as an important figure, which so few do, at least these days.”
“Oh.” Sirius cringed inwardly as they rounded a corner, half expecting some great beast to leap out at them with outstretched claws. “Er … so what are they like?”
“Very powerful, and very wise,” Lucian replied. “Rowena is particularly renowned for her intelligence. They are scholars themselves, and much more learned than I. They are warriors and rulers, and it is they who speak to visiting gods.”
“Gods?” Sirius glanced at Blair, who was strolling leisurely beside him. “What do you mean by gods?”
“By gods I mean beings with such vast powers as to manipulate whatever they wish. But to the Overlords they grant some degree of respect. It is a simple thing to build a reputation over the course of a thousand years, after all.”
“What, the gods?”
“I mean the Overlords.”
Sirius’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. Blair grinned again at his expression.
“No, I don’t know how they accomplished such a thing. But you need not understand much about the Overlords. They are not as mystical as one might assume from their age, and it is really not particularly difficult to talk with them. After all, they are extremely … reasonable … oh—”
Lucian paused before another corner, suddenly looking nervous.
“What?” Sirius asked, apprehension beginning to claw at his belly. He looked to Blair again, but the Dewott’s usual smile had morphed into wide-eyed surprise, perhaps even fear. “They’re … they’re not that bad, are they? It’s not as if I’m on trial or anything, is it?”
“That,” a new, sleek voice replied, “is a matter of perspective.”
Sirius froze. Dread flooded through him as he peeked past the others, wondering what they were staring at.
This time there was something around the corner – a towering green something. His long body stretched a good ways behind him, decorated with curling patterns of yellow and darker green. His narrow head, also patterned, stretched forward to reveal a pure white neck and a pair of hornlike scales. For a moment he simply studied them, his red eyes calculating. Then he smirked.
“Thank you, Lucian,” he said. “I don’t believe you’ve examined the Pilgrim yet?”
“W-w-w, w-well—” Lucian fidgeted, a movement that would have otherwise been quite funny. “It doesn’t exactly work, of course, with dark-types—”
“Yes, that is obvious,” the serpent interrupted coolly. “Pilgrim, come forward.”
Sirius swallowed. The massive snake could probably crush him in those coils with ease, or swallow him whole, or whatever else snakes did. There was nothing else to be done, though, and he forced himself to take each uncertain step towards the creature, feeling like he might sink right into the carpet under his gaze. And something else niggled at the corner of his brain:
What does he mean, dark-type …?
Then the serpent’s eyes met his own, and the red within those eyes expanded wider, wider, wider, out of his eyes and past his head, swallowing up the hallway and the castle until the whole world was filled with that scarlet gaze and everything revolved around those pupils, and he was only part of this world, and must abide by its laws or fall prey to its dangers, and it wanted him to open his mouth and he did, and it wanted him to speak and he spoke, and everything was red, so red—
He blinked. Nothing had changed around him, nothing at all, though he felt slightly dizzy as the serpent looked past him.
“Not a spy,” he said, sounding unconcerned. “I dislike having to do your job for you, Lucian. No, stop groveling, I understand your limitations … Follow me, Sirius. I will take you the rest of the way.”
He whipped around, body trailing behind him, and began to slither away. Sirius looked apologetically back at Blair and Lucian, both still fearful, and darted off to follow the snake.
They emerged from the dark hall and into a magnificent, brightly lit chamber, its floor and walls and ceiling and columns and adjacent stairways all glinting with polished marble. The serpent, not bothering to check if the squinting Sirius was following, turned to the left and headed towards a simply enormous pair of doors at the far end of the chamber, his scales just as soundless on the floor as on the carpet. Naturally, Sirius felt highly self-conscious at the sound his claws made, echoes of clacking against marble.
Yet the sheer beauty of the place was overwhelming. He stared up as he walked, openmouthed; vast windows near the ceiling stretched nearly from one end of the chamber to the other, admitting torrents of evening sunlight that stretched across great swathes of the place to turn white marble to shades of orange and gold. Stained-glass murals dotted the walls beneath them, twinkling in the light; what they depicted exactly escaped him, yet he was sure he could make out a few distant shapes: a raging inferno, spitting sparks – a towering tree, branches curled – a frowning storm, casting bolts of lightning – a looming mountain, capped with snow … they all seemed to tell a story, one just out of his ability to read. He raised his gaze a little, and a peculiar crest embedded in the ceiling, composed of emeralds and sapphires and topaz and rubies, sparkled down at him. He found that he liked it most of all; for some reason, in spite of everything that had intimidated him so far, he felt as if he had at last come home.
Everything was so incredible, so dazzling and light and
real, that he almost forgot about the nameless horrors of the previous nights and the immensely powerful beings he was about to face.
Almost.
“We have arrived.”
Sirius blinked, drifting back down to earth as he came to a sudden halt.
The serpent dextrously curled the end of his leafy tail around the two glimmering door handles. He paused, then looked down at Sirius for the first time since the dark hallway. The Houndour half expected to fall into the red world again, but the serpent seemed just a little thoughtful. “… Remember what transpires behind these doors,” he said at length. “Perhaps, if you are cunning enough to put everything together …” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Well, I suppose we shall see.”
And with that, letting Sirius puzzle over his words, the serpent pulled the massive doors open.