The mournful ruins of the once-great city sprawled around them like a desolate stone maze. With grey skies above and nothing but dead silence surrounding the cohort of six tense Sleepers, it seemed as though they were walking through a vast, cyclopean graveyard.
Levi was trying his best to keep his mind clean and his emotions in check. After all the hunter had said that the creatures around could sense emotions..
One wrong turn could land them in dire peril. In this ancient ruin, they had no choice but to entrust their lives to the hands of their guide.
He was walking just beside Sunny , when he took a look at him..
'uh..'
It seemed that Sunny's eyes couldn't keep themselves off of Effie's backside.. Levi quietly nudged him on the shoulder.
"Focus.." He mumbled quietly so the other women wouldn't hear. After all he didn't want to embarrass him. Not at this moment at least..
As for Sunny , he looked at me with narrowed eyes as if I was the one who was eyeing our guide.. Soon he turned forward , at least he was trying now..
Just like Effie had said, traversing the ruins turned out to be a slow ordeal. The huntress lead them through the complex maze of wide and narrow streets following a strange, convoluted path that only she knew. Often, they would have to stop and hide, waiting for some unseen danger to pass.
Sometimes they walked under the empty sky, sometimes they dove into the weathered buildings and spent some time crawling through the piles of rubble inside. Other times, Effie was able to lead them straight through half-collapsed houses to emerge into secluded alleyways on the other side.
Once or twice, they had even climbed to the rooftops and proceeded forward by walking on precariously rickety tiles or bared support beams, jumping across vast chasms and balancing on half-rotten planks of wood that had been placed there by someone to bridge especially wide gaps. During these moments, Levi carried Cassie on his back.
As for Shashi , the vampiric woman seemed to be a lot better now.
While walking through buildings , Levi saw that the interiors of these houses were incredibly well-preserved. It looked as if the inhabitants had just left days ago instead of years. It was surprising to say the least , surprising and eerie.
He was also able to clearly understand that Effie indeed knew the ruins very well. Everywhere they went, there were signs of her previous visits and preparations. From the planks placed across the gaps between roofs to the heavy slabs of stone used to hide improvised passages, it was apparent that she had spent years of meticulous effort turning large parts of this lethal maze into her own private hunting grounds.
He had gained a new respect for the seemingly carefree young woman. She almost made traveling through the cursed ruins look safe and easy.
However that was only Levi would have liked to think. In the dream realm nowhere was safe , maybe other than some citadels. And on this Dark City is was definitely not safe either.
Even terrifying Nightmare Creatures were not safe here.
More than once, they heard the distant sounds of claws scraping against stone, sensed the ground trembling under heavy footsteps, or noticed swift shadows falling through the clouds. In those moments, Effie would change their course on the fly or find a perfectly concealed hiding spot without fail.
Meeting her had indeed been a rare stroke of luck.
He looked at Sunny once again. It seemed this time he was focused , however Levi was not looking at him to see if he was focused or not.
Sunny was a decent scout too , additionally his shadow could also glide ahead of them to analyze the situation and take the best roads. However Levi did not know if it was safe or not , they had no idea if his shadow felt any emotions or would his gaze be felt by creatures. They would need to test it sometime.
... Soon, as the sun began to fall toward the horizon, they had finally reached the base of the hill on which stood the magnificent castle.
Depending on what happened next, their fates were going to change forever ... either for the better, or for the worse.
***
In the center of the cursed city, a tall hill towered above the ruins. At its base, an arch made of pristine white marble stood amidst the devastation. It was unscathed and spotless, as though protected from the entropic touch of the all-consuming darkness by some sublime force. Beyond the arch, a wide road paved with white stones scaled the hill.
Not turning her head, Effie said in a wistful tone:
"There are areas in the ruins that many Nightmare Creatures tend to avoid for some reason. The castle is one of these places. I was told that back when the original group of Sleepers came here hoping to carve a foothold in the city, there was only a single Spire Messenger nesting in the throne room, with no other monsters around. Those madmen actually managed to kill it."
Nephis gave her a glance.
"Spire Messenger?"
The huntress chuckled.
"Big ugly bastards with black feathers and pale bodies, you must have seen them hunting in the Labyrinth. They come from the Spire."
Changing Star hesitated.
"What are their rank and class?"
Effie shivered a little.
"Fallen beasts. That's why I said that those guys were a little mad. But they were a powerful bunch."
She grew silent and then added in a quiet voice:
"It must have taken a lot to kill them, in the end."
Brought into a solemn mood by that last statement, they continued forward in silence. The stone road coiled around the hill, slowly climbing its sheer slopes. Here and there, it was broken by long stretches of stairs and formidable, but strangely graceful fortifications. No one was standing guard, though. The whole road was empty.
Sunny gestured to one of the stone barricades and asked:
"Why are there no watchmen?"
Effie shrugged.
"Gunlaug has barely enough people to man the castle walls. They will notice anything that approaches the hill, though. The whole city is in clear view from up there, and there are different protective measures put in place. They have already spotted us, too."
Levi had been feeling a few gazes on himself , however after being gazed down by nightmare creatures.. sleepers did not really faze him. Especially when he was a dormant monster instead of a beast.. He still did not know how that had happened , after all humans were supposed to have only one soul core.
'I assume its only something Divine aspect holders can have.'
... After a long time walking up the coiling road of white stone, they finally reached the zenith of the hill and saw the mighty castle in all its glory.
Built from the same pristine marble as the arch at the base of the hill, it stretched into the sky like a white mountain made by human hands. The frontmost tower was wide and imposing, with a tall decorated gate and a grandiose staircase leading down from it to a vast stone platform that the road ended with.
On both sides of the frontmost tower, brought slightly forth, two other stood as bastions, connected to it with arched aerial bridges and accompanied by smaller companion towers of their own. Behind them, the main keep soared even higher, as though trying to challenge the menacing Crimson Spire that loomed above the world far in the distance.
Smaller towers, spires, and wings stood here and there, forming a complex and strangely harmonious formation.
The whole structure was incredibly beautiful, striking, and at the same time radiated a feeling of unassailable firmness. It was as though the castle was built for gods, not mortals.
The only thing that spoiled the picture were dozens of human skulls hanging above the gates on rusty chains.
His gaze fell lower, only now noticing dozens of crude, makeshift hovels huddled on the stone platform. They were built from fragments of rubble, rotting wood and pieces of monster hides, chaotically clinging to the stones as if afraid to be blown away by the wind.
An unpleasant, strangely familiar smell hit him in the nose a few moments later. It was the motley, but unmistakable stench of the slums. That stench was nothing like the poisonous reek of the outskirts, and at the same time exactly the same.
Levi immediately looked at Sunny with a smile , as he turned to look , he saw that he was already looking at him.
"Gee.. we are home." Sunny scowled.
"I suppose we are."
Between the hovels, gaunt and empty-eyed people were busy eking out their pitiful existences. They were dressed in a strange mix of dirty rags and shiny Memories, with those wearing armor standing out among the rest like rare oddities. Most of them were extremely young, barely older than Levi himself. He could smell their exhaustion and desperation even from where he was standing.
After all that struggle they had been through.. they were at the beginning once again.
'Fate has a good sense of humor..'
Suddenly Shashi spoke up to Effie:
"What do we do now?"
The huntress looked around and shrugged.
"It's going to get dark soon, so I would advise you to find a shelter before that. Look around for an empty hut. With how many people die each season, there's always plenty of those. Otherwise, two of you can pay the tribute and go into the castle. But the others will have to stay."
Changing Star lingered, then said:
"What about you?"
Effie grinned.
"What about me? That luxury one-bedroom cottage over there is mine. Mind you, it was built from the best kind of crap you can find here ... although it's still crap. Anyway, I am going home, preparing myself a hearty supper and then going to sleep. I'm dead tired from these last couple of days. Sorry, I don't host guests."
Nephis stared at her, obviously wanting to say more, but then simply nodded.
"I see. Thank you for everything you have done for us. I won't forget it."
Effie smiled, patted her on the shoulder and turned to the other 4.
"Bye doofus , dolls and pretty boy."
Levi's scoffed. 'What a flirt.'
With that, she began whistling a cheerful melody and walked away.
The five of them were suddenly left alone, lost and unsure about what to do. The inhabitants of the outer settlement didn't pay them a lot of attention, only occasionally throwing an indifferent glance at the five young strangers.
After a minute or so passed in disoriented silence, Changing Star hesitantly took out the two soul shards that they had collected from the remains of the Rolling Stone and looked at the glimmering crystals lying in her hand.
They had to make a decision.