Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Sift whistled. “Wow, he really pegged you.”

 “Why?” Ruwen asked. “Because of this?”

Ruwen summoned the Scarecrow Aspect and Ash leaped backward in shock and fright.

“Hell’s bells,” Ash cursed. “Not even a warning.”

Sift raised a hand. “Two questions. First, what warning did you expect, and two, what is ‘Hell’s bells?’”

Ruwen answered the first question. “He expected his Third Eye to warn him, but from his body language and expression I’m guessing something is wrong with his chakras.”

Ash returned and sat before turning to Sift. “Grandpa doesn’t like swearing so all the good curses are out.”

“That’s the second curse I’ve heard with ‘hell’ in it,” Sift said. “Is that a popular place?”

“Uh, no,” Ash replied. “It’s like full of demons and fire and suffering.”

“And bells,” Sift added. “I never noticed any bells or fire though.”

Ash’s eyes grew wide, and his voice rose in pitch. “Hell’s real!”

Ruwen spoke up before the conversation completely went off track. “What I showed you is called an Aspect, and yes, I believe it represents Famine. Or rather, your stories are based on the Aspect. Why is that so concerning?”

Ash only hesitated for a second, but Ruwen could tell the pause was out of character.

“I picked up a condition here, and it caused me to reconsider some of the religious stories I heard as a kid. It’s also become obvious those stories describe an event unrelated to religion, and everything that everyone believes about this planet is wrong. Like wrong wrong.”

Ash’s information matched what Lir had told Ruwen earlier. Ruwen didn’t mention anything about Ash’s dad or any of the other things Grandpa Pine had revealed. Discussing personal secrets would likely only upset Ash and Ruwen didn’t want to do that.

“I believe you, Ash,” Ruwen said. “I don’t think this planet is normal either. In fact, chances are the whole thing is a dungeon.”

Sift and Echo couldn’t conceal their shock.

Ash leaned forward. “You know that? Do you know who runs it? Or what it guards? Or why it needs help?”

“Help?” Ruwen repeated. “That’s new. Why do you say that?”

“It’s forcing me to push my chakra advancements.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

Ash shook his head. “No, this is about that debuff.”

That meant it related to the blood curse that mirrored Kane’s.

“It would take a deity to make a planet sized dungeon,” Echo said.

“I doesn’t think of itself as a god,” Ash replied. “I’m confident about that. If anything, I’d say it was dismissive of deities.”

That gave Ruwen pause. He trusted Ash’s intuition and that likely meant one thing.

Echo turned to Ruwen. “Is it him?”

Ruwen didn’t need to ask who Echo meant. He’d had the same thought.

Ruwen kept his tone even and soft. “It’s possible this place is the work of the Zealot, and he’s somewhere nearby. The power and skill required to construct this place coupled with the themes of religion make him a logical choice.”

Echo’s emotions whipsawed between hatred, rage, and fear.

“But I don’t think this is the work of the Zealot,” Ruwen said.

Ruwen wouldn’t reveal the first reason to anyone. Not yet. His newly amplified intuition had locked on to Lir’s obvious reluctance to discuss this dungeon during Grandpa Pine’s revelations about Ash’s dad, Kane. Eventually, Ruwen would discuss it with Lir, but Ruwen’s Heart and Third Eye resisted doing so now. Lir needed space as he worked to answer his own questions.

“Who is it then?” Sift asked. “You are terrible at telling stories.”

“I am? You—”

Echo interrupted Ruwen with a light touch on his arm.

Ruwen turned toward her and sighed. “Sorry. This planet, or this dungeon for that matter, doesn’t feel like the Zealot. The only people I know who would dismiss a deity’s power are from the Outerverse, and in the Destruction Realm I came across multiple people just like that.”

“So the Dungeon Master is from outside our Universe,” Sift stated.

Ash’s eyes widened and he quickly regulated his breathing, but he refrained from asking any questions.

Ruwen focused on Ash. “You mentioned earlier this dungeon might be guarding something. Any ideas what?”

“I’m not sure, but Relay, she’s a Scryer on our team, keeps seeing things like portals, gates, and bridges. Third Eye glimpses images like that sometimes but the dungeon can suppress my chakra magic when it wants, and it doesn’t like being studied.”

The pieces fell into place for Ruwen. “That suppression is another clue that this dungeon, or its Master, is from the Outerverse, and your Scryer’s visions are all the confirmation I need. I’m pretty sure I know what this place is guarding.”

Everyone stared at Ruwen expectantly.

Ruwen sighed. “To know for sure, I need to try something and I’m not sure what will happen.”

“That’s never slowed you down before,” Echo said.

“Despite how it looks, I usually have an inkling of what the consequences will be, even if I’m typically wrong. What I’m saying now, is that I truly have no idea what will happen.”

“Do it,” Sift said.

Echo put a hand in front of Ruwen. “Wait. Everyone warned me about this. If the two of you agree on something, I need to either stop it or get as far away as possible.”

“Everyone?” Sift asked. “Like who?”

“Lylan, Hamma, Rami, and Blapy to start. They mentioned others—Ky, Fluffy, Big D—”

Sift waved a hand, interrupting Echo. “That’s not a very trustworthy bunch. I think we can ignore them.”

“Seems like a lot of people,” Ash said.

“How about we start with an explanation,” Echo said. “What do you think this place is and what do you possess that worries you?”

“Boring,” Sift said.

A week ago, Ruwen would’ve never contemplated telling Echo anything related to the Universe’s secrets. A lot had changed in the last week though, and it didn’t feel right hiding things from her. He’d already accepted her as one of them.

“The Outerverse is filled with universes,” Ruwen said, “and each is owned or controlled by a different faction. What surrounds all these universes is something called the Void. A grey nothingness that holds its own mysteries. The important thing is this Void is fatal to almost every being in existence. Void Wyrms have an ability to build bridges between these universes which allows for safe travel between them. As you’ve probably guessed, our universe, while isolated, has one of these bridges.”

Ruwen didn’t mention he could survive the Void because his bond with Rami had transferred some of her Void Wyrm abilities. Or that the path he traveled, merging all the differing magics, might result in an ultra-powerful state called a Voidwalker.

“Our bridge had a lock, and I think a guardian both inside and outside our Universe. This lock kept anyone from the Outerverse, if they found our bridge through the Void, from entering our Universe and disturbing the experiment running here.”

Echo’s and Ash’s curiosity flared at the mention of an experiment, and Ruwen held up a hand to stall them. “We can talk about that later. The point is a lot of effort went into keeping us hidden and isolated from the Outerverse, including a lock on the doorway between the bridge and our Universe.”

All of them understood now, but Ruwen stated the last part anyway. “I believe this planet-sized dungeon is here, in part, to guard that door.”

“And to confirm that you wanted to do what?” Echo asked.

“I believe I possess the key that unlocks the portal to the Outerverse bridge, although its more complicated than just holding it. When I produce the key, it acts like a compass and will lead me to the door it unlocks.”

“Why is that dangerous?” Sift asked.

“There are two reasons that jump to mind,” Ruwen replied. “First, the key isn’t complete. I think it’s missing a bunch of necessary components. Second, it’s kind of changed since I received it, and it might be broken or defective. That’s why I’m so uncertain what will happen this so close to the actual lock.”

“A third reason,” Echo offered, “is the inside guardian thinks you’re a threat because you hold the key, or because you damaged it, or you skipped some type of important step, and it obliterates you and your companions.”

“That’s a valid point,” Ruwen replied. “But it’s not like the key came with directions.” He frowned. “’Skipping a step’ is an odd thing to bring up. Why did you say that? Do you know something about the key?”

“No, I was just thinking of something Kysandra mentioned to Blapy that I accidentally overheard.”

“Accidentally,” Sift repeated. “Right.”

Ruwen’s Third Eye flared as did his Root chakra but the dungeon suppressed the spike in energy immediately, snuffing whatever information had triggered them.

“Who’s Blapy and Kysandra?” Ash asked.

Sift answered. “Blapy is the manifestation of the Black Pyramid dungeon and a clone of the goddess Miranda. She’s complicated, but helpful, in a mean way. Kysandra is the Dungeon Mistress, a peerless spy, and a merciless warden that kept a heroic young man locked away in a dungeon until his overwhelming brilliance allowed him to escape her clutches.”

“Where did that come from?” Ruwen asked. “The more you talked the less it sounded like you.”

“Really? Rami only helped me a little with that. Okay, maybe a lot. She’s writing a book about me. I’m helping by making a list of good titles.”

“Why would Rami—” Ruwen stopped, closed his eyes, and shook his head. “No. You know what? It doesn’t matter.” He faced Ash, thinking about the motorcycle in the shed. “You’ve met Blapy already. She’s usually in the form of a little girl. Which can be just as scary as her wyrm form. Kysandra is a high-level Shade and you’d never see her unless she wanted you to. She’s also a Grandmaster of our Steps, so you’d likely die before you realized she was there. I guess I’m trying to say it’s good thing you’ve never met her.”

Ash absorbed the information. “I call her Bruja, and I agree she’s terrifying.”

“What were we talking about?” Ruwen asked.

“Sorry,” Ash said, “this time I sidetracked us.” He shook his head. “There’s a hypnotic pull to your chaotic conversations. My Throat chakra can barely detect it.” He looked between Ruwen and Sift. “You two are poster kids for ADHD. You know there’s medicine for that, right.”

Sift flexed his arms. “I don’t know about ADHD, but no medicine is entering this temple.”

Ruwen held up a finger for each item. “Jelleybeans, cookies, donuts when you thought I wasn’t looking, a charred corn tortilla, and more jellybeans. All things you’ve eaten in the last hour. How is that body a temple.”

Sift responded by pointing to his bicep.

Ash turned to Echo. “It isn’t always like this, is it?”

Echo sighed. “It’s better when Hamma, Rami, or Lylan is around. I haven’t figured out how to navigate their conversations yet.”

Ruwen frowned at Sift’s new deity Fortified bicep. Instead of admitting Sift really did look in peak health, he turned to Echo. “There’s nothing wrong with how we talk. The important stuff always comes out.”

“Which is why nobody tries to change it,” Echo responded. “Despite how frustrating listening to the two of you gets. I couldn’t recreate this conversation if I tried. That report Kysandra gave Blapy was the last thing on my mind, and yet, I would bet its critical information you need. How is that possible?” She turned to Ash. “There’s a magic to it? Right? You said your chakra thing sensed something.”

“Chakras,” Ash said. “You have eight of them. And I’m not sure about the magic. But I almost hear a cadence to it, like a steady drip you’ve heard for hours but only suddenly notice.”

Ruwen snapped his fingers. “We were talking about ’skipping steps.’ What did Ky say to Blapy about me?”

“It’s like magic,” Echo said, and shrugged. “Ky told Blapy the Muses are frantic that you disappeared after triggering the Ink Lord Conclave. Some ceremony or tradition wasn’t followed. Basically, a critical step was skipped. That’s why that phrase came to mind when you were describing this bridge key. Which you never finished explaining.”

Ruwen considered the new information. “Well, how important could this ceremony be? It’s a bunch of librarians. I need to go see them anyway. They owe me rewards for crushing that Alchemy contest. I’ll go see them when I’m done here.”

“And the key?” Echo prompted.

“Oh, yeah,” Ruwen said. “So when I dissolved in the Destruction Realm and reformed in that Saraph body some of my gear and buffs and stuff kind of merged with me.”

“Stuff…kind of…merged with you,” Echo repeated.

“Exactly. The key is really a sword. And I think to activate the key I need to find all thirty-two golems because they’re each pictured on the blade, starting with that never around when you need him Misfortune golem, Tarot.”

“And this sword-key is where now?” Echo asked.

Ruwen held up his hands. “I have two now. It’s like my arms turned into sheathes because when I summon the swords they emerge from my wrists instantly.”

“Shifty-sense and retractable sword-claws,” Ash said. “You guys really are out of a comic book.”

“Oh, they get a lot weirder than that,” Echo said. “But first, I want you to see something they’re actually good at.”

“That’s a really long list, Echo,” Sift said seriously.

Echo laughed, which seemed to surprise her. She recovered quickly and spoke to Ash. “These two think they’re clever, and maybe they are since they forced me to see the issue with your advancement.”

“You figured it out?” Ash asked excitedly.

“Not completely, but I discovered what had stopped our progress.”

“What was it?” Ash asked. “Can you tell me? What’s blocking me?”

Echo considered a moment before responding. “Me.”

Echo stood and everyone else did as well. She bowed to Ruwen and Sift. “Thank you, Brothers.”

“What do you want us to do?” Sift asked.

“I’m unsure what will help Ash the most, so let’s start with what the two of you do best. Fight.”