Empyrean 31: From The Edge Of Madness

Amelia, here! :) 

Hi everyone. Just a couple of things to note in this chapter: The resistance has an official name now. I have gone back to change it in previous chapters, but just in case you are confused about what 'The Insurgence' is, that's what they are referring to.

Secondly, I changed how Adalinda's new trait works with her new form. She has +5 Dexterity and a speed boost now. 

Thanks, as always, for reading, and any feedback is welcome!

****

I heard something crash and break, with Eoman’s raging scream echoing through the safehouse. And I could not blame him. Of all people, Celeste would be the last I expected to be the traitor. I walked back into the chamber.

“What is going on?” I asked, acting as if I didn’t hear their conversation.

When the Raccoon leader met my gaze, it felt as though his eyes were piercing through me. His face had swollen slightly, and there was a vein showing itself on his usually porcelain-like skin. “We found the mole,” he growled, pointing to Celeste.

I looked at the woman, who was cowering on the floor and covering her face.

“Maybe we should let her explain,” I said gently.

“What could she possibly have to say?” Eoman snapped.

“That’s why I think we should ask,” I said, a little irritated at his reaction to me. “She deserves that, at least.”

The leader said nothing, continuing to stare down at Celeste.

“Making decisions in this state of mind isn’t wise,” I warned.

The Raccoon leader let out a heavy sigh. “Speak, woman,” he said, taking a seat on the bed.

Celeste looked up from the floor at me and mouthed a thank you. Her face had melted into a tragic stare, and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her in that moment. Whatever she had done, I truly believed she had a reason—even if it may not have been a good one.

“I have been working with Arinna for as long as I can remember,” she said. “She sent me to you originally so I could keep an eye on the poor quarter. Then the trouble with the Devils started.”

I looked at Eoman, who was gritting his teeth. The muscle in his jaw moved ever so slightly, but he said nothing.

“Arinna didn’t care much about what happened, but she didn’t want a full out war to break out,” Celeste continued. “She told me to make sure that, by whatever means, I needed to make sure that the poor quarter’s issues didn’t bleed into the new city.”

“So, you took it upon yourself to sabotage me?” Eoman snapped.

Celeste sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “The Raccoons’ strength was dwindling from the start. The goddess suggested that if I work with the Devils, I could quickly assure that the tension would die.”

“I find it strange that Arinna would say that,” I chipped in.

“I don’t,” Eoman said plainly before turning his attention back to Celeste. “Why did you confess?”

“I realized the mistake I had made after the Devils attacked,” Celeste said, her voice breaking a little. “Despite my help, they still hurt me. They still tore away my dignity. I was only trying to serve my goddess.”

The silver-haired woman stopped talking, tears flowing down her cheeks. She turned her gaze straight toward Eoman with a pleading look.

He sighed and swallowed back some words. I could see that, because of his nature, he wanted to make a fair decision.

“You will leave this place immediately,” he said. “And you will not return.”

Celeste stood up and started begging him to not let her go. But, without much hesitation, he put his hand up and silenced her. Standing up from his seat, he said nothing, merely gesturing to the door. The silver-haired woman turned away slowly, facing me for a moment, and walked out the door.

“Why don’t you find it strange that Arinna wanted to sabotage you?” I asked when she left.

“I trust Odenna told you about The Insurgence,” he said. “Arinna knows about my involvement in it. I don’t know how much Celeste knows, but that woman has been trying to make my life difficult for years.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant. What he said made sense, and it made me wonder more about The Insurgence. Were they really that big of a threat to Arinna?

“Thank you for stepping in,” he continued, interrupting my thoughts. “I would have done something I would have regretted later.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I said softly. “Can I take my leave now? I am exhausted.”

“Of course,” he said. “There is a room Odenna is using that you can share with her. It’s just across from mine.”

Without another word, I stepped out of the room. As I exited, I was faced with Soren.

“So?” my brother asked.

“So what?”

“Did you get to him in time? You raced down the stairs so quickly,” he said.

“I did,” I said. “You’ll never guess who the traitor was.”

I filled Soren in on the events of the morning, telling him everything that happened with Eoman and Celeste. He held his hand in front of his mouth in shock, not saying anything until I was finished. And, even then, he didn’t have much to add.

“I’m going to sleep now,” I said. “Find me later. We still need to talk about what happened when I left the Raccoon base.”

“Sure,” he said. “Sleep well, sis.”

I nodded and looked for the room Eoman mentioned. It didn’t take more than a glance, given the small size of the safehouse, and I walked toward the door. I opened it to find Odenna reading again.

“Hello,” I said gingerly. “Eoman said I could use this room to sleep.”

The elf looked up from her book and smiled. “I heard you killed Cantos,” she said.

She set her reading down on the small table next to the bed and stood up. “You’ve done well, child.”

I gave her a half smile, not knowing what to say in response. Yes, I had killed the Devil leader. But I was still reeling from the ocean of emotions that action set off. I wasn’t quite ready to confront what had happened to me, and I certainly wasn’t about to do that with Odenna.

“Rest as long as you like,” she said. “I will find you later. We need to get you some new clothes.” She stared at me. I looked down at my attire and noticed she was right. From my fight with the mage, everything besides my new cloak was slightly singed. They were pretty much rags.

I thanked her and she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Walking toward the bed, I let out a long sigh and laid my head on the single flat pillow.

✵ ✵ ✵

I woke up with a start, not even knowing how long it took me to fall asleep. Rubbing the crust from my eyes, I looked to the side of the bed and saw Adalinda curled up comfortably. Had she manifested while I was sleeping?

Not wanting to bother her, I looked back at the Game alerts from the fight with Cantos. We both had some levelling to do, and I wanted her input before I started doing so. Giving her more time to rest, I opened the journal we found in the Devil leader’s home and started reading.

Beyond the information we already knew about why the players were in the poor quarter and Celeste’s betrayal, I found interesting notes about the dungeon itself. And, more importantly, it was evident that the players were planning to enter the dungeon. In fact, they were planning to do so soon.

As I continued reading, I saw notes about me scattered through the journal.

The girl is important to the dungeon

Get her to work with them, even through force

Arinna can take care of the rest

I squinted my eyes slightly and rubbed the front of my head. Cantos was clearly planning something, and he knew more about me than he let on, but I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know what he meant. His notes, frustratingly, were cryptic.

But they gave me a new purpose.

Although Cantos was the perpetrator of Alon’s death, I couldn’t help but feel the familiar burning anger in my chest when I thought about it. Alon died, not because Cantos really cared about him as a threat, but because of what the players wanted. Because they wanted to threaten me, show me how weak I was.

And, for a time, I did show a lot of that weakness. I had been impulsive, not really myself. I had never shied away from my emotions, but I let them control me.

No more. I had to be better. I would be.

And I could find the real enemy—the player, Alastair.

“Good morning,” a soft voice said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked at my companion and smiled. “Hey, Ada, how are you feeling?”

The celestial stretched her body out. “Much better,” she said. She paused for a moment, then pushed her claws into the ground to get up. Then she hopped up swiftly on the bed and sat next to me. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” I said, deciding not to share the new information with her yet. “Why did you manifest?”

“I thought you could use some protection,” she said. “The past few hours have been astoundingly difficult. I thought a physical presence would be better. Rather than just existing as a voice in your head.”

I smiled at the celestial. “Thanks, Ada,” I said. “But now that you’re awake, we have some attribute points to spend.”

“Were you waiting for me?”

I nodded.

“That was kind,” she said, a hint of a smile in her voice. “How many points do we have?”

“Seven.”

There was a pause. I assumed Adalinda was decided how to spend hers, and given the tough fights we were facing recently, I understood why it would take some time.

“Split them between Constitution and Dexterity,” she said. “I could use some more protection and flexibility, especially with my new trait.”

I nodded in agreement and willed my choices, and hers, to the Game.

Your Magic has increased to 17.

Your Faith has increased to 12.

Adalinda’s Constitution has increased to 10, reaching rank 1.

Adalinda’s Dexterity has increased to 8.

With our levelling done, I let out a small breath of relief. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find the time to use these points, but it was necessary if we were going to become stronger.

If we had any chance of facing a level sixty player.

For my own points, I decided to dump most of them into Magic. From my fight with the mage, I noticed that my damage taken changed dramatically depending on how effectively I resisted her attacks. If I could get my Magic high enough, I could sustain more spells. And the same would go for any Faith-based abilities.

“I think you should unmanifest now,” I said to Adalinda. “I need to talk to my brother, and I think he’ll have an easier time of it if he thinks it’s just the two of us.”

“Fair,” the celestial said, turning to her resting place after a long night. “Good luck.”

I said nothing, set down Cantos’ book on the small table, and walked to the door. When I opened it, the room was much livelier than before. With no windows, I had no way of telling what time it was or how long I slept, but I felt rested enough to tell Soren about everything I found out.

Alon, my parents, and The Insurgence included.

As much as the conversation may have hurt, we needed to have it. He needed to know everything, just as I did.

I scanned the room and spotted him talking to Eoman on the other side. “Soren,” I called out, not moving from the entryway of my room. “Come here for a moment.”

My brother turned his head toward me and said something indecipherable to the Raccoon leader before walking in my direction. When he reached me, he opened his arms for a hug. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Well,” I said, being careful not to elaborate too much. “Can we talk?”

He nodded and walked inside. I closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed where he had taken his own seat. To my own surprise, the words started flowing as soon as he sat down. And I had a lot to fill him in on—my capture, the gnome that saved my life… Alon’s death.

I guessed it took me about an hour to talk through everything that happened, and until I finally got to the point where I could tell him about The Insurgence.

“I have some news about our parents,” I said excitedly. “They were part of something called The Insurgence…”

“The Insurgence?” he asked.

“They fought against Arinna,” I explained. “It was—”

“Oh,” he interrupted, suddenly solemn.

“What’s wrong?”

Soren sighed and looked away from me. He said nothing, folding his arms and kicking his feet slightly along the ground.

“Soren?” I pushed, nudging him slightly with my fist.

“I know.”

I furrowed my brow. “You know what?”

“I know about our parents.”