A few hours were taken traversing the skies before the ship descended once more, prompting those that had fallen asleep to wake up by the jarring "thud" that resounded from the touchdown of the flying vessel.
"Wha–" Melisande snapped awake.
Though her and Yuna had already awoken, snores were still leaving the bandaged bumpkin who didn't seem phased by anything. At least, a quick slap on the head from the demi-human woman woke Everett up.
"--Ow!" Everett let out.
"We're here," Yuna told him.
"...Oh, right," the tired man said.
As the rail for the ship extended, the three found themselves surrounded in the isolated scenery of colossal trees that acted as a veil around the enormous Guild Foundation Headquarters itself.
Walking past them, Scarlet was followed by staff that were separately carrying the body of Briggs and the young Dragonheart.
"--" Melisande couldn't look as tears immediately formed in her eyes upon seeing his body.
They were all silent when seeing what only looked to be a slumbering state of their friend, though knowing that was far from the truth.
Scarlet noticed their reaction, stopping beside them as the staff left the ship, along with the others that had landed soon after, "Emilio's body will be in special care. Don't worry–we're not giving up on him."
"Really?..." Melisande asked.
"That's great!" Everett excitedly reacted.
The front entrance to the Foundation Headquarters was flowing in-and-out with people; the hectic state was clearly in response to the situation with the Valley of Parmesus.
"Now, come on," Scarlet led the way, looking back at the three, "It won't exactly be ceremonious, but you three will officially be recognized as world-class adventurers."
–
[??? | Unknown Realm | Emilio]
After a few minutes, he was a good dozen meters down, continuously climbing lower and lower as he looked up, finding the top of the cliff to now be a distant sight as the darkness of the abyss surrounded him.
"...Huff…Huff…"
It was noticeably more chilly in the depths of the chasm; the dark winds at his back caressed his body with an ominous sensation that raised goosebumps on his body. Clear to the young Dragonheart was that the darkness he found himself descending into was anything but standard shadows; it was an old, nefarious void, housing something in it that, for better or worse, he was going to find.
I need answers. I won't be able to do anything until I have them, he thought.
Lower and lower he descended, seeming to hardly make progress on reaching the bottom of the ominous chasm as he looked up, now unable to even see the top of the cliff as the darkness swallowed his view. A glance down brought only a gaze into darkness, seeing the wooden ladder stretch far past the shadows.
It was an unnerving sight, but he had come too far to consider going back up–either way, he didn't have any other choice but to indulge the path set before him.
More time passed; it felt as though hours were crawling by as he descended, feeling the strength in his arms falter as his fingertips trembled, growing anxious as he clung onto the handholds. He clutched his body close to the ladder, resting for a moment as he caught his breath.
…The air…it feels so dense down here, he thought, it's like I'm breathing smoke.
He had grown lightheaded while staying in the chasm, beginning to question if it'd be better to attempt his descent without the aid of the ladder and instead with the usage of magecraft, but again, something in his gut yelled at him that it was a terrible idea.
At some point, he realized he was now swallowed in complete darkness; so black and devoid of light that he could hardly make out his own hands that were directly in front of him, desperately clutching onto the ladder.
It was reminiscent of the darkness he felt from the Dread, but distinctly different; it was archaic; as old as time, yet it wasn't evil–it was beyond good and evil, something that transcended human scope. Whatever he was going to find at the bottom of the chasm, it wasn't human.
…Come on. I can do this, he told himself.
Continuing his descent, his arms and legs wobbled from the hours of climbing, feeling the shadows tracing his skin as he shivered, but continued along as whispers of the darkness infiltrated his ears. It played with his sense of balance, sometimes disorientating his vision as it swirled around.
"--Ngh!"
Whilst the darkness fiddled with his mind, he found himself believing he was already falling, but it was just an illusion–however, it made him momentarily let go, causing him to actually begin falling backward before he reached forward.
Just before he fell into the abyss, he grabbed onto the ladder embedded in the sable cliff, catching himself as he was left devoid of breath in his lungs for a moment.
That was close…He thought.
Though catching himself only served to further tire him out as he properly positioned himself on the ladder again, breathing out.
After a struggle, keeping his eyes forward, never daring to look down, he was surprised as when lowering his foot to the next hold, it instead met the solid sensation of ground.
"...Huh?"
Looking down, he realized he had somehow reached the bottom of the chasm, looking up to only find an impenetrable veil of darkness above his gaze.
What he stepped on wasn't gray or even emerald grass, but a field of snow-white meadow, almost platinum as each blade seemed lavish in nature. It was a perplexing beauty, yet it was somewhat terrifying in the depths of the abyss.
This is…? He questioned.
Pillars of quartz stood tall, holding up nothing but the ceiling of darkness above that overlooked the enigmatic field of vanilla grass.
It was difficult to see more than a few meters clearly in front of himself, but he found stones periodically placed in a path before him, leading him forward.
Farther into the quiet meadow of white grass, he stopped for a moment as the darkness cleared somewhat, allowing him to gaze upon the sight before him:
There were people, though drained of life and hollow of ambition, bowing down the grass with their foreheads pressed against the field, holding their hands in prayer towards one thing–ruins stationed beyond a climb of steps.
"What's going on?" He whispered to himself.
He carefully walked passed the silent worshippers, though he knelt down to get a closer look at one person, seeing that one was a woman with brunette hair, crying as she quietly chanted pleas:
"Oh please, I beg of thee, grant me salvation…Grant me salvation from this eternity…Great Primordial, I beg of thee…" The woman whispered against the grass.
Emilio was stunned at the maddening repetition of those words, placing his hand on the woman's shoulder, "Hey…What's going on here? Hey! Where are we?"
Though he spoke directly to the woman in the white gown, he didn't receive any sort of response, though the chanting stopped for a moment before he received a glare from her.
It was the same for the others knelt on the grass, praying and begging for "salvation" from an unseen figure.
…This is creepy, he thought.
There were dozens of these worshippers, some not completely human; some elves or demi-humans, even.
It felt as though he was throwing himself into the middle of somewhere he didn't belong, moving along the stepping stones through the grass as he quietly walked past the worshippers.
The temple ahead felt as though it was calling for him; a destination that seemed as though to be the source of what was guiding him along thus far.
I hope I can find my answers here, he hoped.
By the way the hollow worshippers stayed on the grass with their faces down and their hands held together in reverence, it felt as though ascending the stone steps would be trespassing on sacred grounds.
As he took a single step to begin ascending the black-stone steps, he looked back, finding the chants to have stopped, but the worshippers had not moved an inch.
It was an unnerving silence, though he managed to bring himself to continue traversing the steps that reached a dozen meters high.
Each step felt as though he was entrenching himself further in the ominous air, lifting one foot in front of the air as he passed by archaic columns of dark stone.
As he reached the top, he found himself on a platform before the entrance to the enigmatic temple, seeing a dial at the top with what resembled a "vitruvian man" carved into the stone.
This is it…But, what is it? He questioned.
Sure as he was that he was the only one present on the elevated platform, there was an overwhelming feeling as though he was being watched.
The black temple wasn't lavish in the traditional sense, bearing no exuberant decorations, yet it was grandiose in a sense; exuding a presence unlike anything else amidst the meadow of white grass.
"I'll get my answers here," he told himself.
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