Not What It Seems: The Last Chambers
Title: Not What It Seems, 21
Author:
chilibreath
X-posted to: Tumblr / FF.net / AO3
Rating: T
Summary: Where an old friend gives an update and leaves for reasons.
The Last Chambers
Maegella looked at Darreon, still keeping her staff pointed at him. “How do I know this is not a trick?” she asked him.
Darreon placed his hands and staff behind him and said, “When we were children, we would sneak out of the orphanage at night and head to the great boulder near the boundary to catch a glimpse of the nimras that was spotted days ago. We were up until near-sunrise for four consecutive days, hoping it will appear to us. Mother Cleon eventually caught us sneaking out the door the fifth night and withheld dessert from us for a week as punishment.”
Maegella let out a huff of amusement as she lowered her staff. “Greetings, Darreon,” she said softly. “I thought you were with the scout group, spying on the Deceiver?”
“We split up to send word immediately to the Guilds,” Darreon replied. “I stayed behind to stand watch, and then Erwan told us where you were and-I had to see you.”
She looked at him and read the expression in his eyes. “Darreon,” sighed Maegella, clutching her staff closely. “This is not the time; you could have been caught by the enemy…”
“Speaking of the enemy, I have news,” interjected Darreon, brushing aside Maegella’s concern. “More of the Deceiver’s henchmen have arrived bearing the other four Sigils. We could see them glow from where we hid among the trees…”
Maegella’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”
“That is why we split up to rally the Guilds; we will need reinforcements,” Darreon added. “We need to stop them, Maegella.” He held out a hand to her. “Come with us; let us sneak into the Last Chambers and…”
“Maegella?”
Darreon’s eyes briefly flared at the sound of Gelvin’s voice. He looked at Maegella and whispered, “I will see you soon.”
“Darreon, wait!” cried Maegella, but Darreon already sprinted away between the trees just as Gelvin and Stan appeared from behind another tree.
“Where did Darreon go?” asked Gelvin, looking around.
“I suppose back at his post,” answered Maegella, looking at the place where Darreon disappeared. She looked at them and told them what Darreon shared with her. When she completed her accounting, Stan crossed his arms and said, “Why didn’t he stick around to share that with me and Gelvin?”
“Curious,” agreed Gelvin, looking back towards the part of the woods where Darreon disappeared to. “Very curious.”
“Should we believe that guy?” Stan asked Gelvin.
“There is no reason for Darreon to lie, Stanley,” said Maegella. “He hates the Deceiver and wants him defeated as the rest of us do.”
“And the information he shared is serious enough to warrant a closer look inside the Last Chambers,” murmured Gelvin. He turned around and started walking back to the camp. “We need to regroup.”
XXXXX
Back at the camp, they found that Erwan had returned from his excursion. He confirmed that he met up with Darreon earlier and that the information was true: the other four Sigils have been brought to the Last Chambers.
“Mentor Darreon has already sent messengers to the Five Guilds, but who knows how fast they will arrive,” said Erwan.
“We cannot wait for them to arrive,” said Gelvin. “A lot can happen until then. We need to take initiative now, before Duroc finds someone who can volunteer to bear the Sigil.”
“You think he will not volunteer himself?” asked Gerda.
“It is not in his nature,” Veron muttered darkly, crossing his slim arms. “He does not have the spine for it. He will try to convince others to become the second volunteer, I am sure of it.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Stan, pulling on the Teaga gloves. “Let’s break in!”
XXXXX
The entrance to the Last Chambers was located high on a hill, a good distance away from Maegella’s childhood home. The doorway itself was carved into the hill; Gelvin shared that the Last Chambers was constructed underground by the Founders and reinforced by magic. Erwan led the group to a portion of the forest where they could see the side of the hill-entrance. From the side, they could see three black-robed Mages standing guard in front of the doorway.
“They just changed shift,” whispered Erwan. “Darreon informs us that the next shift will replace them after a few hours.”
“Eh, it won’t take that long to replace them NOW,” Wendy murmured, cracking her knuckles. Stan and Ford grinned as they followed the redhead through the forest until they reached the back of the hill; there were no guards stationed there. The rest of the group watched from the trees as the trio approached the hill, climbed up on it, and pounced on the unsuspecting Mages below. They all cringed as the Pines brothers and Wendy knocked the sentries out cold in quick order
“It seems the gloves still work,” Sandri murmured weakly as Wendy waved at them, signaling that the coast was clear. The rest of the group moved from the protection of the trees and approach the hill.
“Oh no, they’re just really badass, dude,” Soos explained brightly on the way. “These guys are just lucky Wendy didn’t have her ax with her.”
Gelvin, Maegella and Gerda raise their staffs; ropes shoot out from the tips and wound themselves around the unconscious sentries on the ground.
While the Mages went to hide the sentries away in the trees, Soos walked up to Stan, Ford and Wendy and looked at the door. “Now that’s a big door,” he said.
The massive, weather-worn round door looked like it was wedged into the hill. Ford stepped forward and gave it a tentative push; it opened silently inwards.
“Am I the only one weirded out by how quiet this door is?” Wendy whispered, peering down at the stairs. The wide stairwell was brightly lit by luminescent blue rocks embedded in the walls; Ford was reminded of the rocks embedded in the caves of the Healing Springs.
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone down there,” said Wendy.
“They are probably in the outer sanctum of the Chambers,” said Gelvin, approaching the door with the other members of the group. At Wendy’s expression, he added, “The tomb of the Founders are in the inner sanctum, the very middle of this complex. Before we can reach that, we need to pass the outer sanctum.”
“It’s like a donut; the inner sanctum is the hole of the donut!” said Soos brightly. He beamed and looked around at the surprised faces of his companions.
“That-that’s a pretty good analogy of the layout of the place,” said Ford, grinning at Soos.
“Are we just gonna stand here and talk about donuts? Let’s get a move on!” Stan grumbled.
Gelvin nodded; he instructed Gerda, Erwan, Gardo and Minda to stand guard by the door while the rest of them went down to the Chambers. He and the remaining Mages went in first, and the non-Mages followed suit. Soos looked around the blue-tinted walls before looking at Ford and said, “No offense Ford, but how were you able to wear those gloves?”
Ford looked at Soos and raised one of his hands; a bare pinky wiggled out from a hole on the side of the glove. “I borrowed Sandri’s knife and made a quick modification here,” Ford explained.
“Hehe, that’s pretty clever, dawg,” said Soos, chuckling softly.
“Hush!” whispered Maegella. “We’re near the bottom now.”
Beyond the last steps was a large cavernous room with a wide expanse of floor made of some butter-colored stone. Scattered across the length of the room were wide pillars. Across the room, right in the very center it seems, they spotted a great dome that seemed to be made of the same material as the floor.
“The Last Chambers,” whispered Sandri in reverence.
“We need to move,” Ford whispered. “We’re exposed here on the stairs.”
Maegella peeked around the left side of the stairs. “I hear people coming this way,” she whispered.
“Can’t you blast them with some magic?” Stan hissed.
“They’ll still be able to sound the alarm,” Gelvin muttered.
“Let’s go that way, then,” murmured Veron, dropping to the floor and heading to the right. The rest of the group followed. They ran swiftly along the curved wall and spotted a round door.
“In here, quickly!” Veron hissed, reaching the door and pushing it open. The Red Mage took a few steps into the room and immediately lost his balance as the rest of the group rushed towards the open door. Nearly half of them tripped over him.
Gelvin was the last to enter the room and immediately closed the door behind him. He looked around the room and gave a small cough.
They all looked up; they seem to have entered what looked like someone’s well-lit living room. It had a round stone couch with gray padding, a short round table in front of it, and a shelf filled with scrolls on one side of the wall. Sitting on the couch were two people; the smaller of the two was counting out loud as she opened and closed a paper fortune teller.
“…4, 5, 6, 7,” counted Mabel, then she looked in the paper and gave her black-robed seatmate a compassionate look. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Dorinda,” she said, patting the woman’s hand. “He’s really not that into you.”
The middle-aged woman with dark hair gasped and started to cry. “I-I should have known!” she wailed, dabbing her eyes. “I thought Lysandros was nice to me because he liked me!”
“MABEL!”
Mabel looked around and spotted the group of people standing in the middle of the room. “Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Stan! Soos, Wendy, Maegella, Maester-guy…you’re all here!” cried Mabel, jumping off the couch and running towards them. Ford and Stan whooped with relief as they knelt down to wrap their arms around their great-niece; Soos and Wendy followed suit, hugging the Pineses. The other Mages pointed their staffs at Dorinda, but the woman seemed too upset to pay them any mind.
Dorinda kept on sobbing. “Oh, the sister of the Sigil-holder sees all with her paper-magic! I have been played for a fool!”
“Wait, that’s just a…” Wendy started to explain, but Mabel cut her off.
“We do not question the paper fortune teller, Wendy!” Mabel cried out, squeezing through the hugs to wag her finger at Dorinda. “You should forget about guy, Dorinda! Lysandros is a jerk and his name is too long! I saw him flirting with another woman before he started his shift today and I’m sure there are other guys out there who would see you for the lovely woman that you are!”
“Mabel, are you alright?!” said Ford; he waved away the hugs from the others so that he could hold Mabel at arm’s length, looking at her from head to foot. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, Grunkle Ford,” said Mabel, patting one of Ford’s hands on her shoulder. “They treat me well here; some of them seem afraid of me, I think. I just woke up today and found myself in this weird room. Dorinda has been really nice to me, but she’s not telling me where Dipper is!”
Veron approached Dorinda at staff-point and quietly asked, “Where is the Sigil-holder, Guild-sister?”
Dorinda hiccupped and replied, “The great Sigil-holder has entered the Inner Sanctum after Lord Duroc arrived last night. I do not know what goes on in there; only Lord Duroc goes in and out.”
Maegella raised an eyebrow. “Really? What is he waiting for?”
“For a volunteer, my dear,” said a nasal voice behind them.
They turned around, staffs aimed at the doorway. The thin, black-robed man standing there had a long face with wide, manic eyes and a thin moustache under a large nose, his gray hair tied into a long braid. He stepped aside to show them Gerda, Erwan, Gardo and Minda kneeling on the floor beyond and bound by ropes. Six black-robed Mages stood behind them, pointing their staffs at the hostages. Dorinda yelped and hid behind Veron, while Mabel was pushed behind the adults.
“We do not want violence within this sacred space,” said Duroc, looking at everyone in the room. “But if it will come down to it, these four will be the first to go.”
XXXXX
Author’s Note: The Red Mages wear red cloaks, but their staffs are brown or black. There is a reason for this, which I'll try to find an opening to explain in future chapters.
Author:
chilibreath
X-posted to: Tumblr / FF.net / AO3
Rating: T
Summary: Where an old friend gives an update and leaves for reasons.
The Last Chambers
Maegella looked at Darreon, still keeping her staff pointed at him. “How do I know this is not a trick?” she asked him.
Darreon placed his hands and staff behind him and said, “When we were children, we would sneak out of the orphanage at night and head to the great boulder near the boundary to catch a glimpse of the nimras that was spotted days ago. We were up until near-sunrise for four consecutive days, hoping it will appear to us. Mother Cleon eventually caught us sneaking out the door the fifth night and withheld dessert from us for a week as punishment.”
Maegella let out a huff of amusement as she lowered her staff. “Greetings, Darreon,” she said softly. “I thought you were with the scout group, spying on the Deceiver?”
“We split up to send word immediately to the Guilds,” Darreon replied. “I stayed behind to stand watch, and then Erwan told us where you were and-I had to see you.”
She looked at him and read the expression in his eyes. “Darreon,” sighed Maegella, clutching her staff closely. “This is not the time; you could have been caught by the enemy…”
“Speaking of the enemy, I have news,” interjected Darreon, brushing aside Maegella’s concern. “More of the Deceiver’s henchmen have arrived bearing the other four Sigils. We could see them glow from where we hid among the trees…”
Maegella’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”
“That is why we split up to rally the Guilds; we will need reinforcements,” Darreon added. “We need to stop them, Maegella.” He held out a hand to her. “Come with us; let us sneak into the Last Chambers and…”
“Maegella?”
Darreon’s eyes briefly flared at the sound of Gelvin’s voice. He looked at Maegella and whispered, “I will see you soon.”
“Darreon, wait!” cried Maegella, but Darreon already sprinted away between the trees just as Gelvin and Stan appeared from behind another tree.
“Where did Darreon go?” asked Gelvin, looking around.
“I suppose back at his post,” answered Maegella, looking at the place where Darreon disappeared. She looked at them and told them what Darreon shared with her. When she completed her accounting, Stan crossed his arms and said, “Why didn’t he stick around to share that with me and Gelvin?”
“Curious,” agreed Gelvin, looking back towards the part of the woods where Darreon disappeared to. “Very curious.”
“Should we believe that guy?” Stan asked Gelvin.
“There is no reason for Darreon to lie, Stanley,” said Maegella. “He hates the Deceiver and wants him defeated as the rest of us do.”
“And the information he shared is serious enough to warrant a closer look inside the Last Chambers,” murmured Gelvin. He turned around and started walking back to the camp. “We need to regroup.”
XXXXX
Back at the camp, they found that Erwan had returned from his excursion. He confirmed that he met up with Darreon earlier and that the information was true: the other four Sigils have been brought to the Last Chambers.
“Mentor Darreon has already sent messengers to the Five Guilds, but who knows how fast they will arrive,” said Erwan.
“We cannot wait for them to arrive,” said Gelvin. “A lot can happen until then. We need to take initiative now, before Duroc finds someone who can volunteer to bear the Sigil.”
“You think he will not volunteer himself?” asked Gerda.
“It is not in his nature,” Veron muttered darkly, crossing his slim arms. “He does not have the spine for it. He will try to convince others to become the second volunteer, I am sure of it.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Stan, pulling on the Teaga gloves. “Let’s break in!”
XXXXX
The entrance to the Last Chambers was located high on a hill, a good distance away from Maegella’s childhood home. The doorway itself was carved into the hill; Gelvin shared that the Last Chambers was constructed underground by the Founders and reinforced by magic. Erwan led the group to a portion of the forest where they could see the side of the hill-entrance. From the side, they could see three black-robed Mages standing guard in front of the doorway.
“They just changed shift,” whispered Erwan. “Darreon informs us that the next shift will replace them after a few hours.”
“Eh, it won’t take that long to replace them NOW,” Wendy murmured, cracking her knuckles. Stan and Ford grinned as they followed the redhead through the forest until they reached the back of the hill; there were no guards stationed there. The rest of the group watched from the trees as the trio approached the hill, climbed up on it, and pounced on the unsuspecting Mages below. They all cringed as the Pines brothers and Wendy knocked the sentries out cold in quick order
“It seems the gloves still work,” Sandri murmured weakly as Wendy waved at them, signaling that the coast was clear. The rest of the group moved from the protection of the trees and approach the hill.
“Oh no, they’re just really badass, dude,” Soos explained brightly on the way. “These guys are just lucky Wendy didn’t have her ax with her.”
Gelvin, Maegella and Gerda raise their staffs; ropes shoot out from the tips and wound themselves around the unconscious sentries on the ground.
While the Mages went to hide the sentries away in the trees, Soos walked up to Stan, Ford and Wendy and looked at the door. “Now that’s a big door,” he said.
The massive, weather-worn round door looked like it was wedged into the hill. Ford stepped forward and gave it a tentative push; it opened silently inwards.
“Am I the only one weirded out by how quiet this door is?” Wendy whispered, peering down at the stairs. The wide stairwell was brightly lit by luminescent blue rocks embedded in the walls; Ford was reminded of the rocks embedded in the caves of the Healing Springs.
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone down there,” said Wendy.
“They are probably in the outer sanctum of the Chambers,” said Gelvin, approaching the door with the other members of the group. At Wendy’s expression, he added, “The tomb of the Founders are in the inner sanctum, the very middle of this complex. Before we can reach that, we need to pass the outer sanctum.”
“It’s like a donut; the inner sanctum is the hole of the donut!” said Soos brightly. He beamed and looked around at the surprised faces of his companions.
“That-that’s a pretty good analogy of the layout of the place,” said Ford, grinning at Soos.
“Are we just gonna stand here and talk about donuts? Let’s get a move on!” Stan grumbled.
Gelvin nodded; he instructed Gerda, Erwan, Gardo and Minda to stand guard by the door while the rest of them went down to the Chambers. He and the remaining Mages went in first, and the non-Mages followed suit. Soos looked around the blue-tinted walls before looking at Ford and said, “No offense Ford, but how were you able to wear those gloves?”
Ford looked at Soos and raised one of his hands; a bare pinky wiggled out from a hole on the side of the glove. “I borrowed Sandri’s knife and made a quick modification here,” Ford explained.
“Hehe, that’s pretty clever, dawg,” said Soos, chuckling softly.
“Hush!” whispered Maegella. “We’re near the bottom now.”
Beyond the last steps was a large cavernous room with a wide expanse of floor made of some butter-colored stone. Scattered across the length of the room were wide pillars. Across the room, right in the very center it seems, they spotted a great dome that seemed to be made of the same material as the floor.
“The Last Chambers,” whispered Sandri in reverence.
“We need to move,” Ford whispered. “We’re exposed here on the stairs.”
Maegella peeked around the left side of the stairs. “I hear people coming this way,” she whispered.
“Can’t you blast them with some magic?” Stan hissed.
“They’ll still be able to sound the alarm,” Gelvin muttered.
“Let’s go that way, then,” murmured Veron, dropping to the floor and heading to the right. The rest of the group followed. They ran swiftly along the curved wall and spotted a round door.
“In here, quickly!” Veron hissed, reaching the door and pushing it open. The Red Mage took a few steps into the room and immediately lost his balance as the rest of the group rushed towards the open door. Nearly half of them tripped over him.
Gelvin was the last to enter the room and immediately closed the door behind him. He looked around the room and gave a small cough.
They all looked up; they seem to have entered what looked like someone’s well-lit living room. It had a round stone couch with gray padding, a short round table in front of it, and a shelf filled with scrolls on one side of the wall. Sitting on the couch were two people; the smaller of the two was counting out loud as she opened and closed a paper fortune teller.
“…4, 5, 6, 7,” counted Mabel, then she looked in the paper and gave her black-robed seatmate a compassionate look. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Dorinda,” she said, patting the woman’s hand. “He’s really not that into you.”
The middle-aged woman with dark hair gasped and started to cry. “I-I should have known!” she wailed, dabbing her eyes. “I thought Lysandros was nice to me because he liked me!”
“MABEL!”
Mabel looked around and spotted the group of people standing in the middle of the room. “Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Stan! Soos, Wendy, Maegella, Maester-guy…you’re all here!” cried Mabel, jumping off the couch and running towards them. Ford and Stan whooped with relief as they knelt down to wrap their arms around their great-niece; Soos and Wendy followed suit, hugging the Pineses. The other Mages pointed their staffs at Dorinda, but the woman seemed too upset to pay them any mind.
Dorinda kept on sobbing. “Oh, the sister of the Sigil-holder sees all with her paper-magic! I have been played for a fool!”
“Wait, that’s just a…” Wendy started to explain, but Mabel cut her off.
“We do not question the paper fortune teller, Wendy!” Mabel cried out, squeezing through the hugs to wag her finger at Dorinda. “You should forget about guy, Dorinda! Lysandros is a jerk and his name is too long! I saw him flirting with another woman before he started his shift today and I’m sure there are other guys out there who would see you for the lovely woman that you are!”
“Mabel, are you alright?!” said Ford; he waved away the hugs from the others so that he could hold Mabel at arm’s length, looking at her from head to foot. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, Grunkle Ford,” said Mabel, patting one of Ford’s hands on her shoulder. “They treat me well here; some of them seem afraid of me, I think. I just woke up today and found myself in this weird room. Dorinda has been really nice to me, but she’s not telling me where Dipper is!”
Veron approached Dorinda at staff-point and quietly asked, “Where is the Sigil-holder, Guild-sister?”
Dorinda hiccupped and replied, “The great Sigil-holder has entered the Inner Sanctum after Lord Duroc arrived last night. I do not know what goes on in there; only Lord Duroc goes in and out.”
Maegella raised an eyebrow. “Really? What is he waiting for?”
“For a volunteer, my dear,” said a nasal voice behind them.
They turned around, staffs aimed at the doorway. The thin, black-robed man standing there had a long face with wide, manic eyes and a thin moustache under a large nose, his gray hair tied into a long braid. He stepped aside to show them Gerda, Erwan, Gardo and Minda kneeling on the floor beyond and bound by ropes. Six black-robed Mages stood behind them, pointing their staffs at the hostages. Dorinda yelped and hid behind Veron, while Mabel was pushed behind the adults.
“We do not want violence within this sacred space,” said Duroc, looking at everyone in the room. “But if it will come down to it, these four will be the first to go.”
XXXXX
Author’s Note: The Red Mages wear red cloaks, but their staffs are brown or black. There is a reason for this, which I'll try to find an opening to explain in future chapters.