"You tired of adventuring already?" Asriel asked, grinning at his friend.
Golemite gave him a playful shove that nearly sent him into one of the murals. "Get outta here. I like adventurin' just fine. I jus' don't wanna be doin' it forever. I miss workin' on the skyway. Don't you? Spendin' a day fixin up a few roads, catchin' dinner at Jenny's place, den goin' home and jus' relaxin' for awhile?"
"You have a point." Asriel said. "But we still have three pieces of the Everstar to go."
"What's da rush? You said you wanted to stay in da Deep, right? We got time."
Asriel didn't respond. Golemite was right, but at the same time, Asriel couldn't ignore the call of the Everstar. Even now, he could feel the shards inside him pulling him towards the others. There was no ignoring it anymore; he needed to finish it.
His eyes were adjusting to the low level of lighting inside the temple enough to appreciate the beauty and smoothness of the carved stone. He could see more of the strange artifacts as well; despite what he'd earlier thought, not everything was on a pedastal or dias; some of it simply lay on the grown beside the related murals.
They'd passed from the murals involving the Everstar. Most of the murals Asriel activated now seemed to involve what appeared to be five warriors in the shape of teddy bears. Their murals always involved fighting some monster or another, though these were true monsters in the truest sense; horrible creatures with groteque forms that destroyed, land, city, and people indiscriminately. Some of the beasts even seemed imbued with the same dark energy Asriel had seen in several Everstar Murals. Nevertheless, the teddies defeated them time after time, though over the course of many murals, all but one of the teddies eventually fell.
Of course, his thoughts continued to slip back to the mural in the shard chamber. The more he thought about it, the more it could only have been showing the future, but how was that possible? Keeper said he recorded history … why would there be an event that had yet to happen?
He was still thinking about it when Golemite stuck out her hand, stopping him instantly.
"Shh!" Golemite said, raising a stone finger to her lips. "I hear somethin'."
Asriel listened, lifting one droopy ear up so he could better hear. After a few moments, he realized he could hear something; someone was whispering, and it was getting louder.
"Could it be dat Keeper guy?" Golemite asked.
Asriel shook his head. "He doesn't need to be stealthy; he knows we're here. I bet he knows right were we are too."
The two adventurers slowed their approach, both making an attempt to be stealthy. This was easier in Asriel's case, but Golemite did her best to muffle her footsteps.
They needn't have bothered; a few minutes of sneaking along brought them to a chamber where someone wearing a pith helmet was very shakily shining a flashlight at the nearby walls, Shye doing her best to hide behind her.
"Sylpha!" Asrie said.
The raccoon-lady nearly dropped her flashlight. Eyes looking even wider because of her glasses, Sylpha opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Shye dashed at Asriel and nearly knocked him to the floor when she leapt at him and wrapped her arms and legs around him in a fierce hug. Mina rubbed against his legs, purring loudly as he stumbled with the added weight of Shye.
"I wasn't gone that long." He said, feeling a little embarressed.
"I know." She said, "But I was worried. Why did you sneak off without me?"
"We didn't sneak off." Golemite said as Asriel tried in vain to extract himself from Shye's grip. "We were trapped."
"Obviously not very well." Shye pointed out.
"Forget 'bout us." Golemite said, "You two okay?"
Sylpha finally managed to find her voice. Nodding nervously, she said, "When we realized you were missing, Bella wanted to double-back but Naddy … Captain Naddy said that you were probably inside."
"So where is the good captain?" Asriel said, Shye finally releasing her leg-grip around his waist.
"I-I don't know." Sylpha said. "I saw them ahead of me one moment, and the next they were just gone."
"Yeah, dat's about right." Golemite said. "Da halls of dis place move around. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's like somefin' outta an action flick. Walls crashin' in, dat kinda ting. It's nuts."
"Why would anyone make such a place?" Slypha asked with a shudder.
"It's some kind of repository of history." Asriel said, approaching the nearest wall. At his touch, light spread across the lines of the mural.
Sylpha watched with wide eyes as the mural depicted a young woman stealing an object from what appeared to be a powerful wizard. Whoever it was did not care much for this, and used some sort of magic on the woman and her family into crows, and captured them all in a massive cage. After years of cruel abuse at the hands of the wizard, a being of light took pity on the crows and set them free, turning them into black-feathered harpies.
"Amazing." Sylpha said, notebook out and pen scribbling furiously. "Are there more of these murals?"
"Yeah, all around us. Every wall has one." Asriel said, gesturing. "Some even have artifacts near them, things with some relation to the stories told by the murals. This whole place is some kinda museum."
"Artifacts?" Sylpha said, interest clearly piqued.
"Easy." Golemite said. "Can't take anythin' from this place without givin' somthin' back."
"Fascinating!" Sylpha said, already moving to another wall. She tenatively placed a hand on it, wincing in anticipation of pain that never came as the mural came to life. This one showed a great battle between an army of centaurs fighting an army of beings with luminescant skin and wings, bringing fireflies to Asriel's mind. The two clashed, the centaurs under the moonlight and the fireflies under the sun until both sides were decimated by a third party, a figure comprised of both light and darkness. The survivors from both groups left, the centaurs taking the moon with them as the Soliciens took the light, leaving only the twilight sky.
"Who were these people?" Sylpha wondered aloud. "Why were they fighting? Are any still around? Was this their temple? I have so many questions!"
So did Asriel, but before he could voice any of his own, they heard Naddy shout, "Oy! You guys!"
Captain Naddy and Sylpha arrived via a side passage, both looking excited.
"This place is amazing!" Bella said. "I mean, have you seen some of the things they've got on display?"
"You mean like the murals?" Shye asked, pointing a clawed finger at the wall activated by Sylpha.
Bella hurried over to the mural herself, and stared up at it eagerly. From his experience with her sisters, Asriel guessed she was already working out a way to turn a profit. He nearly snorted as the mental image of the lamia guiding tours through the temple and selling stuffed golem dolls and balloon Keepers to monster children passed through his head.
"Buncha old junk, if ya ask me." She said, leaning against the nearest wall with her hands behind her head.
"Junk?" Sylpha said, a shocked look on her face. "Naddy, this is history! Events from beyond the Deep!"
"Well, yeah." Naddy said, trying and failing to feign interest. "I, uh, mean that goes without sayin'. I just expected there to be more valuable stuff given all the security. Y'know, gold, jewels, magical artifacts … that kinda thing."
"But this is valuable!" Sylpha said. Asriel was a little surprised; Sylpha seemed a little angry. "These murals indicate there is so much more out beyond the Deep! Ancient civilizations, monsters we've never encountered before, entire lands we never knew existed! More than ever, it looks like the Deep is only a small part of something so much larger! How could treasure be worth more than that?"
"Easily, if you're a pirate." Bella said off-handedly.
Naddy's eyes went wide. "What?"
"A pirate?" Shye said excitedly.
"Oh, come on." Bella said, looking at the shocked expressions on the others' faces. "I can't be the only one who guessed. Nadalie Ryleena the … what, third?"
"The fifth, actually." Naddy said, eyes narrowing. "I knew I should've had that statue blown up."
'Statue?" Asriel said, before an image of a pirate mermaid with a sharp-toothed smile popped in his head. "Wait, the statue in Starhaven was …"
"My great, great grandmother." Naddy said with pride.
"One of the best traders of the glass sea." Bella said, shaking her head. "When did your family stop being merchants and start working on the other side?"
"When it stopped paying." Naddy said with a sneer. "Can't fill an empty stomach with old stories and nostalgia. Back then, there weren't many who would even brave the Glass Ocean. My great-great-grandmother was one of the few. She took out so many pirates that the sight of her flag was enough to send them running. And how was she repaid? By every idiot with a boat moving in and taking away her business. She was lucky; the money didn't run out until my grandmother's time."
"So you became pirates?" Asriel asked, unable to keep the incredulity from his voice.
"I prefer 'lady of fortune'." Naddy said, straightening her collar. "Not that there's much fortune to be had these days, what with all the traffic to Gealle and their stupid amusement park."
"Okay." Golemite said, "So yer a pirate. What, was the plan to turn on us, leave us stranded here or somethin'?"
"No!" Naddy said, her eyes darting to Sylpha. "Look, I've done some bad stuff before, and I ain't proud of how I found you, but I ain't tryin' to double-cross ya. Truth is …"
Naddye sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Truth is, I ain't much of a pirate any more."
"What are you talking about?" Bella said, clearly surprised by this revelation. "Tales of the Ruby-Eyed Rogue …"
"That was Mom." Sighing again, Naddy said, "Look, it started off good; knock over a few ships, get a few good hauls, but no one wants to be a pirate forever these days. One by one, my crew just up and left. My last first mate left to become a cloud farmer in the Precious Meadows, for the Creator's Sake! I got real good and mad about it at first, but truth is, they're right. Being a pirate just isn't fun anymore."
"Then we started hearing stories about the Brass Woods, and the Precious Meadows beyond." Naddy said, waving at Asriel. "Stuff beyond the Edge. I was ecstatic; sailed out to the Edge myself hopin' to find the next new frontier, a new place full of adventure and plunder … er, business opportunities. I'd seen the temple and all those golems, but without a crew, I knew I didn't have a chance. Then you two show up, lookin' to find the Edge."
Naddy kicked at the base of one of the murals. "I was so sure I'd find somethin' valuable here, maybe even something that'll let me go back into the family business." Her shoulders slumped as she walked away from the group. "But all there is is junk."
"Naddy …" Sylpha said, reaching for the lizard woman's arm only for the Captain to pull it out of her reach.
"Just … let me stew for a while, okay?" Naddy said. "Get whatever it is you want from this place. Might as well not make the entire trip a waste."
"It's a shame." Bella said as Naddy walked away from the group. "I knew her mother; quite the scallywag. Never had someone buy me a drink after trying to rob me."
"My word." Sylpha said. "Was she arrested?"
"Nah, there was no Coastal Security Force back then. Fair enough, in my opinion; any trader too cheap to hire security deserves what they get." Her smile faded. "I offered to give her some money, but she was so proud … so stubborn. Sounds familiar?"
"A bit, yes." Sylpha said before slowly approaching another mural, an unhappy look on her furry face.
Asriel moved to activate one himself, but stopped as something occurred to him. Turning to Bella, he said, "You knew she was a pirate all along?"
"Of course."
"And you didn't say anything to us?"
Bella opened her mouth to reply when a loud "Aha!" sounded through the corridors.
"Now that's more like it." Naddy's voice echoed across the corridors. "Hey, everyone! Come take a look at this!"
Asriel and Golemite exchanged curious glances before leading the group in the direction of Naddy's voice. Asriel was almost sure the corridors would shift to cut her off given his luck, and was therefore surprised to find her standing just outside a massive circular stone door.
"C'mon!" Naddy shouted, already pushing against one side of the door.
"Uh, are you sure that's a good idea?" Asriel said.
Naddy let out a grunt. "You kiddin'? A door like this, you know they've got somethin' special tucked away. You gonna help me push, or what?"
Asriel wanted to argue, but curiosity was setting in. The Keeper indicated the temple was open to anyone, so the sight of a closed door was rather curious. If nothing else, he wanted to see what lay beyond the door as well, even if he could have sworn he felt a strange feeling of anticipation as he neared the doorway.
Naddy and Asriel pushed together against the side of the door to absolutely no effect. It wasn't until Asriel was about to suggest that perhaps the door didn't open that way that he felt the stone shift … slightly.
"We need more muscle." Naddy turned around and shouted, "Golemite!"
Golemite came running moments later, only to slow her jog at the sight of them. Letting out a sigh, he asked, "What are you two doin'?"
"Trying to open this door, genius." Naddy said. "You wanna lend us those stone muscles of yours?"
Rolling her eyes, Golemite put her massive hands against the stone and pushed. The stone shifted again, though not nearly as much as Asriel had been expecting. Naddy and Asriel moved beside the stone woman and pushed as well, and were rewarded by the stone door slowly swinging open.
"Oy!" Naddy shouted. "Sylpha! Bella! Cat girl! Get over here!"
They were soon joined by the others, Shye looking distinctly annoyed. They didn't ask any questions when they saw the group pushing, simply joining in with the throng. The door was about a foot open, just enough to reveal a crack of the room beyond. Lights danced along the opening as though someone were hosting the universe's quietest rave beyond.
The door suddenly gave way, the resistance reducing so suddenly that Asriel stumbled forward and fell face-first into the room beyond. Hearing gasps from the others along with an amazed sounding, "Don't dat beat all?" from Golemite, Asriel pushed himself up.
They were in the doorway of a massive spherical chamber so large that it seemed impossible to have fit inside the island, let alone the temple itself. The chamber was filled with floating stone slabs slowly circling around something in the very center, something that was the source of the strange light. As Asriel watched, wisps of light swirled around the chamber only to etch themselves into one of the slabs, forming the beginnings of a mural.
"Whoa." Asriel said as the story came to life in front of his eyes, this time concerning a strange blue creature with blue eyes, oversized wings, and three multi-colored tendrils trailing from the top of its head. "What is this?"
No one replied. The immensity of the chamber, the strange energy in the air, and even the swirling colors of the light themselves had most of them mesmerized … most of them. Naddy was on her feet and running within moments, heading straight for the center of the chamber. Asriel managed to make himself follow her as well, the uneasiness he felt outside the chamber intensifying.
Even at a full run, it took several minutes to reach the center of the massive chamber. It was worth it though; from there, Asriel could see the center completely. Thousands, perhaps even millions of individual strands of the mysterious light shone from the center, coiled about like a massive braid. It writhed about as though alive while individual threads pulled away from the braid to write themselves on one of the circling slabs of stone.
The immensity of it all had Asriel at a loss for words. He didn't know what he was looking at, but he could tell it was big, both literally and figuratively speaking. He was still staring wonderingly at it when without warning, it all stopped.
"Wha …?" Asriel said, his gaze falling to the very center of the chamber, where Naddy stood. She turned, a massive mutli-colored jewel as big as a beach ball in her arms with more facets than the young bossun could even count. Just looking at it made his head swirl.
"Naddy." Asriel said, a pit opening in the base of his stomach. "What did you do?"
"Just takin' a souvenier." She said with a wide grin. "Just look at this beauty; with this, I can live like a queen … like an empress for the rest of my life!"
One of the stone slabs slammed into the floor of the chamber just a few yards away from where Asriel stood, sending a tremor through the stone floor. Asriel and Naddy looked at each other for a moment before slowly raising their gazes up to the upper parts of the chamber. As they watched, more of the slabs fell, some floating slowly and others falling with frightening speed.
Naddy was off in an instant, leaving Asriel to scramble to follow moments later when another slab buried itself in the stone where the Captain once stood. More and more stone slabs fell to the floor as he ran to the exit. He was pretty sure he could hear Golemite and Shye shouting after him to hurry, which he couldn't help but feel was a pretty silly thing for them to say when he clearly was running as fast as his legs could carry him. He had to; stone slabs wre falling everywhere, shaking the chamber as though it were caught in a massive Earthquake. Several times, he had only seconds to dart out from the path of a falling slab. He stopped trying to keep an eye on Naddy and focused on not ending up as a Dreemurr pancake.
Somehow, in spite of the odds and his own certainty that he was seconds away from a very crushing end, Asriel managed to make it to the safety of the doorway. Golemite and Shye caught Asriel before he collapsed from exhaustion, and helped him move with the group out into the corridor as the last of the slabs fell to the ground with a final chamber-shaking tremor. After a few moments, everything went eerily silent, save for Naddy and Asriel's attempts to regain their breath.
Asriel was still struggling to breath when he heard Sylpha ask, "What happened?"
Thinking she was talking to him, Asriel raised his head only to realize that the researcher was talking to Captain Naddy.
"Nice find, eh?" Naddy said, resting against the side of the massive crystal she'd carried from the center of the room. "And there I was, thinkin' this whole trip was a waste."
"Are you okay?" Shye asked, concern in her eyes as Asriel coughed out some of the dust he'd inhaled during his escape.
"Yeah." He said before shooting a glance. "No thanks to Naddy."
"Hey!" She said, glaring at him. "I saw an opportunity, and I took it."
Sylpha looked from Asriel to Naddy. "I don't understand. What just happened?"
"That crystal Naddy stole? It was making the murals … at least, until Naddy took it."
"It's treasure. I'm a pirate." Naddy said irritably as she tried in vain to wipe the dust from her coat. "That's how this works, remember?"
"You nearly got us killed!"
"No risk, no gain."
Sylpha rubbed her elbows. "I dunno, Naddy … Captain Naddy … that room seemed kinda important."
"Hey, if it was important, they would've had a more secure door guarding it, yeah?" Naddy said with a laugh. "I mean, there are golems all over the place here, yet we only needed one to open the passage. Might as well have just left the door open, yeah?"
"I don't know." Sylpha said, looking worried. "Maybe you shouldn't have taken it."
"Relax, milady." Naddy said, giving Sylpha her best smile. "It's all okay. Once we're out of here, and I sell this beauty, you and I can laugh about this over dinner."
"Dinner?" Sylpha said, blushing. "I … oh … that sounds, um … nice."
"Doesn't it just?" Naddy picked up the jewel with a slight grunt and said, "Now, if everyone's done with whatever it is we're doing here, I'd like to go back to the ship and secure this little beauty."
"W-well, I suppose I've recorded enough murals, but-" Sylpha said, still looking uncertain.
"Excellent. Come on then; let's get moving!" Naddy said, already heading down the corridor.
Asriel moved to follow, but Shye held him back for a moment.
"Are you okay?" She asked, worry in her eyes. "That was really close."
"I'm okay." He said, his gaze going back to Captain Naddy. "But I don't like this."
"Yeah, she's kinda a jerk, isn't she?"
Asriel looked at Shye for a moment before letting out a laugh. Just like that, he felt the tension ease from his chest.
"Yeah." He said. "She was right though; we found the shard, but it's not like we can share it."
"S'okay." She told him, ruffling his ears. "Ain't why I came along anyway."
Asriel asked, "Why did you come with us?"
She smiled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "It's a secret."
He stared after her as she skipped to catch up with Sylpha and Naddy. A chuckle from Golemite made him finally wrench his gaze away from Shye, only to find his best friend grinning at him.
"When's the wedding?" Golemite asked.
"Oh, shut up." Asriel said before following after Shye and the others.
