Chapter 1297 (2/2)

Forgive them, Randidly. They know not what they do. You’ve given the people of Earth basically no context of the stakes with which they are playing…

“Fuck you,” Randidly swore quietly. Immediately, Randidly suspected that this referred to the people that had taken the Creature’s memories. Neveah looked up briefly from her study of the Engraving but quickly returned to it when it was clear that nothing had really happened. Continuing his habit of sighing, Randidly glanced from the hastily scratched writing to the place where the ivory bowl had been sitting.

Is this supposed to be a lesson…? Randidly thought darkly. But honestly, he wasn’t too concerned about the missing memories that the Creature talked about. At least for the foreseeable future, he would have a lot to cope with just from the general information contained in the letter. The details wouldn’t mean much. In addition, Yystrix basically confirmed with the last line that the thieves were people from Earth.

Randidly would be able to find him eventually. And in the meantime, he could come to terms with what this all meant.

Because at the moment, he was still a bit lost.

After shaking himself back to wakefulness again, Randidly turned and looked over toward Neveah. “How is it?”

“...impressive,” Neveah admitted, never taking her eyes off the Engraving in front of her. She gestured to a particularly dense patch of Engraving lines. “The whole cavern is divided into about twenty sections of discrete Engraving methods, which combine to a sophisticated balance across the stairs leading to that platform. I have progressed… perhaps one-tenth of the way through this section, but… I’m basically at the limits of my understanding. This… after we go through all these…”

“Thousands of years of Aether usage boiled down to a lonely tomb.” Randidly sighed again. He glanced around and looked at the large labyrinth of glowing lines stretching in every direction toward the cavern's walls. “Still, definitely valuable. A long term project that will make us better with Aether… heh.”

“More than better,” Neveah said quietly. “One of the best in the entire System.”

Randidly didn’t have anything to say to that. So after confirming that Neveah would be fine here continuing to study, he turned and looked one last time at Yystrix wearing Lyra’s face. The request for an epitaph lay heavy across his heart. But for now, he made no sort of effort to transform this place.

But maybe it would be nice to make this into a garden after they had mastered the Engravings that Yystrix had left for them here.

As Randidly turned and began to walk out of the tomb, a strange line from the Yystrix’s letter appeared in his mind. I know why I hate you so… it’s because you possess the same sort of fire as my husband.

Randidly shivered as he avoided thinking too deeply about what that meant. Too many things had happened at once and he needed some time and space to settle everything.

Luckily, just as he was exiting the strange architecture of the tomb and walking into the jungle, he received a message from Tatiana that was the perfect distraction.

I’ve seen the tiles you made. They… will definitely be influential. But are you sure that you want to do this?

It was almost fascinating, Randidly reflected, how different his attitude suddenly was as he typed out his reply to Tatiana’s query. Whereas before the issues regarding his birthday had been such a chore to muster up the willingness to engage, now they seemed like a welcome respite from the headache-inducing amount of knowledge he had just gained. Yes. Visualization will help people understand.

Randidly could practically hear Tatiana’s hesitation in her response. If you think it is best. But still, I would recommend that we do not cover the entire ballroom with the tiles then. We can make islands of… normalcy. And I think it will give you a chance to demonstrate your point with more of a dramatic flair.

That seemed reasonable, so Randidly quickly agreed and he and Tatiana hashed out the details. With his Philosopher’s Key, he opened up a portal and crossed back from the island of Yystrix’s tomb to his mist-shrouded island. By then, Tatiana had shifted topics.

Also, I think it’s time we start talking about security for the event. Even if we don’t need it with you present, it is often reassuring for people to see.