Castaway Planet

Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Scholar’s Rest/ Lowest Level

Galactic Standard Time / 0800

As Parcis led the way with a lantern, he looked around the stone hallway. So far, they had been lucky. The passage was old enough that few people knew about it, and it took them to the bottom of the school. The only problem was that they had come out on the opposite side from the Window. Parcis went still as he heard the sounds of steps slowing down. With a scowl on his face, he turned his two minions had stopped. They were looking around with fear in their eyes as their lanterns cast shadows.

“Can’t wait to get out of here!” Cursix muttered behind Parcis.

“You sir we can’t leave now master?” Xacris asked timidly.

“Yes! Keep moving! We have to do this! You want your reward, don’t you?” Parcis barked. He scowled as he thought about what had happened once they made it down here. This place was nothing, just the window and the few storehouses in case of a siege. And that was why this was the perfect place to do their job.

“I don’t know. Something about all of this is starting to feel like a trap,” Cursix said with a small whine in his voice.

“Don’t ya worry Cursix, the master is here. He won’t go into anything that’ll have a chance he’ll die! He always tries to make sure he’ll live!” Xacris said with a smirk. “We follow after him, and then we’ll be in the ‘safe zone’.”

However, his two minions had started to look around, feeling something’s eyes on them. They had almost run for the staircase if Parcis had his way then they had their reward now, but he needed them. He wouldn’t be able to handle Embix without their help after all. And he would have to start looking for a few new servants. But then this was the only time he would be able to use this trick. Do it too many times and some people would take notice.

“Just keep moving, keep moving. We have to do this!” Parcis snapped. For the next few minutes, his minions stayed silent. It let him calm down and chuckled darkly as he imagined what he would be able to do to Embix. Finally, they made it to a split hallway. Parcis stopped, blinking in shock. “What is this!?

“So that’s what they meant!” Xacris said with shock.

Parcis and Cursix went still, both of them turning to look at him.

“What do who mean!?” Parcis snarled. As Xacris looked at him and swallowed, Parcis only glared at him. “If you knew about this then so help me by the Forest!”

“NO! Well boss, funny story,” Xacris said scratching his head. When I was in my first week here, I heard about the way to the Mirror. Something about a path to the past or something. Never really found out why, they said I’d learn it after my second year on the job. But you know?”

Parcis only looked at him and his right eye twitched and he felt a headache forming behind his eyes. He couldn’t believe that this was happening! The fact only first-year servants could be hired from the staff was working against him. What secrets did this place hide?

Cursix looked down at the floor, trying to find something. “Boss, look. Somebody came through here. They went that way, along this line. It might be our target, but if it’s not……”

Parcis followed Cursix’s finger down the right path. There might be someone else besides their target down here. But then they couldn’t let any witnesses survive seeing them. If someone else was here, then there was only one choice to make.

“Then we finish their business as well,” Parcis snarled as he looked at the two paths. Somehow, he knew that this choice was right. But as he looked down the left path, something called to him. It was strange, but there was something at the edge of his hearing that was calling to him. He almost took a step towards it before he shook his head. He couldn’t go there now, he had a job to do.

Walking down the right path, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. Scowling as he saw his minions standing there, he glared at them. “Move it now!

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“Right Boss!” Cursix said as he followed after him. Part of him hated himself, but he had to do this. When the Red Plague had swept through the kingdom, the price for the cure had grown so high. He needed this job to pay for the cure for his family. He hated that he had no other choice but to follow Parcis’s orders.

But he couldn’t understand half of them! He thought that maybe he would want to spy on his rivals, but no. It was only for him and Xacris to be lookouts while he copied other people's research. Plus now and then going to the nearest village with packages that were usually only a single page. The only reason that he hadn’t tried to figure them out was because Parcis used wax seals. But something about it bothered him a lot.

“Cheer up man,” Xacris cut in quietly. “Just kill that brat and then we can have a nice payday and have a party! Thinking of going to the Gambling Crown with half of my haul!”

“Sounds fun!” Cursix said with a forced smirk. As far as the other two knew, he was just like Xacris. With how the survivors of the Red Plague were treated, he didn’t want any of them to know the truth. All he had to was kill someone else, his first kill without that person trying to kill him.

He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. He couldn’t do this! up until now everything he had done was just mess with people. But to take that step, to kill someone? His mother would hate him, and the person he was trying to save would too! Maybe he could do something else to get the money, but he had to make this right first.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect! A nice little party!” Cursix said with a forced laugh.

Xacris looked at him and chuckled before slapping Cursix’s back.

As Cursix stumbled to the left, Xacris only laughed. “Finally! I thought you might have been a stick in the mud bro! So let’s kill this punk and then have a great party!

Cursix forced himself to laugh as he turned his head and nodded, a smirk forcing itself onto his face. “Forest Yeah!”

“Keep moving and stay silent!” Parcis barked a command from farther up.

As Cursix looked around, he frowned as he looked at the wall, the light of his lantern revealing something. Strange-looking icons were on the wall here and there. Only the dust and low light kept him from seeing clearly what they were, but they looked wrong. With a slight scowl and a sinking feeling, he moved closer and started to clear away the dust. He couldn't explain it, but something told him that he needed to do this.

“Hey, Cursix? What is it?” Xacris asked. Cursix kept quiet, ignoring him as he slowly cleared away the dust.

“What now!? Keep walking! Didn’t you…. What the?” Parcis asked as he walked back, but blinked as he saw the wall. “What….. what is this?”

Cursix finished removing the dust and brought his lantern up. He went still as she saw what was on the wall.

“Is that?” Xarcris asked in horror.

“Can’t be! Here?!” Parcis asked as he brought his lantern closer to the wall. But the extra light only revealed the truth of what Cursix had found.

Cursix only stepped back, his stomach rebelling as he looked at it. No matter how much he didn’t want to believe it, the pictogram was what he thought it was.

“What is this doing on the walls under here?! No….. this can’t be!” Cursix said as he started to look around in horror.

“Boss what do we do!?” Xarcris demanded as he looked at the pictogram.

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Parcis kept silent, his eyes locked on the pictogram, a thousand different thoughts going through his head. If this was what it looked like, then the entire Rest was a lie! He had to get out of here, but he couldn’t let the orphan live! Or could he? Change a bit here and there, and he could have Embix work for his Family.

“Yes,” Parcis said aloud as he looked down the hallway, a grin forming on his face. Why did they have to kill him now? With this discovery, he could say anything and Embix would believe him. And Xarcris could back him up, saying he overheard something from someone he couldn’t see.

“Boss, how is this a yes?!” Xarcris demanded.

“The plan’s changed you two! This isn’t an execution, it’s a rescue!” Parcis said sternly as he turned around. Seeing how his minions were staring at him, Parcis pointed at the wall. “That changes everything! We get our target, we double up and ride back to my father! Once he knows what we saw here, he’ll the Army to purge this place!”

“Smart boss, but what will he say? What did he overhear?” Cursix asked with a strange look in his eyes.

“Hu? Oh. Something about the coiled will have him. Let’s move!” Parcis called out as he ran, his lantern lighting the way. The other two followed behind him, and they left the hallway to darkness.

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As the sun shone down, a man was sitting in an office. He was tall, his hair was shaved off and he was dressed in a Scholar’s robe. He had an aged and kind air to him, and he was wearing glasses before his black eyes. He was writing on a piece of paper with a wooden pencil, looking at an open book every so often.

“Almost done. Once I’ve broken this code, we might finally know the truth. But it might just lead to something else,” He muttered as he licked his lips. He looked up and out the window, a frown on his face. “We broke you, and we came here to keep you away. Once we’ve found out where that monster sleeps, we’ll destroy it as well. In our world, there is no place for your filth!”

A knocking at the door caused him to look up. “What is this, breakfast isn’t for at least half an hour. COME!"

The door opened and a tall woman walked in. She was wearing a brown robe and carried a plate with two plates of food and a pitcher with two glasses next to it. She had forest-green hair and blue eyes.

“Miss Octavris? What are you doing here so early?” The man asked and Octavria only shook her head.

“So early?! You’ve lost track of time again Professor! It’s already past eight!” Octavria said, shaking her head.

The man looked at her, blinked then turned towards the window. He got up and looked down through it, seeing people below getting on carts or horses, leaving the grounds.

“Oh,” The man said and shook his head. “My apologies. But I finally cracked the code!”

“Again? How many people have thought they did it?” Octavria asked with a bitter smile.

The Professor only blushed and looked away. “Too many my lady. But I think they didn’t make mistakes. Well most of them!”

Octavria only laughed and put the tray down on a small table near the desk and sat down in a chair. “You can tell me everything after you’ve eaten! And I only have to bring Embrix his lunch so I have time!”

“Ahhh. Yes, this is Mr. Embix’s atonement. That was today wasn’t it?” The Professor said with a sigh.

“Still can’t figure it out then? It had to have been something about the quality of the parts then, right?” Octavria asked as she poured a glass of orange liquid from the pitcher.

“No, I don’t think so. I helped him look it over before we closed the doors. Everything was ready, it was perfect as his numbers said it would work. I’m convinced that someone sabotaged it!” The Professor said with a snarl on his face. That someone in the castle did try to kill Embix with his invention. And at the same time discredit him and his word. The very was almost impossible to think of!

Octavria only looked at him and shook her head, a thousand thoughts going through her mind. “But who?”

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As they followed after Parcis, Zaglix frowned. So far the bottom level was shaping up to be…… not what he thought. The tales of a hidden dungeon below the school had been around since it opened. And to tell the truth, he hadn’t expected much, but what was here? There was something, something he couldn’t explain. There was a pull towards the left that bothered him, and it was strong enough that he could feel it wasn’t from him.

Krisila hadn’t even noticed the call yet, and that worried him. Why was it that he could detect whatever it was that was trying to control him? What made him different? He had fought and killed a few things that used mental Abilities to hunt, was that it? Once sick you can’t get sick again? But where was the effect coming from, that was the problem. And should he tell her about it? Sometimes telling people about the attack lets it in, at least that was what the Old Man said once. Then he and the Headmaster would have words, him with a club in his hands during it.

“So we have to be almost there, right?” Krissila asked softly.

Zaglix nodded, his lantern covered towards the front. They had been able to follow the path thanks to him. Thanks to what his home’s Militia leader taught him. Every trick Zaglix knew about the wild, he learned from the Leader. He could have done without being ambushed to build up his ‘inner voice’. But it had saved him a few times. And right now his was telling him someone was coming from behind!

Without a word, he brought the lantern closer to him and grabbed Krisila’s shoulder. When she looked at him he brought his hand over her mouth. “Quiet now.”

As soon as he blew out the lantern they saw lights coming from the darkness behind them. He pushed Krisila farther down the passage and then against the wall. With his hand over her mouth, he waited for whoever was coming towards them.

Three lanterns moved towards them but went down the left passage. For a moment Zaglix almost moved on but more lanterns appeared. As they watched, some lights stayed behind as others went past them.

Zaglix moved a bit of the Power to his eye, a skill no one knew he had. With it, he was able to pick out over ten bodies in the light, but each one seemed to be covered by a black robe. He went still as he saw them, and his heart went still as he recognized them. “The Beast Cult?! Here?!”

Krisila went still, and he felt her fear. The Beast Cult was the only outlawed religion in the Kingdom and for good reason. How they killed people and said the God ate them, they were mad. The Kingdom had been founded after the Cult was destroyed, and it had been dead. But how had it reappeared here, bellow Scholar’s Rest!?

But it was when one looked at him, the Cultist's eyes lit in the Power that Zaglix knew they had to run. “RUN!”

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As Rogix walked towards the door, he scowled. When Bryce had said that people were coming, he had wondered how. Bryce only smiled and said he had augmented hearing and that was part of how he ‘wasn’t a civilian’. He had said he tell the rest when he was ready to, and Zane and Rodolphe backed him up.

Rogix had ordered his people against the wall before anyone got here. Yogix and Embix had both retreated with the deckhands to the passage. They had even put the crystal back, and the window was up, ready to fall fast.

As he listened, he could hear screaming.

“keep running!”

“Why the forest are you here!?”

“Back at ya noble brat!”

“Don’t call me a brat!”

“Keep running boss, those freaks are mutants!”

As soon as Rogix heard the word ‘mutant’ he felt horror go through him. There was only one kind of being that they could be talking about. He looked around and saw some of his men tensing, and knew that they understood too. How were they even here?! Those monsters should be all dead!

Suddenly the door burst open and five people in robes burst in. When they saw him some of them were shocked, but the others kept them moving.

”BEHIND ME NOW!” Rogix roared, calling upon his Aura. The five of them ran past him as seven beings in black robes, some of them having limbs that weren’t human.

Before the seven could react, Rogix was upon them. His axe slashed through one of their heads as his men roared and attacked, killing two more of them. But one of them jumped over Rogix and ran at the first five. Grabbing one of them as Rogix and his men killed the others, the cultist looked at them with his back to the window.

Rogix pulled his axe free and looked at the Cultist as the other four moved away. He and his soldiers moved towards them, Rogix scowling.

“Let her go and you’ll have a fair trial! All we have on you is that you’re one with a rare Ability, nothing more! Explain yourself and no harm will come to you!” Rogix barked.

The Cultist chuckled as the hood of his hostage went down, revealing he had his arms around a woman. “The Thunder General, letting his prey go!? No! I’ll kill her before you move! And who knows who this brat is? I heard a royal is here!”

“I’m giving you a chance to live. I want you to take it,” Rogix said fiercely as his men encircled the Cultist.

“Back away from the door, give me a path!” The cultist screamed as his scaly claws moved closer to the woman’s neck.

Rogix saw the mirror drop and smiled. He signaled his men and they all moved.

“You have a clearer shot!” Rogix barked.

Before the Cultist could react a bolt of energy went through his brain, and he fell to the ground. Rogix saw Rodolphe holding his weapon pointing right in a line where the bolt came from. with a smile, he put his axe away as the woman turned and stared into the hallway beyond the window. Looking at the corpses, Rogix knew that this was something he had to know about.