Last they were seen, the intrepid adventurers had just gotten to the white confines of their next destination. Now joined by (Y/N) they move on to the next area in this massive structure.
Or so they think...
(Y/N): No way they do that.
Luca: I kid you not, they teleport right behind you. It's slow enough to react, but still surprising the first time around.
They were currently walking down the left path, when you come from the mistle to the crossroads, since previously they went straight ahead and had come back from the right. The process of elimination always works.
Louis: Hmm, we must have missed something.
Louis' comment brings the two's attention back to the front where a big double door stood closed between them and a way up. The door was, of course, locked.
Louis: Let's double back, maybe there's another path we missed.
(Y/N): It's fine, we still have plenty of sunlight left to burn.
It was just after midday, the sun shone bright above them and being well rested from the previous days meant they had energy to spare for now. Just how long could this really take?
Luca: Hey, there's something in that room. Is that...
Luca stared at a large, circular room, inside of it something shone a bright red.
Yakumo: A vestige. Let's go collect it.
Using one of the vestige cages they had, Luca traps the crystalline fragment of memory. They didn't want to look inside of it just yet, that was what the home base and their downtime was for. Before they could leave though, a chill runs down the spines of the revenants. Something was about to happen.
There was an influx of bright, burning haze inside the room and the cries of countless damned beings echoed from it. Just outside of the round room the haze formed into three lost, one of them being a large noblewoman and the other two into some knight looking lost.
Yakumo: Here they come!
The group hurries into battle positions, the three revenants in the frontline and (Y/N) at the back, now able to actually help since he has a bayonet.
He aims through his mask, being careful to not have his companions in the cone of pellets he was about to fire. And before he could even squeeze the trigger a shot was fired from right beside him, hitting his mark with incredible accuracy.
Peeking at his left, he sees some furry black thing. It was so tall and— he looks down and realizes it was Mia shooting beside him and he was staring at her hat. Her weapon was much more accurate thin his, firing a single blood bullet instead of (Y/N)'s pellet spread, she was also a better shooter with practice so he was quite glad to have her along.
Mia: More coming from the outside!
Refocusing on the battle, (Y/N) realizes that he'll need to reposition for better angles, so he circles a bit to the right so he could be more useful. When he did shoot it was fairly easy to hit his marks thanks to the area his weapon covers, and deal tremendous damage to the large target by hitting them with as many pellets as possible.
But it didn't matter how many they shot and cut down, the haze kept reforming just outside into more and more lost. A seemingly endless stream of them pouring into the room.
Luca: Damn, so many...
Louis: Check the other exit, we need to fall back.
As the backline went to check the other door the frontline kept the lost occupied. The path lead down some stairs and straight into a drop. Unless falling down the crater was your way to escape, it was a dead end.
It wasn't the way out, but it was a narrow path where they could funnel the enemies. So (Y/N) yells out to the retreating frontliners.
(Y/N): It's clear, we can deal with them here.
A groan comes from the edge of the path, a lost was hanging there in wait for some easy prey.
Using the pointy end of his pointy stick, (Y/N) pokes the lost's hand off of the edge and watches as he plunges down.
(Y/N): How was that a good idea?
Back to the actual threats, they held their ground by having Yakumo and Luca hold the lost back and block as many hits as they could, while Louis cast fireballs and (Y/N) and Mia picked off whoever was wounded.
So they fought.
And fought, for the better part of 10 minutes until the flood of lost was reduced to nothing. As the haze cleared from the air the explorers caught their breath, regenerating as needed.
(Y/N): That took a long time. Does that happen often?
Louis: Only in some places, but this one was exceptionally long.
(Y/N) looked at his right index finger, staring at the small prick on it used to drain his blood into the bayonet. He didn't know how much it took from him, so he had been a bit on the economical side even if he didn't have to.
Louis: Nice shooting, you didn't drop it this time.
She complimented him and gently slapped his arm.
(Y/N): Nah, I could use some pointers.
Yakumo: Maybe, but you don't have an instructor.
(Y/N): Didn't you go to war or something? You oughta have something to teach.
Yakumo shrugs and turns to the path back.
Yakumo: You pick it up by instinct, just improvise and you'll be fine.
It was time to go, they had seen everything in this place so they had to backtrack. When walking back though...
Mia: Hey. You're that human right?
(Y/N): The one you almost attacked in the pit? Yeah.
(Y/N) mentally facepalmed, his dense ass note realizing he was very rude to the girl who wanted to start a friendly chat. He had to come back fast, before what he said could sink in.
(Y/N): I'm sorry for you brother. Nicolas, right?
Mia: Close. It's Nicola, no s. And thanks, weren't you the one lugging me around the place during that fight?
(Y/N): Yes, I was. You put up quite the resistance.
Mia: I'm sorry, you were trying to save me and yet...
(Y/N): Relax, I get it. You never expect something like that to happen. Guess I don't need this thing anymore.
(Y/N) takes off his mask, partly because it was useless to him and impaired his vision. Though the tinted glass was protecting his eyes from the reflected light, so he had to squint and blink a bit before adjusting his eyesight to the lighting.
(Y/N): Well... my name is (Y/N), nice to meet you.
Mia: I'm Mia Karstein, a pleasure.
She closed her eyes, so (Y/N) could only imagine she was smiling under that small mask.
Luca: Hey guys, I found a path up these staaaAAAAAAAA...
Snapping their eyes in Luca's direction, (Y/N) and Mia find a short flight of stairs heading up and at the top a gaping hole from which Luca had fallen down.
Louis: That's... not good. We can't go on without her.
(Y/N): We should go back to the mistle. She'll reform there right?
5 minutes of waiting and wandering later
(Y/N): Who built this place?
He asked as he bit into one of his fruity rations. They could easily find their way back to the exit, but never ahead, was this some weird way of being lost in a place? They currently found themselves at the roof of another circular building, this one had another exit way, leading into another deadly drop.
(Y/N): This is very confusing, everything looks the same and...
He trails off as he sees what everyone else is staring at. Luca was staring down the balcony, dangerously close to the edge. She then unceremoniously jumps off the side as the others stare in shock.
Yakumo: Did she just...
Luca: I found another path, you guys coming?
(Y/N): That was counterintuitive, but I guess it works.
Luca: There's two knights here, can I get help please?
More wandering
Luca opened a chest she found at a dead end, containing a rocket propelled hammer several times bigger than the chest itself. Quirky.
Louis: We're making progress, this area looks new.
Yakumo: Does it really?
Louis: No. But I feel like it is.
The group was currently faced with yet another drop, this one leading to a lower catwalk and presumably the way they need to go. It wasn't very far down, for the revenants at least, but for (Y/N) it was going to be hell on the knees. Again.
They come up to another round room, this one with a mistle inside. Thank god, it was about time they found another one. There was another drop down to the left immediately after leaving the room, and it couldn't be avoided because the other path lead to locked doors of course.
Trying to land as best he can without rolling off the edge, (Y/N) curses at whatever architect made this damn place. The others were too, but mainly the one who actually felt the falls.
It doesn't take a long time for them to reach another mistle, for some reason it was that close to the last. Somewhere along the way Luca had found yet another vestige and stored it for safekeeping.
They just keep searching the area, and they find something interesting...
Yakumo: Now that is armor.
Inside yet another unremarkable room was a fairly big lost. Armored in black and gold, the imposing figure was the only way to tell this room apart from the others. It and the small growth of white vines on the ground.
Louis: Should we fight it?
(Y/N): Why would we? Its just kneeling there, just leave it there.
Luca: Those vines usually have good things entangled. Let's beat it.
Walking inside the room, they alert the lost. It looks up at them and nimbly stands up, grasping a thick bladed sword and using its other hand to apply lightning to it. The lost stood at least two whole heads above Yakumo, it was tall and certainly skilled in the art of combat and gifts. A very fearsome foe indeed...
But it is 5 on 1, the edgy thing never stood a chance. The explorers just stunlock the lost until it drops, even if it did take quite a lot of attacks to do so. Once it was gone, all it left behind was a generous amount of haze, a syringe filled with a bright green liquid and the sword.
The haze is absorbed by the revenants, Luca goes for the syringe and (Y/N) picks up the sword from the ground. It was fairly heavier than his old one due to the thickness of the blade, and the profile was curved forwards into a sharp tip.
(Y/N): Why do none of you ever carry sheaths for your weapons? It's so inconvenient.
Luca: Just give it to someone else if you don't want it.
(Y/N): I still trained with swords, it's what I use.
(Y/N) turs to face her and sees she already shooting whatever was inside the syringe into her throat. He just stares at her slack-jawed and speechless.
Luca: What's wrong? Is there something on my face?
(Y/N): No, something on your throat. What was that?
Luca: Good question, something for my regeneration for sure.
The others were already leaving the room, so the pair follows behind.
(Y/N): Do you usually inject random things on yourself?
Luca: Only when they are in labeled, professional looking containers.
(Y/N): Was that labeled?
Luca stares at the surface of the syringe, spins it around and then tosses it over the edge when (Y/N) tries to take it and read for himself.
Luca: Of course it was.
The group cover a lot of ground without anything important happening. Finding vestiges, dropping from high places, killing random lost hanging on the edges, getting lost, Luca even pulled some levers. This place was dead, too empty even considering the lost spread around, the only interesting thing was when they found this one section with lots of backtracking for levers and opening doors.
From a nearby mistle they were resting at, the group decides they should end today's exploration there. The sun had just set, and the cool air of the night was refreshing after a day fighting and exploring. The next section was one big stretch were they had already cleared any patrols, except for one single knight standing watch in a large room.
Louis: We head back to base to rest, then come back tomorrow morning refreshed and ready for more.
(Y/N): Can one of you take me to the park? I left something there.
Luca: I'll do it. See you guys back at base.
Luca takes hold of (Y/N)'s shoulder as she uses the mistle to head out, leaving the others to their own devices.
Reforming at the park, they are right beside the motorcycle.
Luca: You came in that? I can't believe Davis leant it to you.
(Y/N): Same here. But I was in a hurry, so I guess he made an exception.
Luca: Speaking of which, what happened?
(Y/N) readied the motorcycle so they could ride back home, half trying to ignore the question. Partly because he'd have to repeat himself to the others, so he should just wait until they were all together.
Luca: You've been tense today. Maybe I'm imagining things, but whenever we weren't fighting or talking you were very distracted.
She had been paying attention to him, despite all the responsibilities she had in the group. All because of her gut feeling on a single comment.
(Y/N): Alice came by, bringing supplies from the shelter.
Luca: We'll have to thank her when we get back.
(Y/N): Yes, but she didn't come alone.
Starting the bike, (Y/N) mounts it and waits for Luca to either get on or go her way.
(Y/N): Avery came with. She freaked out a bit when she saw me and... I did too. It went south immediately and I just... I left.
Luca: Well, you're clearly in no condition to drive. Scooch back.
Knowing he'd probably have to save his argument energy for later, (Y/N) didn't go against her. The ride back home wasn't bad, except for the time when Luca pointed out she didn't remember if she knew how to ride and almost gave (Y/N) a heart attack jumping the park cliff as a "shortcut".
But all too soon they were back to base, just waiting by the doors.
Luca: She probably calmed down in these few hours. Just relax, go in there and improvise like always.
(Y/N): Right... thanks.
(Y/N) anxiously opens the doors, peeking inside where the entirety of the church denizens were in the lounge sitting on the chairs and couches. Except for the couch he used as a bed, seemingly unoccupied.
The revenants inside spot him and wave, so (Y/N) comes inside trying to act normal in case Avery had left before meeting the others. It'd be easier to ignore today's events, if it was possible.
Leaning the black saber on the weapon rack by the armory, he walks inside as Luca follows with the motorcycle. Things looked normal enough.
Louis: So you took the bike to the park. Couldn't you just have waited for us to come back?
(Y/N): I had a feeling you started without me, and just followed my gut.
Yakumo: Really? Was there any other reason?
Yakumo points at the empty couch, presumably asking (Y/N) to sit and talk. When (Y/N) got close to it, he realized the reason no one was sitting there wasn't because it was his "bed", but because Avery herself was sleeping on it.
(Y/N): Right, maybe there was something else...
Author's notes
Bit of a longer one, but it's done. Cathedral wasn't even that bad so far...
I sure do hope no one resents me for skipping all the empty spaces and backtracking, and probably getting the order of some events or places wrong.
This should take at most 3 more chapters before moving on to a better area, the ridge will be much easier to write.
Well... here's to the cunt revving his engine in the road next to my house. Fuck whoever it is, I want silence during classes.
Until next time.
Peace