Chapter 606 - I don’t feel so good

“So I’m worried,” Sofia finished her explanation, “Either something followed me in and now has access to that weird hand, or something was already in and might have followed me out…”

“Hmm… I wonder,” Alith said after some reflection, maybe there was someone next to you in the ‘real’ world, and they somehow didn’t appear in the light?”

“Or maybe it was a ghost!” Bookie suggested.

“Come on Bookie, I’m a ghost. If that was it I would have noticed, trust me. Unless it was and still is trapped in there,” Alith said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Wait, you can still see into the spirit realm right now?” Sofia asked.

“Nope, but you learn to, uh… Feel? Things, when you keep on switching between the two as often as I did. Which leads me to my own findings. The people in the village, they’re proper people. By that I mean they actually have a soul. I don’t know what to make of it, but they have it.”

“If we had a way to access the village without entering the light world, then maybe we’d understand what’s going on here… Either way, it sure didn’t sound like these people were trapped there for thirty thousand years.”

“It also sounded like they were preparing for some kind of disaster,” Alith remarked, “If the disaster is what the outside world looks like right now, well… I don’t know. What if like… They’ve been ‘preparing’ for the festival forever and like, the day never ends? There doesn't seem to be a real sun anywhere in the sky after all,” Alith said, looking up at the unchanging blue sky.

“Maybe… I was thinking they’re maybe stuck in some kind of time loop like I was once… But that doesn’t seem right, considering the world outside just keeps going, and the Deep would have certainly intervened long ago if that was it.”

“The last option is these are just ‘regular’ people living here, their queen really died five years ago, and we just happen to have come here right in time for some grand ritual,” Alith said without much conviction.

“Yeah, no way. I might have bought that if I hadn’t seen the state of the real world and the hand.” 

“Right? Now I wonder if the crystal in the lighthouse had an eyeball inside or something.”

“I wonder what the surface light world looks like!” Bookie commented.

“I do too…” Sofia said, “But I also want to keep exploring here. Now that we know about the hand it feels very likely that the skill I’m looking for is somewhere in this reality. Probably in a bigger city or something. Maybe the ‘Queen’s old palace, or guarded by that Izzaro Sorcerer the chief spoke about.”

“Then let’s keep following the road I guess.”

“We’ve been careful enough, I think, let’s go a bit faster,” Sofia said, white-feathered wings growing out of her back.

“Oh damn! With those you look like an actual angel!”

Sofia turned her head to look at her wings, confused by Alith’s statement. “Angels don’t even have wings, what are you about?”

“Ah. Yeah sorry that’s still censored I think. Funny that much even got through.”

“I see… Well, hmm… I can carry Bookie and you, but for Pareth… Actually, let’s try, come here.”

Sofia grabbed Pareth by the waist and tried lifting him up. It was like a normal person trying to uproot a tree barehanded.

“I was half-hoping you would be lighter in the light world…”

Pareth shrugged and just pointed at Bookie’s book form. Bookie grabbed it from Sofia’s side and handed it to him. Pareth then proceeded to rip out a page, summoning a mighty steed in the flesh, Sofia’s very rarely used skeletal war horse, now looking more majestic than ever with protruding muscles and a shiny black mane.

“That’s… Yeah of course Bookie’s summon would be like that too… This one isn’t even blurry. Is it really going to be able to carry you, though? And is it going to be faster? I’ve never really pushed it to its limits, now that I think about it.”

Alith walked around the horse, which was comically large compared to her, “It’s definitely a beast unlike anything from my world, at least, our horses are like puppies in comparison.”

“Is it? It’s a level 299 horse after all, but still, Pareth is more than a bit heavy.”

As it turned out, the horse was more than capable of carrying not only Pareth but the entire group, and while it could not gallop nearly as fast as Sofia could fly, it was still fast enough that the village in the background disappeared from the horizon in a matter of seconds.

The light of the obelisk spread far and wide, but it was not infinite. After just a minute of full speed running between hills, following the road, the world shifted without warning.

The horse, Bookie and Pareth all became skeletons once more, and the group was returned to the drab reality of the hidden moon, with its black sky and its layer of human dust covering the ground. The only thing that was still mostly the same despite the change was the narrow paved road, although it looked much worse for wear in this reality.

The horse had stopped, surprised by the sudden change. Sofia gave it a pat on the spine, and after quickly creating a more comfortable long bone saddle for everyone, the travel continued.

Every so often, Bookie would turn on his lamp, and give everyone a glimpse of the light world’s colorful reality thanks to the light of the fruit.

“You know, I have to wonder,” Alith said at one point, breaking the silence, “We went down into a basement, then down into a valley, yet now we’re back on the surface. I guess the village wasn’t really underground, just in an actual valley of sorts?”

“I don’t know,” Sofia admitted, “the tunnel was long but I sort of expected the village to still be underneath the city, guess not.”

“Yet the city was not in the obelisk’s light…” Alith continued.

“Honestly it’s probably better to give up trying to understand… We should just be happy that nothing serious has happened to any of us yet.”

 “Sofia, look!” Bookie interrupted, stopping the horse and pointing at something in the distance.

“Oh. Looks like some kind of manor? There’s not much left but that’s a lot more than what was left of the city,” Sofia said, looking at the thing in the distance. She felt like she was seeing some movement, but without warning, Bookie turned on his lamp.

“It really is a manor,” Alith said, now that she could also see it. The magnificent manor was in perfect condition in the light world, surrounded by a golden fence and opulent gardens with sculptures and fountains. The road actually split just a bit further, the turn leading to the manor.

“Can we go explore it?!” Bookie asked excitedly.

“Wait. Turn the light back off,” Sofia told him.

“Sure.”

In the dark real world again, Sofia focused to get a better look on the distant ruins of the manor. I wasn’t imagining things. Stuff is moving in the sky above the manor. “Tethered,” she said to the others. “They’re in the manor.”

“Ah fuck,” Alith cursed, “Maybe we should skip it, then.”

“No. We’re going,” Sofia said decisively, “Out of the obeslisk’s range, we have control over the light now. Let’s see. Maybe the invisible thing I felt next to me in the obelisk was a Tethered. Now we can find out.”

“Good call. But if things look bad, you bolt that thing to dust.” 

“As tempting as that idea is, and even if the Tethered are stupid, imagine the mistake that would be if they’re like above level 400. Not that I think they are, but still. There has to be something dangerous enough here that scared all even the admin off. It can’t just be the weirdness of the light world.”

“I know all that, I just hate how passive we have to be on this weird moon.”

“That won’t change until we understand the danger…”

“Well, let’s see. Do we approach in the light world?”

“No need. With the tethered there I doubt there would be anyone to receive us in the light world anyway. The manor’s probably abandoned.”

“It really didn’t look abandoned,” Alith said in a dark tone, before turning her own lamp back on.

After a short silence, Sofia had to admit that Alith was right, the gardens were well maintained and the fountains flowing with clear water.

“Shiiiiiiiit…” Sofia said, having a sudden and unpleasant realisation.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Alith asked.

“Let’s hope we’re wrong,” Sofia said, ordering the horse to walk toward the manor.