SIS B5: Chapter 9: Childish Wonder and Mummy Worries

"This car really is way too comfortable," Rose said as she glanced out of the Ridomochi Final Model's passage side window.

Daz nodded. "Maddy falls asleep the instant her back hits the seat. Can't really blame her since it was designed for comfort over convenience, after all."

Rose rolled her shoulders as she shifted to get comfier. "Yeah. I've looked into that. There are billions of different space cars that can move at lightspeed or faster. This being limited to Mach-4 - Mach-10 if you want it to explode - is super dumb. I think it was intentional."

Daz shrugged. "It's fast enough for my needs. If you must complain, do so to Ridomochi. Then again, when I spoke to her briefly when convincing her I deserved the thing, she did mention turning down a chance to become a system god. She'd probably kill you for being so snarky."

"Meh. It's not like I don't understand this thing's value. It's super hard to damage it. Even a nuke wouldn't do more than crack the windows," Rose said. "The scarcity also makes it super desirable. Only 100 in existence, right?"

Daz nodded calmly.

Rose shifted a bit more, this time a bit awkwardly. "B-By the way... um, thanks for not bringing Vanessa along with us. I know she really wanted to see El Dorado too, but being forced to sit or her or your lap would have killed me."

"As much as I like to tease you, I'm not blatantly cruel," Daz replied. "She rejected you, didn't she?"

Rose's face scrunched up in an ugly manner. "Yes? No? She basically asked me to wait until I was an adult. I mean, I get it, but way to give me hope without giving me what I want."

Daz nodded. "I can get the frustration but at least she didn't turn around and say 'sorry, I'm straight. Besides, you're like a sister to me', right?"

Rose shuddered. "Only thing worse than being friend-zoned is being family-zoned. You've got a point. Still, I love her so much it hurts and she knows it so it's hard to keep on a straight face when she gives me that 'I know' look of exasperation."

The reaper shrugged in response. "Sadly, I can't relate. Maddy and I have been an item ever since we met back in elementary school. Good luck, I suppose?"

"Asshole," Rose snorted.

Chuckling, Daz said, "A lot of folk certainly seem to think so. Anyway, we're here."

As he said that, the clouds and mists parted to reveal the large and majestic body of water known as Lake Parime.

Glancing over, Daz watched as Rose's frown faded away as a look of awe and childish fascination consumed her very being.

She leaned forward and practically pressed her face against the flying car's windshield, even at the risk of falling into the passenger side footwell.

Daz grinned at the sight. He didn't care for beautiful and historic scenes like the one of the golden city before them. Seeing Rose have such an interest though warmed his heart.

[Ember of Love [Entry-level (initial mastery)] has increased to 16%.]
[Ember of Love [Entry-level (initial mastery)] has increased to 17%.]

'Huh. I know it makes me happy to see her acting her age every once in a while, but for that Ember to improve? I can't possibly love her any more than I already do though... Odd,' Daz thought as he took control of the Ridomochi Final Model to land in his usual spot within El Dorado's walls.

He made sure to take stock of the golden city and he was pleased to see his destruction of a Star of Eternity hadn't reached this little pocket of paradise.

"This place has so much charm," Rose mumbled. "It's one thing to understand that El Dorado exists and to see holographs of it, it's another to actually see it in the flesh..."

"Speaking of flesh," Daz said as he carefully landed the car, "The walls are made from the body of one of the old Aztec gods. Or was it an Incan god? Maybe Mayan? Eh, anyway, we're technically being protected by a corpse right now."

Rose shivered as she wore a disgusted face. "You always know how to ruin a good mood, don't you? Must suck for Madison when you two are getting it on."

Daz simply chuckled as he got out of the Ridomochi Final Model. He could see that for once, Sir Albert was actually waiting for him respectfully with his assistant, George, by his side.

'Saves me from having to ask someone to fetch him this time or from walking in on him with one of the local girls,' Daz noted with a slight nod of the head.

He didn't delay in retrieving Rose's wheelchair from his Industrial Item Box as he helped her get out of the passenger seat.

A few 'oh's and 'ah's could be heard among the native Amazonians, presumably because they had never seen a wheelchair as advanced as his sister's. Perhaps they'd never even seen a wheelchair before, period.

Regardless, he returned the Ridomochi Final Model to the subspace within its key. He then addressed Sir Albert as he walked alongside Rose who was mentally controlling her chair.

"I trust you're aware that one of the Muisca temples was repaired. Can it collect moonlight again?" Daz asked.

Sir Albert wore an excited expression on his aged yet lively face. "Oh, yes! Yes indeed. What's even more shocking is that it has enough moonlight stored for five rituals. Including the usual Altar of Permanence, you could be leaving here with six extra Stars of Eternity today, young man."

That made Daz feel damn-near ecstatic. 'I never hoped for extra moonlight to have been stored. That's phenomenal news.'

Just as he was about to ask another important question, Daz saw Rose scowl in disgust and at the same time he felt two very old and very unique souls appear above them.

"Urg, I think I'm gonna be sick. Those wrappings look so fucking disgusting," Rose whispered.

Choosing not to admonish her for cursing, Daz instead craned his neck and narrowed his eyes. "It's been a while, Ak, Tek."

All of the locals immediately fell to their knees and began chanting unending praises for their saviours in their local tongues. Daz was only able to understand them thanks to his All Language Comprehension skill.

Sir Albert and George bowed their heads respectfully but they remained silent and didn't dirty their knees unlike the city's other inhabitants.

Floating down to ground level, Ak responded, "Greetings, Scion of the Golden Path exterminators, the Suppressive Path exterminators, and the unknown exterminator path."

Tek inclined his head slightly. "Greetings. We have some things to discuss and some things to apologise for."

Daz frowned. He glanced around at the reverent citizens who reminded him all too much of the Truthians. Religion and faith was a touchy subject for him right now.

"Let's do this in a more private area. The first Muisca shrine if you don't mind since I have business there as it is already," Daz said emotionlessly as he grabbed the handles of Rose's wheelchair then used his gems to float through the air while carrying her.

Sir Albert sighed. "Here we go... I wonder what he's expecting?"

***

As they slowly followed him through the air at a walking pace, the mummies Ak and Tek spoke to one another openly but in a manner that would be nigh-impossible to eavesdrop on.

"He was most certainly the cause."

"Indeed. The guilt is palpable."

"His growth in the two invader exterminator paths is disturbing. He clearly has been in contact with the older generations of those paths."

"Mmm. The Golden Path and the Suppressive Path. The unknown path... it's still unchanged?"

"Slight changes, nothing major though. He's clearly tried to train it but without guidance unlike the other two."

"Is that good, or bad? It's hard to tell."

"Indeed. What is clear, however, is his lack of trust towards us. I can feel it. You can too, yes? The recent affair was an accident but the gears turn evermore in his mind."

"You speak the truth. If we do not treat this with the utmost care, he will try to ruin all that we care for. It is a shame the higher being restricting this plane would not allow us to tighten the contract we established with him."

"Indeed. Do you think we could best him in the event of betrayal?"

"No. Perhaps were we in the past when the pantheon was still one, but no. Not now. He is eternal. I can feel it."

"I feared as much. It is not a gift from the higher being nor from a pathway. It is different. We must convince him to avoid his future plans then if he will persist evermore."

"A difficult task, given his stubbornness. A genetic trait of the Suppressive Path, I fear."

"Indeed. Well, we were never ones to accept fate for what it offered us, now were we? We and the great bastion have survived this long. We'll continue to do so, even if he razes it to the ground."

"Let us hope it does not come to that. We expended much of his promised resources to stop the city's demise once already. We can only pray to the fallen that he realizes it was necessary."

"What of the youngling? I sense a blood tie to the Golden Pathway within her though the only true path she can wield is another one alien to us."

"A concern, but nothing as serious as the scion himself. Be careful what you say around her. I suspect she may be wiser than her body's age suggests."

"Indeed. Let us proceed with caution."

***

"So, what did you two want to discuss?" Daz asked in a neutral and uncaring tone.

At his side, Rose watched the two floating mummies with some interest buried beneath her disgust. "They aren't using system powers..." she muttered.

Ak spoke first. "The shakes that reached us here. What caused them? All we can infer is that you were at the root of the matter but nothing more."

Tek nodded. "Indeed. We would like to know more of why that happened before we speak any further."

Daz frowned. "The system lied to me. That's what happened. I had to resort to some pretty extreme measures to destroy a particularly nasty mythical city. I was guaranteed Earth would be fine thanks to its status as a trial planet. Obviously, the system was bending the truth. That, or it didn't expect me to do what I did."

His hidden threat wasn't missed on the two mummies. They glanced at one another before Tek replied, "An accident then. We must confess, we had to consume a substantial amount of stored moonlight to avoid, as you call this place, El Dorado's destruction."

Ak added, "A crack almost opened right in the middle of the city. We had little choice. Do know though that we didn't touch the moonlight of the first Muisca shrine you use every month. We will always uphold our end of our bargain in that regard."

'Hmm...' Daz entered a ponderous state. 'No lies, but I can read between the lines. They suspect I mean El Dorado harm. Perceptive bastards. Can they not see how much of a target it'll paint on Earth's back when we exit the trials? Stars of Eternity are simply too valuable.'

An argument could be made that perhaps the city need not be levelled, only the Muisca temples. Then again, three of them were already destroyed beyond the system's ability to repair them.

Despite that, the empire store had managed to restore one of those very temples, had it not? The system was inconsistent.

'No, not inconsistent. It told me I couldn't pay to repair them when Maddy and I first came here. That only means an individual can't accomplish it through the regular merit point store. Of course it would make the restoration of factories capable of producing Stars of Eternity difficult since they can steal from the system and make its gifts no longer rely on its presence,' Daz concluded.

"Thank you for that," Daz answered. "It would be a tragedy if such a fantastical place as this were to be destroyed by my actions. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?"

"Yes. Your pathways. The Golden Path and the Suppressive Path. We can feel they have come into contact with members of older generations who possess the same pathways. Have you told these people of this city's existence?" Ak asked in a grave tone.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Are they talking about Ran and Lorenzo?"

Daz nodded. "That seems likely. No, I have not. Only a handful of people know of this city's existence. All of them I trust, which is a very, very rare thing."

"We are concerned," Tek stated. "It is not that we do not believe you, but the Golden Path is a very hard one to hide from. Can you guarantee that this Ran or Lorenzo has not used their pathway to peek at this location?"

Ak said, "We would be unable to detect it if so."

Daz looked over at Rose who gave him a heavy shrug in response. "I have no idea. Future Vision is super hard for me to work around. It's probably safe to assume he knows those. Dad too."

"That being the case," Daz said, "you can stop worrying. Whatever war you had with my ancestors, my current bloodline members clearly don't plan to reignite it. Lorenzo is obsessed with my father and my father is obsessed with... me. It's complicated."

"... We see. We'll return to our duties now. We've been away from the grand temple for long enough as is," Ak said.

Tek nodded. "It was good to speak with you again."

"Likewise," Daz lied.

He'd rather the two mummies never showed themselves again since if he ever did decide to wiggle his way out of their contract and ruin El Dorado, he'd likely need to kill them to do it.

The less they interacted with him, the less likely it would be that they would suspect his intentions.

'They can't detect the usage of Future Vision, right?' he thought as he began circulating his internal energy.