Shadowbane

Aresa and Seifer are conversing behind me as I stare out the window at the fortress far off in the distance.

I know I've been there before... But how did I get in? If I end up needing to enter the fort, it would be really helpful if I could remember how the hell my unit gained entry to that place. I feel like someone opened a secret door for us somewhere... It was underground, I think?

One of the doors behind me opens up, revealing the princess in a night gown.

Is... Is that normal? Half the damn thing is see-through. Seifer is looking around awkwardly right now, so even he wasn't expecting this.

"Apologies for making you wait. Parn contacted me, he wanted to know if there were any problems with my guests." Euphemia said.

"Um princess, before we begin, can I ask why I can see most of your body right now? Is this a gift for Seifer here? He can't bring himself to look at you so I don't think it's working."

Euphemia looks down at herself, then laughs as one of her attendants rushes over with a blanket. "No no, I always rest in here every night wearing a gown with a blanket over me. Seifer never joins me, but I knew he would tonight since there would be outsiders here."

In other words, he's here to make sure we don't harm her. I don't know how strong he is, but I doubt he could stop me from driving an enhanced fist through her throat at this range. Not that I have any intentions on doing that.

{You look lovely in that gown.}

"Thank you Lady Aresa!"

"She's a bit awkward and has trouble articulating what she really wants to say. That was her trying to tell you that she wants you to keep that blanket off. She prefers see-through silk on the ladies, I've heard her say it multiple times."

{Noooo!! She's messing with me Princess Euphemia I promise!}

Euphemia's stared at me stunned, before settling down into a smile. "No one has ever dared to joke like that around me. What a novel feeling..."

Seifer looks over at me and smiles. "Her brother Parn suggested long ago that she be removed for the succession line, and the king agreed. Ever since then she's been stuck here alone."

Personally I think that sounds amazing, but I guess the average person would desire friends, love, attention, and so on.

{So she's just like me in a way.}

Seifer's expression saddened after reading her board. "Right... You've been alone since Lord Shiva died, haven't you? She was such an important figure to all of us. Nothing has been the same since, even for us."

Shiva... Shiva... Oh shit, I think I do remember that name. That is the name of the Eldritch who created Viseux! Err, they don't have 'daughters' though?

Aresa looks back at me.

{I had a suspicion when we first met, but on the wagon ride back to Viseux I knew for a fact that you had no idea of who I was. It was refreshing being in a wagon with three people who didn't know my origins, so I decided to keep it to myself. There's no need for that anymore though, ask your questions.}

"Then how are you an Eldritch's 'daughter'?"

{Ahh... Of course you'd ask that. Right to the heart of things, as expected of an 'inquisitor'.}

... So she knew my title too. Only people from Xelba should have known that.

"Inquisitor? You work for Viseux? We only asked the Guardians for help." Seifer said.

"No, Xelba also had 'inquisitors', but they were kind of different. They stole that title for god knows what reason. Nobody could ever tell what the higher ups there were thinking."

"I must have misheard just now. It sounded like you said 'Xelba', but... That couldn't be?"

{That's exactly what she said Seifer. She used to be a cultist, long long ago.}

"Well, not exactly, I mean it's not like I believed in Viktor's dream. I did work for him though, so I guess whatever I thought on the inside doesn't really matter. An accomplice is an accomplice."

"Unbelievable... To think I'd meet someone from that fabled place. I hadn't even been born yet when it fell. In our nation it was talked about for long after its demise, probably because we were one of two nations who were most affected by that horrible place. My Father was a merchant, he used to go on mad ravings about how much he hated that nation. Having twenty to forty percent of any caravans sent south of the fort be pillaged was devastating for a trader after all. Plus, anyone who accompanied the caravan was never seen again, which eventually led to all trade to the south being closed off."

"Oh, I remember reading about this! That's why the Kitsune kingdom fell right? The Kitsunes were already struggling as is, so when their supplies were cut off, that was it for them. Lord Rai'ga was to the west of them and he had to flee to Viseux after the Kitsune god died to the Tengu. Then Lord Shiva died soon after that, so Viseux naturally became his." Euphemia said, clearly happy at how well she remembered the history down here.

{Yes... When mother died, Rai'ga decided to 'save' Viseux. By the time I was able to move he had already taken control of everything. Worthless bum.}

Our hosts seemed taken aback at her calling the leader of the capital nation on Urza a 'worthless bum'.

Hmm, I understand why she would personally hate Rai'ga, but despite everything my new allies have said about Viseux, I can't help but think their current militaristic society was going to happen regardless of who was in charge. From what I read while we were in Viseux, Eldritch had began popping up at an alarming rate sometime after Xelba fell, so as a result it's only natural that the nations of Urza would become more military focused. Obviously there is going to be people taking advantage of that to further their own agendas, but I don't see the current Viseux in the same horrible light everyone else I've met seems to be.

Aresa had her country usurped and Godwin's guild has struggled with the new powers that be, so I also don't necessarily blame them for hating the current system. All in all I keep my mouth shut on this situation, as I'm basically an outsider at this point. The Urza I knew is long gone, and I'm not sticking around on the new one long enough to start voicing my opinions on the local political structures. There is nothing to be gained by me telling Aresa I don't see Viseux the same way she does. Only bad things await me down that route... With that said, I can't deny that I seem to have a visceral disgust for militaries now. It seems my time in Xelba has left deep wounds in more ways than one.

"Well... I can't deny that there is plenty of reasons we refuse to allow anyone to move into our nation. The few times we allowed people from Viseux to visit, things didn't end well. It's just not worth the headache dealing with those Viseux supremacists."

{Ooh that's a good title for them Seifer! It fits the people there perfectly, well done.}

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'd really like to know. How are you a 'daughter' exactly? Are you a Lord who is calling herself a daughter for posterity sake?"

{No... And yes? I was to be mother's first Lord. She is much like the Tengu when it comes to how his Lords and spawns are designed. After years of creating me inside of her, she unfortunately died soon before I was 'born'. After the traitors fled, one of mother's most loyal subjects offered herself as a vessel for me. It took time for our souls to meld though. A very long time. Also, because of the way the chateau is designed, mother's soul is still there, slowly reforming her body while keeping the chateau powered and sealed.}

"Wait, Lady Shiva will be reborn?!" Seifer yelled.

{One day far far faaaar into the future. Until then I need to keep the chateau safe, but it's not like Rai'ga can dare approach it. If he could, he'd have already kicked me out. Unfortunately for him I still control some parts of the city. Anything from the defenses to the plumbing for about one kilometer around the chateau I can change anytime I want. Plus, they're low in number these days, but there is a lot of people who still worship my mother over him. Although the army is finding reasons to kick them out, which led to the few who remain living within my realm of control.}

I want to ask what promise Rai'ga made with her which led to her coming out here to bait the Tengu. However, asking that now could lead to a line of questioning we'd both rather avoid.

Euphemia who is detached from politics appears to be unsure of how to feel about the news of Shiva returning, while Seifer truly looks happy.

I guess those who actually have to deal with the current Viseux will obviously be much happier if the old boss came back.

"Oh right! Can you tell me about the Lizardmen?! I hear a lot of the Guardians have defected." Euphemia asked.

"Defected is... Kind of correct. It'll take awhile to explain actually."

Over the course of an hour, me and Aresa took turns explaining myself, Keith's group, and what happened in Thule.

"So... Hang on, this is a lot to take in." Seifer said, leaning back in his chair.

"The sky, it's because of these faceless 'Xerath' creatures?" Euphemia asked.

{Most likely yes. Reimia saw the same sky in their realm.}

"You're immortal...? .............. Must be nice." Seifer whispered so low I almost didn't hear him. I looked at the other two and it was clear that neither of them heard him.

The hell was that? The way he said it was so... Menacing. These two didn't react at all though so I'll ignore it for now, but something about that really creeped me out...

"Doesn't necessarily mean it's the Xerath. Could be an Eldritch or a Demon, they also visit that realm quite often."

Seifer shook his head. "... I need to speak to the king. If what you are saying is true, then personally I believe we should be allying this 'hydra'. If they'll let us stay autonomous so long as we slay Demons, then all the more reason to support them over Viseux and Khan Uluhm. If anything, the idea of taking out those power hungry warmongers feels like a breath of fresh air. I don't expect it to be as wonderful of a relationship as you describe, but it can't possibly be worse than the ones we currently have. Before all this happened, we had proof that Viseux was planning to attack us in a few years. That's why the king was delaying the expansion to the east. Well, and for several other reasons."

It makes much more sense now that I've heard that. It still sounds next to impossible and pointless to expand right now, but logically I understand it's better doing it now rather than when Viseux was moments away from invading you.

{Wait, did the Lizardmen not send an envoy to you? I drew them a map on my board showing all the nations locations and they copied it. The shaman said they'd be sending a contingent this way once they were done dealing with the Demons portal.}

"They have not I'm afraid." Seifer said.

"Which means the contingent ran into trouble, or they are still fighting."

Seifer sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of a portal straight to the Demons realm being here... And it's only one hundred miles west of Kellog! Are you certain the Lizards will win? If they don't, then..."

"Some will escape, that much is certain, but they will win according to the brown Crotia we came here with. Apparently they've done this many times. Every battle is different, but because Lord Terra'ka is able to open a portal much sooner than the Demons, he always gets the upper hand. Why the Demons don't just open a portal far away from him I'm not sure, but there must be a reason to it."

{Ask Ishar later, I'm curious too.}

"I have a few serious inquiries Seifer, I hope you don't mind? First, how is the situation here now that it's freezing over?"

"'Not good' is putting it mildly. Thank god all the homes here have fireplaces because the nights have always been kind of chilly down here, but we have nowhere near enough wood. Between all the lights we need to keep powered and the mages we have drying out wood, almost all of our mana is going towards that alone. Not to mention the amount of extra hands we need out there chopping down trees in the forest that has recently had four villages completely wiped out. To say the men are fearful of the forest right now is an understatement. Also, as if this wasn't all bad enough, our supply of wood from Thule still has not shown up. We have a contract with them to get a large amount of dried out wood dirt cheap, but they suddenly stopped sending it a few months ago."

"... Ahh, I uh, got some bad news there too. Not to add more to your plate, but that supply is never coming. That wood originated from the middle of the Kitsunes' forest, where trees grow rapidly and dry out soon after being cut down. It was apparently a place she designed for a certain race of people to hide. From what, I'm not certain, probably the Tengu? Anyways, people from Thule found it and burned the village to the ground. The survivors killed anyone connected to the logging operation, and now with the Lizardmen versus Demon war going on there, I doubt anyone is thinking about logging."

Euphemia looked at Seifer, "Oh my! Seifer, did you know of this?"

"No... Dear god no. However, that does explain all the strange parts of the deal, like why they were fine with the low amount we offered for the wood."

{I was really surprised when you told me about that in the wagon. I had no idea those people existed. I wish I could find this 'Greyson' and apologize to him.}

Hopefully he was able to escape this miserable place.

"Um, miss Reimia? How are you okay?" Euphemia asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well... Summarizing what you told us earlier about your 'condition'. You were sacrificed, turned into something unknown, then accidentally killed your family trying to save them, then lost your new family, and died trying to avenge them. Now you're back and somehow still fighting? It's just... Your life is so alien to me. I spent my life staring out this window thinking about all the things I want to do, but never actually do any of it, so your life sounds like it's from a fairy tale. If I hadn't seen you myself, coupled with how much Lady Aresa trusts you, I'd think it was all made up."

"................"

When she puts it like that, my life has definitely been a little... Different.

I walk over to the couch next to Aresa and sit down.

"How am I okay huh... That's hard to answer. I feel like there are two major catalysts that changed me. After I turned into this undead thing, I couldn't survive off only vegetation anymore. I remember I was in a daze as I tried finding a way out of the secret hideout I lived in. Everything looked fuzzy as my new 'heart', the core in my chest was pounding, begging me to feed it. When I finally found the way outside, the lights were killing me. So between that and my inability to properly focus, I had no hesitation when I finally found someone. He was the first person I killed, yet another Xerath worshiper who may or may not have had a family. Because of how it went down, it made killing people never really much of a problem for me, which was pretty important for living in that realm anyways."

Images flash through my mind of all the people I killed. An old man missing both his legs fishing by a stream. A mother and son picking herbs at the same spot every three days, I watched and waited on four different occasions before finally striking. Two twin boys who escaped their entourage to go play in the woods, something they sorely regretted after finding me. I'll never forget one of the boys crying as I ate his brother, not for himself, but for his brother. Makes you wonder who the real monster was in that realm... I knew the reality though, they were all from the town near my hideout. I saw those fuckers pillage and raid other areas all the time. Violating the women, capturing the men, and stealing all the valuables over and over and over. I'm sure the old man lost his legs in a pillaging expedition, and those two twins would've grown up to be a couple of expert pillagers as well. They were all fucking monsters, just like the people of Xelba, just like...

Aresa holds out her board in front of my face.

{What is the other catalyst?}

"... Training. I was a mess when I got to Xelba. I spent months stealing food and feeding the birds near a drain pipe. Everyone hated the seagulls, but I loved em. They were the only friends I ever had up to that point. Anyways, I'm skipping a lot here, but after I joined the inquisitor training program, I opted out of the weapon training and preferred hand to hand. Up to that point the spawn there were the only ones training in hand to hand, but when I lined up next to them, the Lords looked pleased and began teaching me themselves, which surprised everyone there. Training almost all day long for years on end had really calmed my mind down. Train and then feed the birds, train and then feed the birds... Every day was like that for probably two years? It still made up a large portion of my life after I graduated, but those two years were probably the best years of my life. While I hate Xelba, I also loved it. It gave me a lot of things that made me happy, which I'm sure sounds strange to an outsider who only knows it as 'the nation of cultists'."

"It truly is a life like none other. It makes me so..." Euphemia trails off, looking out the large glass window in a daze.

She... She has nothing to say about me killing and eating people? It's one thing to hear about it secondhand, but I told her myself directly... And yet, she appears to be more focused on how free I was.

Seifer's eyes widened. "Apologies, it's just now hitting me why your name and appearance felt so familiar. You're the Reimia who brought down Xelba from within during the alliance's siege, correct? It should have been obvious when I read the reports about you, but my mind has been preoccupied with all the madness happening in our nation." Seifer continued. "... With that said, I'll admit I'm a little disturbed by your role in Xelba. We were raised here only knowing that Kellog and the Dwarves destroyed the cultists to the south east, but those in positions like mine who can dig deeper see your name pop up several times. Excluding your role in bringing down that vile place, the rest is only accompanied by very disturbing information. Understand?" Seifer said.

"... Yeah, I do. And I just got done telling you that I loved quite a bit about that place, so I'm sure that didn't paint me in a very positive light. All I can tell you is that it's in the past, and I'm here now to assist you with your problems. Admittedly, I'm doing it for selfish reasons, but I'm here to help all the same."

Seifer stares at me for a bit, then nods.

He doesn't look entirely convinced, which is to be expected. I feel like Aresa being friendly with me has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to how people treat me. Arkaios too, but that was only for the Templars so far.

"Selfish reasons?" Euphemia asked, tilting her head.

I mentioned soul eating earlier, but maybe it was too abstract?

{She is going to eat the souls of any monsters or Eldritch here.}

Euphemia clapped her hands in front of her chest.

"Oh I see! My teacher taught me that Eldritch latch onto people's souls after they die, leeching until they are reborn correct?! But other Eldritch can sense them as they grow in strength, putting the human and them in danger. It's all so very fascinating..."

... Oh, so that's why she didn't care about me eating souls. With her sheltered life, things like Eldritch and soul eaters are all somebody else's problem. They're just stories for her. I'm not even judging her for it, she's just a product of her upbringing after all. Which also explains why she won't leave Kellog because then all of those 'stories' are going to become reality. They'll go from entertaining adventures and bits of information, to tales of pure horror real fucking quick. I would struggle to leave too if I was her.

"I hope I'm not seen as rude, but I need to change the subject. Reimia, what are your plans tomorrow?" Seifer asked.

"I need to go to the nearest burned down village."

"Then I will have a guide take you there."

"No need, I will have Cid take her. Also, Tyra will go with." Euphemia cut in.

"Princess...? Why would you send your head guard with her?"

"It's what I have decided. Now then, I am going to bed." Euphemia stands up, lightly bowing in our direction. "Thank you for keeping me company tonight, and informing me about the many things I know nothing about."

As she walks out the door, I look over at Seifer's face and can't help but chuckle a little.

"You look very confused right now Seifer."

"This is very bizarre... But it is her choice so I will not interject. Shall I show you two where your rooms are?"

"Can I sleep here? I want to make a little hideout on the ceiling near the glass. I'll feel much better that way instead of in a bed."

Seifer quirked an eyebrow, "On the ceiling...? What does that even mean, if I may ask?"

I cut a quick slit on my forearm and pull out some blood, turning it into a mesh.

"Like this, gonna make something that looks like a nest up there. Don't worry, I'll take it down when we leave. It won't leave a mark."

Seifer was clearly stunned as he looked between the mesh and my forearm. I could tell he was preparing to barrage me with questions, but apparently he changed his mind and decided to just answer me instead.

"Hmm... I wish you had asked that before the princess left, but she did leave rather spontaneously. I suppose it's fine if it won't cause any trouble. Also, having something like you keeping watch during times like this sounds quite beneficial to everyone here."

Something like you, not someone. He obviously didn't have any ill will when he said that, and he's not exactly wrong so it doesn't upset me. If anything I find a slip of the tongue like that rather funny.

{Goodnight! I hope you find something tomorrow.}

"It's impossible for someone as amazing as me to not find anything."

Aresa smiles and waves as she follows Seifer out of the room.

Wasting no time, I rip a bunch of blood out of my forearm and turn it into a large mesh cloth, leaving some blood on the ends so it'll stick. After throwing it up onto the ceiling, I wait about a minute before jumping up and grabbing it, and sure enough it can handle my weight without falling off. Cutting a hole in the side facing the window, I crawl inside and curl up into a ball.

Ahh, I feel so much more comfortable in here... If anything crosses my view, my core will wake me up.

The first thing I heard was a maid freaking out while running away. Seifer came back with her a few minutes later.

"You awake Rei? What a strange... Tent? Looks like a hunting blind."

I jump down onto the floor.

"Yeah I'm up. Sorry there little fox-maid, didn't mean to frighten you."

She must be a trainee, she looks like she's barely thirteen.

"It'll be fine Fei, run along and help your mother."

The girl runs out of the room, making sure to give me a wide birth.

"This normal for you as well?" Seifer said.

"Scaring children? Nah, that doesn't happen too often. Anyways, are my 'guides' ready? The sooner I can start the better."

"Tyra is currently eating, she'll be ready soon. Cid however is outside right now if you wanna go wait with him. He's the Kitsune who was talking to your group yesterday."

The one asking about Godwin? I was worried they might send a butler or someone without fighting experience, but that was an unnecessary worry it seems.

Turning down Seifers request to eat first, I head back down the hallway, retracing my steps from yesterday.

One of the first things I learned in the other realm was to never forget where you came from. Vastly more important there, but it's all around useful no matter where you are really.

Entering the main hall, I look around and see at least twenty different people in the room at all times, going back and forth preparing for the start of the day.

Normally I'd go invisible just to avoid these people, but unless somebody blabbed, nobody here should know I can turn invisible yet. Which is going to be very important if anyone in Kellog is responsible for what happened to those villages.

Walking down the steps towards the first floor, I practically break out into a jog when everyone turns and bows.

This is so fucking uncomfortable, I really hate this type of attention.

Bursting through the door, I spot Cid near a dead boar and immediately run over to him.

The maid I scared earlier is here as well for some reason. She panics a little when she sees me running towards her.

"That boar yours, or is it for the princess here?"

"This one? For her. If we have plenty of food I can clean it and eat it with the workers here. Can't this time though." Cid looks at the maid hiding behind him. "The hell is your problem Fei?"

"S-Sorry Dad... She scared me this morning, so I'm a little... Oh, but mom said she's a guest here so, I was in the wrong."

"Ahh so that's why you came running to me..."

Now that I see them together, she definitely resembles him.

"So you want a rundown on how to search, track, or investigate?" Cid said.

"No I'll be fine, this isn't my first time."

Probably closer to my thousandth.

"Come on don't worry about it, I'll give you a refresher course. That never hurt anyone." Cid bends down and begins drawing around the boar with a piece of chalk. "Okay here is the first step. You draw around any bodies you find, this way it preserves the scene."

...........................................

"You following so far? This is very important."

"Oh fuck off, I know you're messing with me. This is some of the dumbest shit I've ever seen. Is this a test? It has to be a test."

Cid ignores me and continues. "Next you circle around the victim while talking to yourself outloud. Don't think, just say whatever pops into your head. You never know what your brain might pick up unconsciously. This is how you dig that info out."

"... Words cannot even begin to describe how much I hate you right now."

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Fei trying her best to not laugh, but she's got tears forming in her eyes.

"And that's it for now. I'm gonna go pick up Tyra while you mull over this expert advice I have given you."

Cid drops the chalk as he turns around and begins walking towards the mansion. Fei sidles up to me while still giggling.

"Forgive him! He's actually very happy that help has arrived. Also, Dad has a blind date scheduled for tonight, so please don't keep him too long." Fei continued. "Speaking of which... How does he look?!"

"I think a chalk outline of him would be better looking."

He has the same damn shaggy bed hair he had when we met yesterday... Eh, I'm out of my element here. Maybe other girls like that look?

Fei, apparently having changed her opinion of me, chatted with me for about ten minutes before Cid walked out of the building with a nearly two-hundred centimeter tall woman in heavy armor. She has several wrinkles and her hair has already gone grey.

She must really love her job if she's walking around in heavy armor at that age.

Cid speaks first after they reach us. "Reimia, this is Tyra."

"Nice to meet you, Tyra."

"You as well. It is out of character for Euphie to voice her desires, so when she requested that I assist you, I happily obliged. I don't know what you said to her, but she seems to place a high amount of trust in you. No... Trust is the wrong word, yet that is what I will call it for now."

... Okay then, I'll accept her 'trust' for now.

"The wagon is ready to go whenever you are." Cid said.

"I'd much rather run there, a wagon will be way too slow." I look at Tyra. "Can you handle it in that armor?"

"With ease." Tyra points off to the side. "It is that direction. Lead the way, undead one."

"You sure that's a good idea? We won't be able to see at all." Cid said.

"Got any mini-crystal lights? Attach them to my back."

"Attach? How the hell do we do that?" Cid asked.

"Foolish boy. If you were under my service I'd send you back to basic training. Can you not sense the presence in front of you? We're close enough for it to be barely perceptible, but it's not something a seasoned vet such as yourself should miss."

"I know she's wearing artifact armor, that much is obvious. But what does that have to do with what she just asked us? Do crystals stick to artifact armor?"

"They're rare, I don't blame him for not knowing. This is a defensive based armor, but it should cling to any small objects I ask it to hold."

"I see..." Cid said, turning around and running towards the manor.

A few minutes later he returned with ten already lit-up pint-sized crystal lights. I turned around, letting him stick them to random parts of my back.

"This is a good idea, we won't lose you now, but how will you see?" Cid said.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

... A little strange that they'd accept mini-crystals on my back instead of full blown directed crystal lights or torches. The only reason I can think of, is that they both know about my invisibility and hatred of the light. If that's the case then information is spreading way too damn fast for my taste.

Enhancing myself, I dash off in the direction Tyra indicated earlier, the other two catch up soon after. Before long the lights of civilization fade away. With no blue flora here, the ambient lighting is definitely much lower than last time, but I can still just barely see ahead of me. If we were another mile away from the villages to our right then even I would be blind.

After about forty minutes I finally spot a village ahead that looks nothing like the others. The fact that there is only a few lights going is kind of a dead giveaway as well.

"That's it ahead I'm assuming?"

"Yes. We installed a few lights to investigate the area back then, they should be powered for another couple of days. The other village in question is ahead of this one, but that one still has all of its lights available. We just need to turn them on when we arrive." Tyra said.

Good to see that lighting won't be a problem.

Arriving at the 'village' I immediately see why they struggled to find anything of value. This place was burned so badly that all of the wood turned to ash. Hell I can barely see anything above the snow at this point, the rest must have crumbled completely. Don't need to be good at investigations to see that it'd be difficult to discover anything here, especially with how dangerous the area must have felt to mortal beings that can't turn invisible. They'd want to leave this area as fast as possible. It doesn't help that there is a bunch of charred bodies in the fetal position scattered amongst the snow.

"Seeing it in person is far worse than I imagined. I knew it would be bad but my god..." Cid said.

"Indeed. I hope we can find whatever blight is causing such destruction." Tyra replied.

"I know this is a dumb question, especially considering what I'm looking at right now, but does anything look different from what you heard or read in the reports?"

"Hmm..."

The both of them look around the area for awhile before shaking their heads.

"There is barely anything to 'see' unfortunately." Cid said.

"Then can either of you use wind magic?"

"I know what you're about to ask, allow me."

Tyra steps forward while holding her palms out in front of her, blowing both the snow and ash away.

I don't want the rubble to be blown away too, but it can't be helped. There's no way of removing only the snow.

Tyra eventually realizes that a slight gust is pointless, as there is nothing to save. She ramps up the spells power, clearing much more area as she goes. Eventually she discovers an open cellar and motions to the both of us to come over.

"Just so you know, we're going to find a lot of those. At least we'll have something to investigate, but I'm certain the previous crews went over them incessantly weeks ago." Cid said as we walked over to Tyra.

Jumping down into the cellar, I'm met with a small room that only has a few boxes tucked away in the corner and a single crystal light on the ceiling that lit-up when I dropped down. The boxes have clearly been searched as their insides have been emptied next to them. Just in case I scan the room for abnormalities, coming up with nothing as a result.

With that over, we climbed out of the cellar and waited for Tyra to continue clearing away snow until she found another cellar. We continued like that for another nine or ten hours before Cid started complaining about being late for his blind date.

"Go on then, I'll be fine here. You can leave as well Tyra if you need to. I'm going to stay out here till I find something. I had enough food and sleep to last a few weeks, so no need to worry about me."

"I cannot leave you here I'm afraid. My liege has sent me to help you, and that is what I shall do. I do not want to interrupt your plans, but could you not run back every day? You know the way now, surely an hour and a half won't be too much of a drain on your time. This way the two of us can support you."

... Hmm, I'll definitely lose more time clearing this snow myself. Ahh damnit all, I really don't want to sit around doing nothing right now but I guess I have no choice.

"Okay you're right let's head back... That choice is killing me by the way. I'm used to working till the job is done."

Tyra pats me on the shoulder and smiles. "And yet you didn't hesitate to take the better option. How about one more before we head off? That might make you feel better."

I smiled back at her. "Sure, why not."

Tyra looks over at Cid as she begins casting again. "Don't worry, we'll get you to your date on time. I can carry you if you'd prefer? We can run much faster that way."

"Ehh I think I'll pass... Oh?"

Another cellar reveals itself.

"Wait, how come the snow isn't falling into the cellars? It's just now hitting me." Cid said.

"Someone told me long ago that there is a tiny barrier over any opening leading underground. If it gets too heavy, the extra is dispersed around the opening. Although, I'm not quite sure how people get boxes and things down there."

"You do not have a cellar Cid? As someone who hunts I thought you of all people would have a cellar. Also, any inanimate objects can be brought down below so long as a soul is accompanying them." Tyra said.

Interesting, I never knew that. Not often I get to learn something new about Urza these days.

Jumping down below we're met with the same small cellar that every other home had. However, as I'm scanning the area I see something extremely small jutting out of the wall across from us.

Walking over to the wall, I reach out and try to touch it, but it's way too small. I don't even feel anything when my finger is pressed against it, just a cold stone wall.

"Find something?" Cid said.

"Yeah... Thanks to my eyes I found something sticking out of the wall, but it's too small for me to grab it."

They both come over and stare at the spot I'm pointing at, but they can't see anything at all.

"Hmm, what should we do? Forget my date, I don't want to leave if we might have found something here. She'll understand when I tell her why I didn't show up. Assuming there is a next date..."

"Bah, drop the woman if she has a problem with you doing your duty. Although I truly doubt one of our citizens would be so foolish... I have an idea, back up you two. When in doubt, resort to force."

Me and Cid back all the way up, which admittedly isn't much so I enhance myself just in case.

Tyra grabs one of the large hammers attached to her side and begins smashing into the wall. About a minute later she had already destroyed half the wall, revealing a tunnel behind the wall.

"Rei, look at this."

I walk back to Tyra and look inside. There is a skeleton in a dark blue cloak sitting against the earth near the cellar wall. Part of his cloak appears to be going inside the wall.

"There must be a way to open this wall that is somewhere in this room. Nice job seeing that fabric, we'd have never found this place otherwise."

"Thank you Tyra, but now what do we do? My first thought is to keep going, however..."

"Indeed... This just became far more complicated. It may lead to somewhere completely unrelated, but we still need to check. Still though, there is a reason nobody ever goes underground aside from their own personal cellars."

Because the things you find underground are far more dangerous and unique than anything you'll find above ground. There is an entirely different ecosystem down here and the monsters below almost never come above ground. So all of Urza naturally entered an unsigned pact with the abominations below. You don't bother us, and we won't bother you. Unfortunately, it's looking like something may have broken that pact.