Magical Engineering

The core beasts were still within sight, and screaming barely comprehensible gibberish at us as we slipped through the door. This time, instead of sealing it behind us, we left it wide open for the world. I shook my head, still unhappy at the idea of just what we were doing here, but I accepted it had to be done.

“Man, remember what happened when you tried to run through the desert the first time, Dave? Kind of crazy how far you’ve come, isn’t it?” Cecile asked, dredging up the memory of how bad my body had been when I had first arrived here. Most days, it didn’t even occur to me anymore that months ago my knees had barely worked, and now I was on par with an Olympic-level athlete, if not beating them for most feats of physical prowess.

“Yeah, I can honestly say this isn’t where I ever expected my body to be at,” I replied, forcing a smile as I pushed down the welling sadness of what we were doing.

“It’s almost fitting that it’s the three of us here for this, since it’s where we started,” Elicec added.

“Forgetting me?” Elody asked as she led us through several doors rapidly. We passed odd-looking machinery and dusty desks as we moved through what I thought were old storage rooms. I never really had gotten a good grasp on the true size of the Archives, especially when accounting for the sub-levels.

“Sorry, just meant how my brother, Dave, and I ended up here. Still can’t believe we just bumped into him like that. Rabyn’s been calling it fate, maybe he’s right,” Elicec replied. I still wasn’t sold on Rabyn’s theory, but I did have to admit that there were some insane coincidences surrounding all of us at this point.

“I know. I just meant it as a gentle joke. As for Rabyn and fate, if that’s something you really want to investigate, there are diviners deep within chaotic space. I’ve never personally met them, but I have heard great claims from people I respect. I don’t think we will be able to make such a trip anytime soon, but it is something to consider for the future,” Elody replied.

“Chaotic space sounds interesting. I won’t pretend it doesn’t, but we will need things a lot more stable before I can just disappear to do that. As much as I may hate it, I accept I’m the figurehead holding this all together right now,” I replied. Truthfully, given half a chance and the right day, I might change my mind on the claim. But for now, there were too many people depending on me to say that thought out loud. At least Pryte could take care of most of the day-to-day needs of the Empire at the moment. However, that was likely to change as we grew.

Crashing sounds exploded from where we had been. The monsters were officially in the Archives, just as we reached an elevator door. Elody quickly ushered us in, and in moments we were back in a much emptier bay. Only a single transport was left. I hoped that, however Mel and Timon were doing this, it was working.

“Before today, I always thought I’d come back here to liberate this place eventually, turn it back into what it was supposed to be,” Elody sighed loudly before continuing, melancholy dominating her words. “At least we saved the underlying part of it to attempt to rebuild in the future. Next time, I promise I will be strong enough to stop the fall from happening. I am deeply sorry, old friend, and I apologize to all the souls who will miss out on what this place was created for.”

She wasn’t speaking to us when she said this. That was obvious. The words were for both herself and the building itself. I didn’t speak it out loud, but I made my own promise that moment. We’d find a way to save this entire planet one day and work to rebuild it to what it was. Elody could have her free library one day again.

We waited in silence, letting Elody take her moment she needed before a sad smile returned to her face and she spoke again. “Thank you for letting me say goodbye, but yes, it’s time to go.” She immediately climbed aboard the transport after those words. With nothing of my own to say, I followed her with the brothers behind me.

The trip back to Smithtown was surprisingly uneventful. I had thought at least part of the horde would try to break off after us. Then again, considering the speed of these transports, maybe it just wasn’t possible. How big of a mess were we creating for the rest of the planet, leaving the core beasts behind? We needed to warn the Cactomen before we left. While I was considering how best to do that, a chat window popped into view.