Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

Dion, with Gina perched atop his head, walked alongside Cleo, Luna, Sheila, and Aria through the graveyard in Mageford. A newly opened path on the left offered a direct route straight to the back of Dion’s mansion. Arriving at the destination, they found themselves standing before a colossal crystal pyramid, its stepped structure echoing the ancient architecture of the Maya or Aztecs back on Earth.

"Okay... this is... weird... really weird," Dion uttered, gazing up at the colorful crystal pyramid before him in utter awe.

"I’m speechless... but did you honestly just find out about this?" Cleo asked.

"Yeah... I’ve lived here since I was a kid. I thought the area behind my mansion was just a hill! How was I supposed to know a giant pyramid was hidden inside it all along?" Dion replied.

"Then what about your parents’ grave up top?" Luna asked.

"Um... no idea... that’s why I want to go up and check," Dion answered.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go up," Luna urged.

"That’s right. Your parents’ grave is the top priority. We can ask Lady Olga to relocate them to the cemetery in Mageford," Aria suggested.

"Should I call Johan?" Cleo offered.

"Oh, right! With Johan’s abilities, your parents might just relocate themselves to the graveyard over there... um... sorry, I’m not even joking, I’ve seen what he can do," Sheila added.

"Don’t worry about it, it’s fine... let me climb up first," Dion said.

"Kyuuuuu!" Gina raised her paws cheerfully.

They began ascending the pyramid via the central staircase. Climbing up, they noticed that the pyramid had no outer entrance, just a plain flight of stairs leading from the base to a flattened top. Reaching the summit, Cleo, Aria, and Sheila were surprised to see the top platform still covered in a thick layer of soil. They glanced to the right and let out a collective sigh of relief: the two tombstones belonging to Dion’s parents were completely intact, with an obelisk standing right behind them. The three walked over to the graves, and Cleo leaned in to inspect the obelisk and the massive canyon sprawling beyond the edge.

"Wow... those relief carvings were right... this entire area is a giant seal that’s impossible to see from the ground... this is incredible... Xandor really existed," Cleo murmured.

"Um... save the excitement for later, where’s Dion?" Aria asked.

"As usual... bringing up the rear," Sheila answered beside her.

Cleo, Aria, and Sheila turned to see Dion dragging himself over the top step, completely out of breath, while Luna supported him and Gina hovered overhead, cheering him on like a cheerleader. Reaching the top, Dion scanned the area and breathed a sigh of relief seeing his parents’ graves untouched. However, the plateau felt entirely different; previously lush and dense with trees, it was now barren, offering an unobstructed view of the entire city below. He then gazed out at the perfectly symmetrical, circular canyon.

"Wow... you can actually see it clearly from up here," Dion wheezed.

"Yeah... but are you okay? Why are you struggling so much with the climb today when you’re usually fine?" Luna asked.

"Because usually it’s a gentle slope, not a sheer, steep staircase going straight up," Dion grumbled.

"Oh... fair point," Luna smiled.

They walked over to join Cleo, Aria, and Sheila in front of the gravestones. Once they gathered:

"So... where is this secret room you mentioned?" Cleo asked, cutting straight to the point.

"You really don’t give me a single second to rest, do you?" Dion replied.

"Follow me," Luna offered.

They walked toward a tablet-shaped stone standing beside a central pillar-like rock on the far side of the graves. Upon closer inspection, they realized the pillar and tablet were situated directly in the middle of the plateau when coming up the central stairs. Behind the tablet lay an altar-like structure, previously buried under soil and weeds. Aria stepped forward to inspect the tablet, resting her hand on her chin with her eyes narrowed.

"Hmm... this is a relief carving too, isn’t it?" Aria asked.

"Pretty much," Dion replied.

"Does that mean you already knew about this relief?" Sheila asked, pointing at the tablet.

"Hmm... not really, but I knew it was an entrance. Excuse me, Aria," Dion said.

Dion stepped past Aria and stood in front of the pillar beside the tablet, crouching down. He spotted a raised tile at the base of the pillar, now clear of overgrown weeds and grass. "Click." Pressing down on the tile, Dion stepped back as the stone pillar slid sideways, revealing a hidden passage with stairs leading down. Dion stared at the secret hideout from his childhood, but suddenly. "Tap." A hand landed on his shoulder. Turning around, he found Cleo gripping both of his shoulders tightly.

"Why didn’t you tell me about this entrance before?! Why are you only showing us now?!" Cleo shouted excitedly, shaking Dion back and forth.

"Ow... cut it out! Back then, this was my secret room that I wasn’t going to show to anyone!" Dion yelled back.

"Oh, I already knew about it, tee-hee," Luna chimed in.

"I knew about it too."

Sheila, Aria, Luna, and Cleo slowly turned around. "Whooooah!" Every single one of them jumped in surprise to see Mei standing right behind them, holding her hands behind her back with a subtle smile.

"Mei... how long have you been standing behind me?!" Sheila yelled.

"Um... ever since Dion opened the secret room," Mei replied calmly.

"Why do you always sneak around without saying a word... you’re going to give me a heart attack," Aria groaned, clutching her chest in shock.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just got here," Mei offered.

"Give me a break... you really love sneaking up on people, don’t you?" Luna said.

"What can I say? It’s part of my line of work," Mei replied smoothly.

"I get it... but look over there, that old hag is taking advantage of the situation," Aria pointed with her thumb, glaring in annoyance with her hands on her hips.

Luna, Sheila, and Mei looked behind Aria "Huh?" They gasped to see Cleo being carried princess-style by Dion, whose legs were visibly trembling under her weight.

"G-get down, you’re heavy!" Dion grunted.

"Hah! What do you mean? I’m sexy, not too thin, not too thick, I’m ideal!" Cleo argued loudly, wrapping her arms tighter around Dion’s neck instead.

"Come on... get down... do you want to go downstairs or not?" Dion asked through gritted teeth, straining himself.

"Uh... fine, fine," Cleo surrendered.

Dion set Cleo down, but as he tried to straighten up, his foot slipped. "Waaaaaah!" Dion went tumbling down the stairs straight into the secret room. "Dion!" the girls gasped, sprinting down after him. "Thud!" Dion rolled to a stop, slamming his back against the stone door at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uuuugh... that was brutal," Dion groaned.

"Kyuuu?" Gina asked, having arrived first.

"I’m fine... just rolled a bit and got a few scrapes," Dion muttered.

Dion stood up and brushed off his pants as Luna, Cleo, Sheila, Mei, and Aria came running down the stairs. As they approached, Dion noticed Mei’s expression, she looked unusually distracted and visibly troubled.

"Are you okay?" Cleo asked.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Let me heal you," Luna offered.

"Need a hand standing?" Sheila asked.

"Hold on, let me check you over," Aria added.

"I’m fine, let me open the door," Dion said, turning around. As he did, he stole a quick glance at Mei, who remained unusually quiet.

Dion placed his hand on a stone device that looked like a scanner embedded in the doorframe. A blue light flared up, scanning his palm, before expanding across the door until the heavy stone slab split down the middle and slid open. As the door opened fully, Cleo, Aria, Luna, Sheila, and Mei stood frozen in disbelief and even Dion and Gina were stunned.

The room was completely illuminated, not by magical lamps or the glowing runes carved into the ceiling, walls, and floor, but by bright sunlight streaming in. The windows that had always been pitch black weren’t covered from the inside; they had simply been buried beneath the hill all this time. Now that natural light flooded the entire space, they could see every single detail of the room clearly.

Dion noticed the magic lamps that used to light the room were now off, leaving only the glowing runes active. But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

"So... this room was basically... a CEO’s office combined with a conference room and a giant table? Are you serious?" Dion thought to himself as he stared at the petrified conference table before him. The platform he used to lie on turned out to be a low, elongated desk, the kind typically used by a secretary to organize files.

"Hey... come check this out," Aria called out.

Dion turned to see Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei gathering around the long conference table. He walked over and looked down at the surface, his eyes widening. Carved into the tabletop was a vivid relief depicting the Calamity Supreme Monarch riding a massive black dragon, Gemmeth, raising a sword as if leading an army into battle.

Cleo, Luna, and Sheila immediately turned their heads to stare at Dion. When Dion glanced over at Aria and Mei, they were staring at him too. Their eyes practically screamed a single question: "Care to explain?" after all, this was supposed to be Dion’s childhood playground.