"Eurys..." Asteria murmured the name under her breath, the foreign syllables tasting like ash on her tongue. She stared at the bleached skull, processing the title he had offhandedly claimed. "The Nine? What are you supposed to be, a boyband?"
"A boyband?" Eurys tilted his skeletal head slightly, the ancient joints clicking in the quiet air beneath the scarlet canopy. The concept was entirely alien to him, a word from a future he had no part in shaping. He let out a soft, rattling chuckle that vibrated through his ribs. "I am not entirely certain what you mean by that, creature. However, if you would be so kind as to release me from this wretched timber, I might actually grace you with the chronicled accounts of my travels."
Asteria studied the empty sockets for a fraction of a second, looking for any hidden trickery, before she nodded slowly. The hot desert wind whipped her multi-coloured hair across her face as she stepped onto the twisted roots of the white tree. She reached out, her fingers wrapping firmly around the cold, metallic shaft of the first silver nail pinning Eurys' right wrist.
She braced her boots against the bark, expecting a grueling struggle against the ancient masonry of the gods. Instead, the moment she applied pressure, the silver spike slid from the wood with an eerie, frictionless ease. It felt exactly like driving a hot blade through soft butter. The metal did not groan and the wood did not splinter. Within a few moments, she had easily pulled the remaining spikes, the heavy nails clattering unceremoniously into the parched white sand below.
The moment the final anchor was removed, the bonds holding Eurys' structure together seemed to falter. He collapsed instantly out of the sacred tree, his frame dividing into a literal pile of loose, bleached bones that clattered into the dirt like a dropped bundle of firewood.
Asteria instinctively took a step back, her hand dropping to the pommel of the [Sentinel's Heart] her breath catching in her throat. 'Great. I've broken the ancient deicide survivor.'
Before she could process the mistake, a faint, translucent glimmer of essence pulsed within the dirt. The bones began to slide over one another, clicking and locking back into their proper anatomical alignments with unnatural precision. Slowly, the skeleton pushed itself up from the sand, testing its weight on its feet.
"My oh my!" Eurys muttered, his lofty voice returning as he brushed a few stray grains of white sand from his pelvis. "It appears I have quite forgotten the mechanics of walking after all these thousands of years."
Asteria let out a tense, uncomfortable laugh, her shoulders dropping slightly as she relaxed her grip on her blade. Her violet eyes scanned the vast, empty dunes stretching out toward the horizon.
'I was originally supposed to be scouting the immediate perimeter of the Citadel for Mother,' she reminded herself, a wry smile forming on her lips as she faced the freed slave. 'But I suppose I've managed to get myself entirely sidetracked by ancient history.'
"Will you lead the way to the Unde–"
"I'LL SLAUGHTER ALL OF YOU! ABOMINABLE THRALLS OF WEAVER!"
A harsh, violently raspy screech tore through the quiet air, cutting her off. Beside them, the second skeleton, Azarax, was thrashing against his silver spikes with renewed frenzy. The calcified bones of his jaw ground together so hard that white powder drifted down his chest, his empty sockets blazing with a mindless, eternal fury.
Eurys did not flinch. He turned around slowly, his posture casual as he faced his companion of a thousand years. He looked up at the thrashing tyrant with an expression that felt distinctly mocking, despite his lack of features.
"Oh my, it appears our lengthy time together has finally come to a close, Azarax," Eurys chuckled, his voice light and thoroughly uncaring. "I sincerely hope the threads of Fate never permit our paths to cross again."
Without waiting for a response, the skeletal slave turned his back on the screaming king, gesturing with a slender hand toward the open desert. "Now then... all you need to do is keep pace with me, creature."
They walked for hours through the featureless waste. The white sand shifted beneath Asteria's boots, making every step an arduous chore, whilst Eurys drifted across the drifts as though his lack of flesh made him immune to the terrain. The sun beat down mercilessly, waves of heat distorting the horizon until the entire realm looked like a liquid mirage.
After what felt like a lifetime of mindless, silent trudging, the monotony became too heavy to bear. Asteria adjusted the strap of her garments, wiping a layer of sweat from her brow.
"Where exactly is the Underworld located?" she asked, her voice slightly hoarse from the dry air.
The skeleton did not slow his pace, nor did he bother to turn his skull to face her as he replied. His tone remained perfectly aloof, detached from the physical strain of the journey. "Beneath the roots of those mountains, I am afraid. It is not a brief stroll."
Asteria's gaze drifted past him, locking onto the distant, jagged teeth of the terrain rising from the desert floor. Her heart skipped a beat. "The Hollow Mountains?" she inquired, a distinct note of nervousness creeping into her voice.
Everyone within the waking world and the Dream Realm understood the reputation of the Hollow Mountains. It was impossible to ignore them; the colossal peaks stretched across the realm for thousands of kilometers, acting as a jagged spine across the world. Worse than their scale was the permanent, terrifying shroud of white mist that clung to their valleys — a supernatural fog known to dissolve the existences of any travelers foolish enough to wander inside.
"Is that the name for them now?" Eurys shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "Then yes, that is precisely where we are heading." He paused, turning his skull halfway toward her as he continued to glide forward. "You appear to possess an extraordinary lack of foundational knowledge for an Ascended — or perhaps I should call you as a Fallen, you abominable, corrupted creature?"
Asteria forced a wry, tight smile onto her face, her fingers twitching against her side. "The world I was born into operates on a vastly different set of rules than the one you remember, slave."
"Oh? Is that so?" Eurys' voice brightened with an idle, superficial interest. "Why don't you recount the details for me? My oh my, we have nothing but empty miles and time ahead of us, after all."
***
For the next hour, Asteria found herself in the bizarre position of explaining the modern apocalypse to a dead man. The desert wind carried her words across the dunes as she detailed the events of the past few decades — the sudden, catastrophic arrival of the Nightmare Spell, the way millions of ordinary citizens had collectively slipped into an unbreakable slumber, and the terrifying emergence of the Nightmare Gates that had shattered human civilization on a global scale.
She explained the brutal mechanics of the Nightmare Spell: how it forced chosen individuals to repeatedly inhabit the horrific histories of the past, granting immense power to those who survived whilst instantly claiming the lives of those who failed.
"I see," Eurys spoke at last. His voice had dropped its lofty, mocking edge, shifting into a solemn, heavy cadence that carried the weight of centuries. "Weaver's little Spell has grown quite grand, hasn't it?"
Asteria stopped dead in her tracks, her boots sinking into the white sand. She stared at his back, completely flabbergasted by his choice of words. "Little? You call the Nightmare Spell little?!" She stomped her foot in frustration, sending a spray of sand swirling into the hot air between them. "It dictates every aspect of our lives! It monitors our souls, judges our actions, and rewards us with power and knowledge when we perform its tasks. The Spell is the closest thing to a God left in this wretched world, is it not?"
Eurys stopped as well, turning around slowly to face her. The wind whistled through the gaps in his ribs, a lonely, hollow sound. "Why, of course it appears that way to you," the skeleton sighed, an aged, deep exhale of essence escaping his jaw. "We slaughtered the priests who dared to spread its seeds during its infancy after all. And yet... even that was never enough."
The coldness in Asteria's chest deepened. "What wasn't enough, Eurys?"
"Freedom," the slave replied simply, his empty sockets staring through her. "True freedom from the designs of Gods — a concept that you thralls of Weaver are fundamentally incapable of comprehending. If our rebellion had succeeded, we would not be standing in this desert having this conversation. We would not exist at all."
Asteria let out a long, weary sigh, her anger deflating into a profound sense of exhaustion. She looked at the massive, jagged silhouette of the mountains drawing closer. "Right. Because making ourselves entirely extinct would certainly make all our practical problems disappear. Your little group must have been absolutely insane to attempt something like that."
"Insane?" The skeleton tilted his head, giving her a look that felt heavy with an ancient, patronizing pity. "Perhaps we were, girl. But alas, the universe does not permit a creation to contend against Fate — especially when your Fate is preordained for the absolute worst outcomes."
Eurys lingered in place for a brief moment, studying her tense posture, before gesturing toward the road ahead. "Is there any further information you wish to extract from this pitiful slave before we reach the threshold?"
Asteria remained silent for a few minutes, her mind spinning as she processed the conversation. 'I am standing in a dead world, talking to an entity who has lived for millennia, murdered a God, and claims to be Fated for tragedy. That is an absurd amount of historical baggage for me to carry on a scouting mission.'
"Yeah, there is one thing, actually," she spoke up, picking up her pace to match his stride once more. "I don't particularly care about your ancient wars, or what crimes you were Fated to commit. That's all dead history now. I want to know what life was actually like for you. How did people live? How did they grow?"
The skeletal slave did not answer immediately. He stared out over the endless ripples of white sand, his posture completely rigid as though he were searching through a library of dust.
"Well... we actually had to labor for our strength," he shrugged, his lofty demeanor returning like a shield. "From the accounts you have provided, your people simply inhabit part of history, survive a crisis, and receive an immediate promotion. In my era, we spent consecutive decades refining our souls through raw, agonizing effort to advance ourselves — to say nothing of the constant interference from the dramatic divines." He paused, letting out a sharp click of his jaw. "Oh my! I am rambling like an old man, am I not?"
Asteria did not dispute the claim. "Perhaps you ar–"
A sudden realization struck her mind, her eyes widening as the words registered. "Hold on. Are you telling me it is possible to ascend through a completely different method? Without the Spell?"
Eurys stopped again, his calcified frame vibrating with a strange, mocking amusement. "You truly are a disgusting child of war, aren't you? It is remarkably pathetic that such a common fact was never known in your history." He scoffed, a distinct layer of historical resentment seeping into his tone. "Why do you ask, creature of war? Are you planning to beg a mere slave to instruct you?
Asteria did not hesitate, her pride taking a backseat to her desperate hunger for power. "Yeah, I am. I am clearly outmatched by the horrors in this world, and you obviously possess a wealth of foundational knowledge that my world has forgotten."
The skeleton shook his head in mock despair, though there was a faint glimmer of satisfaction in the way his essence flared. "Extracting my bones from that cursed timber is quite the debt to settle. I suppose I can lower myself to indulge your curiosity." His voice slowed, the words turning deliberate. "Even if you are a thoroughly repulsive creature of war and a thrall of Weaver — to say nothing of the corruption lingering within you."
***
A heavy, deliberate silence settled between them as they finally reached the lower slopes of the Hollow Mountains. The temperature dropped drastically, the oppressive desert heat vanishing as they stepped into the shadow of the colossal stone walls. Above them, the terrifying white mists swirled lazily through the high passes, acting as a silent, natural barrier that divided the territories of the Dream Realm like a fortress.
Eurys seemed entirely preoccupied with his own thoughts, his skeletal hands clasped behind his back as he walked. Asteria couldn't decipher his mood; it could have been relief at his freedom, or a deep nervousness regarding their destination. She had no understanding of the life he had lived before the gods nailed him to that tree, but she imagined that returning to the world after millennia of isolation was a heavy burden to bear.
"Transcendance..." the slave spoke quietly, breaking the silence without turning around. "It is a remarkably uncomplicated concept — for a mind of my caliber, at the very least. Oh my... the entire process required a mere handful of years of dedicated focus on my part!" he boasted, his lofty pride returning in full force.
The Queen of Nightmare kept her mouth firmly shut, refusing to say anything that might derail his willingness to speak.
"The most important part..." Eurys continued, his bones clicking in a rhythmic cadence as he navigated a steep rocky path. "...is the realisation of your Aspect and your Flaw. Without those two, it is actually impossible to achieve transcendance even if you managed to awaken and ascend."
Asteria blinked, her focus fracturing. "Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that in your era, there were Awakened individuals who didn't possess an Aspect?"
"Of course they didn't, you foolish child," Eurys scoffed, let out a dry rattle of laughter. "It is thoroughly baffling to me that every single survivor in your era is granted their aspect and flaw upon awakening. True awakening and ascendancy are entirely tethered to the mechanics of your personal soul and the manipulation of your essence. It requires years of meditation to clear the pathway to your soul sea, to master the currents of your essence, and to purify it of impurities." He paused, shaking his skull. "Oh, do pay no mind to the unrefined ramblings of this old slave. I mean no harm to your fragile worldview, truly."
Ignoring the condescending barb, Asteria pressed forward, her boots crunching loudly on the gravel. "Fine. I understand the requirements of an Aspect and Flaw. What comes after that?"
The mountains around them seemed to fall perfectly still as they entered a narrow gorge. The swirling white mist above appeared to stall, and even the corrupted, thorny vegetation clinging to the rocks froze as though listening to his words.
"You must expand yourself outside of your physical body," Eurys stated, his voice dropping. "Whether that recognition manifests through the light, shadow, water, frost, or strong emotions. Your soul must project itself with enough force that reality acknowledges your nature outside of your physical body. A source element, if that terminology still carries any weight among your kind."
A source element..
The term struck Asteria like lightning, a cold sweat breaking out across her neck. It was a phrase she had become intimately familiar with only twenty-four hours ago, recorded within the descriptions of the Transcendent charm she had harvested from the corpse of Valerius. The [Soul of a Betrayer] charm was currently resting against her gold breastplate, actively accelerating her essence replenishment.
The Spell... Weaver... Fate...
'You have got to be kidding me,' she screamed internally, her fury boiling beneath her calm exterior. 'Is this entire journey just another piece of your elaborate script, Weaver? You reveal the history of the Underworld to me in a nightmare, you reward me with a charm that enhances a source element, and then you guide my steps directly to an ancient slave who just happens to know exactly how to cultivate it?'
She stared at the bleached bones of her guide, her jaw aching from how hard she was clenching her teeth. 'And yet I have the absolute audacity to call Sunless a blind pawn.'
Despite the sudden surge of resentment toward the invisible hands guiding her choices, Asteria forced her panic down. Her mind clarified with a cold, stubborn resolve. 'Even if the path was laid out for me, I am the one choosing to take the steps. As long as I am the one making the final decision, it remains my choice.' She paused, a bitter aftertaste lingering in her throat. 'Or is that specific thought simply another layer of the script?'
"And how exactly does an individual identify their specific source element?" Asteria asked, keeping her tone polite and even as she addressed her teacher.
Eurys shrugged his shoulders without stopping. "It is an element that aligns with your nature. Given that the entire realm appears to warp and draw toward you slightly, I would suggest you start there."
Asteria's brain momentarily short-circuited. She stared at his back, her footsteps faltering. 'He noticed it? Just like that?'
"You can see it? At a glance?"
"I was not born yesterday, girl," the skeleton replied, his lofty tone returning as though he hadn't just revealed a massive secret about her power. "I could identify you the moment you stepped into the shade of that tree. If an entity is incapable seeing that much at that level, they have absolutely no business calling themselves a Supreme."
***
The narrow gorge eventually opened up into a massive, cavernous maw at the base of the central mountain. The entrance was shrouded in a density of darkness that Asteria had never encountered before — a thick, ink-like void that seemed to actively swallow the light of the desert behind them. The air turned freezing cold, making her skin prickle with goosebumps as her survival instincts screamed at her to turn back.
Eurys, however, remained entirely unbothered. He stepped into the absolute darkness with the casual posture of a man taking a stroll through his garden.
'That is the luxury of being cursed with a immortality,' Asteria thought bitterly, her heart hammering against her ribs as she followed him into the abyss. 'My life is permanently hanging by a thread out here, and his is completely secured by the curse of the Gods.'
As they moved deeper into the subterranean cavern, the skeleton began to whistle a low, haunting melody. Asteria couldn't identify the origin of the tune, but the echoes bouncing off the damp stone walls carried a chilling, poetic rhythm:
"...One day the gods will fall
And reveal their lie
The one who sleeps will awaken
To devour his children
Oh, and us all
That which was forgotten
Will be remembered
And consume the world
Oh, all of us will dream
The nightmare
Of the Forgotten God…"
The final line caused Asteria to freeze, her blood turning to ice. 'Forgotten... I know that name...'
"Wait! Stop right there!" she barked, her voice echoing loudly through the dark cavern. "Back up for a second. Did you just say the Forgotten God?"
Eurys stopped, turning his skull toward her in the dark. He sounded mildly startled by her sudden outburst. "It is merely an ancient nursery rhyme, creature of war. It is certainly nothing for someone of limited view to concern yourself with," he scolded lightly. "Regardless... I have provided all the foundational knowledge you required, and we are now approaching the threshold of the Underworld."
The skeleton let out a soft, dry click of his jaw.
"I do not comprehend your personal motivations for descending into this abyss if your objective is not to seek permanent rest within Shadow, but in all honesty, I do not care enough to inquire."
'Fair enough,' Asteria thought.
The interior of the cavern grew increasingly damp, the scent of stagnant water and old earth filling her nose. The darkness was absolute; she could no longer feel her connection to the waking world or the anchor of her Citadel. It felt as though a massive weight had dropped between her soul and the real world, obscuring her existence.
Despite Eurys' earlier assertions that a mortal would become entirely blind and disoriented within these depths, Asteria managed to maintain a near clear perception of their surroundings. Her [Glass Eyes] attribute was working silently in the background, filtering the darkness and granting her a strange, translucent vision that wasn't entirely clear but wasn't entirely blind either.
As she stared into the empty, crushing void that threatened to dull her senses, her mind kept circling back to a singular name from her visions.
Aemedon.
The ancient King who had abandoned his people, Fated to descend into these exact depths to secure an audience with the Prince of the Underworld — whoever that mysterious figure was.
'Fated to do so...' Asteria's eyes narrowed as she watched the skeletal slave glide ahead of her. 'Eurys...? No... there is no possible way he is connected to that boyband, surely?' She shook her head in the dark, trying to dispel the paranoia. 'Well... there's no harm in asking. Hopefully.'
Fortunately, Eurys broke the silence before she could think of the question.
"What exactly are you staring at, creature of war?" the skeleton inquired, his tone tinged with the familiar, arrogant superiority of a Supreme.
Asteria shrugged her shoulders, keeping her posture as loose and casual as possible despite the tension in her chest. "I am simply contemplating the exact reason I chose to follow you down here."
That admission seemed to pique his dormant interest. "And why would you willingly march into the lands of True Darkness?"
"A matter of morbid curiosity," the Queen of Nightmare stated flatly, her eyes locked on his skull. "I once unearthed an account of a man named Aemedon. History claims he abandoned his duties to meet with the Prince of the Underworld. I know absolutely nothing about the man himself, nor do I understand the identity of this Prince."
The words had an immediate, violent effect. Eurys stopped dead in his tracks, his entire skeletal frame locking up as he spun around to face her in the gloom. The casual, aloof demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, heavy pressure that made the air in the cavern difficult to breathe.
"Aemedon..." the slave mumbled, his voice dropping into a hollow whisper that sounded like grinding stones. "Yes... I remember him..."
A pause...
"Aemedon of the Nine..." Eurys chuckled. "It seems our Fate is still relevant."
He continued mumbling to himself, "...The Prince of the Underworld..."
The silence stretched between them for several agonizing seconds, the cold dampness of the cave settling over them.
"Nether," Eurys spoke at last, the ancient name echoing through the dark like a funeral bell. "The Daemon of Destiny. The first one to spill the blood of the gods during the Great War."
The Spell whispered into Asteria's ear with familial warmth...
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has had a truth revealed.]
Third Truth: Nether, Daemon of Destiny.
'Oh for Spell's sake...'