Sitting on a table, the remains of the third wing were discussing what to do next. After the battle only 9 members remained.
The cave dark world seemed ten times gloomier than usual as the darkners inhabiting it were soon going to be abandoned by the lightners.
Our bishop, the one in charge of everything, was imprisoned alongside William, one of the priests. The power structure of the cult was in shambles, the same could be said about the morale of the ones left.
'They really are going to disband the cult'. Now that the issue made itself clear, I had just one complain.
I didn't want the cult to disappear!
Apart from them researching how to escape this game, I enjoyed my time here a lot. I never thought I would learn the basics of magic engineering in a cult, but I did.
Maybe from time to time a group of maniacs would show up to murder us all, but what's life without some risks?
Making my mind, I addressed the other members, which were discussing what to do with the cult.
"Latte! You sure took your time. Take a seat". Spice welcomed me to the table as Gray sit alongside me.
Just from looking at them I could understand what was going on. At the left side of the table there was a polite discussion between colleagues, but at the right side...
"HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS! THIS CULT THING IS POINTLESS!". Sol growled, he was loud as always.
"Can't handle all the pressure?". Mocking Sol, Briber dismissed him. "I always knew you were a coward".
"THIS LITTLE SHIT! YOU REALLY WANNA FIGHT?". Sol seemed to be fuming while Briber kept mocking him.
"What are you going to do, punch me with those spaghetti arms". Briber mocked Sol's physique, which from my perspective was a well-built body.
'Everyone has spaghetti arms if you're built like the hulk'. Setting aside those thoughts these two really needed to stop bickering.
"I'M DONE!". Sol got up as if prepared to fight without a care.
"Now, now. There's no point in fighting between ourselves, let's calm down". As always, Wyn defused the situation, this old man was the only priest we had left, so he acted as a temporary leader of sorts.
Sol reluctantly sat down again while Briber contained his laughter.
"Everyone, I have a proposition". With more silence, I spoke up as the entire table looked at me." I believe our best choice here would be to not disband the cult".
Although being a recent member on the cult, having William as my companion made my reputation quite good inside the cult, so they took my statement seriously.
"You're insane".
"That's the spirit!".
"Isn't that too risky?".
Whispers spread thorough the table after my words; I organized my mind for a bit before deciding what to say next.
"I heard how this cult remained standing all these years, and you all want to give up so quickly?". I toned my voice to be as charming as possible. Then, a female voice surged, going against me.
"We were attacked, and they know the location of our base, I wish to continue with this cult but if they attacked us again, we wouldn't be able to protect ourselves, do you think faith alone can protect this cult?".
Lett spoke in her usual icy tone, but I understood her concerns, we were only 9 now, there's no way for us to defeat more than 30 members of the 2nd Wing.
I took a deep breath.
"We have an insane advantage, the day of the battle we weren't prepared. But next time we'll completely outnumber them".
"!??".
Everyone was shocked at my statement.
"Hahaha! Nice joke Latte... it was a joke, right?". Sol muttered.
This Wing was so accustomed to being free from trouble that they never had plans in case of things like that.
"It's simple everyone, just look around". Rain, who's usually disinterested, caught on quite fast.
When the others looked around, they finally understood the power right under our noses.
"Hah... how could we forget that". Spice looked quite flustered as she realized it.
We were in a dark world, in other words, a whole fucking kingdom. What's a cult to a kingdom. I felt stupid for not realizing this soon enough.
"What are 30 people going to do against an army? As long as were in the cave, they won't outnumber us, but why stop there? Let's fortify the entrance! fill it with traps! Make this a hell for invaders!".
"Oho! Clever one, but I still see a defect in your plan". The priest Wyn addressed me. "Our win condition seems to be this dark world, but what if they ambush us outside?".
'That old man cunning as always'.
"To put it simply, they won't be able to". I smiled while acting with infinite confidence. "There are Royal Guardsmen around the forest so they can't move in big groups".
This wasn't perfectly accurate as the Royal Guard Wouldn't be there forever, but for the moment it was a valid argument to make, which was enough for me.
The majority wasn't all that convinced to maintain the cult, but that's just natural. There will always be the risk of being imprisoned by the authorities or outright killed and not everyone wanted to take risks, more so after the more than half of our cult members were captured.
My mid raced, thinking about the perfect way to convince them all, but someone had already made up their mind.
"Why are you all afraid of taking risks? I don't know your private life but the sole fact of being here makes me sure of it". Rain once again spoke, her voice drawing the attention of all of us.
"I'm an outcast, I lost my family and have only a few people that I can consider friends, the same should be for the majority of you. We are all here, searching for a way to exit this world because we have no attachments to it. are you afraid of dying? If so answer me, your funeral would be filled by your loved ones, crying despite knowing you were a cultist or would it be empty, devoid of anyone".
The whole table was in utter silence, her words reminded me of something William told me.
***
"Zen, I lost my family when I was 21, I was depressed for years on end, loosing all my connections and finding life meaningless, that's when I stumbled it, a monochromatic girl standing unnoticed in night, seconds after she disappeared after telling me uncoherent words. That paranormal occurrence made me want to uncover the secrets of this world, and that's how I ended up joining the True Fear Church".
At that time my mind raced through all sorts of thoughts about that girl, 'Was she a goner? An anomaly?'. But William continued.
"The question is, I used that occurrence as a goal to distract myself, if my family was alive, I'm certain I would have never joined the cult. Then, you also don't have parents, but you're young, and you aren't alone. That makes me wonder, why did you join? You have everything to lose, your friends, your caretaker and your whole future, what is it that fuels you? ".
I didn't answer, but William just laughed.
"Seriously, you really are a weird teenager!"
***
I stopped reminiscing about the past as everyone made up their mind.
"Let's risk everything". Sol was convinced.
"Ohoho, let's see what the future holds for us". Wyn was convinced.
"I accept the proposition". Lett was convinced.
"We'll beat them up next time!". Briber was convinced.
"It seems I have more research to do". Spice was convinced.
"...okay". Ark, who didn't talk the whole time, was convinced.
"Uhhhm. guys? I-I'm quite scared of, you know, dying, so I t-thi-".
"Everyone agrees". I Gently pressed my hand on Gray's mouth.
'Sorry, I can't have my cult buddy escaping!'.
***
I had successfully managed to convince everyone, so now we needed to set our plans into motion. Some started setting traps and others strategized what to do if a battle was to break out.
My job was different, I was heading to the Stone Castle. I needed the Stone King to collaborate with us. I went alongside Gray, who followed me with a pleased expression.
"You look weirdly happy". I inquired him about his mood.
"Oh, nothing, is just that I think it's nice that you all want me to still be at the cult".
I just couldn't understand why, didn't he want to leave the cult minutes ago?
"So, you're staying at the cult?".
"Well, I initially doubted, but seeing how you needed me I just couldn't bring myself to say no".
I was speechless
"It makes sense that you all need me, without everyone else I suppose I'm now the main researcher". He looked rather proud. "Don't worry Zen! I'll stay in the cult".
He looked at me with pity as if I couldn't stand the idea of him leaving.
"... right".
With that we finally arrived at the Castle's entrance, Some Stone-like statues greeted us and opened the gates for us.
"Dear lighters! You shall pass".
On this dark world, the majority of darkners revered us. It was only natural since no one entered the depths of the cave, leaving the darkners forgotten, that was until the knight opened the fountain connecting the darkners and the lightners, that's why they saw us as saviors.
We reached the tallest place of the Castle until we arrived at the king's room.
Knock
Knock
"Preposterous, who hast the audacity to knock the door of this great one!". The King's voice echoed through the room as we entered.
"Umm, hello king, it's us, the lightners".
"Oh! My apologies just now, lightbringers, I had wrongly mistaken thee for my useless subjects". the king's tone drastically shifted as he realized we were lightners.
"Well, we wanted to have a t-". I immediately stopped Gray, leaning closer to him I whispered.
"We have to match his vibes, try talking like a noble".
William told me that originally the king talked like a normal person, but once the cult started bringing technology to the kingdom he got inspired by shows about human aristocrats and started talking like one. The most effective way to talk with him was roleplaying as a nobleman.
"Salutations great king! This humble me hast arrived to have a conversation with thou".
The king towered 3 meters above ground, his entire body was made of stone and he wore carefully treaded robes made with leaves, on his head he wore a laurel wreath that glowed in a golden light.
"Very well lightbringer I shalt listen to your words". I thought about how ridiculous his speech sounded, but it was necessary for me to talk like him.
"These lands you hold are in peril! Evil lightbringers ambushed us in the light world, greatly diminishing our numbers".
"Such a tragedy! What's the objective of those scoundrels".
"Those scumbags desire the ruin of thine kingdom, they want to seal the glorious fountain and end us all".
The king's expression turned serious as his whole kingdom was threatened.
"Great king, us lightners came here to ask for aid in the protection of the kingdom, make defenses and traps, mobilize the army and stay prepared for any attack, art you willing to aid us?".
The kind wondered for a bit before answering.
"Dost not worry lightner! This great one will ensure this kingdom prepares traps and sends an army to the Great Door, those vile enemies shalt not pass!".
"Thanks for your aid, your majesty!". With that I bowed to the king and Gray copied me. I hope the king enjoyed our role-playing session.
As me and Gray left the castle, he started giggling.
"I never knew you were into role-playing". I felt embarrassed, talking like that was kind of ridiculous.
"It was necessary". That was the best way to convince the king, It was for the greater good.
"But you seemed to be enjoying it though?".
"Shut up".
***
The cult meeting was coming to an end, so just before going back to the orphanage I paid a visit to the stone dragon.
The library was empty as usual, even though almost no one came here the library was well maintained. That was because the librarian and I often cleaned it.
"Hello mini dragon!". I entered the library as usual and met the small dragon. He was writing another book for the library.
"You again? What do you need". The dragon didn't seem to be very thrilled by my visit. That greedy librarian is still keeping all his secrets for himself.
Anyways, I went to a bookshelf and grabbed the book I was reading last time. The dragon was an amazing writer, so I enjoyed reading his books. At first, I tried understanding his books about magic, but they were on a weird language so I decided to read his other books.
Time passed and we both were focusing on our own tasks. Reading and writing, that was until I got curious.
"Librarian".
"Yes?".
"Can I ask you something?". I was curious about when the prophecy would take place, after all I planned to be there.
"No". The librarian seemed to be in a good mood as usually he just ignored me.
"Next year, I'll try to enroll at an academy, Asriel Dreemurr is going there, in the prophecy is something going to happen there?". I had a feeling that problems would arise once I entered the academy, it was just a hunch, but I felt uneasy thinking about it.
"...". He didn't answer at all.
"You told me to find the Shadow Crystals, but you didn't tell me anything about them, I don't know what they are or how to find them, not even how many I have to collect, at least give me a hint".
He looked rather conficted before turning to face me.
"I wasn't being serious, I don't expect you to find them".
"Just let me know where the fountains will appear, a clue".
He didn't respond, I sighed and went back to reading, the dragon was stubborn as always. I prepared to exit the library as I had to return to the orphanage, but then the dragon spoke to me.
"...I'll give you some hints". The librarian's words startled me as he never told me anything before.
"The academy that you talked about is important".
"To get the Shadow Crystal's you must defeat strong darkners".
"With 5 Shadow Crystals I'll be able to make you a special weapon".
I finally got some answers, now I had to make sure that I got accepted to New Gen Academy. I felt like the time I spent cleaning the library was finally worth it. I thanked the librarian, but before that I saw something floating in front of me.
a completely transparent object, I couldn't see anything about it except its shadow. Its shape changed and distorted like water, and I couldn't decipher its form. Gluing my eyes to it, for some reason, for just a brief moment, I saw the cave where this dark world was made.
"Lastly, this is a Shadow Crystal, I'll give mine to you once you get the other 4". I felt like I had been given a quest, next year will be crazy.
| Like and [[SUBSCRIBE]] for [fr3e Kromer] |
*Vote and comment what you thought*