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Chapter 863 - Aesterion
🕑 Added 2024-05-06 13:00:03 +0000 UTCAs everyone left the cave, Hera walked to the corner, away from the doorway, and used her stone shape spell to make a small box. She left her titled blades outside to stop anyone from getting closer and also activated the safety cube. With only Daskka by her side, the Ophidianite created a couple of lights inside this area and took a deep breath. It had been a while since she called a guide of a room she was in. The last one being Lancel back at the Hilltop Windmill. In an ideal world, she would’ve used that skill in every single room she passed by. Especially the ones that made her more curious, like the Fairy Teapot and the Drowned Bog. Hera had a realization, actually, she knew this wasn’t new. But it was the first time she was putting that feeling into words. She missed exploring. She missed going out into a random room and discovering the wonders it hid. The odd behaviors of the dungeon beings, the strange patterns of monsters, the mysteries left by old adventurers, everything. Being in the middle of a war stopped her from doing anything of the sort. It was a very selfish thought, but one that she had, nonetheless. Then again, she wasn’t about to beat herself for it. Just because they were in the middle of a war, it didn’t mean she couldn’t miss more simple things.
Focusing back on the task at hand, she was about to start speaking when Daskka interrupted her, “Mum? Did you forget the soundproof barrier?”
“Oh! Yeah. Thank you. I don’t think anything bad would happen now, but it’s good to be safe,” Hera patted Daskka’s head with a smile before triggering the spell. Now, no one should be able to see or hear her. Doing a quick test with Nimbus who was outside the safety cube, she confirmed that no noise from inside could be heard before saying “I call upon the guide of the Verdant Labyrinth, as an explorer I have proven my motives are pure.”
A rumbling started to echo in this small space as the ground in front of her shifted. It split into dozens of thin slabs and started to move, slamming against each other and sniping to form an actual labyrinth on the floor. After 30 seconds, the paths connected, creating a puzzle that could actually be solved, and a staircase leading deeper into the dirt appeared. At the end of it, a set of double doors flung open. From them, a black Minotaur emerged. He had long horns curved up, adorned with golden rings, a golden net rested on top of his face going halfway to his nose, with large open areas for his eyes and two longer strands of gold and jewels that dangled from the sides of his mouth. He wore a simple yellow and blue tunic, with one shoulder exposed and a sash wrapped around his waist.
Each of his steps carried echoed as his hooves hit the rocks. The Minotaur kept eye contact with Hera as he climbed up, one hand at his side and the other close to his chest. He walked forward for a few more steps, clearing the path of his entrance, and gave a small bow.
“Greetings, Ophidianite progenitor. I am Asterion, the guide of the Verdant Labyrinth,” his voice was deep and filled with gravitas.
The Empress stared at him for a moment, but realizing that might offend him, she quickly replied, “Greetings, Asterion. You may call me Hera. We may speak more comfortably if you prefer.”
He nodded, “I will speak naturally, then. Even if that can swing from formal and informal at times.”
There was a pause, but Hera just continued to stare at the guide, her mind going wild with speculations. Eventually, Asterion frowned, “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“What? No, not at all. Sorry, I’m staring,” Hera shook her head, “It’s just. You are a Minotaur, in a room that is a labyrinth. That is super on the nose. The whole thing about Daedalus and his labyrinth. I was going to ask if you liked the story, but then I realized that you should be much older than that story and I was trying to figure out what that meant.”
Asterion chuckled, “It means that Daedalus got the inspiration for that story from here. He did try to replicate my room back on earth, but according to the pictures I saw, it wasn’t a great replica. Then again, I only saw the destroyed version. While the whole structure was intact, people weren’t able to bring back depictions that truly made the construction justice.”
Hera was surprised by that, “People had reached this deep into the MAZE back then?”
“Indeed, this is merely the 13th layer. During his time, people had broken through a few of the walls. After the first one fell, it didn’t take long for the next ones to follow along. Eventually that slowed down, but people seemed to have been speeding up that once again.”
“Wow… That is awesome! But is it ok for you to tell me that? That Daedalus came here?” Hera asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be? That happened long enough ago, and he didn’t make any contribution to this room that would make information about him, something to be protected.”
“That’s fair. So the guides have kind of like a concept of public domain information? Things that, after a while, become free game to tell us?”
Asterion nodded, “Exactly. I will not tell you specifics about him, but borderer facts or small curiosities are not an issue. That is the same for a number of subjects.”
“I see… Do you mind if I ask you a question about that? Not using the skill, I mean.”
“You may ask, but depending it might require the skill for me to answer.”
“Was the part about a ball of yarn real? Like, did he do anything whit that here?”
“That was actually his relic. It was called Compass Spool. He could use its treads to guide him to certain locations he had visited before. A way for him never to lose the path home, as he would say,” Asterion had a sad smile on his face.
Hera blinked hearing that, “You know… my relic is, well, was very similar,” she pulled Ariadne from her waist, “It used to have a tread that I could use for traps, or it could point to something I wanted. Like a compass, and it is called Yarnball,” she paused, “Actually no. This is Ariadne. When I upgraded it a while back, the name changed. I’m just so used to calling it that. Anyway, those changes made it be more of a question based compass, but still! Was there anything like that here?” now that she was saying this out loud, she felt a bit silly. Her relic should be an item created out of her desires. She wanted something to let her find her path in the MAZE. Making it a based on the old tale of the Minotaur, Theseus and the ball of yarn was likely just a coincidence.
Asterion looked at the relic for a moment before starting to chuckle, “Old Daedalus is probably rolling in his grave right now. He always complained how his relic could never help him find something new. Only the things he already had discovered. But to answer your question, not quite. Back then, one of the crops of the room was a type of red cattail that would unravel in a long string. That one didn’t work as well with the rest of the room. I try to make each area to be surrounded by similar colors to confuse more those traveling through it. Having a red spot in the middle of green and tan didn’t work.”
“Did you come up with the idea of a labyrinth or was it the MAZE and you just work with what was given?”
“The MAZE came up with it. I just work within the constraints of the room. If I make the place too easy to navigate, the MAZE will override my set up and replace everything with hedges. And that is just bland and boring,” Asterion shrugged, “Now. I’m sorry, but we do have to start with the questions. The system is starting to nag me,” a timer carved into a stone slab appeared behind Asterion.
Hera nodded, “Ok. Give me a yes or no. Can you tell me about the lab?”
“No.”
“Is my relic able to find the lab with the right question?”
Asterion glanced at the relic that was on her hand and after 10 seconds smiled, “Yes.”
“Can you help me find the right question?”
“Yes.”
“But it can’t be directly. Only by saying if I’m on the right track or not, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Ok then. I already have a few ideas. If I ask for it to mark the lab location on my map, will it work?”
“No.”
“Though so,” Hera nodded, “What about pointing to the direction where the lab is?”
Asterion frowned, “Yes, but..”
Hera continued with what she thought was the problem, “Not the best idea. I would need to use that once every 2 hours and the path to get there might be super tricky.”
“If I may?” Asterion asked, getting a nod as confirmation, “You are thinking about a singular question. One that has a simple one time answer. Is there any rule that says you can’t ask a question that will have a continuous answer?”
“A continuous answer?” Hera frowned.
“Yes. For instance, ‘tell me when I need to take a dish out of the oven.’”
“I never tried something like that… But in that case… tell me when I have to follow a path to reach the lab?” Hera asked.
“That one is too close to my example. It would take too much mana. Think of a broader question. One that can work with the relic the way it is now. Now as it was before.”
Hera stopped to think, the time went down to 3 minutes before she came up with an idea, “Working as a radar until we reach the destination, can you show me which path will take me to the laboratory I’m searching for?”
Asterion nodded, “That will work. A bit on the expensive side, but,” he glanced back, and the time dropped to a minute, “I don’t think we have time to refine for a better one.”
“Thanks! Let me think of another question. I wasn’t even considering I would have extra time.”
“I do have a suggestion. I can mark something on your map. I understand you probably won’t be able to go there now. But when you can, you might find something for Ariadne.”
Hera tilted her head, “Sure. Like you said. I don’t think I’ll be able to go out of my way to go there. But once this whole war is over, I’ll try to come back. That’s just one more thing for the list of things I have to do when I can.”
Asterion nodded, “I understand. And it isn’t anything big, but maybe it will help,” the timer went to 0 and Hera pulled her map. The page about the Verdant Labyrinth was mostly empty, with only the hollow trunk marked for now. But to the west, close to the southern edge of the page, was the bust of a black Minotaur with a golden net over his face, winking at her.
“Thank you.”
“No, Hera. Thank you. It’s been a long time since I was able to talk with someone here. At least someone who was kind. And I do hope your mission is a success,” Asterion smiled and turned around, walking towards the staircase. He stopped on the third step and glanced back, “I will be messaging you in the future. If that’s ok.”
“Of course!” Hera nodded. The guide smiled and walked back inside his labyrinth. The ground shifted again and soon returned to its natural state, as if the moving rocks were never there.
The Empress waited a few more moments before dropping the spell and deactivating the cube. She also used the stone shape to return the slabs of rock back to where they belonged before recalling her court and climbing up the ladder out of the hollow trunk. Now, she had an idea to find the lab, and if luck was on her side, they could reach there before sundown.
