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Chapter 569 - Unexpected findings
🕑 Added 2022-12-09 13:00:12 +0000 UTC"I can't believe I forgot about them," Hera shook her head, "And what is this? Why are they inactive?"
Daskka floated to Hera's side and looked at the window, "I'm… not sure. Give me a moment."
"Hera! Come look at this!" Shane yelled from the cabin.
Hera glanced back and then turned to Daskka, "Go, mum. This will take a moment."
"I think I know what is going on. Let's go. I can help with some answers," Nimbus said.
They moved back to the cabin, with Daskka on Hera's neck with a faraway stare. The snake only had that look when she was checking something with the legacy. Before anyone said anything, Shane shoved the tablet in Hera's face.
"Look! Look!"
Hera pushed her hands away, "I can only see the pixels if you do that."
She looked at the picture and saw a beautiful white house filled with sharp edges in triangle shapes. In a way, it reminded Hera of bird formations, the famous flying V. There were no windows on the side, only on the back, the flat area of the building, beside the door in the middle of that wall. Her best guess was that doing so would stop the wind from making noise from passing through any openings. It was a very interesting place, but it didn't explain Shane's reaction.
"There is nothing here, or am I missing something?" Hera looked up.
"What?" Shane turned the tablet back to her, only to see that it wasn't the picture that she wanted to show. Swiping back a couple of times, she found the right one and turned to Hera, "Here!"
It was a similar picture, but instead of showing the house at an angle, it was just the back, where the door was located. However, just a glance made Hera's eyes go wide. She blinked a couple of times, but the image was still the same. In the middle of the double door was an image of a naga engraved in the stone. Nimbus even used the infrared camera to see if there was something else, and below the picture, there was some writing in their language. First, a label, 'Temple.' Then a phrase, 'Nurla was here. May the spirits of ancestors help find a path forward."
"Wait, wait. Does that mean…" Hera didn't finish her thought.
"I really think it does. You said the Naga who passed the Seven Islands came to this room, right?" Shane was smiling from ear to ear.
Hera nodded, "Yeah. I just never imagined that they would have left something here. And this also should mean that the Naga was here after the rest of the room became deserted, right?"
"It seems likely," Helena nodded, "I mean, if the Naga created this place, I don't think they would have carved the stone to mark a temple like that," the carven as crude and it seemed to be made without the proper tools for something like that.
"And they might have stayed here for some time, but not enough to make an actual temple," Bonnie was rubbing her chin like she did when she was thinking.
"Right, and they either could fly with a spell or something, or they found a different way to get there," Alex added.
"If I may?" Nimbus asked and got a nod in response, "I don't think they would have found that place by flying. Beneath the city, there is a rock that creates the cloud that covers it. Actually, let me rephrase that. The entire structure beneath the city is made out of that rock. Unless that Naga found a spyglass like the one Bonnie has, I don't believe they would've noticed the city."
"I mean… that's fair. The Naga finding the same type of item that Bonnie found is too much of a coincidence. It's not impossible, just… unlikely," Adriel nodded.
"Nimbus, did you have a lot of my mana left when you got back?" Hera turned to the Sentinel.
"About 30 thousand or so. I have to spend a lot of mana when I am up there. I only searched the place for 20 minutes or so before I felt I was losing too much mana to stay there."
"Do you know how long it would take to search the entire city?" Shane asked.
Nimbus crossed his arms to think, "At least a full day. I didn't enter any of the houses. They were all locked or closed in a way I couldn't understand. So I'm counting that I would need time to unlock each of them or break the windows."
"And was it hard to get there? I could go with you next time," Blue said excitedly.
The Sentinel shook his head, "I don't think that is a good idea. The winds are very strong. I had to change into my griffon form to reach there since it's more aerodynamic. Honestly, I would have to say no, even if Hera asked me to bring her there. I don't believe anyone on a mount would be able to hold on when the wind picks up."
"Was it really that bad?" Hera asked with an apologetic expression.
"Yes, but I am a being of the sky. I am comfortable when facing strong winds, and if I fall, I would simply return to you. I have extra lives. You don't. Taking you with me would be the same as putting you in danger."
Hera nodded, and the group continued to discuss the possibilities. Unfortunately, each of them had a different theory. Teleportation, the island could come down, the raft could go up, there could be a mountain somewhere, a geyser, a flying vehicle, even the idea of a tractor beam ended up being tossed around. That's when Daskka finally got some answers and told Hera quietly.
'Mum. I think I know what happened with Dao.'
'Really? Is it bad?'
'No, not really. It's just… something that has never happened before. Remember how you asked if I could make the status window of the blade pop out as soon as you added it to your court?'
'Yeah. I was just curious,' Hera nodded while looking at the snake.
'Soooo… I did that, and you read the skills and stuff…. But you never called Dao out.'
Hera stopped to think for a moment, and that was true. At the time she finished adding the new weapon to her court, someone did something that distracted her, and she ended up never calling Dao, 'Is that why? Because I never called them specifically?'
Daskka nodded, 'Yeah. So what happens is. For the legacy to register the new court member, you have to call them. Just them, and you can't just say 'Everyone,' you need to use the name you gave them. If you don't, the process of adding a new blade won't be complete, and they won't be able to help you. It seems like not a single of the previous legacy holders ever did that. They all called their new blades as soon as they got them. That's why the legacy also didn't know that it could happen. Or that it was a requirement.'
'That is a bit odd… How can the legacy not know things about itself?' Hera frowned.
'Well… Do you know what will happen if you breathe every other gas that is not regular air?'
'Not all of them. I know some.'
'It's the same thing. The legacy knows what it has seen before. This was something new.'
'I see… well… I suppose that makes sense. But how do we fix this? About Dao, I mean.'
'Just call them. The moment you do that, they will be registered, and things will go back to normal. Well, our normal.'
Hera nodded and closed her eyes, "Dao, come out," she said out loud, and the rest of the group looked at her with confused expressions, unsure of who she was talking to. Suddenly, a blade with a flat edge on the tip appeared. It had a sturdy grey blade with a golden handle and seemed to crackle with energy. The weapon floated in front of Hera and touched the floor before tumbling back and falling to the ground, "Dao!" Hera gasped and picked the weapon up, 'Can you hear me?'
For a few long moments, there was no answer, but eventually, Hera heard a voice in her head, 'I can… Empress. I'm sorry, it just feels… weird,' it was a deep masculine voice, but as it spoke, it became increasingly high-pitched until it was just a shrill, 'Is this better? No. Like this? Or this?' Dao changed to a feminine voice and continued speaking as it changed the pitch and the tone until it finally found something that sounded right. It was a smooth voice, very similar to what one would hear from a jazz singer, 'This one? Yes, this one feels just right. Sorry about that, Hera. I was feeling a bit off.'
'That's ok. Are you feeling anything else? Does it hurt? Or are you uncomfortable?'
'I don't think so. Everything seems peachy. Why? You look worried.'
"Hera? What is going on? Is that a new blade?" Helena asked.
The Empress looked up and explained out loud what had happened. How she forgot about Dao and felt horrible about it, and how there was something that not even her legacy knew about. When she finished, Shane was the first to speak up.
"That is a rough one. But it's not your fault. I mean, a new blade is like a new skill or spell. We usually forget if we are just trying things out."
"Yeah, but I still feel bad. Dao, is there anything I could do to make it up to you?"
'In all honesty. I'm itching for a good fight. If we could do that, it would be amazing.'
"Fight? I guess we could start hunting some slimes," Hera looked outside, thinking about where to find monsters.
"Or you could go to the dungeon," Mylo suggested.
"Wasn't the dungeon about fishing?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, but there are a bunch of weapons there. None of them are in good condition, though," Mylo was in the corner of the cabin setting up a hammock that he had found somewhere else.
"How does that… oh? I see. Since they set up fishing gear there and some weapons, it should mean that the dungeon requires both," Bonnie looked at Mylo with a surprised expression.
"Well.. that could work. Does anyone want to join me? Since it's about fishing, we should get some meat for dinner," Hera looked around.
"I'll go," Helena got up.
"Me too. I want to see if my lure works in a dungeon. And a fishing dungeon sounds like my kind of dungeon," Adriel smiled.
Shane and Mylo decided to stay, they were not interested in the dungeon, and Shane had already copied all the pictures Nimbus took to her own tablet to study. Alex and Bonnie also stayed behind, but Blue didn't say anything. She just walked off with the others toward the dungeon. After getting the directions, Hera, Helena, Adriel, and Blue headed to the middle of the raft. Still in the corner, close to the water, but the fishing cabin was far east.
As they walked, Hera called her entire court and let them meet the two 'new' additions to her court. She explained what happened and apologized again, but Dao seemed fine. To her, no time passed. In fact, for Dao, this was the first day of her existence, just like how it was for Edge. The difference was that Edge still acted like a child, while the flat-bladed sword was much more calm and collected.
After about twenty minutes, the four arrived at the fishing cabin. It was somewhat evident that this was the right place. The structure was bigger and different from most of the raft. Most of the wood that made the walls was much darker, and the ceiling seemed to be made of some polymer. A malleable plastic of sorts. Inside, the area was split into two. To the left, there were some weapon and armor racks. Unfortunately, all the remaining equipment that was there was severely degraded. Hera only found a single sword that still had its shape but was completely rusted. The armors were falling apart and rotten in some places. What they could actually see were the shelves and racks that were once used to keep those items. Looking to the right, they could see some fishing rods and drawers. Inside them, there were a few lures and some fishing lines. Not everything here was in bad shape, although everything was clearly ancient. On the opposite end of the room was an ornate crystal door that should lead to the outside, and the ocean, if going by their current location.
They picked a couple of fishing rods that seemed to be stable enough to be used and crossed the door. Blue was the first one to pass through. She stopped, smiled, and started running around before yelling, "We are on a boat!"
Comments
Gail Burke
Blue, Blue, what ever will we do with you? Lol, lovely chapter!
