CHAPTER FOURTEEN- THOTH

All the information I had received turned out to be unreliable. In a situation where I was barely comprehensive of what was happening to begin with, that really didn't make me feel any better about where I was or what I was about to do. The whole Atlantis thing was the only bit of this that I truly trusted, and only then because every side of this whole mess had called me Atlantis at some point, even the dead girls-- The really important ones whose sanctuary we invaded for personal security like scared animals. I'm sure they understand, given the situation at hand, but I can't help feeling guilty about it looking back on how shameless and impolite I was in their chamber moments ago.

Back to the matter at hand though. It wasn't very long a walk to the dorms. What it was, however, was crowded and dangerous. I counted thirty of them- Not the eyeball things. People in robes. What were they called? The Damned? Why were they still alive? I was pretty sure that the mirrors had eaten or swapped realities with them all by now, but these ones were genuinely alive. They may have had those blindfolds on, and they may have had some coagulated scarring like a zombie might, but they were human still. My first human contact besides the church since this began, and I was going to have to fight them.

I could sneak around. I could try to plow through. I could even try reasoning. None of it would matter though- The Damned were dedicated. I couldn't make heads or tails of them before, and that was when they had me for some weird ritual. Thankfully, I was saved- By Umbra. Who was currently behind these lines, and possibly in need of my help.

I took a tighter grip on the items I was given, and stared into one of them. The moonlight gave a nice reflection- Enough that I could see myself.

"Summer. The place is surrounded. I'm not sure I have much option except to fight." I said, feeling her hand on my shoulder just then. She giggled, and I felt her hand vanish once more.

"What are you waiting for then?"

Odd thing for her to say, considering she not ten minutes ago decided she didn't want me to die. Thirty people at once? That was definite suicide. But of course, I didn't fully trust her any more than I fully trusted Umbra or even Rin. Especially not when I remembered that she had mentally and physically beaten the ever loving Hell out of me not even half a day ago-

Wait a minute.

"Hey, Summer? About our uh, little battle..."

"That was fun, wasn't it?" she replied.

"Well, actually, I was wondering- Why put me through that Hell only to turn around and help me?"

There was a pause. That didn't make me very comfortable of the situation, but I guess any explanation was half true at this point anyway.

"You're a martial artist. You know the value of great challenge." she sort of tsked like she was disappointed in me, waving her finger back and forth. "In order to realize you can do something, you have to want to do it. How badly did you want to hurt any of us before then?"

... Valid.

"I guess that's true. But we need to talk more when you have a body, alright? For now..."

I tuned my headset to Umbra.

"Hey, I'm about to do something really, really dumb. I need you to stay by the door and guard it on the off chance someone other than me shows up."

She sarcastically gasped at me.

"June doing dumb things? Good lord, what's the world coming to? Just have fun, cut loose, and let the moment take you. I promise, you'll get used to it in a while."

That wasn't the most reassuring thing to hear, but, I suppose it was her way of showing concern. Rin said these mirrors weren't human, but I had met two of them with distinct personalities, goals, and motives. That's what it takes to make them feel human to me- Substance. But anyway, I was about to attack a crowd of thirty people like a complete moron, when I had a thought.

"You can physically touch me right Summer? So, can you fight others too?"

"I fought Umbra, did I not?"

"Huh. This could be easier than I thought." I allowed myself a moment of cockiness before indulging in my stupidity.

I didn’t waste any time, as I walked directly up to the building. I wouldn’t be able to stay covert for long; after all, I ventured that they made sure that only authorized personnel were in or near the building. But, this plan was too great to pass up.

"Still, I'm only one person. Hopefully I have the element of surprise- Bringing a knife to a gunfight, and stabbing them while they laugh. Man, I'm smart." I thought to myself.

It was a small and quiet building, and the group outside it seemed to be struggling to get in for some reason. Had Umbra locked them all out? Well, whatever. I was about to hurt a lot of people, but I didn’t hold any regret. In fact I would go as far to say that I was looking forward to just being done with this whole demon party, whatever the cost.

Does it make me an evil person?

I thought to myself, but I didn’t have time to ponder an answer, as a cultist, blindfold and all, walked up to me. I cracked my knuckles and then my neck, side to side, as the girl approached me. “Good evening Atlantis. Have you come to see the light?” she asked, unaware of what was about to happen.

“Well madame, I found this neat little key to a door in there, and I'd very much like to go by and use it.” I announced, in a giddy voice. Briefly, I wondered if the girl had any family members that were concerned about her. Briefly, I felt like I should turn away. But I quickly brushed those thoughts away. If I felt sorry, I would die.


“That’s nice and all, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to hand it over.” The girl said, walking closer to me, taking her hand and raising it in a 'gimme that' sort of motion. I saw my chance, and lunged forward, stabbing into her leg, pressing the blade deeply. She only had enough time to cry out, before she dropped to the floor. Time slowed down, as everyone looked at me. I took every second as an opportunity, pulling my punches only enough to crack the next one's knee. I didn't want to kill, but, I knew I might have to. Then I moved, quickly, to the door, pushing my weight against some of them in order to keep my momentum around curves. I ducked, rolled, dodged, and eventually made it to the doorway- Cornered. I needed as much cover as I could muster at this point. Unfortunately, I had none, so I made peace with myself and whatever higher power there might be, and made the choice to be extremely stupid.

I started to check them into walls, and eventually, one of the walls gave in. Took less than I expected actually. The bricks of that section fell, and the person I used as a battering ram with it. There was enough room to duck and enter the building- And be face to face with the man of the house, Skade.

"Hey ugly." I said, trying to mask how terrified I was with sarcasm. I learned it from Spider-Man.

"Atlantis, this is not like you at all." he said, as if he knew anything about me. "What has caused this suicidal mission?"

"Oh you know, just in the neighborhood." I snarked, running right on by him as I was fully aware that the Damned would be following suit.

I dared not turn around. Rather, I made my way past the dorms- My old room, actually. I caught a glimpse of someone inside the doorway, as the door was gone, but I didn't have the luxury of stopping to investigate. Instead, I made it to the walkway, the attic, and finally saw Umbra by the door.

In a haste, I dug out the key, and unlocked the door, dragging her into the room with me before closing it and allowing my adrenaline to fade.

"H-hey, slow down Juney!" she sassed. "What's the rush?"

"I kinda pissed off the cultists and broke the wall down. Quick, help me barricade." I said, admittedly far calmer than I felt I said it. She seemed to understand the severity of that and helped me. The room was pitch dark, so I used the light from my cell phone to find us a desk. We pushed it against the door, and then started digging for other things. Strangely, nothing seemed to attack us, but rather the silence drove us to calm ourselves. Now, in the dim light of my phone, we had to find what was so important about this room. Why did the cult want in? Why was Skade here? Could anyone get in?

"June, here." Umbra broke the silence and handed me a candle. I had no way of lighting it, but, I think she just wanted us to have it in case we figured something out.

"Awesome. There has to be something we can use in here to light it." I said with confidence, pretty sure I'd seen this horror movie a dozen times. "Check the desk we barricaded with."

She did that while I made one final observation of the room- It was well furnished. From this century, too. The desk was mahogany, and fairly new looking. Even the framework of the door looked new.

"So, this place is impenetrable huh?" I shook my head. "There was no way. It's just a room in an attic. Someone had to have been in here before us. Look at how new the stuff in here is!"

"I know, but it's hard to see all of it off just your phone light." a few minutes of silence, and then I made a realization.

"There's gotta be a light switch in here." I said. "The room is from this century. Nobody would just not light it if they put this much stuff in it."

Sure as sugar, Umbra found her way to the wall and felt a switch, flicked it, and bam. Light.

"Good call." she said. "Now, let's get digging." a cheery tone on that last one. I'd forgotten she was childish for a moment, since she was actually treating our dangerous situation as such. In the new light, I saw a few new things. The candle she had found was seated on what I assumed was its original place, back on a small wooden table. There was a locker up here, next to a chest- What was this, a video game? Putting chests and keys everywhere? Whatever.

Before opening the chest, I hit my head, forgetting the ceiling was on a slant- This was an attic after all. After correcting my approach, I pulled the chest over to Umbra, and opened it. She and I both sat dumbfounded.

"Umbra?" I said, kind of eying what was in front of me suspiciously.

"I see it." she replied, backing away a little.

It was pictures of us. From childhood to now. One of them was even from a few minutes ago, a picture of me breaking down the walls. Any picture of umbra was covered in a strange glossy blue, and it was hard to make out some of them. Is that how she saw the world?

"We can't stay here." she said. "Someone else can get in here. Someone else has been following us."

I agreed, but I had to keep digging.

"We've been chumps the whole time June. They know everything we know."

I found another key at the bottom of the pile, and assumed it belonged to the locker.

"June, we're screwed. It's all over. We may as well just go down fighting."

"Calm down!" I slapped her. "This is messed up yeah, but don't you dare go more crazy than normal on me right now, I need you Arcy!"

... Oh.

"June..."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." I swallowed my pride and hugged her. "Look, we'll find a way for you to exist in this world. No tentacle monsters, no demons, no mirrors. We'll figure it out. But I need you to keep your head where it is. We won't get anywhere by panicking."

She quieted down, but I still felt a moisture against my neck where her face was buried. She needed a minute.

"Go sit down. I'll do the reading for now."

She did so, and I opened the locker. Inside, I found an assortment of oddities. A diary, belonging to some person with initials N.M. as well as a book titled "Thoth and Human History." which I immediately had an 'Oh God thank you' moment for finding, as Thoth was the biggest missing link in all of this that everyone kept bringing up. There was also a diagram of a- Well, sort of a sword? It had one of the eyes on it, and the tentacles wrapped the guard and handle. The pommel seemed to be bone, and the blade was... Gone. I saw it outlined by veins of some kind, but the blade itself was not depicted. I had a clear vision of where it was, but not what it was made of- I probably was better off that way.

"Umbra, this is it!" I cheered. "This is about Thoth! And it looks like we have someone helping us along the way!"

"Then what's with the stalking?! Our whole damn lives!" she shouted back.

"I'm not sure. But this info has to be good. We need to head back."

Before I could stand, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Not a pleasant one. I had only a moment to think before I realized I was being thrown against the wall.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN- LIONESS

I can vaguely recall a small growl coming from beside me as I stumbled to stand again, thanking my parents for birthing such a durable lady. I had assumed it to be Umbra, but it was someone else entirely - a certain fiery air about her, probably coming from the fire she was holding in her hand somehow. I recognized her, which confused me because I'd made no friends at this place yet. Somehow, I knew this woman, and it seemed Umbra did as well. The woman herself had a crimson red tint in her hair, but it wasn't from blood coating like it was for Skade. It was normal hair. I'd never been so happy to see a redhead in my life. She had a deep crimson in her eyes as well, and her attire suggested she was a Spican student. There wasn't much difference in height from her and Umbra, and now that I was thinking about it, I realized that I shouldn't be so casually happy to see someone who had probably just hurled me into a wall. Umbra was the first to step forward, guarding me with a hand.

"How did you get in here?" she asked the redhead. To be fair, I was sure we were going to be asked the same question, but it appeared we would get a real answer instead of a sass-reply.

"Who do you think put all this stuff here?" she threw back. "I've been in here the whole time, you two just didn't hear me because you were in hysterics. It was pretty sad."

The woman's fire faded and she lowered her offensive stance.

"And no, I didn't take the pictures. I just found them. I've been fighting on my own out here for a while and you two have been running around like crazy."

Umbra shook her head.

"Even if that were true, why gather it and put it here? Why not just come to us? The woman who gave us the key died protecting it. You could have saved her!"

I had to agree.

"I know." she stated flatly. "But forget that for now. You two have some catching up to do."

"Forget--" I stood quickly and balled a fist. "That's so heartless! You can't be human."

She spun in a perfect pinpoint turn as if to show us the lack of a mysterious eyeball creature.

"I'm human, I just know how to be logical. Now shut up and get the info you need."

"And my name is Umbra, nice to meet you." she snapped out. The fiery girl just gave her a narrow eyed glare.

"My name is Raion, and I'm saving your lives, now be the thankful little dogs you are and read!" she roared out. "I'll be right here when you're done."

As if seeing no alternative, we listened to this Raion girl and read the book on Thoth. It covered the topic of a large pocket of magma stored underneath the earth. A super-sized volcano that could erupt at any time. However, a Lion, a Wolf, and a Raven came to stop it. The animals were not powerful enough and began to blame each other for the failure, but Thoth appeared and silenced the volcano before it ended everything. Those three animals were told that it wasn't their weaknesses that failed, and that they tried their hardest. That was all Thoth wanted to see. He then cast a spell upon the animals to turn them human - Three animals turned into young women. He then went on to say that they could try again when the volcano came close once more, and departed. After that, an enemy of Thoth decided to try and set it off again. This enemy was named Skade. His plan was to bathe the mortal world in fiery death to pave over it for his own realm to expand. The three girls rose up to stop him once again, this time as a team. They eventually sealed him back in his realm, which was the mirror image of our own, and mirrors became the sole way his influence would leak out. Reflective surfaces became portals for him to try and break his seal, but it was no use. The three animal girls stopped him individually at every turn, and eventually parted ways to protect different sides of the world. When the volcano was going to erupt next, they would all meet again, but that was a thousand years away. Thoth decided to give the ancestors of those three girls the spirit of their ancestors, but not their lives. Reincarnation would only recycle the problem, even if it were the heroes.

The three heroes eventually did perish - The Wolf first, then the Raven, and finally the Lion. Their descendants continue to walk the earth. However, Skade and his realm are forever bound to our own, and no human can exist without a reflection - that reflection is their counterpart in the other realm. These mirror images can seep into reality in strange ways, but they may never join the mortal realm without sacrifice. However, Thoth stated that it would be possible for the mirror images to integrate if Skade were defeated. If that were to ever happen, he would grant them humanity and welcome them with open arms into his domain, for he is the protector of reality.

The three heroes were never mentioned by name, but somehow I knew exactly who the book was referring to.

"So... That..." I began.

"Yeah..." Umbra followed in. "So then which one of us is which, and where is our third link?"

Raion shook her head and made a clicking sound of disappointment.

"How did you two ever survive this long? I'm your third, and the Lion. Atlantis is the Wolf, and the Raven is whoever remains."

"If that's true, and you knew..." I couldn't resist asking more. "Why not approach us directly? We could have sheltered you while we talked all this over!"

"And miss out on the greatest challenge I'd ever face? get real." she shot back. "Besides, I only found out recently. Skade attacked me himself and I got away. During the encounter, he told me. Then I found all this, and knew the only way to draw you two out would be with clues. You wouldn't trust a stranger with no background and I wasn't about to believe you two were my partners unless I tested you myself."

"That's..." Umbra sighed. She was unusually calm. "But I'm not Arceia. She's trapped in the other world. I'm... One of those things."

"And she's my friend." I added in. "So Raven or not, she's not going anywhere. You're right, I don't trust all this. But it's the only solid evidence we've had this whole time, so I have to go with it for now."

I decided now was an appropriate time to relax.

"Raion, was it? If it's okay with you, I'd like a minute." I said, immediately nodding off without waiting for an answer. The reading was quite long and took me the better part of an hour and a half. Coupled with the adrenaline rush and I was in no shape to fight. Umbra sat next to me on the floor and Raion leaned against the wall, arms crossed and head sunken, muttering something rude that was probably about me. I didn't care though. I welcomed the sweet embrace of sleep, and in my dream I'd talk to Summer about what she thought of all this.

In my dream, I was alone at the fountain again. I smiled into the water, and Summer greeted me.

"Hello again." she said in a happier tone. "Have we found any leads?"

"Sort of. Thoth is one mystery solved, but now there's more problems." I hesitated with my next sentence, but it had to be said. "According to this new source, there's three of us not two, and Skade has to be killed to set you all free. On top of that, there's apparently a world ending volcanic eruption happening sometime soon that I need to somehow stop. That about covers it."

"I see." she mouthed out silently. "That certainly gives us a new objective then."

"No kidding. But I can't help thinking, what if I tried to visit you in a sacred place like the burial chamber? What would happen?"

"That... is a good question." she tilted her head slightly. "But I think the more pressing matter is how to stop Skade."

"Valid. Hear me out on this one though. The story said he was sealed away. Does that mean he isn't even at his full power?"

"That is correct."

"Great."

Killing Skade. Somehow I felt like that would be the end goal, but I was hoping I could just seal him away or something. I couldn't seal what was already sealed though, and that meant I'd need to face him head on. But... I'd have my friend Umbra, and maybe Raion was actually an ally. That was yet to be determined. I'd have to ask Rin when I saw her again.

That's when I woke up to the gentle shove of Umbra, who was asking me to wake up in a sing songy voice with Raion annoyed and shaking her head in the corner.

"... Heh. We're certainly a pair huh? I bet we'll drive Raion crazy in no time."