PART NINETEEN: THE GREAT WORK
Avery stretched and circulated her sore muscle joints as she left the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Med Bay and walked down the hall. She headed towards the boardroom occupied by the Corruption Research team to touch base with the rest of the grotesqueries’ research team.
Due to Skip and his companions successful capture of corrupted Queen Sages, the DoD had been able to obtain samples from them and study them extensively. The laboratory research had then been communicated to Avery and her team who had learned that the true nature of grotesqueries was that their entire being had been transmuted into their current forms. The conversion process itself was discovered to completely destroy and later reanimate its victims. Further, it was theorized that the Reanimation process was in fact some advanced form of necromancy and grotesqueries were merely zombies with extra steps.
Avery, like other members of her team, had then focused their research on finding the means of eradicating the Corruption’s influence without resorting to vanquishing its unfortunate victims. This meant conducting research from every possible angle, including by accessing the Elysian Plains while they slept.
The Elysian Plain dreamscape hosted a plethora of revived formerly lost civilizations and it was hoped that the research team would stumble upon some long-lost knowledge that would restore the Corrupted back to their original states without destroying them. However, their search had been futile thus far and the key to defeating the Corruption eluded them further.
Just before Avery entered the boardroom, her brother Ashton called out to her. Avery guessed that he must have been in distress but since her little brother was so great at masking his true emotions, Avery was unsure whether she had made the right assessment.
“Avery, I think Ada is in real trouble,” he stated plainly.
Avery was stunned to hear her brother’s words.
“What makes you say that? I mean, this is Ada we are talking about,”
Ashton proceeded to brief her on his previous mission and Avery was convinced that Ashton’s assessment of the situation was accurate.
“Ash couldn’t make contact with her nodes in Ada’s suit until just a few moments ago. She claims that Ada’s currently in B-2,”
“B-2? What would she be doing there? Have you tried contacting her?”
“Yeah but she isn’t responding which is very unlike her. Avery, you don’t think that she’s been dragged to B-2 against her will do you?”
Avery shook her head even as she ruminated further on her brother’s question.
“I find it hard to believe that anyone could drag Ada anywhere against her will. Could Director Awaya have given her other mission objectives perhaps?”
Ashton shook his head. “Even so, Ada would have definitely let us know. Something’s off about this Avery,”
Avery agreed to Ashton’s claims.
“Let’s speak to Director Awaya and get to the bottom of things,”
Ashton and Avery practically marched to the Director’s office. The two were let into the office shortly after and the Director urged them to take their seats which they did. As usual, Director Awaya’s face and general demeanor gave nothing away.
“I know why you’re both here so I’ll cut right to the chase. Ada and her team are considered AWOL or quite possibly KIA,”
“Director! That’s not possible… Ada would never…” Avery begun before mumbling incoherently as she processed the Director’s verdict.
“We have received reports from Timeline B-2’s Protector’s Agency. The Royal Palace of Cosmotopia was raided by grotesqueries. We picked up signals from several of the Protectors from our DoD issued gear… Protector Adalyn’s was among them,”
The room was suddenly as silent as the grave as the two Alisons present processed the news that their beloved Ada had become a grotesquerie. They remained in the office for several minutes in absolute silence before exchanging a mere look and standing up almost robotically and shuffling out of the office. Without uttering a peep to each other, Ashton and Avery went their separate ways and Avery returned to the Boardroom, putting on a brave face.
“Avery, is everything okay?” Imani asked her worriedly.
Avery smiled to dismiss her concerns, but Imani knew better.
“Oh Goddess, please don’t tell me something happened to Skip and the others?”
The room went silent as all researchers present turned to face Avery with concerned looks. Avery was furious at their pity and she yelled at everyone that Skip and his team were fine and everyone should be get back to their research.
‘Something must have happened to Ada,’ Imani mentally noted before continuing on her research.
Avery struggled to maintain her composure as she dug deeper into her research refusing to take even bathroom breaks, desperate to find a way to restore all grotesqueries. She was terrified of the prospect of having no choice but to allow her niece to be vanquished for the sake of the greater good.
Avery was furious at whatever twisted design had allowed her niece to suffer such a terrible fate. Ada, who had constantly put her life on the line for the common good… Ada, the caring wife and mother; a beloved daughter to Avery’s doppelganger, essentially, Avery’s daughter in another life, lost to the Corruption. What a fathomlessly cruel world this was, Avery thought, but one way or another, she was determined to find a way to save Ada even if it killed her…
Avery spared no effort in her desperate search for a solution perpetually neglecting her own basic needs. She wound up succumbing to her accumulated sleep debt after pulling several all-nighters. Avery found herself in the Elysian Plain once more and the Light Elves offered hope for the first time in weeks. The light Elves explained that Avery’s nephew, Kairo, had thanks to the efforts of the Lord of Fire, unlocked a key soul memory from his first life. This memory was related to the Alchemical Magnum Opus known as the Great Work.
Civilizations that had achieved Mastery of Transmutation magic as had been the case with the magical society in Kairo’s first life, could then produce the crowning achievement of Alchemy- the Philosopher’s stone. The Philosopher’s stone was a legendary and yet elusive gem that facilitated the transformation of lead into gold. However, the Philosopher’s stone true genius was its anomalous ability to grant its users immortality. The powerful alchemical steps required transmutation of the base element of all existing matter, Prima Materia.
Such high-level transmutation almost certainly meant civilizations could unlock powerful restoration abilities, eventually even being able to resurrect the dead. Resurrection far surpassed Reincarnation in that the newly resurrected beings would have been entirely transfigured, becoming newly created beings. Avery ruminated on the new information she had received from the Light Elves and had an epiphany… One of the most advanced magical societies were the Druid people of Lemuria. The Druids had attained a Mastery of magic to a degree where they had gained the ability to cast resurrection spells.
It was this very knowledge that had ultimately led the Druids to challenge the god Dune whom they had chosen to worship. The resulting fight had led to the god’s demise, but he had taken the Druids out with him when he cursed the Druids, transmuting them into the Shtriga.
Avery realized that by summoning the Ancient Tome of Lemuria, she would gain enlightenment by reading through the Sagas of the Druids contained within. She woke up and excused herself from the room, grabbing the components required to summon the Ancient Tome on the way. Avery briefed Director Awaya on her intentions.
Director Awaya urged Avery to be cautious when summoning the Tome and wished her the best, hoping that the Ancient Tome would wield the answers they sought. She arranged a room for Avery but insisted Imani join her in case something unbecoming happened. Imani voiced her concerns to Avery but they did not deter the Curse Breaker from attempting to summon the Tome.
Avery’s last obstacle to summoning the Tome was the Divine Messenger Purity. Purity warned Avery against summoning the Ancient Tome at all, reminding the latter of the Tome’s dark compulsion effect that could consume its summoner and turn them into a mere puppet. Avery responded that she was willing to bear it all for Ada’s sake and then proceeded in following the steps her doppelganger had informed her about from her own previous experiences summoning the Tome. No sooner had Avery completed the summoning ritual than the Ancient Tome appeared right on her lap, almost as if it had not been summoned from another world.
Right off the bat, both Avery and Imani felt the Tome’s ominous and deeply oppressive aura. Imani was especially affected by the Tome, staying as far as she physically could be while still remaining in the room.
“Avery, I don’t think you should use that Tome… It’s vile,” Imani stated shaking her head vehemently.
“I know the risks, Imani but for the sake of the world, I must bear it all,”
Imani observed in abject horror as the Ancient Tome practically hummed and flipped its pages, as if telepathically reading Avery’s intentions, landing on the section on the Druids’ Sagas, a collection of their history and culture.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Shall Avery obtain the answers she seeks from the Ancient Tome of Lemuria? Stay tuned to find out. Links to previous parts are listed below:
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