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 Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:49 pm
Reims wasn’t sure what to think. His face was warm, his heart felt light and fluttery, but he also felt as though his brain had completely frozen up and he didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t know what to make of Yvoire kissing him.
His cheek! It wasn’t like it was anything that really meant anything. It was like what those Europeans did, right? They kissed people on their cheeks all the time.
And he was pretty sure Evan would kiss his forehead or the top of his head if he had the chance, but that was because he had a super motherly vibe to him and was always trying to fuss over him. Not that Reims minded, but he felt bad about Evan having to spend time worrying about him. And not that Reims understood what a ’motherly vibe’ was actually like, but if it was anything he would guess it was something like that.
They were cautious as they crossed the broken bridge. Reims pointed out that he was pretty sure some of the pieces that had been ruined before were now no longer ruined. It seemed easier to jump across this time. But maybe that was because he was distracted.
Approaching the Cathedral was always impressive. Always kind of imposing. It was beautiful, of course. The architecture was intricate and carefully crafted, even if it was falling apart now. There were dozens upon dozens of stained glass windows, and just as many statues of various people and poses all worn away by the weather.
He knew the Wonder itself wasn’t just the Cathedral, but it was certainly the largest part. There were sprawling gardens and a cemetery close by. Behind the main building was another large building that he’d discovered was kind of like a dormitory. Maybe people lived there, or maybe there was more to it than just a… church of Ganymede or whatever they worshiped. But he was pretty sure that maybe there were classrooms too. A boarding school, perhaps? He had no idea because he hadn’t had any memories about the place.
“Okay, so you wanna put bets down on where we’ll find this thing? Creepy catacombs, or creepy hidden rooms?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:51 pm
“Since we found your ring in a creepy hidden room I feel like that’s probably the more likely bet, but I’ll say creepy catacombs anyway just for some variety,” Yvoire said.
The Cathedral was gorgeous—how its towers rose into the clear sky; how its many windows, though shattered and worn, still glimmered in the sun. The sunlight (Artificial? Magic? Yvoire didn’t think Ganymede even knew how it worked) had diminished further as they’d made their way across the bridge. The very first stars were starting to twinkle through. As the blue of the sky grew darker, it bled through with strokes of red and purple. The Cathedral set against the backdrop of a Ganymedean sunset with the wide, stormy face of Jupiter rising over its towers was like a work of art.
Yvoire kept a hold on Reims’ hand—the uninjured one, now that he knew about the cut on Reims’ palm. They helped one another over rubble, but he thought Reims was right. There had been some improvement. Maybe there would have been more if the Code hadn’t been in distress recently.
“Did you ever find a crypt?” Yvoire asked. “Or maybe there’s a… what’s it called? A reliquary? Do you think they kept creepy things on display, like the skull of Mary Magdalene or something?”
They hadn’t managed to do enough exploring to sate his curiosity. First because they didn’t have the energy to visit often enough, then because they had two Wonders between them they were trying to clean up when they had the opportunity to do so. Most of their explorations had come in the form of cataloging needed repairs or what observations they could make of their surroundings while cleaning.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:52 pm
“Is that what they’re called?” he grimaced, figuring he was really showing how much he didn’t know about any of this. He didn’t know the terms for anything, but he was doing his best to keep up.
“No, but I wasn’t really looking,” he admitted, wincing a little. “I was cleaning up everything on the ground level. There’s a lot! And there’s a really pretty organ that still sounds nice. I think. But it looks like it’s super dusty so I’ve been using some compressed air to clean it up some. I hope I’m not just making it worse.”
He really just wanted to make everything look nice for when he brought people to visit. He knew he had a lot of work to do, and a lot of exploring to do, but that was just something he’d have to take one step at a time.
Oh… unless he decided to take the option offered to him by Zinkenite.
“Here, let me get the door,” he said as he gave Yvoire’s hand a squeeze and stepped closer to open the large main doors into the Cathedral. Inside, even though it was getting darker, the colored windows seemed to reflect off the decorative gold and mirrors set up around the large building, making it look bright inside even without the use of additional sources of light.
Just in case, Reims pulled out a small, but powerful flashlight that could be converted into a lantern.
“I brought some snacks if you’re hungry. We’ve been doing this for a while. Uh… I mean nothing fancy. Some poptarts. A couple granola bars and some water.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:52 pm
“I could eat a poptart,” Yvoire said.
He always forgot to pack snacks. Or he had them in his backpack or his dance bag but didn’t get them out before transforming, so they were rarely in subspace. He would rather explore than eat, even if he was a little hungry. Something simple to carry would hold him over until they got back to Earth.
“Thank you,” Yvoire said with another shy smile. “For coming with me. And for letting me come with you. And for looking out for me. I was really worried when we started having problems, but with you and the others around I didn’t have the chance to feel afraid.”
Just jealous, occasionally, with Rose tagging along. Yvoire still wanted to know who she was to Reims, but he knew now wasn’t the time to ask him about it. They had another Code piece to find.
Inside the Cathedral was just as beautiful, even if a little sad—and somehow even more haunting than the castle of Yvoire, though maybe that was because he associated Cathedrals with religion and religion with unpleasant things. Yvoire looked around, keeping an eye out for the organ. He wished they had time to search everywhere, but the sooner they found the Code piece, the sooner things would settle. Reims would know where it was instinctively. He simply had to focus, like Yvoire had.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:53 pm
A poptart was procured and handed to Yvoire. Reims took a granola bar for himself to chew on, but he didn’t want to waste too much time. He worried that they wouldn’t get very far and Yvoire would have to go home.
He wasn’t expecting to be thanked, though. He stared at Yvoire for a moment, feeling his ears darken again as he remembered the not too long ago kiss. On his cheek. But that was okay! That was… yeah, that was normal. Oh, right, he was supposed to be focusing on other things.
“Oh, yeah, I mean. I like having you around. You were pretty quiet and standoffish when we all first met at that bank, but I’m glad you’ve opened up some. It’s been nice getting to talk to you. And the others.”
His stomach twisted guiltily. He knew he was keeping secrets from Yvoire, both about himself and the plans he intended to follow through with. Maybe. He didn’t want to upset Dering, and he was looking for other solutions but… it seemed so easy to protect them all that way.
“Thanks for coming with me, too. Think if I close my eyes like you did, we’ll be able to find wherever this thing is hidden?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:53 pm
Yvoire’s smile never grew too wide, but it was warm and genuine. He gave Reims’ hand another squeeze, then tugged on it a bit to swing their arms back and forth. He liked being with the others, too, but it was easier to open up one on one. There were less voices to coordinate, less opinions to juggle, less feelings to keep in mind.
“Focus on the feeling you get when you power up,” Yvoire suggested. “And then just sort of hold onto it and let it lead you.”
He nibbled at the poptart, glancing around as he did so to see what he could find. Somehow the dimming light enhanced the colors of the windows, made them darker, but richer, too. Yvoire hoped this place would heal more soon so they could see what it looked like with the windows intact, whether they depicted anything like in churches on Earth.
The air had been steadily cooling as the seasons changed, but it hadn’t yet grown too uncomfortable. Maybe it was the magic of their transformations. Yvoire hadn’t exactly been freezing during winter on Earth, despite how ill suited his outfit was for snow and ice. Every once in a while Yvoire caught a whiff of something sweet—like incense hanging in the air. He knew there couldn’t be any burning anywhere so assumed it was another memory. Could he see memories of this place? Surely Ellis had come here.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:54 pm
Reims couldn’t help but laugh softly when Yvoire swung their arms together. It was cute, and not something he could remember doing with anyone else.
“That easy, huh? Okay, I’ll try. Don’t let me run into anything,” he teased. He took another bite of his snack and then closed his eyes.
He could focus, this was fine. Even if he couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. Even if it was just his cheek. And Yvoire was a boy.
“I think we should check out that backroom again,” he said after a few moments and opened his eyes again. “I feel a pull that way,” he admitted and started leading the way over. He felt a little bad that it didn’t seem like it would be some kind of creepy crypt.
Maybe he wanted an excuse to keep an arm around Yvoire to keep him safe when he was creeped out. Oh, that was probably weird though.
He walked past the rows of pews, looking around as he did so. “You know, I was expecting there to be more… damage,” he admitted. He wasn’t upset about it! He just thought there would be more.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:54 pm
Yvoire winced when he recalled the last time they’d been in the back room. He may have voted for creepy catacombs, but he’d really been hoping for somewhere death didn’t hang quite so heavily. The skeleton in the back room kind of ruined the space. It had worn Reims’ ring. Chances that it was the previous Reims seemed high—not guaranteed, but the likelihood certainly wasn’t minimal.
Still, Yvoire followed. Reims had come with him to the castle, so he would go wherever Reims needed. He simply wouldn’t look at the skeleton, and if he happened to inch a bit closer on their way to the room, he hoped their efforts to avoid some rubble served as reason enough.
“Maybe because we’re so used to seeing it like this,” Yvoire said. “You know, broken and decaying. There could be damage we haven’t noticed because it doesn’t stand out much against the damage that was already done here. I bet if we’d had as much time as Ganymede’s had to fix things up, we’d notice more of a difference.”
Yvoire glanced around anyway, keeping an eye out for anything blatant. The pews were in decent shape now. He could tell Reims had cleaned up here. But signs of destruction remained. He could only wonder how much of it had been there since their first visit, and how much of it was due to what had been happening with the Code. They hadn’t been able to come up recently, after all. Had things gotten worse during their forced absence?
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:55 pm
Reims couldn’t help but notice the wince from Yvoire, but he cast him a small smile of reassurance. He knew he was probably creeped out by the skeleton, but that was okay!
Well, it wasn’t okay, but he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing it. Because as soon as he’d had the chance, he’d shoved the whole thing into a nearby closet.
Putting skeletons in a closet wasn't really the poetic irony he was going for, but it had worked. He’d just had to sweep up a few of the pieces that broke apart, all while muttering apologies for what he was pretty sure constituted as desecrating a corpse. He’d placed the skull on top of the pile at least! He just knew to never open those doors again. Not until he was ready to figure out what to do with a bunch of bones.
The rest of the office had been cleaned of spiderwebs and anything gross. He had the flashlight on already, but tucked it under his arm so he could convert it into a lantern and held it up for them to see better.
He tried not to look at Yvoire, clearly pleased with himself for having cleaned up the mess that was there, and led the way to the also cleaned secret room.
By cleaned, he’d just dusted and swept everything. He didn’t have the knowledge to organize anything yet. Maybe one day.
“This place again. Maybe my sense for magic is broken,” he sighed and looked around, holding up his lantern. “Do you think I should start smearing blood everywhere? I’m kidding,” he quickly added, hoping Yvoire didn’t take offense to the joke.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:55 pm
Yvoire didn’t take offense, but he was too distracted glancing around to note how clean everything was to laugh about it either. The second they’d entered the office, he’d noticed the difference. Despite his hesitation, his gaze had instinctively gone to the spot the skeleton had previously occupied, only to find it gone. Yvoire relaxed a bit after that, able to look around with less concern for spying something disturbing.
“Maybe there’s another secret door somewhere,” he suggested. “If this is where you felt it, then… either the Code piece is in here, or… there’s another room we have to get to.”
Yvoire kept an eye out for a piece of the Code, but didn’t immediately see it. Even if the pieces at their Wonders were smaller than the one on the moon, Yvoire doubted it’d be so easy to miss, not when Reims would have a closer connection to this one.
“Try to sense it again,” Yvoire said. “Close your eyes. I can hold the lantern.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:56 pm
Reims practically saw some tension release from Yvoire, and he relaxed a little as well. Good. It had been a good idea to get rid of the skeleton. Sorry, whoever that dude was.
“Okay, thanks,” he agreed, holding out the lantern so Yvoire could take it and Reims closed his eyes again.
He tried sensing something. Anything. Slowly, he was drawn to the back of the room, but when he opened his eyes in front of another bookcase he snorted.
“Really? Is there going to be a double secret room?” he rolled his eyes, but he supposed what better place to hide a secret room than inside a secret room?
He pulled some of the books off the shelves, but when nothing happened he glanced around a little more. He found an etching that matched the image on his signet ring, so, shrugging, he pressed it to the wood and--
“Seriously??” he gasped as a second door came loose. He pulled on the shelving until it opened all the way to reveal a thin set of stairs, all stone and obviously old. At the bottom he could see a faint glow.
“Jeez, be careful going down these. It’s like two full stories down,” he grimaced, taking the lead so he could catch Yvoire in case he fell.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:57 pm
Yvoire held the lantern to try and get a better look down the stairs before they descended, but other than the stairs themselves and the faint glow below, there wasn’t much to see yet.
“It’s so narrow,” he said, following behind Reims, making sure he had a secure footing on each step before going to the next one. Fortunately neither of them were particularly large or uncommonly broad, otherwise it’d be a tighter squeeze. Yvoire wasn’t claustrophobic, but he could definitely imagine how someone might be. It felt a bit like the walls were closing in on them. “Stairs like this are probably for security, right? Easier to fend a bunch of people off from below when they have to take them one at a time.”
Which meant there was a pretty good chance they were on the right track. Not that Yvoire had any doubt. If this was where Reims had sensed the Code piece, then this was where they needed to go.
It was creepy, though. Yvoire held the lantern aloft, casting some of the light over the walls, which were a bit chipped in spots and bore a few stains here and there.
“It feels—… I don’t know…” he said when they were nearing the bottom. His heart sped up, his stomach twisting with nerves he didn’t entirely understand.
This was a safe place. No one could get here but Reims, and whoever Reims brought with him. They were alone. The Code piece might be up ahead, but the Code was a friendly force as far as Yvoire had known it.
Yet, the closer he came, the more he felt he shouldn’t be there, that something awful would happen… or had happened… a long, long time ago.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:57 pm
“Easier to hide between building walls, too,” Reims grimaced in response to Yvoire’s guess. It likely was also for security, of course. But how could there be a hidden staircase if there was too much questionable space between things?
Again, Reims spoke in response to Yvoire, this time finishing his sentence.
“It feels like death…”
He didn’t know why he said it. He didn’t know what death felt like. But his voice was low and everything felt heavy. Why would the Code be down here…?
The closer they got to the bottom, the more dread he felt.
And then, at the bottom where the wall blocked them from going any further forward, they turned to see something Reims had only ever seen in… maybe a video game.
Somehow, under the Cathedral, trees grew. They were black and gnarled but upon closer inspection did have leaves. They were also just dark, glossy wine red. They littered the ground leaving a path further into what must have been a cavern. Reims didn’t know the right term for it. Unnatural, maybe.
The light seemed to come from small pink mushrooms that were growing along the base of the trees, and up the trunks. There were small, black berries in the trees as well that gave off a strange purple glow.
Here, most of the destruction must have happened. The ground looked like there was a fissure that broke the surface, leaving a large gash through the glistening red path. Further up ahead, a large stone slab was laid, and in what must have been a bird cage was a weakly rotating glowing orb.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:57 pm
It would have been pretty, maybe, if what Reims said hadn’t been true.
It feels like death...
The air was thick with it, so heavy Yvoire could hardly breathe through it. He wondered if that was normal for this place, if Reims felt it too, or if Yvoire was just pathetic, getting creeped out by things that couldn’t harm him now.
Now. For some reason, that felt like the important part.
His heart had not slowed. His lungs felt stuck in a vice, squeezed tight, unable to pull in much air. He swallowed a lump in his throat, but all it did was sink low—an uncomfortable pit in his stomach. He wanted to look at the trees, at the mushrooms, maybe marvel at how it all existed, but his eyes strayed immediately to the stone slab.
Yvoire was dimly aware of the orb in the cage, which must be the Code piece. He could see it out of the corner of his eye, but felt no relief at its presence. The stone slab kept him enthralled. Suddenly Yvoire felt the rapid beat of his pulse in his wrists, heard it rushing through his ears. He thought he might be sick. The scent of decay was heavy down here—sharp, earthy, almost metallic, too.
“What—...” He heard himself say. To his own ear, his voice sounded distant, muffled. “... What do you think that is?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:58 pm
Reims could feel his heart trying to escape his chest, it was beating so heavily. He felt sick, and he didn’t like how heavy and oppressing it felt down there.
“No idea,” he lied as he stepped closer to the slab where the Code had been contained in its little cage. If it didn’t look so purposeful, Reims might have thought someone left it there with the intention of it only being there temporarily.
Like it was going to be moved again once everything settled down.
Wait… when what settled down?
Reims hissed and put a hand against his head to stop the sudden throb of pain. Maybe it was the smell. Maybe it was something else settling around him.
He didn’t have to know what the stone slab was to have a pretty good idea. The leaves on the ground were glossy and looked almost like liquid as he walked across them, careful about the open fractures in the ground. He didn’t know how far they went down, or how it messed up the foundation of the Wonder.
“Careful,” he warned Yvoire as he took a big step over one of the cracks. He didn’t want to jump. Not when the branches were low and seemed like they were trying to grab at them.
“I’m just gonna grab it and we can go back up,” he decided, not wanting to stay there any longer than he had to. As he approached the stone slab he decided he was going to ignore the color that seemed to stain the stone, or the size of the stone, and instead reached for the bird ********-- damnit,” he yelped in pain as some invisible barrier stopped him from grabbing the cage. “I’m really tired of being stopped from touching things,” he hissed and shook out his hand.
He felt as though he already knew he had to stay there and figure things out before he could take it.
“You don’t have to stay here,” he told Yvoire, already feeling bad about dragging him there. “Wish I had a nice garden instead of this...”
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