Chapter 69: Revelations

  [Item Acquired: Time Plane Memory #4 – Added to Inventory #2]

  [Quest Updated: Memories From the Past]

  [Collect the 5 Time Plane Memory Fragments]

  [Current Status: 4 / 5]

  [Reward: 75,000 XP]

  I ripped my hand away from Gaelith’s.

  “You’re Noctyra!” I said, almost as an accusation. “You weren’t chosen by Erebus by chance. It was always by design. You’re an Axul!”

  Gaelith looked at me with shocked eyes, at a loss for words.

  “What’s the big deal, Spellsword?” Goren called from behind, unimpressed. "He's Kelltins' great-great-great-great grandfather or something."

  “You knew?” I raised an eyebrow at his casual reaction.

  “Kelltins told me he figured it out during your fight.” Goren nodded. “It’s not a big deal, though, is it? He was on our side before.”

  “I know he was.” I shook my head, my voice rising. “But why didn’t you say anything about him sooner?”

  Goren shrugged, a confused look on his face. “You didn’t ask.”

  I sighed. No point in getting mad at him…Déjà vu told me he was always this aloof.

  “True. I am the one they call Noctyra.” Gaelith suddenly spoke. “But it doesn’t change anything. I never agreed to be him. And I never will.”

  This seemed to be the truth. Both memory fragments were enough to convince me – the real Noctyra – Gaelith – opposed the Axul’s views for him from the start.

  “Tell me what happened after High Priestess Lysandra visited you in your cell.”

  “So, you know...” Gaelith sighed before nodding solemnly. “I was set to be executed by beheading – standard punishment for those accused with treason. But at the last possible moment, they changed the method to poison – likely because Lysandra couldn’t afford the Destroyer’s vessel be harmed.”

  “Poison?” I echoed, but something else was bothering me far more. “She was right – why didn’t you escape? Especially when you learned Lysandra was behind everything. You let them execute you and send you to the tomb. Why?”

  “Because I was done running from her.” Gaelith responded, his voice firm. “It was time I faced my demons and cleansed the world of them and the Axul. The poison – I accepted it because I knew it couldn’t kill me.”

  “How so?” Goren interjected, his eyebrow rising. “Even in my line of work, not many Rogues have poison resistances.”

  “I don’t know. That’s how I am. How I always was.” Gaelith shrugged. “Unbeknownst to everyone – even Lysandra – my body has a natural resistance to all poisons known to mankind. I have resistance to all other possible conditions too. More than that, my body stopped aging after I reached thirty. That’s why I still look like this. That’s why I’m still alive a thousand years later.”

  “But how is that possible?” I asked, incredulous.

  “That, I do not know. Even among the Axul, eternal life is not something that was believed to be a possibility.” Gaelith admitted, shaking his head. “I assume Spurius Axul – my biological father, may he rot in hell – was far stronger and more special than anyone - even the Axul - believed. He was the only Axul to live for more than a hundred of years. Besides me."

  “He raped your mother…so you could become Erebus' vessel...” I whispered, my heart twisting at the memory of the child Noctyra.

  Gaelith nodded, closing his eyes, maybe trying to forget it all. “He did. Mother told me everything once Lysandra began showing up in our house constantly, trying to take me away. I learned later that everyone believed him to be dead for decades. Yet, he showed up out of nowhere and raped her – as an old man, no less - all to create me. Then, he disappeared again.”

  I nodded at his words, still struggling to understand how he was alive after so many years.

  Goren, seemingly unbothered by the revelation that Gaelith was basically immortal, switched the subject back.

  “So, they brought you into the tomb assuming you were dead, hoping to descend Erebus into your body. But then you were like ‘Surprise, surprise, I’m not actually dead. No Erebus for you, fellas.’?”

  Gaelith nodded. “It wasn’t that simple, but yes. The poison was potent. Far stronger than I had anticipated – enough to knock me out for a few days, though not enough to kill me. Meanwhile, they brought my body here.

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  “When I woke up, the ritual was already underway. But something was wrong… the temple was seemingly under attack. I used the commotion to ensure the ritual failed by killing Lysandra at the first opportunity I got.”

  “But she remained alive as an Undead.” Goren noted, and Déjà vu tingled in my mind, confirming his words. “The Ice Queen…”

  Gaelith nodded again. “She must have prepared for failure. Ensured her magic would resurrect her as an Undead so she could continue serving Erebus, even in death. I’ve stumbled upon her a few times in the last thousand years – and killed her over and over – but she seems to return every time.”

  I swallowed hard. How strong was she to resurrect so many times?

  “The commotion – what was that all about?” I asked, trying to learn more.

  Gaelith shook his head, his gaze dropping to the ground. “I can’t say for sure, but I assume it was caused by my brother.”

  “Your brother?” Goren raised an eyebrow. chuckling. “Is there a third Noctyra we don’t know about?”

  “No. Of course not.” Gaelith replied firmly. “We weren’t bound by blood, but General Karl Kaelstrife was my brother.”

  Everything clicked. It seemed like the General hadn’t forgotten his best friend – his brother – after all.

  “Did he know you were an Axul?” I asked, recalling something Gaelith had told him in that memory fragment – he mentioned his bloodline and upbringing, and how the General helped him become a better person despite it.

  Gaelith nodded. “He did. He was the only one who knew who I really was. That’s why he came here, I believe. I never had a chance to speak with him after he left for his final campaign – right before I was imprisoned – but I believe he refused to let me be buried on Axul territory, even though the Axul were already considered vanished by that point. When I saw him here for the first time, he was already an Undead."

  “And Gaelith’s Darkness?” Goren asked, leaving me confused.

  Déjà vu rang in my mind, but it wasn’t enough to piece things together. Seeing my confusion, Goren and Gaelith filled me in on what I was missing.

  “Was he the creature from the cell?” I asked, the pieces connecting in my head.

  Gaelith let out a deep sigh. “He was. I created him unwillingly when I was at my lowest – when I believed I’d been betrayed by everyone. He was no bigger than my boot at first, yet now he’s far stronger than any of us. We should stay away from him as much as possible.”

  “If he’s Erebus’ vessel, why isn’t the world already ending? Why does he need you?” Goren asked, scratching his head.

  “Because I’m his true vessel. Always was. Nothing changed.” Gaelith replied, shaking his head slowly. “My other self on its own is not a vessel – he’s a temporary host. It wasn't at first, and it wasn't in the past thousand years - it was just an eye - a window for the Destroyer to gaze into our world and look for me. It became his host when you arrived - or maybe you arrived because it became its host. Either way, he searches for me, trying to become whole. Once he does – and previous loops from this time loop have shown me this to be true – Erebus will descend and use both of us as his vessel.”

  “So, we need to keep you protected from your Other Self no matter the cost…” Goren muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  “How does Kelltins connect to all of this?” I asked, still confused by it all. “You two even share the same name.”

  “I assure you, the only Noctyra – Dark Hope – was always me.” Gaelith said, sighing immediately. “I believed that all the Axul had died here, but it seems that at least one got away...I never had the opportunity to speak with the one you call Kelltins – since he tried to kill us no matter how much I tried to stop him – so I can’t tell what lies and poison were fed into his mind.” Gaelith shook his head. “They might have made him believe he was me. That after I had failed to bring them what they wanted, another Noctyra needed to be chosen. So that’s why they named him after me.”

  “How did they know it would be a thousand years from your time, though?”

  Gaelith shrugged. “I don’t know. I assume Lysandra passed knowledge to some of the Axul – her greatest dogs. Maybe Kelltins’ surviving ancestor was one of them, and that’s why he ended up knowing so much."

  His words confirmed what Goren told me, so I nodded, accepting them.

  “How have you fared since we last met?” I asked, worried. “Without the sword…”

  “Not well.” Gaelith admitted, shaking his head. “The sword wasn’t my original weapon – it was my creation as well. I wanted something that could both hide me from my Other Self and serve as a weapon. That’s how I created it – with the power of my mind. But without it, he was able to find me easily. I resisted as much as I could, but eventually, I was always overwhelmed. Luckily, those loops ended before the world could collapse.”

  I summoned the Sword of Radiance from my inventory and held it toward Gaelith.

  “Thank you for letting me have it. I’m sure it protected me immensely all this time. That said, I can’t even wield it, so I’d rather it be in your possession.”

  Gaelith hesitated. “I want you to keep it. If it protects you, then our chances of success grow.”

  “Maybe.” I said. “But we’re already reaching the end.”

  “An end?” Goren echoed, surprised and confused.

  I suddenly recalled that he didn’t know that the Déjà vu System was responsible for the maximum number of runs we could have. I quickly filled him in on how much time we had left.

  “Fucking Dolos…” He muttered, rubbing the back of his head with both hands, in complete disbelief. “And you waited until now to tell me?!”

  I nodded and decided to answer in the same way he had before. “You didn’t ask.”

  “So, it’s ending?” Galeith asked, reaching for the sword.

  “It is.” I nodded. “For better or worse, we only have a few more runs left.”

  Gaelith gripped the sword handle and took it from my possession. “What now?”

  “Now, we end it.” I said with resolve. “We end it on this run.”

  Gaelith’s expression hardened with determination. “Tell me how, and I’ll assist you.”

  “Damn it, Spellsword.” Goren sighed, his usual playful demeanor gone. “Seems like you have a plan?”

  I nodded. “Based on everything I know, and what you both told me, the key to the Darknessbound Core prison is likely in Lysandra’s possession. If we slay her, we can get it and imprison Erebus.”

  Goren nodded. “We can look for her in the Claw Room.”

  I raised an eyebrow, and he explained what had happened in our last run together.

  Gaelith nodded. “It’s time I kill her one more time.”

  With our goal clear and everyone on the same page, we headed toward the twelfth floor.

  ***

  We reached the so-called Claw Room, and Goren demonstrated why he had called it that.

  “It’s Axul Might.” Gaelith said. “An ability used by the Axul.”

  “Ice Queen is there. On the other side of the portal.” Goren said, then shook his head. “Or whatever you call that bitch? Lysandra?”

  Gaelith nodded. “Understood.”

  He stepped forward, and suddenly, the giant claw broke through the wall, snapping at him.

  Gaelith raised his sword above his head, and it glowed. In an instant, the claw dispersed into mist – yet the wall remained broken.

  "How did you do that?" I asked, in awe.

  "I can cancel all Axul magic." he replied, stepping forward. "Follow."

  He stepped inside the hole in the wall and pointed toward an unmistakable portal ahead of us.

  “I can sense her there.” Gaelith whispered, confirming Goren’s suspicions, immediately stepping inside.

  We knew we had to follow him.

  I created a Checkpoint.

  [Checkpoint #1 Set: Your progress has been saved at this point in time]

  And we stepped inside.