Oyed finally conceded, if only to save his hide. The Endeavor made its way to Crelima City, the Queens having already given permission for Arsha and Oyed to enter the Crypt of Crelima the Mad once Arsha explained the situation. “Of all the insane acts you pulled when facing me,” growled Oyed as he and Arsha approached the landing ramp, “this is the worst.”
“Yeah, well, if it makes you feel comfortable,” replied Arsha, “you can call me a desperate woman.” The ship’s landing ramp lowered and the two stepped out. Soldiers and citizens lined a path from the ship to the Crypt as Arsha and Oyed walked to it. The Hanthuus, Queen Entralii the Succubus, Queen Yurmar the Naga, and Queen Lartin the human, stood at a large set of double doors, leading into a massive stone mound.
“I don’t think I need to tell you to be careful,” said Entralii.
“Mortal though he is,” replied Arsha, “my guide is still Oyed, so I’ll take all the wishes to be careful I can.” Entralii nodded. Lartin and Yurmar then opened the Crypt. Yurmar signed her wishes for Arsha to be careful.
“Yurmar’s right,” remarked Lartin. “He’s treacherous.”
“There IS something you can do,” said Arsha. She then whispered something to Lartin. Lartin grinned.
“Anything to get you out of that situation as fast as possible.”
“Whatever you whispered to my wife,” called Entralii, “I want in.” She then whispered something to Arsha, prompting her to grin.
“Be ready when we come out,” chuckled the Princess.
“Can we go now?!” grunted Oyed. Lartin and Yurmar then opened the doors. Oyed looked at Arsha. “…Well?!”
“After you,” said Arsha. Oyed rolled his eyes as he went in first with Arsha following behind.
“There are five traps along the way. The first starts with a set of swinging bladed pendulums. The disarming button’s on the other side of the pendulums. There IS a way to go through with them, but it requires rolling under them.”
“When can we expect them?”
“Just ahead.” A massive axe then swung in front of them, swinging on a pendulum. More axes followed in the same manner. Arsha stood a few steps back from the first axe.
“So, smart guy?” asked Arsha. Oyed rolled his eyes, then took a few steps back. He then ran forward and rolled under the axes. He ended up on the other side and slammed his hand on a brick. The assemblies swinging the axes then fell apart, dropping the axes with a loud clang. When everything stopped moving, Arsha made her way through the axes, making sure she didn’t hurt herself. “What’s the next trap?” she asked.
“Shooting spears,” answered Oyed. “In the walkway between the walls hiding the spears, there’s a path with certain symbols on it. Only the son’s name will carry you to safety.”
“…You mean the big yellow ball in the sky or the male offspring?”
“The latter.”
“…Dragulnak.”
“Exactly. The one person he cared about, the one person he actually treated well and encouraged to treat others well. The one who cured the Vampires of their solar weakness. King Dragulnak the Sane.”
“So, we step on the symbols that make up Dragulnak’s name and the spears stay within the walls?”
“Bingo. However, the tiles DO move.” Arsha rolled her eyes.
“I had a feeling there was a catch.” They arrived at the moving tile floor and saw the symbols. “…So there IS a pattern,” chuckled Arsha.
“I never really learned the pattern,” muttered Oyed.
“More like you’re too impatient to find one.” Arsha then bent her knees as if she was ready to pounce, her tails twitched, then she sprang onto the first tile, then the second, then the third and on and on until she safely reached the other side. She then pressed on a brick extending outwards and the spears shot out while the tiles aligned themselves into Dragulnak’s name. Oyed simply strolled down the path.
“Well done,” he remarked. “It will be some time before we reach the third trap, so I need to ask you, as a representative of life itself, why oppose me? Why do you fear conflict?”
“Because there needs to be a world without it!”
“You sound way too much like Dr. Borg.” Arsha bristled at the insult. “You two don’t realize that the Final War will help you fully understand evolution!”
“Pardon me?!”
“Yes, the Final War is me doing you a favor! Dr. Borg stands for order above anything else. No passion, no dreams (and that’s rather ironic, given that one of her spouses is a Succubus), just discipline. Obedience. She’s frozen in place, an evolutionary dead end, just like you’re in danger of being! Why side with the old? Embrace the new! Growth through pain, struggle, conflict, and war! You, of all people, should understand this!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you! The daughter of a Kitsune proud of her heritage! The Kitsunes came out of the War of the Depths stronger! Better! …How much better? How much stronger are they, fighting THIS war? When it DOES end, and all life reaches their pinnacle, the new Realm will rise from the ashes of the old one with strength and power beyond your imagination!”
“I see what your endgame is,” said Arsha. “Let me pose this question to you, what happens when the supposed new Realm changes?”
“Then their Final War will begin. It will take time, perhaps trillions upon trillions of years, for them to prepare, but they will fight and serve evolution just as other iterations did.”
“…Other iterations? You mean the Realms aren’t the first?!”
“I’ve been creating Realms and all the life-forms within them before the Divine Ones were born. These Realms were the result of my children’s carelessness. They thought that they needed to stay aloof, let life take its course. When they heard that I would destroy their Realms, they locked me away! They tried to stop my ambitions!”
“Because they knew that life was precious, and you were toying with both life and death!”
“That is the cycle! That is the force of history itself! You can’t win against that, no one can! …I couldn’t, but I tried when I first came into being. Over time, I embraced it! Helped it along by creating conflict! The weak perish, the strong get stronger! Evolution must be served! There’s no other way!”
“Evolution doesn’t NEED a servant!” snapped Arsha. Oyed turned to her and stared. “…Now I get your vendetta against Dr. Borg! In fact, I finally understand why you two fought against the Divine Ones! It’s why you haven’t killed each other! You want the Divine Ones dead so the Final War can turn into order versus chaos! It’s about ideology!”
“Of course. As you said, it’s order vs. chaos. Choose one.”
“Yeah, choose, but only from the choices YOU give us! Don’t you see that this is wrong?!” Oyed scoffed. “When the Realms before us were gone, you stayed behind, posing as a guardian, a shepherd for the mortal races before ours! You’ve lost your way! This isn’t about teaching us or helping us! This is about you being right! …But what if we reject the idea that we must decide which of you is right? What if we simply walk away from the ridiculous concept of order and chaos being separate?” Oyed grabbed Arsha by the neck and slammed her against the wall.
“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” he roared.
“The…Final War…won’t end?” gagged Arsha.
“Correct!”
“Then…there is…no hope?”
“There is only chaos and evolution! You will fight because I tell you to fight!”
“You’re…forgetting…something…here!” One of Arsha’s tails pointed in the direction of the exit. “Your…cure is…out there and…they’re…monitoring my…life-signs and…the comms are…open!” Oyed then remembered that he still had poison in his veins and recalled the deal he had to accept.
“You let them listen!” he growled. “You let them know!” He then dropped Arsha. She coughed as she tried to get air into her lungs. When she recovered, she picked herself up.
“That’s now TWO weapons against Dr. Borg, one against her ideology and one against her potential godhood. Speaking of the god slayer weapon, shall we?” Oyed snarled, then they resumed their journey.