The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Raiding

Beneath the Altar was a trapdoor. It was well hidden—or would have been for someone without my eyes, Elementals, and the fact that I'd literally built this place and knew every nook and cranny within it—being more of a fake block of stone than anything, but on the other side there were latches and supports to keep it in place. With a thought, I made them shift and the block lifted into the air, raised by my and Ereb's will. Setting that aside as well, what was left was a doorway into the temple's hidden interior.

Without a moment's hesitation, I stepped forward and dropped onto the staircase within, fire pooling in my open hand as I went to give light for Raven when she dropped down a moment later. Every few steps, I let the flames slip from my hands and hang suspended in the air, like woodless torches illuminating our path.

The staircase spiraled down—further down then the Pyramid was high and every bit of it was…well, it had obviously been done by the same hand that had crafted the exterior. The walls were covered in delicate tracery, showing images of battles and heroes with enough detail that I felt certain that the scenes were of either mythical or historical figures. I didn't recognize any, but the ones given the most importance all looked unique enough that they probably would have meant something to…whoever was intended to come here. Each side of the pyramid had a different art style with its own figures, the forgotten legends of forgotten nations. The staircase spiraled down the center with tight circles, leaving plenty of room on each side even as it forced you to see the whole of it. When we reached the base of the pyramid, I had to use my power to open another hidden doorway and we continued our downward trek into the earth.

We walked down perhaps three hundred meters further, until the inside of the pyramid gave way to a massive room—and I mean massive, with each dimension being over a hundred meters in length. There was a throne at one end that could have seated a giant and the length of the hall leading up to it was marked by adorned columns. The ceiling was painted in a beautiful imitation of the stars and the walls decorated in much the same way that everything in this place seemed to be. Instead of the glory of heroes, however, it seemed to tell the story of a god of some kind, appearing in many forms across the earth. At one end, opposite the throne, was a carving of some kind of egg or jewel, and spiraling outwards from it were scenes of its birth, of a god descending on a war-torn earth to combat the darkness, and legends and tales I had no context for.

Beside the statue, however, there was an image that caught my eye, even though I'd sensed it long beforehand. It showed a figure of light, features apparently hidden by his own radiance, but with wings outstretched and a sword in hand. Lesser warriors stood beside him, hundreds of different shapes and just as many weapons, united against a monster with countless eyes and mouths and three dozen wings. In the next image, the monster laid dead, but the other figure was simply…gone. The back of the throne was carved like a tablet, covered in giant words I couldn't read, a message of some kind that was lost on me.

Even so, I couldn't help but not that the monster in that image looked a lot like how Bianca had described my soul. And if so, then the other figure would be…the father of the Grimm? Someone else? Something that had been completely fabricated, like the rest of this temple?

At the moment, I had no way of knowing, so I turned my attention to the floor of the room. It was oddly carved, with most of it set deep into the ground, with an elevated walkway that led from the foot of the stairs to an empty circular platform in the center.

"What is this place?" Raven asked behind me, voice low.

"It's where the Rider lived," I answered back, having already drawn a tight shield of air around us, just in case. "See how the floor is deep there? I think this used to contain a pool of sorts."

"Of sorts?" Raven asked, tilting her head for a moment before lifting it slightly in understanding. "I'm guessing it wasn't water."

I shook my head.

"There are quite a few blood stains," I said. "And other things, besides, though I don't think any of it was what truly filled the pools. I can see what I think are signs of the same chemical that's in Ruby's blood—enough that it left marks all over the bottom and walls. I figure they'd probably seemed like blood, but…."

"Should we be here, then?" Raven asked, drawing her power in to make a portal, if she needed to escape. In response, I simply lifted a hand and knocked on the air in front of me like it was a door.

"I'm shielding us," I told her as she reached out to press a hand against the space near her. "Even if I wasn't though, there's nothing here. The Red Rider's gone, whether because he left or because he died and vanished like all Grimm do; he just left markings behind when he left. Still, I don't recommend touching anything."

"I didn't intend to," She answered distractedly, pondering the empty pools. "If the Red Rider was here, was this where the Hunters were made, too?"

I shrugged lightly.

"Perhaps," I said. "Though not necessarily. This seems like a place used for important occasions more than anything—look at the images and the throne. I think this was where people met their 'god,' while the altar was for rituals and sacrifices. Why they'd need this place, too…I'm not certain, but it seems fairly safe to assume that whatever blood sacrifices they carried out above, they probably weren't actually necessary for the Rider to infect others. Instead, once he received whatever he considered to be a satisfactory amount of sacrifices, he most likely infected them through some other means, which probably involved the pools here in some fashion. As the Red Rider seems to be chemical in nature, however, I can't be certain of what that entails. Signs indicate that he was in a liquid state here, at least, but I wouldn't be surprised if he possessed a gaseous state as well. Did you see the image upstairs where the man looked like he'd cursed an army to death?"

"I did," She nodded. "You think it was an airborne toxin?"

"I think it could be," I shrugged. "Could also be some type of Aura technique or any number of other things—but a sapient chemical probably has a fair number of ways to kill people without drawing upon any of that. As is, I can't be sure of which means he might have used, whether to kill or too infect, but considering its nature…contact, ingestion, injection, and inhalation seem like the most likely possible means of infection for the Red Rider. Whatever method he chooses, he could easily infect people without needing to bring anyone here, so it may have simply served as a backup site or a way to make the lie more convincing."

"Possibly," Raven mused. "But what does any of this have to do with Summer or Ruby?"

I lifted a finger.

"Let us assume for a moment that Summer didn't abruptly decide to engage in any ritualistic behavior upstairs," I said. "Though you would know her better than I, it seems unlikely that her first reaction to seeing the altar above would be to spill large quantities of blood on it."

"I don't recall her ever engaging in sudden human sacrifice," Raven agreed. "And somehow, I fell as though that would have stood out to me."

"And yet somehow, she managed to encounter the Red Rider," I continued. "And as it happens, we aren't the first people to come down here."

Raven frowned and looked around.

"Let's pretend for a moment that you see something I don't," She replied after a moment.

I smiled at that and nodded slightly.

"There are signs," I gestured. "Mostly faded biological evidence, some dirt from old footprints, things like that—someone was here, relatively recently. Given that Summer was in the area ten years or so ago, she seems like the most likely suspect. And notice the condition of this part of the temple."

Raven frowned at me for a moment at that before pausing and taking a slow look around—at the dust, the paint, and the carvings. But it wasn't what was there that mattered most, but what wasn't.

"Did you repair this place, too?" She asked. "When you fixed everything else."

My smile turned a bit sad at the question.

"No," I said. "Only what was above ground and part of the stairway was destroyed. This room was completely intact."

Raven considered that silently, taking a step to stand shoulder to shoulder with me. I watched her out of the left side of my face, observing as she turned slowly to take in the massive room. Without waiting for her to ask, I let more flames float from my fingers, positioning them quickly throughout the room to provide illumination. I felt her contemplation as she considered the images, trying to discern some meaning from the pictures—but she probably had even less context for them than I did, which was saying something.

At last, she turned her gaze to the giant throne, looking at the words carved into its back.

"Why?" She asked after another moment of silence. I wasn't entirely sure if she was asking me or herself, but then, she was probably aware that neither of us had an answer. "What's so special about this room?"

I shook my head.

"Process of elimination would say it has something to do with the imagery," I replied. "There's nothing special about the stone and the paint beyond that, as near as I can tell. Perhaps it meant something to the Rider, perhaps it serves an 'ordinary' purpose, or perhaps something else entirely."

"Then what does it mean?" She wondered, turning around to look at the image of an egg. "A birth of a…god? Hero?"

"Possibly," I nodded. "Although, remember that this place was most likely constructed by the Grimm and housed one for quite some time; this 'hero' might not be such from our perspective."

She nodded, turning her head to glance over the walls to either side of the egg-like image. Those were by far the vaguest of the images, featuring groups of strangely-dressed men and gleaming towers, with the 'hero' standing over each. At the top of the walls, the sky was bright white, as if lit by a second sun, but with each segment of the wall, more of the 'monster' lowered, until at last the 'hero' challenged it.

"If we assume that, then he's most likely…" Raven pursed her lips, frowning. "One of the Riders? The creator of the Grimm? Would those cities be Babel, then?"

"That's my guess," I agreed. "Assuming the images mean anything, of course. It seems unlikely that the Rider constructed this place to aid in history lessons."

I had to pause for a moment to give that some thought.

"Or perhaps he did?" I mused aloud, drawing Raven's attention. "Perhaps not an accurate history lesson, but then, history is written by the victors."

"But if it's a lesson, that implies it's being taught to someone," Raven said, making an encompassing gesture with a hand. "Who could this lesson have been meant for?"

I considered that for a moment. It could be me, I suppose—the Grimm had shown an interest in guiding me towards something, presumably an end I wasn't going to enjoy. Could this be part of that? An attempt to deceive me or shape my thoughts?

It didn't seem likely. If there was some kind of poisonous message hidden here, it was entirely lost upon me, since I had no idea what any of it meant—and though it might have been arrogant of me, I considered myself a fairly wary person. Even if I hadn't been aware of the Riders and didn't know they were connected to this place, I don't think I'd have taken it at face value. Taken it into consideration, definitely, but I didn't think of myself as the type of person who'd simply trust whatever some carvings told me, much less in a place that was stained so heavily in blood.

More than that, though, there was a big problem with it being for me—namely, getting it to me. I was only looking at it now because of several coincidental meetings, a number of past connections, and the fact that I was acquainted with a teleporter who'd known about it. Granted, I could have found myself here other ways by following Summer Rose's trail, but…

No, it seemed more logical for someone else to be the target. But how? Who could possibly walk into this room, look around, and go 'oh, I get it!' From the carvings above to the ones in this room, this place was pretty opaque. Maybe it would have made sense to someone hundreds or thousands of years ago, but now? You'd need someone to explain every detail.

I paused again, frowning as I took a look around.

Had there been someone to explain it? Sure, the room was empty now—but had it been that way when Summer had seen it? I didn't see any signs of inhabitation beyond the remnants of the Red Rider, but perhaps that would have been enough. Could it have been capable of speech, somehow? I wasn't sure how a chemical substance would have been able to communicate vocally, but hell, if we were getting into things that the Grimm shouldn't have been physically or biologically capable of, there were several lists worth of things before getting to that. A chemical talking was no more ridiculous than the idea of a Giant Nevermore flying on its own power. Beyond that, it was a chemical, so perhaps it was capable of several mind-altering effects, such as causing hallucinations?

Having someone here to explain the pictures, possibly in the guess of the god of this temple…that was a message that might be a little more easily grasped.

"Perhaps it was meant for whoever came here before us," I said, taking another look at the stains in the stone. It was easy to see that the Red Rider had lain here for a long time, but it was a touch harder to tell how long he'd been gone. A few years, at least—maybe even about ten years. "Perhaps Summer found something more than an empty room."

Raven was silent for a moment at that, bowing her head even as her eyes closed beneath her mask.

"You wanted to show me something related to her," She said. "When you moved the altar. Did you find…?"

"That's the interesting part," I said. I took another look around the room, making sure I would remember every inch of it across the entire spectrum of my senses. Then I turned around and began walking back up the stairs. "Follow me."

Raven glanced up at the massive staircase with a slightly sigh but followed without complaint. Once we'd left the giant room and made it about halfway up the stairs, I killed the lights I'd below us and held up a hand to stop her, placing the other on the carved wall of the vertical tunnel.

"When I first sensed this part of the pyramid, I was surprised to senses how intact the room below was," I explained, tracing a finger over the marks on the wall. As I did, parts of it began to crumble, slowly breaking away from the wall and falling as if through syrup. "But more than that, I was surprised to sense this. This was the lowest sign of damage to the temple and it was done by human weapons."

Raven frowned and leaned closer, looking over the deep cuts that began to slowly appear in the wall and reaching out to touch one.

"It's Summer's," She said after a moment. "I'm almost sure."

I nodded and took another step up the stairs, gesturing for her to follow. All around us, damage was written on the walls in slow motion, scratching away carved faces.

"Watch what happens as we go up," I nodded towards the slowly forming scratches as we went.

Her frown deepened as she caught on, keeping pace even as she made sure her passage didn't disrupt the slowly expanding rubble. When she realized what that meant, however, she stiffened and reached out to catch my shoulder.

"Is this how the temple was destroyed?" She asked, a note of urgency to her tone. "In this order?"

I nodded at her, because it was, or as close to it as I'd been able to guess.

She swallowed once and opened her mouth before shutting it with a click.

"Move faster," She commanded after a moment, before hesitating with a twitch of her lips. "Please."

I nodded again, understanding how she was feeling, and hastened both my ascent and the redestruction of the pyramid. In a few seconds, we came up through the trapdoor again and for a moment, we simply stood at the top. Raven's eyes focused on the signs of destruction that began to carve themselves into one of the sides of the pyramid before cutting across to another. With each passing moment, the pace of the destruction rose, until entire chucks of the temple were being torn away. The process appeared, at first glance, haphazard, but it was a methodical kind of destruction, tearing down the entire structure with devastating speed and leaving it an utter ruin.

Holding out a hand to Raven, I waited patiently as she glanced at it, unsure. When she took it, however, I took a step and rose into the air, and though she paused for a moment, she quickly followed. Instead of walking diagonally down the temple stairs, we walked straight forward and turned to look as it slowly crumbled. In a few minutes, the temple was back to the state it had been in before our arrival—exactly the same state, ignoring some disrupted plant life.

And through it all, Raven was silent. I knew what she was thinking, of the how the destruction had progressed up the tunnel and then how it had turned upon the exterior. I could feel the storm of her emotions rising, but she simply watched the rubble.

"So," Raven whispered at last, the lowness of her tone the only thing giving away what she felt. "Summer's alive."

I looked at her for a moment before answering, choosing my words carefully.

"I can't say that conclusively," I shook my head as I followed her gaze down to the ruins, gesturing at it with a finger. "But at the very least, she didn't die here."

"She walked away from this place," Raven murmured and though it wasn't a question, I nodded.

Whatever had happened, whatever she'd found in that room below, Summer Rose had survived the experience and walked away.

And I was betting she'd taken the Red Rider with her.