Chapter 877 The True Elysium
As Daneel and the rest were walking through the dark corridor they had entered while accompanied by the sentient bone that was currently being held by Faxul, the King of Lanthanor suddenly felt a pang in his heart that made him turn around, almost as if he felt someone calling to him from behind him.
Of course, there was no one there, but to his side, Daneel saw that Elanev had had the same reaction.
Their eyes met, and together, they understood what must be going on.
Eloise.
On the continent of Angaria, there had always been miraculous stories about the power of affection, which sometimes seemed to transcend all bounds of logic.
Multiple stories about how a lover in a pair would know that the other was hurt even though they should have no idea that it had happened, or how a son or daughter would know that there was something wrong with their parents at home even though they had no means of keeping an eye on them could be heard if one cared to go through the many, many villages and towns of the continent and ask about such occurrences, which would always be talked about with pride, as they were taken as a sign that their village, or town or city had been blessed by those whose bond was true.
Daneel had heard about this, but as he came from Earth, he knew the power of rumors. Hence, after some perfunctory investigation, he had dismissed it as farfetched stories that had evolved into something else with retelling after retelling.
However, at that moment…he began to wonder whether he had been wrong, all along.
Only, this wasn't the time to think about it. Nodding in Elanev's direction, who seemed to have reached the same conclusion, Daneel looked forward again to see that the corridor was coming to an end.
It had all happened in an instant, so even though Faxul and the one in the bone had seen the two glance back, they didn't know what had transpired.
As they continued to walk forward, Daneel noticed that the ceiling that had been about 15 feet(4.572 m) away from the top of his head had started to go further upward, resulting in a weird structure that had been clearly been built in this way to accommodate the massive doors in front of them.
They were humongous- made of a dark, shining material that had gotten a lot of grime on top of it, but still not having lost the grandeur that they possessed, mainly due to their hulking size.
Each door was at least 50 feet(15.24 m) tall, and they were each at least 20 feet(6.09 m) wide. At least give giants could walk through them while standing one on top of another, and as the four of them approached, it felt as if they were ants who had found themselves at the doorstep of humans who could crush them under their feet if they wished.
"Why are they so…big?", asked Faxul, and the bone answered.
"'Cos those who built this place just LOVED to show off! This is the place where people might have had to live for thousands of years, you know! Their goal was to build a place that would last, and not cease to amaze who lived within, and I'm sure they succeeded!"
As soon as the last words came from the bone, the large doors slowly began to grind open.
Startled, Daneel, Faxul, and Elanev all entered battle positions, as if the enemy was right behind those doors.
However, seeing them, the bone spoke up again.
"Oh, relax. I know for a fact that there are no traps here. Like I said, the guy inside will be using the formations placed for safety all over the place to try and kill you, 'cos there's only him inside. After all, how can you expect anyone with flesh and blood to survive for thousands of years, even if they have all the resources in the world?"
Daneel nodded, but he still maintained his pose.
He had been caught off guard enough on this journey, and he had no intention whatsoever of letting that happen again.
Only, even after the doors completely opened, he felt no danger from the other side.
The weird thing was that there seemed to be some kind of barrier obstructing their view of what lay beyond them, and as he asked the system about it, the answer he got was:
[Simple opaque barrier to prevent anyone from looking at what is present on the other side. System has scanned the area and found no threats.]
He had detected that, too, and he had been wondering whether there was anything else, but seeing that that was not the case, Daneel cautiously started to walk forward.
"Humph. Well, then I won't tell you what you're gonna see."
As if throwing a tantrum like a little child whose words had not been listened to, these words emanated from the bone, and ignoring them, the three sovereigns of Angaria approached the barrier.
Looking at each other and nodding to indicate that they were ready, they all stepped forward, and an instant later, they were all dumbstruck as they witnessed a sight that they would remember for the rest of their lives.
A city spread out in front of them, built into a large, perfect round crater in the ground.
All around, they could see many, many doors, balconies and even entertainment areas that could house thousands, and perhaps even hundreds of thousands.
Right at the center, at the lowest spot in the gigantic concave bowl that the Heavens, themselves, seemed to have placed here, there was a statue of a familiar man, who looked stood ramrod straight with a calm expression on his face.
Of course, it was Emperor Fenoras, and as the three took in the rest of the details, the bone spoke.
"That barrier was placed to strike awe in anyone who stepped through! It's a paltry trick, but it used to work! Every time! THIS…is the real Elysium! The city built to house the last remnants of Angaria, if disaster every struck on that scale! Of course, it hasn't been used until now…but it was built with the goal that even if it has to be used a thousand years from now, it will still be ready!"
With a dazed nod, Daneel started to count the number of doors, but he soon failed as he began to get dizzy.
It was so humongous that it defied all the engineering marvels he had seen so far, both on Earth and Angaria, and he now truly understood what it meant to 'go all out'.
This was a place of ultimate luxury, and at first glance, itself, one would be able to find out all the plans that had been made to ensure that no one would get bored even if they had to spend an eternity in here.
There were areas where plays could be watched, areas where competitions could occur, with stands where people could sit to cheer on the gladiators, areas where merry feasts could be thrown, and even large grounds for recreation which contained all the top products for relaxation that had been popular during the Age of the Empire.
The reason they could see all these things…was the ingenious construction method which had used glass in some places where areas like these had been constructed. Hence, although at first sight, the concave bowl of the city would seem perfect, with no blemishes, looking closer would reveal that all of the facilities had been 'hidden' in this way to give a cohesive look to the entire place.
Daneel really felt like applauding those who had come up with such a design, but after the initial shock wore off, the feeling that greeted them…was one of desolation.
The city in front of them was so large that it would barely fit in the largest portion of the Grand Canyon back on Earth, but it was also so…empty.
Dust and dirt could be seen in the places where the cleaning formations had failed, and regardless of where they looked, it was all…empty.
But more than this, a singular incongruity struck them after they realized just where they were.
Why…was it all so pristine?!
Shouldn't it be completely ravaged by the monstrosities that must have been destroying everything in their sight? And where were the dead bodies of these monstrosities, which must surely not have decomposed into dust?
"That's weird. Where are those monsters? True, the city can heal itself over time, but where did those things go? I expected to greet the bones of a lot of people I used to know…"
Hearing the macabre remark of the bone, Daneel realized that the one who had been acting as if he knew everything was clueless, too.
Frowning, he said, "Stay alert. Lead us to the vault."
Faxul and Elanev nodded as they heard him, and after a few moments, the bone replied, "It's that way. But the traps…wait, they're inactive? That's strange…"
Daneel was liking this place less and less. He always strived to be in control of all factors, no matter where he was, and this was one place where nothing seemed to be in his grasp.
Still, he shook his head and began to walk in the direction that had been indicated by the bone. The only way left was forward, so that was where they would go.
The humongous size of the city meant that they had to walk quite a bit even to reach the spot where the ground dropped off due to the beginning of its concave part.
However, instead of going there, the path that had been shown to them led them to a place where a set of steps could be seen, descending into the ground.
"The vaults housed weapons, too, so there were methods to access them easily in the event of a war on the inside. Yes, they thought of everything. From here, the traps should be present…but there are none. Well, this is only the secondary vault, so it's possible that our friend is using only the traps near the primary vault to save Energy. Still, it shouldn't hurt to check here- maybe there's stuff that he felt was useless for him, which might be useful to you. Let's go get the scraps left behind!"
Clearly, the lunacy was back, but Daneel ignored him as they began to descend the staircase.
It was quite wide, but they were in a three-pronged formation, with each covering a direction.
Daneel was very uneasy, mainly because the system had once again told him that it could scan nothing. He knew that he should probably get used to this, but it felt like an itch in his back that he couldn't scratch, and wouldn't go away.
Soon, the ceiling of the passageway they had entered started to increase in height just like the one before.
A minute and hundreds of steps later, Daneel and the rest reached a door that was similar in dimensions to the grand one they had walked through to get to the true Elysium.
"Open it," said Daneel, after taking a deep breath and ensuring that all of his protective trinkets were active.
It was the same with Faxul and Elanev, and as all three of them saw the humongous doors begin to grind open, they realized that something…was horribly wrong.
"NO! Close it, close it!"
"I CAN'T! It's not stopping!"
The reason behind these shouts…was the image that greeted them from in between those doors.
Heads that were too small for their mammoth bodies.
Crazy smiles that stretched to the corners of their mouths, with blood oozing from their teeth.
And eyes…that spelled madness.
"YAAAARRGHHHHH!!!!!"
As crazy screams reached their ears, a voice came from within.
"Ooh, more meatsuits for me! Thank you so much for the gifts, boys!"
"RUN!"
With a scream, Daneel and the rest bolted, with their hearts thundering in their chests.