Chapter 977: Bad Things

“Whoa,” Todd breathed, for what was probably the hundreth time that hour. His head turned on a swivel as everyone followed Noah through the halls of the Lost Citadel on their way back toward the central Heart Room. Everything they passed, whether it was a beautiful mural painted across the ceilings or a pile of rubble upon the ground, seemed to elicit the exact same response from Todd. He was like a kid in a candy store.

And he wasn’t the only one.

Ulya was very clearly doing her absolute best to memorize the runes they passed. She stared so intently at the walls that Noah feared she might end up burning a hole through them. Moxie had a piece of paper in one hand and was furiously sketching on it as she walked using a plant nib that leaked dark sap.

Tim took everything in with wide eyes, a delighted grin on his features. He seemed to be enjoying the experience far more than anyone else — but if anyone was foolish enough to believe that he wasn’t paying just as much attention as the others, they’d have been dead wrong. Noah could practically see the gears turning in Tim’s head as he worked to expand his understanding of spatial magic by gleaning whatever he could from the halls.

Aylin and the other demons looked equally as enraptured. Lee did too, though Noah got the feeling she was more wondering if ancient walls tasted any better than normal ones. She hadn’t tried taking a bite out of anything yet. That was good. Noah really didn’t want the whole place collapsing because she ate some fundamental rune sequence.

Even though it wasn’t like Noah had built any part of the Lost Citadel, he couldn’t help but feel a small amount of pride at everyone’s awe. It seemed that everyone approved of their new home and training grounds. Sure, he might have been hand delivered the Citadel by the Beyond, but he’d still found it.

That meant he got to claim at least a little bit of the credit.

It wasn’t like there was anyone around to say that he couldn’t.

“Just how big is this place?” Moxie asked.

“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest,” Noah replied. “I didn’t have a chance to explore the whole thing before I left. So much of it is damaged and out of commission that any estimate I did give you wouldn’t be correct.”

“How did you manage to find it?” Silvertide asked curiously. “If I understood your explanation correctly, this citadel is somehow entirely disconnected from Obsidia. How is something like that possible? Is the entire thing hidden within some pocket of dimensional magic? How much power would that require? I can’t even begin to comprehend how it would work. The needs would be astronomical.”

“Yeah,” Brayden said. He rubbed his forehead with two fingers, his brow deeply furrowed in thought. “I’m wondering the same thing, if it’s something you’re at liberty to answer, Noah. The numbers for how much spatial magic would be needed just don’t add up. It should be impossible. But it clearly isn’t. I’m wondering if there’s something fundamentally wrong with my understanding of space.”

“There probably is,” Aylin said.

Brayden shot him a look. “I don’t need the sass, young man.”

“I’m not that young. You aren’t that old,” Aylin protested. “And I wasn’t being sassy. It’s just the truth. Nobody really understands as much as they think they do. That’s practically a universal truth.”

“True enough,” Moxie said with an absentminded nod, still engrossed in her drawing. “The moment you think you’ve got a real handle on something is when you realize that the only thing you’re holding is the handle, and the pot it’s attached to is still on the floor.”

“That’s… oddly specific,” Silvertide said.

Moxie just grunted.

“To answer your original question, Silvertide,” Noah said, hiding a smile. “I found the Citadel through something of a very fortunate coincidence. It’s a long story, but it’s quite tied into the second question. I suppose now is as good a time to tell you all as any. It’ll give you a good understanding of exactly how serious this magic is… and we’ve still got quite the ways to go before we return to the Heart Room. I’d like all of your attention, though. I don’t want anyone to miss something.”

Moxie lowered her paper. Todd tore his gaze away from the ceiling. Everyone turned their full attention to Noah as they turned a corner in the massive hall and headed deeper into the Citadel’s depths.

“I should start where most of us last saw each other,” Noah said. “I went to kill Father.”

“I was there for that,” Jalen said. “It was a very good fight. Fun. He died like a little—”

“Input not needed,” Noah said sharply. “Unless you’ve got a question, please control yourself.”

Jalen harrumphed.

“Thank you,” Noah said. “In the process of killing Father, I managed to take some pretty severe soul damage. It prevented me from…”

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He trailed off for a moment. Fist was with them. He didn’t really want to go revealing his ability to return from death to her. They weren’t anywhere near that close of allies.

“…some of my abilities,” Noah finished. He cleared his throat. “And I found myself trapped in a place that I later learned to be called the Beyond. It took me months to escape. That’s why I was gone for so long. And, when I did, I found myself here. In the Citadel.”

“Wait, what? You skipped the best part,” Lee said. “How’d you get out?”

“I tried very hard,” Noah said.

I don’t really want to reveal Hollow Symphony to Fist either. Damn. I’m going to have to retell parts of this when she’s not around.

He could feel quite a few stares burning into the back of his neck as he walked.

“You are not a very good storyteller,” Silvertide informed Noah.

“Oh, stuff it,” Noah grumbled. “I’m doing what I can. Suffice to say that the Beyond is connected to the Lost Citadel. I didn’t end up here on accident. And the Beyond is… well, it isn’t exactly magic. It’s more like anti-magic. The Beyond is like a virus that consumes any magic that it comes into contact with, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s not intelligent. It is. To some degree, at least. Not like a human. But it can register when someone is trying to control or influence it — and it doesn’t like that.”

“You’re telling me we’re floating in a sea of anti-magic that hates people that use it?” Moxie asked, slowing to a stop. “And how exactly did the Citadel get here in the first place?”

“People used it,” Noah said. He stopped as well, turning to look over his shoulder. “They were all consumed by the Beyond and died pretty horribly. The Beyond can’t be extracted from someone’s soul once it enters. It’s a death sentence. So — don’t touch it. Ever.”

“Isn’t this entire place a death trap, then?” Isabel asked with a worried frown.

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Noah shook his head hurriedly. “The Beyond keeps to itself. It isn’t actively malicious. And the pieces of the Citadel that use the Beyond are safe. It’s not like it’s waiting to hop into a new host. It’s kind of like a fire. Just don’t stick your hand into it and you’ll be fine.”

“Wait,” Lee said. Her eyes narrowed. “Your soul—”

“Yes,” Noah said with a grimace. “I am slightly infected. But that’s different. The Beyond has somehow integrated with me by filling the cracks in my soul that I took during my fight with Father. We’re coexisting. That won’t be the same for anyone else. So just trust me. Avoid it.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Yulin muttered. She snuck a glance at Alexandra. “Is he always insane? Is the Advanced Track stuff with Jakob just his norm?”

“Pretty much,” Alexandra replied with a shake of her head. “I’d just get used to it. The sooner you do, the better it’ll be.”

“Yeah,” Emily said. “There’s probably an even worse revelation coming very soon. Just give him a bit.”

“There is not,” Noah said. “That’s the big thing.”

“So the Citadel is floating in the Beyond somehow,” Brayden said, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. “And we’re all okay so long as we don’t anger it?”

“Basically,” Noah said with a nod. “The Beyond also powers a large portion of the Citadel. The people that made this place were trying to find a way to harness it. They… kind of succeeded. It just cost them their lives. The Beyond can’t be harnessed against its will.”

“This seems quite risky,” Silvertide observed.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Tyler asked, sending him a worried look.

“Yes,” Noah replied. “Relatively safe, at least. And safer than the outside. Because we’re surrounded by the Beyond, there’s no way for someone from Obsidia to get to us. Not easily, at least. Only a very limited number of people have managed to find the Citadel in the time since it was lost. There are a few pathways that connect it permanently to Obsidia. Otherwise, I assume it would just float off.”

“What kind of passages?” Fuyin asked. “Are they adequately defended?”

“Well, they’re well hidden,” Noah said. “We’ll work on getting some more defenses set up after we fix up some of the damage to the Citadel. This is our home for the foreseeable future, after all. But I wouldn’t be too worried about anyone finding us. There’s a reason the Citadel is Lost. The only people that have ever found the entrance are dead.”

“Is it just me, or does this place seem kind of evil?” Isabel asked.

A murmur of assent rolled out from the others.

“Oh, come on,” Noah said. “It’s atmospheric! And it’ll keep us safe. Need I remind you that we’ve got enemies?”

“Hey, I never said anything was bad about being evil,” Isabel said with a shrug. “I was just saying. So you’re sure nobody will be able to find us here?”

“Pretty,” Noah replied. He started back along the hall, and the others followed after him. “The Citadel has been lost for this long. I doubt that’ll change anytime soon. Besides, there’s a giant maze that’s near impossible to get through without help once you do find one of the entrances. I pity anyone unfortunate enough to get that far.”

***

Eliana, Mordred, Ace, and Seleth stepped out into a cold stone room. Seleth glanced around in blank confusion. Ace didn’t seem much more situated.

“Where are we?” Ace asked, squinting at the flat walls surrounding them.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Eliana replied. “But this is the general area where Spider and his people went.”

“The general area?” Seleth asked. She glanced at the other woman. “I thought we followed them through their portal.”

“I reopened their portal,” Eliana corrected. She shook her head. “That’s a lot more complex. It’s hard to go right to the same spot. But we’re near them… and thus, I entrust the rest of our trip to Mordred.”

They all looked over to the strange man. He’d walked over to a wall and had his hand pressed against it, a contemplative frown on his features. It was a second before he spoke.

“How odd,” he said.

“What?” Ace asked.

Mordred poked his head out of one of the straight doorways in the room. Then he turned back, his frown deepening.

“Well,” Mordred replied. “I have two pieces of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“That’s not how the saying is supposed to go. It’s supposed to be one piece of good news and one piece of bad news,” Seleth said.

“I have one piece of good news and two pieces of bad news,” Modred said. “What would you like first?”

“The good, I suppose,” Ace said.

“Great! The good thing is that I know where we are,” Mordred said with a thumbs-up. “The bad thing is that it is a maze.”

“A maze,” Ace repeated. “Seriously?”

“Quite,” Mordred said with a nod.

“You said there were two bad things,” Eliana said. “What’s the second?”

“The second would be that I can hear clicking in the walls,” Mordred replied, his cheerful grin never leaving his face. “A lot of it. It seems that we have company, and I don’t get the feeling they’re going to be happy to see us.”