Garden Of The Abyss

"Even with this map…I still don't really get where we're going."

Not really speaking to anyone specifically, Ren commented with a sigh as he looked at the parchment he held in his hands. The group came to a stop as three similar tunnels awaited them.

"It's all just a mess of scribbles...Some of them seem to lead into the same place; it doesn't really make much sense."

"Let me look at it."

Macheo, matching Ren's pace as if it were a competition, made a grabbing gesture with his hand. Willingly handing it to the golden-haired boy, it was snatched out of his hands abrasively by Macheo--luring a sigh out from Ren.

"Give it a shot. I doubt you can read it any better though. It's just a bunch of lines."

"My father might've been a tough bastard, but he made sure all of his children were educated. Reading a map is the bare minimum for any traveler."

"Right. You know, I keep forgetting you're a prince and all that."

Looking at the twisted expression of anger that seemed to be present on Macheo's face half the time, Ren's comment only proved his point as the boy's eyebrows furrowed further.

"This left one should be the way."

Finding the proper destination, Macheo handed the map made of stained parchment back to Ren—who rejected it with a slight smile.

"Huh?"

"You've kind of just proven I don't know what the hell I'm doing. You're the navigator now."

"…Alright."

Macheo seemed shocked at the responsibility given to him, looking back at the two other members of the group as if expecting them to protest this.

Traversing the tunnel of a much more claustrophobic width, holding little to no light within it as Iris held an orb of light; leading the path alongside Aiko.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

Ren looked at the crimson-eyed Lucrauvian walking alongside him, keeping his hands casually rested on the back of his head as he walked.

"…Why don't you hate me?"

"What?"

It was an odd question, Ren heard it clearly but still responded in confusion at the random inclination from the boy.

The quiet, calm volume that Macheo spoke in was unlike his fiery demeanor—clearly not wanting to draw the ears of the girls ahead of them.

"She told you what I did, right? Not just to the village, but…her."

"Mm."

Ren nodded to confirm Macheo's asking, who didn't seem satisfied yet.

"…You care for her. A lot—I'd say you even l—"

"Shh!"

Raising a finger to his own lips, Ren stopped the boy before he could finish his sentence—fearing Iris potentially hearing him.

"You want to know why I don't "hate" you? Well, I do. In fact, the moment she told me what you did—I was tempted to drive my blade through your unconscious skull. Quick and easy…"

As Ren finally gave a truthful answer, he looked at his own hand, watching it shake with repressed emotions before clenching it shut.

"Why didn't you?…"

"I would be a hypocrite. I would betray her and those who brought me to where I am today. By the time I met you…You were already trying to change. Well, I am too."

Hearing this, the look on Macheo's face seemed curious as to what Ren was really alluding to.

"So, I'm trying not to hate you. Truthfully, I can see you're not a bad guy, but some irrational, dark part of me…It isn't so forgiving. Satisfied now?"

"You're an interesting guy."

Surprisingly, Macheo was smiling wide—clearly more than satisfied with what he heard.

I think I'm starting to get him little by little--maybe it's a Lucrauvian thing, but I can tell he values transparency above all. I can respect that, Ren thought.

"What're you two chatting about back there?"

Iris turned one eye back without stopping, putting a cork in the conversation between the two young men.

"Oh, nothing--so what's the plan now? I mean, we didn't really discuss anything specific."

"I'm completely clueless on Purgatory, so I won't be of much help…Sorry."

Lacking any real experience within Purgatory thus far, Iris smiled meekly as he turned her attention back on the path ahead.

"Nah, you're fine. Macheo, you've been here and there, right?"

As the two closened the distance to bring the group closer together, Ren turned his attention to the golden-haired boy once more.

"Urr, yeah, what about it?"

"Any ideas? If not, we can just have Bifrons use his recon ability to locate some keys."

"Bad idea."

Macheo interjected Ren's words firmly, keeping his hands slid into the pockets of his coat. Raising an eyebrow to this doubtful comment, Ren looked at him for further explanation.

"That "recon" only shows you keys possessed by other participants."

"Bifrons didn't mention that, I think…"

"Neither did Camio…"

Hearing this, Ren and Aiko exchanged worried glances as Macheo nodded his head to further confirm this into reality.

"That's what I meant when I told you before that you can't trust those damn demons. They want participants to kill each other--I think they get some sort of sick, twisted pleasure out of it or something. Fucking disgusting."

"I hate to admit it, but it sounds plausible…"

Ren sighed quietly, assuring Aiko as she clearly seemed distraught at the sudden distrust garnered in her heart in regards to the bird companion of hers.

"So, we have to find...Eight keys, totally blind?"

Counting on his fingers, Ren then crossed his arms--racking his brain for some sort of easier route through all of this.

"Not completely."

Macheo jutted in once more, gaining the attention of the other three as they slowly continued their way down the dark tunnel.

"I'm listening."

"First off, I have to ask you all--well, not you, Iris: just how much do you know about this second floor?"

Put on the spot, Ren looked at Aiko, the girl returning his perplexed look with one of her own as they turned their gazes back at the Lucravian noble.

"Nothing."

In unison, their answer forced a sharp, annoyed sigh out of the eternally frustrated, blonde challenger of Purgatory.

"Well, the main gimmick of this floor is that it is split into four quadrants."

Raising exactly four fingers, the blonde mage gave this information to them--seeming to manifest more questions than answers as he continued before he could be plastered with more questions.

"They can be accessed in no particular order, and each one is a vastly different environment. I guess you can call the "Abyssal Cavern" the default--but that still isn't exactly true. I heard from a few passing challengers in my time here that they started in other quadrants."

"Different environments...I see. So, what exactly are these other quadrants?"

Ren asked what the pair of girls were thinking, the entire group now coming to a stop as they became intrigued by this information provided to them.

"I've only been to two of the other three, one of which was the "Astral Riptide"--I didn't spend too long there because there were some troublesome people there, but it was a mystical land of water."

"And the other?"

Iris pressed him to continue, clearly having to coax the words from him as the memories of it seemed to be stuck in Macheo's throat.

"Camlann...I later learned what it was called after I was instantly cut down by one of the entities there. All I remember was seeing what I thought was a giant knight, then the next moment I was on the ground...in a dozen pieces."

A visible chill ran through his body as he recalled this, squeezing his fists as he looked back up to finish this piece, "That place--Camlann--it's the location of the guardian. It's a region of lifeless, silver grass and a graveyard of blades. I remember seeing it in the center of it all--an ivory keep, it was guarded by dozens of those knights."

"Huh...That's our target, huh?"

Ren said quietly, listening to this as Macheo simply nodded in affirmation.

"First comes the keys."

Aiko seemed to correct Ren's notion, crossing her gauntlets across her less-than-voluptuous chest as this reminder seemed to damper the already dreary mood.

"Yeah--wait, you brought this up because you know where some keys are, right?"

"That's right…"

"Spill it."

Ren pressed Macheo for more information, who seemed close to a headache from all of this questioning and answering. By this point, they had all seated themselves in a circle, keeping the radiant orb in the center as if listening to campfire stories from the young prince.

"There is a place in this quadrant--it's probably still holding a key since it's pretty infamous for its difficulty. Some challengers broke their pact after experiencing it…"

"And that is?"

"The Butcher's Locker."

Answering with a foreboding, ominous tone--the air fell silent as they all looked at Macheo with tiresome eyes.