Ikiteiru

Chapter Two: Ikiteiru

She jumped.

It sounds so frustratingly simple like that. Stripped of all of the emotion, uncertainty, and fear that came with actually doing it, but she did. She could admit that she was properly defeated by the strategy of the new heroes. Riveria and Gareth had taken up enough of her energy and time that she couldn't effectively take down the weaker Astraea Familia within her time limit; gods she despised this sickness. Perhaps the fires in this shaft to Hell would burn the disease away along with her before she reached the bottom.

Alfia had begun to get an understanding of how badly her sister lived with their shared condition after her own worsened when she defeated the Leviathan; even more so after the Black Dragon trounced them all. She and Zald both were quickly succumbing to their internal enemies, and so made their decisions to do something for the future with the time they had. Would it be enough? Perhaps, but now it was out of her hands.

The pain was enough to lull her falling body into the sweet release of unconsciousness, a small mercy at the end. She closed her eyes and embraced it.

Sometime later, those same eyes fluttered open again, her shock slow to register. A cool cloth was on her head and the distinct taste of elixir lingered on her tongue. Gradually, she sat herself up, taking stock of her surroundings, quickly realizing she was on the lower safe zone of the Dungeon, on Floor 50. Her eyes traveled around her slowly.

'A coke-burning fire nearby, some food and water, too… so who is it?'

There was only one explanation: someone had saved her; an Evilus maybe? To take her to this zone. It was unlikely to be anyone else, given that her status as an Evilus was now known; anyone else should have left her to her fate. The only issue was…

'Who would have been there to save me though? I must have fallen straight to the deep levels at least; pretty much everyone was committed to the attack, and even Erebus was on Floor 18'

She got her answer rather quickly, all things considered. A short time later, her high-level senses picked up the sound of far-off movement approaching the campsite, and soon after she spotted the figure.

… Who the hell are you?

A fine way to address the one who saved you, young lady

'Well, he's either smart or a brown-noser'

You assume the saving was wanted

Now that sounds like a can o' worms there; you really not recognize me Alfia? We have met before, but you were a bit younger then…

Wait she did recognize him now, but surely this wasn't him… actually, it couldn't be anyone else, really, are you… Horus?

That's right; now, unless you wanna tell me otherwise, I'm just gonna ignore you falling into the fortieth floor onto me, not needing saving, and all the rest. For now, it's time to eat

Ah she looked at the warm bowl he handed her, Dungeon fare, how… appetizing

What was that, not hungry?

N-no, thank you for the food they ate in silence from the root vegetables and mushrooms that grew on the safe zone they were in. The silence was nice, heavenly even, but her curiosity was burning. Food finished, she spoke up, Why are you down here alone, Horus? When you stayed behind all those times, I thought you'd retired

No, I stayed on Zeus' wishes; now I'm down here of my own accord. Ever since Zeus and Hera left I've been down here exploring the breadth of the dungeon

! You've been down here for- it's been over seven years!

Really, huh? Time flies, I suppose. I was actually preparing to dive deep when you fell down here. My goal isn't to crawl all over the place forever; I'm going until I reach the bottom of this pit

Alone? So you seek an end here, then?

Don't project yourself onto me, Alfia he cut in shortly, I may die, but that isn't my aim. After the defeat from the Black Dragon, I thought to find answers in the Dungeon. If this place is conquered, it may lead to a plan to end that beast; obviously, pure power alone won't cut it Partially cowed, she looked away for a moment before turning back to him.

I suppose I should come with you then; it will improve your chances of success, even if only marginally

Don't sell yourself short, Silence; I'm glad to have you along, but if you come along, I'll be keeping an eye on you. If you want an end for yourself down here, don't come with me

I have decided to accompany you she stated resolutely, I have no intention of that, or doing anything that would jeopardize your mission

Then welcome aboard

They moved on from the safe zone soon after once Alfia had recovered her strength. It had been a long time since she had seen Horus, longer still since she had been in the Dungeon with him. She could remember that time when he introduced the groups of Zeus and Hera familia deeper and deeper into the Dungeon before leaving them to their own devices. He never went on adventures with them, but now she was properly seeing him in action as they approached the bottom of the Dragon's vase.

It was incredible, and it lit a fire of anger in her that he had been denied from aiding the rest of them in their quest. Someone able to make their way through to the 60th floor alone- as she did not have to assist him at all yet- would have been a great boon to them; that was in the past now, though.

Their progress was slow, mostly on her own account. Her sickness was getting worse. He noticed, and thankfully said nothing as he set a pace that would accommodate her. Eventually, and with difficulty, they made it to the Tundra, protected from the cold by the hide drops of the Valgang Dragons Horus slew.

They had to shoulder through to floor sixty five, enduring freezing rivers, harsh blizzards, and mountains of ice that pushed even her high-level status. Not to mention the vast numbers of frost trolls, elite spartoi, bear-like monsters, and an ice drake before reaching another safe point on the 65th floor.

The cold was still present, but much less severe. She could call it a winter wonderland if it were anywhere else, It's quite beautiful

Sure is, but more importantly, it needs to be documented he said, pulling out a book, I'm gonna get started right away on the previous floors before I investigate this one else I'll forget about them She didn't argue and thus they spent quite some time in the safe zone. They made a more substantial base camp and foraged to survive.

Sometime after properly recording their travels to this area, Horus went out to look at the 65th floor itself. They had spent a significant amount of time there before he approached her with a bowl of warm, amber-colored liquid.

I found some flowers with medicinal properties; this should help you With some surprise, she took the offering. It tasted like some nondescript herbal tea, but she was thankful all the same.

I've prepared more for the journey; as soon as we have enough supplies, we will continue on

… Thank you, Horus; would it be alright if I told you something?

Always, young Alfia

I, rather we, did something quite despicable after Zeus and Hera left, actually. It was what led to… how you encountered me

Hm, did you and the other survivors take your vengeance on Loki and Freya?

Well, not exactly. Zald and I were agreed to a plot built by Erebus. At the time, we all thought it was the only way to inspire the future of Orario with the time we had left. We formed an organization of Evil to sow chaos in the city. Zald and I presented ourselves as the challenge for the heroes of the future to prove themselves. I have no doubt they were totally successful, but we were prepared to end the city, if they had failed the man was silent at her succinct explanation, before he chuffed lightly.

What, was my own example so bad to try for yourselves?

What do you mean?

Well, couldn't you have just trained the future heroes with all you had left in you than presenting them a one-time challenge? It doesn't seem like they will grow enough from that challenge, even if they succeeded

It felt like we had few options, at the time; I'm not sure they would have listened to any training from us, anyhow

It's in the past now, I suppose. Don't be upset with yourself. Long ago, Zeus and Hera displaced my own God and his allies in order to form the stability that would allow them to raise you all: the heroes that would tackle the Three Grand Quests. I was the remnant of that change. You two are the remnant of Loki and Freya's own power move, that is all

So simple, is it?

Yes, don't doubt your actions now; all we can do is continue on. With this medicine, and if you take it easy, you should be able to continue on more easily with that sickness of yours

I don't want to hold you back further down…

You won't; you're keeping me company after all, so the least I can do is make sure you don't need to push yourself beyond what your body can handle

Now with a weight she didn't know she was holding gone, they went deeper into the Dungeon. The deeper they went, the slower their pace became as the danger grew. Every moment they faced unknown environments and monsters. Soon Horus disregarded any sense of exploration and focused solely on survival as they went straight for the next floor each time.

The only exceptions were the safe zones the found, which saw them resting for longer periods each time they found one. On this journey, she found herself growing closer to the old veteran, to the point that she would comfortably call him a friend, and he the same for her. It was how she found out his own secrets, after all. They came to the first anomaly on the 80th floor.

The floor was a single, large room. Investigating it led them to discover hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls of the massive space. She couldn't read them herself, but Horus could understand them, so she waited for his transcription of the writing.

This is the nest of the Behemoth was all he said, eyes looking faraway as he addressed her. They moved on after that without another word. The next floor like that was the 90th, with a safe zone between the two. Floor 90 was a massive ocean of murky water, strangely lukewarm to the touch. Like Floor 80, there were no monsters despite the large size of the floor, but it took them much longer to find the way though: diving to discover an underwater passage which opened into another room with the stairway down.

They continued on from there with great care. Each monster of the hordes they passed were as strong as the executives of Zeus and Hera's old Familia: dragons, drake-spawn, high-orcs, cave-trolls, giant Mercavi Worms, oversized insectoids, venomous serpents, and Vorg Spiders. Firestorms, malificar, traps, and other magical dangers awaited them, too. Eventually, they made it to the 100th Floor of the dungeon, where another surprise awaited them.

A door?

Another massive single room; against the back wall from the stairs, a monstrous door rose from the ground to the high-up ceiling, with more inscriptions and hieroglyphs covering the walls beside it.

Hm, the door won't budge he muttered as he inspected the structure, tough as hell, but I've never seen anything like it. Guess I'll call it black orichalcum, then Horus tried to force the door by a few different methods, but nothing worked. It was properly sealed, We're at an impasse; I'm going to look at the walls, Alfia. We may find a way to continue on from them she settled in as he got to work, and relished the silence that followed for a long time as he continued diligently.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but she had slept, eaten, relieved herself, and repeated numerous times before she heard a sound from him.

Alfia, it's time for us to head back; we can't continue on anymore from here

Hm? The walls didn't have a riddle or something which would open the door? Truthfully, she had been floored by the writings being in the dungeon at all, let alone the existence of the door. The presence of the structure was enough to overwhelm her far more than the first time she had seen the White Palace. Despite being committed to their mission, she found herself reluctant to go further, even if they were able to.

The 80th Floor for the Behemoth's Nest, the 90th for the Leviathan's Pit, and the 100th Floor for the Black Dragon's Lair. To open the gate and continue on to conquer the dungeon fully, all of the monster kings must first be brought low; the door won't open until the Dragon is dead. I doubt I will ever be able to force the way. We have learned some answers, even if they're unsatisfying. Now it's time to head back

Very well she suppressed a shudder at his words; if that was what he had learned, she never wanted to see the other side of that door. The Black Dragon had been a calamity to even the most powerful adventurers to ever walk in Orario. The existence of that door meant something even worse further beyond than that thing.