189: A Company of Fools: Royal Mystery I

The tugging feeling I had felt for the last few moments suddenly disappeared, and I was left standing with my eyes closed.

"Chase? Chase?" Jane called out nervously.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Are we dead?" Jane asked. I flexed my fingers and toes and rolled my neck, then shook my head.

"I don't think so." I replied.

"Well, you two could open your eyes, and then you'd know for sure." Turak'Kahn called out.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a large stone room with no windows. The only ones around were Jane, Turak'Kahn, and Viola. We were all standing on slightly raised circular platforms that were covered in runes that I recognized as the same ones that were on the bottom of that crystal tablet.

"Okay…where are we?" Jane asked, looking around at the room.

"Looks like a way station of some sorts." Viola said. She knelt down and examined the runes on her platform. "I think we teleported."

"Mother, that's impossible! Teleportation magic is a myth!" Jane huffed in a slightly annoyed voice.

"Doesn't seem that impossible anymore, Jane. Considering we're inside another room when we were in the Royal library a second ago." I said, motioning to the walls around us.

Turak'Kahn stepped off his platform and walked over to a nearby wall. It had a slightly raised archway recessed into the wall. He placed his hand on the stone, and the circular farm crystal thar was embedded in his shoulder glowed brightly. A spell sigil appeared on the wall, and the stone shimmered and waved, almost phasing out of existence. We could now all sew through the stone, and the Pharaoh's hand went straight through it.

"Seems like this is the way out." He said, looking back at the rest of us.

"Let me go first." I said, stepping down from my platform and rushing over to the Pharaoh. He arched a brow at me.

"You think I'm scared of the unknown?" He asked.

"No. I can regrow a lost limb very easily, I'm guessing you can't." I said, arching a brow up at him. He stared at me for a second, then stepped to the side.

"No, I cannot." He said. I took a breath and then stepped through the shimmering doorway. I didn't feel anything as I passed through it and made it to the other side with no problem.

When I made it through to the other side, I gasped and looked at the walls around me. I was standing in an enormous hallway made of crystal and precious gemstones. The floor was solid, and Jade and ruby cut into isometric shapes and placed into an interesting design. The ceiling was more than forty yards above my head and decorated in vibrant sapphires and diamonds.

"What the hell?" I gasped.

"What is it?" Turak'Kahn asked.

"You guys gotta see this!" I exclaimed as I turned to get a better look at the hall around me. Turak'Kahn and Jane both came through the doorway and gasped as they saw what I saw.

"The greatest halls in Egypt don't even come close to this majesty…" Turak'Kahn gasped. "Viola! Come quickly!"

Viola looked up from her raised platform and saw everyone else standing in the hallway. She'd been so engrossed in her inspection that she hadn't noticed everyone leave. She quickly rushed over and nearly tripped over her feet when she made it into the hallway.

"This architecture…it has to be several millennia old at least…" Viola gasped as she ran her hand over one of the walls. "…there's mana running through all these gemstones. It's faint, but I can feel it."

"Really?" I asked, then knelt down and touched the floor. Sure enough, there was mana flowing through the gemstones. The trace was faint, but the fact I could feel it in the entire floor and not just as a single stream meant that there was an ungodly amount of mana flowing around us.

"How could there be mana in the gems?" Jane asked.

I squinted at the gemstones' tiles and saw tiny runes etched into the corners of each other the tiles. Every tile was a part of a massive circuit moving mana through the hallway.

"Someone etched runes into them. The floors, the walls, I'm guessing even the ceiling is part of a mana circuit. Though who or what could be supplying mana to a space this big, I don't know." I replied. Viola stood up and pointed down the hallway.

"The mana flow is coming from that way. So if we follow the flow, we'll eventually find what's generating the mana and hopefully find some answers as well." Viola said. I frowned at the queen.

"Are you sure we want to find what's generating all this mana?" I asked. Jane nodded in agreement.

"I agree with Chase. Something that can generate this much mana is obviously a threat. It makes no sense to head towards danger." She said. Viola motioned to the space around us.

"We're already in danger. We're in unfamiliar territory with no idea what's around us. We might as well be blind mice stumbling in a maze." Viola said. Jane's eyes widened, and then she looked to me.

"Chase, can you have Bone-lasher check the area around us?" Jane asked. I nodded in agreement.

"Sure…" I said, then directed my mind towards my connection to Bone-lasher. [Hey Bone, did you catch all that?]

I waited a couple of seconds, but there was no reply. I frowned and owed my eyes this time and tried again.

[Hello? Bone-lasher? You there?] I called again. Once again, there is no reply. I tried to enter my farm crystal to see what was going on, but the second my consciousness tried to enter my crystal, I felt immediate pushback from some outside force. Like there was an invisible force field around my farm crystal preventing access.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed, then looked down at my crystal.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked.

"Something's blocking me from connecting with my evos…" I said, then tried to channel mana into my hand. Just like before, when I tried to contact Bone-lasher, I felt an immediate pushback. "…not just my evos either, I can't use my mana."

Turak'Kahn looked worried and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened them and scowled.

"My mana is blocked as well…this is…disturbing." He announced.

"It's probably whatever is supplying mana to this place! All the more reason to find it!" Viola exclaimed excitedly.

"All the more reason to avoid it! If it can seal our mana and cut us off from our evos, then it is way too powerful and dangerous!" Jane snapped.

"Jane, mind your tone!" Turak'Kahn said sternly, then added. "But I agree with our daughter, my love. Something or someone that can do that is way too dangerous."

Viola huffed and stood up, crossing her arms at her husband.

"Turry…!" Viola groaned only to be cut off by Turak'Kahn.

"Don't 'Turry' me, Viola. We've essentially been kidnapped and taken to an unknown location. Caution is our best option, regardless of your historical and archeological research." Turak'Kahn said.

"Well, now I kinda want to go that way…" I said. Turak'Kahn and Jane both turned and looked at me in amazement.

"Wait, you just said we need to be careful!" Jane snapped.

"Yeah, but that was before I knew there was something sealing my mana. No matter which way we go, we are going to be in danger. If all that mana is flowing that way then there is a chance that will lead to the core of this place and if comics have taught me anything: you fond the power station the control room is a few floors above it." I explained.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say, Chase." Jane said.

"Makes perfect sense to me!" Viola exclaimed, then rushed over to me and locked arms with me. "Well then, Chase Kingstown, you can be my brave knight and guard me while we explore."

"Viola!" Turak'Kahn groaned. Viola looked at Turak'Kahn coyly, then smiled.

"Well if we do manage to find our way out of here I'll be sure to remember that my darling husband didn't offer to protect me…and just when that new outfit I bought for our anniversary came in. That red leather one that you said would look good on me…" She said in an enticing tone while batting her eyelashes seductively at her husband.

"MOTHER!" Jane bellowed and blushed profusely. She wasn't the only one blushing. Turak'Kahn's body went rigid as a deep blush appeared on his face, a great feat considering the deep olive color of his skin.

Turak'Kahn quickly rushed over to his wife and took her hand and linked it into his arm in an escorting position, and then turned down the hallway towards whatever was sending mana.

"Let's go…" He muttered in a slightly embarrassed tone.

"FATHER!" Jane bellowed in disbelief. Viola placed a hand against her cheek in a fake display of innocence.

"My brave knight-king! If we make it back home, I'll have to reward you for protecting me…maybe let you try out those…other leather goods I bought…" Viola said teasingly.

"SET! ANUBIS! ANYONE! TAKE ME NOW!" Jane groaned and covered her ears.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Janey!" Viola said as she and Turak'Kahn started down the hallway. I laughed and elbowed Jane slightly in the side.

"You never said your parents were this fun." I said with a chuckle. She shot me a glare and then headed after her parents.

"They're rulers of a country. They're not supposed to be fun…" She muttered bitterly as she walked.

***

We ended up walking down the hallway for what seemed like an eternity. The hallways seemed to be never-ending. We passed a dozen or so recesses in the wall that could have been done ways, but the mana flow wasn't being sent from any of them, so we left them alone. When we finally did reach the end of the hallway, we found ourselves looking at a giant archway made of crystal and jade that led into another grand room.

That room was a power plant of some sort. In the center of the room stood an enormous crystal the size of one of the spires back at Andromeda College. It was levitating in the center of a pool of a solver liquid that sword around the base as the whole crystal turned.

Around the room were various crystal nodes that jutted up from the ground, almost like terminals. Viola gasped and rushed over to the first one she saw and marveled over it. I walked over to the massive crystal in the center of the room. There was a small crystal terminal in front of the silver pool. As I approached, I felt a tug at my mana. I looked down at my crystal and saw that it was glowing.

"Hey! Guys!" I called out to everyone, holding up my hand. Viola and Jane both gasped and rushed over to look at my hand.

"What did you do?" They both asked. I shook my head and shrugged.

"Nothing. I just walked over…" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw their mana crystals glow as well. Jane's was a little hard to spot since it was covered by her hair and on the back of her neck, but Viola's was on her palm.

"It seems it's happening to all of us…" Turak'Kahn said, then looked up at the massive crystal. "…I can feel my mana being tugged towards that. It's almost like it's calling me towards it."

"Same here…" I said, then turned to look at the crystal node. I reached out and touched the node. The moment I did, I felt a surge of mana pour into my crystal. It glowed bright red as I quickly went into Mana overload.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

I tried to pull my hand off the node, but couldn't it was like there was a force keeping it rooted to it. Jane, Viola, and Turak'Kahn all quickly grabbed me and tried to pull me off the node, but the mana then started to pour into them. Everyone screamed and writhed as their bodies were ravaged by mana.

I had to think fast and decided to purge all my mana, sending it out of my body in waves to try and curb the excess. As the mana waves traveled across the rooms, they struck the other crystal nodes. The nodes all began to glow, and beams of energy shot from me and struck each node. The nodes glowed with an emerald green light before beams shot from each of them and struck the massive floating crystal.

The whole crystal glowed that bright green color and runes began flashing all over the floor, ceiling, and walls, illuminating the room for several seconds before a beam of solid mana shot from the top of the crystal and disappeared into the darkness above us.

I yanked my hand free of the node and groaned loudly as I still felt some of the effects of the mana overload. I wasn't the only one. The Pharaoh and Queen were both bleeding from their noses while Jane was bleeding from her ears. I got away with just a couple of muscle spasms, though that probably had to do with my larger mana capacity.

"What…was that…?" Turak'Kahn gasped as he wiped his nose.

"I think we turned on the power…this place feels more alive. I can practically feel mana humming on the air." Viola said, looking up at the massive glowing crystal. Jane growled and turned to me.

"That was stupid! Why do you always have other touch everything!" She snapped. "I can't tell who's worse, you or Bo!"

I frowned and crossed my arms.

"If I hadn't touched it, your mother would have, I'd much rather it have been me since I have better mana control." I said with a huff. Jane started to refute what I said but frowned when she realized I was right.

"It's always something with you…" She muttered and wiped the blood from her ears.

'What is going on with her today?' I thought as I turned to look at the chamber now.

Not much had changed except for the glowing runes that dotted everywhere now, and a new doorway had appeared. It was different from the one that we had come in. It was made entirely out of mana and looked to be about as thick as my hand. It looked more like a pane of glass than a doorway, actually.

"I think that is the way out." I said, pointing to the doorway. Viola looked in the direction I was pointing, and her eyebrows shot up.

"Fascinating…" She said, then rushed over to look at it. Jane groaned and quickly followed after her mother. Turak'Kahn stepped closely to me.

"You noticed it too, haven't you?" Turak'Kahn whispered.

"The odd relationship between Jane and Viola…yeah..." I whispered back. Turak'Kahn nodded and watched his wife examine the doorway while Jane fussed at her about getting too close. "…I'm not used to her being so critical…she's usually the one stepping in and keeping Iris and me from bumping heads. In the last month, however, she's getting more…expressive I guess you can say."

"She trusts you, so she's allowing more of her real personality to shine through and not keep up the royal mask that we all put on for the people." Turak'Kahn replied. He smiled at Jane. However, there was a hint of sadness to it. "…Jane and Viola have never truly seen eye to eye. Viola is a talented splicer with tied to many noble families in Europe. She's actually eleventh in line for the British throne. Not that you'd guess that by looking at her."

"Yeah…she's a little…umm…"

"Ditzy? single-minded? Clumsy? Yes, I know, but that's what I love about her. Instead of putting on a mask for everyone like many nobles and royals do, she is genuinely herself at all times. She's passionate and brilliant, sincere with everyone she meets. It's that charisma and kindness that won over the nation." Turak'Kahn replied.

"But not Jane?" I asked. Turak'Kahn groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, not Jane. I blame my mother for the rift between Jane and Viola. The former queen did not approve of my marriage to Viola, but with my father dead, I could do nothing to stop it. So instead, she poisoned Jane against her…she 'educated' on what a real queen is supposed to look like, how a noble is supposed to act. Gave her strict guidelines to follow to be considered a true splicer. By the time Viola and I noticed what my mother was doing, it was too late. There was a rift between Jane and Viola because Viola did not embody my mother's ideals on royalty." Turak'Kahn explained.

"I see…why tell me this?" I asked. Turak'Kahn smiled and looked at me.

"Because of my daughter trusts you enough to open her heart to you, then maybe one day, she'll change for you…" He said softly then walked over to separate his wife and daughter who'd gotten into a argument about the doorway.

"You give me way too much credit…" I muttered, then nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "…I can't even fix my family…how can I fix yours…"