Chapter 53: The Hidden Sanctuary
Later that night,
"Kyuu."
"Shh... don’t make a sound," Dion whispered as he crept out of the mansion, carrying a magic lamp as he headed toward the hill in the back. Gina hovered right behind him, trying to stop him by tugging on his clothes, but Dion just brushed her tiny paw away.
"Kyuuu... kyuu!"
Gina grumbled in protest as she floated beside him, her cute little face looking thoroughly annoyed.
"Yeah, I know, I’m not up to no good. I just want to look around on my own... I couldn’t exactly invite the others, so please keep it down," Dion whispered.
"Kyuuu..."
Gina simply shook her head and kept floating right behind him. Slowly and carefully, Dion made his way up the hill. Reaching the top, he took in the dark, quiet atmosphere of his parents’ grave before walking straight toward the pillar ruins and the stone tablet he had seen earlier that day. Instead of stopping in front of the tablet, he stepped up to the pillar, crouched down, and cleared away the grass at its base to reveal a floor tile underneath.
"Nice, it still here... sorry, Luna, I didn’t bring you to the secret room that served as our hideout that one time when we were kids, haha," Dion thought in his head.
He pressed down on the tile, stood up, and took a step back.
Creeeak.
The pillar slid to the side, revealing an opening with a staircase leading down. Dion glanced over at the tablet beside him, then looked down into the dark stairwell.
"Back when I was a kid, I never noticed the carvings of my personas on that tablet... and when I buried my parents, I was too heartbroken to pay attention... the last time I came down here was during a break from the academy," he thought, staring down the steps.
"Kyuu?" Gina asked.
"Yep, that’s right. Only I know about this place because I played here all the time as a kid," Dion said with a smile.
"Kyuu... kyuu."
"Luna knows... she came in here once, back during our first break from the academy," Dion added.
"Oh... is that so?"
The air went dead quiet. The smile on Dion’s face instantly froze. He turned around slowly, raising his magic lamp, his eyes going wide as he locked eyes with Mei standing right behind him.
"Whoaaaah!"
Dion jumped out of his skin, dropping the lamp in the process, luckily, Mei reacted fast enough to catch it.
"W-what are you doing here, Mei? You almost gave me a heart attack," Dion gasped, clutching his chest.
"Ever since the Shadow Hand breached our borders, I’ve been keeping watch up here every night without telling a soul... so my question is, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night? And where does that staircase lead? To some ancient ruins?" Mei asked, pointing down at the open passageway.
"Oh... I see... thanks for the hard work. You can head back to the mansion and get some sleep so you’re fresh tomorrow morning," Dion said with a bright smile.
"Hey... don’t think you can just order me back to the mansion to sleep. I’m already here and I’ve already seen it, so don’t even think about brushing me off," Mei replied sternly.
Mei then snatched Gina right out of the air and snuggled her. Dion let out a heavy sigh, realizing there was no way he was going to get rid of her now.
"Fine... let me show you inside. This is where I used to play as a kid," Dion said.
"Oh... really?" Mei asked, her eyes lighting up with interest.
"Yeah... come on," Dion invited.
They headed down the stairs, Dion holding the lamp out to light the pitch-black steps ahead.
"Where... does this actually go?" Mei asked, holding Gina close as she looked around.
"To a secret room," Dion answered offhandedly.
"Huh... a secret room?" Mei asked.
"Yeah... my childhood hideout... kind of like Batman’s Batcave and his command center, I guess," Dion replied nonchalantly.
"Huh... Batman? Batcave?" Mei asked, growing even more confused.
"Don’t worry about it, just forget I said anything," Dion said. "Oh right, there’s no Batman in this world, I forgot. I just like this room because it feels like a Batcave," Dion thought to himself.
Reaching the bottom, they came across a heavy stone door covered in relief carvings. Dion ran his hand across the surface, pulling out a carved section to reveal what looked like a modern stone scanning device behind it. Without hesitation, Dion placed his palm against it, and a red light swept across his hand. Mei watched the whole thing in stunned silence, and even Gina clung to her, completely motionless.
Click.
A loud unlatching sound echoed through the chamber. Dion pushed against the door with all his might as it slid open. Once there was a gap, Dion slipped inside and reached back out through the door toward Mei. She took his hand and stepped inside. Bright light immediately bathed her face. As she looked around, her eyes went wide.
"W-what is this? What is this place?" Mei asked, breathless.
"Pretty nice, right?" Dion asked, glancing at her with a proud look.
The room was roughly five by four meters, with a seven-meter ceiling lit by glowing magic crystal lamps, clearly ancient artifacts from a bygone era. In the center stood a long, petrified stone table surrounded by six chairs, several unrecognizable paintings faded on the walls, a stone bookshelf that had long turned to fossil, a sealed weapon rack, and a stone bench shaped like a lounge chair.
Across the walls and ceiling, ancient runes glowed in vibrant colors, reds, blues, greens, and yellows. Dion strolled through the room casually with a nostalgic look on his face, while Mei stood frozen near the entrance, hugging Gina so tightly the little creature looked positively miserable. Gina finally wriggled free, floated over to the stone table, and landed there, staring around with her mouth agape.
"This is... incredible... those lamps are definitely ancient artifacts," Mei mumbled, finally finding her voice.
"Hmm... I don’t know much about artifacts, but this room is pretty awesome, right? Cozy, too," Dion said, dusting off the stone lounge chair before sitting down.
Mei began wandering around the room. She noticed a stone structure shaped like a door on the wall that was sealed shut, as well as a dark, unopenable window directly behind the long table. Looking up at the ceiling, she marveled at the crystal lamps embedded alongside glowing ancient runes, scripts that no longer existed anywhere in the world except inside old texts.
"If Cleo saw this... she’d probably pass out again like last time," Mei said.
"Hmm... probably. Luna came here once, and the two of us played around in here," Dion replied casually.
"So you came out here in the middle of the night just to check out this room?" Mei asked.
"Hmm... that was part of it, but I actually wanted to do an aerial survey of the valley because I was curious about those tall obelisks in the center," Dion said, sitting up straight.
"I see... but why are you only looking into it now?" Mei asked, looking at him.
"When I was a kid, I didn’t think much of it. Then I never really had the chance to come back, since Luna and I went straight to Minatheras after the academy. It was only after coming back and having some free time that I remembered what I used to see as a kid, so I got curious. That’s all," Dion explained.
"Hmm... that makes sense. After the academy, we all went our separate ways and got busy with our own lives," Mei said, walking closer.
She sat down on the stone lounge right next to Dion, her eyes constantly wandering around in awe of the room’s beauty. Eventually, she leaned back beside Dion, gazing up at the ceiling covered in glowing lamps and colorful runes, feeling like she was staring up at a starry night sky. Mei placed a hand over her chest.
"For some reason... it feels so comforting here," Mei whispered.
"Yep... you’re not the only one who feels it," Dion replied easily.
"Ever since I got here, I’ve felt something unique about your land, I just couldn’t tell what it was. Cleo and Luna felt it too, right?" Mei asked.
"Yeah... you guys are weird, I didn’t feel a thing," Dion replied.
"Hmph... that’s just because you’re used to being here," Mei said, nudging Dion with her elbow.
"Haha... true enough. Come on, let me grab her before she falls asleep," Dion said, pointing toward the table.
Mei turned to see Gina spinning in circles, trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep on top of the petrified stone table, which looked cold and solid. Dion and Mei stood up, and Dion scooped Gina into his hands.
"Kyuuuuu?"
Gina looked startled and let out a cranky squeak, her face scrunching up in anger. Dion gently petted her head with a smile.
"Don’t fall asleep just yet. I want to take you on a little night tour around the valley above," Dion said.
"Kyuuuuu!" Gina let out an angry cry.
"Yeah, yeah... just for a little bit, then we’ll head home and go straight to sleep," Dion coaxed with a grin
He turned to look at Mei, who was still admiring her surroundings. Dion gently touched her shoulder until she turned to face him.
"Let’s head out. We’ll do a quick loop and then go back," Dion invited.
"Oh... okay," Mei replied.
They walked back out through the door and climbed the stairs. Neither of them noticed that the petrified stone table bore a detailed relief carving, a terrifying giant dragon ridden by a sinister, crowned king.