Chapter Text
After a long lunch break—which involved us scarfing down food like we’d been starved and then taking an hour nap—we returned to Base Camp, fully geared up and somewhat more rested now. It was now past 3 in the afternoon and I was all for knocking out the Lunarium and calling it a day. Cam wanted to do as much today as we could, and Ethan was undecided but was inclined to agree with Cam.
I didn’t feel like arguing, but at the same time I was kinda wanting my lazy weekends back. Fortunately, Ethan sympathized with that. “Jake, trust me, I’d love nothing more than to just curl up in bed with you and Cam and just do nothing the rest of the day. I’m wiped out! But Morganthe isn’t going to wait around for us. So we have to do as much as we can today.”
I mumbled, mostly to myself, “You’re lucky I love you two.” I cleared my throat and spoke directly to them, my tone all business. “All right, then let’s get moving. The Lunarium is waiting.” We went to enter the portal and were halted by Edith, who was running towards us and calling for us to hold on a moment.
We waited for her as she raced up to the stone platform, panting from exertion. Finally she caught her breath. “Glad I caught you! I meant to ask before, when you restored the portal, but I got sidetracked. Since you’re going into the Lunarium, would you mind doing something for me? It’ll be a big help.”
I warily responded, “Sure, I guess. What do you need?” I didn’t want to get bogged down with too many additional tasks, but if it was something easy I didn’t mind.
She beamed at me. “Great! In the Lunarium are two massive statues of Celestial Protectors. They guide all the other Celestial Protectors and are the key to understanding Celestian Technology, because they contain the Lexicary Celestia! Kind of like an instruction manual for Celestian technology, if my research is right.
“Would you mind defeating one of the Celestial Protecters—one of the smaller ones, not the statues of course—and take an intact Sensorium from it? You might have to fight a few to find one, but they’re a kind of crystal brain. When you’ve got one, present it to the statues, then return it to me. I’ll be ever so grateful!” She was wriggling with excitement, the thought of new information making her tail wag and her ears perk up.
It was kinda funny, and I’ll admit I snickered a little. She didn’t notice, so I replied, “Sure, that seems easy enough. We can do that. All right, guys, let’s go.” We proceeded through the portal one at a time, into the Portico outside the Lunarium.
I followed Ethan and Cam, and immediately inhaled a mouthful of water. It seemed that we were underwater again. Great. Would have been nice if someone had warned me! I coughed, almost choking before the water-breathing spell kicked in, in the process finding out that it took a second to kick in.
I sent a mental warning to Kehar, who was right behind me. He grumbled but reluctantly followed, treading water near me. Meanwhile I was already shedding clothes. I didn’t care about modesty, I was just thinking practically. Less clothing, less fluid drag. Ethan and Cam rolled their eyes when they saw me stripping but said nothing.
I stuck out my tongue at them and kept undressing, taking off everything but keeping my wand. I bundled my now-soaked clothes up and swam back through the portal, landing a little harder than intended. I used my wings to stabilize myself, then walked quickly across to where the portal to the Mansion was, drawing more than a few stares from the handful of Dogs who were in sight. Edith, unfortunately, was still near enough to see me. “Gah! What the—bloody hell, man, put on some clothes!”
I grinned unrepentantly. “But where’s the fun in that? Don’t mind me, this is just more practical underwater.” I quickly entered the Mansion and dropped my pack, drying it with a quick wave of my wand. I spread my clothes on the hearth to dry and then, wand in hand, returned to the portal.
Back in the Portico I found that Ethan and Cam were already ahead of me. I quickly caught up with them, raising a shield as I got too close to a malfunctioning Celestial Protector. I noticed they were all running around, but not in any kind of orderly way. Almost like they were malfunctioning.
I swam up to where my boyfriends and Familiar were waiting by the only Protector that wasn’t malfunctioning. It was inactive, slumped over in a standing position. Cam greeted me. “Oh there you are, Jake. I see you noticed the robots.” Sarcasm was heavy in his tone, but his eyes were dancing with humor.
I didn’t laugh, and responded rather bluntly, “Yeah, thanks for the heads up. What’s wrong with them? They’re not attacking now, but they did when I got close.”
Cam’s voice echoed a bit as he stuck his head inside the breastplate of the inactive Protector. “Yeah, I think their proximity sensors are damaged, and this one’s got a dead power mote. Maybe if we find a working power mote we can get it running again. It has a binding enchantment on it too, one I don’t recognize.”
He pulled his head out and faced me, a serious expression on his handsome face. “All I can tell is that it’s a lethargy spell, which is why the power mote is dead. The spell slowed it down and it ran out of power trying to break free. Hopefully its memory is intact, because this is a personalized spell that only the caster will know the unweaving spell for.”
We set about attacking the nearest Protector, as Ethan and I agreed it was the best course of action. Kehar helped by channeling mana and healing the few wounds we received, and I used Fortify on us again. By the time it ran out, we’d collected a fully-charged Power Mote and an intact Sensorium for Edith.
Ethan stashed the Sensorium in his pack and Cam took charge of the Power Mote, installing it into the inactive Protector by the massive doorway I hadn’t noticed at first. While Cam fiddled with the internal workings of the Protector I decided to take a few minutes to look around, swimming around lazily as Cam was eager to get a close look at the inactive Protector.
Starting at the Portal, which was on a circular stone platform, I noted that the phases of the moon were painted onto it, all eight of them surrounding the portal. There was a sloped ramp down to the central platform, and at the four corners there were ramps that led further down, turning back on themselves a bit. At the base of the four ramps were one-story oval buildings, their roofs rounded and flat on top.
The two buildings closest to the Portal had what I recognized as training interfaces, because they matched the ones from the Stellarium. I wanted to see what spells were available, but after my experience in the Stellarium I knew better than to try and learn too much at once. I swam down to the trainer and gently placed my hands on the pedestal.
Instantly I was greeted by the now-familiar voice in my mind, repeating the formulaic message as the last interface. “Greetings. I am the Moon School Trainer, a construct created to aid you in learning the Astral school of the Moon. How may I assist you?”
I prompted it to display the available spells and it listed them one by one. At first it didn’t make sense, though. It was just listing off various shapes you could take, which confused me even more. Then I asked for a basic understanding of how Moon Magic worked. The trainer complied, downloading the requisite information into my mind.
I took a moment to process that information. Finally I understood that Moon Magic allows the user to temporarily alter their form, and each form had advantages and disadvantages. For example, the Piscean form allows the user to breathe more easily underwater, as well as increased affinity for swimming and Storm magic, but it’s weaker when used on dry land.
The treant, on the other hand, allows greater use of Life Magic as well as the ability to influence, and attack with, nearby flora. It makes you more prone to catching on fire, though, since you’re made of wood. I thought for a moment, weighing the options individually, prompting the interface to list each form in detail, including its pros and cons.
I finally selected three forms: the Piscean, the Treant, and the Cat Bandit. That last one was mainly for the fact it increased agility, which could come in handy if I needed to leap high or far.
Feeling newly empowered, I returned to where Ethan and Cam were talking to a ghost, who apparently was the one that had cast the original lethargy spell on the inactive Protector. “Oh, hey Jake. This is Captain Kolton Gloomfane. He was just telling us about that spell.”
I nodded at the ghost. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”
He returned the greeting. “The pleasure is mine, young ones. As I was saying, the war was so long ago and I have no interest in further conflict. I gave the unweaving enchantment to three of my former henchmen: Thrale Bonestriker, Vorgen Soulbreaker, and Servus Bloodsword. Each has one-third of the enchantment you’ll need.
“They aren’t as pragmatic about the war as I am, however, so you’ll have to fight them. Once you have all the pieces, return here and I’ll help you figure out what order the parts go in.”
I looked at him quizzically, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”
The Captain turned his head to me, staring at me with dead, uncaring eyes. “Boy, I died over a century ago. I cannot even remember the full enchantment you seek to undo. Be grateful I remember anything! I should be able to figure out what order each part goes in, but I cannot remember the parts anymore. Now go!”
My cheeks burning from the reprimand, I swam away with Ethan, Cam, and Kehar. We found and defeated each of the three henchmen; before their spirits faded away, presumably to whatever afterlife awaited them, they each repeated a single phrase in Draconian.
Cam and I both committed them to memory and returned to Captain Gloomfane. With his help we were able to piece together the full unweaving enchantment, which Cam then used on the inactive Protector.
As soon as he finished, the Protector shuddered and slowly stood up straight, the sword in its right hand pointing at us defensively. “Who are you? What has happened in this place? I have been dormant for so very long.”
We raised our hands in surrender and I spoke to it. “We mean no harm. We were actually hoping you could tell us what you do remember.”
It nodded and began to speak, as though its leader had asked for a report. “Morganthe and her armies were raised against Celestia. The Celestians summoned the Storm Titan to protect them, but it did so by drowning the entire world. There was a flood…we tried to protect our cities against the rising waters but could not save it all. There was not enough time. Morganthe and her army retreated and we relaxed our guard, focusing on repair and adapting to life underwater.
“Meanwhile, Morganthe’s armies returned before we had fully recovered. Many of the remaining Celestians perished, so we Stellar Protectors sought to protect Celestia’s secrets from Morganthe. In the end we denied her, so she slew everyone, including most of her own men, and left the rest here, trapped in an endless battle that has continued even after death. The ghosts of her armies fight the ghosts of the Celestians, for she used her dark power to trap them in this world, preventing them from joining their ancestors in the Afterlife.”
The Stellar Protector (not Celestian Protector, as Edith had referred to them) raised its sword, holding it in front as in salute. “I will release the barrier that prevents you from entering the Lunarium and hereby vest all of you with the full authority of a Celestian luminary.”
Its sword glowed faintly and died away a moment later. There was a pause, and then the doors creaked open. We swam inside and they shut behind us as we took in the sight before us. We were on a balcony of darker gray stone shaped like a crescent moon. To the left and the right, against the walls, were ramps leading down to the floor. There were four massive crystals spaced around the room. One rested between the two points of the balcony we were on, two on either side of a high platform on the opposite side of the room, and one in front of the stairs that led to the top.
We decided to talk to another Stellar Protector for more information. There was one not too far in, standing near what seemed to be the main crystal. The crystal floated over a pit, which was placed between the points of the entranceway balcony, and there were beams of red light directed at it from smaller crystals set in the floor around the edges of the pit.
We approached the Stellar Protector, which had just enough power to speak haltingly as we approached. “I…exist…to…serve…my luminary. The souls…of the dead…are trapped…in this place. Morganthe’s legions…their spirits…corrupt this…place. Selenor…will not open…inner sanctum…until they are…gone. Activate…crystal…pylons…they…will…be free.”
Its message delivered, the Protector shuddered and died, falling to the floor with a massive clanging sound. I groaned. “Ugh! It could have explained why we need to activate the pylons but no, it just died. Uh, Cam, are you going to try to fix that?” While I had already started towards the nearest crystal, Cam was shoving the pieces of the Protector in his pack.
He grinned, his face lit up with excitement. “What? It’s not like it’s unusable. I can do something with it, or at least study it. Please?”
I shook my head, a wry smile tugging at my lips. Cam never passed up an opportunity to get more gadgets to tinker with. “You don’t need my permission to keep it, but please for the love of Raven don’t you dare bring it to Lucas’ shop. I’ll never hear the end of it with both of you wanting to show me what you’re gonna do with it. I can’t understand half of what you say when you get excited, and I don’t see the point of re-using old technology.”
I knew instantly I had said the wrong thing. Cam’s happy face disappeared, replaced by a cold, distant casualness that belied the tension that was now rolling off him in waves. I didn’t need to hear his thoughts to know I’d upset him, it was written in the stubborn set of his jaw and his blank expression.
I turned to Ethan, my heart in my throat, letting my anxiety color itself on my face. He rested one hand on my shoulder when I made to move closer, shaking his head and indicating with a jerk of one thumb that we should give Cam some space. We swam away to activate the pylons, which took a mere touch and a small amount of channeled mana.
Cam joined us after he was done dismantling and packing up the Stellar Protector, still sulky and coldly distant. I tried to get close, to let him know I was just teasing, but he swam away without a word.
Kehar sent a thought to me. ::He’s not mad at you, cubling. But your words made it seem as though you do not appreciate his talents. He is hurt:: I groaned in frustration. Of course he would think that! Great.
I knew Kehar had already been talking with Cam; he’d sensed my distress and taken it upon himself to talk to “Mom” and try to ease the tension. I had sensed the silent exchange, but Kehar blocked me before I could listen in. I’d only been able to sense the merest thread of emotions, and only from Kehar.
::What do I say, then? I didn’t mean that, but he’s avoiding me!:: Kehar didn’t have an answer, but sagely advised me that the right time would present itself soon. That didn’t exactly help much, but I thanked him for talking with Cam on my behalf. I sent him my appreciation for his support, which made him smile and swim closer, butting his head against me as though he were a small kitten that wanted affection. I gave him a quick pet on the head and refocused on my task.
By now we had activated the third crystal and were now fighting the two Stellar Protectors that had attacked us. Cam was helping, but he wasn’t looking at me and he seemed a little too aggressive, summoning two Tritons that were shooting arcs of electricity at the now-fried Protectors.
I yelled at Cam, “They’re down! Let the spell go, Cam!” I had to get close to be heard over the sounds of thunder from the Tritons’ attacks. He swiveled and faced me, his face a hard mask of anger. Ethan drew closer but kept a distance; I guessed that he was letting me work it out with Cam on my own while being close enough for moral support, a touch I appreciated.
I was taken aback at Cam’s ferocity; this wasn’t like him at all. “They’re not good for anything, so I might as well destroy them, right?” Cam’s tone was bitter, the words sharper than a knife as they sliced through my already-bruised heart.
I spoke softly, drifting slowly closer, curling my legs around Cam’s waist to anchor myself to him, hooking my feet together so I didn’t float away. That conveniently put my body against his, our hips grinding together. Totally not intentional. Ok maybe a little, but with him this mad I’d need every bit of help I could get.
I locked my hands around his neck, placing my face close to his. I did my best to keep my voice from showing how badly I was hurt, but it still trembled a bit as I spoke quietly, for his ears only. “Baby. Please, don’t be mad. I think it’s great that you’re good with making things. You’re good for Lucas, and I worry he might get into trouble without you around. I was just teasing. Please, let the spell go so we can get out of here.”
Slowly, Cam’s face returned to a neutral expression. I took a risk and pressed a kiss to his lips, putting as much affection into it as I could. He responded positively, but after a moment pushed me away. “Thank you, Jake. Apology accepted. And please accept mine, too. I reacted poorly; I, uh…don’t do well with criticism. And I get upset if I think someone doesn’t like the stuff I make.”
I had to laugh. “Cam, you silly boy! Of course I like what you make, if only because YOU made it. Plus you do love tinkering with things, and you’re good at coming up with new mount ideas. Without you, Marco’s shop wouldn’t be so popular! Apology accepted.”
Now that he was less grumpy, Cam let the spell go. The Tritons faded away and we proceeded up the steps to the top of the platform, leaving the piles of scorched metal that used to be Stellar Protectors at the base. The platform was circular, and behind it the balcony spread to the left and right in another crescent shape. At the center was a Stellar Protector, this one larger and a lovely gold color instead of the bland gray color of the others.
He had the same shape as the others, though, with a pointed, triangular head, a single glowing aperture on the front in place of eyes. The body resembled a futuristic set of armor with bulky arms, legs, a torso, and a sword in his right hand.
Selenor, or so I assumed based on the other Stellar Protector’s words, raised one hand and ordered us to halt. “You are no Celestian. I do not know how you came to this high place, but your orbit ends here!”
He began to attack and we quickly raised our shields. We did our best to not destroy him completely, and just before he was about to be shattered by Ethan’s Forest Lord, he shouted, “Halt! I yield. I sense you do not bear the taint of Morganthe’s Shadow-Web, nor do your hearts share her evil. I release unto you the Moon of Celestia. Use it well, and wisely. May it grant you hope and direction in the sea of night.”
With that, he returned to the center of the platform and took a guard stance, ignoring us now. Ethan spoke first. “O…k…well that settles that. I’ll get the Moon, guys.” He swam past Selenor towards a small circular platform, set in the center of the crescent balcony. On it was the Moon of Celestia, a stone token inscribed with a full moon.
It resonated with power, but not the same as the Star of Celestia. Something inside me answered it, timidly. It was like it wanted me to touch it, so I did. There was a bright flash of light and when it cleared, I found that I was now wearing the form of a lion. Well, not exactly. If my memory was right, I was now a Thornpaw, a race native to Zafaria. Fortunately, I could still breathe underwater.
Cam and Ethan swam a few feet back, exclaiming colorful oaths of surprise. “Jake? What the hell?” That was Ethan, who was now swimming back to me. He took my…paw, I guess, running his hands over my fur. I felt him stroking it, and I knew that this was more than just an illusion. I felt my fur, my tail, everything. To my surprise, I was wearing clothing, a red cloth tunic and brown leather skirt.
Wait, skirt? Something was off about my chest, too. It was too heavy…oh no. I started to panic. Oh, Raven, no please no…I ripped the shirt with my paws, the claws extending in my distress. I had breasts. I felt down my body, beneath the skirt. I hiked it up, revealing that I had indeed become…a female! I closed my eyes, concentrating harder than I ever had, trying to use my rudimentary knowledge of Moon Magic to undo the transformation.
When I opened them, I was once again a human male. Yes, I checked, and I was very much relieved to be myself. I was nearly crying in relief, but noticed that Ethan and Cam were staring at me in shock, their expressions…strained? Tense? I wasn’t sure what that expression was, actually, but it looked like…“What? Something wrong?”
My words seemed to break them. They started to laugh, doubling over in their humor. They laughed so hard that Cam turned sideways in the water while Ethan almost ended upside down before they righted themselves. After they stopped laughing, of course.
I snapped, “Well, I’m glad you two found it funny. I didn’t. Come on, let’s go.” They were still snickering even as we made to left the Lunarium, starting the swim back to the portal to Base Camp. I managed to remember Edith’s request and reminded Ethan about the Sensorium. He held it up to one of the massive statues at the base of the stairs, and a greenish light leaped from the statue’s aperture to the Sensorium. A moment later it vanished.
Tasks completed, the four of us returned to Base Camp.Once we were back I immediately went to the Mansion and dressed in my now-dry clothes. Cam and Ethan stayed in Base Camp to install the Moon and speak with Edith, so only Kehar joined me.
I petted his head, letting the motion help me to calm down as I sat on the couch. When I’d touched the Moon of Celestia, it had seen fit to grant me a new transformation, but a female one. I tried to not let that get to me, but I’ll admit it upset me somewhat. Why a female Thornpaw? Was I just not masculine enough?
No, that wasn’t it. I examined my memories, analyzing what had happened in that moment. The Moon had granted me a form it thought useful. I’d been thinking about the forms I’d learned, but why had it granted me a Thornpaw Hunter form? And why female? Perhaps the Celestians hadn’t figured out a male version of the spell I now knew.
Maybe it was a hint from the Moon of Celestia. Maybe it saw something in me I had yet to recognize? Maybe it had some other, profound meaning I had yet to understand!
::Or maybe,:: I thought to myself, ::It simply chose a form at random. Magic is strange.:: It felt silly to ascribe any sort of meaning to something so random as a freak act of magic.
Kehar spoke just then, his eyes watching me with a sympathetic look. “Cubling. Do not think too much about it. You smell male, not female. I would know. You are what you are meant to be.”
I scratched his head between the ears, his eyes half closing in pleasure. “Thanks, buddy.” I stood up, brushing off the fur on my lap. I loved Kehar, but I probably needed to brush up on my cleaning spells before he started to shed too badly. “Now let’s go find those two clowns.” I couldn’t help but put a little bitterness in my tone; it was thoroughly disconcerting to not only change forms, but species and gender as well.
Kehar looked confused. “Clowns? I do not understand. Please explain.” I did just that while we walked out of the Mansion. It was somewhat of a novel experience to have to explain a concept that seemed simple to me.
Back in the Base Camp I scanned the area, looking for Ethan and Cam. I didn’t see them anywhere so I went to Edith, who was standing near the Grand Astrolabe, to see if she knew where they were. “Edith, did you happen to see where my boyfriends went?”
She looked up in surprise. “Oh! Hello. I spoke with them not too long ago when they installed the Moon of Celestia. The one with green hair…Ethan, right? He mentioned something about returning to the Stellarium, and the other one wanted to go as well. They’re probably still there.”
I thanked her and I quickly made my way through the portal to the District of the Stars. I had a suspicion as to why they’d returned; after a couple battles with me using Star magic, they’d seen it as useful and wanted to learn some Astral spells of their own. At least that’s what my guess was. I’d ask when I found them.
In the District of the Stars, I quickly scanned the area in case they were nearby. I didn’t see them so I crossed the grassy plaza and entered the Stellarium. I immediately saw Ethan and Cam at one of the two trainers. Both had one hand on it, and they weren’t talking so I guessed they were interacting with it mentally.
I waited patiently while they stood there motionless. After a minute, Cam stepped away, turning around to leave and running right into me. Laughing, I managed to keep us from falling over. “Whoa there, Cam. Hi. Whatcha doing?”
Cam was also laughing, and when he’d managed to get his balance back he replied, “Well that Fortify spell was so helpful we decided to get it. I also picked up Amplify, to boost spell power.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I figured that was what you were doing. Did Ethan say what he was getting?”
Cam shrugged indifferently. “I mean, he mentioned Fortify, of course, but there’s several spells in that database. As I know you know. I don’t know what else he’ll pick, to be honest.”
We waited for another couple of minutes, and finally Ethan stepped away. He grinned his huge, goofy grin when he saw me. “Hey, babe. Sorry for laughing earlier, I just didn’t know how else to respond.”
I hadn’t expected that, and I felt my heart melt a little more. I gave him a warm smile. “Thanks. Apology accepted. It was a big shock for me, too, I don’t know what happened. So what spells did you get?”
“Fortify and Mend. That one, in case you forgot, boosts healing spell’s power. And unlike some people, I know better than to try and learn six spells at the same time!”
I huffed indignantly. “Hey! The others might be useful someday. Did you want to visit the Lunarium, too, or are you done learning Astral magic? I think that Thornpaw Hunter would be a good look for you. Eh?” I looked at both of them pointedly, and when they didn’t respond to my heavily sarcastic jibe I added. “Good. Now then, what next? Did Edith have anything else she needs help with, or are we going to try and get the Sun of Celestia now?”
Cam pulled out his Quest Journal and showed me the next quest: Help the Science Team in the Science Center, speak with Piper Melville. “Edith said they’re having some issues with their mechanical workers and she can’t spare anyone else right now.”
I suppressed a sigh. “We might as well do what we can, then.” The four of us returned to Base Camp and turned right, heading towards the wall and yet another tunnel to another dome. I let Cam do the leading, and for the next hour or two I mainly just followed along, occasionally commenting, helping with fights, and so on.
My heart wasn’t in it because it mostly involved mechanical work, not magic. Ethan shared my apathy but Cam was fine on his own for the most part. I apologized twice for being so useless before Cam just said, “Jake, honey, stop apologizing! You didn’t do anything wrong, and if you tried to help you’d just be in my way! It’s fine, really. And you are helping by dismantling them for me.” Naturally, Cam wanted to keep as many of the automatons as he could, even when I reminded him that his pack could only hold so much before it overflowed or burst.
After that I didn’t mind just watching as Cam repaired galvanic fences—which was just tall metal posts that utilized electricity as a type of invisible, deadly fence—fixed a power generator, and helped take down Steam Winchers, Steam Trowellers, Steam Valets, Aqua-Bots, Hydro-Mechs, and other various robotic assistants that the Marleybonians had brought here and were now running amok.
Based on what Piper Melville said, the issue was a glitch in their cogitators, but she needed a few of them to diagnose the problem, and then wanted us to repair the galvanic fence so they would be protected from the ones still malfunctioning. Then she sent us on to another dome, the Arboretum, to help Engineer Montgomery with the same issues: repair Galvanic fence, defeat glitchy robots, repair the power generator, and then we investigated what the problem’s source was.
We had to collect a faulty cogitator and follow where it led it, which took us to a sealed room called the Conservatory. Another dome, yay. According to Montgomery, we needed power sources from the three Astral Schools to generate a key.
That meant we had to defeat Water-Matons and collect three power cores, a strange fish-robot hybrid that was apparently very simplistic and not at all free-willed. Except they weren’t obeying orders. So much for no free will, I guess.
So we collected the cores and inserted them into grooved slots on a fountain in the Arboretum. It was obviously Celestian, and was shaped like a teardrop. A fish, actually little more than a curved teardrop shape, spewed water from its tail, to fall into the basin below.
Once the power cores were slotted into the grooves, they shimmered and a key materialized above the fountain. Cam quickly grabbed it but said something was off about it. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but could tell it didn’t look right somehow.
So we returned to Montgomery, who instantly pointed out that the flanges weren’t aligned properly. He sent Cam back to the Research Station and told him to ask Piper Melville for specific parts.
That errand didn’t take long, so Ethan and I waited while he returned to the first dome and came back, his hands full of parts and carrying a toolbox. Montgomery thanked him and got to work right away. A few minutes later the key was repaired and we were able to enter the Conservatory.
It turned out to be pretty boring, actually. It was just an empty room, circular with the familiar patterns and designs that were common in Celestian architecture. The only variation was that there was a Steam Valet and a Water-Maton inside, along with a stack of books written in Celestian. We dismantled the mechs, who had attacked as soon as we entered, and then collected the books.
As we walked back I skimmed through them, but despite my best efforts it was beyond my capacity to understand. They were instruction manuals and technical manuals for various Celestian artifacts and technologies. I passed them to Cam, my eyes glazing over at all this tech stuff.
Back in the Arboretum, Montgomery informed us that he’d inspected some more of the faulty cogitators and discovered that the source of all their problems was stemming from the Crystal Reactor, a Celestian power station in the same dome as the Conservatory. Among the books we’d recovered was one that explained how to open the gates so we could get inside.
So we returned to the Crystal Reactor dome and set about opening the gates. That meant replacing dead fuses in the gate controls, and both panels used different fuses. Cam did most of the fighting this time while Ethan, Kehar, and I all watched.
By now we had discovered that if we didn’t get too close to the faulty mechs, they ignored us. Of course we had to watch them, as they went in totally random directions so we sometimes had to move to avoid fighting them.
Anyways, after a few minutes Cam was able to get the control panels booted up and we were able to enter the Crystal Reactor. After passing through a few rooms we found a Water-Maton that seemed to be smarter than the ones we’d fought before.
He called himself Maglump, and while he claimed to be stronger then the other “fish-bots”, in the end he was defeated and dismantled just like the rest. After the battle, to our surprise, we found a piece of the Solarium portal nearby. I stashed it in my pack and we left, the doors closing behind us with Ethan’s help.
Cam brought the pieces of Maglump back to Engineer Montgomery, who was eager to fully dismantle it…or rather, him, and see what went wrong. Meanwhile, we returned to Base Camp and placed the portal piece gently into place.
The piece slid into place with a click, as though it had never been missing. Behind us, past a wall, a round doorway opened up of its own accord with a loud hissing. Edith, who was nearby, encouraged us to follow the tunnel that was beyond the door, saying that the Solarium was nearly open to us.
So we proceeded down the tunnel, into the unknown and hopefully one step closer to the Solarium. Soon we’d be done with Celestia and would be able to deal with Morganthe directly, not just cleaning up her old messes!
