Inevitable Ascension

Chapter 7 - Risking Suffocation

Surely this couldn't have been the same Vexia well past the brink of insanity from the Steam Age, could it? How many Vexias' were there in the world anyway? No one she knew would give their child such an obscure name, yet no one else she knew had radiating violet veins and eyes either. And Vexia's voice—it wasn't natural. Perhaps Violina and Lux were not the only ones to go ripping in and out of time?

Searching the room for more clues, Violina found various writings on the walls and floor, but unlike the one behind the throne neatly inlaid with platinum, these were unceremoniously scrawled into the onyx as if someone had used a pick-axe. One read, "You live only once? No, 'tis a lie uttered by putrid tongues. You live every day; you die only once. Or do you?" while another stated, "The strongest cleansers are poisonous by design. Apt, apt, apt." Beyond that, the words "live" and "die" were carved repeatedly and randomly into the stairs and even the furniture. Most curious of Violina's findings however, was an object lying on an altar—a crystalline knife connected to a glass jar artistically bound in onyx. As she lifted it for a closer look, she noticed an engraving on the altar's surface: "THE CONSECRATOR—LIFE ETERNAL".

Violina recalled how Vexia had sputtered on about someone named Enoch crafting a Consecrator and about how she would not "stay dead" as Enoch had seen to that. The very marrow in her bones went cold as she began to realize that the deranged ramblings of the madwoman were perhaps not so deranged after all. Was it possible that Vexia had never died? But if so, why hadn't history taken note of her? She wasn't exactly the type to go unnoticed. Violina was both unnerved and intrigued. With her recent thoughts of death and what lies beyond, the possibility of immortality being real ignited her soul.

She studied the gold and azure artifact on her bracer once more. It was quite different from anything found in the ruins. From its design to the unknown metals from which it was forged, she was convinced it originated from something beyond even Vexia's civilization.

Violina swallowed hard but was so dehydrated that it only resulted in a dry cough and a splitting pain in her abdominal wound. She had been without water and food for far too long. As amazing as all of these discoveries were, they would be pointless if she were to die before escaping the pit.

Sliding back through the double doors, Violina stared at the roaring flames. Perhaps fire could boil out any contaminants in the stagnant pool? She set out in search of something she could use to hold water, dreading the fact that the only way to find out whether it would kill her was to drink it. If only she had managed to pull the torturer down with her, she would've used him as a guinea pig.

Examining a fallen scorpion-vehicle, she found the stinger of its tail contained iron canisters about a quart in size with the letter T stamped onto each of them. She twisted open the cap and discovered more of the flammable liquid inside. "A fair bit less than ideal, but it'll have to do." she said with only the dead to hear her. She dumped its contents onto the floor and shook it dry as best she could. Her head throbbed with each heartbeat. Whether it was from fatigue or the fumes, she wasn't sure.

Now she just needed something to hold the canister above a fire. Violina climbed into another scorpion-vehicle but noticed something that made her pause. The skull of the pilot seemed eerily similar to the one from the previous vehicle. She noted its teeth and approximate shape and size, then returned to double-check the first skeleton. They were identical. Not only that, but she could have sworn there was something oddly familiar about their teeth. She examined a third and discovered the same phenomenon. Though perplexed, she shifted her thoughts back to the task at hand and retrieved a chain from which to hang her canister, loaded everything into a crude sack made from some tapestries, and returned to the stagnant pool.