Throne of Time - Chapter 68: Beginning with the Basement (Patreon)

When Suria felt herself sitting in the waiting room again, she took a shuddering breath. She was too busy gripping her knees to think about the tapestry falling: her legs were intact and they didn't hurt, despite what her mind was telling her.

Though habit made Suria reach for her supplies and begin creating new talismans, she was filled with a sense of loss. Not for the remaining days in the loop, but for the meeting with Murtiel that she would never have reached. What hurt even worse was not getting to see Rije again, because he'd been investigating for so long and never gotten to share what he'd learned - now all that remained was her memories.

A talisman fell from her fingers, triggering a frown from Maut-mai, and as Suria picked it up, she realized that her hands were trembling. Her death still haunted her. She had tested her methods before, and they had allowed her to act without hesitation... but that was different from coming to grips with the shock of the experience.

It was a small comfort that her soul talisman remained within her soul, meaning that she started with a runic capacity of seven. Her capabilities would leap up over the next hour, but in the short term she needed another boost to gain the capacity to cast certain augments. Fortunately, she had another source: as soon as Maut-mai left the room, Suria went to move Lirngelf's body and take his potion.

Thrown off as she was, she moved too quickly, and Maut-mai glanced back at her. Suria had to swallow panic and pretend to be checking the door until the other woman went away. When Suria checked her surroundings with a perception spell, she needed to repeat it multiple times before she calmed down. Only then could she handle Lirngelf.

Those routine actions helped suppress some of the shock and she considered what she was going to face next. Adwyrma had probably died as well, and looped not long after even if she survived, so no doubt she would be coming straight there. Death or even torture wouldn't slow her down or relieve Suria of needing to fulfill her side of the bargain, so she needed to be prepared. She hadn't been able to talk to Wynchard, but he would presumably come directly to Convocation Hall as he usually did.

Before she did anything else, Suria stopped and inscribed the most intense perception spell she could. If things did go poorly, at least she might figure something out this time.

Careful to avoid Rije and Maut-mai, Suria made her way to the western entrance, then inscribed her newest spell. She hadn't had much opportunity to test, but Beginner Augment Exploration had taught her a variety of unusual augments, including one that would delay the activation of a spell.

This time she produced a simple fire-based explosion beside the door, cast it to cause a one minute delay, then retreated. Sadly she didn't have any sense of when it would explode except the count in her head, because more complex glyphs that gave feedback required at least another augment, which she couldn't manage at the moment. She would have to trust that one minute was sufficient.

Once at the southern door, Suria hesitated. Did she dare move forward with her plans despite everything that could go wrong? Staying in the simple environment of Convocation Hall felt easier... and yet also suffocating.

Throwing aside her qualms, Suria unlocked the door via the usual methods. She had considered using the opposite doors, but was concerned that the statue, as stupid as it was, might be able to report her if she caused an explosion directly in front of it. Unlocking the door had never bothered it in the past, so it should be fine now.

Propping the door open, Suria headed out to find the others. She heard the explosion as she left and winced, hoping that the chaotic action would just draw everyone west to find the wards, not lead to unknown variables. They could have developed a better plan if they'd had time to coordinate, but her unintended death had prevented that.

She'd been right about one thing: Wynchard and Adwyrma were both there, and they moved toward her rapidly as soon as they saw her around the corner of the building. Suria moved herself in the way of the door before they could push their way in.

"I tried to move everyone west," she said, "but be careful. There are multiple people in the building who could cause trouble."

"We'll be cautious," Wynchard told her. "Our primary goal this time is to examine the spatial trap you mentioned."

"What happened last loop?" Suria asked Adwyrma.

The other woman spat. "I took out almost all of them, but the battlemage got me in the end. We'll have time to talk about that later. Let's get inside."

So all three of them headed back through the main doors, entering the foyer much more calmly than before. The statue looked down at them with lifeless eyes.

"Welcome to Convocation Hall," it said. "Please use caution, as there is a minor issue with the wards."

All three of them ignored the statue and Suria led them east - she was trying to move confidently, but she kept looking back as they walked. It would be so easy for random variables to send one of the others wandering instead of sticking by the western door, and if that happened, it would be difficult to explain. Though she knew Rije and Maut-mai much better thanks to all the loops, without an established relationship few of her options would have much effect.

Fortunately, no one interrupted them as they headed to the eastern staircase. Suria gestured at it, but she had barely opened her mouth when Wynchard plunged directly down the stairs.

A second later he reappeared in the hallways and returned with a baffled expression. Adwyrma gave it a shot next, leaping off the opposite wall and apparently attempting to escape the spatial trap with pure speed. That didn't seem effective either and had likely also thrown her into a wall, judging from the sound of an impact. Suria had the surreal experience of standing there and watching the other two loopers blinking out of existence repeatedly.

They weren't stupid enough to just try the same thing over and over again, however, and after attempting various methods and counter-spells, they were left pondering the staircase.

"Seems comprehensive," Wynchard said. "Worth trying to hack through the side?"

"There are probably counter-measures, or worse, alarms," Adwyrma replied. "Better to try spell analysis."

"You have runic glasses?"

"I can make them. Any of your analysis spells work here?"

"Not sure, but I'll try."

Adwyrma cut her arm and formed a pair of spectacles, which, though they didn't have any glass, seemed to shimmer with magical power. Meanwhile, Wynchard dropped down on one knee and began inscribing a new glyph in his runebook while looking at the stairs and muttering to himself.

"I did what you asked," Suria told them both. "Regardless of what results you find, you owe me."

"I already owe you," Wynchard said without looking up, while Adwyrma just glared.

"I want you both to help me with entering the Sequential Library. This loop, or the next if we can't get enough people this time. I agree the basement is worth investigating, but we need a source of information on time magic, and no one seemed to have come up with any sources except the library."

"Fine," Adwyrma spat. "Now go away and don't bother us."

That suited Suria perfectly fine, because she wasn't eager to stay near the stairs. These two had been third year students at the start, and they had grown stronger over the loops, but that didn't mean they were up to this challenge. If anything, she worried that they would find a way to overcome the spatial trap and then run directly into the professors, which could ruin the entire loop.

Suria headed through the center of the building and noted that Shuguja's office was empty, which was expected - then she reached the western door and found it abandoned, which was not. Fearing that the others would run east for some reason, Suria rushed to the main entrance, where she realized that the door was still open - given how Wynchard and Adwyrma rushed in, it had never closed fully.

She hadn't even gotten outside when Rije walked through the doors and they stared at one another.

"There you are," he said tersely. "Something is wrong with the wards and I think it's best if all students evacuate."

"Of course," Suria agreed. "Let's get out of here."

"You go, I need to keep looking. Did you see two older students?"

"What? No, I think it was just us waiting."

"Not there. I saw two students through the windows circling around." Rije gestured west and then back to the entrance. "I didn't find any sign of them by the entrance, so they must have gotten in through the door. They could be in danger."

"I really didn't see anyone, so I don't th-"

"It's best just to get to safety. There's a scholar I should check with, too."

Hesitating at the unexpected turn, Suria failed to argue further and Rije strode into the building. Fortunately he wasn't taking the easternmost path, but he would get uncomfortably close to the staircase. If the other two loopers triggered the spatial trap, they were virtually certain to run into one another, which could lead to unpredictable results.

But what could she do at this stage? Suria decided that it was most important to get to safety before things became dangerous, so she headed out the door to meet with Maut-mai.

On the outside, however, she saw only Shuguja moving around fretfully. There was no sign of Maut-mai, who had probably wandered off in a direction that couldn't possibly be predicted. Suria leaned her forehead against the door, trying to refocus - she could control the situation when events played out the same way, but the introduction of new variables made everything spiral out of control so quickly...

After some thought, Suria reversed her decision and headed back into Convocation Hall. If so much had already gone in a chaotic direction, she might as well learn what she could about this combination of events. Since she didn't have her silphium vial, she inscribed a lightning spell with paired empowering augments and kept it in her fist to use on herself if necessary.

She arrived just in time: Rije and Houdon were standing in the corridor opposite Wynchard and Adwyrma. No one was attacking just yet, but they all looked ready to begin at a moment's notice.

"We were just looking around," Wynchard said, though it didn't even sound like he believed himself.

"That area is off-limits," Houdon told him. "Why don't you two step away?"

Adwyrma snarled in response and her hand shifted to her side, in a familiar position that could summon her blade.

"Easy there," Rije said as he took a step between the sides, cautious but not using his combat gauntlet. "Clearly something is going on, but we should talk about this first, right?"

No one answered and the tension shifted higher. Suria was trying to think of what she could possibly say to resolve this disastrous turn of events when the decision was taken from her hands.

A spell spiraled through the hallways, unraveling them, and passed through Rije. He had time to look shocked for a moment before he collapsed into pieces that didn't even bleed.

Seconds later the entire building began to shake with the impact of spells as the battle between professors began. It reached the second floor as quickly as usual, so Suria reversed yet again, running as fast as her legs could carry her. She had somewhat of a sense for how the rushes of flame and darkness would go, so she didn't stumble as she made her way back out.

No one else did. Even when she retreated to a safe distance and watched Convocation Hall from the side of the dormitories, she didn't see anyone else.

Her sense for the timing was distorted by all the changes to events, but she thought that the battle had been triggered earlier than usual. Would that change how things turned out? Would the sight of Darkmoon staff facing off against students stop the professors, or would they roll directly over anyone who happened to get in their way?

Suria completely failed to predict what happened next: Professor Huen emerged from the main entrance, hovering in the air, with a number of human-sized bubbles of silver mana following her. They contained Houdon and the two loopers - all of them appeared unharmed but entirely frozen in place.

Despite a flash of fear, Suria reasoned that this wasn't an attack: Professor Huen wouldn't have cast the spell on all three of them if she suspected loopers. Most likely she had cast the spell in order to protect them from the battle and had, coincidentally, also done something that prevented loopers from using any methods of suicide. That could be very bad if she did ever suspect, so Suria remained at a distance.

Just as that entire group moved out of the way, the front doors exploded: Professor Drazen and Professor Rhamsolk burst through, hurling a maelstrom of spells between them. Suria's breath caught in her throat and seemed stuck there as she desperately cast her perception spell, trying to analyze everything she could.

The battle itself was still too fast for her to keep up, but she could still catch fragments of the glyphs from their spells. She especially focused on Professor Drazen, because he was using the time spells she had seen in the past. Every time Professor Rhamsolk produced stone spines, they would end up caught in time, frozen in midair until a later point when they shot onward harmlessly.

As the fight progressed, Suria could almost see the inscription - no, she could feel it. With the intuition she'd built up over so many classes, she knew that this strange circular inscription harnessed the power of time. She could feel it inside her mind, resonating with something else...

Then Professor Huen rejoined the battle, and for the first time Suria could clearly understand what had changed: she joined on the side of Professor Drazen. Suria was fairly certain that they had fought one another in the past, but this time they seemed to be allies, focusing their spells together heedless of the fact that anyone on campus could see.

Any semblance of these three being instructors faded away as the archmages did battle. Somehow Lia Huen Rei cast a spell that summoned a silver chain around Tollvard Rhamsolk's arm. He cried out in pain and began to rip it off, but in that moment Zaasif Drazen flitted closer and touched his heart.

The statue of Tollvard Rhamsolk went still, then broke into several pieces that tumbled to the ground. Suria put her hands over her mouth to suppress the involuntary sound she made, because even if there was no blood, she knew that the professor was dead.

For the first time since the loops began, the battle between the thrones of Darkmoon University had ended in a different way. There was nothing destined or inevitable about the outcome, or at least she hadn't seen it so far - there was still some of the hour to go. Suria couldn't stop staring at the two survivors, straining her perception spell to try to unravel the mage's star effect they used to accelerate themselves.

She was just starting to feel like she could grasp it... and then she realized that she had made a mistake.

For a long time she had been thinking about Zaasif Drazen primarily as the likely creator of the time loop, but he was Throne of Perception. His head twitched as if something had tickled it, then his eyes pivoted to spot her. Suria choked as she felt an avalanche of eyes descend upon her, their gaze searing through her body and soul, trying to strip away everything...

"What are you doing?" Zaasif Drazen demanded. He had crossed the distance between them with alarming speed.

"Why are you fighting?" Suria retorted, trying to channel all of her real panic as if she was a normal student. "What's going on?"

"You were the one who started a fight in the open." Lia Huen Rei appeared beside them, still hovering a pace off the ground. She was frowning at Zaasif Drazen, but she also wasn't standing in his way.

"They saw us," Zaasif said flatly. "There's no way we can come back from this."

"Surely you can't mean to eliminate all witnesses. That's ruthless, even for you."

"No, we begin with memory spells. There aren't so many students on campus now; we can cover them."

Suria's instincts screamed to run and she barely kept them contained, because that would just make her look guilty. She had no chance of outrunning two archmages, but she did have a chance, however tiny, of negotiating with them. With the two behaving like this, talking over her as if she wasn't present, the odds seemed low, but the alternative...

Would memory-altering spells affect her across time? She wasn't willing to run the experiment like this. However small the chance, she had to try.

"There are more," she forced herself to say. "Others ran away."

"And why are you telling us?" Professor Drazen asked. "Pleading for clemency?"

"I don't think she's telling the truth," Professor Huen said. She floated lower, getting closer to Suria's level with her eyes narrowing.

Muddying the waters was her only chance and it seemed like Professor Huen might see right through her. Suria was desperately trying to think of an alternate plan when, for no reason, Zaasif Drazen exploded.

The wall of gray destruction began as a sphere, expanding from his body and flashing in all directions. Suria saw it sweep over Professor Huen harmlessly and still instinctively raised a mana shield to try to stop it. Her shield was wrong for it, she knew that instantly. Just like she realized, as the energy took her, that this was pure time magic.

Then it consumed her and she couldn't think anything else.