LoRG: Epilogue (Part 1) (Patreon)

Wow, strange to come back to this world, after working on so many things. One week delayed (Due to the LA fires) but here is the start!

My intention is for there to be two main characters during these Epilogues (until we get back to Rand). The first is the subject of the chapter, the second will be introduced in the next few. I hope y'all enjoy.

Let me explore a bit and remember the fun I had here.

Oh, also, anyone who has any particular character they want to check in on, bring them up in the comments! I have the general arc planned, but there is room for diversions.

The next one will come out earlier next week, as I get my schedule right haha.

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“Coffee…”

Delilah released the word half like a groan and half like a prayer as she slumped next to the campfire. From the camp tin, the warm and invigorating scent of roasted beans spun out in a gossamer cloud. Just looking at it, Delilah’s hands twitched regretfully; always, the smell lured her out long before the coffee was actually ready. So she could only sit and make eyes-

“If you’re up, might as well fry breakfast,” Vye slapped Delilah on her shoulder. With a few flicks of her hand, she produced the ingredients, potatoes and half a slab of bacon, from her interspatial ring. Then she patted her apprentice’s shoulder again.

It was almost encouraging.

“You do this on purpose,” Delilah grumbled, even as she tightened her cloak around her body and got to work. The chill, morning air meant that when she exalted, her breath fogged up. She had produced a pan and a small nub of butter, heating both over the fire. “Don’t you have any pity? You know, my boyfriend recently broke my-”

“Were you even dating?” Vye snorted. “It’s been three months, Delilah. If you didn’t love complaining so much, I would assume he actually meant something to you. But such a connection feels unlikely… because you told him repeatedly not to develop feelings, that you might have to leave on Order Ducis business at any moment, and he believed you.”

Delilah’s lips twitched for two reasons. First, because she still felt a horrible mixture of frustration and panic when she remembered walking into Micah’s training base for a surprise visit and found him with another girl. Second, because very few people had bothered to give Delilah much sympathy for her accident.

In a horrible twist of fate, three months and one day ago, Delilah had been blindsided by a knife through a gap in her ribcage… right into her heart.

Rather inconveniently, when all attention should have been yielded to her, another event grasped most of the focus of the world.

Randidly Ghosthound had stepped out of the Nexus, erected a ten-thousand-year barrier to defend against the forces of the multiverse, and then mashed together everything within reach. Into what was now colloquially known as the Alpha Triverse.

No one had much time to listen to Delilah when the monsters on Expira had abruptly increased in power and avenues between the former-Alpha Cosmos and former-Nexus meant that a Calamity-level threat might pop out at any moment.

That wasn’t even taking into account the dark realm that manifested abruptly in various wild areas, rumored to lead into the land of the dead.

To appease herself in the present, Delilah pretended she was a dragon. While she cooked the breakfast, she breathed out huge gushing blasts of steam on Vye’s portion of the food, ‘burning’ it beyond fitness for human consumption. She also breathed in next to the coffee tin, really savoring the flavor.

Soon, her preparations were complete. In silence, the two divvyed up the precious food; they had gone on so many Order Ducis missions over the past year that their cooperation became unspoken.

Then they sat. Delilah took a long-awaited sip of coffee and released a sigh of relief. She smiled out above the sheer drop in front of her. "This neighborhood is shit, but they make a mean cup of coffee."

"You should have seen it before the tourists started stopping through," Vye quipped.

If Delilah were to take a step forward, she would tumble down for so long that she could bonk her head against Mount Everest at about halfway. The current summit above them had been erected in the shocked few seconds after the Alpha Triverse had formed, taking advantage of all the chaos to add one more new feature to dominate the skyline. And it had been purposefully designed to dissuade would-be adventurers. The wind bit, the monsters thirsted for blood, and the mountain beneath your feet didn't care.

Yet it was beautiful, even for a girl who had grown up with all the wonders of the System.

They had already ascended into the realm of clouds, laying like a fluffy carpet below them. The sun spat golden dust across the peaceful landscape, the perfect morning vista. Smaller peaks pushed up through the layer nearby, resembling children wearing silly hats.

The path in front of them, however... was simply more miserly more mountain. It would take them another half day in order to climb up to Sanctuary.

After breakfast, the two washed their supplies and stored them away. Then they began to scamper up the slopes. Delilah grimaced as she ascended. The shift to the Triverse had some small downsides: when he had formed the new balanced universe, Randidly Ghosthound had released a gushing wave of pure, compatible Aether and Nether that had largely passed by the living creatures and instead soaked into the inanimate.

The ground became harder. Metal could suddenly withstand so much more energy. Lightning and wind grew in power and ferocity. The natural resources of the various locations became that much more valuable. Equivalently the devastating power of the elements has shot upward. Level 50 individuals, since the shift, have been injured by previously minor storms. Suddenly a larger portion of the Classed population needed to be on hand to defend those less well-developed.

Even Vye got a grim look in her eye when she activated a Skill to check weather patterns.

Which was why, suddenly, Delilah needed to scrabble for handholds as they climbed the side of the mountain. No longer could they just punch their fingers into the stone with high Strength. Especially this close to the Sanctuary, which resonated and radiated out the power Randidly Ghosthound released into their Triverse.

It made for a less than efficient journey, as they began to sweat in the cold, elevated air, but Delilah smiled at their zig-zag journey. They resembled mountain goats, in their effortless grace and strange fickleness.

The amusement lasted for about an hour, until the memory of Micah atop that other girl brought Delilah’s mood plummeting downward. The rest of the journey was all jaw clenching and imagining his face as she squished stones beneath her heel.

“There it is,” Vye grunted, her had looped around a small rocky outcropping as she squinted upward. “What dense energy.”

Delilah’s senses spread out through the air.

Congratulations! Your Skill Bloodline of the White Hunter (Ru) has grown to Level 249!

She gazed up at the newly established seat of the Triverse’s Pantheon, responsible for managing the System and Classes of those contained within. A palatial dwelling perched atop the peak of the mountain, radiating out huge rivers of dense Aether that flowed down to the various Class Lighthouses available across the realm. 

Delilah squinted as she felt a nebulous presence hovering around the peak. “Vye is it possible… for a place to condense a Nether Core?”

Because hers was so close to fully forming, Delilah could see all the elements present at the top of the mountain.

Vye shrugged. “...I think, over the next few years, we are going to find answers to a lot of questions similar to that. But hurry. They wouldn’t have contacted the Order Ducis if this wasn’t important.”

“Not important enough for Randidly himself to bother moving…” Delilah clicked her tongue.

Obviously though, Vye heard her. “You’ve seen the brief. He only has a short time before his Grand Fate forces him to spend all his efforts wholly consumed to healing the fabric of time. He needs to conserve his energy while he is here.”

“But what is he doing?” Delilah said. And even as she said it, she sorta hated herself for saying it, because it was what everyone had been asking for the last three months.

Where is Randidly Ghosthound?

“Honestly? I have no more information than you. But if I had to place my bets…” Vye began to move again, swinging herself up toward the Sanctuary above them. “With the burden of healing time looming, he’s probably saying goodbye.

“If it takes him five thousand years to heal the wounds inflicted on the temporal fabric by the Nexus, as Tatiana estimates… how many of us will still be around and alive when he finishes?”

Delilah, who at nineteen was unable to conceptualize even thirty years, followed along silently after that.

The Sanctuary possessed a grand golden gate. When she first saw it, Delilah had to freeze and simply stare; the gold was completely untouched, but a dense pattern of Nether sizzled along the edges. Even now, the Weight of history began to press against this place, preparing to transform the entryway to the Sanctuary into a pathway with inherent power. To step through these gates would have meaning.

Delilah wondered if, in fact, the Pantheon had been too conservative in the roadblocks thrown up to prevent the average person from reaching this place.

“Ah, you are here,” A humanoid in armor strode out of a small side door, so dwarfed by the ornate golden threshold that it had been invisible.

Vye snapped him a sharp salute. “Sir Heiffal, you are looking well.”

“Yes, well.” The specter’s body flickered for a second. He shook his head, almost sadly. “Luckily, enough remained of my soul to be extracted to be useful like this. Because of the… damage… I suffered in that last battle, I cannot exist outside of the Sanctuary, or take up the responsibility of managing the System… but in terms of guarding this place, I am sufficient.”

Vye’s eyes softened. “If you ever want me to take a message-”

Heiffal raised his hand. “I appreciate it. Others have offered similar favors, but… heh, it’s not  bad, to retire here like this. To watch other soldiers who followed me lay down their weapons and live a life on Expira, even from afar.”

“You have a good heart. No wonder you were drawn so strongly to this place,” Vye said. Then her expression turned serious. “Okay, so, what’s the big issue?”

Heiffal bowed. “Come. Miranda waits within. She will explain.”

As the spectral guard turned away, Vye’s eyebrows rose. She glanced at Delilah, the meaning in her gaze clear. Miranda?

Delilah wiggled her eyebrows provocatively in response, suddenly very glad she had come. Nothing cured a dour mood like salacious gossip.

The interior of the Sanctuary was even more intimidating than the outside, albeit for different reasons. The floors were solid hardwood but warmed by the numerous currents of connection and emotion that ran through this place. Out of the corner of her eyes, Delilah saw golden patterns playing across the marble columns of the hallway, but they vanished when she looked at them directly.

Congratulations! Your Skill Bloodline of the White Hunter (Ru) has grown to Level 250!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nascent Nether Core (L) has grown to Level 97!

Actually, if I stay here for any time at all… I bet my Nether Core will condense. Delilah began to feel a bit of anticipation, even through her recent general gloominess. Nether swirled through the very air in the Sanctuary, creating an ideal environment. Hehehe, I know it doesn’t happen immediately… you need to comprehend the core of your significance…

But I wonder what sort of Authority I’ll earn…?

Very quickly, Heiffal led the duo through to a wide library. Although Delilah’s instincts instantly told her this room was a ‘library’, it didn’t quite resemble one. The walls on the left and right were filled with small cubby holes. And indeed, within each were tightly wound scrolls. But the main distinguishing feature of the room was the far wall, which had a hundred colored pegs of varying shades.

Her lips pursed, Delilah made the mistake of glancing upward. There, covering the roof, connecting the scrolls to the to pegs, and the pegs to each other, was a dense network of silk threads. Millions-

-no, Delilah’s eyes widened. The longer she looked, the more her gaze seemed to magnify the scene before her. There must be billions-

Congratulations! Your Skill Prodigy’s Supreme Insight (M) has grown to Level 301!

Congratulations! Your Skill Pain Tolerance (Un) has grown to Level 378!

“Shit,” Delilah’s hand snapped up to her nose as soon as she snapped out of the moment of dazed unconsciousness. Blood dripped through her fingers. 

“Ah, apologies.” Standing next to a pedestal in the center of the room, an older woman straightened with a wry smile. She snapped her fingers and suddenly the presence of the glittering threads dimmed. “Looking at these threads isn’t for everyone. Delilah, it’s honestly impressive you could stare for so long without falling unconscious.”

Delilah, and Vye beside her, offered the woman a bow. “Mrs. Hamilton. I didn’t realize you had officially joined the Pantheon.”

Mrs. Hamilton waved her hands. “Honestly, I didn’t mean to. I drifted through because there was a job to do and ended up staying for the company.”

“You stayed because you have such a generous heart,” Heiffal pressed his lips together, his tone implying this wasn’t exactly a compliment. “While such a sense of responsibility is admirable, considering your previous contributions to this world, you deserve-”

Mrs. Hamilton raised a sharp eyebrow. “I hardly think its appropriate for one who has already died to protect the multiverse to give me lectures on over-active senses of responsibility, yes?”

Heiffal stood straight at attention, but his furrowed brow indicated that he was trying, and failing, to think of a comeback. Vye and Delilah exchanged another glance.

“Ahem,” Vye finally interrupted the standoff. “So, about your problem?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Hamilton smoothly pivoted to look at the Order Ducis representatives, her smug expression displaying her satisfaction in the verbal triumph. Yet very quickly, those superfluous emotions dropped away. “It will require a bit of background, but the problem is a very simple one. In the chaos of the Alpha Cosmos becoming the Triverse, we lost one of the ‘keys’ that grant authority to govern the new System.”

“That… is a big problem,” Vye said in a quiet voice.

Mrs. Hamilton nodded. “Bigger even than you think. Because the key isn’t related to the overlay System, but the underlying one. It is only middling in efficacy of adjusting notifications, but this can create shapes beneath the surface.”

With a gesture, Mrs. Hamilton conjured the glittering threads of connection once more. Before Delilah could glance too closely, another sharp gesture focused all the attention to a lavender peg on the wall. It seemed to expand until it filled their entire awareness, displaying a manageable (in the thousands) number of connections outward.

“Under the guidance of Lucretia, the Pantheon had pretty effectively hijacked the System within the Alpha Cosmos prior to the transformation.” Mrs. Hamilton explained. A corner of the threads connected to the lavender peg began to glow. The focus narrowed further. By glancing at the threads, Delilah could intuit the information contained there, demonstrating how they had managed it. “And, despite his history of leaving messes for us, Randidly actually established a pretty firm framework when he spun us all together and created the Triverse.

“What he didn’t anticipate was how the suddenly increased ambient Aether and Nether would affect that process,” Mrs. Hamilton pointed. The focus shifted to other connections. “Say what you will about the cruelty of Elhume and Fiero’s methods of Aether deprivation, they had two noticeable benefits: efficiency and the predictability of developments. When Randidly Ghosthound plugged the Systems in the Nexus and the Underworld into our hijacked-System, the three universes sought balance. Because we had already developed tools for affecting the System, Nether rushed to those points. Keys condensed.

“Then, because the universes were now bound to each other and created a Triverse,” Light spread out from the threads Mrs. Hamilton indicated to the threads on the other side of the peg. “Keys naturally replicated across the other two legs. Four in each to match the four that formed here.”

“...what can they do with a Key?” Vye frowned at the connections.

Heiffal cut into the discussion. “Already, Miranda has extended her threads to the System in all three parts. Should they use the key to adjust the format, or create a new format, of a notification in the overlay System, it will not be missed.”

“The problem, as I said, is that it affects the base System,” Mrs. Hamilton rubbed her chin. “Eventually, yes, whoever finds the Key will out themselves by creating a deviant notification that will catch my attention. But until then… they can effect a lot of change in the fundamental System without us realizing; there is simply too much of the old System machinery, developed by Elhume over the years, to monitor. They could empower the old Systems for Champions and Villains to create a ‘Super Villain’ for lack of a better term. They could polish the role until the power it provides is cataclysmic. And we would only notice when someone assumed the mantle.”

“Considering the threat, I’m surprised you didn’t contact the Ghosthound directly,” Delilah said. As she spoke, she didn’t miss the sharp glance Heiffal directed at her back.

“Don’t mind her. Okay, so we just need to locate the Key, yes?” Vye said. “I assume… its in the Underworld, yes?”

“We did contact Randidly, actually,” Mrs. Hamilton gave Delilah a light smile. “Considering soon he will soon be beyond our reach, he wouldn’t leave this time-bomb simply ticking underneath us. And because of the contact with him, he informed us that no, the missing Key is actually not one from the Underworld, but from the Nexus. And as far as we can tell, the last individual whose Nether intersected that of the Key... was the young Miss Beigon."