Inferno Ascended

"It's from Valya!" she exclaimed.

"Apparently you've seen more than one, Parin. What else can you know about him?" Glax asked.

She turned the object in her hands, still closed, taking in its details. "It pulses with divine magic, the blood of a god. But there's something else." She put the watch next to her ear, and listened for a long time. Glax was apprehensive that the artifact could harm her in any way.

She looked at him seriously. "This watch is broken. I would need more time to figure out what it's really for. It's no ordinary watch. It was made by a master even better than my master, but… If Lord Glax trusts me, I can try to find out what's going on with this wonderful artifact."

"Can you fix it?"

"ME?! Of course not! I'm just a student of Master Arsaces. And a master watchmaker from Valya did this! Someone who could have taught my own master!" She laughed nervously at the possibility while her glowing gaze was fixed on the object.

"I must leave tomorrow, Parin. Until then, you will be safe here. Frixo and Hele's grandmother has agreed to keep an eye on you and Atos while Rasmus and I are gone. Rasmus has gone to arrange a place for you to stay. There are many empty houses in Stimhena…" He sighed. For anyone who thought city building and village management games were fun, one should try to see how difficult it was when it involved people with genuine needs and limited resources and technology.

"Lord Glax, I need to ask you something. I've already told Lord Rasmus this, but he hasn't listened to me."

The Valosian already knew that if Rasmus had been able to say no, it was because the proposal was absurd, even for him. And now he also knew that Rasmus had heard it all. He could have left the girl in the capital, but he didn't. His friend wanted to take Parin away from the Grand General and free her from the slavery that would be her life as a substitute for her master.

Wise Rasmus!

"You can ask, but I won't promise anything."

She sighed, exasperated. "Let me be a part of it! That man, Lord Doros…! He beat my master out of sheer malice. My master died out of his beating, even after all the care he received, due to that man's cruelty. I want to avenge him!"

Glax understood. He had been disgusted by what Mech-Eye had done to his hostage, even before he knew the horologist's past. Now that feeling has been revived by the orphan's narrative in front of him. He had always justified Nikandros' actions because of his condition, but hearing what he did to the poor horologist disgusted him. It erased any goodwill Glax had to Nikandros. What a madman!

"If you want to help, it has to be as you can. With your skills, not any fantasy of doing it with your own hands. Rasmus said that you gave him a lot of valuable information that helped him track down Mech… Doros."

"It's just that because of his work, my Master needed to be in contact with people... that the empire pretends not to see. And I was his messenger, and his legs."

"Oh, of course I do. And, at this moment, how did you come to the conclusion that Doros and his henchmen chose this path?"

"I spoke to people from Argossaras, Laonas, and we followed the trail of the trio. In Trisos, we found out that they were spotted by the authorities but fled into the forest. We assume they intend to enter the plain and not risk a path through the mountain range. We were told that not even the most experienced locals make these paths in the mountains that separate Erimos from Stygia. And if, according to the letter that Lord Glax has, Doros is linked to Victum, the shortest way is through the plain of Heramis."

"Why would he want to go through Albium and Rusa?" He mentally followed the Stygia map. The Twin Strongholds didn't seem a wise route to a criminal. They were there for a reason, and the area was heavily patrolled.

"He probably doesn't want to, but his second best option would be to go to Valosia and cross Pharys… But that would take a long time. Also... I hear there's a place called Rhenum, near Victum. The Steam People made a village in this location, and made a pact with the Silvans in the region. It makes sense for Lord Doros to return there with the Fist of Chriseis."

"Do you know who Lord Doros is?"

"Oh, not exactly. I've only heard Lady Chriseis mention a person by that name a few times in the past…" Even though she had olive skin, Glax could see that she blushed at her own lie.

He scratched his eyebrow, also embarrassed, and not knowing how to continue. Was Doros an ex-boyfriend? If so, why the hell didn't Chriseis just marry him? 

No. Doros wasn't someone Chriseis could picture herself marrying, that's it. She was expecting someone sent by the gods. Glax knew at least that much about the woman he had married and only knew her from someone else's account.

"Parin, can you take a closer look at this artifact? Just be careful. It attracted soul orbs. It hadn't done that until I landed on it, in Master Arsaces' house. It was also when I broke it, to be exact. After I broke it, it has influenced me… Let me know what you find out from this information."

"Oh, right! I will get my tools, Lord Glax. And I will be very careful!" Parin spoke excitedly, standing up. "I hope I can find something!" 

She was the person who most understood this type of mechanism. As much as Glax could see the obvious about the vselys watch, he had difficulty understanding the magic imbued in the object. 

Just as he failed to unravel the mystery of the Valya's Cauldron, or Forge of Souls, alone. Now he figured he needed to understand about Chronos and any metaphysical details that governed Valya's strange machines.

Valya, a mysterious place where they knew how to bend time and also reverse death. A soul could go back to its own body. No wonder they were feared. They could accumulate power and knowledge like humans could not. No wonder Achmeron had banished them. Even if he was now also a revenant. Glax could see the long-term superiority of someone who had a lot of 'saves' up his sleeve.

"I hope you find out too, Parin. Thank you in advance."

He was packing his backpack in his dorm when the girl came up to him, as usual, accompanied by her little brother. 

Now she wore special goggles set with some lenses that could be easily exchanged. She also wore an apron with a pocket where her delicate tools were at hand. The boy had a toy copy of the goggles and tools. Atos clearly adored his sister.

"Do you have something for me yet?"

"Ah, Lord Glax. I'm not good like my Master. So it's just impressions. Please don't be mad if something I say makes little sense. It's just…"

"Cut it off. I know. I will consider your inexperience. But don't be belittling yourself. You have knowledge that would have been lost with the death of Master Arsaces. If you keep denying what you know is useful, that too will be erased from your mind and will be lost forever. I hope you are a devotee of Mnemosyne, and not only Chronos!"

Parin physically reacted to the scolding the Valosian gave him. Her whole body straightened and her mouth opened in an 'o', and she blushed.

"Ah! You are right, Lord Glax! I must trust that my master taught me enough."

"Yes, and if so, what did you find?"

"Do you see this spot here? And here? Where is this luminosity leaking?" She pointed with tweezers.

"Where is it cracked?"

"Yes. Initially, I thought it could be easily fixed _ I say, by an expert _ but now that I know which souls are there, I realize that the mechanism is holding them back at the same time they are forcing their way through..."

" You mean the more souls this watch collects, the more cracks will appear?"

"That's what I believe, at least. She turned the clock to point places with her tweezers. "I believe I have at least partially unraveled what this artifact is for."

"And you're going to tell me now, right?" He opened his biggest smile. 

The girl grinned too, but looked down to say it. "If I'm correct, this is a Chronos Disk. My master told me that in Stygia, Chronos is a 'castrated' god. His power has been contained. This object is a similar model, and supposedly contains or imprisons something."

She looked up at him, not needing to say much more. Her eyes looked at him with wonder and awe.

"Hmmmm."

Glax couldn't be more surprised. And at the same time, I didn't know what his reaction to it was.

::::::::::::::::::

Broken dreams filled with danger signs and smoldering giant statues haunted his 3 hours of sleep. He woke up with a strange, imminent feeling, but he had to sweep it into the corner of his mind. He needed to go.

Glax and Rasmus left during the dark hour on their way to Rusa.

Later that day, they intended to enter with a scout in Erimos, and try to reach the so-called Prometheans Town.