Chapter 130 — Truth Below Remus
They did not return to the chamber immediately.
Hades refused.
For once, nobody argued with him.
They were taken through a different corridor beneath Remus, away from the broken chains and the sealed room.
The guards walked ahead.
Two behind.
Hades in the middle.
Xcution followed.
Brook noticed something almost immediately.
They were going deeper.
Not toward the surface.
Henry noticed too.
"Where are we going?"
Hades didn't turn around.
"Somewhere you should have seen already."
Henry looked at Brook.
Brook shrugged.
"That doesn't sound good."
"No," Henry said. "It doesn't."
Rick walked ahead of them, one hand resting near his sword.
Shoyo was beside Sera.
Crowley remained unusually quiet.
Brook looked toward him.
Crowley was staring ahead.
But Brook knew him well enough now.
His mind was somewhere else.
Still searching.
Still trying to find a person attached to the name Arven.
A person he had forgotten.
Brook wondered if the memory would ever return.
Then he thought about what Crowley had said.
I've forgotten people.
The thought stayed with him.
The corridor changed.
Brook noticed the stone first.
The walls above had been built with Remus's architecture.
Clean.
Reinforced.
Maintained.
This stone was different.
Older.
Uneven.
No one had repaired it.
It had simply survived.
Hades stopped.
The guards moved aside.
Henry looked forward.
"What is that?"
Nobody answered.
Brook stepped past Hades.
And saw it.
A city.
Not Remus.
Not exactly.
They stood on the edge of an enormous underground space.
Far below, structures had been carved into the stone.
Collapsed buildings.
Roads.
Bridges.
Entire sections buried beneath darkness.
Brook stood still.
Henry slowly walked forward.
"No."
Sera came beside him.
Her eyes widened.
Brook looked toward Hades.
"What is this?"
Hades stared down at the ruins.
"Remus."
Brook frowned.
"This is Remus?"
Hades nodded.
"The first Remus."
Nobody spoke.
Brook looked down again.
A city existed beneath the city.
Older than the one above.
Destroyed.
And hidden.
Henry looked toward Hades.
"Why isn't this in the history?"
Hades gave him a cold look.
"Because history is written by those who survive it."
Henry nodded.
"Fair."
Brook studied the ruins.
There were streets.
Buildings.
What looked like an old market.
A large structure in the distance.
Everything had been left.
Not demolished.
Abandoned.
Shoyo walked forward.
Her expression changed.
Brook noticed.
"You've been here."
Shoyo stopped.
"Yes."
Brook nodded.
Of course.
He was beginning to stop being surprised.
They descended.
The path was narrow.
Rick moved ahead.
His sword remained on his back.
Brook watched him.
Rick was different now.
Not physically.
Brook simply saw him differently.
Before, Rick had always been there.
Strong.
Reliable.
Someone who could fight.
Now Brook understood that Rick had history too.
History he hadn't spoken about.
Brook wondered how much of Xcution's past was hidden inside the people standing beside him.
They reached the bottom.
The first thing Brook noticed was the silence.
No insects.
No wind.
No water.
Nothing.
Henry crouched beside an old road.
His fingers touched the stone.
"Dust."
Sera looked at him.
"What?"
Henry held up his fingers.
"Nothing."
Brook stared.
Henry shook his hand.
"Forget it."
They continued.
The streets were wide.
Too wide for the underground space to feel natural.
Brook looked upward.
The ceiling was almost invisible.
The darkness swallowed it.
Sera walked beside Shoyo.
"Who built this?"
Shoyo answered quietly.
"People."
Sera looked at her.
"Before the protected places?"
"Yes."
Brook listened.
Hades walked ahead.
His voice came without him turning.
"Before the twelve."
Brook looked toward him.
The twelve protected places.
Not twelve Shinokunis.
Twelve places.
The reveal still sat heavily inside Brook's mind.
They had believed their Wall was part of the entire world.
Then they found Remus.
Another protected place.
Another people.
Another king.
And now—
a city beneath it.
Brook understood something.
Their world had always been larger than they knew.
They had simply been trapped behind their own borders.
They reached the centre.
A circular structure stood there.
Part temple.
Part fortress.
Brook couldn't decide.
The front entrance had collapsed.
But something was carved above it.
Sera stopped.
Brook looked at her.
"What?"
She stared upward.
"Those aren't Words."
Henry sighed.
"Of course they aren't."
Sera ignored him.
Shoyo approached.
Her expression hardened.
Crowley stopped beside her.
"What are they?"
Shoyo looked at the carvings.
"Names."
Crowley frowned.
"Whose?"
Shoyo didn't answer immediately.
Brook stepped closer.
There were dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
Written across the entrance.
Some had been scratched away.
Others remained.
Brook couldn't read them.
But one symbol was different.
At the centre.
Crowley suddenly stopped breathing.
Brook turned.
Crowley was staring at it.
"Crowley?"
Crowley walked forward.
Slowly.
His hand reached toward the carving.
Shoyo immediately grabbed his wrist.
"No."
Crowley looked at her.
"I know this."
Shoyo's grip tightened.
"You don't know what touching it will do."
Crowley pulled his hand away.
"I'm tired of not knowing."
Shoyo stared at him.
Brook stepped between them.
"Then let him."
Shoyo looked at Brook.
"What?"
Brook looked at Crowley.
"If he remembers something, he remembers something."
Shoyo shook her head.
"You don't understand."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Then explain."
Silence.
Shoyo looked toward the carving.
Then at Crowley.
Finally, she released a breath.
"That symbol belonged to the dead kings."
Henry looked around.
"Kings again."
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Crowley stared at the mark.
"Arven."
Shoyo's eyes moved toward him.
Crowley whispered:
"This was his."
Rick walked forward.
The sword on his back seemed heavier somehow.
Brook looked toward him.
"Did you know?"
Rick nodded.
"Not everything."
Brook sighed.
Rick looked at him.
"I knew the sword came from here."
Brook stared.
"Why didn't you say that?"
Rick shrugged.
"Because until now, we couldn't get here."
Brook looked around.
"Then where did you find it?"
Rick looked toward the ruins.
"Not here."
Brook frowned.
Rick pointed upward.
"Outside."
That answer landed differently.
Outside the protected places.
Brook stared at him.
"You went outside?"
Henry turned.
"What?"
Sera looked at Rick.
Shoyo closed her eyes.
Brook's expression hardened.
"Rick."
Rick sighed.
"Years ago."
"With who?"
Rick looked at Shoyo.
Brook turned.
"Shoyo."
Shoyo's voice was quiet.
"With me."
Henry stared at both of them.
"Okay."
Brook crossed his arms.
"I need everybody to stop doing that."
Rick almost laughed.
Brook didn't.
Rick stopped.
"Sorry."
Crowley touched the symbol.
Shoyo moved forward.
Brook raised his hand.
She stopped.
Crowley's fingers pressed against the stone.
Nothing happened.
For a second.
Then—
the entire underground city shook.
Henry jumped backward.
"Never mind."
The floor cracked beneath them.
Brook grabbed Sera.
Rick drew his sword.
Hades shouted something to his guards.
Crowley fell to one knee.
Brook ran toward him.
"Crowley!"
Crowley didn't respond.
His eyes were open.
But he wasn't looking at them.
Crowley stood inside the old city.
But it wasn't ruined.
The buildings were alive.
People moved through the streets.
Children ran past him.
Crowley turned.
He recognized the place.
Not because he remembered.
Because the memory was forcing him to.
He walked forward.
A man stood ahead.
A crown rested on his head.
Arven.
Crowley stopped.
Arven looked younger than the man Crowley had seen on the battlefield.
He smiled.
Crowley didn't remember him.
But Arven remembered Crowley.
The pain of that fact entered the memory before Crowley even understood why.
Arven said something.
This time—
Crowley heard him.
"You're late."
Crowley opened his mouth.
"Where am I?"
Arven laughed.
"Still dramatic."
Crowley frowned.
Arven's smile faded.
Then he became serious.
"I need you to listen."
Crowley stared.
"Who are you?"
Arven looked confused.
Then—
hurt.
The memory began breaking.
Crowley reached toward him.
"Wait."
Arven grabbed his arm.
The world around them shook.
Crowley saw the streets.
The people.
The city.
Then he saw something behind Arven.
A figure.
Standing in the distance.
Watching.
Crowley couldn't see the face.
But he knew that person.
He knew—
Crowley woke up.
Brook was holding his shoulders.
"Crowley!"
Crowley grabbed Brook's arm.
Brook froze.
Crowley's eyes were wide.
"I saw him."
Brook looked at Shoyo.
Crowley shook his head.
"No."
Brook looked back.
"What?"
Crowley's breathing was uneven.
"Arven."
Brook waited.
Crowley looked toward the symbol.
"He knew me."
Shoyo's expression became quiet.
Crowley continued.
"He was my friend."
Nobody spoke.
Crowley's grip on Brook loosened.
His voice dropped.
"And I forgot him."
Brook didn't know what to say.
So he didn't.
Crowley looked toward the ruined city.
Brook watched him.
Crowley wasn't angry anymore.
That was worse.
He looked—
empty.
Shoyo approached.
Crowley didn't look at her.
"You should have told me."
Shoyo stopped.
Crowley continued.
"Even if I forgot."
His voice was quiet.
"You remembered."
Shoyo looked down.
"Yes."
Crowley laughed once.
"Then you should have told me."
Shoyo nodded.
"I should have."
Crowley finally looked at her.
"Why didn't you?"
Shoyo remained silent.
Brook saw it.
This time—
Shoyo didn't know how to answer.
Not because she was hiding something.
Because the truth was ugly.
She finally spoke.
"Because I was afraid of what remembering would do to you."
Crowley stared.
Shoyo continued.
"You were different after Arven."
Crowley frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Shoyo looked away.
"It means you stopped being the person he knew."
Silence.
Crowley's face changed.
"What happened to him?"
Shoyo looked toward the ruins.
Brook already knew the answer would be bad.
"War."
Crowley waited.
Shoyo continued.
"Not a war for territory."
Henry frowned.
"Then what?"
Shoyo looked toward the darkness.
"A war for survival."
Hades finally spoke.
"You are still not telling them everything."
Everyone turned.
Shoyo looked at him.
Hades stepped forward.
His expression remained cold.
"You came to my city knowing what was beneath it."
Shoyo's eyes narrowed.
"I knew some of it."
Hades's expression didn't change.
"And now?"
Shoyo looked toward the ancient city.
"Now I know we were wrong."
That was the first time Brook had heard her say that.
Not simply that she didn't know.
That she had been wrong.
Brook looked around.
The city beneath Remus.
Arven.
Crowley.
The sword.
The door.
Everything connected.
But not clearly.
Henry stepped forward.
"Can someone just explain the big picture?"
Brook looked at him.
Henry pointed around.
"We have an underground city."
He pointed at Crowley.
"Forgotten king friend."
Then Rick.
"Ancient sword."
Then Shoyo.
"First Witch."
Then Sera.
"Word Magic."
Henry looked at Brook.
"And I feel like we're all pretending this is normal."
Brook nodded.
"Fair."
Shoyo almost smiled.
Then it disappeared.
She walked toward the ruined temple.
"Fine."
Everyone followed.
Brook watched her.
She stopped at the entrance.
"Before the world was divided…"
Her voice echoed through the dead city.
"There was no protection."
Brook listened.
"No Walls."
Sera looked upward.
"No Kings."
Hades corrected.
"There were kings."
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Her eyes moved toward the names.
"But there were no protected places."
Crowley stared at the ruins.
"What divided it?"
Shoyo was quiet.
Brook waited.
Then she said:
"Fear."
The word echoed.
Nobody understood.
Shoyo continued.
"Not one event."
Her expression hardened.
"Many."
Brook watched her.
"The world did not become divided because people wanted safety."
Sera frowned.
"Then why?"
Shoyo looked toward the ceiling.
"Because eventually, safety became impossible."
Silence.
Henry slowly lowered his weapon.
Brook felt something settle inside him.
Their Walls weren't simply cities.
They weren't simply kingdoms.
They were survivors.
Pieces of a world that had broken apart.
Shoyo looked at the group.
"The twelve protected places were not created together."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Hades's eyes narrowed.
Shoyo continued.
"Some existed before others."
Brook stared.
"The twelve weren't one system?"
Shoyo shook her head.
"No."
Sera whispered:
"Then who connected them?"
Shoyo looked toward the darkness.
The answer didn't come.
Instead—
a sound echoed through the underground city.
Metal.
Rick turned.
His hand went to his sword.
Crowley looked toward the darkness.
Brook felt his body tighten.
Henry whispered:
"Please tell me that's a guard."
Hades looked at him.
"It isn't."
The sound came again.
Closer.
Brook stepped forward.
"Something's down here."
Shoyo's expression became cold.
"No."
Brook looked at her.
Shoyo stared into the darkness.
"Someone."
A figure stepped onto the old road.
Everyone became still.
The person wore dark clothing.
No armour.
No crown.
No weapon in their hands.
They looked ordinary.
Almost.
The figure stopped at the edge of the darkness.
Brook couldn't see their face clearly.
Rick slowly removed his sword.
Shoyo immediately raised her hand.
"No."
Rick froze.
Brook looked at her.
"Who is that?"
Shoyo's face had gone pale.
For the first time since Brook had known her—
she looked genuinely afraid.
The figure tilted their head.
Then spoke.
"Shoyo."
Her name echoed through the dead city.
The figure stepped forward.
Brook saw their face.
A man.
Young.
Too young for the way Shoyo was looking at him.
Crowley stared.
Something moved inside his mind.
The same feeling.
Recognition.
But no memory.
The man smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Just—
like someone meeting old acquaintances.
Shoyo whispered:
"You shouldn't be alive."
The man looked at her.
"I could say the same."
Brook's hand moved toward his weapon.
Rick stepped in front of him.
The stranger looked toward Rick.
Then at the sword.
His smile disappeared.
For the first time.
"Ah."
He said.
"So you found it."
Rick tightened his grip.
"Who are you?"
The man looked at him.
Then toward Shoyo.
Shoyo didn't answer.
The man smiled again.
And walked closer.
Brook felt the entire underground city become quieter.
The man stopped.
His eyes moved across Xcution.
Brook.
Sera.
Henry.
Crowley.
Rick.
Then Shoyo.
He looked at Crowley for longer.
Crowley's expression changed.
Brook noticed.
The stranger finally spoke.
"He's forgotten me too."
Crowley stared.
The man smiled.
"That's unfortunate."
Brook stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The stranger looked at him.
For a moment, they simply stared at each other.
Then the man answered.
"My name is Silvet."
Brook had never heard it before.
But Shoyo had.
And whatever fear had entered her face—
did not leave.
End of Chapter 130