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Inside the Basin was quiet, with only the sound of whispering winds brushing against the plants and vines; the only inhabitants in this Ghost Town.
Parks that should have been filled with new families and laughter, now groan with the lack of fulfillment in their crumbling years. Empty carts of makeshift shapes and undefined products dusted away in their solemn lifeless existences.
The Soaring Horizon marched by doorways filled with the phantom joys of long-awaited greetings that would never come, leading to open rooms filled with chairs that longed to bear the weight of life in its day by day.
Pockets of air glimmered with the clouded dust of petramir as the light streaked through its hidden escape from the wind's breath.
A beautiful artificial city stood upon marble foundations, unbothered by the decaying potential that was wasted with time in the wake of death itself.
Nature flowed through the cracks of the never-was, flossing the spire and tower teeth that sunk into the chasm's throat.
Every sound was amplified by the looming silence that scorned upon disruption to the quiet passage of time.
There were no more safe houses now, no peaceful rest without a thorough investigation to guarantee that, they too, shall not be swallowed into the depths while they sleep.
-
Unaware of the deadly encounter they would face during their mission, Clockwork Locomotion strolled through the streets of the false city.
"Woooowie the city sure is big." Ophilia said while wiping away the lavender petals of her hair stuck to the sweat on her brow. "Of course you can see it all from the rim but you don't really get to feeel how big it really is until you've been walking for hours now".
Kicking some rocks, she watched as they tumbled down the marble, breaking apart into tiny pieces, till they themselves were just a pile of dust.
"And it's all The Architect's work." Haru said while scanning the perimeter for any signs of danger with the starlight emitting from his body.
"And that's the beauty of it." Mr. Froyd agreed, crouched over his notebook. His wings offered his hands some shade while the pen scratched along the pages frantically as though time was of the essence.
"I find it fascinating that unlike most world beasts, who prefer to roam across the worlds they're bound to, in order to find the most amount of food and optimal food source, The Architect chooses to stay here in this basin. With the change in the ecosystems, I would love to document the arcane differences if you don't mind." He said, now turning to three of the other teammates.
"Of course!" Ophilia smiled. Elias gave an annoyed twitch of his blue feathers in acknowledgement while Rex leaned her muscular weight against her pike. "Whatever you need sir."
Dropping his backpack onto the ground, he sat to rest his back against it while readying his tools, ink and writing utensils.
"I'll need each of you to answer me, one at a time now. And please do give me just a moment occasionally to make sure I'm writing everything down. Since we have entered the basin, what have you noticed was different about your connection to your goddesses? When did you notice the change? And lastly, what about their arcane influence? It will be vital to get this information first in as much detail as possible before we continue deeper."
"Well… there really isn't much of Minthansi's influence anywhere, even with the crumbling buildings and all." Ophilia said as she batted her emerald green eyes in thought, feeling the pestilence mother's magic flowing through.
"Before it was under the leaves, deep in the ground as where it's usually felt. Well, at least the ones that don't have a particular affinity for her magic. Here inside the basin it's as though it's been completely scrubbed clean. There are very rarely traces of it entwined with the plants but it's only the small ones, like when someone doesn't clean up their mess completely and you can still see streaks from how they tried. They lead to the center of the basin and on the updrafts, when the wind is blowing outward, I can feel her, growing stronger the closer towards the center chasm we travel."
Mr. Froyd nodded as he listened with focused intent, his pen thirsting to record all of the knowledge that she shared and felt with him. "Absolutely fascinating" he breathed out when her words drained empty in her current knowledge.
"I can only wonder what we could find if we went into the chasm."
With a smile, he turned to Rex and gave her a gentle nod, indicating that he was ready. "If you could answer as well please."
"The sun shines bright in this world, never changing, calm and strong." Rex began, reaching her palm to the sky, feeling the warmth in the mid-day's sun. "But here inside the chasm I feel her much more strongly. Decyra's strength grows stronger, like the strength your muscles display when you're picking up something particularly heavy. It radiates through this material that the world beast uses, absorbing it in the day, slowly emitting it through the night."
She spoke softly while letting the light play between her fingers until softly pressing it to the nearest wall. The light faded in the darker shadows but the tiniest amount was taken in, absorbed, by the solid white surface.
"Now that's something I wouldn't have expected and certainly something we couldn't have seen without your perception. Thank you Rex." He said, giving her one more smile through the frantic scrawling in his lap. "Your insight has been a wonderful help."
Lastly but not without importance, Froyd turned to Elias who stood quiet in the shade, not bothered to give any of them his direct or undivided attention.
"Elias. Any words are better than a blank page."
Elias glanced at the chubbier man before giving a small groan. "I don't feel anything." he said bluntly.
"And by nothing, what do you mean?" Froyd tried drawing more information out of the stubborn bird.
"Nothing, as in, there is no life here. Nothing is truly alive. The plants here grow but they lack the life and soul Selene gives or they're just too weak. So much so that I hardly see a reason to have so many people on this team or even a scout. We might as well be walking through the bones of a corpse."
Froyd's eyebrows furrowed as he wrote down every word Elias said, ignoring the attitude given, before considering the balance between the 3 of the 7 goddesses' influence thus far.
"If we could set up here, I will need some time to make some more calculations with some of the instruments I brought with me." Froyd turned to ask Haru who nodded in return.
Their leader glanced at the buildings around them as the dawning stars of their body swayed. He will stop once spotting an opportunity through a dilapidated window frame, and turn to his team's strength.
"Rex, I'll need you to help me find and carry a large slab to that building over there. It will act as a cover while the rest of you will take shelter down that set of stairs. I'll be waiting outside on post for Yasmine to return from scouting."
—
Ethan slid his hand along the crumbling petramir slab that covered the stairs to the church's cellar.
"So this was the first resting spot." he said to no one in particular.
Feathers headed down to search for anything left behind while Alexander reviewed where their next destination will be.
Clockwork Locomotion had first stopped within a crumbling temple, a mockery, and imitation of the goddesses and the life they gave.
Ethan wondered if they knew that not all of them would get out when they first came in, if they had left their own candles at the safehouse memorial. For the ones that never made it out did they know that their mission would fail its full purpose?
Uncomfortable and crumbling rows of seats stacked on top of each other, too close for anybody to sit in but just far enough to look like you could. Atop The Altar was the Statue of a woman whose features had faded with her beauty. Broken and withering it is quite easy to see that even in her days of new, she could never truly imitate the image of the divine.
"From here we head South-East... Is that right Alexander?" Ethan called over his shoulder to the alligator who was making his way out of the unholy walls with haste.
"Yeah something like that." He called back, "Let's just not stick around here longer than we need to. I'll be waiting outside."
True to his word, the gator stood next to the doorway and kept an eye out for anything unexpected.
Feathers appeared from the basement staircase, ducking out the way of the looming slab, and headed for the door themself.
"Left anything behind?" Ethan asked to which his teammate only shook their head no.
"Guess they didn't even think to leave even a note for us." Ethan tried to laugh as he followed.
With one last look over his shoulder to the fake Statue of the woman, there were no other words he could think to describe her than a masterwork of art, constructed from the most raw feeling of disgust.
As they walked, Ethan pulled out his notebook and began to write again.