"Ha ha, hi Athalia, now I'm sure it's really you."
Athalia shook her head in confusion and disbelief. "Don't joke around; this isn't funny… This is the third stratum, for god's sake. How did you get here? No… there's no way you could get to the third stratum by yourself. It was just Enza and I on the tram; you must be a Hymylän with some sort of special makeup on."
However, she could hear the faint buzzing of bees in the distance. If those were around, who else could this person be but Kismet? And then there was his unmistakable two front teeth, which had been replaced with silver fakes after an unfortunate accident.
She was beginning to think that mental problem from earlier had escalated into hallucinations.
If this is really Kismet, was he converted to a Hymylän? Please, no…
Kismet blurted out, "Ask me something only the real Kismet would know."
"…Okay, what is your goal in life?"
"To reach the bottom of the Chasm. I'm tired of reaching for the sky. The Mountain is a dead end."
It really is him…
"How did you get here… You must have crossed with us, since I saw you mere hours before Enza and I departed from Alavieska. Even if you somehow prepared another offering by yourself, you'd have to wait for the tram to come all the way back from the Mountain, and then wait another three days as you traveled here. You couldn't have gotten ahead of us."
"I promise with all of my heart that I'll tell you everything I know. But first, how about we get out of the cold? It's warmer ahead."
Despite her bafflement at the situation, Athalia couldn't help but agree with this. She got to her feet and followed Kismet and the three strangers, her body aching miserably.
The minecart had spit her out in a cramped tunnel of red rock, just like the ground in Alavieska. After a few seconds of walking, the tunnel widened into a massive clearing.
They were inside the foundation of what must have been an enormous building. All of the countless beams supporting the foundation were shifting, elongating, and contorting around each other in a massive living web. Athalia hadn't experienced the fear of snakes before, but she was now.
She looked closely and realized that each supportive beam was ultimately moving upwards, pushing into the ceiling. The ceiling above her head stayed at a consistent level, but whatever was being supported above this grand foundation was slowly being pushed upwards, centimeter by centimeter.
The beams themselves had a vibrant design that strangely reminded Athalia of the chaotic designs and colors in Hymylä.
"What is this place? Who are these three? Did you find them here?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure where we are. These three don't seem to be willing to explain, even after a little bit of torture."
"You did what? We aren't allowed to torture people."
"Why are you assuming they're humans? Although it's kinda hard to tell without their typical face paint, they're most likely Hymyläns, right?" Kismet said to her with a smile. "How could a random human—a citizen from Alavieska—be on the Mountain right now? We don't exactly let people go on expeditions unaccounted for. A Hymylän making it from the third stratum to the first, now that's far more believable. And if they're Hymyläns, I can do whatever I please."
"Actually, Kismet, there is someone unaccounted for on the Mountain besides you…"
Athalia took a deep breath.
"Azarias is alive. I don't know how, but he's alive and well on the third stratum. You testified that you saw him jump into the Chasm with your own eyes. Were you lying?"
Kismet's first thought was that Athalia had gone insane. After all, he really had watched Azarias jump into the Chasm. Indeed, the sight still haunted him every day—not because he was particularly sad about Azarias dying, as he wanted him to die as much as everyone else did, but because of the way it happened.
On Earth, there was once a study done on suicide attempt survivors who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge in California. 29 out of 29 people regretted it immediately after they jumped.
Although he didn't remember this study with his current memories, Kismet was haunted and perplexed by the willpower it would take to break this 29/29 rule, to step into the unknown without regretting it in the slightest. Right in front of his eyes, only a few feet away from where he was standing and without warning, Azarias had dove off the cliff into the Chasm with aerodynamic form. Not a single scream escaped his mouth as he plummeted.
There wasn't a day that passed that Kismet didn't think about what he saw that day.
Now, to hear that Azarias was alive? It seemed utterly impossible.
"Tell me everything that's happened to you so far on this expedition," said Kismet.
Athalia proceeded to do so, describing everything that happened from arriving at the first stratum all the way up to taking the minecart trip to their current location.
Kismet shook his head and sighed. "I really don't know how Azarias survived. Does this mean jumping into the Chasm doesn't actually kill you?"
Athalia shrugged. "I'm no closer to an answer than you. He told me he got to the Mountain without activating the tram. Is jumping into the Chasm another way to get to the Mountain? It doesn't make any sense."
They both stood in silence for a moment, until Athalia remembered her original train of thought.
"Kismet, what are you doing here? How did you possibly get all the way to the third stratum? Why are you on the Mountain at all?"
Dodging the question of why he was here, Kismet said, "I hitchhiked. It's actually not that hard; it's just that most people don't have a reason to. As you know, there's a special compartment under the tram to store the Instruments that are brought back from the Mountain, as well as to bring Instruments on expeditions. It's surprisingly human-sized. Enza keeps all her gear in her suit, and you pack light, so I knew there would be plenty of space.
"All I had to do was wait until Fince went outside the tram station to perform the offering. Since you and Enza both had earplugs in, neither of you noticed a thing as I opened the compartment and shut myself in. The hard part came after, when we landed at the first stratum. I wanted to keep you in sight and piggyback off your progress, but then you both disappeared from the first stratum using that 'skip' device, which is something I've never seen or heard of before. I thought I'd be stuck hiding under the tram from the acid rain and the other hazards until you and Enza got back, but that's when I found the entrance to this place…"
Athalia was beyond confused. "Wait. I'm on the third stratum, but you never climbed past the first, and we somehow got to the same place?"
Kismet leaned against the wall. "That's what I'm so confused about. The way we got here is kind of similar though, if you think about it. You know the platform where the tram arrives? While you two were venturing into the ash forest of the first stratum, I was hiding under the tram car, watching you. As I lay there on the platform, I had my hands near the edges. I just happened to feel a tiny line, a gap that cut a square shape out of the platform.
"After you left, I was simply too curious and couldn't help but brush the dust off to get a closer look. It turns out there's a trapdoor on the tram platform, concealing a ladder leading down into darkness. As an Explorer at heart, I couldn't help but climb down.
"After climbing down the ladder for quite a while, I suddenly lost feeling in my legs. This made me lose my balance instantly, and I fell off the ladder, tumbling into the dark. I lost all feeling in my body as I was falling, just like what happened to you in the minecart. After quite some time, I landed in a pit full of colorful plastic balls. It's right over there."
Kismet pointed to his right, where there really was a pit full of colorful plastic balls. Athalia saw a ladder extending up into a vertical shaft above it.
"So, there are entrances to this place on the third and first stratum. Why would that be the case… Also, hold on. About that mine I went through, my guess is it was built under the mutual cooperation of Azarias and the Hymylän villagers. After all, it seems unreasonable for Azarias to accomplish that alone. But this… A tunnel network that goes under the mountain, between strata? Even the Hymyläns shouldn't have the capability to casually create something like this."
In response, Kismet said, "Well, I found these three Hymyläns when I got here. Why don't you ask them?"
Athalia turned to the three men covered in dark soot. "Considering the soot all over you, I'm assuming you three came from the mine, just like I did? What is this place, and why would Azarias want to make this part of the race between Enza and myself?"
The man holding the watering pail wasted no time in replying to Athalia, his voice trembling. "If you think Azarias tells us anything about his reasons, you're dead wrong… Please don't do anything more to us… We didn't even build the mine, nor this area we're in now, nor the strange passageways that connect them. We didn't build that courthouse your friend is in, either. One day, some time after Azarias arrived in Hymylä, we happened to check the third stratum's playing field. The open pit mine had suddenly appeared there, as well as that courthouse. I don't think Azarias could have built either of those overnight, but he seems to have inside information on why they appeared, since he knew the layout of them both.
"After he got permission to host the games, he selected a number of us Hymyläns to participate as actors. Some were trained by him to play characters in that courthouse scenario, and some were trained to play characters in the mine. The last group—my group—was ordered to head into the mine and take the minecart to this place, and stay here until he came to get us. Unlike the others, we weren't given any instructions or training on how to play our roles; he just gave us each a set of clothes and an object. A full watering pail—which he said not to pour out—a chisel, a pickaxe, and a drill. I don't know what the meaning of it all is… Now, that's really all that we know. Please don't hurt us again…"
Out of the three Hymyläns, two had their heads held down in fright. However, one of them had suddenly taken on a defiant expression.
"You… The one who murdered our fourth member. Your name is Kismet, right?"
Kismet rapidly turned and locked eyes with the man, silently waiting for him to continue.
"You wanna know where we are? I'm the only one who knows. I overheard Azarias talking to himself about it once, shortly after the mine and the courthouse appeared. Apparently, there are entrances on the first and third stratum leading right to the bottom of the Chasm. Looks like you accomplished your life's goal today without even realizing.
"Oh, and that's not all Azarias said…
"He was mumbling that the building over our heads is growing by itself, and won't stop until it fills the entire Chasm. Who even knows if it'll stop there?"
Athalia was struck by a bolt of fear, while Kismet was struck by a bolt of joy. They both thought, We're at the bottom of the Chasm?
Upon seeing their shocked expressions, the man with the chisel knew he had gotten what he wanted.
He had used his trump card, an element of surprise created by words. His final opportunity.
If this is my last moment, then Ukko, take me to Taivas after I die. Let me at least die pure, not as a cultist.
With the chisel gripped tightly in his hand, he lunged towards Kismet's neck.