"Father, a moment. Take me with you. I need someone to speak for me. Father, I have a plan already, don't you dare turn your back on me. Calm down and listen. Hey? Hey!...", Aaradhya wiggled around in Mrs. Lagrange's arms and reached out for his father just before the massive vault door hissed and groaned shut.
"Damnit. How am I supposed to communicate with anyone here if they use a different language than me," Aaradhya frowned at the situation and just so happened to meet the eyes of the old woman he tried to escape from as she turned him around to get a good look at him.
"I hope that you can see how annoyed I am with this situation that I find myself in," Aaradhya sighed, pointed at Mrs.Lagrange's arms, then aimed his finger at the ground.
"Of course, my lord," with a snap of her fingers, a little under two dozen of butlers and maids ran around with brooms and steaming devices. Within a minute, the entire room sparkled with and smelled of disinfectant. Mrs. Lagrange lowered her lord to a rug that half a dozen people carefully placed underneath him.
"This material. For it to be this soft, it must be made of some exotic material… no, don't get sidetracked by the luxuries, I should focus. I have to establish a line of communication first," Aaradhya dusted off his clothes and waddled around on the carpet. He paced around in thought while everyone dropped to their knees with tears and prayers as their lord graced them with his steps. They were aware that he was somewhere around three months old and viewed his walking as a miracle.
"Communicate. There must be a way. Hmm, actually, the solution is very simple," Aaradhya scanned the room and refreshed his memory on what he knew. With a small, near imperceptible smirk, he spun on his heel or tried to, his foot caught on the rug as his disproportionately large head dragged his body to the soft ground. He silently screamed and fell head first toward the floor.
"Op, there you go, can't have you falling on us my lord," he was scooped up by a pair of elderly arms.
"How embarrassing...", Aaradhya pointed to the ground with a bright red face and put his hands up. Mrs. Lagrange acknowledged his command and had the servants drag the sorry excuse for a rug into a backroom, never to be seen again for its transgression. He briefly collected himself and put as much distance as possible from his fall near the vault doors, which meant he entered the safe room proper.
"There is enough food and supplies to last all of us in here at least a few months if rationed properly," Aaradhya observed the inside of the vault that resembled a warehouse. The only thing that felt off was the cots that were laid out to one side of the warehouse. He put the temporary living conditions of the servants aside and entered what looked to be a luxury studio apartment that ran parallel to the warehouse. He entered it thinking that the area was for him and sat down on a leather couch that was placed in the middle of a small library. With a universally adorable pout, he pointed to a notepad that slightly poked out of Mrs. Lagrange apron as she followed him closely. He had more than a few moments to cycle through the information Death gave him about the cult and the backstory he could infer from what Big G allowed all of the champions to grasp.
"Here you go, my lord," nearly jumping out of her shoes. The old woman gave Aaradhya her notepad and a pen. He sat on his couch and deliberated, deciding which language was more likely for the servants to know. He currently had knowledge on nine different languages, not including ASL and that was likely because the other champions also spoke different languages themselves.
"Can any of you read this," Aaradhya showed Mrs. Lagrange his note after choosing one. Unexpectedly, several people fainted as they hyperfixated on their lord. Another two nearly dropped, but they staggered back to their feet with nods of stunned silence.
"Yes! My lord! I understand," Mrs. Lagrange nearly forgot her age and hopped around Aaradhya like an excited child.
"Good. I need all of you to get prepared to leave," none of the followers needed an explanation. In a few moments, everyone rushed to pack up their belongings.
"My lord. I know it's not my place to ask, but why are we leaving," Mrs. Lagrange gave 100% of her attention to Aaradhya.
"We are fish in a barrel," Aaradhya ripped a small note out and gave it to the old lady who crouched down to meet his eye. Almost instantly, her posture sharpened as alertness filled her senses. It was around then that the guards responsible for opening, closing, and defending the panic room just so happened to have lifted several dozen massive pins and turned a massive wheel to lock the vault. The contraption creaked with a loud and frightening groan.
"That does not sound...", not given enough time to even think, Aaradhya felt himself go weightless after a violent tug. Dirt, gravel, and stone fell from above and pooled into mounds around the room as dust swirled. Mrs.Lagrange lunged for her lord and enveloped him in her arms as she dove behind the couch and away from the main entrance that had exploded the moment that the tumblers fell into place.
"Is our lord alright?"
"My lord. Please be okay."
"I'm okay. My legs just are trapped... our lord... is he...."
"I... I am dying... I offer my life to your glory, my lord...."
"In death, we are one."
"In death, we are one."
"In...", the phrase echoed after the death of another servant.
"These people are insane," Aaradhya's mind slowly recovered from the shock. In slow motion, he watched as these men and women clawed out of the rubble to ensure his safety. Each and every one of these servants worked together to lift and move rubble away from his immediate area.
"These people. They really are willing to do anything for me...", Aaradhya watched as a young man lifted up a small mountain of stone. If that section of rubble fell, the entire dome that the servants had carved out would collapse, and everyone inside would die. The young man held the stone even as a giant broken chain link cut into his back.
"This is such an appalling sight, yet why can't I... why can't I look away," Aaradhya held his breath and trembled in fear and disgust despite the servant's heroic sacrifice. By the time everyone else had gotten free of the earthen coffin and cleared enough rubble to be safe, the young man drew his last breath. He remained steadfast even in death as his body locked up. Two more able-bodied individuals took his place and attempted to remove him, but they quickly realized that the young man's body acted as a load bearing beam with the chain that had cut into his body. That was when the rubble shifted and the chain pulled taunt, ripping the young man in half. The blood that sprayed everywhere was only second to the gore and guts that splattered all over the surrounding servants that were all lifting the rubble dome.
"Disgusting. Ugly. Nasty. Deplorable. Unsanitary. Vile. All of you look like feral rats clawing out of a grave. Disgusting," Aaradhya tried not to throw up. He also tried not to look, but how could he not. These people sang his name in praise even as they bloodied their hands to ensure his safety.
"How am I supposed to not care for these people and treat them as my property? Death, I understand how you adjusted them to fit my every need, but... I really don't think I can use them...", Aaradhya forced his eyes close, swallowed his rising breakfast, and let his tears fall. The sporadic sight of blood, cut or broken flesh, and even the occasional bone shook him to the core. Mrs.Lagrange followed her lord's gaze upon feeling him shake within her arms. Rather than fear and shock, she projected her own emotions onto what her lord felt. She sat up with her lord firmly resting in her bosom, but she couldn't move. A sharp and heavy piece of rock had lodged itself in her thigh and made it impossible to stand on her own.
The help worked to clear the stone and gravel around Aaradhya, but they all looked…
"I can't. I just can't do this. Decades of therapy, of gradual acclimation, and here I am. This is disgusting. I didn't want to die. I don't want to die again. I almost died. I even swallowed my throw up. Oh my god, I'm disgusting. I don't want to die...", Aaradhya quickly looked away from the servants that showed wounds ranging from superficial to fatal and barely managed to stop a full breakdown. Tears ran down his face without showing signs of stopping. Now, all of the servants, at least those who still lived, could see their lord in all his sorrow.
"My lord...", Mrs. Lagrange looked down at her wet clothes and froze. Aaradhya held his mouth and cried as he trembled like a newborn fawn. He silently cried out for his fallen children. He shuddered not with anger and vengeance but with incalculable sorrow. She held Aaradhya's head close to her bosom and cried alongside her God. Her weeping caught the eyes of the servants, which in turn made them follow along. Mrs.Lagrange cried out. She roared loud enough for everyone, but they all shed tears.
"Open the passages. It seems our enemies have long since planned for this day...", Mrs. Lagrange whispered, but everyone heard her words. The servants instantly shifted their weight like a disturbed nest of vipers. Within seconds, the servants dismantled a massive bookshelf within Aaradyha's side of the room. They opened a rather large stone panel with bare and bloodied hands. Apparently, there was a secret passage in the safe room but instead of servant passages, it led to a maze of tunnels that led to everywhere else on the island.
With the help of her staff, Mrs.Lagrange got her wound cleaned and bandaged before she used a metal pipe as a walking stick. Aaradhya collected himself in the brief moments of consciousness that he wasn't hyperventilating and crying. In those moments, he watched the little more than half a dozen servants break the furniture in the room to create makeshift bags and torches. They gathered supplies from the warehouse and followed after Mrs.Lagrange as she directed them to carry items into the tunnels.
"I have to survive. I have to live. These people are going to keep me alive no matter what, I'm okay," Aaradhya breathed out heavily as he was placed down on the couch that had been cleared of dust and gravel. Even as he sat there, it was obvious that the servants were working toward his escape. Very quickly they determined that it was impossible to leave through the main vault as the mechanisms warped due to the bombs that went off. As such, they put all of their effort into exploring and charting the cave systems that were beyond that hole that was behind the bookshelf.
Aaradhya steadied himself as the servants worked and was prepared to talk with Mrs.Lagrange but he realized that he lost the notepad in the chaos. Thus he waited a few minutes before he brought up the matter by waving his hands a bit fervently. Mrs. Lagrange had all the servants divert their attention to finding the notepad and the pen, one of which was under the couch while the other was under a stone that had rolled all the way into the living quarters.
"What is the plan," Aaradhya wrote down.
"Am I to assume that we are to use this language," Mrs.Lagrange spoke out loud, still over the moon that her lord could converse with her. Aaradhya nodded and rolled his hand as if to say, "so, get on with it."
"Ah yes, right. So, the plan is to chart a path and leave through one of the many hidden pathways that go underneath the island," Mrs. Lagrange ordered that supplies be brought into the tunnels. Food, water, and candles that were in ceramic jars the size of 2 liter drinks. They had about 200 hours of burn time so they were to light one of the jars whenever they reached a divide or intersection if there were any. They had about 200 jars with 20 or so being lit at the current moment. Due to the shorting of electricity in the saferoom.
"What if we cannot find an exit," Aaradhya frowned at how optimistic the plan seemed.
"Then we will return and hope that the guards outside can get their hands on a thermic lance or demolition charges," Mrs.Lagrange smiled at her lord despite her own worry.
"I am only worried that we will be targeted even here. If the enemy has gotten their hands on the blueprints for your panic room, they most certainly have plans regarding the secret tunnels. Meaning, there is a very real chance that there are people waiting to scour these tunnels to look for survivors. Meaning, the faster we get out, the faster we can regroup," Mrs.Lagrange said.
"If that is the case then isn't it likely that the elders, or at least a handful, have turned coat for their own gain," Aaradhya narrowed his eyes and expected a proper response instead he received a bow from Mrs.Lagrange that hid her face as she spoke.
'"I cannot say one way or another my lord, it is not my place to speak of the elders, their responsibilities, or whom they choose to ally with. But I am sure that you can draw your own conclusions considering that it was only the honor guard and the elders of the grand council that knew of this place. The information could have slipped from either party," Mrs.Lagrange said nothing else on that particular matter as the servants that survived the explosion, vanished into the cave with torches in one hand and ceramic jars in the other.
"I understand. I hope you'll humor me but I would like to help choose the paths we have to take," Aaradhya wrote.
"How could we ask such a thing from you my lord," Mrs.Lagrange shook her head.
"You're not asking me, I'm requesting it of you. I can see what you cannot so I can get us father along with much less mistakes," Aaradhya's soul sense was not activated but he assumed that a change of scenery would go a long way to helping him see through the walls just as he did when he first woke up. He could tell which path to take and where to step thanks to soul sense and the Verdant mists that filled the atmosphere as it flowed like wind.
"But what if you get lo…," Mrs.Lagrange did not finish her question as she deemed it blasphemous to say that the lord would get lost. Instead, she bit her tongue and changed her wording at the last second.
"What if you get delayed," Mrs.Lagrange stared at her young lord and waited for a response that satisfied her.
"I am going, that is final. Even if I lose my way, I will still be faster than searching each path," Aaradhya hopped down from the couch and walked toward the hole in the wall by himself.
"Wait my lord, we cannot let you go alone. If you could at least…", Mrs.Lagrange said her piece and hoped that her lord would listen to her plea. Aaradhya, believing that his soul sense would carry him through the caves without issue, was followed by the old woman and half a dozen servants that carried all manner of supplies with them.
"One candle, I need as much darkness as possible," Aaradhya commanded as his soul sense flickered in the bright torchlight. He tried to focus on the spiritual world but the shadows cast by the torchlight made him distracted as he kept on thinking that someone or something came from the tunnels that stretched off in different directions.
"Despite the slow pace, this sensory deprivation is rather calming," Aaradhya closed his eyes to avoid staring at moss-covered cavern walls in the candlelight. He and Mrs.Lagrange had come to an understanding as he held her hand to walk. Rather than explore by himself, he would remain at an intersection or split in the tunnels until a servant could verify that the path that he had chosen was the correct way forward. It slowed things down a bit but it put both of them at ease since Aaradhya wasn't actually sure if soul sense could pick up traps. At best, he could see the flow of the Verdant mists as it traveled through the tunnels, moss, and algae that covered the walls.
"Now that I have a moment of calm to myself, how did anyone get bombs inside of the vault door? It makes no sense, why not just plant them throughout the safe room and take everyone out all at once," Aaradhya scanned the tunnel behind him and just so happened to lock eyes with a servant who glanced in his direction as they ferried water and food containers from the ruined panic room. Aaradhya's soul sense picked up the girl's spiritual body. Spiritual light flashed through the person's eyes and features as her body glowed with a cool radiance. With his eyes still closed, he didn't notice that in the candlelight, the servant woman looked frightening.
"Interesting. I saw that a number of individuals in this cult should be able to see or interact with the Verdant but I didn't expect every one of these servants to have such superb control over their spirituality," All of the servants slowly gathered next to him as they carried supplies and committed the path to memory. Out of the two dozen servants that were originally in the safe room with him, only 14 survived the explosion. Originally, there were a few others but they succumbed or soon would perish due to their wounds and were left behind in the safe room.
"More intriguingly, why can I see the verdant mists so clearly? Is it possible that I may be experiencing a breakthrough," Aaradhya focused on the scattered outlines all around him and closed his eyes to sense the spiritual world properly. He cleared his extraneous thoughts and, not surprisingly, found that the outlines he was following sharpened to the point of forming distinct paths. He could even make out the different body types of the servants as their silhouettes and features abruptly filled out in cool light within the green sea that surrounded them. All of the spiritual highlights promptly blurred when he reopened his eyes and reflected upon the matter in the soft candlelight.
Aaradhya took the chance to accustom himself to the exaggerated X-ray and night vision- esque change in his sight and moved onto turning it on and off on command by simply opening and closing his eyes. After he gained a foothold in altering his vision, the rest of his senses developed at a pace similar to water gushing out of a broken dam.
"This sensation of taste isn't sweet or sour, nor is it salty, bitter, or earthy. I'm sure I'll find the proper terminology in Sir Marimo's autobiography but for now, I'll settle on the Verdant having a hearty flavor," Aaradhya quickly overcame the shift in his taste as the rush of change swept over his pores. The verdant in the tunnels shifted wildly as it all rushed toward Aaradhya.
"Astounding. This tingling warmth is a dumbfounding sensation...", the hair on his body stood on end and burned at the root. The verdant invaded every cell and atom of his body and actively congealed on his skin with a visible green flame. The entire party slowed to a halt due to the sudden and torrential shifts to their lord. Mrs.Lagrange completely forgot about her shattered leg and knelt down in front of Aaradhya as he accidentally interacted with the Verdant Mists... At least she tried. The verdant coalesced into a gorgeous storm beneath Aaradhya as it lifted him off the ground a few millimeters. Even though he was suspended in the air, he focused on the changes to his body and most notably, his senses. A subtle whisper carried through the air from the souls of the people around him but all of that was drowned out by a heartrending hymn of soot and soil.
"The Verdant, it has a voice. Its singing. And the souls of those around me...", he listened, he could hear their... well... desire isn't the right word.
"I read about this. My energy is resonating with the Verdant rather than opposing it. This truly is another kind of experience," he immersed himself in the rushing tide and after a few moments, a notion swirled into his mind. Aaradhya raised a hand. The Verdant that pulsed out and around the planet came to a sudden pause. Well, nothing that exaggerated. At the very best, the Verdant within the immediate tunnel came to a stop. More specifically, the rushing Verdant that never stilled for a moment, paused in a one meter radius starting from the soul flame in his chest. All of the Verdant that came to a pause became visible to the naked eye as even the servants without soul sense of their own could see the staggering power of their lord.
"Wow. I assumed this would work since I've been through mental simulations but for the Verdant to be so responsive. This is completely outside of my expectations," the particles curled around his hand then bloomed outward in gorgeous and earthy light structures everyone could see. Audible gasps echoed through the passage. No one noticed that the candle flame had turned emerald.
"Stunning," Aaradhya pressed his hands outward to make more esoteric and abstractly gorgeous constructs out of the Verdant.
"It's not exactly what I had in mind but it is certainly a start. I shall review what I have accomplished now and pick out the faults I may have missed," he frowned and refocused upon turning his head upward. The Verdant slowly dissipated and lowered him to the ground but his head remained locked on something... or someone he didn't expect to be there.
"Is that lost soul still following me? Or was it drawn to the sudden concentration of Verdant," Aaradhya watched a rotten figure that was bathed in warm energy pass through the group uninterrupted. It suddenly stopped at the edge of the servants. The Verdant created a sort of barrier around this creature. One that shifted and swirled with fog and yellow- lime light.
"That lost soul looks much healthier than before. Hm, I wonder what it is actually doing or looking for," The lost soul just stood at the group's edge, menacingly. Not really, it casually stole some of the energy that had ejected off of Aaradhya in his absentminded control of something that seemed antithesis to spiritual energy. Only its head twitched side to side, as if it were looking out for something. After a few back and forth scans, the soul locked eyes with Aaradhya. It tilted its head in confusion, and then looked around even more. Unexpectedly, the lost soul's face split into a vertical line of disgusting teeth and flesh folds. It let out a metallic hiss toward a certain spot in the tunnel. It then turned around and ran.
Aaradhya, admittedly, lost focus, not expecting to see that kind of grotesque sight. The physically glowing verdant around his body vanished back into the spiritual world. For him, the lost soul faded into an amorphous shadow that quickly blended into the darkness down the maze-like corridor. He made an astute observation, thinking that it was likely that all other people saw of lost souls was that shadowy state. That said, it was apparent that none of the servants saw the lost soul as their attention was solely on him.
"Uh... Okay. First, how did that lost soul close so many of those wounds in such a short amount of time? Marimo suggests that the lost are irreparably broken souls. More than that, the Gods flat out gave us champions some universal answers. Broken souls shouldn't be capable of repairing themselves unless they personally intervene," Aaradhya looked around with a snap of his head. He stood up and waddled his way around the crowd. It wasn't hard since they moved out of his way.
"Ah. But then again. Echoes are not exactly true souls so maybe they can be repaired. Regardless of the matter...", Aaradhya reactivated his soul senses and made a B-line for the spot that the lost soul avoided at the cost of leaving behind some energy.
"Secondly, what could have frightened a lost soul," Aaradhya looked down toward a dirt patch that stuck out of a moss covered, stone lined wall. He pulled out some of the moss and dislodged a stone or two before he pulled out an earthworm. It didn't wiggle or move. It played dead.