"At the stone beach there is an incomplete portal chamber that we have already visited, remember? That is where we recruited Joe to our cause. Well, we're going to have to be careful about approaching that place when we get close. HoN Co. has likely found out about what has happened there by now, and will possibly have set up security."
"Oh, yes of course! It had the obsidian blocks piled up outside the front! Do you reckon it's worth having another look inside? You know... See if there's been any development, or if HoN Co. have re-purposed it..."
"We can risk doing that. We have to remain on the course we've set. If AMPHIS translates any more coordinates that point to portals close by, then maybe we can check it out. Until then, we need to remain clear of that place. We can't needlessly endanger ourselves."
That was fair enough I suppose; COLUS and the others were relying on us to complete the assigned task, which was to seek out these new portals stated in the encoded books written by a mysterious person, and destroy them, therefore removing the threat of HoN Co. activating the master portal and merging two dimensions together for their own financial gain! As we continued past the large waterfall that cascaded down the cliff-side, it suddenly began to rain quite heavily, forcing us to speed up quite a bit to prevent getting wet! Dashing from one tree to another had become the new method of quickly getting to the house, and it was working so far. I was more concerned about the books getting wet, as it might impair AMPHIS's ability to translate them. At this brisk pace however, it wasn't long before we reached the stone beach. Thankfully the rain had eased off a little, but we were sufficiently drenched as it was for it not to matter much anymore.
We scaled the beach, trying not to get too close to the actual chamber entrance itself for fear of drawing attention to ourselves. However, from the looks of things, it didn't look like HoN Co. had done much to this place since we had visited; the obsidian blocks were still positioned in the same place as they had before, and the chest was still there as well, although looking a little more sodden than usual. Heading due North now, we heading directly towards SERVERE's house, and almost as if on cue, the rain began to fall heavily again! Protecting the bag as much as I could, I managed to a casual jog, keeping pace with the others. After a few minutes of this, we came to a hill which we scaled, and stood atop to get our bearings. But we didn't need to; there, just in sight to the North was the mossy stone of SERVERE's boundary wall, surrounding the house. We were there!
Moving around to the Western side of the wall, we found the entrance, and passed beneath the archway. Everyone stopped and stood there for a moment, letting the rain wash over them... Maybe as a sign of respect... I don't know. I wasn't even sure if they had seen this place before, let alone been inside. I was likely to be the only other member of the Lone 7 to enter into this house.
"Impressive build... SERVERE did well for himself... Found a lot of clay to be able to build this entire house with bricks..."
"He was always the better builder. We all had our strengths... His was building. He built a massive portion of our base, if you remember correctly. No wonder he had this setup for himself. I can guarantee he's set up quite a fortified position beneath the house as well..."
That he had indeed! From memory, I could remember a pit of lava with a trap door system erected over it, and then a pressure-plate activated sliding bookshelf. He was very good at building actually!
"Right, let's get inside before it gets dark."
UOPETA stepped forward and opened the door, with the rest of us filing in behind him. Stepping through the doorway, I was greeted with an instant feeling of security and relief... It almost felt... Good, to be back!
"Right then. We need to set up before it gets dark. If we work from up here, we'll likely attract unwanted attention. We're moving down into the hidden library beneath the house. It's close to this lava trench that Syeonyx tells us of, so it's likely to be warm and dry. Also, it will look as though no-one is using it."
"Fine by me... I'm feeling rather exposed up here... Too many windows... And the positioning of the house in general... Way too exposed."
I went over to the picture on the wall, and flicked the switch, causing a section of the floor to slide out, exposing the ladder beneath. One by one, we all descended into the basement section. After everyone was down, I went across the lava trench first to prepare the others for the next sight. The skeleton still lay in the same position, but knowing that it was possible that it didn't belong to SERVERE, I lost a little respect for it. Granted it was still the remains of a human being, but still... I had not connection to it... UOPETA came across next and saw the skeleton close to my feet. Bending down, he remained silent for a few seconds, before standing up swiftly and letting out a long breath.
"Let's just hope that's not SERVERE... Even if it's not, we need to pay it the same respect. We'll... Bury them tomorrow... It's too much to leave them here... It leaves the issue too... Open..."
UOPETA stepped past me, and activated the sliding bookshelves and stepped into the hidden library. One by one, AMPHIS and THEROS repeated UOPETA's actions, before heading through to the library. Going in last, I stopped on one of the pressure plates, turning back to look at the remains. I really hope they didn't belong to SERVERE...
Syeonyx signing off
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