Chapter Text
"And you're sure about this?"
"You doubt my ability? Of course it will work. Thanks to the ______ you and the others collected I can extract enough power. It will work."
"It better, _______. I don't want to die for nothing."
"You won't, boy. Now lie still, and relax. It will be like sleeping. We will see each other again."
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"And you're sure about this?" Ajax gave Lumine a disbelieving look, wringing his hands nervously.
"Oh definitely. Aether and I will keep the guards distracted, and you just slip in and out. Maybe snap a selfie in there for proof. Or are you chicken?" She emphasized the word with a bawk for good measure, her bracelets jingling as she waved her hand. "Don't worry! In and out, it'll be no big deal at all."
It sure was a big deal. A huge fucking deal. No one was supposed to enter the old wings of the Zapolyarny Palace, testament to a bygone era of gods and magic. Of course Ajax wouldn't be the first to be dared to go in; far from it. Anyone who did though claimed it was haunted to hell and back - mysterious voices speaking a dead tongue and a violet glow that leaves the air crackling from electricity.
It didn't help that the wing used to be open for tours, and closed roughly fifty years ago due to a large number of disappearances. Yeah, the usual spooky shit.
Ajax wasn't scared though. Totally not. Definitely not. He'd fight ghosts... as long as they didn't try to fry him.
No, he just didn't want to be caught trespassing and have that on his record. That's all.
"No no sister, just taking a photo on the other side of the doors is too easy. You have to find an Old World relic in there. That can't be hard, nothing's been touched in years." Fucking Aether piping up from beside his twin. Where Lumine was kind but brash and took no shit, Aether was quiet and almost cold with his distance. And yet the two of them were the best at causing trouble. Why was Ajax friends with these two again? Oh right, because despite their mischief he genuinely enjoyed their company.
"I dunno Aether, that's a big ask for just a dare. So how about we throw in a few hundred mora?" Lumine shifted to dig through her purse, the PAIMON mascot looking up at them with a wink and her tongue poking out. What was PAIMON even supposed to be, anyways? She looked like a figure from a New World religion, honestly. Ajax didn't understand the hype around her.
"Aha!" Lumine cut off Ajax's derailed train of thought as she pulled out several papery bills of mora, waving them in his face. "Five hundred mora. How's that for a deal?"
Ajax wanted to say no. He wanted to be able to claim he was above stupid bets. But several years of dumb decisions proved otherwise. "Fuck it, sure."
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Ajax wasn't scared. No not at all. He wasn't filled with regret as Lumine and Aether chatted up the security officers guarding the door. He wasn't nervous as he quietly slipped past, soundless thanks to having to sneak through a house of six plus people at any given night.
He wasn't holding his breath as he turned the handle while closing the door slowly. He wasn't questioning why their security sucked so much, either. But just like that he was in. And it was.... rather underwhelming.
A silvery hall stretched on, dust drifting lazily in the air and cobwebs coating anywhere they could. Doors clearly untouched for ages lined the hall, which extended further to ancient areas of the Palace. Rumour was one could find even the Harbinger quarters, the demonized eyes and ears of the long deceased Tsaritsa.
Ajax had never seen this place before, and yet he felt nostalgic. Like stepping into a home after being away for so, so long.
He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He just needed one item. One single little bauble that he could sneak out with. And so he decided to check the first door on his left, rattling the handle only for it to fall off, leaving him holding the rusted object with disappointment. "On to the next door." He mumbled.
The next door was also a bust; not in that it didn't open but in the fact that it was completely empty. Whatever used to be in there was long gone.
He sighed and shut it, about to head to the next when a voice sounded directly behind him. "Hey you fucking lost or something?"
Ajax spun around with wide eyes, and was face with... nothing. But the voice persisted.
"Ohoho, looks like it's 'or something.' Tell you what - I'll help you find whatever you're looking for. Capiche?" A glowing violet orb rapidly dropped in front of him, hovering in front of his face. It flashed briefly, leaving his skin tingling but not unpleasantly so. He realized it was pure condensed electricity. But not quite... it felt different.
"Cat got your tongue? I said I'll help you find what you're looking for."
Suddenly Ajax realized it was the orb of- of electro speaking to him. Ancient condensed energy. "So you aren't going to scare me off or kill me?"
The orb flashed. "Fuck no, that was getting boring anyways. I figured as a benevolent soul I'd help you out, free of charge. Now do try to keep up." With that, the orb darted down the hall, leaving a streak of violet and a very bewildered Ajax. He shrugged before running after it.
The orb led him from one hall to the next, through winding turns and down a staircase. Belatedly Ajax had a thought - did it trick him? He was about to stop and turn around when the orb finally halted in front of a large stone door. He looked to the door, then the orb, then the door again. "Hey uh... if you wanted to kill me you could've just done it back there."
"Oh for the love of- I can't kill you. I'm a seelie."
"Oh. Wow, you must be ancient then. In that case, mind coming with me? You'd definitely win me the bet for sure."
"No!" The seelie flashed brightly. "I mean, you'll find something far better than little old me through there. Trust me."
Ajax did not trust the seelie.
And yet he still turned the handle, and pulled - ah shit it was a push door. He pushed the door open and was greeted with an inky black. Definitely not suspicious.
"Okay I am not going into the murder room."
An audible groan left the seelie and it darted past him, flashing to briefly light the room, which turned out to also be underwhelming, just a bit creepier. Unlit torches lined a tiny hall, and there were dark shapes and another door at the far end. "Now come on you pussy."
"Hey now that's rude! Are all seelies as rude as you?"
"Trust me, I'm a very special case." It flickered and darted in a small circle. "Now are you coming or not?"
Ajax finally caved with a sigh. "Alright alright. Pushy."
The moment he cleared the door it snapped shut, far too quickly for the weight of it. In the wake of the burst of wind from the force of the door the torches flared to life two at a time, from where Ajax was to the far door. The dark shapes were lit by the warm glow, swathes of bugs skittering back into their haven of darkness that clung to rotting flesh. Corpses lined the hall, a stench that Ajax was previously unaware of hit him like a truck and he gagged, nearly doubling over. Their faces contorted into eternal grimaces, desperation evident as their bodies seemed to cling to the other door, as if the holy grail itself lay inside. The door itself bore a strange symbol, one Ajax distantly recognized as the Old World army of Snezhnaya, the Fatui.
However his main focus was on the corpses and the now locked door behind him. "I can't fucking believe I fell for this shit! If I live I'm never giving in to peer pressure again."
"Do I really count as a peer though?" The seelie asked nonchalantly, not remotely bothered by Ajax's predicament.
"You do now you little purple fucker. I'd strangle you if I could." Ajax tugged on the door handle but to know avail. A brief image flashed in his mind dark dark dark panic-
"Have you considered trying the other door?"
Ajax gave it an incredulous look. "You mean the Fatui death door?"
"If you can't go one way try going the other." It darted to the other door and hovered there, waiting.
Ajax glared at the seelie before yanking his phone out of his pocket. "That's it, I'm calling Lumine to find me and get me out. Fuck you."
The seelied flashed. "No! Don't call th-this Lumine. I can get you out of here! I know how you can open the door."
Ajax ignored it, pulling up Lumine's number to call her... only to see he had no service. "Shit, well that's not an option anyways. Fine then death seelie, lead me to my grave."
"I'm not-!" The seelie seemed to hum in irritation. "Call me Scaramouche. I promise I'll get you through this."
"Ugh fine, only because I don't have any other options. And I'm Ajax." He finally approached the door, and as he got closer he could see that the symbol was engraved into the door. Above the door itself was some text in old Snezhnayan. Too bad he couldn't read it. "Hey, do you know what that says?"
Scaramouche hovered by the text, silent for a short time. "Well... I dunno. Something like 'blah blah blah just reward.'"
"Cool that was no help at all." Ajax sighed. "So how do I open this?"
"See those four circles? Press your hand in the center of them."
Ajax did as instructed, and his eyes widened as the engravings lit up a bright blue before the door just... dematerialized. He heard that the Old World had been full of unnatural occurrences but he never thought he'd see it for himself. As the door vanished the bodies that had been against it slumped over, the rattling of bone echoing in his head. Others had died to get through this door and there was a 'just reward'. What was he getting himself into? Or rather, what was Scaramouche getting him into?
The opening left by the door led into a dark tunnel, and Ajax reached to pull one of the torches off the sconce. The void ahead intimidated him, it yawned at him like an Abyss with gaping teeth-
He's panting, sobbing. It's dark, only the light of the blue object in his small hand to illuminate the gloom. The void stretches around him, wraps him in a cold unloving embrace as it threatens to strangle him-
"Well? Do you want out of here or not?"
"Shit, yeah, okay." Ajax shook himself back to reality, choosing not to dwell on whatever the fuck that was. With that he pressed on, using the torches to light up the stone walls surrounding them while Scaramouche flashed occasionally to give a brighter violet glow. After some time the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern, the roof stretching ahead and sheer cliffs leading to a drop into the inky black below. Ajax made a mental note not to stumble - he didn't want to die from a fall of all things.
Despite the darkness of the tunnel they were just in, the cavern practically gleamed with glowing flora and fungi. The ceiling also glittered with what Ajax would have mistaken for stars were they not underground. He could see the entrance of another tunnel at the far end, the pit stretching between the two sides with a rickety wooden bridge connecting. He gulped. "Do we have to go over there?"
"Well the only other option is down, so you tell me."
"Has anyone ever told you you're an asshole?" Ajax glared at Scaramouche.
"Oh yes, I used to hear that all the time. Refreshing to hear it again after so long, honestly."
"Right. Do you know that's not something to be proud of?" He shook his head in frustration.
"You learn to embrace it." Scaramouche flitted past him to the bridge. "So, are you coming or what?"
Right. The bridge. The rickety fucking bridge. How does all of this fit into the Zapolyarny Palace anyways? "Yeah, but if I fall can you find Lumine and tell her I died in a more memorable way?"
"No promises."
"Thanks." Ajax groaned as he neared the cliff edge, peering down. "Does it even have a bottom? Or do you think I'd just fall forever?"
"Hopefully you'd die quick so I don't have to hear you bitch for eternity."
"That makes me feel so much better." Ajax planted a foot on the bridge and cringed when it creaked loudly. He carefully placed one foot in front of the other, tense with every creak and sway of the bridge. Scaramouche was, thankfully, silent and refraining from distracting him.
But in the end, it didn't matter. The planks cracked and gave way, and Ajax was plummeting into the depth below, letting out an echoing cry.
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"Where am I?"
"___ _____. Do you want to live?"
"Yeah... I wanna see my family again."
"Then listen to me. I will teach you to survive in this Archon-forsaken place. First, do not listen to the whispers. They seek to lead you astray. Do not follow the light, it is a lure. Do not..."
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The sudden plunge into icy water shocked Ajax to his senses, and he scrambled to surface, treading the water and looking around. He was in a small pool, surrounded by glowing fungi. A trail led from the pool deeper into the tunnel system, the stone walls lit up with symbols. The Fatui sign, much like the door, and a narwhal. Why a narwhal? He felt like he should understand the significance.
Ajax dragged himself to the edge and out of the water, sitting on the cold stone and panting. What the fuck was happening to him?
Suddenly Scaramouche dropped into his vision. "Oh thank fuck you're alive. Can you walk? Didn't bust your head?"
Ajax breathed a sigh. "Glad you care about if I live or die at least. I... think I'm okay."
"Good." Ajax could practically hear the relief in Scaramouche's voice. "I'd hate to try so hard to keep you alive just to fail."
"Thanks for that." He got to his feet with a groan. "Fuck, now my clothes are soaked. Where is this, anyways? Where are we?"
Scaramouche was silent in the face of that question, as if thinking of a response. Finally after what felt like ages, he spoke. "This is where the Harbingers were put to rest."