Chapter 76 – The Chaos Crisis

Olephia walked along her path. The lake again. She angrily clicked her tongue. Where were the sheep? She was sure she had not missed them, but locations where starting to repeat.

Raymond stared up at the graph as Isaiah entered the monitoring centre again. He looked over the scientists, most of them were drunk, a few had managed to bless themselves with sleep. Isaiah stared at them, then moved to Raymond. Hard brown eyes stared at the scientist, the guard was dirty. His armour and hands were slick with oil. Dark rings were under his eyes, the greatsword had been ditched somewhere. “I have bad news.” That was all the guard had.

“What now?” Raymond asked. This is what he got for participating every night in the drinking matches. Now with a bottle and a half down, he was only groggy. The screen at the front was a better sobering medicine than anything he had ever taken. He glanced at it again. 7.1%.

Isaiah continued as his guards flooded into the centre. Each man was dirty, some had minor cuts on their arms. “Olympiada has said Allasaria has disappeared. They’ve told us to go fuck ourselves.” Raymond felt his arms fall by his side.

“Fantastic.” Raymond said flatly.

“They said it more diplomatically than that, but that’s the equivalent, we’re on our own.”

“So no Divines?” Why did he even ask. He looked at the board again. 6.8%. Underneath the text changed. The time halved. Chaos Crisis in 2 hours, fifteen minutes.

“No Divines.”

Olephia angrily kicked a stone and hissed as she sped up her walk. The landscape around her changed. It became a desert. She took a few more steps. The dark castle. Another few steps. The grand palace. Another step. The forest with its singing birds.

Isaiah showed off his dirty hands to Raymond, they too had a few cuts in them. “I’ve had the men set up explosives around her chamber. We’ll blow the ice around her and crush her.”

“Will that stop her?” Raymond asked.

“Do you have any other ideas?” Raymond shook his head. What were they supposed to do? In the past, Allasaria herself could not kill Olephia, what hope did they have? An electronic voice turned on. It was the local text to speech.

“Warning. Warning. Radiation levels are rising around the containment chamber. Please evacuate all personnel from the area.” Isaiah and Raymond both looked to the cameras as Raymond shakily moved the mouse about to flick through each one. It was more fear than drunkenness which hampered him. They settled on the camera overlooking Olephia.

“The walls.” Isaiah said. The white paint was peeling off the Godstone, it was burning up in areas. The area around the Goddess had started to turn black, the white tiles around her cracking.

Olephia took another step, the landscape changed once again. A field. Green. A cloudless, sunless, blue sky above. Olephia narrowed her eyes. Where was the Sun? It was daytime. She had never thought about it. Where was it?

She looked around. The sheep were here. They were eating grass. Olephia blinked as she looked at them again. The exertion of walking endlessly left her body as she scanned them. What was she doing? Why was she still walking? She looked down at feet but did not stop. The sheep weren’t so cute anymore. They were skinny, their coats mangy, some rolled onto the ground and did not get back up.

“Heat levels rising. Air pressure increasing. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued. All personnel, please leave the staircase.” That robotic voice sounded over the intercoms again. Raymond watched a fire break out around Olephia, it flashed through the room, devoured the paint and then went out. Above, the red screen started to flicker. 4.3% 4.1% 3.8% “Warning, Olephia’s leakage has been detected. Wake up estimated to be within ten minutes.”

Raymond looked to Isaiah. The guard had sat down as the guards organized themselves. Someone had brought the captain his greatsword and Isaiah was running his hand along the blade, gently mumbling a prayer to Allasaria. A few of the men had found some bottles that were hidden away somewhere. One man pulled out a bag of mints and had his eyes closed as he sucked on the sweets. Raymond flicked through the cameras again.

The radiation monitor was useless, the entire area was coated in it. The infrared was just as bad. Olephia and her immediate area was pure white, the edges of the room were heating up as if they were trying to contain a nuclear reactor. Then the Luck-Crystal monitor. Half of the things were exhausted entirely, two had cracked, warnings above them said they needed immediate repair.

“Right lads.” Isaiah said as the red screen flickered once again. 2.3% 1.9% 1.5%. “Blow it.” A man pulled out a switch and flicked it as Raymond turned on the cameras. Three cut out immediately, the rest clattered about. The ground underneath them shook as the Artican ice started to shift.

Olephia stopped. She took a deep breath. Why was she on this path? For what reason? Why had she never stepped off? Memories started to rain into her mind. Of the lakes and the deserts, of castles and palaces, forests. She had seen animals here but never a person. There was never a maid cleaning in the homes, no swimmers in the lake, no hunters in the forest. Never even a caravan in the distance.

What was this place?

She looked at the path before her. It stretched over hill and disappeared past the summit of a hill. It would continue after that. She knew it would. Why would it not? It had continued for how long? She didn’t know how long she had been walking. She turned around to look at the sheep again. They were skeletons, the flesh picked off them as they had been abandoned for a millennia.

Olephia took another step and realised she was still walking on the path. The land around her changed to another crossroads. On the left was a field, filled with sheep again, all fluffy and chewing their grass. On the left was a grand palace. Songs were coming from it. Olephia stopped.

She looked left.

She looked right.

Left and right.

And she took a step forwards. Off the path.

There was no crumbling world. No darkness clouding over her. No peeling back of curtains. Olephia stepped off the path, and Olephia opened her eyes.

“Warning. Warning. Imminent Danger. Olephia is awake. Olephia is awake.” The robotic voice blared as the cameras broke down immediately. Raymond stood up and walked to one of the small windows. It was Artica alright, all white ice and blue skies, with a terrible sun that threatened to blind if you stared outside too long. Next to the base, a chunk of ice was starting to slide downwards. It roared and shook the entire compound with an earthquake.

“What now?” Raymond asked.

“Run or don’t.” Isaiah replied. “I’m not going to keep you here. If you think you can survive the ice, then go ahead, I’m not stopping you.”

Raymond did not reply. He could obviously not withstand a night in Artica, no one could. He returned to his monitor. But then, could he survive Olephia? The cameras were all broken. Only the scanners and monitoring equipment worked. The radiation metre had capped out. The temperature gauge was spiralling upwards. The pressure monitor had cracked and simply replied with ‘0.00 Atmospheres’.

Olephia woke up. She looked around. There was no path. There was no sunshine. She was in a dark room. Her hands ran over cracked tiles. They were warm. The ceiling above her cracked. There was an earthquake. It was coming down on her.

Olephia slowly stood up. She raised a single hand, palm open. Memories came flooding back. Of Arascus adopting her. Of the good times they shared together. Of the Great War. Of the endless battles. Of Allasaria. Of Leona. Of the final fight where she was captured.

Olephia looked up in the darkness. Her eyes made out the crumbling ceiling. Dust and rubble fell around her. A stone cut her cheek. Another landed her arm.

Some things simply never changed.

Olephia started to hum.

“The temperature monitor has cracked.” Raymond said as he leaned back and sighed. It was over.

“What did it read?” Isaiah asked as he stood up and hefted his blade. The guards assembled as everyone started to crowd around the windows.

“Twelve thousand degrees.” Raymond said. Somehow, the fear had washed out of him with the robot saying Olephia had woken up. It could be adrenaline, or it could have been resignation. It was the difference being seeing a knife swung in front of him, and then it sticking out of his chest. The former idea called forth panic, the latter was a call to action. This was a call to action, and the only action was resignation. There was no Divines coming, no planes to pick them up, the ship was sinking. He may as well enjoy his last moments.

He sipped his cup of whiskey. It was tasty and it burned on the way down. Isaiah got back from the window and waved for Raymond to come close. Alarms were blaring and some of the scientists who had drank themselves to sleep were beginning to stare. “What’s that in human terms?” Isaiah asked.

“Twice the surface of the Sun.” Raymond replied as he stumbled to the window. A bottle and a half had not done him in, but those few sips had pushed him over the edge.

“We better get the AC on then.” Isaiah replied as he grabbed Raymond’s arm and pulled him to the window. The ice that had been collapsed had made a dark hole in the surface of Artica. It was sliding down and down. “It should have stopped right now.”

“She’s melting it.” Raymond answered immediately.

“Do you think she’ll cook herself?”

“I hope so.” Raymond replied. He sipped the cup. Half down. “But do I think so?”

“No.” Isaiah replied.

“No indeed.” They watched ice slide another metre. Then another. Another. It disappeared from view. Yet another alarm turned on. The robotic assistant spoke again.

“Radiation has been detected in the compound. All personnel are advised to take iodine.”

“Well we’re fucked then.” Raymond replied.

“Don’t say that, it’s bad for morale.” Isaiah replied absentmindedly. He ran his hand along the greatsword. The voice turned on again. The lights flickered.

“Water pipes have burst. Water has been contaminated. All personnel are advised not to drink from the taps or shower.” The lights went out as the room went silent, the monitors turned off, the computer fans slowed until they came to a halt. A few seconds later, dull red lamps turned on. The robot spoke again. “Power failure. Backup generators have been turned on.” The building shook, some people fell as the floor shifted. The robot informed them. “Structural failure in the central staircase. All personnel are advised to stay away from building C and buil…” The robot shut down. The lights went off entirely.

“That’s the backup generators gone.” Raymond replied. He took another drink. The cup was empty. He threw it behind him and heard it shatter. Then something else shattered and the building shook again.

“Look at that.” Isaiah pointed towards the window. Steam was beginning to rise out of the hole. First a single trail. Then another. The trails expanded, then joined into a cloud. A rushing river of hot air.

“So much for her cooking herself.” Raymond replied, but he could not take his eyes off the sight. The steam changed, it glittered in the sunlight like a rainbow, purples and greens and oranges danced within it.

And then, the rest of the ice exploded. For a moment, night set over their tiny region of Artica as a giant chunk of ice was flung up into the air. It shattered in the air and then toxic rain came down. The raindrops sizzled and fizzed wherever they landed on the ground. The steam grew thick enough to be an impenetrable fog. “Do you hear that?” Isaiah asked. “It’s not just me?” Raymond nodded, several of the other men voiced their affirmations. One man started to cough, another fell over.

It was there, faint from distance, but it was there. A woman’s humming of a slow tune. The fog started to clear. “Look up.” One of the scientists drunkenly said. “Up there, above us.” Raymond’s eyes scanned the fog and then he saw her.

Floating in the air, high above the base, was a woman’s silhouette. Her hair was sprayed across the air as if she had been thrown onto the ground. The fog avoided her, the sky seemed darkened by her very presence. Raymond’s vision started to grow worse. The woman raised her hand. The hum grew louder. Raymond lost control of his legs, men around him started to fall down. Blood burst from their faces. Their faces were red like the inside of watermelons. The temperature in the room rose.

Olephia looked down on the building. Her humming increased, it grew faster, stronger. She stood her ground in the air. Her hand twisted and turned, she found the weak spot. Two tiny particles about to hit each other.

Her hum sped them up. They bounced, cracked, and released their energies.

A moment later, for a mere instant, an explosion like the Sun appeared from within the base. The sound came a second later.

Olephia started to float away, the ice underneath her melting. She didn’t bother to look at the cloud shaped like a mushroom behind her.

Up above, on the edge of Arda’s atmosphere, a satellite fell out of orbit.