Pillar after pillar, the gap became smaller, and word after word, the Sister’s spiel became more frantic. She visibly grasped for every thread of forbidden knowledge she possessed, trying to decide which revelations she had time to expose.

“The War of Fog was meant to ensure the Sage’s knowledge of the truth could never taint the status quo! If those lines on your skin mean anything, you’ve already surpassed the Azoth Stone!”

What Zelsys felt at all these revelations, at this situation, was not bewilderment, surprise or even any sort of satisfaction about the affirmation of her beliefs. She might’ve perhaps felt one or more of these things, but all she felt at this very moment was overwhelming frustration and disdain for the Queen.

“I understand making attempts on my life, but I draw the fuckin’ line at cutting a duel short!” she shouted into the deep-red chamber, hoping that the Queen could hear her, but aware that she likely didn’t if the Sister had told the truth.

There came no response, no indication that she’d been heard, partially to her relief. From her previous encounters with the subjects that the Sister had spoken of, any mention of the secrets surrounding them would prove to be a grave mistake on the Sister’s part if one of her superiors were to find out about it. Moments later, the lightgems returned to normal and all the pillars that had risen up around the Sister descended back into the floor, the Locust Noble nowhere to be found.

The panels that the box had enclosed were perfectly even now, betraying the fact that she had likely been carried away by the dungeon’s arcane mechanisms. With a deep sigh, Zel holstered the Butcher, made her heartbeat return to a normal resting rate, and stopped Fog-breathing. The pain of her battle wounds instantaneously came flooding in, and she reached for her Tablet to retrieve some Viriditas elixir.

“Vitamax… Sure, why not,” she mumbled to herself, slowly walking across the chamber towards the door. Perhaps it was an overpowering herbal flavor and a high concentration of Viriditas that she needed - after all, what better to drown out the smell of blood and burned chitin than the fragrances of mint and one’s lover?

While she downed most of the bottle on her meandering, slow path towards the door, she couldn’t help but wonder about the Sister’s real allegiance. On one hand of the scales weighed her treason and all the things she’d said. On the other sat the fact that she had obviously worked alongside the Sage, and perhaps been in his inner circle. That is not to mention the fact she for some reason had decided that if Zelsys were to defeat her, it would be good to divulge secrets that implied a greater conspiracy on the Divine Emperor’s part, that the entire geopolitical state of the world before the war had been engineered to stop anyone from ever challenging the Emperor’s reign.

In the end, it served to solidify Zel’s promise to the Sister, only perhaps in a slightly different light than she had initially envisioned. She would, indeed, go out of her way to work against the Pateirian Empire, and she would, indeed, make damn sure to exterminate every locust Queen she came across. After that, going after the Emperor was a given… But how?

She had no chance to do it alone even if she became as powerful as the Emperor himself - that much of the Sister’s words was true. The only logical step, then, would be to spread her knowledge to as many Ikesian patriots as possible, to help Ikesia rise beyond what had been achieved by the Old Powers and their Heroic Families. Already she knew it would be a hell of an endeavor, and reconsidered whether she was willing to even risk ending up in a leadership position.

The feeling of doors slamming shut behind her ripped her out of this introspective state, and she realized she’d checked out of reality for long enough to cross the door to the next intermediary chamber. It had the same shape as the previous one, being just a small rectangle with doors on either end. It even had the same glyph on the wall, control handle and all.

With how slowly the next door’s glyph looked to be lighting up, Zelsys knew she’d be in here for a little while, and so decided it would be pertinent to try questioning the dungeon core itself. At worst, the Queen would lash out at her again and she’d get the opportunity to let loose a more concerted mental assault against the horrendous creature.

Gripping the control handle brought no such thing, the glyph merely lit up and showed her its rather pretty but uninteresting attribute readout. She had to admit that it did have one advantage over her Tablet, this being the fact she could entirely operate it with mental commands alone, rather than finagling with a mixture of mental commands and hand gestures. Willing it to let her speak with the dungeon core had no apparent effect, at first. It was a good half-minute before anything happened, the only indication that she’d done something being the fact that the glyph wouldn’t respond to any other commands - it was frozen still

Then, the attribute readout vanished, replaced by a series of three statements.

I understand you have questions.

I would not be at liberty to answer,

were this any other circumstance.

Ask.

“What are you, and what answers can you give?” came the first cautious questions, an attempt to discern what she could actually find out.

Fewer than I wish I could.

Just as your personal device,

I am but a Fog automaton.

An incomprehensibly complex one,

but just an automaton nonetheless.

My answers will reveal no new knowledge,

but they might offer a new perspective,

on what you already know.

“Does that mean everything you say is drawn from my own mind?” she queried.

Not in the way you imply.

I can read parts of your mind and soul that you let me,

then offer counsel based on my own logic.

Nothing more, nothing less.