Not long after Lugh, Aoine, and I left the nameless spot in the desert where Aoine and I met, and where another version of myself transformed Lugh into a vampire, I found myself back in the village. And like last time I was invisible once more, standing undetected while my two followers advanced Aoine's scheme.

Aoine stood in front of the effigy of his ancestor. An idle hand was on the thing, on its artfully crafted and chiseled chest. He gazed at the crowd that was gathering in front of him, numerous girtablilus who had come forth to hear his proclamation and were now shuffling about while he waited for more to gather.

The girtablilu was comfortably still, and so was his companion. Lugh stood beside him, the vampiric girtablilu standing by and providing his friend with moral support and an additional pair of eyes watching over him. Neither of them knew that at least this aspect of Lugh's companionship was completely unnecessary due to my presence, but I knew both of them found each other's company soothing so I accepted their reliance on each other.

After a few minutes went by, more girtablilus arrived in front of and around the effigy. Aoine looked in my direction and then smiled, appearing to the other girtablilus to smile at empty air off in the distance. I chuckled, right as Aoine began to turn around so that he could speak.

"My people! Lend me your ears." He declared. His people looked at him, intimidated and impressed by his voice.

"I am invoking one of our most ancient customs." He said to the crowd, as he began to pace in front of the effigy.

"I am going to bring honor to Ewain, and to the rest of my family. I am going to conquer the remains of the Parthenon, the most ancient and last remaining alien temple left in the area." He informed them, his eyes flashing with pride and with a dash of hope.

He watched as the members of the crowd gasped. They had suspected that this was why he had called for them to gather before him, but him telling them that that truly was why they had come together made them feel a number of things.

Many of them felt pride. They revealed this to my girtablilu by audibly beginning to cheer once they had gotten over their shock that they were right and weren't just wishfully thinking.

Some of them felt sorrow. It was a curious thing for them to feel. I wonder why that is...I thought to myself, as I felt their heart-beats quicken and watched tears quietly stream down their cheeks. A quick assessment of their thoughts revealed the source of their emotions: fear.

And it was a curiously caused fear, one that came from the sincere belief that going to the "Parthenon" would certainly cause Aoine to die. I suppose I'll just have to prove them wrong, won't I? I mused, laughing despite the fact that I recognized the reality of their feelings.

But I was also curious about why they felt this way. After all, Tristan had told me this place wasn't dangerous and that some of the traps I'd be facing within it were things she herself was responsible for.

What was strangest though was that this wasn't a conscious thing for them, the fear was something they recognized but not its cause. An investigation of their memories made it clear that this was an instinctual fear, a sort of hesitation and loathing of this place which helped explain why so few Girtablilu attempted to conquer it each year.

The majority of girtablilus before Aoine and Lugh felt one thing. Curiosity. Curiosity about the man-scorpion's odds of success. Curiosity about the dangers lurking within the ruined temple, and curiosity about the future of their community. Their thoughts were a fascinating mixture of questions.

"The remains of the Parthenon await me. And Lugh. Together we shall go into the strange and cryptic tombs, crypts, and more that await us." The arrogant man-scorpion said to the gathered villagers. Lugh looked at his friend and grinned, his own teeth showing. Newly developed vampiric fangs and all.

"Together we shall conquer the place. And when we do, our village's safety will be guaranteed. And we will ensure a new future for all of us." Lugh told the crowd while looking at his friend in the face. There was a look of joy, certainty, and destiny in Lugh's face. His words were spoken without hesitation.

I grinned at the display, before beginning a trek towards the entrance to the ruins. I went to a place that both Lugh and Aoine had memories around and just outside of. While trekking there I sent a quick message to my followers, informing them to meet me at our shared destination.

The trip to the ruins took me less than a minute. I didn't even teleport to the place. I just launched myself off of the ground and sailed there, swiftly gliding on the winds on wings of darkness until I laid my eyes on my destination. When my destination's grand pillars greeted me I aimed at the ground and began a careful descent that lasted until I had landed stably on the desert floor.

I found myself in a portion of the sandy wastes I had yet to explore, and I stood in front of the entrance to a set of outdoor ruins. I visually explored this place while waiting for my followers to appear, trailing behind me.

The particular patch of sandy wastes I was in was dominated by the sight of a massive open-air square of some sort. It was long abandoned and time had been cruel to it.

I wonder what sort of history can be found in this place. What sort of secrets lie hidden in this place's walls... I wondered, comfortable in my momentary solitude.

I looked straight ahead and carefully studied the sight in front of me. I stood outside of a gigantic square of some sort, a square defined and lined by countless yellow pillars that climbed into the air.

These yellow pillars were made of some strange stone, stone that had long ago lost its natural color. Some of it had even begun to turn to dust, as evidenced by imperfections I could see thanks to my powerful vision.

Time had begun to cut down the pillars and had allowed sand to breeze into the air, where the sand quickly settled and covered up the remnants of this once great dungeon entrance. I can at least make this area a bit... clearer, while I wait. I told myself, grinning. I began to mentally race through my evocation spells, looking for the perfect tool with which to clean this place.

Finally. I thought, after not finding anything that wouldn't inflict even more devastation on this place and eventually just coming up with my own solution. My solution? I just needed to create my own mystical effect, one which would unleash original, gentle magic that wouldn't damage this place. Which I had done quite easily.

I walked into the square, walking through an opening that existed in the space between two of the degraded pillars and arriving at the heart of the square. While walking towards it I studied what laid underneath my feet, what corse objects warmed my feet with every step.

Sand was underneath me. It was everywhere, dirtying everything, and preventing anyone from getting a good look at what lay underneath it, what sort of strange and forgotten treasures it secreted away was an appealing lure to me.

When I reached the heart of the square, an area exactly in the middle of it, I lifted my hands and pushed them outward in different directions. And then I willed the magical effect I had created out of my hands.

A gentle breeze expelled out of my palms. It was a gentle breeze, but it was strong enough. It blew outward and created a tsunami of sand in its wake, collecting, pushing, and blowing the sand away from where it had remained for thousands of years, undisturbed, unchallenged by little more than a breeze or gust every once in a while.

I watched as entire portions of the square's floor, entire meters of it in fact, were cleaned by my magic, and grinned. I had a delighted look on my face while I was doing this, happy to be inching closer towards discovering what strange secrets this place had long kept from the girtablilu who lived close to it but hadn't been able to conquer it in generations.

The floor my magic revealed was a smooth, flat, and reflective like it was made of some sort of glass. It was strange to look at. How weird. I thought as I watched more and more sand blow away, revealing more of this unusual flooring.

That was right before I received a new notification.