Chapter 11: Chapter 10: A God Among Men

Rayse opened his eyes, and for a second he thought the portal didn't work. He looked around disoriented, trying to find what went wrong. His friends were here, but Aleph was nowhere to be found.

A closer look completely dispelled that notion. The telltale glow of the mana crystals was nowhere to be seen. He stumbled across the room to see stone steps leading up to a trapdoor.

"Where do you think we are?" He wondered aloud.

"Well, obviously we're in master's sanctum! You know, one that houses all his spells and relics!" Brandon said proudly.

"Oh please, you're still on that? Mister Aleph is monstrously strong, but as a mage, he didn't seem all that powerful. Not powerful enough to have a sanctum, at least."

"Hey, call him master! You're his apprentice now, so start asking like it! And while you're at it, call me first disciple too!" 

Rayse finished fiddling with the door as the two bickered behind him. He was able to easily open it once he found the knob. It was bright outside. Strange, the sun wasn't this high up when we entered the well.

"Come on, guys. Whatever master wanted us to find, it should be through here." He said, going through the door before the others could respond. What he saw blew him away.

He was inside a door disguised as a well similar to the one near Aleph's home, but instead of a shabby house, he saw a strange structure in the middle of a vast plain. It was two storeys tall, and made out of a material he couldn't identify. It was the only structure he could see, so he walked around it to enter from the front. 

It was a quaint little house. It had a small forest patch on the side, complete with a little vegetable garden and a stream running through. The others joined him as he marvelled at the structure, appreciating the strange but well thought out architecture.

"Think anyone's home?" He heard Lacey say.

"Don't be stupid, Lace. This is clearly master's home. He's in Hios right now, so there shouldn't be anyon-"

"Ah, welcome!" A voice came out from the windowsill.

"Eh? Who're you?" Brandon said, clearly baffled at the sudden voice.

Rayse looked at the strange man. He looked human at least, and judging by his smile, he had no intention of hurting them. He spoke in a warm, inviting tone, making him instinctually trustworthy for some reason.

"I'm a guest, just like you. Come, I was just about to make dinner! Would you care to join me?"

The trio entered the door, again amazed by the strange architecture. The door opened up by itself as he stood in front, but he could not see a doorman anywhere. He came inside and greeted their 'host', though he said he is also a guest inside this weird house.

"May we speak with the owner of the house?" Lacey said.

"I'm afraid he is away at the moment. In fact, nobody else has been here since he left. But no matter, there will be plenty of time for that. Come, the food is getting cold." He ushered them to a dining table, piled with pies, bread and other delicious smelling things.

It suddenly occurred to Rayse that all he had today were the potions Aleph gave out during the fight. He couldn't help himself, so he sat down and tore off a big piece of bread. The others followed suit. The man looked at them with bliss, as if he was the one having a meal. 

They ate their fill, completely forgetting their manners. Completely satisfied, Rayse finally got to business.

"What is this place?" He asked.

"That… The creator of this place made it to honor a memory." He said cheerfully, but this time, Rayse could tell it was put on.

"He made this space for the ones who changed his life, giving anyone who enters a place to rest and relax, so long as they honor his dearly departed friends. There's a memorial just outside. Would you like to see?"

The man led them back to the front, where Rayse found a stone stele. He recognized the words, and began to read them aloud.

"I have won, but at what cost? The final incursion has been repelled, but with it virtually all life on this earth was extinguished'… What is this?" He scanned through the stele quickly, almost drinking in the words. They came alive in his mind, as if he himself lived through it. 

When he finished, he looked beyond the stele, finally noticing the little graves strewn across the plain. He ran like mad, moving through each one until finally stopping at one in particular. Its grave marker was a spear. The shaft was engraved with the name that Rayse heard only once before: 'Emily'.

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He fell to his knees, wailing in sadness. Behind him, he heard his friends doing something similar. Grieving for strangers, and the hero who failed. Grieving for their friend, who had given them so much. Grieving for their master, who has learned the fight is not over, that the evil he fought had survived somehow, and has come for him again.

The man led them to the bedroom, and practically tucked them in. Rayse could guess who he was now. The overgod, whatever that means. 

He had so much to ask, but as soon as he laid down, sleep overtook him. It was quite a long while later that he'd woken up, but by then, the kind looking man was nowhere to be found.

They sat in the dining hall in silence,eating what appeared to be the overgod's farewell gift: a veritable feast of fruits and vegetables. It's a shame that such a feast was hardly touched, as the trio was still shaken up by what they've learned.

"So what now? Do we go back?" Lacey asked.

"It feels wrong. If this was all we were meant to learn then why did master send us here?" Brandon said.

"Maybe he just has trouble reliving this stuff. I know I would, knowing what happened."

"... I wanna see the graves." Rayse said.

Lacey shot him a puzzled look. "What? Why?" 

"Remember how mister Aleph is always telling stories about heroes? I think they're all out there. These guys fought and won against Erebos himself. I wanna pay my respects."

"....Hmm. Then in that case, I wanna see my namesake's grave."

"Mine too. She wasn't mentioned in the stele, but from what mister said at the time, she was pretty badass. It could take a while to find."

"Well, the sun doesn't set here so… meet back at the house in a bit?" Brandon offered.

And so the trio went in every direction, looking for their namesake. Or in Rayse's case, just trying to learn about each one. He quickly realized that Aleph had an amazing memory. On each headstone was a brief history of the person's past heroics. The weapons themselves tell a great deal about their personality as well. To Rayse's surprise, some were not even combatants.

'Here lies Adler, the silver tongue. He pretended to leak information to the enemy, allowing us one of the few overwhelming victories in the war. Rest well, friend. Your life was not a waste.'

'Here lies Donovan. He ran an orphanage in Milan. I never met you, but the 40th company spoke highly of how you took care of them and gave them tools to survive. You will be remembered here, friend. Lay your head among your children.'

It was hard to read through. It was almost crushing, standing here in the midst of heroes of all forms. Rayse looked around, each direction an endless line of graves. Thousands might be underestimating things, he thought. Respect flowed from him, not just for the people in these graves, but for Aleph himself, who honored each of them. He never got back his parents' bodies, but he hoped they were treated similarly.

His thoughts turned inward. A whole planet's worth of people, dying at the whims of a god. The same god now stands against us. Is there any hope?

The answer came immediately. Yes, there was. He may have lost his godhood, but the side of man also had a god they can rely on.

He gave a short prayer for each grave he passed. Stopping occasionally to read about the departed.

It took hours, but he eventually circled back around to the house. Brandon and Lacey were already there. They went back to the well. Everyone agreed that they had learned all they could from this place.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Brandon asked. Before them, the portal was opened once again. Did Aleph open it? Or perhaps…

Brandon entered through, not waiting for a reply. He seemed more determined, now having learned of the shoes he'd need to fill. Lacey followed suit, Looking back longingly at the door before going through. Rayse hoped she found hope here like he did.

"We'll come back with good news." He whispered to no one in particular, before going through the portal. He turned around for one last glimpse of this place, and saw the overgod looking back at him. He said a few words to him. 

"Please take care of him."

Rayse barely nodded in response before the portal took him home. I will. 

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