Book 2 Chapter 28: The Royal Archive

Koshchei

The Archives, the Royal Palace, and the Colosseum were all built on the same plateau, atop a hill, on its edges. The Royal Park descended toward other gardens and afterward to the lower city, while the Colosseum descended toward the slums. All the slope behind the central building of the Archives was covered in lower floors of the building, set around a massive marble staircase, a hundred feet wide.

The front entrance wasn't tall enough for Koshchei to enter, so he landed thirty feet away to let the women out. The two guards ran away as soon as they noticed him. Jane and Eliza entered the building, while he took off again to fly over the main Archive, head up the stairs, admire the view of the marble steps descending toward the forested valley below, and then the sea. It was beautiful, and he lost himself in a daydream about moving there.

"Koshchei!" a voice yelled. Eliza.

"Hey, watch your step, idiot!" Jane screamed because Eliza's yell had made Koshchei jerk, and he almost crushed the detective.

"I called you three times. Are you deaf?" Eliza said.

"I'm sorry, I should have engaged the proximity detector," Koshchei apologized, sincerely embarrassed. His senses as a hut were sharper, because he had trained them for a long time. "Do you have news?"

"The receptionist didn't know anything about the Colosseum, but advised us to speak with the Archivist," Jane said. "Her emphasis."

"A specific one?"

"She didn't say anything else except to go on the lowest platform and state our credentials. There must be a sort of secret passage underneath," Jane said.

"Allegedly, this Archivist is the one in charge of state secrets and anything important," Eliza added.

"Allow me to fly ahead. Better not to risk stepping on your toes."

While the women descended the stairs normally, behind him, Koshchei activated his thrusters to make a three-hundred-foot jump to the end of the stairs. Beyond that place, the hill ended in a ravine. He waited on the marble landing for a couple of minutes, until they arrived as well.

Jane cleared her throat. "We're here to ask the Archivist about an important matter. We were sent by—"

"Queen Emfinsamkeit," Eliza added. Mentioning Sam would have meant nothing.

"Examining the last week's recordings," a voice boomed out of nowhere. "King Karoperos. You are acknowledged as her friends. Request for information granted. Please vacate the landing so the Archivist can ascend."

Eliza and Jane went back on the stairs, while Koshchei stepped laterally.

"Please vacate the landing so the Archivist can ascend," the voice repeated.

Since the stairs' steps were too tiny for him to stand on them, Koshchei opted to hover in the air. He had enough Mana for about an hour of flight.

The surface of the platform suddenly moved and entered into the sides, like a diaphragm. Slowly, a statue rose, supported by an elevator that creaked. Shaped like a gladiator, it was almost twice as high as Koshchei, approaching a hundred feet. That made the Gundam jealous.

"The Archivist is present. State your questions," the same voice from before said. It came from the direction of the statue.

"You're the Archivist?" Koshchei asked, wondering if the construct in front of him was another Gundam.

"I am now," the statue spoke, without opening its mouth.

"What or who were you before?" Jane asked.

"I was the Colossus of the Colosseum, a decorative feature. I walked ahead of processions, displayed the scores of the game, and memorized every detail about the competitors. Since my memory is eidetic, after the Colosseum was brought here, I was assigned the role of Archivist of the matters of state."

"A computer made of stone," Jane said.

"What can you tell us about the underground levels of the Colosseum?" Eliza asked. "Are they hard to beat? We have to save a friend."

"The Colosseum is not a dungeon. Its first underground floor is the prison, the second the storage. Analyzing recordings. Friend identified: Isolde Samson. Class: Valkyrie."

"Is the Colosseum cursed? Does it use Mind Magic? How can it be neutralized?" Jane added.

"The Colosseum doesn't use Mind Magic."

"We're sure there's Mind Magic in play," Jane said.

"And it's definitely not only storage. There was an attack by gargoyles and undead," Eliza said.

"What's really going on?" Koshchei asked.

"Your credentials are insufficient. To grant you access to restricted information, I need verbal confirmation from Queen Emfindsamkeit."

"I'll fly…" Koshchei said.

"Wait!" Eliza blurted. "We have the chat, remember? Ask Dorian to ask her to confirm. This guy can hear everything around."

"This is correct," the statue said.

[Koshchei>Dorian]: Dorian, are you near Sensibility?"

[Dorian]: Affirmative.

[Koshchei]: Ask her to give us authorization to access all restricted information regarding the Colosseum. She just has to speak it aloud.

[Dorian]: Moment. Done. How are things on your side?

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

[Koshchei]: Evolving. How's it on yours?

[Dorian]: Not sure. Sam's still out; the basement lock holds.

[Koshchei]: It's called an Inner Sanctum. Basements are for plebs.

[Dorian]: Speaking of plebs, the guards say the commoners and the Elven nobles are about to kill each other.

[Koshchei]: C'mon, dude! Do I have to spell it for you? Tell them the Queen is up to no good. A common threat will make them forget their differences.

[Dorian]: But what if she's innocent?

[Koshchei]: Bless your soul, Myshkin. Who cares? LIE, for goodness sake. Tell Sam what I told you.

[Dorian]: Fine…

"Authorization received," the Colossus said. "Delivering information. Colosseum folder. Please don't interrupt. An interruption will cause the information to be repeated from the beginning.

"First item: Report of Colosseum's acquisition, lodged by King Karaperos, father of King Kareperos and grandfather of King Karoperos—"

"Such a variety of names," Eliza laughed. "And when they end the middle vowels, they start again?"

"Indeed. The vowels are in order. The next Kar king will be a Karu, then the vowels will be doubled. Karaa, etcetera. Repeating information. Please don't interrupt. An interruption will cause the information to be repeated from the beginning."

"You had to talk, had you?" Jane hissed.

"Repeating information. Please don't interrupt. An interruption will result in the information being repeated from the beginning."

The two women almost got into a fisticuff. Koshchei put his hand in between, and they stopped.

"First item: Report of Colosseum's acquisition, lodged by King Karaperos, father of King Kareperos and grandfather of King Karoperos:

"The acquisition went smoothly, and considering Pope Burburush the Fifth wants to get rid of all pagan relics of his town, we had it for a pittance," another voice spoke. A recording. Jane almost asked something, but she slapped her own mouth in time.

"The building has multiple storages, in which I discovered a hundred thousand gargoyles. Those were probably a hidden army the Pope didn't know about, luckily for us. However, during the transfer, our portal was attacked by that bitch, the Forest Elves' Queen. That displaced the Inner Sanctum to another dimension, specifically a Tower's upper floor, and broke the cleaning unit security containment. The cleaning unit's contents flooded into the Inner Sanctum. The Heartstone is now submerged inside a Giant Slime, which in turn is inside a dangerous Tower; recovery was impossible without risking lives. The Colosseum seems to work nevertheless, so that matter is postponed.

"Second Item: Journal of King Karoperos, multiple entries. First entry: Today is my first day as a King. I went to examine the Colosseum, my strongest artifact. My predecessor, King Kareperos, ignored the matter."

[Koshchei]: I wonder if the chat resets the report.

[Eliza]: Are you stupid?

The statue continued to play the recording, nevertheless:

"With a bit of effort, I managed to access the dimension in which the Inner Sanctum was banished. I thought the cleaning Slime would be dead by now. To my surprise, the Slime not only survived, but also thrived and evolved. It managed to eat the floor's boss and took its place. It now has under its command millions of harghuz, mimics capable of taking any form.

"Like any other responsible king, my first thought was: how can I use this to take over the world? The first step was to establish contact. It went easily. Since the Slime had landed in the Tower, it had obtained Mind Magic and was able to communicate through the Harghuz.

"Great minds think alike, and we agreed to work together. For now, I will deliver it the bodies of the criminals who die in the Colosseum, to build an undead army. With millions of Harghuz and thousands of skeletons and gargoyles, no one could stop us. The timeline has been set at ten years from now.

"Second entry: My plans to take over the world had hit a roadblock. The Ekrghsios, the most powerful Forest Elves clan, had a colony on another Realm. The land got a new ruler, and they got expelled. About fifty thousand of them are back here. Although their lands are far, they now have the numbers to put up a resistance and rally the other clans before I could crush them. Their current Queen is the granddaughter of the bitch who attacked my grandfather. I am postponing the project for now, until I explore the other Realm. Maybe I could convince that leader to take them back and keep them out of my way.

"Third Entry: Exploring the other Realm, I met a human called Georgescu, a likewise enlightened mind. He's from a realm of technology called Earth. We visited it together; it's a place holding riches beyond imagination. Georgescu's thinking is so brilliant it humbled me. He opened my eyes. Why settle for one Realm, when one could conquer three?

"The plan is simple. I provide transportation, meaning portals. We'll combine Earth technology with the horde of undead and gargoyles to conquer the less advanced Realms and evolve Harghuz to discreetly take over Earth over time. I will restore their portal to Earth and keep it in a false sense of security, offering them the best entertainment in this part of the Multiverse: the games of the Colosseum. Meanwhile, we'll smuggle the smartest Harghuz to Earth. They could replace anyone. Politicians, kings, and so on.

"Fourth entry: Georgescu is really a genius. We can only trust each other, he said. What if the Slime reneges on its word and tries to take over itself? He brought me something he calls an insurance policy, something able to take out even a Legendary Slime. I stored it in the Archive.

"Fifth Entry. Georgescu has been slain by a human warlord, but I no longer need him. I tricked the warlord into believing I was his best friend. My social skills are unparalleled. The plan is going well. I also managed to send a whole Russian army into the tower. Seventy thousand soon-to-be skeletons armed with muskets. The next step will be to convince the Earthlings we're all fun and games. I invited the Warlord to dinner.

End of the Journal of King Karoperos."

Koshchei was about to say something when the statue continued.

"Third and last item: conversation recorded an hour ago between the Queen of the Ekrghsios and her daughter, Juniper.

Queen: With this staff, we're unstoppable. I'll take control of the Slime, free it, and make it erase this filthy city, like my grandmother intended. Forests should rule over all our planet, as it is right.

Juniper: But mother, there's also beauty in cities and—

Queen: I see you've been corrupted, my child. Don't worry, once nature is restored, you'll come to your senses.

"End of the folder," the Colossus said.

"Fucking tree huggers," Eliza snapped.

"We need to scram," Jane said. "Let the elves sort it themselves."

"If the Slime is sentient, it could conquer our worlds by itself. It can copy Napoleon, or Washington, or whoever. We need to destroy it," Koshchei said.

"I'm in," Eliza said.

"If you put it this way," Jane sighed.

"Archivist, where's that thing provided by Georgescu? The insurance policy?"

"Providing insurance policy," the statue said.

A door opened in the Colossus's chest, and the statue extracted a sizeable crate from it. On the front and lid were the words 'Semtex' in big red letters, along with warning signs. The statue grabbed the crate and moved it toward Koshchei. The Gundam took the object in his left palm and weighed it. It was nearing a ton. Carefully, he opened the lid and peeked inside. There was a second container inside, a metallic one, with more warnings. On top of it was a timer set to a minute. He tried to take in a deep breath, or gasp, but he wasn't even a hut anymore.

"I have a suspicion Georgescu didn't necessarily intend the elf to survive his insurance policy."

"Big bomb, huh?" Eliza said.

"Yes, you could say that. At least, that simplifies the task. We go in, we deliver the bomb, pick Isolde, and run," Koshchei said.

"But do we have the time to run?" Jane asked. "That's some powerful stuff."

"I have a plan," Eliza said. "My spatial storage can be sent away up to a mile or so. We store it in it, fly above that thing, and voila."

"You mean we can explode it remotely?" Jane asked.

"Yep. We start the timer and put the bomb in my storage. I send it near the slime, dismiss it, and boom."

"It could work," Koshchei needed. "I'll wait until the timer reaches ten seconds and give it to you. Will your storage hold something this big?"

"No problemo."

"Be ready."

Trying to be as delicate as possible, Koshchei touched the timer with the tip of his pinkie, activating it. He waited until it was at twelve seconds, and lowered it toward Eliza. She manifested a shiny orb in her hand, and the crate disappeared.

"Phew," Koshchei said. "We must hit the road now, but thank you for everything, mate," he bowed at the construct. Without replying, the statue sank into the platform. Koshchei knelt and opened the access door. "Hop in."