Die. Respawn. Repeat.

Chapter 36: Approach

There's a part of me that thinks I should attack immediately, before the Guardian has had time to power up. There's another part of me that hesitates, because I know now that the Guardians are not all hostile, and I don't want to force myself into a fight I don't have to fight.

In the end, I gather all the Firmament I can and wait. I still have a headache I'm not fully recovered from defending against the Firmament blast but I'm capable of fighting. I can still use Second Wind.

In the worst case, I'll grab the translation stone and flee. Simple.

Probably not that simple.

Ahkelios trembles a little on my shoulder, but he's putting on a brave face. We have the basic plan of "go for the eyes" I'm not sure if the eyes are vulnerable points at all, but the golem surely has them for a reason. If I have to run, Ahkelios can distract him, and he'll be pulled back to me once he reaches the distance limit of the skill.

The Guardian rumbles to life, finally; the Firmament that gathers in its eyes is not the angry red of a berserk Guardian, nor the empty eyes of an attacking one. It glows with a surprisingly gentle yellow, and though I brace myself against an attack, none comes.

Instead, it watches me, its eyes scanning me with scrutiny. The pillars around me continue glowing with Firmament, intricate patterns glowing along the carvings. There are murals here, I realize, though I can hardly make sense of them something that resembles a heart, and long threads of Firmament growing from it, extending all across the temple's walls.

I take a slow step forward, and the Guardian mirrors my movements.

"Ahkelios?" I say. My voice is quiet, but it still echoes in the emptiness of the temple; the mantis looks up at me. "Do you remember this at all?"

"No, when I was here the temple was... empty..." Ahkelios trails off as he speaks, and then he shakes his head and speaks more firmly. "This wasn't here when I visited. Or at least, it didn't wake up."

"That just brings up more questions," I mutter.

The Guardian continues to stare at us. I hesitate, looking up at its immense form; the other Guardians are only a little taller than I am, but this one stands at nearly three times my height. I'm not sure I'm confident in my ability to survive a fight with it.

I just don't know why it's just standing there. Is it waiting for me to take the stone?

I step forward again, and I cross some invisible line; Firmament flares to life around me.

I freeze. The Guardian leans down, staring even more closely at me. I imagine for a moment that I can feel the heat of its breath on my face as it considers my presence.

"Why are you here?"

Its voice thrums deep with Firmament. I nod towards the translation stone, held up on a pedestal and lit by a single beam of light filtering in from the ceiling; it's an ordinary looking thing, and I'm not sure why it's here, in a place so grandiose-looking.

"I'm looking for that," I answer, inclining my head slightly towards the stone. The Guardian continues to watch me, fragments of stone trickling down its body as it keeps unnervingly still.

"Why?"

"Apparently, it's the key to a Hotspot," I say. I'm not sure if those words will have any meaning to the Guardian, but I don't feel particularly compelled to lie. A giant construct inside what is apparently a temple, filled to the brim with Firmament, whose purpose is apparently to ask questions to visitors?

Lying seems like a bad idea.

"I need something inside the Hotspot," I add, which is true, although I don't need the stone for that. "And I want to complete it... properly. So I can get the most out of it. Apparently the rewards are better that way."

Which sounds rather selfish, now that I think about it. The golem's eyes begin to grow a deeper red, and I hurriedly add: "I need that power to save my planet. A lot of people are dying in the Trials."

The red fades away, back to a placid yellow. The Guardian contemplates me. "You seek power. But you seek power in order to protect."

"He does!" I don't actually get a chance to respond Ahkelios does. He folds his arms and glares at the golem. "I can vouch for him."

...The little guy is trembling a bit still. I think about how large the golem must be for him he's already many times smaller than his normal form. Does the whole world just seem terrifyingly large to him? It sounds difficult to adjust to.

The golem's gaze turns to regard Ahkelios for a moment. "A companion," it murmurs. It sounds strangely surprised. "Very well. Take your artifact."

Artifact?

I hesitate a moment more, but I don't have much time to waste. I hurry forward and grab the stone off the pedestal, grunting at its weight. It's surprisingly heavy, but it's nothing I can't handle with a small burst of Crystallized Strength. There's a faint vein of Firmament running through it, anchored deep within the stone.

The Guardian watches me. It doesn't help, but it seems perfectly willing to let me past. I stop before I leave. "Can you tell me anything about the Fracture?" I ask. "What is this place? What is it for? Who lived here? Why does the stone relate to a random obelisk out in the wilderness?"

The Guardian regards me. For a moment, I'm worried that it won't answer me at all that its performed its function and isn't alive any more than an automated test is.

But then it rumbles to life again, and the Firmament-rich voice pours forth. "The Fracture is the beginning of the Way. It leads to the Heart. All things are connected through the Heart."

"What is the Heart?" I ask. It's related to the mural on the wall, I'm sure of it.

"You will find out in time, Trialgoer."

Damn cryptic answers.

I race out of the temple, carrying the translation stone with me; Triplestep and Firestep are poured on as much as I can. Tough Body works to keep my stamina up even as I lug the heavy stone around. Strangely, none of the Guardians that attacked me before come out to attack me again, and I wonder if that has something to do with the way I dealt with the temple's Guardian. Maybe they're linked.

But I don't have that much time to wonder, because I can feel Firmament in the sky. It's foreign, it's fast. I don't think it's Naru, but whoever it is...

I don't want to be spotted.

I turn off Firestep. I don't want to alert whoever it is to my presence, and leaving a trail of fire everywhere I go is no doubt going to draw attention. It takes another moment of thought before I quickly dart into one of the side-homes, which just so happens to be the one with the little stacks of rocks; the Guardian within it is very carefully stacking up a third tower.

It looks at me when I enter, but it doesn't bother me, for which I breathe a sigh of relief. I stay tense, though I still feel the Firmament presence above us.

"What's wrong?" Ahkelios asks, oblivious, and I shush him.

"Someone's here," I say. Now that I think about it, he was able to sense Naru, back when we were in the Hotspot. Can he not sense this one?

Ahkelios frowns, apparently wondering the same thing. He strains for a moment. I feel the presence diving lower and lower, until it crosses the very top of the Fracture

and at that moment, Ahkelios goes very, very still. He gives me a small nod, and I nod back at him.

The person above is most likely one of the Hestian Trialgoers, and if it isn't, then it's someone else whose Firmament is strong enough for me to sense even from within the Fracture. I'm not eager to confront them. If I'm lucky, they'll investigate, and then leave; if I'm not...

Well, I have to be prepared for a confrontation. My headache, at least, has mostly dissipated.

Ahkelios and I both stay tense as the presence descends into the Fracture. It lands nearby, though not directly on top of our building. It's a few blocks away, and steadily getting closer.

I try to quell my own Firmament, pull it in so it isn't as noticeable. Ahkelios dismisses himself, fading away into nothing; I'm startled, but it's probably for the best, given the situation.

Behind us, the Guardian continues stacking its rocks, either oblivious or uncaring. I worry that the faint hum of Firmament from it will draw the intruder's attention, but there's little I can do about it. There's plenty of Firmament all around us, and if they can sense Firmament...

I hear footsteps, and I still my breathing.

The footsteps are heavy. They sound like footsteps from someone wearing heavy armor; there's a discernable clank of metal with every step they take, though there's also an accompanying rattle I can't quite place. I grit my teeth. I don't expect to escape notice, at this point; my best bet is to have a plan to run, because if this person is as strong as I think they are

a heavy thump, right outside the doorway. A shadow falls across the light, and I get my first look at the intruder. It takes me a moment to parse what I'm looking at.

Heavy armor is... only partially correct. As far as I can tell, the creature standing in front of me isn't organic at all. It has mechanical joints, fully exposed to the air, and a core that's glowing with purple Firmament.

It's sleek, I'll give it that. A sleek design, made of matte-black metallic plates overlapping one another. Trickles of light flicker out from beneath each plate, like there are tendrils of electricity flashing about beneath its armor. Four separate lights on its head serve as eyes, or at least mimic the idea of eyes. I'm not sure how functional they are, considering they're emitting light instead of absorbing it.

Maybe the actual eyes are somewhere else.

Some of the plating on its head flickers as it peers into the room. It has to bend down to do it it's a good eight feet tall, and it can barely fit inside. The metal scrapes against the stone doorway, causing rock to crumble into dust, and I tense. Part of me is tempted to summon Ahkelios, but I don't want to startle it into attacking.

I want to know what it is, first.

If nothing else, I know what the rattling sounds are. It's holding a chain between its hands, I think as a weapon; the heavy metal links are slung over one of its shoulders, fitting snugly between two plates.

It stares at me. "You."

"Hi." I feel a little foolish, but I'm not sure how else I'm supposed to greet it.

"You are the Trialgoer." Not a question. A statement. I'm tense, but I have nowhere to run; it's blocking the only exit there is. I need a different strategy. Maybe I can break through the wall?

I should have kept running, I think. But running would only have made me more exposed, more vulnerable; I don't think I had the information then to decide that was my best course of action. The likelihood of the intruder checking the one house that I was in...

"Maybe I am," I deflect. "What about it?"

The robot I think it's a robot, though it looks startlingly out of place amongst everything else stares at me. The plating on its head moves up, then back down again in a pattern that's almost like a wave. It's almost reminiscent of breathing.

"I am here to investigate the recent energy burst." The robot's voice is short and clipped. "Do you know anything about it?"

"No," I say. "Is that all?"

Please say yes.

The robot stares at me for a moment more. Its Firmament core swirls, and I sense something strange within it for a fraction of a second a flicker of red, of yellow, of green and blue and then it's washed away in purple once again.

"No," it says. "You are an anomaly. Please come with me for analysis."

And it reaches for me, like it's planning to just pick me up in a single hand.