This is Ahri
The path of luminous stones led to a huge crater, in which there were hundreds of stone and ice houses. There, lived a village of Ahri. In the northern part there was a huge white dome that seemed to be made of the same material as the structure under Filaspera.
"This must be their village." Oskah said.
"Ah, really?" Dulkha said sarcastically.
Oskah decided that the best way to get information was to find the village chief. There had to be one, right?
As soon as the two Scouts, and Zen, entered the city, they were immediately greeted by dozens of curious Ahri.
"The Long Legs! The Long Legs! They are back!"
Among Ahri's long lines, there were subjects who appeared to be doing different tasks. As if it were a faded reflection of human civilization.
"H-Hi ...?" Oskah said.
"We thought Long Legs were all dead!"
"All dead! All dead!" "No more news of Long Legs"
All the Ahri had given up their duties to join the three adventurers. Among them all, a figure with a more imposing aura stood out. The figure had a kind of crown made of a type of luminous stone different from the others, of an almost indifferent color reminiscent of purple, he wore a showier dress and a wise expression.
"Welcome! You are new faces. Have you come down to bring updates on the other Long Legs?"
The Ahri with the crown, in addition to being different from the others, seemed to have a better communication ability.
"H-Hi ... Are you the village chief by any chance?" Oskah asked.
The Ahri with the crown nodded.
"I am the one who lives the longest, in your expression, one could say that yes, I am the head of this village."
"What kind of place is this?" Zen asked, looking around like a child. It was as if he had forgotten for an instant the purpose of the descent.
"This is one of the many Ahri villages, in fact ..."
The Ahri were a people whose origins are handed down from an unknown era. They have almost always lived underground, and there are various villages, with different Ahri, scattered around the world. Most of the time they were peaceful creatures. They had little contact with humans, even if they involuntarily emulated their behavior. But that wasn't always the case. In ancient times, the Ahri were quite different ... Wild, frightening creatures, manipulated only by instinct, unable to communicate, practiced cannibalism, and fed on whatever they could find. After some time, as the Ahri call it, the "Awakening" took place. Everything, before awakening, was like an infinite nightmare, of which anger, hunger and madness were the only sources of light. And to shelter from that light, the Ahri went deeper and deeper, where they began to gain consciousness, and there the Awakening took place. They began to communicate telepathically with each other, and with the other Ahri around the world, and to feed on the nourishing energy of some crystals present in the depths. However, in some parts of the world, some Ahri was still trapped in the nightmare ...
"A-Ah ..." Zen said.
"I'm glad you are interested in our story. We are equally pleased to share Ahri culture with Long Legs. Unfortunately, we only allow Long Legs of Underground City to have contact with us."
"May I know why?" Oskah asked.
"Because on the surface there are ... as you call them, germs, that would be devastating to us."
"D-Devastating ...?" The Ahri with the crown nodded "They would return us to the primordial state. So the stories say."
"..." "..." "..."
"You obviously come from the City Above, aren't you?"
"..." "...Here you are..." "..."
"...?" "Yes, it is right." Dulkha said. Oskah turned to him, then to the Ahri with the crown and nodded with a forced smile.
"Sure! I knew it! I just wanted to ask, for ... as you say ... Courtesy."
Oskah, trying not to sweat, asked the main question.
"Did you by any chance see a man two months ago?"
The Ahri village chief nodded. "Sure. It was the duke. He was the last Long Legs we saw. He came every now and then to visit us, he went to that structure, with the other men dressed in white, and he also brought us gifts ... Once, the duke had a different face, a face painted with terror, he ran away without saying almost anything, into the great sphere that the Long Legs have built. "
The Ahri aimed at the great white dome.
"What's in the sphere?" Dulkha asked.
"Well..."
Three hundred years ago, when Filaspera was founded, the settlers of the Pact Government began excavations to find a suitable environment for emigrants from the now destroyed city of Saorsha. They decided that the caves of the luminous stone were a suitable environment to found a city, isolated from the dangers of the outside world. For the first few years it was like this, but later the horrors of Grudge managed to get there. Miraculously, almost a hundred years later, the men of science of Filaspera picked up a powerful source of energy, by pure chance, as they ventured into the depths. Following the spring, they found the Ahri village. The Ahri were wary at first, afraid of Long Legs, due to the curse of the surface. Later, they realized that those men dressed in white no longer possessed the smell of the outside world, and that they had become one with the cave of light. The Long Legs asked the Ahri to share the energy of their crystal, in exchange for progress. The Ahri accepted and the men built a white dome around the crystal, inside which unknown things happened, which were surely devoted to good. At least that was what the men had said to the underground inhabitants.
"... From time to time, the long legs dressed in white pass through here, they go back and forth with strange boxes and sometimes with frightening iron beasts. We didn't notice it anymore; it has become a tradition. And we trusted them. "
"Would it be possible to access the sphere?" Oskah asked.
The Ahri nodded uncertainly.
"For the Ahri it was not possible, only the Long Legs had the permission and the keys to the great sphere."
"..." "We too have a key." Zen said.
Ahri accompanied the three humans to the crystal gates. From there, they had to go it alone. The dome, seen up close, was frightening, sublime. Zen tried to use the severed hand on the recognition panel again. I work. Beyond the door, a tiny room with an elevator in the center. Without asking too many questions, they entered the elevator. Two different keys to choose:
The first had the symbol of the crystal and had to correspond to the top floor.
The second had a hand as a symbol, it only opened with a key.
They chose the first.
Beyond the door, a different hum rattled, an unbearable moan.
"... The Angels ... They finally arrived to take me ..."