"I've spent the last two thousand years giving life to this palace," Ythmun boasted. "Millions of lives, slaves, and beasts have given their part for this grand structure, whether it be in the form of labor or life force.
"I've seen you talk down my hounds and convince that treacherous serpent to flee, but I can assure you that tactic will not work here. Once roused from its slumber, the Palace of Trekna has but one goal: kill everyone and everything inside that doesn't have my influence within them.
"It will not stop, it does not tire, it has no need for food or luxury. It wants only the deaths of those opposed to me. The Advanced, those moronic men and women that call themselves 'scientists,' once told me that their goal is to create a perfect being, one without flaw.
"I am proud to say that I have created a lifeform far more perfect than anything their pointless experiments could produce. THIS is the perfect being!"
"You sure do love to talk, don't you?" Fate asked dryly.
"I am the only one on this planet that can match my intelligence, worm," Ythmun retorted. "Now, I have the pleasure of watching as my life's work devours you whole."
A hole opened underneath Fate, a tongue lashing out and wrapping around his leg as he fell. He slipped through it with ease, using his Divine Reach to launch himself back onto the floor. He pulled out his Miao Dao, the blade buzzing with his Manifestation-infused Divine Energy as he cut apart a dozen more tongues aiming for him.
Beside him, Cait shoved tongues away with her TK, having already tried and failed to
The palace shook with a demented howl from the walls themselves, the aura of the palace revealing itself. To Fate's horror, it was a Personification with Divine Energy no weaker than Ythmun's own, the Divine Energy of one close to a breakthrough. The entire floor of the throne room, save for where Griffith and Ythmun stood, opened up underneath them, leaving them with no choice but to fall.
They fell for a full five minutes, their attempts to launch themselves back up with their Divine Reach broken by a casual flick of someone else's telekinesis. When they hit the ground, they hit it hard, unable to muster forth any but the barest amount of Divine Reach to break their fall. They landed in a heap, Fate landing first and Cait smacking into him, driving the air out of his lungs.
He rolled her off of him, his entire body screaming in pain as he did so. He broke at least five bones, fractured a dozen more, and was bruised pretty much everywhere, but was glad that he had stowed his Miao Dao away during the fall. He tried to appraise Cait's situation, but it was so dark he couldn't see. He felt for his Ex-Ear, thanking his lucky star that it was intact as he switched on the flashlight. Aided by the light, he took stock of their situation.
They were in a mineshaft or tunnel of some sort, surrounded by dirt walls held up by wooden supports. Above them was the hole they fell through, the throne room so distant he couldn't even see the light from down here. To his left and back were tunnels leading to unknown places and to his right was a shallow cave with exposed clumps of glimmering green ore.
Cait was unconscious, her right arm twisting at the elbow in the completely wrong direction and a shard of bone jutting out of her left leg. A gentle press told him that her ribs were broken, and when he checked under her armor and shirt – saying a quick apology as he did so – her entire torso was purple, cracked skin here and there oozing blood. But as he watched, the wounds receded and the bone coming out of her leg slowly shifted.
Her arm snapped back into place and the exposed bone slowly repositioned itself to its proper place. Her chest rippled as the fractures and fragmented rib bones rearranged themselves like a jigsaw puzzle and mended back together. Her bruises faded, her caramel skin once more a single shade all over.
Her eyes fluttered open, squinting in the bright light of Fate's flashlight. She raised an arm to shield them, wincing as she did so. Her wounds may have healed, but she was still sore and had just had several sharp shards of bone moving against her internal flesh.
"You're up fast," Fate said, changing the color of his light to a bright red so their eyes wouldn't get strained. He helped her to a sitting position, propping her against a nearby wall, and returned her stare.
"You're hurt," she said.
"Yeah, so some Divine Energy would be greatly appreciated. This shit hurts." He sighed as she funneled some of her energy into him, gritting his teeth as his bones reset and mended themselves. When he felt whole once more, he gently pushed the funnel of energy away with his Divine Reach, plopping against the wall next to her.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"Not even three minutes," he replied. "Those healing powers of yours are remarkable."
"While working for the PPK, I learned that any Manifestation can heal. You only need to know how to do it. For me, that required a lot of testing after those life-and-death situations I told you about."
"How does it work?"
"Well, since I became a Personification, I've been able to influence the desires of my own body. So, I ramped up its natural healing abilities by having it focus on healing my wounds above all else. It's a slow process, and I can't regrow limbs as far as I know – and I'm too apprehensive to test – but it's saved my life more than once."
A piercing scream echoed from the tunnel to the right, rebounding off the walls and stabbing into their heads, which were already suffering from headaches. They helped each other to a stand, readying themselves for whatever may come.