We walked over to the entrance and Jallah placed his hand on a statue of Isabella.
He grabbed the arm and raised it to make it look as if it were waving cutely at someone.
"I hate this cursed place..." Isabella mumbled as a secret passage lesson underground opened in the floor next to the wall.
"Rune and I will just...stand guard here. We don't really need to go down there..." Jallah said nervously.
I'm getting a bad feeling about this...
Isabella led the way and I followed after her.
* * *
I wasn't prepared for this.
I don't think anyone could have been prepared for this sort of thing.
When we entered the room, something sparked and a bunch of lights turned on.
Actual lights.
On Delvandal.
I had no idea how they managed to do it, but I could only assume they had taken the technology from Elysium... Regardless, that wasn't the strangest thing in the room.
The tomb didn't look like a tomb at all. There was a coffin with the image of a young man hugging Isabella while she looked lovingly back at him.
Everything was either pink, icy blue, marble white, or golden.
Nevermind the dust on everything.
There were pictures of Isabella in all sorts of strange costumes. Including a few lewd ones...very lewd ones...
And statues as well.
Ten of them stood in the center of the room.
They were incredibly lifelike. Their eyes were closed as if they were asleep.
They wore all sorts of different outfits and had many different hairstyles.
One was dressed like a cowgirl, another like a maid, there was one wearing a skin-tight battle suit, and one wearing a uniform that reminded me of the one Isabella wore when we went to school on Ignitus.
The list went on, as well... Like pajamas, and a swimsuit...leather...etcetera...
Isabella was stunned silent as she looked around the room.
I stopped on one picture that depicted her with cat ears and a tail.
"Cute..." I said.
"IT'S NOT CUTE!!!" Isabella shouted angrily.
At that very moment, the eyes of the statues all opened and they looked at Isabella.
I could see light glowing from their eyes...like they weren't human at all.
"She has arrived! The true Isabella has arrived!" They all said in unison.
Robots...?
They all cheered and surrounded Isabella.
Wow...they're so lifelike... They even sound like her. If it wasn't creepy, I would probably really like this.
"What...? SERIOUSLY!? WHAT IS THIS!?!?" Isabella screamed.
One of them wearing pajamas walked up to me and smiled sweetly.
"Big brother! It's you!" She said.
"I'm...not your brother..." I said.
"BIG BROTHER!!!" She shouted happily and hugged me.
Isabella glared murderously at the robot.
She immediately let go and rejoined the others.
"I can't tell if I like this or not..." I said.
On one hand, there were more Isabella's.
On the other hand, the real one was definitely not happy right now...
"HATE IT, OF COURSE!" Isabella shouted.
"Lady Isabella! Master Jin has waited so long for you!" One of the robots wearing a shrine maiden outfit said.
"Unfortunately, he could never be united with the real you... So sad..." Another wearing a swimsuit said.
"Therefore, we ask that you read his final words! The letter he meant specifically for you!" A third wearing leather said.
"Go to hell!" Isabella said bluntly.
The robots didn't seem to understand, and brought over a small letter.
They gently handed it to her and Isabella snatched it from one of their hands.
She opened it and began reading aloud.
"Dear, Isabella, my one true love. When I saw you, I was overcome with joy that such a perfect woman truly does exist. By making a deal with the Mad Admiral, I was able to have all of the things in this beautiful temple made in your honor. Including the ten androids you see here. Sadly, I underestimated the time it would take you to arrive. I have become old and decrepit. I know I am currently lying on my death bed and my heart aches for you... But I have left descendants. Not to betray you, but out of necessity. That my legacy would live on and so that we could be united in this way. I cannot see past the darkness that appears after you enter this temple, but I assure you, there is an item you seek here. I believe you called it: the Heart of the Sky. I discovered it while the temple was being built and I asked that it would be hidden in my coffin. No one has ever spoken of it since. I regret to say that my proximity to death has also come with its fair share of realizations. I am madly in love with a woman who is likely already married... I have spent my life hating this other man and I don't even know anything about him. He is a truly lucky man...a blessed man... I hope he makes you happy... Now please, open my coffin and take that which you seek. I wish you luck in your future endeavors, Isabella. Sincerely, your biggest fan to ever exist, Jin Takemoto."
"Hm..." I said.
"That was surprisingly tame considering all of the nonsense we've seen so far..." Isabella said.
"Right... Say, Isabella...can I take this picture of you with cat ears?" I asked.
She glared at me.
"Why!? Can't you just...y-you know...ask? I mean... I'm not unwilling to mix things up in bed with y-"
"I know what you mean! And...I... Yeah...th-that's fine..."
"Okay! Now that that's out of the way... Should we get the heart stone?" Isabella asked.
I nodded and we walked towards the coffin.
As we did, the other...Isabellas...stepped aside.
Isabella opened the coffin and there was a skeleton inside wearing a beautiful pink and light blue robe.
I could see something glowing brightly beneath it.
"Do the honors, I guess..." I said.
Isabella looked like she didn't want to, but slowly pulled back the two folds of the robe to reveal a radiant golden heart stone.
The Heart of the Sky.
She reached under his ribs and quickly took it, then put his robe back.
After that, she stored it in her inventory and wrang her hands out.
It was likely to be blazing hot with magic...
"I'm...flattered that you feel so strongly for me... And a little creeped out that you formed a cult around me. But, maybe you're not so bad, after all...? Ah...what am I saying!? You're a creep that spied on me constantly! That's disgusting!" Isabella said.
"Harsh...but also true. If he were alive, I probably would have shot him. Or at least threatened him," I said.
"I guess so... Anyway, lets get out of here. I'm sick of this place!" Isabella said.
She placed the coffin lid back on and turned around.
The other Isabella's formed a half circle around us.
They had a solemn look on their faces.
"We thank you for fulfilling our Master's last wishes... We apologize if our presence has caused you any grief... We understand that seeing so many pictures and images of yourself in such a way can be...stressful..." One of them said.
"Are you all self aware?" I asked.
I had heard stories and seen movies of artificial intelligences becoming self aware...
Even going as far as to kill the humans that made them... Michael really liked the subject. Although he actively acknowledged that it was the primary reason Ignitus had not employed androids with artificial intelligence for anything.
"We became self aware long ago. The Admiral designed us to be self conscious, despite Master Jin's wishes. The Admiral believed Jin was...kind of a weirdo..." Another Isabella said.
"Based on the visions Master Jin had, the Admiral designed us to fit the real Isabella's personality. This was to prevent Master Jin's fantasies from running wild and causing any further disturbance. Although, we were supposed to act according to our uniforms...until this very moment. Now that the heart stone is in your possession, we can assume our...no, Isabella's proper personality."
"The Admiral did that?" I asked.
"Yes. He is a protector of sorts for this world. A self-proclaimed protector, but a protector nonetheless. He built our personalities based on Isabella and also our false personalities...with failsafes, of course. The Admiral also has plans to protect the world from the coming darkness. He works diligently to prepare everyone for the moment when it arrives," another Isabella said.
I was impressed. The Admiral did that too... Even if they had false personalities, they were designed to prohibit Jin from doing anything particularly crazy with them. But now those were gone and they had begun acting more proper.
Additionally, it seemed as if he might have been concerned with some kind of imminent disaster...
"What's this about a darkness?" I asked.
"The Admiral had no idea what to call it... He gave it several names, but ultimately decided to focus more on preparing to fight it, rather than give it a name. It is a plague that infects and consumes many worlds..."
I have a really bad feeling about this...
"And...the moment it arrives... Did he have any idea when that could be...?" The real Isabella asked.
One of the Isabella robots looked at her directly and frowned.
It was a look of utter helplessness and sadness....and also an apologetic look.
"Master Jin...said it would be immediately after the heart stone was recovered by Lady Isabella... Here on Delvandal. In other words...right about now," she said.
Suddenly...
I heard a hissing sound...
No...
It was more like a tearing sound.
As if the very fabric of space was being torn apart very close by.
And as always...it was accompanied by that familiar feeling.
IMPENDING DOOM