Melin groaned as he crushed a few clumps of the blessed walls under his heel. Once the boss figured out the nature of this damnable maze, they continued meandering through it for what felt like hours. "Hey," he snapped to his fellows, continuing, "How long has it been?"
Jern checked his watch and answered, "Ten minutes."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"No, I'm serious, it's been ten minutes."
"Tell me why, Lord Satan, why am I stuck in this hellish place?"
"Because you want to get paid?" Ue said.
"Morons. All of 'em."
"Stop complaining and get back in formation!" Pereph yelled as she smacked the back of Melin's head. The Demon whimpered like a rat caught in a trap before slinking back to his friends.
"She's trained you well," one of them scoffed. Melin raised his head, no doubt ready to fire off a nasty retort, but Pereph's glare shut him up in an instant. The giggles that arose following this moment one could only describe as "orchestral."
Pereph sighed. "Hey, boss, how much longer are we going to spend trudging through this place? I feel like we've made next to no progress."
"We should be done anywhere between now and the end of our mission," he muttered in an uncharacteristically playful tone.
"You sure seem happy about this."
Aeron smiled and said, "It's interesting. I definitely didn't expect to be wandering through a maze like this when Satan decided to go forward with this operation." Their continued exploration through the hallway confirmed his suspicions that what they were stuck in was a one-way labyrinth. Time seemed to move at an expected pace if they walked horizontally to one another; however, the second one of them got too far ahead of the group, they would vanish into the proverbial soup of some unknown timeline. "That said, if this is a maze, there has to be a way to the end." This place consisted of only a single straight path; it wasn't like there were any alternative routes forward. With a sigh, he turned around and watched as one of his men hurried back to join the main column from the archive. "That confirms that the distortion only occurs the further we go in. I guess that that must be a failsafe to ensure any guards that might accidentally wander in here don't starve to death."
"We should hurry, boss. We've dealt with a lot of the soldiers here, but it'll only be a matter of time before someone calls for reinforcements," Pereph warned.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that. You there, the one who just got back, what time is it?"
"Oh, uh, just past noon."
"Thank you," Aeron said as he scratched his chin. "Yup. I knew it. We're fine."
Pereph, who was now very much confused, snapped back, "Huh? How does knowing the time tell you that?"
"We arrived at the archive at noon, and we've been spelunking through this oddity for what feels like a couple hours by now. If what that soldier said is correct, and it really is only just past twelve, then time must pass by much slower in here than the outside."
"Okay... so how does that help us?"
"Well, for one, it means that we have ample time to figure this out," Aeron muttered as he tossed a small clump of dust further down the hallway. Like before, it paused, hanged still in the air for a few moments, and vanished. "Second, confirming the differences between this space and the outside might allow us to change our perspective on a few things."
Pereph sighed, "'Change our perspective'? What do you mean?"
"I can't put it into words, exactly, just chalk it up to nothing more than a gut feeling." He wasn't as smart as Jeremy or Elizabeth, after all, so all he could do was work with what he had. "Whelp. Now that we know that there's no time limit, why don't we do some experiments?"
"I'm okay with that if it allows us to move forward."
"Great. In that case, can you go and round up some volunteers?"
"By force?"
"If you did that, they wouldn't be volunteers, now would they?"
"Good point."
"All right," he thought with a smirk. "Now that that ball's rolling, I think it's about time I got started." Like a starved mole, he began to slowly whittle away at a small area of the blessed dust that covered the walls. The deeper he dug, the denser and rock-like the material became until it eventually felt like he was chipping away at a block of iron. He asked himself, "Is this it?" as he sheathed his weapon and motioned for Pereph and her volunteers to come closer.
"As you requested, I gathered a handful of brave souls from our ranks."
"Thanks," Aeron said as he turned his attention to the soldiers in question. "You three, huh? I'm not going to lie, I'm pleasantly surprised to see you all volunteer."
"'Volunteer,' he says."
"That's not fair, man."
"I mean... I guess it fits the strict definition of the term."
Aeron sighed as he stared disappointedly at Pereph. "Did you... no, whatever, it's not important. Melin, Jern, I want the both of you to stand on either side of this hole I'm making. Ue, I want you to stay where you are."
Melin sighed, rolled his eyes, and seemed ready to fire off a witty retort; however, once he felt the daggers that Pereph was glaring into his back, he quickly got in position. "Ugh. This mission's getting worse by the minute."
"Is there anything else you want us to do, sir?" Ue asked as he confusedly scratched his forehead.
"You'll see, just be patient." With that, the ringing sound of his sword's hilt bashing against the stone filled the hall, clamoring like some sort of bizarre, crooked orchestra. "This sound... it's changing the deeper I dig." He continued on in this fashion for a handful of minutes before, finally, he hit the motherload. Hiding beneath the layers of blessed grime was a strange, marble-like barrier. A light tap returned a stunted, muted tone that seemed to indicate that, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to break through. "Okay, you all, your task is simple. I just want you to tell me how long it takes you to hear this noise," he instructed as he once again scraped his hand against the impregnable stone.
"Well, at least that's something you can do, Melin."
"Sir, I have no idea what they're talking about."
Aeron laughed, "That's fine. Just make sure your friendly banter doesn't affect your response times!"
"He's certainly cheerful," Pereph thought with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay," he continued as he once again raised his hand against the barrier. "Let's begin."
Aeron's little experiment continued on for a handful of minutes. Every time one of them let out so much as a peep, he'd etch a small tally into the floor. "All right," he started after chiseling the final marking. "That helped a lot; I have a pretty good idea of how we can get out of here now."
"Really?"
"Of course! Would I lie?"
"Yes."
"All right, then!" Aeron yelled as he clapped his hands together. "Allow me to explain how we're going to get out of this little predicament."
"We're all ears, sir."
"Thank you, Pereph. If you don't mind, I need you to be my first assistant."
"'First'?" she parroted with a suspicious scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing much. I just want you to hit something."
"Uh huh," she said as she took another step back.
"What? Don't you trust me?"
"Are you ordering me to answer that question, sir?"
Aeron sighed, saying, "You're being paranoid, Pereph. All you need to do is knock this toward the other end of the hallway." As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pebble.
"And this will get us out of here?"
"'This' will show you guys how we can get out of this place, yes."
"Fine then." With that, Pereph took a step back and snatched the rock from Aeron's hand. An ear-shattering smack later, and the pebble flew off and faded away like their previous experiments. "See," she said. "It's meaningless. It's the same as before."
"But why is it the same?"
"Pardon?"
Aeron smiled, saying, "The Giants aren't the sort of people who pride themselves on meaningless complexity. This puzzle is an architectural marvel, sure, but its actual solution shouldn't be impossible. In the first place, a maze such as this is only a trap that is meant to delay, not actually stop. Otherwise, any old Giant who wandered in here could easily end up trapped. If this place were that dangerous, they wouldn't have left the entrance so open in the Buried Council's archives."
Pereph sighed as she scratched her head, saying, "That makes sense, but how, pray tell, does that get us out of this situation?"
"Think about it for a second. This complex is a veritable hive of activity on every level. Isn't it strange, then, that such an important hallway would have no guards at all? Or, at the very least, a watchman? The reason for that is simple: navigating this maze requires a group."
"Makes sense," she conceded with a sigh. "So, what do I need to do?"
"Oh, that's simple, I want you to push me forward."
"'Push you forward'? Wha—"
"It'll be easier to explain if you just do it," he responded in the most purposefully annoying tone he could manage. His little provocation worked wonders, and within seconds he was sent flying down the hall. "Damn. That woman sure packs a punch," he thought as he landed face-first into the floor. It took just a glance to confirm his suspicions. "There you are." In front of him, standing there covered in dust like some rustic painting, was the door at the end of the hallway. Turning back, he could make out the distant silhouettes of his comrades, all moving yet, somehow, also completely motionless. He yelled, "Go ahead and throw another one through, Pereph!" as he sauntered up to his prize. "Okay, you elusive slab of stone, it's about time for you to spill your secrets."
Right as he wrapped his hand around the handle, he overheard a distinctive thud alongside a chorus of curses, saying, "Good Satan! You'd think she'd be at least somewhat gentle with her own men! I swear... one of these days I'm going to—"
Aeron cut Melin off, "I wouldn't finish that thought, friend; this area works like that experiment from earlier. It'll be on a slight delay, but Pereph can hear every word you're saying right now." The Demon froze at his words, like a statue, almost as if the Almighty himself had reached in and crushed his soul. "Ehhh... he'll be fine. Now then," he thought as he turned his attention back to the maze's exit. The door flew open with a sturdy push, revealing what was, honestly, a rather disappointing study. He couldn't stop himself from saying, "This is it?" as he meandered amongst the rows upon rows of old scrolls and books. While the area paled in comparison to the main archive, that didn't mean that this hidden storeroom was normal. In fact, its layout was even more confusing than the one-way labyrinth. The entire room seemed to shimmer in and out of existence like a mirage. At first, he assumed that this was the result of another one of the Giants' defense mechanisms; however, a quick search told him that this was anything but some random security measure. No, this wasn't the work of the Buried Council; this effect was... well, it was divine.
"Oh great, this looks like it'll be easy," he overheard Melin groan. Just outside, he could overhear several loud thuds as Pereph continued to toss more of their comrades over the proverbial boundary.
He continued, "I wouldn't pay too much attention to searching this place. We did enough sifting through papers back in the Buried Council's archives. No... an effect of this level must be the result of some external force."
"What? You mean like the hand of God?"
Aeron nodded, continuing, "That's what I'm assuming. Looking around, there seems to be a place where the ripples stop. That's our ticket." Just as the rest of the regiment began filling the room, Aeron reached down into the stillness and hit a snag. "Bingo."
"Did you find it, sir?" Ue asked as he placed a hand on Melin's shoulder, as if apologizing for what happened earlier. The Demon, of course, rolled his eyes and sighed.
Aeron thought with a smile, "Well... at least their morale is high," as he grunted and wrapped his submerged hand around their buried treasure. Like a stone stuck to a riverbed, the mysterious object refused to be pried loose; however, with a bit of elbow grease, he eventually forced the bauble to the surface. "I guess this must be the Giants' great treasure," he murmured as he inspected the bizarre contraption. It was a small cylinder, no larger than a forearm and only half as wide, that was held together by little more than a few scatterings of glue and prayer.
"I'm surprised that there's no lock on that thing."
"Hmph. They probably didn't expect that anybody would be able to make it here without the Buried Council's authorization," he said as he popped the cylinder open. Instantly, a deep, musty stench filled the area.
"Ugh..." Melin wheezed as he attempted to wave away the foul odor. "By Satan, did they never clean that thing?!"
"Focus," Pereph ordered as she joined Aeron, hunched over the bizarre trinket. "What is it?"
His answer was as simple as it was honest. "Truthfully? I've got no idea." Laying in his palms was what appeared to be a large, half-rotten collection of maps and blueprints.
"Huh? I recognize that place!" Jern blurted out from across the room.
Aeron nodded, saying, "You aren't the only one," as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This one's the construction plans for The Courthouse. I know that the Giants built the place, but it's pretty incredible that they kept the original drafts safe for all these years." The contents of the spoils weren't confined to just Heaven, though. There were stacks of blueprints of all the major realms: the Giants' land, Earth, Hell, and even Purgatory!
"I don't see how this is supposed to help us, though," Pereph murmured. "These look like the originals, but most of the layouts described in these sheets are woefully outdated."
"That's true. It has been several millennia since the realms were built. I doubt we could use these to form adequate battle plans or incursions, unless there's some sort of—" Suddenly, Aeron's expression took a dark, inquisitive turn.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
He shook his head, saying, "Uh, no, it's just... this," as he pointed out a strange segment near the top of Heaven's blueprint, continuing, "I don't know what this is." Perched on the top of Heaven's layout—above even the Bureau and Paradise—was what looked like a river flowing off the top of the page. "The Giants are a pragmatic people; they wouldn't waste precious space on needless artistry, especially not on a blueprint as important as this."
"Well, I'm sure that there must be a river up there somewhere, right? Unless you're telling me that Paradise doesn't have any water features?"
"That's not what this is depicting." The drawing was much too detailed and clean for that. In fact, with the way it trailed off the page, it almost seemed as if... Suddenly, Aeron's eyes lit up like diamonds. He yelped, "Where are the other plans?! If there's one for Heaven, that must mean that—" He poured over the pages with reckless abandon, flinging fetid dust into the air with every slight movement, until he finally found it: the original documents detailing the foundation of Hell.
Pereph asked, "Did you figure it out?" as he went silent. In response to her query, all the man did was shakily motion to the bottom of Hell's blueprint. There, trailing off the bottom of the page, was the depiction of a river. Past Tartarus, past where even the bravest Ascended traveled, past the purported end of the River Styx, was a second river flowing seamlessly off into the void.
"It can't be," Aeron murmured as he placed Hell's blueprint over Heaven's. Just like that, the secret of the mysterious river was revealed. As if it were there from the beginning, this unknown formation perfectly joined the two realms. Aeron laughed, saying, "Those sly Giants had an ace up their sleeves," as he took a step back for the rest of the regiment to see. "My friends, it looks like we owe Charon another visit!"