"The castle is just an illusion." Vision explained, walking towards the illusion. "Illusion within illusion.. it's going to be rough for you, who is not a descendant of the Lord of Secrets.."
Lua looked dumbfounded. He could have sworn that the castle was very real - if he was close enough, he felt he could touch it. Not skipping a beat, he followed behind Vision with Arc in tow.
"The 'castle' is where you will be staying. Under the mask of the illusion is a workshop, perfect for a child of the Machine such as yourself." Vision said, but Lua could feel Vision didn't enjoy saying 'Machine'.
Their hatred of the God of Machines must be deep-rooted in their organisation... I'm sure my mere presence would be considered blasphemous for them. Lua couldn't help but sigh, feeling out of place among the believers of the Lord of Secrets.
However, Lua didn't share his thoughts with Vision. Instead, he asked:
"Workshop? Does that mean we will not be seeing the organisation today?"
Vision shook his head. "No. We still need a revelation from the Lord to know what he needs to do with you. All we know is that we should foster your growth.."
Lua seemed perplexed. On one hand, he had the resources and time to steadily advance. On the other, he was abducted seemingly without purpose. Lua shook the thoughts away, and decided to trust that the Lord of Secrets had a plan in mind.
After a little more of walking, they reached the 'Illusion Castle' that Lua had so very creatively named. As if it wasn't there, Vision walked straight through the front wall - ignoring the laws of physics that Lua had grown so accustomed to.
Lua held his hand out, and began to walk forward, keeping himself safe from a concussion just in case Vision somehow had the ability to walk through walls.
As he passed through, he saw a stone hallway that was decorated with torches that lead to wooden double doors. The old wooden doors creaked as if they hadn't been opened in centuries, and Lua was immediately hit with the smell of moss. It was clear to him this place hadn't been used in decades, maybe centuries. The dust was unbearable.
It appeared that the dust had bothered Vision just as much, and he immediately backed away from the doors, leaving Lua standing in front of them. "Right, I will leave you to it."
"Hold on a minute," Lua prevented Vision from escaping. "Where is the nearest city?"
Vision had already expected this question, and responded promptly. "We're actually in the borders of the capital - Hunn. If you go south, you'll find the city itself."
Isn't it a bad idea to build a secret lair in the capital? Well, whatever.. this only makes getting resources easier. Lua thought, relieved he wasn't completely distanced from civilisation.
"I wouldn't recommend going yet though." Vision shattered Lua's dreams of visiting the capital.
Lua was confused momentarily. "Why not?"
Vision coughed because of the dust, backing off a bit more. "We don't know when we will receive a revelation from the Lord, it is best if you stay somewhere we can contact you. Otherwise, if you are going for a few days, tell us where you will be staying during that time. We'll find you there."
Lua nodded in understanding. "How can I contact you?"
Vision pointed at Lua's left hand. "When you need us, draw the symbol on your hand on the floor, and write my name in your blood."
Quite ominous for a communication ritual.. Well, whatever. Lua felt their method of communication was very occult, but he was in no place to complain. It wasn't like a secret organisation was going to communicate through letters..
Bwomp! Vision warped away, leaving dust gathered around in a sphere around him. It put Lua into a fit of cough. "Damn it."
Now that he was alone with Arc, he could speak freely, allowing him to share his thoughts actively with him. Normally, their thought sharing was limited and innate, so they couldn't tell exactly what the other was feeling. It was only just a feeling of their emotions.
Arc shrugged, putting a smile to Lua's face. "We've got some work to do.. this dust is unbearable."
Arc nodded eagerly, ready to clean up the mess that was caused by the absence of care given to this place.
Creaking open the door even more, Lua and Arc had their looks inside. The room was dark, not even allowing them to see a few meters beyond the door. But Lua occasionally was able to get the silhouettes of objects like tables and chairs - it was obvious from the design that this place was a medieval laboratory designed to accommodate Tinkerers. Shafts ran across the ceiling, waiting for someone to power it. In the middle of the room was a hydraulic press, letting Lua and Arc manufacturing plates by using raw material. Of course, the raw material had to be processed through some sort of blast furnace. Lua had a feeling that he'd be able to find it in this ancient machine room.
"Let's get to work." Lua said to Arc, taking off his trenchcoat, and placing it in the middle of a table. He first got to work by lighting up the dying torches around the room, shining a bit of light to the room. Using this light, Arc was able to find a few brooms in a closet.
Using the light, Lua was finally able to tell the extent of the room - it was very large. It had multiple doors leading out, likely to other rooms and testing chambers. It was absolutely the dream of any Tinkerer.
Using the brooms, Lua and Arc got to work sweeping the floors to clear out the immense dust. Of course, it was difficult to clean without water, so Lua had to go out and find a river - which he luckily found nearby. The capital was built around a river, so it only made sense that there was one nearby.
Luckily, the Illusion Castle wasn't underground. It had windows that had to be unsealed by breaking the wooden barricades on them, and glass that had to be repaired. Of course, Lua had to go to the city and buy glass, or alternatively, he could make his own by attempting to find Silica sand.
After hours of sweeping, cleaning and organising, Lua and Arc were exhausted. Arc was more mentally exhausted while Lua was simply spent from the hard work.
Lua couldn't help but chuckle, sitting on a chair. He addressed Arc.
"Our time has finally come, Arc.. this is the moment we have been waiting for."
Arc nodded, just as eager to get working.