Angela and Hale's trip to the cavern was a adventure. The people started calling this place Calmach's Crypt. Well, now Angela understands that the Calmach part of the name was her fault. But the crypt part is very fitting. This place is ruddily with tunnels and remains of the temple from above that makes the place a natural labyrinth. It doesn't help that other creatures has started living in these tunnels.
But luckily, they were able to reach the cavern without too much trouble.
Angela was surprised by how untouched the researched cavern was. It looks like not a single creature has touched the place. In fact, it looks like the place is well kept.
Angela wondered around until she found a room with a sign hanging from it. It has the name, Hope on it.
When she entered the room, she was imedily bombarded by a intense feeling of onstage.
As soon as she entered the room, the floating mechanical orbs lit up the room. Inside it was a fluffy bed, a kitchen, moving toys and stuffed animals. Angela doesn't know why but she feels like this room hasn't changed at all. Like it remained frozen in time. Angela had a smile on her face as she closed the door. Perhaps it's best to leave this room be.
Hale and Angela examined the paper laying about and they pretty much confirms what the king has informed them.
But before the couple was satisfied that they seen every room, they found themselves stumbling on a dark room.
Hale used a light spell to light up the room.
What Angela saw gave her intense headache.
The room looked exactly like the one from her night mares.
A summoning circle with two men standing besides it, and a hole opening up in thin air. That was more then a nightmare... it was a memory.
Angela was holding her head in pain. "My queen! Let us leave this place! It's placing too much of a strain on your memories." Prince Hale said.
But as Hale was helping his wife out of the summoning room, a portal opened uo behind their backs.
Angela watched in horror as the nightmare recreated itself before her were eyes. Somehow, the portal is opening by itself!
"Let's go! We don't want to be around when more of those fiends return!" Hale shouted.
But Angela wouldn't budge. She just stood there as the portal opened by itself.
But instead of sludge fiends, very different entities stepped through the portal.
Angela and Hale watched in absolute confusion as the watch two humans and a floating mechanical orb step through.
The portal shut itself as the three individuals stood in front of Angela and Hale. The first is a floating mechanical orb just like the ones Angela found in her old room. Except this one was painted blue. It let out a "Pi pi!" before flying towards Angela. Hale prepared to slice the orb in half with his sword, but Angela was quick to stop him. She felt the orb solely tackle itself into her... chest. Angela watched as it snuggled itself against her chest. But instead of slapping it away, she simply just hugged it. It felt... right.
"Stay away from that woman Pipi! You don't know who she is!" The speaker was a human woman who seems to be around her forties. Her cloths are torn up and Angela can even see her under garment through the holes. This woman obviously doesn't care about fashion.
"Wait. There should only be one reason for Pipi to be this friendly... Hope? Is that you?" The speaker was a man in his forties as well. His cloths doesn't seem to be as ripped up as the woman's and his sense of fashion seems to be a lot better in hindsight. He looks familiar...
But Angela didn't have time to think as man quickly embraced her. "You must be her! Why else would Pipi be so friendly towards a stranger! Oh Hope, how I missed you! I tired to come as soon as I could but inter-dimensional travel is a very fickle thing. When I found that your room was empty, I thought you were dead! But I heard on to hope since the door to your room was closed. You wouldn't have time to close the door if you were attacked! Where were you!? I looked all over but I couldn't find you!" The man was crying on Angela's shoulder. But as much as it pains her, she has to be honest with herself.
"Um... How are you?" Angela gently stated.
The strange man and pet machine imeadily stopped moving. Slowly, the realized their embrace and backed away. The man dusted himself off as he regained his composer.
"Sorry madam. I mistook you as someone else. You see, I had a daughter named, Hope. I thought you were her. You do look a lot like me if I were born a female." The man apologized.
Angela couldn't believe it. When the king informed her that her original name was Hope and her father has been missing for a little more then ten years, she was determined to find her birth father. But now that he's standing fight in front of her, she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she's his long-lost daughter.
Hale noticed this so he decided to try to stall for time. "I am King Hale, and this here is my queen. Her name is Angela, named after the deity of purity herself."
"You're Hale!? A remember you back when you were a prince! I must have lost touch with the world to not hear about your crowning. Con graduations your majesty. But what brings you here of all places?" The man asked.
"We are here to personally investigate the wereabouts of Grevialus and his team. They have been missing for about ten years. Do you know what happened to them?" King Hale asked. He is well aware that Angela was the only one recovered from that incident. But he tactfully left that information out.
But before the mysterious man could respond, Angela intervene. She couldn't handle it anymore. She must know if this man is really her father.
"Pardom me sir, but are you Crawnav by any chance?" Angela was almost too afraid to ask. She was afraid of the answer.
"Why yes. How did you know? I don't recall introducing myself yet." The long lost Crawnav confirmed.
Angela couldn't hold it in anymore. This time, she was the one to embrace Crawnav.
Crawnav was taken aback by Angela's sudden hug.
"W-what are you doing my queen!" Crawnav stammered.
"Silly old man... Welcome home daddy..." Angela said.
Both father and daughter started tearing up again. "Hope... so it's rally you..." was all he said. Pipe once again joined in on the embrace.
Hale simply watched the heartwarming family reunion from the distance. He couldn't help but tear up a little as well as he smiled for his wife's fortune. The woman who accompanied Crawnav simply rolled her eyes in annoyance. But even she couldn't help but smile at the happy moment.
For now, the family embrace was all that mattered.
The strange woman did notice Angela's silver ring finally falling of her finger and onto the floor.
...
The group was currently seated in some sort of workshop. On almost every table was a pile of ancient relics. Angela and Hale were seated on one side of a clean table and Crawnav and the mystery woman was seated on the other. Angela was silently petting Pipi on her lap.
Angela and Hale just finished explaining there side of the story. Angela losing her memory and her life in the royal castle. What the king told them before he passed away. And how the king told them about the two profesyies Malbur has given.
By the time they were finished, Crawnav had his eyes closed in thought.
"I sorry for your lost. I never had the chance to meet the king myself but I'm glad he was able to keep you safe." Crawnav started.He looked a the wedding ring on Angela's finger. "And con graduation my daughter. I'd never thought you would marry the prince-er, king.
"But were's my manners. You took the time to introduce yourselves, it's only fair we do the same." Crawnav waved his hand to the woman next to him. "Let me introduce you to Alice. She's from Calmach's time." He explained.
The stoic woman simply placed Angela's silver ring on the table. She doesn't seem interested in beating around the bush. "Were did you get this?" She demanded.
Angela let out a gasp. She looked down and noticed that her silver ring has fallen off.
Angela experimental picked up the ring. It has been stuck on her finger for as long as she knew. Why would it fall off now of all times?
Crawnav quickly recognized the ring. "I was wondering what happened to the ring when I found it was missing from the box. That ring is cursed. I'm not necessary sure what the curse is, but it's possible some kind of evil spirit is possessing the ring.
The revelation that Angela was wearing a cursed ring all this time made her head spin. The oppressive feeling she has been feeling for years was finally gone. And in a rush, all her memories before and during the incident.
She remembered that her name was Hope, she remember her years living in Snowpoint City and Grevialus's research facility. She also remembered the incident...
"How could you father... What drove you and Calmach to preform the ritual without Grevialus or the other wizards?" Angela asked.
Crawnav held his head in shame. I didn't heed Calmach's warning about desire corrupting. I thought curiosity was different from power lust. I was a ambitious man back them, certain that the ritual would work safely and I would need Grevialus's help. The ritual only required at least to people to perform it. I was certain me and Calmach were fully capable enough of handling the ritual our selves. I was blinded by the desire to clench my curiosity's thirst. I refused to listen to reason and didn't wait for anyone to help in case something goes wrong. And as you know, something defiantly did go wrong..."
King Hale interjected. "So what happened to you and Calmach after you went through the portal? Better yet, were is Calmach?"
Crawnav pointed to the table carrying a bunch of relics. One of the relics was the Sphee of Mystics. It wasn't active right now.
"Don't worry. Calmach isn't dead. His sphere just isn't active right now. He's sleeping." Crawnav reassured.
Hale had a thoughtful expression on his face. "So that is the Sphere of Mystics Grevialus's notes has mentioned. But I thought it was with you when you went off world. Why is it here when you came back from whatever world you were on? Have you been here multiple times after the incident?"
Crawnav and Alice looked at each other. "Very well. You two deserve to know what happened to me after the incident... As you may have guessed, the world the first portal has counted to was a world similar to what you might think as Hell. And it was indeed a lot like the underworld. Lava fits everywhere, demons running about. Sex seems to be the only way of life in the demon plane. You were lucky that only those black sludge fiends and a few other minor creatures were the only one who escaped. There were far worse creatures that could have coupled the entire kingdom in the mater of days." Crawnav explained.
"How did you survived such a hellish place?" Angela asked.
"That's were Alice comes in. The portals also has the potential t travel through time. From her perspective, she just survived Calmach's final battle with Sir Ederic, the first dark night. It seems the mirror ore has somehow warped her to the same time and place I was in when I entered the demon plane. We have been struggling to defend our selves for months. That was until Alice figured out how to use mirror ore to travel to other worlds. However, the only mirror ore we had in our possession was Calmach's Sphere of Mystics. He had to sacrifice some of his energy. But thankfully, were were able to escape the demon plane and back into Grevialus's research cavern. But we came back at the wrong time. Came came back during the time I was working for Grevialus. You read Grevialus's note I presume? Then you must know that by the time Grevialus's research team found the ruins of the mirror mining facility, most of the mirror ore was missing. They weren't missing... they were relocated to the future. It took several trips, but me and Alice were able transport the mirror ore to the the future... or more specifically, a few years after the incident. I was expecting the cavern to be completely covered in corruption, but when we first arrived, the cavern was completely purified of corruption. It was as if the deity of purity herself has completely puged the cavern of all traces of corruption. We quickly took advantage of the absence of corruption and expanded Grevialus's powerful ward around your room to extend to the entire cavern. The old research facility is now a safe haven from the corruption." Crawnav explained.
Angela started feeling self coincidence. She remembers now that she was the one who purified the cavern in her desperate attempt to find her father. But were did she get that power?
"Daddy? Are you home?" A new voice said.
Angela and Hale turned around to see a little boy standing at the doorway. He was a human boy who looks to be around 8 or 10 years old. Around the same age Angela was when the incident happen if not a little younger. But what set off alam bells was that the young boy had horns growing from his head.
"Sorry. Let me introduce your little brother." Crawnav said.
"Little brother?!" Angela said in surprise.
Crawnav got out of his chair and walked up to the little boy. "This is Chance. Your half-brother."
"Who are you talking to daddy? Do I have a half brother?' The sleepy boy asked.
"No." Crawnav pointed to Angela. "That women over there is your older sister."
Chance walked up to Angela and sniffed at her crotch area. "She doesn't smell like my sister. And were's her horns?"
Crawnav let out a hearty laugh. "She's your half sister Chance. Oh, I'll explain it when you get older." He looked awards Angela and Hale. "I need to put your little brother back to bed. He was sleeping in your old room just a few minutes ago. I'll be right back. Alice should be able to explain the rest." Crawnav said before he and Chance left the room.
Hale was quick and to the point. "Pardon me Alice, but what did Crawnav mean by half-brother? And why does he have demon horns?"
Alice let out a sigh of tiredness. "A lot has happened during our first time in the demon plane. Let's just say things got a little desperate. I was impreganated by your father while we were in the domon plane. Chance was born in the demon plane just before we escaped. Before you ask, no, neither Crawnav or me were corrupted during our time on the demon plane. But the demon plane has a intense energy about it. The demon plane's energy has indirectly effected chance while he was in my womb."
"Does that mean... your my mother in law?" Angela asked.
"No, no deary. Me and your father has never married. So I'm not officially your mother-in-law. But I will say that chance is indeed our son and your younger brother through your father." Alice explained.
Angela was a little uncomfortable with the idea of having a half-demon for a brother. Hale noticed his wife's didconfort and decided to change the subject.
"So what have you and Crawnav been doing for the last few years? And why haven't you made your return known?" Hale asked.
"To answer your second question, there was no point. We decided to keep Chance's existence a secret to prevent angry humans from killing him and Crawnav thought his oughter was dead so he saw no reason to go looking for you. I was the only one to leave the caverns only to shop for food. No one knew me in this ere so I was the only one who could leave the cavern. For the last few years, we made this cavern our home" Alice explained.
"But as you could tell, we didn't spent your years just living in isolation in this cavern. We made frequent trips to other worlds." Alive continued.
"But why?" Hale asked.
"You know about Malbur's second profesy? The one about multiple worlds? The king from my era told me about the profesyies too. And they got me thinking."
"The second profesy goes like this:
A cancer of desire refracts itself on many worlds.
-------------------
Kings and Queens will be blinded by the dark tides of arrogance, a spark of passion shall ignite the twisted curtain of ignorance.
-------------------
Heros and gods, kingdoms and worlds, must unite under one banner... for the fires of truth and ideals shall collide, and only one will burn away.
-------------------
Be it the world or the mind, only one shall be written.
"That third line got me thinking. My interpretation of it is that heroes and deities from many different worlds must unite to fight a greater evil. Perhaps the entity who has been planting mirror ore everywhere. Did you know that mirror isn't just in the material plane? It has appeared in all the planes we visited. And everywhere we went, the mirror ore just seems to form out of nowhere and no one seems to know why. I believe there is a powerful entity out there planting mirror ore in many worlds. And in every world, the mirror ore has caused some kind of conflict. Usually, someone will get their hands on it and will either use it's power to rule their own world or to at least cause a commotion." Alice said.
Hale thought thought about it. "Hmm. You do have a point. Even to this day, we aren't completely sure were the mirror ore came from. We only know it's only found in Calmach's Crypt."
Alice picked up a hand mirror from one of the tables.
"Aw yes. Interesting name for this place. How fitting for it to be named after one of my best friends... But we have more important maters at hand." She handed Hale the hand mirror.
"What is this?" Hale Hale asked.
"It's a hand mirror stupid. But more then just that. I used the mirror ore we gathered to create these things. It makes the mirror ore easier to keep track of." Alite explained. King Hale handed back the oracle hand mirror.
"Why are you showing me this?" Hale asked.
"I just felt like it. Anyways, did you know there are deitiey inhabiting every plane? They all don't just live in the material plane." Alice showed the group and ruby she found from one of her travels. "Thanks to Crawnav, we have figured out how to transfer deities into gems like this one. We call them soul gems. But the deity must be willing before it can go into the soul gem. The soul gem also needs something to channel it's energy, like a pen or a ring. We have been gathering deities from across the multiverse for the soul purpose of partnering them up with hers from across the multiverse. If we can pair up heroes and deity from many worlds, then there my be a chance to counter the epidemic of mirror ore. But we need to prepare the deities first. For years, we have been searching for deities and gaining their cooperation. The many reflects you see before you are already occupied by deities from across the multiverse." Alice explained.
Hale was a little irritated. "You do realize that your travels to other worlds has weakened the brier between worlds. Portals has been opening up and realizing all kinds of creatures onto this world."
Alice's eye twitched a little. "Perhaps, but to realize that there have been people traveling to other world by using portals of mirror ore way before I was born. Remember Malbur? He's a off-worlders too. We actually seen him countless times in other worlds spreading professys." Alice countered.
Hale sensed that there was something else that Alice want to say. "You've been staring at my wife for awhile now. If you have something to say, then spit it out."
"Nothing gets past you your majesty." Alice directed herself to Angela. "I find it ironic that the king named you after the deity of purity. Let me ask you this... How did you escape the corrupt cavern?"
Angela squinted her eyes in concentration. "I remembered the running out of food in my warded room. But as I step foot out of my room, the corrupt fibers seems to burn away in my presence. I've served the entire cavern but I couldn't find anyone. I was only able to burn away the fibers. I couldn't even find any food. In my desperateness I opened the warded box in the storage room. I not sure why, but I could hear voices coming from the silver ring. In my need for a companion, I put the ring on... and it tried to take me over. I used my loneliness against me and... I block away all my memories to keep it from taking over..." Angela had a slight headache from recalling her dormant memories.
"You mentioned that the royal knights rescued you. Did they noticed anything strange about you?" Alice inquired.
"Come to think about it, the king told us that the royal knights reported that Angela was surrounded in a red aurora when they found her." Hale offered.
"So it's true then..." Alice simply said.
There was a moment of silence. "What?" Alice asked.
"That you are the reignencardnation of the real Angela, the deity of purity. You weren't just named after her, you ARE her." Alice said.
"What! How can you say that! How does that make any sense?!" Hale demanded. He voice was raised a little.
"Think about it. Of the many years you knew Angela, have you noticed she never been corrupted? She has been wearing that cursed ring for years and she was't effected by it. Does that comes off as strange to you?" Alice asked.
"I..." Hale couldn't deny it.
"So what happens now? You said you need the deities and heroes to team up to fight this greater evil. Do I count as hero or a deity. Do I count as both?" Angela asked.
"I'm honestly not sure. But I do know professes can surpass generations. Who's to say that the profess will come true in your life time. You might die of old age before the heroes of there worlds had a chance to unite. I doubt the kingdoms of many worlds will unite under one banner over night." Alice theorized.
"So what happens if the profess doesn't happen during our lifetime?" King Hale asked.
"Well, I assume Angela will return to being the deity of purity. But you must understand that Crawnav and I won't be alive forever.I believe I can extend our lives past our hundreds with my magic, but not even a millennium-long life time is a eternity. There is no guarantee that we will be alive and kicking when the profess will take place. So the next best thing we can is prepare the deities to be paired up with the chosen heroes." Alice looked straight into Angelas's eyes. "Let make an offer. To help you live long enough for the profess to take place, we can transfer your soul into a soul gem so you can chose your hero. But if you don't like that idea, we can use our magic to put your body to sleep while your soul resides within the soul gem." Alice offered.
The couple were silent as they digested the information. "Does Angela needs to decide to be transferred into a soul gem right now?" Hale asked.
"I suppose there is no time limit. If you two want to live out your lives as King and Queen then go ahead. But even when you are about to pass away from old age, my offer still stands." Alice said.
"Hale, we must pass down this information through the royal family. The royal family must be prepared to disclose whatever information they can find for when the chosen heroes appear." Angela told her husband.
"I agree." Hale said.
"Sorry, for the wait. Chance thought we should bake cookies for you guys." Crawnav and Chance walks in the room holding trays of freshly baked cookies.
---
The memory ended there. Isaac and Angela were back in the red mental void.
"That's it?" Isaac asked.
"That's it. I could show you more of my memories, but showed you the ones I wanted to show you. Now do you understand your mission? You're my chosen hero." Angela stated.
"So it's true. You and Hope are one of the same." Isaac stated.
"Yep. As you can tell, I eventually accepted Alices offered and allowed myself to be transferred into this soul gem. My body is being preserved somewhere as we speak. Though I'm not were Alice put it." Angela confirmed.
"But something has been bothering me. That silver ring is cursed right? So why was it converted into the ring of purity? Don't play dumb, Crawnav's enhancements were meant to restrain the evil entity in the ring. That evil entity is still in the ring as we speak." Isaac stated. His voice cold.
Angela looked sad. "Yes. I'm not willing to explain why the cursed ring was chosen to be my vessel nor why Crawnav wasn't able to finish the enchantments on my ring. Just know that I have been fighting the hydra soul for years while I was waiting for my chosen hero. By the time you found me, I was too weak to use my full power. The Lenuarian Hydra soul is too powerful. It has been chipping away at me for years. By the time you found me, almost a half of my soul was gone. I didn't show myself to you at first because I was busy keeping the Lenuarian Hydra from making contact with you. But all that changed when the possessed armor came into the picture. Ever since, you and I have become one being. Technically speaking, you are the current deity of purity, and thus all my responsibilities as a deity are now yours. But I also share your duty as a paladin. Top urge the material world of corruption."
Isaac looked impationtiant. "You refuse to tell me that a rouge monster spirt has been on the lose until now?! Unless you have anything else to say, I must wake up and help my friends."
"Wait!" Angela sounded lonely. "Time flows differently in the dreamscape. A week could pass here and only a minute would pass in the real world. If you wait, I can train you in how to use my power. As the deity of purity, you should be reverse certain effects of corruption. There is a lot of tricks I could teach you if you just let me..." Angela offered.
"I can just come back next time. My friends are in danger." Isaac said.
He was just about to wake himself up when Angela stopped him again.
"Wait!" Angela said desperately.
"What now." Isaac asked.
"Um... This is the first time you were able to talk to me when you are uncounceince. There is no guarantee that we will be able to communicate again." Angela said.
Isaac took what Angela said at face value. It's true that all the other times Isaac went to sleep, he wasn't able to talk to Angela until now. But at the same time, the longer he waits, the bigger the chances of the hydra soul to cause havoc during his absence. He would like to train with Angela, in case this is the only time they could speak with each other, but at the same, he can't waste any time. The is a dangerous soul on the lose and he doesn't want to lose anymore friends.
What should he do...?
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Note: The Innocence sub-series is finally over! Or rather, that's all the intended parts. This sub-series can be extended at a later time. I written out all the intended ideas I currently had at the time for the memory flashbacks. Feel free to add more chapters for the Innocence sub-series if you want. Or if you like, you can write your own versions of any of the innocence parts. Don't like part 5? Write your own part 5!
Both Ederic's and Angela's flashback sequences were originally supposed to only be two chapters. One chapter for each character. Well, Angela's flashback sequences sorta grew beyond what was intended.
But yeah, those are the original versions of part 4 and 5. Hope you enjoyed.