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The laboratory reeked of death. Chemicals weaved through the air like ethereal spirits, roaming amongst the grey halls of stone and metal. Half of the laboratory itself remained reminiscent of dungeon walls, thick rocky slabs and mortar well-imbedded before giving way to metallic passageways. Veins of steel upon the walls, pumping through their chemical blood, rediverting it throughout the entire floor. The sounds of hissing remained with the prisoners for the next four floors. Occasionally they would find some strange machine pumping out its gas, dripping foul toxic fluids into various beakers and jars. Shapely vats and coiled funnels, shining silver above bunsen burner kits and glowing spheres that seemed to power such relice. Tabletops lined up across walls or in the centre of rooms for further experimentation. James felt uneasy, moreso than the rest of them did who were warned not to touch anything. Due to the volatile nature of this place, Alestes and Sophelie restrained themselves from using any magic, fearing that any misfire would cause a great catastrophe unto them. The walls deeper within the labs were of a more Gigeresque origin, the various tubes like sinews of steel constantly channelling through all sorts of vile colours. Occasionally they would make out strange patterns or twisting bends within their passing that made James recollect a deeper memory. He desperately wanted to leave as soon as possible, but they still had a variety of enemies to face off against first. Ghouls had returned in order to mix and fade through the various noxious fumes, using it to their advantage of trickery. Bats and spiders also returned to harass the group once more, but James now had his chance in order to truly destroy them with close combat. The bats were, as always, a nuisance for him to hit, but whenever they had a perfect opportunity without danger, the two birds would dispose of them through magic, burning the fiends into ash. The real problem however, were the scientists upon this floor.

Bald malevolent men with pure white lab coats and cruel smiles upon their lips. The first humans they had ever seen actually employed in Meen's service, James knew they would not be willing to assist at all. But at the very least, they were talkative, as the group encountered one such group of four scientists debating amongst themselves, hunched over a cadaver cloaked mostly within a white cloak. "Pass me the modulator." "This subject will make a better result than the last one hopefully." "Well your solution WAS a mite too strong." "Blame Dr. Schnabbs for that, his chemicals are abhorrent to work with." "Regardless of what Meen thinks, it is simply impossible to combine such transdimensional properties together. I mean look at these things, useless junk, tomes that took ages to translate!" "I agree, for a librarian he can be incredibly dense about subject availability." "Agreed...rooter." "Here you are." "Thank you, any news on that sigil stone research?" "It's surprisingly durable! It makes a wonderful power source without any fears of demonic infestation, has an enchanting ability I find." "And does it work on living creatures?" "Not as of yet no, but with time, for now it makes a fine processor for mechanical creatures, though I dare say my research will show other venues of access." "Ah yes the um, fonon research? How goes that?" "Slightly better than before, having taken apart prisoners 2134 and 2135, I was able to make them spark a brief burst of magic energy just before they expired!" "Marvellous! Will you need more subjects?" "After I fine-tune it, this fonon research is QUITE incomprehensible and it will take many months at least to even isolate its quantities." "That's the problem with natural resources of an extra-dimensional nature, they just simply never quite comply with the rules of your world." "Unlike natural residents of an extra-dimensional nature, hmhmhmhm...any news from prisoner 6195?" "Not as of yet, getting some disturbance from below. Perhaps one guard got lucky hmm?" "Highly doubtful, none of them could withstand his power." "What about the escaped prisoners hmm?" "Yeah, what about us?" James made his presence known as there was no way of hiding past them, the 113 lemmings and three other creatures standing ready to fight. The scientists stood with shock, cautiously pocketing any valuables. "W-WHO ARE YOU?!" "The escaped prisoners," said FG coolly, "now where is Meen?" "Hmph, do you really think you can get past our machinations?! Hmm?!" "I don't have to get past them, I just have to kill everything on this floor and after. You wanna be part of that?" "You do not scare us! We are not simply lab rats, we are formidable masters of science! With but one sting we can set your entire body alight with flames of agony!" "Then show me, fuckheads!"

One scientists quickly whipped out a blow dart, shooting it towards FG who simply guarded himself with scissors, striking out a vicious flame across the floor towards one of them. The fires licked across his lab coat, making him panic and stumble back in desperately trying to put himself out, the raptor taking his chance to come forwards and skewer straight through his gut. Roaring with agony, the scientists tried to pull out a needle and stab FG, but he twisted his scissors further in and gutted him violently through. Blood poured hungrily onto the scientist's black boots, as he succumbed to death, his organs torn asunder. The other three scientists would have taken this opportunity to attack the raptor, but Alestes and Sophelie had kept them distracted by swinging their wings of fury, combined with magic. Vicious wind and bursts of flame kept all three malefactors of science away, but not before one tried to shoot out a blow dart towards Alestes. Yet while the owl had managed to dodge the poisonous dart, it lodged straight into one poor lemming who began to convulse, falling to his knees and whimpering with a newfound agony. Arino watched with horror as he died in seconds, quivering as every nerve within him had blackened and twisted, wrenched from the inside of his skin through a necrotic disease. The pale sweet baby-soft skin had hardened to a withering ash, greying as his hands pathetically scrabble at his neck to breathe before dying with one last breath. Fear ran through the lemmings, and they began to panic with this sudden prospect of a virulent death. Squabbles of horror started to bubble up, as one scientist knew he had an easy target. Moving away from his two friends, he simply chuckled and loaded up another dart, ready to fire at another lemming. He was curious to see a subject such as them suffer his latest bioweapon, and fired straight towards Twinsen. But Arino had seen him, and with one desperate attempt, he stepped straight in front of the blowdart's shot and opened up his umbrella. The simple dart of a deadly disease had simply pinged off the strangely resistant red fabric like a raindrop upon it, clacking onto the floor before Arino picked it up carefully. It was just enough surprise for the scientist to experience before FG had grabbed at his head, claws digging into his eye before slamming his head against the counter. The researcher cried out and clutched at his wounded eye, bleeding profusely before he slammed at a secret button beneath the counter. The body that had laid upon it, still covered by the surgical tarpaulin, had sunk into the table through means of a secret lift, closing up as the scientist scrabbled up and into the hole. The three other scientists were either dead or burned. "Shit," said FG, "now he's gonna warn the others." "They already know of our presence thanks to Meen," said Alestes, "it would be futile to employ stealth at this point." "Good, I fucking hate using stealth." "What a surprise," said Sophelie teasingly, "and here I thought you were secretly a ninja!" "Hah, dream on, what am I, Zool?" "Speaking of which, I wonder where he is now?" "Who knows? I just hope he finds what he's looking for. You guys okay over there Arino?" "One has died," said Arino. "One of the men has...infected one of mine." "...I'm sorry." "I have failed you already."

The leader of the lemmings said nothing more, and simply turned away, leaving his fallen comrade amongst the laboratory floors, silently queuing up the remaining others before they could head on. He did however walk up to FG and almost want to ask him something, but then he decided against it and simply stood waiting, needing to be lead. Feeling awkward, the raptor eventually sighed and said: "Alright, let's move on, we still have to find the conduit and keep getting our power back." With that plan in mind, they headed onwards to deal with more spiders and bats, easy prey for their now-mostly-regained power, at least in the case of Alestes and Sophelie. James remained unchanged, while Arino remained forever immortal, yet still physically weak. He did however note his umbrella remained unblemished, and thought at the very least that he had some form of defence if nothing seemed to penetrate it. It had never been used before in his life, but it was the only thing he could now trust. The conduits of the laboratory were, fittingly, far more scientific than the previous floors' more magical power generators. This particular generator was shaped with two oblong halves, horizontally sandwiching three large sparkling fuses that shimmered inbetween. With colours of grey, black, yellow and red, the lightning sparks tripling up within the unshielded generator gave FG a rather uneasy sensation. Almost prickly-feeling from within the nanos of his skin. Luckily, a diary entry was sourced enough away for both him and Alestes to solve. More ramblings of megalomania came from Meen's words, nothing that they could particularly be bothered with. After deactivating the lab equipment, they soldiered on towards the next floor. More bats, more spiders, and yet even more scientists tried to stop them, wielding deadly needles that James always made certain to guard against. He was also far more careful in disposing of them, using stealth to swiftly murder them in the darkened corners of the lab before moving on. Their colleagues were unsympathetic, far more concerned with their research than they were of each other. The final floor soon approached, and already James could feel himself coming to an end of a long and desperate-feeling journey. He had not even slept, in fact none of them had slept since his arrival it seemed. Provisions were given, food was used sparingly from whatever they could obtain in the various parts of Meen's lair, but soon it would be all over. He braced himself for what he expected to be another confrontation with one of Meen's pets. Arino kept the lemmings behind him at bay, safer within the already-cleared out corridors. "He's here!" cried out a scientist ahead. "Quick, is the Aberration ready?!" "Stop calling it that, I gave it a name!" "A NUMBER, not a name! And I am sick of using numbers once we have shown Meen our truest creation!"

Stepping into a large square room, cleared of lab equipment, two scientists stood on opposite sides with a single long table between them, draped with a sheet across its entire length. James, Sophelie and Alestes stepped forwards, ready to fight, the birds having all but regained their entire magical prowess. Beyond the two scientists and their subject, was an elaborate oaken door, beautifully carved with the images of unrolled parchment and a feathery quill on either side. "So," said one scientist, "you have come this far, but you won't reach Meen's library!" "Correct," said the other, "and we shall finally have a chance to use our latest experiment." "Whatever," said FG disdainfully, "you work for Meen, you're dead to me. After all you've done to the people here, I'm not gonna let you live." "As I suspected, considering you have disposed of prisoner 6195 on the previous level, I would not expect you to understand our work." "Your WORK killed our friend," said Alestes defiantly, "and for that you shall pay for such horrific transgressions against nature itself." "Oh really?" said the lab technician. "Then let us see how well you handle THIS one." The two researchers pressed a button under the table on both sides at the same time, causing a spark of life to shudder and come forth beneath the tablecloth. Twitching and spasmodic flinching from within as the sparks grew with a blue brightening light. Slicing through the top part of the table before riveting down in a circular fashion, the electric blue began to rise, and soon the creature came with it. The cloth was thrown off from its body, as the former prisoners stepped back with horror. It appeared to be like the lemmings themselves, only taller and darker with ashen-grey complexion and wretchedly-thin green hair. Its eyes were hollow, sockets carved out with sparks of light flickering from within, a long swinging jaw left permanently open against the top of its ragged blue-clothed chest. It simply gurgled before them, choking back what sounded like a sobbing stutter as it slowly lumbered forwards, reaching somewhere around 9 feet tall. Arino stepped forwards, the only one of his kind able to see it besides Twinsen. "Wh...wh-what have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?" "A simple genetic modification," said one scientist, "the subject was already blinded so the eyes were not necessary, could bring potential for fitting some extra equipment within. The gaping jaw was something of a miscalculation to compensate for the increased bone length, which in turn caused a depigmentational reaction of the skin. We did however make this far more versatile in attacking enemies, note the claws and the ability to sense you by your very movements." Indeed, despite the apparent blindness of the Aberration, it was staring straight at them with a flickering of electricity from its eyesockets, seemingly sensing the air for any disturbances. Arino stood with shock and fury, brandishing his umbrella like a sword. "NO! YOU MONSTERS, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME NOW, I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MY PEOPLE'S SUFFERING ANYMORE!"

Without even waiting to be stopped, the lemming elder charged towards one of the scientists and tried to beat down with his weak-fisted strength, but he was simply knocked back hard with a single boot straight into the path of the Aberration. Her claws were now revealed, soft fleshy mitten-like hands now twisted by sickening bony lengths that grew painfully from inside her hands. With a screech of surprise, she swung hard at Arino, who cried out and shielded himself with the umbrella. Somehow, the umbrella was strong enough to even block such vicious blows. Alestes forced the creature back with a shrieking at her eyesockets, his magic still able to affect what little retina remained in her, as it sent a violent shot of pain into her brain. Stumbling back with a screech, the owl quickly helped Arino back towards his group, as the raptor and the albatross stepped forwards with a reluctant need to defeat the experiment. The scientists merely stood back and watched with anticipation. Sensing danger approaching her, the creature shrieked and swung with long-armed claws, defending herself aggressively with uncoordinated but nevertheless dangerous strikes. Despite the emaciated appearance, the monstrous lemming was absurdly swong, managing to strike through FG's guarding scissors and throw him off-balance before trying to slash at his head. Backing off from the creature, he watched Alestes and Sophelie try to assault her with renewed magical power. Surging forth with a fiery wheel, formed from Alestes' wings and shot forth by Sophelie's holy gale, the two birds repelled the Aberration back, who tried to shield herself with long arthritic-looking limbs. But the birds underestimated her long reach, and the moment they came close was her chance to swing out and slash them across the face. Alestes barely survived but ended up nearly having his eye scratched out. Sophelie shrieked as the claws raked across her beak, leaving behind their scars upon her. James dodged round and readily stabbed his scissors straight into her thigh, piercing through the anaemic-looking body until fully thrusting through, her shriek unearthly as she buckled. But in retaliation, she backhanded him across the face with her claws leaving scratched bloody marks upon his cheeks, making him flinch fast and duck under towards her once again. With wounded leg she kicked towards him, rage now overcoming pain as she tried to turn and slash once more at him. Alestes however had rushed in with another visual assault. Striking her eyes with another piercing blast, she flinched and stumbled backwards allowing FG to plunge straight up into her clothed chest, piercing through the blue ragged clothes and making her scream with pain. But she was far more durable than expected, and grabbed at FG's head, threatening to crush his skull as she hoisted him into the air. Panicking initially, he swiftly shot out a blast of fire into her face, singing what little remained of her green ragged hair and making her cover her own face.

Sophelie swiftly pulled FG back with a sweep of her wing, summoning a healing circle around them of purest faith-reviving green. The holy light, shimmering from the six-pointed star, kept back the Aberration at bay, before she tried to swing down her claws upon the albatross' back. Alestes intercepted her, with a sudden flap of wings clapping together to form a mighty flaming strike upon the infernal beast, her face now quite badly burned, turning from grey to blackened marks. The creature shook her head trying to get rid of the burns that started to grow forth from her skin, charred cheeks that elongated with a shrieking howl before charging straight into them. The rampaging slash she tried to cause unto her enemies somehow missed, thanks to James and Alestes keeping her distracted with burning strike attacks. In her panic, she stumbled straight into the lemmings in front of her, and in her blind rage tore down three of them. While two were now dead, the third one was badly wounded, and desperately tried to hobble away before another attack came. The Aberration smelt the lemming's weakness, hearing the whimpers before coming down once more with a tremendous clawing strike. But she was stopped by Arino, his impenetrable red umbrella repelling her as he whacked at her hand, roaring his fury. The surprise of being unable to attack the leader gave James plenty of time to come down on her head, leaping from the wall and slashing at her neck diagonally. Cutting through half of the throat, the raptor held onto the shoulder and stabbed straignt into the neck once more, tearing down towards the centre of the chest. As the creature cried and struggled, choking up blood hotly from her ashen-grey lips, a flicker of light came from her eyes. One last sobbing peal came from her throat before she stumbled onto the ground. She was not yet dead, but she would be soon. Falling onto her knees, her hands clawing at the floor before her in desperation, before starting to accept defeat. The scientists behind her were horrified at their failure, and made their escape until Sophelie swooped towards them and trapped them within a blinding circle of light. The moment they tried to escape its boundary, a hot burning anguish would run through them, causing them to stay still.

Arino walked up to the creature that had once been of his own kind, hearing the soft whimpering stutters as he felt some recognition. Despite the monstrous abnormalities, he still recognised the face. Not intimately, but well enough as he petted her head. "Rest now. You will join the valleys of green once again. You will sleep under the stars and you will never cease wandering in innocence. Now rest...sleep with me...Mara." The creature understood, some faint near-memory flickering within what remained of her innocence as she nodded softly, before laying herself out onto the floor. She bled sweetly, her blood becoming her blanket, fretful tears of coming death only just realised by the Aberration that had once been Mara. Sitting down onto his knees with a hand upon her head, Arino stayed at her side, his eyes closed in a pensive state of deep regret. After paying their respects, the non-lemming prisoners turned their attention towards the scientists trapped by Sophelie's magic. Alestes began to interrogate them from the other side of the magic circle's transcendent light, eternally holy until its caster demanded otherwise. "Now, answer us, what is Meen's purpose with these experiments?" "HAH," mocked one researcher, "why should we ever tell you?!" "Because if you show no remorse, then you are monsters. We do not allow monsters to live. Don't we James?" "Nope," said FG with scissors before him. "Not one monster we left alive. You think that Bloodaxe guy was bad? Well he's dead now. How bad do you think WE are if he couldn't even kill us?" "...a-a-alright alright!" shouted the other scientist. "I'm tired of this, Meen is not worth dying for." "What do you mean?!" said his colleague. "Meen was trying to experiment on ways to greater outsource the lifespan of these lemmings. H-he said that they gave power to his magic, feeding off their life force! But they were dying off too soon for him to get enough power so we...we were experimenting with them. That one was...was the fourth one we made-" "Shut up!" said the first scientist, "don't tell them anything more!" "I don't care anymore, Meen can burn for all I care! The Lemmings, despite being blessed with immortality, they do not possess much life force within to sustain Meen towards his final achievement. That was why we tried to make them bigger, stronger...it seemed to work at first." "You TRAITOR!"

The other scientist, incredulous at his weaker-willed friend, tried to shove him into the blinding holy field and burn his head, singing his flesh as his fellow researcher screamed with horrifying agony. Shocked by such violence unto his fellow man, Sophelie shut down the field of light as soon as she could, preventing the more-helpful scientist from being burned alive by holy power, as well as exposing the attacking scientist to FG's scissors. Pulling him off of the now-burned lab technician, the raptor skewered straight through the other scientist. Twisting deep into the gut, he forced the blades out brutally from inside to cause the entire body to be torn asunder, opening up like the lab coat it had once wrapped around. The one remaining scientist shudderd on the ground, half his face now burned severely to a stinging pustuled red. Sophelie began to ease his wounds by means of a healing spell, the man shivering from such a cool light. "Th-thank you...I...I'm sorry. I was...I was following orders, I could not do anything against Meen." "That is no excuse," said Alestes. "You are still a human being and you are still capable of not committing such acts." "Meen brought me from his world under contract, once I realised what was going on I was far too deep! I take pride in my work but not in the torture of living creatures. I tried to ease her pain, I tried to make it easier for her, I even gave her a name but they would not have it!" "So?" said FG. "You gave your experiment a name, that make you any better? You're just regretting it all now that you have a chance to say sorry, the best we can do for you now is NOT kill you. But you won't get forgiveness out of us." "I...I understand. Then if I cannot obtain forgiveness...then let me give you access." The researcher pulled out half a key from his labcoat, handing it to James. "Look in my friend's coat too, the other half is in there. That will lead you to the library, where Meen himself awaits." "...why is the key in half?" "We always go two at a time into the library to discuss with Meen, as well as to research his dark materials. It is something of a buddy system, simple as it may seem." "Heh, alright then." "I only hope that you deal with Meen...and for what I have done to experiments such as her, I can only say-HRRK!"

Before any of them had a chance to react, the scientist had been stabbed straight through the chest by a tiny poisoned dart. The scientist began to shrivel and fearfully cry out, his eyes starting to abscess into his own greying skull. As human skin began to turn dead, nerves dying and twisting within themselves like deadened roots, the one who now stood before him breathed fiercely up towards him. "Her name...was Mara...you worthless murderer." Wrapping his soft pinkish hand around the poison dart, Arino plunging the entire small length into the human's gut, before stepping back as the scientist screamed a pathetic mewling shriek. His vocal chords began to rot before he even had the chance to cry out. His fingers crackled and faded away into bony lengths, his skull revealed beneath a watery-thin flesh, as he crumpled and died without so much as a drop of blood. The others stood with horror at what had just occurred. Alestes and Sophelie could only blink at the lemming standing before the withered corpse, the smaller body heaving shakily with realisation. James however felt unlike himself. For one of the first few times in his life, a new series of words began to spill from his lips. "...he wasn't even going to attack you." Arino turned, his eyes tired and starting to water as James still continued murmuring: "He surrendered. Why? Why did you do that?" "I am sick of this." "What?" "Of this." He swept his arm towards the remains of Mara. "Of my kind being treated like toys, like experiments. Feebly wandering through the darkness only to die at a madman's whim. When I saw him trying to excuse himself, to scrabble together what little redemption he could possibly have...something snapped inside of me. I do not care if you already said that he would not earn our forgiveness. I wanted him punished. By death." "But...jesus Arino, he gave up and everything! That's not how you do things, that's not how-" "I also as a leader should not allow my people to wither away into extinction. Clearly I am not a leader...I am not even capable of containing my own rage and sorrow enough to have the clarity a leader should have-" "Okay no, stop it, you've been like this ever since we met, always on about not wanting to fucking lead your group. Monty did that for you because he wanted to save you all, and now he's dead. He wanted YOU to lead them, not me, not Alestes, not Sophelie, but YOU. And you are gonna honour that wish or so help me God-" "Or what?" said Arino. "You'll kill me? Very well. Do it. I have been their sacrificial lamb for long enough that a time must come for me to die." "Wha-NO DAMMIT!" "What do you want then?! Do you want me to lead them with honour, with dignity, with wisdom and clarity!?! I HAVE LOST THOSE QUALITIES LONG AGO! Now there is only the waiting of death for me, and in that time I remain their scapegoat, NOT their leader!" "Scapegoat for WHAT!? What the fuck did you ever do, none of them even TALK about you!" "Did you not hear them when we were back in our prison?! The one with eyes, whose pain Monty wished to share with me! They KNOW I am in pain, the only one who is allowed to suffer any sort of pain before the so-called 'paradise' that the Meen offers to them!" "SHUT UP FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" James grabbed Arino hard by the shoulders and shook him with frustration. "You just killed a guy who surrendered, fine, you've been tortured for years and you're fucking sick of it! But that doesn't mean you can't be a fucking leader, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN LEAD THEM!" "I DO NOT DESERVE TO LEAD MY PEOPLE," roared Arino, "I AM THEIR SIN INCARNATE!" "BUT WHY?!" "BECAUSE I GAVE MEEN THAT WRETCHED BOOK!"

A single gasp ran through the entire group. Silence reigned within the infinity of a second, as James let go quietly before stepping back with shock. They took a moment before they could hear what Arino had to say. James had to reassert his own hearing on what had just transpired, as he was the first one to break the silence. "...you mean...you?! H-how?! Why?!" "I was the one who found that Linking Book. I do not know how, but it fell through a portal into my own world, through some unknown power. I did not even know of the island of mist before that, but somehow it fell through a crack within the rift of dimensions that I and Twinsen had seen above the skies of my world. My people have been trying to craft our own magical power for eons, struggling to comprehend the very nature of sub-dimensions. I...am actually very skilled in the creation of portals to other worlds." "Wait, seriously? You...you can actually open up portals? To other worlds? All on your own?!" "Me and Twinsen yes, I was teaching him to wield the same power as I. It began more as a scientific curiosity, and in truth there are many other places where supposedly my tribe has walked. We were uncovering our history, travelling to other worlds, platforms we named them, strange worlds of bewildering colours yet still the very same places as our own. Imagine seeing a place exactly like your own world, but the sky itself was black, and the ground was a bright fuchsia. That was the sort of place I would find. But then that book came." "How did it get to you?" asked Alestes. "During one of my travels, I found that book, the book of Myst. Perhaps it was my fault, I have tried to ascertain precisely what had happened but...I remember a rift in the void of space I had managed to form...something broke apart...and there it fell. Towards me. The book. I had tried to refine it, sculpt it, make it my own as part of a new craft I had learnt. The island of mist had already been founded, written within its pages. For years I began learning The Art, as they call it through my own natural skill." "Who is they exactly," asked Sophelie translated through James, "and what sort of art is this?" "The ones who originally settled on Myst Island," continued Arino. "According to the book, a great sorcerer named Atrus had learnt of this Art from his father, and with great magical power was able to create a portal to another world within a book, simply by writing it, purely from the concept of his own imagination. It was incredible...unbelieveable, to think we could expand far beyond other worlds simply by words upon a page! I had to try it for myself, somehow, to learn of its secrets." "Wait, seriously?" said FG. "THAT'S what this linking book does, that's how Meen sucked me in here?!" "Indeed," said Arino. "It is not ENTIRELY flexible however, it does have its limits on what CAN it create. I am not entirely sure if, for example, it can create new life, but it CAN create the very basis of a beginning world where life can BEGIN to flourish. I thought perhaps that I could lead my tribe to a greater land, to a greater world over the many years I spent in learning how to wield it. But all I had done instead was open up to another world...one where Meen had already been setting up his greatness to infamy." "How did that even happen?" "I do not know. I wish I knew, but somehow it happened, whatever I wrote it just simply opened up this portal straight into Meen's world. All he needed was a book like mine, he already had the wand and the book of Koridai to make himself invincible. ...I have doomed not only my tribe, but also you and every other prisoner within these walls. ...I deserve whatever suffering that my people receive. And now, he has taken my power in turn for himself, in order to wield that Art for the sake of imprisoning all of you. ...I am the destroyer of worlds." "...Arino."

James sighed and kneeled down with calm green eyes. "I understand that you feel you deserve everything you get. I do. But listen, you're busting out of here. Monty risked his life to save you and all the others, and so did we! You have this one chance to redeem yourself. If you keep wallowing in despair every step of the way, even when we walk right up to Meen and kill his ass, then he's won. You need to stand up. You need to lead your tribe out of here, because now you can finally walk free. You could do nothing before, but now you can!" "How? What can I do?" "...well for starters you just killed a dude. I mean, could you have done that before? Why did you do it?" "...because one of his men had killed one of my own. And he himself had experimented upon my kind." "Exactly. You took revenge for your kind, you avenged their pointless deaths." "But that is not justice." "Fuck justice, this is a prison ruled by some crazy-ass bastard who's sucking the life out of you guys! When justice doesn't exist in a world like this, when there's no court, no law, no judge, what else CAN you use?!" "As much as I hate to agree with this," said Alestes, "James is right on this. When justice does not exist, what else remains but vengeance as our rightful sword?" "...perhaps I should ask a more divine soul," said Arino. "...Sophelie. Since we have met, I have always feared you were to be our angel of the heavens. I wish to ask you...what do you think of what our friends say?" "Where the lady of Justice does not tread," said Sophelie, "is Nemesis not the one who must claim divine retribution upon the unjust? There is no court of law in this world, and I am almost certain that Meen shall never come quietly to accept his punishment. Especially if he has committed such unaccountable atrocities. As much as I disapprove of your recent and only killing...we are too far gone within the depths of this hell to do nothing else...but to keep going. And pray that our sins do not outweigh that of our enemies." He looked towards the desiccated remains of the scientist. Despite the guilt within him for having killed an unarmed man, even one who had experimented on his people, the leader of the lemmings began to slowly nod. Taking his umbrella in both hands like a sword within its scabbard, feeling along the absurdly-strong folds of its sheltered top, he stood up and walked back to his remaining tribe. "...Sophelie. Thank you for your words. One of my people is wounded. Would you assist him please?" As she flapped over towards the wounded lemming dutifully to nurse him back to health through the swiftest of magic, Arino turned and pointed with his umbrella, towards the beautiful oaken doors of the library. "Go." Once they were ready, the lemmings walked with childish upright steps, striding towards the door as FG opened the way through. With a steady push and a creaking of ancient oak, they were now within Meen's lair itself. The one place a librarian could truly wield power over all.

The library was, as expected, completely filled out wall-to-wall with endless upon endless hallways of books. Various tomes gathered from every which way, most of which were nigh-impossible to translate by normal means alone. The smell of book leather was a smell that James was unused to. Back in his own world, he barely even knew where libraries were, filled with either synthetic paperbacks that felt like laminated copies, or the digital format that everyone could see online. Yet these were different. He had known various original paper books from his travels. Cyrodiil, Porre, the Mushroom Kingdom. But to be surrounded by so many ancient dust-ridden tomes at a single time made him truly realise how completely oblivious he was to the worlds within them. Barely even remembering the one or two children's books he had read as a child, James cautiously thumbed along the many-coloured spines of the books around him, ranging from blood-red to verdant green. Alestes was even more impressed, amazed by such a collection. Some books were read like any other, with English and all for even James to comprehend. Others were of an entirely different language, while others still were not even readable. One book James picked up almost transfixed him with hypnotic glory, permeating his thoughts with bizarre symbols that tried daringly to infect his mind. Mixtures of alchemy and astrology perhaps, or even some sort of ancient codex that spoke of many things being untrue, while perhaps everything else was permitted. It almost felt like some of the books were reading him instead. With a growing unease built upon a newfound reverance, James soon strided forth in an urge to do what he knew best. To defend and destroy. Surprisingly however, no enemies were found upon this floor. No conduits remained either, for the only space that remained was the space between shelves, of an infinite series of worlds within an infinite number of books it seemed. Arino, while still behind the main group of prisoners, now strode on with head held high and umbrella held tight, proudly before him like a sword of might. Stairways rose and fell within spirals of spider-like bannisters, long red carpets rolled out between walls where books remained nestled, stone walls barely broke up the unending labyrinth of lexicography. None of them said anything, yet Twinsen was forever fascinated by all that remained around him, his single good eye roving across every single volume, his blind eye kept behind Monty's monocle. Words poured from his lips unceasingly to his friend and leader.

"Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob. A Jacob's ladder leading to the vaudeville stage, with angels ascending and descending." "Yes we are almost there Twinsen," said Arino glibly. "It will all be over soon." "You are tired, Jacob. A hemulen you shall be." "What?" "The hemulen woke up slowly and recognised himself, and wished he had been someone he didn't know." "...sometimes I wish we could return to innocence once again, my stranger friend." "All children except one grow up. ...my head hurts." "I know. We shall find a way to restore your mind and you shall cease this mindless prattle." "The books, they hurt me, their words pour into my mind like water through a sieve." "I know Twinsen...I know." Walking onwards to the next floor, still there were no enemies in place for them to face, the pace going rather disturbingly easy for what would be the final floors of their imprisonment. And as always, it was the same four floors like with every other area of Meen's new world. Rows upon rows of bookshelves continued to stand firm from all around them. Alestes resisted the urge to read any of them, fearful for any traps that may lie within them, as did Sophelie. The albatross however did ask her fellow avian: "What will happen to us once Meen is no more?" "What do you mean?" "If we defeat the master of this castle...will we be forced apart? Back to our home worlds?" "...I...do not know." "Because now that I have spent such time and strife with you...I am starting to turn fearful. It has only been a day, or two perhaps since we have met face to face...but...Alestes." She stopped within a side hallway alongside Alestes, allowing James to pass through with Arino and the rest of the lemmings where they would wait up ahead. "Does your heart...beat for me?" "What?" "I have seen your little glances at me from time to time. I have seen the way you bristle so fiercely when standing up for my honour. ...if I am wrong then consider this to be but a foolish observation. ...do you love me?" "...I...is this really the right time?" "Usually it is best to speak truths before one's impending battle against a potentially-invincible warlock, yes. It allows one to remain focused in battle without becoming...clouded by doubt." She giggled softly to break the ice a little, her voice like the breath of angels to the owl whose eyes began to glaze over with reverie. "Sophelie...I was afraid to speak this so soon upon meeting, for I did not want to let my heart lead in such dire times. But...I do. As strange as it may be, or as coincidental it may be given our forms...yes. I admire you. I am enraptured by you and your beautiful mind. I have spent so many years alone with only my master and fellow disciple for company...that only you could breathe life into the agony I call home." "...thank you."

Sophelie rubbed her long gullbeak across Alestes' smaller face. Yet he felt a kiss just as surely, a small one, spiritual, one of her powers he presumed. It made his body warm in a way he had never felt before, as she said: "Whatever happens beyond these walls, know that I will always love you as my dearest friend Alestes...and perhaps...something more." "Whatever you wish from me I will give unto you gladly, Sophelie. When I remained in my home world, I had nothing but magic of darkest natures. Your light has brought such spirit to my heart, that were I to remain confined within these walls, your very existence will have made it all worth it." As they cleared the turmoil within their hearts before the end of their escape, Alestes and Sophelie flew back towards James, ready to head upwards onto the final fourth floor. One long stretch towards the impending doors at the very end of it, a thin long hallway of various alcoves and dead ends where only the most darkened tomes lied. The doors at the very end were large and metallic, adorned with a human skull on each side with a huge knocker ring through their jaws. A great power resonated from beyond the doors' boundary. "Alright," said FG, "this is it. Are we all ready?" "Yes," said Arino. "My people will remain here in these halls, whilst I and Twinsen shall stand with you in order to imprison Meen." "Good. I don't care how stupid this guy is, he's gonna have some trick up his sleeve and I do not wanna look like a joke when we walk in there. If he says he's invincible then we're gonna find a way around that. How's your magic guys?" "Fully restored," said Alestes proudly. "Sophelie and I are now unbound from the binding chains of Meen's work. Now, it is time we showed our good friend and captor the exit." "By the gods we will," said Sophelie coolly, "and may they have mercy on his soul, for we shall show little." "Damn right. Alright, here we go." As Arino ordered his tribe to hide back within the halls and to touch nothing around them, James kicked open the door with brutish bravado, gazing within Meen's inner private sanctum.