Chapter 52 - Concealed Space

Yuzu frowned, looking down at the boy, “I’m not going to be of much use to you, I only discovered these powers two days ago. I don’t have any clue what I’m doing.”

“But you saved Char Char.” Argus said. He caught Yuzu’s surprised look and sighed, “Sorry. When you grabbed my arm I saw how you helped your friend in the forest. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Yuzu’s fingers twitched reflexively as she realized again how dangerous physical contact with the boy was. She made a mental note to avoid touching him as she said, “Well- I don’t even know how I managed that... It was luck more than anything.”

“Luck is an aspect of Fate.” Was Argus’ simple response.

Yuzu frowned. “What is it you need my help with?”

Argus walked over to the desk, putting his hand on the table next to the golden watch as he looked down at it. His hand left streaks of ink on the scarred and worn wood.

“It’s better if I show you.” He said at length as he picked up the golden pocket watch and placed it in his pocket.

Argus moved towards the door and opened it, gesturing for Yuzu to follow him. “You have many questions. If you help me, you’ll find that I have the answers to all of them.”

“How can you be so sure?” Yuzu asked as they exited the room.

“Because I am a Keeper of the Knowledge Domain. Knowing things is my specialty.” He said. Then as an after thought he added, “And because I already know what you’re going to ask.”

Yuzu frowned, feeling slightly irritated by his words. I’ll just come up with some questions that he won’t be able to answer!

“You can try!” He had a grin on his face that made Yuzu even more annoyed.

The door closed heavily behind them as they ventured down the dimly lit hall. The warm light of the room was replaced by the dull, unsaturated light of the dusty lanterns hanging from the sconces on the dark grey walls. They started walking down the corridor away from the stairwell that Yuzu had first entered from.

“This basement and the rooms within it is not a part of the physical world.” Argus said, gesturing around him with his hand, “It is a concealed dimensional pocket.”

“Dimensional pocket?” Yuzu asked, not understanding immediately.

“This place does not exist in the outside world. If someone were to open the door right now, there would only be a blank wall behind it. If someone were to dig into the ground, they would find only rock. It cannot be found through normal or even most mystical means. Once you enter this space, you are completely concealed from the outside world. I don’t know who was the original owner of the space, just that it was left to me. Since I am the current owner of this space, anyone who enters this place can only do so with my permission.”

As they neared the closed door at the end of the hallway it opened due to an invisible force.

“As for the layout of the basement, it changes according to my will.”

They stepped through the door and walked down the staircase immediately behind it. As they reached the bottom of the staircase they entered a corridor that Yuzu felt was eerily familiar. Wait, isn’t this the same corridor we just walked out of? But now we’re entering from the other side!

Argus walked over to the second door on the left and opened it. A warm light flooded out from within. Looking inside, Yuzu saw that she was looking at the same disordered bedroom that they had just left. Even the cracked clay ink well and brush from before were in the same place on the floor. With a start she realized that they really had gone in a loop in the corridor.

“This...” She was at a loss for words as she understood what Argus meant by the words ‘dimensional pocket’.

He smiled as he acknowledged her epiphany. “When we left the corridor through the door at the end, I connected the doorway to the entrance that you originally came from. If I wanted to, I could have made that door lead to my bedroom directly. Or I could have made the door lead to one of the many exit doors around the city.”

“So you were just showing off.” Yuzu said as she followed Argus into the room, letting the door shut behind her.

He shrugged, a wry look on his face.

“Why did the previous owner give this basement to you?” Yuzu wondered out loud. “Where is he now?”

“I wish I knew... I woke up in this room alone four years ago with no recollection of how I came to be here. I have spent the entire time since then trying to learn about my past, who I was and how I ended up this way.”

“As you can see, I have the ability to exert some modicum of control over this space, and so I use it to provide a place for business and private gatherings for the Exalted of this region. It also serves as a way for me to discover interesting people and knowledge.”

“Ah-“ He interjected as he read Yuzu’s thoughts, “I don’t read the minds of my patrons. Each separate room and the corridor are concealed from each other. As long as the doors are closed I can’t read the thoughts of those within each room.”

“There are only a set number of rooms in this space, and only the one corridor which we went through. I can change the length of the corridor and add bends and branches to it. I can connect the doors to lead to whichever room I wish, and even arrange furniture and other items to a limited extent.” Argus explained, “When someone is in this space, I have direct knowledge of where they are at all times, and I can look into the rooms in my mind and observe what is happening.”

“Which leads me to the purpose of this convoluted introduction to the basement.” Argus stepped by Yuzu and opened the door of the bedroom. “You see, every month during the new moon, a special location appears in this place.”

As he opened the door a grey fog flowed from the other side, twisting around their feet. A chill breeze caused Yuzu to shiver as she peered through the doorway. Beyond it, instead of seeing the dimly lit corridor like she expected, a majestic hall with tall cylindrical pillars and stone tiles sat in timeless silence. The air within was dry and smelled like dust. A mysterious grey fog drifted quietly across the whole floor, stirred by the tiny eddies of wind from the pair as they entered.

Between the pillars a cylindrical glass ceiling with curved metal framing revealed an endless night sky filled with stars. Directly above them, pouring through a circular ring in the ceiling was the full moon. It cast a silver light that brightly lit the path down the hallway. The light did not fully reach the walls on the far side of the pillars, which were suspended in a deep shadow. Yuzu could see the figures of stone sculptures which depicted wizened sages in robes, men in armour, and beasts with monstrous forms that Yuzu had never heard of before.

Their footsteps echoed through the vast hall as they walked under the light of the moon. As they passed the halfway point, Yuzu noticed an imposing double stone door at the end of the hall. It was two stories tall, arched, with elaborate copper framing that had turned a mottled pale green from age.

In the center split between the doors a two meter tall seal was carved in the stone. It was circular, with a geometric composition of numerous equal-sized circles arranged in such a way that it looked like they formed six petaled flowers. Yuzu had to cross her eyes slightly in order to count the ‘flowers’. There was one in the center and six others around it. All of the flowers overlapped such that each flower was part of the flowers around them.

As they approached the door, Argus started speaking about the door, knowing that it was the principle thing on Yuzu’s mind. “For years, though I tried many methods and even tried employing others to help, I couldn’t open it. Progress was slow since I could only try a few days of each month, in the period during the new moon.”

“One year ago, after a lot of effort I tracked down and obtained this astrolabe.” He picked up the golden watch with strange markings on its face and stroked it gently in his hands, “This the key to that door.”

“What’s behind it?” Yuzu asked. They now stood in front of the huge stone doors, looking up at its intricately engraved surface.

“The Great Library of Okuron, the Dead God of Knowledge.” Argus raised the golden device into the air and focused his spirituality into it. The irregular symbols on the face of the astrolabe began to glow, resembling constellations, as a white light blossomed around Argus’ body.

A cyclical wind began stirring the grey fog around the pair, growing in intensity with the light, which was bright enough to illuminate the shadowed walls of the hall. Yuzu could barely keep her eyes open as she held her hand up to block the shining astrolabe from view. As the energies reached their apex, they burst out from the astrolabe towards the door in a blinding beam of light. The circular seal lit up brightly as the door swung open with a low, hallowed groan. More grey fog billowed out from the shadowed interior, flooding the hall.

When the doors had fully opened, Argus lowered his hand, dispersing the light. He held the astrolabe tight in his hand as he placed it into his trouser pocket. “Along with the astrolabe, I received the knowledge that somewhere in this library lies the key to resolving my condition. But it would take me a hundred years to search a small portion of the library. Such an endeavour is hopeless.”

Yuzu nodded as she looked into the open doorway. Beyond the stone arches, a vast chamber filled with endless shelves of endless rows of books waited for them in the silver light of the moon.

“I see.” She said softly. “Your fate is tied to this library and the things within it. You’re thinking that through that connection I will be able to help you find what you’re looking for.”

Argus stared into the colossal ancient library with a quiet look of resolution.

“I’m sure of it.”