Great Overseer and His Sanctuary

...

"...Queaz."

As the chief heard the name, his eyebrows slowly rise, followed by his rough wrinkles on his forehead. Marco immediately thinks that he should have never told him. He immediately thinks that he might be in for another trouble.

Fortunately, he isn't.

The chief suddenly breaks into laughter. Marco freezes upon his endless laugh, confused of what's making him that way. The villagers who accompanied him also shared a good laugh along. Those soldiers beside him have wrinkles already emerging on their foreheads, confused like Marco.

After a short while, the chief gets a gripe on himself and wipes his tears.

"Whew... it's been so long since I laugh that hard. You are one funny boy, young one."

Curious, Marco immediately asks, "W-What's so funny, though?"

One of the villagers beside the elder approaches him and tries to explain to him. His eyes are still teary from laughing earlier.

"Hehe, how come we wouldn't laugh, brother? Queaz... hahaha, hee-hee-hee, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, but oh, man..."

"No-no, seriously, did I miss something here?" Marco replied.

The Sacranian soldiers add to Marco's words simultaneously, "Yeah!"

The villager finally explains, despite his failure on holding back his laugh.

"Y-You see, uh—*giggle* that name you just said earlier. In our village, that name was the name of a 'food'. A bad food, that is."

"Huh?" Marco scrunched his forehead. "What kind of food that has a person's name?"

"Hehe, well, actually, in our original language, Queaz means 'Fool' or 'Badness' or even 'Trash'. That's why it's funny to hear that someone has that kind of name. I'm so sorry. That 'Queaz' guy you're talking about must be a humorous guy or something."

"Probably, though... (Nope, you guys must be nuts to think he's humorous.)"

"If that kind of man actually visited us, I wonder whether he actually knew about his name's meaning in our old language, haha."

"But, please, Mister Marco. We apologize for discrediting your friend. We purely don't have any bad intention of laughing that hard."

"Nah, don't mind it, old man. (Though, I don't know how's Queaz gonna react...)"

Shortly, they continue their walk. Since Queaz's name is too funny for them, they dumped any idea that he might be a threat or two, which Marco finds odd, again. For a second, Marco thought that those villagers are still mind-controlled, though they're not.

"So, Mister Marco, what are you going to do after this?" the chief asked.

"Well... I think I'm going to continue my journey with my friends."

"Adventuring, eh? All adventures do have a goal to achieve. What is your goal, young one?"

"Well, this might sound crazy to you. But, my goal is to discover the 'Altar of the World's End.'"

Instantly, the chief and the villagers stopped. His grip on his cane tightens. The accompanying troops got startled a little with their sudden stop.

"—AH! Good god, sir, please don't stop all of sudden like that!"

"Altar of the World's End... you say...?" the chief asked.

"Yup, I know, it's crazy, right? That place is impossible to reach, but..."

"—What is it do you seek from finding that place?" the chief asked. His voice turned heavier and serious all of sudden.

"...It's the ultimate goal of my family. Almost every family member of mine had died trying to discover its secrets. The rest who are still alive refused to go there, regarding the chance of complete zero. Leaving only me, the only Istinggar... that still has the idea of going there," said Marco assuredly.

"Do you know young one? That place is an ancient place, my boy. An ancient site, dedicated to those people of antiquity. You will never reach there. Even your entire lifetime wouldn't be enough to reach it."

"I know—eh, you know something about that place?" Marco quickly asked.

"Apparently, yes. But hear this: even if I know something about it, you will still never reach there. Please give up on going there. It is impossible."

"Huh?"

"No matter how big your effort to go there, you will only find sorrow and hardship. Bear this in mind, young one. I will repeat this again: It is impossible for you to reach there."

"I know it is impossible," Marco replied casually.

"Then why are you so enthusiastic to go there?"

"Well... I don't really know why. Perhaps my instinct of an explorer makes me feel that way. If I can reach it, then my entire family's dream will finally be achieved!"

"...Are you not willing to stop?"

"...If you ask me that... well, I guess nah, I'm not gonna stop. I'm a curious guy. Anything mysterious and worth the find is my favorite. Not only that, though. It bothers me. It troubles my mind because whenever I thought of it, I wonder what was truly hidden in there. What was the mystery behind its grandness?"

"..." the village chieftain did not comment of his words.

"I want to know the truth. I wanna know why my family dreams of going there. I wonder what's actually in there."

Marco's words were expressed in such passionate voice, full of determination, and willingness.

A long silence fell. The troops who listened along did not comment anything. They knew about the explorer clan, Istinggar. They dedicate their lives only to exploring to every edge of the world. That's why, if they ever hear one of them saying crazy things, it would be 'normal' for their ears. But not everyone knows the craziness of the Istinggar clan, though.

Not long afterwards, the chief looks at the young explorer, bearing such serious expression.

"Do you... truly seek truth?" the chief asked.

"Yeah! W-Well, that is, if possible, hehe," said Marco while rubbing the back of his head unintentionally.

When witnessing such determination in the explorer's eyes, the chief chuckles slightly, before finally walking again. He gestured his right hand, waving left and right. The villagers who accompanied him immediately bow and excuse themselves. They then ask the soldiers to leave the chief alone, with the explorer.

"Eh, now?"

"Yes!"

"B-But Lord Ognist ordered us to..."

"Good gracious, the chief's orders are more absolute than your leader!"

After they have left, the chief pats Marco's shoulders and walks to a different direction.

"Hmph... Follow me, young one."

"Eh, where to?"

"Just follow me, and you'll understand."

"(Whew, now where's this old guy going to lead me to?) Oh, okay, then."

After several minutes of walking, the chief then enters one of the villagers' houses followed by Marco. The inhabitants who are still rehabilitating greet their leader with respect. The chief then knocks the floor with the tip of his cane several times. Marco somehow notices a pattern in the cane's tapping, much like morse code.

One of the villagers immediately bows, "Understood, chief."

The villager walks to another room immediately.

With a hoarse voice, the chief says, "Let us follow her, Mister Marco."

Marco doesn't have any other option but to follow the old chief who suddenly acts like a totally different person. He slightly fears that he might've triggered something bad.

Both of them go to the basement of the village. In there, Marco sees many pipeline and valves decorating the stone walls. He gets amazed by it.

He speaks in his mind: "A hidden village like this actually had pipe system? That's neat! Even back in Areda, pipelines are something rare to see. Only in the capital city that has this complicated-type of system."

Shortly, the villager they followed spins those valves in a strange pattern.

"She did it as if following a certain pattern... is it a password?" Marco wondered to himself.

Not long afterwards, steam noises fill the room. Marco got startled a bit upon hearing it. He thought water was in the pipe, not gas. He then notices the floor in the center of the room reshapes itself, turning into a staircase going down.

The woman that they followed bows down and leaves them both alone. The chief tells Marco to keep up with him. Marco slightly sweats. He completely has no idea where the old man is leading him to.

"Seriously, where are we going?" he asked again while following the chief. Just by looking at the staircase, he knows something's up. Moreover, the staircase is not lit with any light.

"I've told you, beforehand. You'll understand when we reach there."

"What if I don't understand?"

"Then, you are not as smart as I thought, hoh-hoh," the chieftain chuckled.

"Yeesh, old man, I may be an explorer, but if you don't explain things out, I might not really get it. And yeah, I'm bit of an airhead."

"Hoh-hoh-hoh... is that so?"

The chief lifted his cane, and then the orb on his cane is illuminated with warm cyan light. With that, they proceed downstairs.

"Come along."

Five minutes has passed and they still keeping on walking downstairs. Marco begins to feel uneasy.

"I don't like the look of this... Just how long is this staircase gonna be?" he wondered to himself.

"Mister Marco."

"What?"

"This passage we are going to is completely secret. I share the knowledge of this passage to you exclusively because I see some potential in you."

"H-Huh..."

"It is shocking that you are seeking the truth of the altar. Because of you, I decide to go here. It's been over a year since the last time I visited here."

When the old man says 'here', the cramped staircase suddenly lights up with thousand tiny trails of crimson light. The walls around them also light up quickly with the same trails of light, as if revealing itself as an important place.

Marco halts his move. "Whoa..."

He is captivated by the glow of his surroundings.

"What kind of place is this..." he muttered. "It's so... otherworldly. I've never seen anything like it. It's so... beautiful a-and creepy in the same time!"

"I expected you'd say as much, heh-heh. Come along, young one," the chief invited Marco.

As they proceed downstairs, Marco mostly spends the time gazing around him. He is mesmerized with the geometrical pattern formed by the crimson lights. But after some time, he takes a peek backwards.

"Ohohohohow, great. Yeah, just great, it'll be a hell of tiresome should we return back up after going down for this long."

Marco turns his attention to the old man in front of him. "But that old dude still keeps on going. I hope he has some warping mechanism that can send us back up instantly."

"This place..." the chief said slowly. "...is made by our Great Overseer long time ago. For hundreds of years and tens of generations we were commanded to take care of this hidden sanctuary."

In the end of his word, he stopped moving. Marco realizes that in front of him appears a huge stone gate. Some sort of carvings decorates it, but one carving stands out than the rest in the middle:

A triangle with another triangle in it, and then a shaping like an upside down kite fills the inner part. Lastly, a circle fills the center of it. Each corners of that symbol is soon filled with more intense crimson light than those trails around it.

"Whoa...!"

"The Great Overseer will be pleased to hear your hope of seeking truth. But alas, it's been a year since we lost contact with him. This sanctuary is the only place he left us with. We promised ourselves that we shall defend this place with our lives."

Shortly, the gate slowly opens. Beyond the gate, a huge chamber unveils.

"Whoa, s-should we really go in there?"

"Indeed. If you truly seek the truth, then this is one of those that may give you some answers."

Marco feels amazed by the architecture around him. The chamber feels like a combination of a temple and a huge cavern. The giant pillars that scatter around the chamber, illuminated by warm crimson light merged with cyan ones on the other side of the chamber.

"I heard from my villagers that Lord Xregan and his fellow dragonians are trying to search for this place, too."

"Eh, they are?"

"Precisely, but they did not succeed. Even though we are in deep gratitude with them, we still never going to tell them about this place. Because there is a code that we all must follow: 'Those who forces their way into the sanctuary must be eliminated.' But we can't do that to our saviors, can we?"

"Well... that's true, though. Then, are you going to tell me what is this all about?"

"Hm-hmm..." the chief rubbed his beard. "I see you can hardly wait, Mister Marco. Very well, then..."

Marco gulps a bit, preparing to hear the chief.

The chief walks deeper into the chamber, while altogether introducing the site to the young explorer.

"We are inside one of the four sanctuaries, built in ancient times by the Great Overseer. By bringing you here, it means I've violated the code itself, but here I believe you deserve to know the truth.

...

Welcome! To our precious Ruby Key Sanctuary!"

Marco steps back a little in a big surprise, "W-Wait, w-what?"