Orario

Now that I was geared up I decided to go see Queen Vanera so that I could get a ride to the sub-zero zone.

Luckily my armor had much better insulation than the previous set did so the heat wasn't nearly as bad as it originally was, I also noticed that quite a few thaumaturges looked scared of me, I guess the armor is a little more threatening than I thought it was.

I didn't quite know where I was supposed to meet Queen Vanera so I just went to the bastion in hopes that I would see her.

"Hey Stella, haven't seen you in a while, how are you doing?" Wix asked

"OH, Wix it's good to see you again, I'm doing pretty good, what about you?" I responded

"Much better than I was a few weeks ago, I assume you are here to meet Queen Vanera?" Wix replied

"Yea I am how did you know, I don't think I told anyone I was coming here?" I answered

"Uh, only Queen Vanera lives here and the council only meets once a month unless there is a problem." Wix stated while scratching her cheek, "Plus I am privy to insider information so I know about your possible expedition into the sub-zero area."

"Well then do you mind leading the way?" I asked

"Sure follow me, I'll lead you to her." Wix said

I followed Wix down the halls, I had to admit it was much nicer now that the Brutes weren't around, maybe it was my hate for them, but with them gone it just felt quieter.

"Queen, Stella has come to see you." Wix stated while knocking on a door

"Let her in, I am due for a short break." Queen Vanera said

I made my way into the room with Wix bowing before closing the door after me.

"You are here to explore the sub-zero area right?" Queen Vanera asked

"Yeah kinda, the plan is to just explore in general but the sub-zero area is a good start." I replied

"Perfect, this letter will allow you to take a boat ride over to where the sub-zero area starts. Remember it's dock number 6." Queen Vanera said

I was shooed out of her office and escorted back to the main road. I was definitely expecting more than just being handed a letter but I didn't really care, I had exploring to do!

I made my way down to the docks and on my way there I bought food and other consumables I would need with the last bit of money I had available. The guy driving the boat was a pech and after showing him the letter he let me on and we left Urbs Inferni.

He said that the ride would take a few hours so I just sat and wondered what was going on back in Orario…

POV SWITCH

Loki had been having a hard time recently with the existence of the new monster types in the dungeon along with the portal that Stella had opened.

Stella herself was an issue quite a few of the members of her familia were creeped out or outright avoided her. The only people who didnt quite avoid her outright were her favorite children, but mostly that was out of courtesy and respect.

Even Loki had to admit that Stella was a little offputting, it wasn't always like that when she first met Stella she seemed like just a girl who had seen a little too much too early but after she started doing that magic she called thaumaturgy she changed.

Not physically or even mentally, but the aura around her was just wrong it was like it was warped or something. Loki even went to Freya for help even though she hated that woman, and what Freya told her was rather interesting.

"At first when you asked for my help I was a little curious about the child you were talking about I even tried to bring her to my side, but once I had Ottar bring her to me and she resisted my charm I got a little more curious."

"I looked at her soul and it was interesting, to say the least, most of her soul was shattered into an infinite amount of pieces." Freya explained

"Then how is she alive?" Loki asked

"I wasn't finished. Her soul although all but destroyed was being held together by something else, whatever is hidden behind that eyepatch of hers is keeping her soul from scattering. Not just that but there seems to be a second pseudo soul in her body." Freya said

"Wait Stella has 2 souls?" Loki interrupted

"No, please stop interrupting me. Like I said a pseudo soul, it's not complete, the soul seems to be latching on to Stella's real soul and it siphons parts of it in an attempt to complete itself. That's what I found from the first inspection at least."

"I decided to poke around some more to why she holes herself up in that lab of hers. After having Ottar deal with the monsters she created we entered and looked around. Neither Ottar nor I knew what most of the machines did, we did find a rather interesting object." Freya says while pulling out an ornate looking artifact

The artifact was in the shape of an eye, the edges were made of a golden material while the inner part was a greenish-purple eye that blinked and looked around every once in a while.

"Eww, that's gross what the hell is that?" Loki asked in disgust

"No idea but the guild has been collecting them for a while, some adventurers found some Cultists that had these in their possession. The 4 cultists were all killed but 8 adventurers died, with this one there are a total of 4 eyes. The guild has been going through the writing that the cultists kept on them, but there aren't many clues." Freya explained

"You would tell me this for nothing, what do you want from me." Loki stated flatly

"You always catch on quickly. The guild has tasked me with figuring out what they do, I want to hire Stella and have her figure it out, she had it for a reason so she might know what to do." Freya said

"I would hesitate under normal circumstances but Stella disappeared 3 weeks ago, I cant sense her Falna, we looked at where she was last seen and the area itself is gone, and her lab is empty. I hate to say it but we think she died." Loki responded while shrugging

"Interesting, well then I will have to move to plan B." Freya stated

"And that is?" Loki asked

"I am going to go and goad Hermes to lend me Asfi and have her help Hedin since he hasn't made much progress by himself." Freya said

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Word Count: 1149

This chapter was a mess. Power stones and suggestions are always welcomed.