Chapter 24 – Floor 1 – Heart Necklace

-Beginning of the Ocean of Souls Arc-

Water washed over Clico's head as he sank deeper and deeper into the shimmering abyss. The water was warm, soothing. It called out to Clico, beckoning him to fall deeper. Voices and shapes swirled around him curiously as the blue lights above grew dimmer and dimmer.

Behind his dark blue eyes, the waters drowned out his vision and the voices of the spirits around him grew fainter. He closed his eyes. His body drifted deeper still. The silence of the currents was deafening yet sang with a bitter-sweet song of melancholy. The souls of the waters gripped onto Clico's arms and legs, pulling him into the darkness below.

"Clico," A voice rang clearer through the currents and torrents of the silent yet deafening tide of souls. Clico's eyes opened in the darkness. Drifting above him was the figure of a woman. He immediately recognized her.

Nillvia was her name. She was the love of Clico's life. His reason for entering the Dungeon wasn't just about Lavilin. He had to find the one he loved. When he closed his eyes, he saw hers. When he went to sleep at night, he heard her voice, haunting his dreams. Her smile, her voice, drove him mad.

Lavilin took her away from him, but here she was. Nillvia's blurred face shined, and a weak smile appeared on her face.

"Don't give up," she whispered.

Her silhouette flickered away, leaving the emptiness of the waters. Tears welled up in Clico's eyes as he stared into where his love had just been.

Was she really there? Was it his imagination?

Silence surrounded him in the black waters in the wake of her absence. Did this mean she was dead, forever wandering the Ocean of Souls? Clico tried calling out her name to no avail. Within the depths his body began to glow. His aura raged purple, illuminating the curious lost souls around him.

He had to escape.

He had to find her.

Lavilin took her away from him, but he would release her soul from the Shade's grasp.

Using his runic aura, he propelled himself towards the surface. Light shown brighter and brighter as he shot towards the surface, but he was out of breath. As he swam towards the light, he realized he wouldn't make it.

"It seems I can't even make it past the first floor… how pathetic," he thought to himself as his consciousness faded away.

***

Slap! Slap!

"Wake up kid! Who said you can die on the first damned floor?" A rough man slapped Clico awake.

Sitting up, Clico coughed up water while his drenched blonde hair dripped all over him. Clico had woken up on what appeared to be an old caravel ship.

"You owe me some gold or somethin… now get up! We'll talk over some drinks later." The rough speaking man was named Kiln, a burly Wandering Wizard who lived as a mercenary before joining the expedition for fun. As a regular with Mite's party, Kiln knew of Clico but rarely interacted with him personally, yet Kiln was soaking wet from head to toe and out of breath.

"Thank... thank you." Clico coughed out as Kiln strolled away. It was obvious Kiln had jumped into the water and risked his life to save Clico, yet the only thing Kiln did to acknowledge Clico when he woke up was nod his head and put up his hand to wave goodbye, walking away.

Clico looked around to see 18 of the 25 members of the sub-party were already on the boat. It appeared like seven more members were still being fished out of the water just as he had been. A dark glare locked onto Clico from across the opposite side of the boat.

"Thank the gods you're okay." A woman rushed over to Clico upon spotting him on the ship. Moving unnaturally quick towards him, she was a woman adorned in black with a sinister voice, yet at that moment, her concern and friendliness completely betrayed her monstrous aura.

Omira stared at Clico with concern. Normally, she was sporadic, violent, and unpredictable, but sometimes, her Shade nature would take a hold of her, and her cracked personality led to some extreme mood swings. Serious situations like this turned Omira extremely serious. During the Murdoc incident, she hadn't acted like this, however. Clico was confused; did she somehow know the second round of the Selection was a hoax?

Shades were the definition of evil to many people. Spirits were considered natural souls while Shades were artificially created by unnatural corrupted soul magic. Different souls of people, creatures, or spirits were mixed together like a chimera, but unlike Chimera, it was only invented to strengthen the soul of an individual and not the body. Shades often lost sight of who they originally were, and often, they were beings with multiple personalities or became irrational, mindless, or animalistic.

Some Shades like Omira were created naturally in places like the dungeon, but it was quite rare for them to maintain stable reasoning. Omira, for example, was a Shade who knew nothing of her prior lives and was a new singular personality of mixed spirits that formed a new, powerful one. Clico often wondered who Omira really was before meeting his party in the Shade War. Of course, Omira claimed not to know her past, but more likely than not, she didn't want to tell anyone.

Shade's appearances largely depended on the spirts involved in their inception. Shapeshifting was a typical ability of most Shades, but most took on the appearance of the spirits used in their creation. Beast-like Shades resembled Chimera with different animal parts on improper places. Humanoid Shades were dark grey skinned and held menacing features with an aura of death and darkness. Omira had long black hair, a long cloak, a slender body, and glowing red eyes that made her unapproachable and disturbing for those that didn't know her warm yet volatile personality.

Omira apparated to Clico's other side in concern, checking his body for injuries. Clico saw her and smiled smugly,

"Don't worry about me, the prophet 21 said there wouldn't be any casualties on this floor." Omira's mood suddenly shifted, and she shook her head in disdain.

"That 'prophet' is a scam! His prophecies don't come true at all. He won't even tell us his real name. 21? That's not a name. That's a number!" Omira began to complain about the prophet, returning to her usual antics. A mysterious man named '21' was said to be able to predict what would happen on each floor as well as possible futures of the members of the party. Omira didn't buy it one bit!

Omira grotesquely despised 21 from the moment they met. 21 probably offered to give Omira a prophecy, and she hated the prophecy. Without any evidence, Omira believed his prophecies were all a scam. Clico knew of Omira's irrational disdain for the prophet and loved to provoke her about it at times to lighten the mood.

Clico laughed at how easy it was to shift the mood of the Shade. Typically irrational monsters, Shades were meant to be evil beings of little to no reason, yet she had the capacity of reason and was friendly to most people. There was extreme prejudice among the majority of the public against Shades because of their unnatural features and heinous conception methods, but Omira was one of his best friends.

Her rant continued until she abruptly stopped and smirked sinisterly. Omira started to laugh with a disturbing quality as she fell onto the ground suddenly.

"One of these days, his prophecies might actually come true!" She couldn't contain herself any longer and laughed hysterically.

"Oh, come on now, he was able to predict this first floor's landscape and Floor 0." Clico rebutted.

"You'll see how cheap his tricks are! Maybe he just read a history book about the dungeon for an Authority's sake! Guessing the theme of the floor was something I could've done. OoooOoo I see an Ocean…" Omira began to pretend to have a vision over an imaginary crystal ball. Seeing a creepy, grey skinned creature take her dreary black cloak and put it over her head while hunched over with a fake crystal ball caused Clico to laugh uncontrollably.

Clico continued to push Omira's buttons by defending 21 over and over again. The banter continued between Omira and Clico as more party members were swiftly fished out of the shimmering ocean onto the boat one by one at the direction of Ziphe, the party leader.

To Clico, Ziphe was unordinary and impressive. Heading the party of 25 was a man unparalleled on the planet of Ryko: Head Councilman Ziphe of the Wizard Association's High Mage Council. With an ego as long as his title, Ziphe was the mastermind behind the Great Dungeon Party and expertly navigated the first floor where others would have surely failed.

His profound confidence was not without reason, however. By relying on prophecy, overpreparation, and elaborate plotting, Ziphe was able to decipher what would happen to the Great Dungeon Party on Floor 0, namely the splitting of the party of 100 into four. At least from Clico's perspective, everything was handled expertly and professionally so far.

Ziphe looked young, but his eyes showed differently. Circles appeared under his eyes from time to time, but Ziphe tried to hide his tiredness. Equipped with advanced technology and a headset to coordinate with the control room buried beneath in the depths of the ship, Ziphe directed everything briskly, and the ship was settled within the hour. Despite his businessman Councilman attire and plain appearance, his strict and authoritative command over the party left little room for insubordination with the party's core members.

After saving the remaining party members from the Ocean of Souls, a spiritual ocean so thick it took on the properties of water, Ziphe called everyone together and addressed them.

"Congratulations on making it to the First Floor of the dungeon! We will continue to stay professional throughout our journey together, and I extend my welcome to our resident guest of our sub-group, The High Priest of the Void, Vladimir," Ziphe clapped and welcomed up an elderly man draped in the black priestly clothing. Vladimir waved to everyone politely, but his impatience was apparent.

In order to fund parts of the expedition, guests from the Seven Paths Church were welcomed as non-participant members of the expedition. The grumpy looking priest was unimpressed by the sub-party but shook the hand of Ziphe as a formality.

"Thank you for having me. I expect a wonderful expedition!" The Priest smiled. Everyone clapped, and Ziphe continued his speech.

"Our voyage on this first floor will be rather long, so we have prepared a crew and luxuries for everyone. Welcome to our ship, the Labyrinthian, provided to us by the Gatekeepers, our loyal allies, and the protectors of Purgatory. The Labyrinthian is equipped with advanced magical properties, a self-sustained mess hall, and state of the art technology, which we regulate in our control room. Please enjoy the voyage and welcome to Hell's Dungeon."

The sub-party applauded as the light faded from the sky of the Ocean of Souls. For most, the nighttime sky was awe-inspiring. Day and night were rather foreign concepts. Omira's violent eyes looked out on the mysterious waters and watched the souls dance in the twilight.

"I had no idea Hell could be so beautiful." She remarked as her eyes twinkled in the nighttime breeze. It was apparent whatever floor she had been born on was not like this.

"I wonder how long this peacefulness can last." Clico thought out loud. He was clutching a heart necklace.

"It doesn't matter. Let's enjoy it while we can." Omira smiled. In these shadows, she didn't seem as sinister and erratic, but happy.

"Do you miss her?" Omira asked, signaling to the necklace.

"Yes, I thought… I thought I saw her in the waters." Clico choked up.

"Keep holding onto that hope, and that necklace, it might save you in this place. I've never talked about what it was like in Hell, but it's not going to be nice like this often. Happy floors are sparse, and the real floor is likely beneath the surface for the dead.

We got lucky being on a ship. I don't think this floor was meant for the living." Omira looked over the deck into the Ocean of Souls. Millions if not billions, or even trillions of souls were condensed so tightly, their energies became liquid, like water but thicker.

Some souls had their consciousness, and they wandered through the waters, seeking peace. Despite the dark undertones, the night was inviting. Stars hung in the sky and twinkled under a singular moon. Omira stared into the sky and pointed to the stars gleefully.

They were truly in another world.