Third Prince - Parsifal Gave The Sixth Princess A Tour

Parsifal gave the Sixth Princess a tour of the enormous round room while Renjie harassed the guard called Garrett. The irregular obelisks delighted Rangiku. She called them cute. Parsifal called them creepy, disquieting, anthropomorphic oddities. Rangiku placed her hand on one as if to pet it, then pulled her hand back.

"Is something wrong?" asked Parsifal.

"They have so much energy!" said Rangiku.

The princess darted over to a wooden stair the Ministry of Works had constructed against the short wall surrounding the off-center pit. The wall was almost exactly the same height as Rangiku. Parsifal urged caution as the princess climbed up to look over the edge.

"Is it really bottomless?" she asked.

"We'll find out," answered Parsifal.

"How?"

"If you'll come this way," said Parsifal.

"That's the way we came in," observed Rangiku.

Parsifal gestured to a timber frame the Ministry of Works had constructed inside the entrance corridor. He described its function as the anchor for an over-engineered puzzle mechanism of rotating gears and cables. Engineers from the Ministry of Works chuckled. Function mattered most, they conceded, but engineering was an art and art demanded freedom of expression.

"The psychic benefit of viewing any creation enhances its function," said Rangiku.

The engineers saluted her with cryptic gestures. Parsifal recognized the gestures as tokens in a hidden language shared by construction workers above a certain rank. Rangiku responded with cryptic gestures of her own. The engineers loved that. It should have surprised Parsifal the Sixth Princess knew the construction industry's secret language. Wherever the consorts and their children were concerned, however, nothing was surprising.

"How do I help?" asked Rangiku.

The lead construction engineer explained that the team was reluctant to drive steel spikes into giant-worked stone because that inevitably led to curses. If the Sixth Princess could extend some rock at the end of the corridor, then that would prevent the frame from sliding into the room when cables were run from it down the bottomless well.

"It would take a while," said Rangiku.

She put a hand on a corner – then pulled it back abruptly.

"More energy?" asked Parsifal.

"Yes," said Rangiku. "This entire place is full of power. That will speed things up. Of course, it will still take a while. I imagine you will want something done with the stone wall as well?"

That question delighted the lead engineer. If the Sixth Princess could create grooves in the low stone wall, that would help guide cables – reducing not only the chances of system failure, but also of damaging the stone.

"Which would also cause system failure," he concluded.

"On any ordinary building," said Rangiku, "this would be far more trouble than it's worth. But I agree there is something unique here. Has a chamber like this been found anywhere else?"

"Answering the Sixth Princess," said the Minister of Antiquities. "No."

"What about those cute dolls?"

She pointed at the creepy, anthropomorphic oddities.

"Also no," said the Minister of Antiquities. "There have been features which could be described as similar, but with much simpler shapes."

"What do you expect to find at the bottom of the pit," asked Rangiku, "if there is one?"

"More tunnels," said the Minister. "However, one may lead to the God of War's tomb."

"Did Iba Algi say that?" asked Rangiku.

"She implied it," said the Minister.

"With Ri Ran's painting?" asked Rangiku.

"Yes."

"Interesting," said Rangiku. "You should invite Ri Ran down here to paint the dolls. I'm starting to get the hang of his genius. If I'm right, he will paint them as they really are, instead of what we see. Iba Algi would see them differently too, but now is not the right time. That poor girl gets tired quickly. Unless she's in her astral form. She might be here right now. Hello, Iba Algi!"

Rangiku waved to an imaginary Iba Algi.

"But would the Arkhanate of Urarhtu have built a tomb for its Polemarch?" she asked.

"The Sixth Princess's skepticism is justified," replied the Minister of Antiquities. "No. The giants would not have built a tomb. However, their constructions could have been repurposed by First Qianqiu Emperor."

"He was as vulnerable to giant curses as us," said Rangiku.

"He was," agreed the Minister. "He may have accepted that risk. More likely, he found solutions similar to what we are contemplating here."

"I'll get to work then," said Rangiku. "This will take hours and hours."

Parsifal noted that she looked at Renjie. The Fourth Prince had been kind of, sort of following the main group around the enormous chamber as everything was being explained. At that moment, however, he was deeply invested in comparing the scent of belly button lint in his boy toys.

"Renjie," said Rangiku, "Garrett has been complaining that developing the upper part of his chest isn't going as quickly as he'd like…."

Renjie looked up from Garrett's navel.

"The upper chest is tricky," said Bon Bao.

Garrett pulled his shirt up the rest of the way – and removed it. Hands started squeezing his upper chest. Comments were made about possible solutions. Onlookers provided advice. Rangiku pulled Parsifal down the entrance corridor. The Third Prince understood that a plan had been executed.

"As distractions go," he said, "that was guaranteed to work."

"You need to talk to your mother," said Rangiku. "Give her this."

She produced the gold coin.

"Now?" asked Parsifal.

"Now," insisted Rangiku. "The work here will last well into tomorrow anyway. Don't take a route where you'll be seen. Don't talk to anyone but your mother once you leave."

"What's happened?" Parsifal asked.

"I can't tell you," said Rangiku. "Once you talk to your mother, you won't be able to tell anyone, either. Go. I'll explain your absence as a request from Consort Jin."