To Fly the Soaring Tides

From the salty depths they rose until the pavement of Nymphus was restored to its original state. It wasn’t far from there to the hole in the ceiling and Cira had her head craned up looking at it.

“What’s your plan now?” Lomp asked. “We don’t exactly have climbing gear for when you leave.”

“It’s probably best if I just turn the whole thing into a staircase, right?” The orichalcum staff floated in front of her and salt burst through the stone bricks, then bubbled into a towering spiral staircase around them. As it grew, Cira made the skiff rise.

The staircase was made of high-density salt compacted to the limit Cira could muster. It had railing of course so nobody would plummet to their death. A staircase also fell down from the top and when the two met, continued up, molding steps into the walls of the Last Step.

“You can’t possibly mean to do this the entire way up.” Glasses doubted her.

“Of course. How else will they get to the ghosts?” They passed a few different tunnels along the walls and Cira marked each one with a little pillar or formed a bridge to the ones that could be walked into. They were easier to spot from below, as some were tucked behind rocks. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay behind, though? You have zero protection against the spirits.”

“It’s fine.” His face said that it was not fine, “I have to keep an eye on you if Lomp is going to be busy.”

The trip was going swell. Lomp estimated they were about half-way to the top, and there were a great many passages to hopefully find ghosts in. Cira was snacking on extra sandwiches as geomancing a ten-mile staircase was taxing work. She had everything going for her in terms of mana efficiency, with the salt surrounding them and the best staff in the sky for this application. Still, she had burned through a few handfuls of Earth Vein’s potions on her way.

Chip kept the crew in somewhat lively conversation, and nobody was taking the situation too seriously. This continued for a while until Cira heard something she’d been waiting for.

Tink. Tink. Tink.

Lomp immediately went pale and was met only with Cira’s cheeky grin. The glyphs on Triton’s hat were glowing, and his head was on a swivel with an uneasy look. It took a while for the others to catch on, but Chip was the first to say anything, “Is somebody really mining this far down?”

“Sure is,” Cira replied casually, “should we go see if he needs a lift?”

He thought about it for a moment, “That’s reasonable, I guess.”

“Chip,” the ever-discouraging Lomp spoke from under his ashen cloak, “Don’t listen to her. It’s a ghost.”

She sighed, “What’s the big deal? It’s not the first one anybody’s ever seen.”

The ghostly pickaxe got louder as Cira brought them around an alcove, revealing the entrance to a passageway. It was too small, so she made a ledge and set the boat down. After dismounting she paused for a moment to look at her nervous passengers.

“I trust you’re all ready?” They looked apprehensive at best. Even Kate couldn’t manage her usual glare. After staring at them for a minute or two, Triton cracked under the pressure and got out.

“Come on guys, don’t make me do this by myself…”

“You all are stronger as a team anyway.” Cira lent him a hand, but they were still slow to exit the boat. She held her lantern out menacingly, “I’ll summon one right here.”

Finally, they all got out, huddling behind the frightened spearman. Last of all was Glasses, who found himself at the back of the crowd. Cira was starting to wish she’d left him against his wishes, and decided she would let him get good and spooked before wasting any mana on him.

Cira led the way with her lantern and entered the tunnel. The pickaxe swings were intermittent but continued still. The air was musty yet dry and colder than anywhere outside. She felt the faintly wafting death mana as she approached and turned around. They could sense it too, except for Glasses it seemed. He was just as stiff though.

She made sure it was still mining and put up a quick sound barrier, “I believe our first catch is just around the corner. Now, who wants to take point on this one?” She was met with blank stares, save for the eager Nanri holding her silver wand. She started walking up, but Cira held out a hand to stop her, “Sorry, I know you’re capable enough. You can help out once they’re settled in.”

The witch looked a little bummed out but nodded and stepped aside. Cira looked between her four exorcists back and forth until one broke. Triton stepped forward with shaky legs, holding his spear up, “I’ll do it. Lomp and Chip, you should get behind me. Boomerang girl, stay in the back.”

Boomerang girl was offended, “I’m Kate, you oaf. And why should I be in the back? I’m not scared or anything…”

Triton laughed, “It’s because you have a ranged weapon, but thanks for letting us know.”

As the girl turned red, seeing them get along brough a smile to Cira’s face. “Looks like you’ll make an alright leader, now let’s see it.” She scooted him along and shushed everyone before dropping the barrier.

Triton unsteadily crept forward into the dark tunnel, leaving her behind. She gestured the others along and they timidly followed, lighting the way with a glyph embroidered on each of their hats. After nudging Glasses and Nanri along, she followed the group from behind.

They travelled for a few minutes until reaching a turn and Triton stopped in his tracks.

“What is it—” Kate asked, only to be violently shushed by the others. She bumped into them, then scoffed, “Whatever, how bad can it be?”

Her voice was unsteady, but she was putting on an act for some reason. All the same, Cira was glad to see someone taking initiative. She walked past Triton then froze, her eyes shooting open.

What’s the problem? I know the enchantments are good. It’s just fear, but produced organically instead of magically. She should be fine. Cira did her research.

“Wh-what’s wrong with that thing?!” Kate cried.

“WHYYYYYYY?!” A ghoulish voice echoed through the tunnel, “WHAT DO YOU WAAAAANT?!”

The two in front slunk back, but Cira could hear something being dragged across the ground coming closer.

“Why is it moving like that…? How?” Kate’s voice shook.

Hmm, guess I’ll give it a look. Cira stepped closer as the others shied away.

“WHY ARE YOU HEEEEERE?!” The voice boomed.

“Stay away!” Triton at least had his weapon ready. He frantically started shouting his holy spell, “…grant this pitiful one power—wait dammit!” He got it right after a couple tries by the time Cira made it to the front. Holy flames formed around the spirit who looked about the same as the last one, just dragging a pickaxe behind in a faded and tattered orange jumpsuit. A broken headlamp hung loosely around its neck. The black band Cira wore on her head protected her from any mental effects and she was able to observe it closely this time.

She couldn’t classify it as any manner of aberrant spirit, this one and the last were just strays. Their form was comprised of their last memories, and any movement they made otherwise was unfamiliar to them and didn’t look natural. Ghostly half-bent legs shambled in place within the encircling holy flame as it almost seemed to drag its hunched torso along, neck bent to the side. The spirit stared at her with deep confusion and an anger that could never be quelled.

“WHYYYYYY?!” It roared.

“Hyah!” Kate took a step forward and unleashed her boomerang. It made a clean arch right through the spirit’s neck.

“AHHHHHH!!!” It cried in agony before dissolving into light.

“Hey…” Triton said, “That was pretty easy.”

“I told you.” Cira said, pulling a pouch from her waist and throwing it at him, “I made one of these for each of you last night. I figured you needed a better way to collect the aetherium than just a broom and dustpan. Just open it up facing the ghost’s remains.” He did as instructed and the glittering blue dust floated into the satchel like the salt in the barrel earlier. “They were really hard to make, so I hope you appreciate them. They’ll hold about a barrel’s worth a piece, but they use a little of the aetherium’s mana to operate. I figured the time you save should more than make up for that though.”

“Was that really it?” Chip asked.

“That was kind of depressing…” Lomp agreed.

“And this is why we’ve prepared.” Cira’s smug grin outshined her lantern. “Now it will be better if you can operate in groups of two. Personally, I think Kate and Triton have good synergy with their abilities, but it wouldn’t hurt to split the magic up. Maybe Kate and Lomp so each team can retain a polearm as well? I’ll let you four decide though.”

The room ahead of them had two passageways on the far side. Cira’s headband allowed her to see the blatant spectral trail and it seemed Triton had activated his own hat. A frown formed on his face, but he was thinking about the problem at hand, “As much as I’d like to trap ghosts from afar and watch this girl cut their heads off all day, I have to agree about splitting the magic up. If the other team’s lives depended on escaping, that could mean the difference.”

“A fair point,” She agreed.

“The wife’ll be mad if I’m on the girl’s team.” Chip added.

Kate looked disgusted, “Excuse you?! And just what do you think would happen if we were on a team?!”

“Angry wife.” He shook his head. “That’s enough for me.”

“Then it’s decided. Kate, you’ll be on this absolute gentleman’s team,” He motioned to Lomp, “and Chip will be with Triton. Nanri, take those two down the left and make sure nothing gets out of hand. I’ll take Lomp and the girl. Glasses, choose wisely.”

The odd man out had only quivered in the hallway, not even setting eyes on the ghost.

Nanri was glad to be relied on again with a seemingly important task. They agreed to meet at the boat in four hours. Cira distributed the aetherium pouches and led her team down the hall. Kate didn’t have much to say to Lomp and vice versa. Lomp ended up assuming one of the many roles he’d taken on from days prior, the tour guide, “This tunnel might be leading us into the Dark Stratum.”

Cira replied ponderously, “If the spirits stay around this area, there must be something drawing them in or keeping them here…”

“What are you getting at?” The guide was suspicious.

“Just thinking out loud. Maybe don’t venture too deep into this place in your future endeavors, if possible. If there’s a well of death mana or something similar, even you should be able to feel it from a mile away. Nothing to worry much about.”

Before long they heard something scraping along the salt. They stopped for a moment, and it got louder. Her two exorcists stood with their breath held, but for their credit, they fell into a formation. Glasses just hid behind Cira.

The narrow hall would be difficult to use a throwing weapon in, but Lomp stood between the thief and any threat.

Soon the sound had reached just up the bend. They waited until they could see it approaching. Just like the other, this spirit dragged a pickaxe. It groaned with each step and hadn’t noticed them yet. All of a sudden Cira was startled by a piercing screech from behind.

“AHHHHHH!!” It was glasses losing his mind. He cradled his head and fell to the ground in a fetal position.

“Quiet!” Lomp chided. The ghost looked right at them and stopped. After a few more seconds, it just groaned and continued walking toward them. The muscles in Lomp’s arms tensed up and he readied the spear. Kate looked like she was going to try an overhand swing if the time came, but the narrow hallway wasn’t working in her favor.

The ghost got closer still until it was a mere ten feet away. It didn’t pay them any further mind, but kept getting closer, just following the path. Its groans were exhausted and listless. It was just out of arms reach when Lomp took one step, thrusting his bident out.

“Hyah!” The wound burst with light.

“GIYAHHHHHHH!!” The spirit experienced a moment of torment before Lomp collected its remains.

“Cira… this is much easier than you let on.” The man didn’t look like he was enjoying the experience by any means.

“I kept trying to tell you, I was overpreparing you for a reason. I’ll have a better idea soon, but you’ll have to hunt thousands of spirits over the next few years.”

“Thousands?!” Kate said, “Is that even possible?”

Lomp’s face creased into a frown, “I really hope there’s enough…”

“Before we keep going, I need to come up with a solution for this fool.” She looked disapprovingly at the crumpled emissary of the overseer. He hyperventilated on the ground, curled up. With a sigh, Cira pulled a small bottle full of dark liquid out of one of her pouches and shook the man, “Hey! Drink this.”

After coaxing it down his throat, he gagged and tried spitting it out, but eventually started to calm down, “Wha… what was that?”

“Dimnut Mind Tincture. But sit tight while I make you a more permanent solution.”

Summoning a Lamplight to better see, she called on her father’s staff again to conjure a workbench and began molding an object out of salt. The others watched curiously as she formed a hollow cone with an open bottom and sharp point. She was crafting a hat. For the most important step, she pulled an orichalcum needle out of her pocket.

Kate looked at her aghast, “How much damn orichalcum do you have, Witch?! First the clock and the staff, do you just carry that around in your pocket?”

“My father left most of it for me,” Cira shrugged, “And besides, there’s no better material for an artificing needle. It will never wear down and the nature of orichalcum means it won’t be stained with mana over the years. A bit tricky to enchant without another orichalcum needle, but—”

“Whatever, I don’t care about that!” Kate cut her off, “If your dad’s so rich, why isn’t he here helping you out, huh? I bet he’s just more Gandeux trash isn’t—”

Lomp frantically clamped a hand over her mouth, “You idiot!” He turned only to wither in the path of Cira’s cold glare. While a little slow, even Kate could connect the dots as she received the full fury behind Cira’s eyes. She gulped and stumbled back.

Nobody had ever insulted Gazen to her face before. Sure, this girl was off the mark, but Cira was livid. She wanted to berate her, scream her head off, but that wouldn’t do. She was hiding her identity, so it was a perfectly fair assumption to make. But Cira found her feelings wounded, like the girl had stabbed her in the heart. Not being able to do anything made the frustration build up and she wanted to cry.

Glasses shrunk back while the two looked increasingly fearful, Lomp going so far as to shield the girl, which only made her feel worse. Cira sighed, “Both of you go away for a minute.”

They obliged and timidly backed up before scuttling around a corner. Continuing work on the hat, she finished the inscribing the glyphs and started the finishing touches, “Assholes… is it so unreasonable that I can be pissed without turning someone to ash?” She handed it to Mr. Glasses.

“Er- no, that seems pretty reasonable,” He warily took the hat, “Why does it say ‘Dunce’ on it?”

“I was in a much better mood and thought it was funny.” She replied matter-of-factly. “It will protect your mind, ward off ghosts if you can muster the mana, and in a pinch the point has the same effect as their weapons. It will never fall off unless you take it off.”

“Wow…” He looked at it with great uncertainty, “thanks…?”

They caught up with the other two and continued down the path quietly for a few minutes. Kate awkwardly looked up to Cira, “I’m, uh… sorry about your dad…” Presumably Lomp had filled her in to some degree.

“You didn’t know.” The sorcerer waved her off.

They kept going like this for another hour, finding a few more ghosts along the way. They were all dragging a pickaxe or wandering around in the same mining gear. No anomalies, just a bunch of sullen strays. Lomp slowly brought the mood back around with fun facts about the Dark Stratum as they delved closer to it.

Not even the ancients liked to tread there, but their rituals sometimes involved guiding spirits. The lowest of the three levels used to be one of their cities until dark stratum took it over. This brought Cira back into the conversation as all sorts of ominous possibilities came to mind with those words and she couldn’t take on any more work, “What about the nymphs?”

“Oh, you’ll rarely see them anywhere near the Dark Stratum. They seem to avoid spirits, maybe they can sense them.”

“Insteresting… Nina?” There was no response from the watery sapphire on her shoulder. “I guess she’s been hidden this whole time.”

Eventually their path let out into a larger cavern where Cira could see spectral traces all around, “This is perfect. Kate, you have more mana, so why don’t you try to track our next one down?”

“Huh?” She looked at Cira blankly before following her gaze to the hat on her head. “Oh… Oh! Right.”

There were tracks all over the walls and throughout the room. “They’ll be brighter the more recent they are.”

“This is the Dark Stratum…” Lomp said.

“Don’t worry, I don’t sense anything weird nearby. We’ll just find a few more then start heading back.”

There were torn down walkways here and remnants of something built out of the salt. Nothing she recognized as the ancients’ design. Unless this was before they discovered brinstahl, it must have belonged to an even older civilization.

Kate led them over a broken bridge then down some rocks. Since they split paths, Cira had been leaving a conjured wire behind so they wouldn’t lose their way, but they had travelled quite some distance. She figured they passed a couple but wanted to let the girl try.

“Hey Lomp, who built this place?” Cira asked.

“Beats me.” He shrugged.

Finally, Kate found their next catch. This was the first one of the day that wasn’t dressed in miner’s clothes. More like a village garb, just plain cloth dress. She sat in a chair and looked off into a dark chasm.

The spirit didn’t bat an eye as the group approached. Lomp was apprehensive about taking this one out, “Do we really have to—"

A boomerang sliced through the absent woman’s neck and her body disappeared into a cloud of dust.

“Look at all that!” Cira cried, “That’s half as much as old Yl’Gad gave me. You guys might want to come down here more often. Just avoid the middle layer.” She added as offhandedly as she could.

They collected it and kept hunting ghosts. Most were in a similar state, but if not for their aetherium, Cira could tell they were older just by how listless they all were. Most of them didn’t have a clue, and the ones that noticed them seemed to welcome the end.

After a point she led the group back. Cira figured she got the timing well enough because they only had to wait on Nanri’s team for five minutes.

“Sorry I’m late!” She said when she saw them.

“You’re right on time. How’d it go?” She leaned back in her seat to hear the report.

“No problems. These two were both pretty capable on their own once they got used to it.”

Triton wore a proud smile, but Chip looked bashful, “It’s not like we had to do much… Half the time they just stood there and took it. I really started to feel bad for ‘em at the end.”

Cira got the boat moving, ascending while building the staircase again, “I feel bad too, but there’s no other way…”

It took them another hour to reach the top. Cira set the skiff down on the true last step, where her and Lomp rappelled down from.

“So…” Cira was visibly upset, but nobody could place their finger on why this time. “This boat wards off spirits now…”

“And?” Lomp asked.

She shot him a glare, “And I figured you’d never get enough aetherium if you had to walk up and down stairs every day…”

“And…?” Lomp asked.

Her glare intensified, but Triton stepped in, voice dripping with excitement “Are you saying you’re leaving us my boat?!”

“I am saying,” Cira’s voice grew stern, “That I am leaving you my boat at great personal cost because that is what must be done for the cure to be successful.”

He spent a few moments melting under her glare until Nanri threw him a lifeline, “My, and she even spent so much time working on it. You should really thank her.” Triton awkwardly followed directions and Cira grunted, looking away. Nanri turned to her, “If you’re leaving the boat here, what’s your next move?”

“I have some investigations to do in Uru. Could you supervise them for another few hours? Once they’re worn out for the day, meet me there and we’ll get to work on the first batch.”

“Oh,” Nanri was a little disappointed to split up again, but she nodded, “You can count on me! We’ll see you in a few hours, then.” She gave her a sincere enough smile.

Now it’s time to move onto the real last step: Finding the deritium.

“Ah, just a moment!” The last man scuttled out of the boat, “I’ll come with you!”

“Sorry, Glasses.” Her orbiting orichalcum glowed, “Can’t have you obstructing my investigation.”

A wall of salt rose from the ground, separating Cira from the others.