08
Vinnie

The shore along the bluff was a narrow strip of sand heading off in either direction with wiry shrubs growing between the cracks of the cliff. Rocks lined the bottom, weathered and smoothed by the tide washing over them. If he headed east, he’d be able to walk into town, but Vinnie headed west, where this supposed “painted rock” was. Orias had seemed flustered when he suggested it, but Vinnie knew it was meant to cheer him up. He might as well humor him.

Though Vinnie had a destination in mind, he still meandered his way there, stopping frequently just to look out over the water or pick up a seashell that caught his attention. He hadn’t expected to feel so nostalgic seeing the strait again, but he had gotten so used to the city landscape of Janahad that he had forgotten how the salty sea air felt on his skin. It had been six years since he left his hometown and became the Regis, a title that was never meant to be his. It wasn’t a role passed from parent to child, but from master to apprentice. His father’s apprentice should have been the one to obtain the title, and yet here Vinnie was as the glorified archivist. At the end of the day, whatever the Patrons say goes—he has no place to argue with their will.

He crouched down to look at a seashell, but when he picked it up, the head of a hermit crab popped out to look at him. If Vinnie went home, maybe he could talk some sense into his godmother, have the Patrons pick someone else to be the Regis. But he also thought briefly about letting his godmother think he was dead. Then they’d have no choice. He placed the crab back in the sand.

Ugh, now he was bummed out again. He wanted to leave all the Regis stuff behind him. As far as anyone knew, he was just a guy who happened to be at the excavation site. He appreciated that neither Orias nor Briar had questioned him about who he was or what he was doing there, but it made Vinnie wonder just how much he could trust them. Maybe I should try to leave as soon as I can…

As he kept walking, Vinnie could see the rock in question get closer. It was, in fact, more of a boulder than a rock; it was wide and angular, being nearly twice his height, and algae accumulated around the bottom where it touched the water. Painted on the rock was a square mural of a prism refracting light, its colors faded from exposure to the sun, and a set of names he assumed belonged to the artists were scribbled underneath. Vinnie looked out over the water then back at the boulder. The view would be exactly the same if he tried to climb it, but there was something special about sitting high above the ground just to watch the scenery. He went around to the side so he didn’t wreck the mural, but the algae was thicker, making the base of the rock slick as he tried to climb up. With an inelegant flop, Vinnie was able to make it to the top.

It was calming sitting up this high, watching as the water melded into the picturesque blue skies. Vinnie could see the appeal of living out here.

Just along the shoreline, he could see what looked like statues. He only saw two, but part of the cliff jutted out into the water and obstructed his view of anything else. The sun was still high and he didn’t particularly have anything else to do; he might as well check it out.

Climbing down from the boulder, he headed for the statues. As he got closer, Vinnie was able to recognize their depictions to be of two of the Patrons: one with elegant horns depicting Lady Virtua of the Mezur and the other of his godmother, Chryopsiani of the Ribos. Seeing iconography of Patrons was common all throughout Asheva, especially within the Trigala region, but he still found it odd to see statues of them on a random beach in the countryside. Maybe there’s a shrine or something nearby?

Rounding the corner, he saw two more statues to complete the set: one in the image of Lord Caliborn of the Katav and the other depicting Bas Ban of the Pulam. Each statue defined the corner of a larger courtyard that connected to— No way, it can’t be!

An identical copy of the excavation site’s domain stood before him. It was embedded into the cliff side, looking as if it had always been there as foliage sprouted from cracks in the stonework and its steps weathered and smooth like water had washed over them. The familiar depiction of the Administrator framed either side of the structure, their hair swooping down and around them until it pooled around their feet. A stained-glass window sat above the entrance, but where the domain at the excavation site showed more symbols of the Patrons, this one showed a stylistic landscape of a pink house by the water.

What’s it doing all the way out here? He’d heard of deities moving their domains, but rarely did they move outside what they considered their territory. And for him to be seeing it again, there had to be a reason. The entrance was open— not enough for him to see inside but enough to intrigue him.

“No—no. I am not going in there,” Vinnie said aloud. He did not want what happened at the site to happen again. That monster they encountered could very likely have been the domain’s deity, and he doubted it would let him leave a second time.

He turned around, ready to walk right back to Orias’ house, until a dangerous thought crossed his mind. If it truly was the same domain… then maybe there was a chance he would be able to find Reese inside.

Cursing his decision, he peeked inside. Vinnie could see that the foyer was similar to what he had seen in Janahad; a set of lavish stairs stood in the center leading to a pathway that he assumed would lead to the chapel. Crystal lights decorated the ceiling and the walls with ivy clinging lazily to them. The ground was still the same cracked marble where wildflowers grew.

With a deep breath, he stepped into the domain.

The doors began to shut behind him.

“Wait, no!” He turned to run, but the entrance had been sealed almost instantly. He pounded his fists on the doors. “Let me out!” He tried to pry them open, but there was no way he was going to be able to with his measly strength. He kicked the door out of frustration, but all it did was hurt his foot.

“Damnit!” he yelled. What the hell was I thinking?! If Reese were here, he would have berated him for such naivety.

Maybe I can find another way out. It’s not like he had much of a choice.

He looked around the foyer. He could try the chapel, but going that way had the potential of running into the deity. He checked the left and right sides of the foyer where more corridors ran further into the domain; they were illuminated by the crystal light fixtures, but the halls faded into complete darkness.

The hallways looked identical, so arbitrarily, Vinnie picked the one to the right.

While the lights dimmed to nothing, it was not like the miasma that had clung to him before. Just a pitch-black expanse around him. But before long, he could see a light in the distance, and when he reached the end, he stepped out of the left hallway and was once more in the foyer.

Huh?

He looked back behind him, the corridor still obscured by the dark with no sign of where it led.

He retraced his steps, heading back into the left; he appeared from the right. He promptly ran back through the right hallway, once again being brought back to the foyer through the left. This time, however, small sets of crystals lined both railings of the staircase, illuminating in pairs up to the pathway leading to the chapel.

The domain already had a destination in mind for him.

~***~

The lights led to another set of doors that opened as Vinnie approached, revealing the chapel. Like everything else he had seen so far, it was the same as it had been in Janahad with pews lining the sides of the room that faced a display of the Administrator and her Patrons, as well as the unknown deity. She was still posed as she was when they first found her, her arms outstretched to her side, like a mother welcoming him into an embrace. Engraved on her pedestal was her name— Atropos.

Very carefully, Vinnie stepped around the statue, analyzing the deity. He remembered the lights that spilled out of it when it broke open, circling around him before quickly exiting the chapel.

They were warm, Vinnie had thought. Hard to see how they could be related to that shadow creature.

He stood in front of the statue once more, looking the deity in the eyes.

“Just who are you, Atropos?”

Unsurprisingly, it did not respond.

With a sigh, he turned to leave. If I want to find Reese or an exit, I have to keep moving.

He then heard a crack! Turning around, he saw that a large crease had formed across the statue’s face. Another crack! And a fissure opened across her body.

It’s happening again!

The marble began to move, and Vinnie fell backwards as the statue stepped off her pedestal. The smooth marble fell away from her arms and legs, revealing warm, bronzed flesh underneath.

Towering over him was the deity of this domain, her dark hair snarled and littered with twigs and flower petals. She wore modest clothing, a dull yellow cloak draping over a pea green dress that hit the floor. Her eyes were silver and tired, looking down on him with a blasé look.

“You there,” spoke the deity, her voice flatter than he had expected. “Are you the one who awakened me?”

Vinnie opened his mouth to speak, but he was at a loss for words. He nodded his head vigorously.

She circled him, analyzing him. “I remember you.”

“Y-You do?” Vinnie asked.

“Yes, I do. You are precisely the one I have been waiting for.”