43: Changing Perspective

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Dante paused the message and looked to Katrina for confirmation. A week ago, he would have cast aside such an idea as superstitious nonsense, the babblings of the ignorant clinging to delusions of an eternal afterlife, but even he couldn’t deny that an oversized octopus with a cackling streak of depravity lent a rather heavy credence to Emily’s revelation.

“Well, it backs up everything we’ve uncovered,” said Kat. “Although I admit it’s all a bit over my head. I blame the Aristocracy.”

A fair accusation, but the Sophists weren’t the only ones doing their utmost to enforce ignorance of the aether. Dante glanced at the tablet, sitting in the open drawer. The Saptamatrikas would have cursed anyone who ever entertained the idea of souls to never set foot in their sacred arcologies—and yet here was Avalon, an emulation of their grand design, allegedly using their technology to ensnare souls and bind them to monsters.

But maybe that was the whole point. Maybe they spread ignorance so places like this could exist unquestioned. Before Dante’s thoughts drifted to his mother, and to the lies Arided told him, he resumed Emily’s message.

“I know, some of you probably think I’m crazy,” she continued, “but there should be more than enough evidence on this cell to convince you otherwise.”

Katrina nodded. “Trust me, even Ms Thorbjorn couldn’t believe some of the stuff Emily dug up. Seelie’s got people looking over it as we speak. As have we, obviously.”

With a tap of the screen, Emily’s message continued. “From what I can gather, the ones who run this whole sorry operation have hidden themselves underground and answer to somebody they refer to as ‘Matriarch’. From what I’ve seen of her, I think she might be some kind of seer or oracle. Unlike those you might have met, however, this ‘Matriarch’ isn’t a particularly nice person, and she won’t be pleased to know that I’ve revealed her existence to outsiders. But, hey, she had it coming to her, so go wild, yeah?”

Dante took a moment to collect his thoughts; the moment Emily had mentioned a ‘Matriarch’, only one person came to mind.

Arided.

“She left us a master access code and everything,” said Katrina, ignorant to the Malkuthian Maiden’s existence. “Chris is playing around with it as we speak. He thinks it might unlock the whole island, if you can believe that. Not that we were planning on abusing such a privilege, what with Seelie advising us to not get involved and all…”

From the way her guilty eyes rolled around the room, Dante figured that Veritas had little intention of taking Seelie’s suggestion to heart. Phoenix Rogan was not one to leave a mystery unsolved, especially one so vast and inviting as Avalon.

And, given the implications of Emily’s revelations—maybe, if this Matriarch really was Arided, then his mother was closer than he ever could have hoped—it was a very inviting mystery indeed.

“Well,” Emily sighed, “I guess that’s about all I have time for. Jonny here ain’t gonna sleep forever, and I’ve got a spell to break.”

Dante stopped the message, a sudden sickly feeling in his stomach. Once again, his thoughts returned to that ever-so-brief vision of tangled bodies, souls entwined.