Chapter 45: The Hidden Chamber

“We never could have dared to dream about holding a festival even two months ago, and now here we are. Ivalis did truly send you to us, didn’t she?” Levia said. There were too many people to hold a banquet in Springsgale Manor, so Reinfar recommended a festival to celebrate the village rediscovering its origins and purpose.

“I don’t know,” Vito admitted. He helped prepare for the festival by setting out tables and hanging decorations around the village square. The carpenters and artisans volunteered to help, if only to cement their place in restoring the S-Rank dungeon to a habitable state.

Very soon, Orinis was filled with the sounds of music and laughter, and the scent of fresh food. Vito had the sacred ward array deactivated during the party so Morgaine could attend without having most of her power inhibited.

“Can you set out the rest of the banquet? The guest of honor hasn’t arrived yet,” Vito asked her.

“Sure!” Levia brightly smiled as she went to retrieve another platter of food.

Vito ran into Iris before he could reach the carriage. “Vito…,” she began, a shade of pink touching her cheeks.

“Yes? Is something wrong?”

“No. Well, maybe,” Iris trailed off.

“Just tell me, and we’ll handle it. Don’t hold back,” he encouraged her.

She took a deep breath and stood in front of him. “We kissed in the ballroom.”

“Yes, I recall,” he grinned and put his hand on the small of her back. “We could re-enact that moment if you’d like.”

Iris’s blush deepened. “No. Well, maybe,” she repeated while pushing him away. “I just want to know if you kissed me or Rosa.”

He was surprised by her words. “I… haven’t thought about Rosa in a while,” he admitted. “I wasn’t thinking about her when I ran to you during that battle, and I wasn’t thinking about her when we kissed.”

A bright smile crept across Iris’s face. She wrapped her arms around Vito and pulled him into a deep and loving kiss. He held her close and returned the kiss.

A thought occurred to Iris, compelling her to pull away. “Wait, you use the water element, didn’t you? That wasn’t just me.”

“Hm? Yes, I think so.” He released his hold on her and held his hand out with his palm facing up. A spiral formation of water appeared on his command.

Iris was visibly stunned. She then looked down at the Shard of Valorance as it hung at Vito’s side. “Its power will awaken when special hearts are opened to its chosen wielder, right?” She sighed. “My heart opened to you, and now you can use my water magic. That means you must find others to open their hearts to you.”

Vito dispersed the spell and looked at her.

She narrowed her eyes and spoke again. “The goddess Ivalis has commanded that you charm other women to awaken the hero’s sword. I’m not happy about it, but I will support your mission.”

He seemed confused for a moment, then a sly grin spread across his face. “I’m not one to follow commands so easily.” He gave her a quick peck on her lips. “I’m going to go get Morgaine. Care to join me?”

Iris rolled her eyes. “Not one to follow commands, hmm?”

Vito briefly laughed. “For the festival, amore mio.”

They traveled to Springsgale Manor by carriage to pick up the guest of honor, the last Lady Ashcroft herself.

Vito and Iris dismounted from the driver’s seat and walked into the manor. Delwyn and Morgaine stared one another down. “I hope we’re in time to interrupt something,” Vito loudly announced as he took his trench coat off and hung it on a bannister.

“Hmph! It’s nothing,” Delwyn spat.

“Indeed!” Morgaine agreed. She abruptly turned away from Delwyn and gracefully strode toward Vito. “I have finished unsealing the secret room. Please follow me.”

“Wait,” Vito stopped her. “Here,” he withdrew her phylactery from his trench coat pocket. “I don’t want you to feel like you have a blade hanging over your neck,” he explained.

“Hey! What’s to stop her from killing us if you lose that?!” Delwyn argued.

Morgaine considered the phylactery for a moment. It held her very essence and ensured her eternal life. She placed her hand on it, then pushed it against Vito’s chest. “I trust it’ll be safer in your hands. I already lost it once.” Vito nodded and returned it to his pocket. She took his hand and led him along.

Morgaine pulled a walled candelabra beneath her family’s portrait and opened a secret passageway. She conjured blue orbs and scattered them down the staircase. “Watch your step. No one has come down here in centuries.”

They walked down cracked gray stone steps. The walls and ceiling were made of worn and splintered wood, and the air was stale, almost like a crypt.

Rubble greeted them at the landing. Someone destroyed a stone gate that once protected a hidden chamber. Morgaine pressed forward and led them into the chamber. There were no signs of the destruction that ruined the doors. The dark floor and walls perfectly reflected Morgaine’s magic light spheres.

A large mirror floated inches off the center of the floor. “This is one of the ancient relics my father collected,” Morgaine revealed.

Delwyn was wary of it. “It’s no ordinary enchanted looking glass. I can sense something from it.” She seemed close to drawing her sword.

“It’s an original far-sight looking glass,” Morgaine explained. “My father believed that these were used to communicate across worlds. The far-sight looking glasses used today are mere imitations.”

“Across worlds?” Vito was stunned.

“Yes. This one is damaged, so it can only be used once a decade.”

He looked back at the gate and realized what had happened. “I understand why you brought me down here. I appreciate it, but you found this place to talk to your family. I only missed mine for a couple of decades, but you haven’t spoken to yours in a thousand years.”

Morgaine allowed a smile to play on her lips as she turned away from them. “I found this place a very long time ago, after I read one of my father’s journals.” A bitter tear streamed down her cheek. “It will not connect to the world beyond this one. Perhaps Ivalis herself forbids it. However, she can do nothing to stop you from reaching your beloved Sicily.”