The Phoenix Chronicles: The Curse of Lustria

Chapter Thirty: The Underworld

(NARRATED BY LOLA SETLER)

The moment we found ourselves in some strange, parallel dimension, Lucia's idea of a "dream team" was realized. The Upper World's only hope now lay in the hands of just seven people, including myself, my brother, my uncle, Colonel Davis, Major Lazar, General Mason, and, finally, the impretis herself.

The setting was similar to the previous one, though it was easy to deduce that we were no longer in the same place. We still sat at a long table in a dining hall that was an exact replica of the previous one, though there were a few differences.

For starters, we were the only seven people present. Secondly, the pigmentations were a lot duller—to the point where pretty much everything was just a shade of gray. It looked somewhat similar to how things appeared whenever I used the spell for invisibility. The only things that maintained their colors were ourselves and anything we had brought with us, such as our clothing.

Any sort of sound that didn't come from our mouths produced a slight echo, which further accentuated the empty feel of this place. Moreover, the edges of every object appeared slightly fuzzy to the eye, making it seem as though nothing held a definite shape. It almost felt as if we were in a dream or collection of memories, all fused together and frozen in time. It was peaceful, yet even more so eerie. It made me feel out of place—

Like I didn't belong.

Lucia sat in her spot, staring in shock at her reflection in the lustrium-framed magnifying glass. The rest of us also sat in place, bearing similar expressions. None of us moved an inch or uttered a single word, until Cameron asked the impretis a question. It wasn't, "Where are we?" or even "What happened?" Instead, he inquired, "Where's Esther?"

Lucia slowly lowered her magnifying glass. "C—Come again?"

"Where is my meratis?"

Her expression grew terrified. "I... I am so sorry. I did not think of her when... I forgot to... I swear, I did not mean to..."

"She's not dead, is she?"

"N-No... She is... Th-They are..." Burying her head in her folded arms, Lucia began to cry.

Awkwardly, Cameron got up from his seat and went over to comfort her. Not knowing what else to do, the rest of us followed suit. "Hey, it's all right," my brother told her with his arm half extended.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my brother's arm and forced it forward onto her back. Sure enough, the warmth of his touch, gradually got Lucia to stop crying. And when she did, she lifted her head to look at Cameron, who slowly retracted his hand. "Thank you," she sniffed. "I apologize for breaking down like that."

"Er... don't mention it," he said. "So, can you tell us what happened?"

With a slight nod, Lucia got up from her chair and explained, "You are currently in the Sipremunix, or the 'Underworld.' This is where—"

"We're in the Void?" Cameron exclaimed with disbelief. "But that's impossible! You can't store living souls into the Void! It just spits them out through teleportation!"

"True, but it is possible with this." Lucia gestured at the magnifying glass in her hand.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"One of Umbrius' inventions. He named it the 'umbriuspex,' meaning, 'shadow lens.'"

"Or he just named it after himself," Cameron snorted.

Lucia smiled a little. "Anyway, I stole it from his lab. In order to use it, all I had to do was look into the glass and imagine myself with you on the other side. I initially intended to bring more people over, but... this was all the umbriuspex could manage."