The Other Huntress (Kotallo/OC)

Chapter Twenty One: AETHER

Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all the support these past couple weeks-it truly means the world to me and I cannot thank you enough! Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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With Regalla defeated, the Grove was left to pick up the pieces. The rebels' rampage had left countless dead, blood seeping into the sands of the arena. Yet for all Regalla's fury, she had lost. Hekarro had found himself four new Marshalls regardless: Ivvira, Mirrah, Rivallo, and Tenno. Hekarro's new lawgivers ordained, Orea and Aloy had officially upheld their end of the bargain. It was time to retrieve AETHER. Just as the Chieftain had vowed, he'd granted them access to the chamber underneath the throne.

"This is it," Aloy breathed as an elevator dragged them below the Earth. "AETHER is somewhere inside this place."

"Do you think it'll be as difficult as MINERVA?"

"Unfortunately, I think so."

"Sounds about right." Now entrenched firmly underground, the sisters stepped out into a labyrinthine mess of hallways and corridors. AETHER was most likely holed up in the center of the puzzle.

"What was this place?" Aloy murmured, glancing around. "I know the Grove was most likely a museum at some point, but-"

"What kind of museum needs this much processing power?" Orea finished with a shrug. "I guess we'll find out."

"Intruder alert," a synthetic voice buzzed, similar to the tone MINERVA had employed, albeit deeper. "Unauthorized access detected."

"You know, something tells me we're not welcome here," Orea drawled.

"Can't imagine what."

"All the more important we go inside." Their hesitance nonexistent, they strode into the adjacent corridor, Focuses on and ready. Orea gobbled up any data points she could find along the way.

"Look, I can see the central computer-" Aloy's ecstatic announcement was cut short as the room began to spin. The floor underneath their feet shook like a leaf as they somehow slid farther and farther away from the console.

"What the-it's changing the room!" I get it: this was the museum's archives. The bunker can probably change its layout so the Old Ones could find what they wanted more easily. At least, that was what Orea assumed-she was getting far too dizzy to form coherent thoughts. By the time her surroundings stopped spinning, they were far, far away from AETHER'S hiding place.

"You are not wanted here," it whirred. "Leave."

"Not gonna happen AETHER!" Aloy called. "How do we get through this mess?"

"We could climb across the shelves." When AETHER had rotated the room, it had only shifted the floors, not the shelves above. "If we use those to move, we should be able to reach it."

"Good idea." Latching onto the rows like a spider to its web, they crawled forward, AETHER hissing in rage. We're starting to get on its nerves. Good. Enraged opponents made more mistakes, slipped more easily.

"I said: GET. OUT!" Orea nearly fell smack off the shelf as it too began to drift away from AETHER'S computer, the entire bunker rotating and twisting like one giant gear.

"Guess it can move the whole room!" she blanched, grasping for purchase as her handholds rattled with the force of a quake. How are we gonna get to it? No matter what we do, AETHER can just send us away.

"Hey," Aloy panted, the chamber having stopped its spinning. "AETHER'S controlling this whole place through the central computer, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" What are you thinking Aloy?