"Ratella. Could you not use your Edict to revert the building to its previous form?"
"Maybe, the Primordial Light implanted knowledge of the Edict into my brain directly. I'll search the information he gave me."
Ratella hadn't searched his mind for the information ingrained in it using the Domain of Time spell the most often because of its limitless power. A few command words dwelled within his eye, awaiting to be called upon.
"Echoes of Reverie can accelerate time and enhance perception and speed. I should be able to reverse the effect to wind back time instead."
"Just don't mess up and revert yourself to a baby or an old man."
"Don't worry, I'm not that reckless to make such a mistake," exclaimed Ratella, rubbing Liliana's head, causing stray hairs to flood out.
Liliana nodded before pouting, straightening her hair with her hands, watching Ratella's back curiously, and a tone of annoyance running through her mind.
He approached the ruin, placing his hand on a section of crumbled wall and picturing the desired effect.
"Edict of Time, Echoes of Reverie, Revert."
A semi-transparent bronze clock encompassed by strings of emerald appeared over the whole ruin. The strings of emerald wrap themselves around every stray bit of rubble within or around the ruins, returning it to its original position.
The clock's dials turned back rapidly, millions of hours passing from its movements before finally stopping dead. The strings of time were done, restoring everything to its original place.
The scene reveals an azure and violet church: a burning sun atop its roof, a looming moon hidden behind the sun. The grand exterior bears the altar's pattern across every surface.
The two moved to the front, with no entrances left on the sides.
"I've never seen anything like this before. I've never heard of any buildings like this."
"That was amazing. That power of yours is truly terrifying," exclaimed Liliana, clapping her hands, greatly curious and fascinated by his power.
A few stray hairs still poked out from Liliana's head, which made Ratella chuckle. Their eyes met as she ran her hand over the symbol chiseled into the door.
"Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm right, but I believe this to be a shrine of creation, judging by the symbol on the door. It's the same as the altar's right?"
"Yeah, it's a symbol for creation. The moon and sun are the second and third principles of creation, with the earth being first."
"We have similar shrines for the aspects of Faravos. I wasn't totally sure this was a shrine, but I suppose it makes sense that this land was once a part of Kathoros before the invasion."
"Do you know what's inside?"
"I've only been in shrines of war, but they were all different in some way. So I really don't know what we'll find inside."
"Then we will just have to explore it all then," exclaimed Ratella, pushing open the door, revealing a line of benches from both sides of the room with the same altar from before in its center.
The two walked toward the altar, eyes scanning the space—totally devoid of life. An azure lantern illuminated the decorative artwork lining the walls.
Without speaking a word, the two each pressed their palms flat on the altar, mirroring each other's movements and sharing the same intent.
The altar emitted a similar azure light this time, with violet energy swirling around it, spreading to the far end of the room. Casting a layer of violet energy into the air, obscuring their vision greatly, they were no longer able to see the entrance.
"Is this another century summoning? What's with the clouds of violet?" grumbled Liliana, her patience wearing thin at the thought of any puzzles being needed to discover the secrets of this shrine.
"I'm not sure, but just keep your guard up anyway."
The energy in the room soon coalesced into a single ball of azure and violet, drifting beneath the altar and disappearing from their sight.
With its absence, a mechanical whirling sound rang out from the altar. Startled, the two drew their weapons. They approached cautiously, inspecting for any changes. They noticed the altar was no longer secured to the floor.
Pushing it slightly revealed a spiral staircase leading downward, its path lined with similar azure lanterns, guiding the way. The creepy setting unnerved the two, but they still pushed forward, their curious spirits overwhelming their gut feeling of danger.
After descending the long, spiraling stairs, they reached the base: a laboratory filled with multiple vials of violet and azure, and machines of unknown function scattered throughout. The air felt markedly different from the church above.
"Seems you were right about a wicked scientist being behind the creatures from earlier. These vials are interesting; they have the appearance of the energy supplying those armors."
Liliana swirled one of the vials in hand, its contents bubbling and reacting violently with the glass holding it at the slightest movement. The substance inside eroded the vial, causing it to spill all over the floor and shatter.
Liliana backed away from the vial, discarding it, eyeing the substance on the floor warily as it corroded the stone tiles before dissipating into the air. Its life was short-lived, but the effects it had would be dire for any living thing coming into contact with it.
"Don't touch the vials; the slightest movement will cause them to destroy the vials. Be careful, Ratella."
Ratella inspected the vials with his eyes, avoiding the same mistake Liliana made.
"The one you spilled, what colour was it?"
"It was a blue mixed with a green."
Ratella mumbled something under his breath at her response, removing a violet vial from its slot, swirling it around with his fingers. This time, the liquid didn't react violently; it stayed calm. No such reaction occurred earlier.
"They're all different. Try to look for any books or papers detailing what they were doing."
A withered plant sat next to the collection of violet vials. Curiosity got the better of him for a split second; he opened a vial, poured its contents onto the plant, and watched as its ashy figure revived into a bountiful evergreen. No sign of its earlier withered state remained.
He repeated the action with the other vials, but the required amount only returned the plant to its withered state. The amount in the vials is exactly what is needed to reach the desired result.
Liliana found a small office in the laboratory's corner and dug through cabinets and stray books for clues to the owner's research.
Ratella followed after her, growing tired of the vials of violet no longer working on the plant, its state apparently now irreparable after his little experiment.
"Come help me, there are millions of books and files in this cramped office."
The two rooted through all the files and books in the room, often uncovering a multitude of reports and documents on the experiments underway in the laboratory. After an hour, the two found a small notebook detailing all the basic principles and reasoning of the owner's studies.
"It's said in this book that the scientist was experimenting with applications of creation. How to revert life back to dust, to create new life from particles, and how to twist life into a weapon. Are the three titles of the notebook?"
"Mhm, it seems that he really was a mad scientist, but was he a Devil or an Angel?"
"I severely doubt that the Seraphic Imperator would permit such research, seeing it as inhumane and highly unethical. Although if this research were added to the military of Kathoros, it would turn the tide of war in their favour."
"Such power to corrode and destroy anything with the slightest drop would annihilate the legions of Devils. We have no defense for widespread chemical attacks."
"This sounds like something the Horsemen of Pestilence would research. Could it be her?"
"No, she doesn't mess with such efficient ways of killing. She prefers to watch her target bleed from the inside, succumbing to the disease she implanted in their body. The most inefficient and slow way of killing brings her the most joy, seeing it as curing them. Letting them revel in her cure."
"Sounds quite barbaric. I'm guessing she sees it as the most humane of killing as well."
"That's right, she's twisted the reason in her mind to see the most vile plagues as cure-alls. Death is the ultimate cure in her mind. I'd suggest not getting close to her if you don't want to end up as a guinea pig."
Ratella held the small notebook filled with centuries of knowledge on the Edict of Creation. The author hyperfocused on the uses of Creation, whether for death or for life.
"Hm, look there," exclaimed Liliana, pointing to a paragraph in the book. "To gain the full power of Creation, a person must master all aspects of life. Death, life, nature, moon, sun, and the earth. Mastery of the six principles of creation is needed to become absolute in the eyes of God."
"In the eyes of Gods? This makes no sense if you can't wield five Edicts and one Aspect at the same time. If you could achieve such a feat, you would undoubtedly die from exhaustion. No one has that much divinity in their body to use that many powers at the same time."
"It's completely unheard of anywhere on the Isles of Elpis to have more than one Edict or Aspect, which is impossible because of the immense strain."
The noises of approaching footsteps, echoing throughout the laboratory, startled the two, causing them to freeze momentarily, completely baffled by the presence of another.