The building was run down. It seemed like nobody had been in the main hall in many years. Stones had piled round the stairs up to the dais the gateway stood on. Dust and detritus seemed to cover every run-down surface, be it the floors, tables or even the countertops. The place looked like no one had lived in the building for a long time, which worried Laurence.
“Hello?” He called out. Hearing no response all four of them began making their way through the stone chunks that had fallen from the roof of the hall. Everyone was by the door that exited the building when Laurence turned back towards the hall and said “Can you guys go outside for a minute, I want to have a look around here for a moment”.
Peter and Fen nodded then walked outside, leaving Laurence to his own devices. As he walked through the broken down pews that lined the sides of the hallway he could not help but reminisce of his childhood, when he would hide inside each row when he knew he was in trouble, or when there was a large entourage of people entering the tower and he was not supposed to be around. He remembered the feeling of his father ruffling his hair when he was punished by his mother, lessening the blow of the punishments he would be given. As he walked into the back of the dilapidated building he stopped. The kitchen was just as worn down by age, but there was nothing of value within the room. All of the items that he remembered his mother cooking with were long gone from the room, as was the warmth and the inviting smells that he remembered were so integral to the nature of the room. This place was without a doubt where he spent his childhood, but his memories were very different to the reality he was presented with.
Taking in a deep breath he walked out to join Fen and Peter in the courtyard that faced the village. When he got outside he was surprised to see the once clear path that slipped by Ms Haversham’s home and towards the village bakery had been replaced with trees. A wall of bushes interweaved the mighty oaks that stood proudly in front of all of them, making any route through the valley an impossibility to normal people. Seeing the forest wall that was all around them, Laurence took a moment to look behind himself and finally saw the level of decay that his old home had been subject to. The building was extremely dilapidated, plants were growing round and through the stone walls of the building, vines crawled up the window frames and wrapped around the shards of glass that had stood the test of time and managed to stay inside the frames that held them for so long. It was unlikely that anyone had seen this building for more than a century, let alone lived in it; but that did not stop Laurence from looking around and trying to find some sort of clue towards the location of his parents.
They all sat down outside the front entrance of the old church and mulled over the situation at hand. “So this is your home?” Peter asked, a mixture of schadenfreude and whimsey clearly audible in his voice. “It seems a bit... run down if you ask me”.
“Laugh all you want, but this is my home. Without my parents being here there’s going to be nobody in the clan who recognises me. I have no way to verify anything in the letter any more”.
“You’re kidding me right?” Peter’s mouth gaped open as Laurence ran his hands through his hair.
“Not at all. As far as the Absolution clan is concerned, I am an unknown child”.
“Are you sure though? Are you sure that nobody would be able to even get word to your father?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. Maybe? There’s a chance that they might be able to get a message to him, but my father and mother lived here as a punishment for something they did a long time ago. I don’t know what exactly happened, nobody would ever tell me, but he earned the moniker Bloody Gus for it”.
Peter sighed, “We can try either way...” He stopped. “Why do I keep being surprised by you? You’re telling me that you’re the son of the southern Patriarch of the Absolution clan?”
“I have no idea what that means”.
“Ah... Yeah, the hermit thing. I forgot that you might not know everything to do with your family clan over the last cycle. Near the beginning of this cycle the Absolution clan announced that their youngest Ascendant Immortal would be returning from the three cycle exile they had placed upon him for the events on the nineteenth floor. I didn’t actually realise you had anything to do with him, but the news is ancient. I guess the fact that you barely see anyone means you wouldn’t have much of a chance to ask about it”.
“You still haven’t told me what in the name of all that’s holy the South Patriarch even is, or does,” Laurence said, his exasperation at their lack of progress showing through his tone.
“Apologies, apologies, as far as I know the South Patriarch specifically as a title is just that; a title. The role of patriarch within any of the clans is pretty simple though, they are the leaders of the clans. They make the rules, deliberate about the plans of their clan for the future, and they disturb the ancient monsters when some kind of danger to the entire clan arises. In essence, a patriarch or matriarch runs things so the ancient powers that exist within the clans don’t have to. It’s an administrative job, but it gives them power and prestige. It’s the dream job for many of the people within the ranks of former Golden Children; power, prestige, and glory out the wazoo without any of the danger involved with climbing the rest of the Tower”.
“So how could we find him? I’ve barely dealt with the clans, and the Absolution clan has likely never heard of me”.
They both watched Fen explore the nearby undergrowth as they racked their brains for ideas. The scene was one that Laurence would have liked to record given the time; a man watches a woman sitting under an oak tree with a child playing round them. It was the prefect image of a family in a forest without context, but with context it was horrifying. A child playing in an impenetrable forest as a serial killer watches his corpse bride.
“The best way to garner the attention of a clan is if you can manage to pull in maybe one or two more Immortals for the cause. Two Immortals is already impressive, but it’s still not enough to definitely gain audience with a patriarch. With three, or even four Immortals we have a much higher chance”.
“So find some more Immortals who are willing to join our cause, then we travel to an Absolution stronghold in order to convince them to let me see my father? It’s a little roundabout isn’t it?”
“Well I can’t imagine it being easy for us to find the keys alone; as much as I am loath to say it, Rose and the boy aren’t going to be much use in this treasure hunt”. Peter sighed before disturbing the fresco that he was inadvertently part of. “It’s not a good idea, but it’s something we should do anyway, and it’s something that might work”.
“I don’t have any better ideas, and it’s more of an idea than just going to somewhere like Spirit, or Mandas Arae, and knocking on the door of their base there”.
“True. Did you ever end up going to Mandas Arae, or the Immortal city?”
“The city? No, but Mandas Arae is a place I went to once or twice to gain a base of resources. With Yun recreating the Hephaistians and reclaiming the old Hephaistian land in the city floors, it became far easier to gain materials there. I bought in massive bulk though, so I haven’t been back since near the beginning of the cycle”.
“Well we’ve worked on an idea of what to do, but do you have any idea of who we are going to get on our side?”
“Of course, I’ll bring my old gang back together!” Laurence smiled. He knew that the journey would not be an easy one, but with his old friends working with him there would be far less to worry about.
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