Vol3 Chapter 48 Conspiracy Theory

By the time they made camp, Amos had almost lost track of how many days they had been wandering through the ruin.

The fire crackled between them.

For once, there were no monsters lurking nearby, no strange corridors to navigate, and no ancient traps waiting to spring. Just five worn-out adventurers gathered around a campfire in the heart of an impossibly vast ruin. Daren tended something roasting over the flames while Vena quietly sorted through their supplies. Tessa stared into the fire lost in thought.

Harold leaned back against his pack, and Amos glanced around at the group, He smiled.

"So."

Daren glanced over.

"So?"

"What are you all going to do after we get out?"

There was a brief silence.

Then Daren shrugged.

"Sleep."

Amos laughed.

"That's it?"

"At least three days."

Vena snorted.

"You'd sleep for three days and then complain about being bored."

"I wouldn't complain."

"You absolutely would."

Daren pointed his food at her.

"I'd complain that I had to go back to work."

Harold chuckled.

"I think we'd all take a few days off."

Tessa nodded.

"I want a proper bath."

"That's your first priority?" Amos asked.

"Have you forgotten how long we've been inside this place?"

"No."

"Then you understand."

Amos laughed again, the sound feeling oddly unfamiliar. Just days ago, these people had been strangers. Now, he could easily imagine Daren sleeping the day away, Vena instantly checking their supplies as soon as they got back, Tessa vanishing into some quiet library corner, and Harold heading straight off to report everything to the guild.

"How about you?" Harold asked.

Amos looked at him.

"Me?"

"What are you doing after we get out?"

Amos thought about it.

"I don't know."

That answer was surprisingly honest.

"I suppose I'll figure it out when I get there."

Go back to academy, probably.

Daren shook his head.

"That's a terrible plan."

"It's worked so far."

"Has it?"

Amos smiled.

"I guess I wouldn't be here if it's a good plan."

They laughed as the fire crackled, their talk meandering over everyday topics for a time. Then Amos looked around at the ancient stone that enclosed them.

"Actually..."

Everyone looked at him.

"What's your wildest theory about this place?"

Daren raised an eyebrow.

"My wildest theory?"

"Yeah."

"About the ruin?"

"Ancient civilization, lost kingdom, cursed city, whatever."

Daren immediately grinned.

"Oh, I've got one."

Vena groaned.

"Of course you do."

"This entire place was built by an ancient civilization that discovered immortality."

Tessa tilted her head.

"Immortality?"

"Yep. They became immortal, got bored, and abandoned the entire civilization."

Harold stared at him.

"That's your theory?"

"Wait, I'm not finished."

Daren raised a finger dramatically.

"They're still alive."

Vena stared.

"Where?"

"Underground."

"We're underground."

"Exactly."

Amos burst out laughing.

Daren nodded proudly.

"See? It all makes sense."

"No, it doesn't," Vena said.

"It makes perfect sense."

Tessa looked thoughtful.

"What if they're actually sleeping?"

Daren immediately pointed at her.

"Exactly!"

"I was joking."

"Still exactly."

Harold shook his head.

"You're both ridiculous."

Amos smiled.

"What about you, Harold?"

Harold hesitated.

"I think this was probably a major city once."

"That's not a conspiracy theory."

"Fine."

He glanced around.

"Maybe the city wasn't destroyed."

The others became slightly quieter.

Harold continued.

"Maybe it was sealed intentionally."

Tessa's eyes lit up.

"That's possible."

Daren leaned forward.

"Sealed against what?"

Harold shrugged.

"That's the part I don't know."

"Something dangerous?" Amos asked.

"Probably."

"Like what?"

"Something that was better left buried."

Daren slowly looked around.

"That's considerably less funny."

Everyone laughed.

Tessa then raised a finger.

"I have one."

Amos turned toward her.

"I'm listening."

"The ruin changes."

Vena frowned.

"Changes?"

"The architecture. The pathways. The inscriptions."

Tessa gestured around them.

"We've found areas that seem to belong to completely different periods. The construction styles aren't entirely consistent."

Amos's expression became slightly more attentive.

"You're saying different civilizations built over the same place?"

"Perhaps."

Daren nodded seriously.

"Or..."

He leaned closer to the fire.

"...the ruin is alive."

Silence.

Vena stared at him, as did Tessa and Harold, while Amos slowly raised an eyebrow.

Daren grinned.

"What?"

"You just said the ruin is alive," Vena said.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's creepy."

"That's not evidence."

"It doesn't need to be."

Amos laughed.

"That's probably the worst theory so far."

"Thank you."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

"I choose to interpret it that way."

The conversation continued.

One theory led to another. The ancient civilization was said to have unlocked the secret to immortality. The ruins were believed to be a massive magical weapon, and the whole structure might have been built to seal away something deep beneath.

Tessa suggested that some of the monsters might actually be guardians rather than ordinary creatures.

Daren claimed the ruin was secretly the headquarters of an ancient civilization of extremely intelligent goblins.

Vena immediately rejected that one.

Harold proposed that the ancient people might have deliberately erased their own civilization from history.

Amos contributed a few theories of his own, most of them increasingly ridiculous as the night went on.

At some point, Daren claimed that the Blue Wolfs had probably complaining about them.

That earned a laugh from everyone.

Even Amos let the contradictions fade for a while. He stopped thinking about the coin, brushed off the strange feeling hovering at the edge of his mind, and allowed the memory of the four sets of remains to slip away.

He sat by the fire with four people he’d only met a few days earlier, listening to their increasingly ridiculous theories about the ruin. Somehow, it didn’t seem quite so menacing anymore. In fact, it almost felt like an adventure again.