Chapter 63: The Egg Box and the Villain’s Tools

The morning after the security meeting was surprisingly peaceful.

Nobody was trying to invade the hotel.

Nobody had been kidnapped.

No ancient prophecies had appeared.

No cultists had burst through walls.

Gene considered that a personal victory.

He sat beside Selene on a balcony overlooking the growing lands of Mystic Blood Valley.

 The morning mist rolled across distant hills while sunlight illuminated the rooftops of the towns below.

For a few minutes neither of them spoke.

The silence was comfortable.

Rare.

Valuable.

Then Selene looked down at the silver necklace hanging around her neck.

The ancient pendant rested against her chest, catching the sunlight.

“We still don’t know what this necklace actually is.”

Gene followed her gaze.

The necklace had become increasingly important ever since the prophecy vault had reacted to it.

“It reacted to the vault.”

Selene nodded.

“The box too.”

“And the gems.”

“Which means it isn’t just jewelry.”

Gene rubbed his chin.

“It could be a key.”

“It could.”

“It could be a map.”

“Maybe.”

“It could be a weapon.”

Gene shrugged.

“Lots of magical artifacts become weapons eventually.”

“That’s not comforting.”

“Some of the most powerful weapons are usually beautiful. Like you :3 ”

Selene rolled her eyes.

For several moments they sat quietly.

Then Gene remembered something.

“Speaking of mysterious artifacts…”

Selene looked over.

Gene hesitated.

He still wasn’t sure how much he should reveal.

“The other day I made something new.”

Her eyes narrowed immediately.

“Whenever you say that, bad things happen.”

“Well it was a day ago.”

Gene laughed awkwardly.

He leaned back in his chair.

“You remember the church?”

“The Dark Chapel?”

“Yeah.”

“I remember.”

“I made an egg.”

Selene blinked.

“A more normal sentence would be helpful.”

Gene ignored that.

“It’s called the Egg of Calamity.”

The silence that followed lasted several seconds.

Then:

“You made a WHAT?”

Gene quickly raised both hands.

“Nothing dangerous.”

Selene stared angrily.

Gene stared back derpingly.

Neither moved.

“Gene.”

“Yes?”

“That sounds incredibly dangerous.”

“Is it really?”

“GENE.”

He coughed.

“Anyway.”

Selene groaned.

“Anyway?”

“Anyway.”

Gene explained the chapel.

The strange egg.

Its purpose.

Its connection to the horror religion.

The eldritch concepts he had used while designing it.

He deliberately left out two details.

The Caretaker and Jesse Belle.

For now, he preferred keeping that secret.

The explanation itself lasted nearly twenty minutes.

By the end Selene looked exhausted.

“I swear half your ideas sound like the beginning of disasters.”

“Only half? I think I’m improving!”

“That was not a compliment.”

Gene grinned.

Then Selene suddenly froze.

A strange expression crossed her face.

“…Egg.”

Gene blinked.

“What?”

“My grandmother.”

Gene waited.

Selene slowly sat forward.

“She had an egg box.”

“…An egg box?”

She nodded.

“An old one.”

Her eyes grew distant.

“As long as I can remember she carried it everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

“Everywhere.”

Gene became interested immediately.

Selene continued.

“It wasn’t particularly beautiful.”

“Wooden.”

“Very Old.”

“Looked ancient.”

“But she never left it behind.”

“Not once.”

The more she spoke, the more intrigued Gene became.

“Even when traveling?”

“Yes.”

“Parties?”

“Yes.”

“Holidays?”

“Yes.”

“Hunting trips?”

“Ye…Wait , why would she go hunting?”

“Fair point.”

Selene ignored him.

“When she died…”

Her expression darkened slightly.

“…it wasn’t with her.”

Gene sat up.

Now that was interesting.

“Nobody questioned it?”

Selene shook her head.

“We were grieving at the time.”

“The funeral happened.”

“The inheritance was divided.”

“Years passed.”

She touched the necklace.

“And now that I think about it…”

Gene nodded slowly.

“It disappeared.”

Selene nodded.

“It disappeared.”

Neither spoke for several moments.

Finally Gene smiled.

“I think we’re taking a trip.”

⸻

Two hours later they stood inside the Mooncrest family manor.

Selene’s parents were waiting.

Her father sat reading documents while her mother supervised several servants.

Both looked surprised when the pair entered.

“Selene?”

“Gene?”

Lady Mooncrest smiled warmly.

“What brings you here?”

Selene exchanged a glance with Gene.

Then she explained.

The necklace.

The prophecy.

The egg box.

The missing artifact.

Her parents listened carefully.

By the end both looked thoughtful.

Her father slowly set down his papers.

“The old mansion.”

Selene nodded.

“I think Grandmother hid it there.”

“It would make sense.”

Lady Mooncrest sighed.

“I always wondered where it went.”

Gene looked curious.

“You knew about it?”

“Of course.”

The noblewoman smiled faintly.

“Your grandmother treated that box like it contained the fate of the world.”

Gene and Selene exchanged a glance.

Neither liked how accurate that statement suddenly sounded.

Her father stood.

“When do you plan to go investigate.”

Selene nodded.

“We planned to leave tomorrow if we can.”

Lady Mooncrest smiled.

“Be careful.”

Gene immediately replied.

“When has that statement ever worked?”

Everyone ignored him.

⸻

While heading back, Gene had another task on his mind.

One he’d been meaning to test.

The Dark Chapel.

Specifically—

What happened during a real sermon?

He found Mother Sarah near the school grounds.

Several children immediately waved as he approached.

Mother Sarah was carrying enough notebooks to crush a normal person.

“Gene.”

“Mother Sarah.”

She adjusted her glasses.

“What can I do for you?”

Gene smiled.

“I need all the chapel members gathered.”

Her eyebrow rose.

“For what purpose?”

“A test.”

That answer never reassured anyone.

Mother Sarah sighed.

“Very well. Things seemed to be going too smoothly as of late.”

Within minutes she had summoned the three other horror nuns.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The women moved with supernatural speed.

Black habits fluttered.

Shadows twisted around them.

Eyes glowed.

Several nearby townsfolk wisely chose to walk elsewhere.

Gene looked impressed.

“Wow.”

One nun crawled upside down across a wall.

Another emerged from a shadow.

The third simply appeared behind him.

Gene nearly had a heart attack.

Mother Sarah looked pleased.

“The chapel is ready.”

“Excellent.”

Gene nodded.

“Next week we’ll conduct our first official sermon.”

The nuns froze.

Then every single one smiled.

That somehow looked horrifying.

“We shall prepare.”

Without another word they vanished toward the church.

Gene watched them go.

“…That feels like a future problem.”

⸻

With that handled he finally returned to the summoning room.

His favorite room.

The room where terrible decisions became reality.

Gene sat before the summoning machine.

A thought had been bothering him.

Could he summon things that weren’t horror related?

The machine activated.

Runes glowed.

Gene started experimenting.

A normal backpack.

Failed.

A normal lantern.

Failed.

A normal sword.

Failed.

A normal chair.

Failed.

Gene groaned.

The machine was remaining silent.

He tried again.

Normal radio.

Failed.

Normal motorcycle.

Failed.

Normal toaster.

Failed.

Gene pointed accusingly at the summon panel.

“Some people fear their toaster.”

Nothing happened.

After another hour he admitted defeat.

The machine clearly preferred horror themes.

Or… maybe villain themes.

That second thought made him pause.

Villains.

Not horror villains.

Just villains.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

“Oh.”

The machine hummed.

Gene leaned forward.

Now he had ideas.

⸻

The first item emerged thirty minutes later.

A black metal frisbee.

At first glance it looked harmless.

Gene picked it up.

Then immediately dropped it.

Electricity crackled across its surface.

“Ow.”

Athena appeared beside him.

NEW ITEM RECORDED.

Gene examined the description.

His eyes widened.

The device could shrink objects.

Store them.

Preserve them.

Release them later.

Seven storage slots.

Upgradeable.

Catalog-based growth.

Gene laughed.

“Okay.”

“That’s useful.”

Very useful.

Potentially terrifying.

Definitely useful.

He named it:

The Collector’s Disc.

⸻

The second item took longer.

Several attempts failed.

The machine finally spat out a heavy black book.

Its cover looked almost alive.

Gene carefully opened it.

Blank pages.

Thousands of them.

Athena scanned it.

ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

ITEM CAPABLE OF RECORDING CREATURES, LOCATIONS, SPELLS, AND HISTORICAL DATA.

Gene’s grin widened.

Every new discovery could be permanently recorded.

The book would grow stronger the more information it contained.

Eventually it could even generate simulations.

That was absurd.

Gene loved it.

“The Archivist’s Grimoire.”

Athena approved.

NAME ACCEPTED.

⸻

The third item nearly exploded.

Gene considered that progress.

Smoke filled the room.

Runes flashed.

The machine shook violently.

Then a small metal cube rolled onto the floor.

Gene stared.

The cube stared back.

At least it felt like it was staring.

Tiny carvings covered every surface.

The thing looked wrong.

Ancient.

Impossible.

Dangerous.

Athena scanned it.

Then paused.

Then scanned it again.

Gene became nervous.

“Athena?”

The AI responded slowly.

WARNING.

“That’s never a good sign.”

ITEM CLASSIFICATION UNKNOWN.

“…What?”

OBJECT APPEARS TO BE A PUZZLE BOX.

OBJECT APPEARS TO CONTAIN SOMETHING.

Gene immediately took three steps backward.

“What does it contain?”

A pause.

UNKNOWN.

Gene took two more steps backward.

The cube pulsed once.

Very faintly.

Gene stared.

The cube stared.

Neither trusted the other.

Finally he carefully picked it up.

The carvings shifted.

Just slightly.

Gene immediately put it back on the floor.

“Nope.”

The cube remained silent.

Athena displayed a warning.

RECOMMENDATION:

DO NOT OPEN.

Gene nodded.

“Best advice you’ve given all week.”

The puzzle box remained on the table.

Waiting.

Patient.

As if it knew eventually someone would try.

And when that day came—

Gene suspected things would become very interesting.

Very dangerous.

Or both.

Usually both.

The summoner looked at his three new creations.

The Collector’s Disc.

The Archivist’s Grimoire.

The Unknown Puzzle Box.

For the first time in days he felt excited.

The necklace mystery.

The missing egg box.

The prophecy.

The gems.

The cult.

The future.

Everything was slowly connecting together.

And tomorrow—

He and Selene would begin searching through her grandmother’s forgotten mansion.

Somewhere in that ancient estate—

Answers were waiting.

The question was whether they would like those answers once they found them.