Revelación de las políticas contables

A cage enveloped my limp and drowning body as I hit the bottom of the pit. I was ripped up and above the water, out of the surface my ragdoll body was thrown about. I puked the water in my lungs out and lifted my head, I couldn’t tell if it was water in my eyes, or blood. My legs and arms were pinned to my body as four scaled fingers pinched down. I was in the grip of the Basc.

Its white eyes glared down at me. I stared back with wide eyes, unblinking at the monster of a thing. I placed my hands on the thumb of Basc, trying to worm my way out. But my strength was gone. It was pointless. Its mouth hung ajar, and slowly moved.

It began to bellow and groan from deep down in the bottom of its throat. I had no idea what words it said, I couldn’t speak ancient fish-man. It sounded slow and uneasy, ancient and unrefined. Its hand swayed me to the side, as its pupil-less white eyes focused not on me, but something behind me.

“Howdy, Dagon,” said a familiar voice from under me. Basc reached down and brought something up in the open palm of its hand. Standing there as if casually meeting with an old friend, was of course, Spooky. “It’s been a while.

What are you doing in this neck of the woods?” he said, paying no attention to me.

I swapped my sight between the two as they kept talking without me. Every time Spooky said something, Basc would bellow like a whale in response. “So, that brat did bring you here after all. Typical, getting others to do his dirty work.

At least the girl cured you. She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?”

It bellowed back. “No, I had nothing to do with it. I was just here to watch.

If you have anyone to thank, it’s her.”

More bellowing. “Yes, the Festival did happen, but that Carter Girl,

remember her? She postponed it. Dumped it off on her kid. Some things never change am I right?”

Basc spoke again. “Yes, that would explain how she would be able to use the White Room to release you from his grasp. She’s an Empath.”

More unintelligible grumbles. “Trust me, I don’t like him either. He might get away with it too if it not for this meddling child. That’s why I’ve directed her here. She’s managed to survive the trials of the Dreamlands so far. I’d say it’s safe to entrust her with it. It is her family heirloom after all. Besides, if it goes haywire, we can still go nuclear.” The way he spoke sounded like he was trying to sell water to a fish.

“I’m right here,” I coughed, my lungs not finished rejecting the putrid swamp water. But neither of them spoke as Basc reached his arm back to the ground, letting Spooky hop off. Then he used his now free hand to reach into his throat. A disturbing sloshing sound was made by his index finger and thumb, but after a moment he pulled something out, a little object caught between his long and cracked nails.

He set me on the ground next to Spooky. I wobbled a bit but was able to stand. My outfit was torn in several areas, especially around my right shoulder.

Basc’s several foot-long talons hovered only inches away from my face. I lifted my hands, holding them together, ready to catch whatever this now friendly beast was willing to give me. His nails separated, and a glob of goo landed in my hands. Resisting the urge to hurl, I wiped the saliva away, and revealed a small, silver emblem that looked like two blocks facing the same way, connected to a small rod. I knew this tint. It was a part of the Silver key. The top third of it.

I reached into my bag and placed it in the center pouch. Luckily my bag was still water proof, so my sketch book survived. I looked to Spooky, who kept his skeletal arms crossed and leaned back. The look on his face betrayed his cynical demeanor. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought he looked proud.

“Thank you,” I said meekly to the beast. It seemed to acknowledge me with a slight nod. Basc once again shifted its attention to Spooky and said something.

“Break the cycle? The odds are slim but, we have another Carter now. Not only that, there’s two others with the Elder Sign. If I can find a few more, it’ll be our last chance to win this war against them. But if the girl fails at the Plateau, there will be no time left. Their Festival feast is still prepared, and they’re starving.” I narrowed my eyes.

“War?” I whispered. But neither answered. Basc turned away and began to sink into the black waters, but he spoke one last time before he disappeared

under the depths. However, this time, he didn’t speak in grumbled or grunts. But in sounds. Blubbery and with base. It almost sounded like he was attempting to use normal words. Ancient words in a forbidden chant in a language so primitive that it sent a chill down my spine. And for the first time, I was thankful I didn’t understand this omen.

“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”

“Not for long.” And with that, the now peaceful beast sunk below the water.

Leaving us in the quiet and empty room. I sighed, another encounter survived by the skin of my teeth. Tristan! I looked at his limp body on the wall. I ran over to him, sliding onto my knees as my legs gave way. I shook his shoulders.

“Wake up Tristan, are you alright?” I felt the back of his head to see if he might have split his skull open on the impact. Besides for a handful of bruises, he must have used his armor on reaction to shield him from any serious harm.

“What was that about?” I asked, still inspecting Tristan.

“Personal business. Dagon was thankful for your help. Not often does the God of the fishermen say things like that to a flesh-bag. Yellow King managed to gain control over him after your mother’s failure to fully seal him away. You used your Empath gimmick to free him from the grasp of Yellow King for good.” I had so many questions.

“Spooky, what the heck is going on? I’m tired of all these secrets. Tell me everything!”

“Fine. I suppose you’ve earned it for making it this far,” he shrugged. I had to double take to make sure I heard him right. I tried not to seem too interested as I kept inspecting Tristan. He stirred a little, he was slowly coming to. “Enter the White Room and I’ll tell you everything there,” he said, crouching down next to me. I made sure Tristan wouldn’t topple over. I held back a smug smile of my own, I reached my hand back. “Quickly, now. Don’t waste my time-” I whipped my palm forward. Slapping Spooky right on his jaw. Everything went white in a flash as I entered his soul. The scene around me vanished, replaced by an infinite expanse of darkness. Spooky and I gave off the slightest glow, like lightning bugs in a field. It was just like the Abyss. It made me shiver, wondering just what kind of creature could make the White Room turn pitch black.

“Was that necessary?” he said, adjusting his crooked jawbone back into place. I shrugged.

“No. That was for me.” He rolled his eyes. “Why’s it so dark in here?”

“The lightbulb broke. Maintenance is taking their sweet time fixing it.”

Lightbulb? “Now, what do you want to know?” He slowly lowered himself to the ground. Sitting back on his tailbone with one leg parallel to the ground and the other going up. He placed an elbow over his knee to lock himself in place. I joined him, sitting cross legged, I pulled out my sketch book and stared at him like an eager student.

“How did I do this? How do Tristan and Deva have the Elder Sign too?

What’s so dangerous about the Silver Key that she had to break it into thirds?

What’s the war you’re talking about? I want answers, now.” I demanded. I wasn’t going to take any more lies from this creature. He would answer me, or I’d figure out a way to make him leave me alone for good, though I didn’t know how. I felt so faint, as if I could pass out at any second.

“Don’t strain yourself. Looks like you nearly got torn to pieces entering Dagon’s mind. Be glad that was a puppet, and not the real Yellow King. And before you ask, Dagon is Basc’s real name, not what you Dreamlanders call it.”

“I’m still going to call him Basc.”

“Okay, whatever. One question at a time. Pay attention, I’m not going to say this twice. You know that sign your mother put on your shoulder when you were a kid? It’s an old magic rune that an ancient race of beings called the Elder Things used to protect themselves from the Elder Gods. However, when they went to the Waking World your grandfather Carter found them, they gave him their forbidden knowledge, the same Elder Sign. Your mother literally took a little fraction of an Elder God and placed it in your body to build your resistance, like a vaccine, not that you’d know what that is. In doing so, she gave you access to an aspect of their powers. You grew up as a shy sensitive creature. So, your abilities reflect that in your Empathic prowess.” I tried tracking along, writing his monologue word-for-word. “Don’t think about it too much, I’ll get into your abilities later. For now, what’s important is just getting this key together.” I nodded. Magic. I was really imbued with magic. I mean, it would have been nice if mother asked me if I wanted it before she gave me this power, but I’d have to give her that complaint later.

“As for the key, as your mother said, she must have hidden the key away to stop it from falling into the wrong hands or from you using it to open all sorts of doors to places you don’t need to go. It might be mostly inert now, but somewhere in that relic is a powerful arcane energy that shouldn’t be in any untrained hands. It even ended up being more than your grandfather could handle, but that’s another story. As for the war…” My hand moved at lighting speed to keep up with him.

“There are certain battles that go on behind the scenes. You heard me mention the Festival? Well it’s a Cosmos wide event. Happens every 15 billion years or so, give or take a few. During this event, the Cosmos implodes as the Elder Gods consume every galaxy and cluster. Which kills everything, obviously. Then after some time it explodes again, starting the process all over again. And every time this happens, the Cosmos is re-created in their image.

Though, there are some that seek to make a change to this process. They’re considered Traitor Gods in cult circles.” I thought for a moment and raised my hand.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you? The Traitor Gods? You’re helping me, so I can stop Yellow King from letting his family, the other Elder Gods from making to the Festival and destroying the Cosmos?” He turned his head slowly, looking at me from the corner of his eye. He didn’t answer, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“A civil war! You’re fighting against the other Gods in order to save the Dreamlands!” I spouted.

“What? No. I don’t care about the Dreamlands. This place is garbage. And they’re not going to destroy anything, just sort of make it start over. I have my reasons for wanting to change the way they do it though, and the easiest way to do it is through the Elder Sign,” he admitted.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You’re a real Avatar! Just like Yellow King, but nice.”

“I am not nice. I just have different goals than Yellow King.”

“Wait, you’re not from the Dreamlands, are you? You’re from a different place, like mom.” As I looked up I saw Spooky’s eyes unfocused, looking at the non-existent ground between us.

“Correct,” he spoke, his vigor returned. Then another question became obvious.

“What did you know about my mother?”

“Naturally since she had the Elder Sign and was one of the Cosmic Dancers, we became business partners. She was an adventurer, and I offered her the means of travel. However, in the end she broke our deal and tried killing me.

Just like her father before her. Both betrayals left me… deformed.” He motioned over his own body. I felt like he wasn’t telling the whole story, but I wasn’t going to argue and stop his explanation.

“Who were the Cosmic Dancers? I heard Leeroy mention that before.”

“After your grandfather’s disappearance, the Cosmos was in dire need of protection from the Elder Gods. Somebody had to repair the seals he placed over

Archways to keep them outside of our Cosmos. So, Carter’s child traveled across all Worlds and found people who could handle the Elder Sign’s power. These people banned together and called themselves the Cosmic Dancers. After completing their task of reforming Carter’s barrier, and thanks to half of them being complete fools, they disbanded. Of course, it didn’t take long for the Elder Gods to find little Avatars across the Cosmos to carry out their wills. And in only a few years, people like the Yellow King came to be. And now here we are.”

“What was she like?” I lowered my voice, wondering what aspects my mother and I shared.

“Asinine.” I frowned. “That being said, I can’t have either of you die until I’ve ended this fight.” He gave an almost playful smile. I started to realize Spooky was more human than I thought. “Your friend is waking up. We’re out of time. This information should be enough to satisfy your obnoxious curiosity for now.” He stood.

“What am I supposed to do next?” I put my things up.

“Go back to Kingsport. Retrieve the next piece from the king, then challenge Yellow King in his temple for the final piece. I will finish what I have left to do on this World, then I’ll meet you there, be ready,” he said as I snapped out of the darkness and back into my own body, nearly falling over backward as I left the twisted White Room.

CHAPTER 22