The return trip to the surface should have been a triumphant one. After all, Lefty had achieved all of his goals and so much more. Not only had he obtained the third Clavis Imperium, but he had learned more about the history of Perfectum than anyone thought possible.

  But therein lie the problem. The knowledge he gained about the fate of the city, and the origins of the living waste was a tremendous burden. It weighed heavily on his mind, in the same way that his damp and dirty clothing now weighed down his body. Even before his encounter with the immortals, he had already been physically and emotionally exhausted. Hearing the saddest song on top of that pushed the young man to his limits.

  He was bereft of energy now, and all he wanted was to get out of there. To leave behind the cold, dank sewers, change out of his crap-covered clothing, and relax once more in the feather bed he had grown accustomed to. Unfortunately, hours of walking through sludge lay between him and that goal… and most of that walking would be uphill. Needless to say… the journey was a long and arduous one.

  His intensely sore feet certainly didn’t help, but what slowed him more than that… were his tempestuous thoughts about Perfectum. While he had known for weeks that the sewers had once been part of a lost civilization, he hadn't truly grasped the scope of that loss until now. The experience of listening to Marcus’s story had been so vivid, so immersive… that it allowed him to see the city as it once was; brightly lit and full of bustling people. He felt like he had visited this place in its prime; walked these halls when they were still dry and clean, still home to thousands.

  Seeing them as they were now- dark, empty, utterly ruined and deafeningly silent -it was devastating, like seeing the corpse of an old friend up close. And worst of all was the revelation that these barren ruins surrounding him were not the result of time or nature… but the fault of one man: Att's great champion; Scaevolus.

  Lefty was far from the hero worshiping type, but Pluuthrchk's lectures had instilled in him a certain sense of respect for the man. Scaevolus was one of the great old ones; a strong and brilliant warrior, a mage of unparalleled skill, and perhaps most importantly, a selfless leader, one who worked to unite people in peace… not use them for own personal gain. He was, by most accounts, a noble monarch…

  So why then… would he do something like this?

  Even at the end of his reign, when he had gone mad with power, his decisions still had some logic behind them. Sure, the tabernacles were an expensive and convoluted plan… And yes, he had outright deceived his subjects to build them… but most people understood why they had been lied to. His reasoning may have been flawed, and many didn’t agree with it, but there was reasoning behind his actions.

  THIS though. How do you justify this? Destroying the perfect city. Betraying those who had helped him. Damning them to an eternity of torment. It was all so cruel… sadistic even. And all of it had been done when he was young… when his mind was still sharp… long before he had been corrupted by absolute power. Had Scevolus the Great been a ruthless, power-hungry murderer all along? Or was there some reason for all this seemingly senseless malice?

  After walking with his thoughts for quite some time, Lefty finally said all of this to Ol Blu. He wasn’t nearly as eloquent about it of course, but that’s essentially what he said; vented to a friend who listened patiently before responding.

  “I can't say for sure, lad. I wasn't really around here during Scaevolus’s reign. I only ever saw him in person once… and that was in the middle of a battle. He certainly didn't seem very noble then... buuuut that’s how war is… it makes monsters of all I suppose...“

  “All I really know about him are the legends… same as you. And legends are never completely reliable. I mean, that's what I've been trying to tell you… about Pluuthrchk and its history lessons. A lot of what it says may be truthful to some extent… but at the end of the day they’re just stories, and no story is without some bias... it's just a matter of how much there is and in what direction.”

  “Maybe Scaevolus was a right and honorable man who lapsed into evil this one time. Or maybe he was a thoroughly ruthless tyrant, who's cruelty was covered up by the writers of history. Or maybe… there was a good reason why he… doomed Perfectum… and its rulers… We just don't know. We'll probably never know for sure.”

  “Oh I know one thing.” Lefty said with angry confidence. “That last one ain’t true. Cus there's NO good reason for THIS!” He said, gesturing at the decaying ruins that surrounded him.

  The kicken could sense his mood, and didn’t respond. For a moment the two of them walked in silence again, Lefty’s wet footsteps plodding in the dark hallway, before finally he spoke once more.

  When I’m king… I won’t be like him Blu. I won’t do something like this.” He said. His words echoed off the stone walls, mixing with the distant sound of running water and the soft hum of his air torch.

  ...

  They walked along without speaking for quite some time after that, the young man moving slightly faster despite his blistered feet. Eventually they approached the room where they had first encountered the Guardian all those hours ago. Just as Ol Blu had instructed, the sludge automaton stood there, as stoic as when they first saw it, patiently waiting for its next command. Lefty walked right up to it, looking it over for the first time without fear or apprehension, wondering what its existence must be like.

  “We never asked about this.” Said Lefty with a frown. “We don’t know if it's something they made or… if it's one of the thirteen.”

  “If I had to guess, I’d wager it's entirely artificial. I doubt they would mentally dominate one of their own.” Said Ol Blu. The words were meant to lift Lefty's spirits a bit… but the young man's frown only deepened.

  “So my apology from earlier… when I thanked it for letting me go… it didn't even understand that, did it?”

  “...Well... Uh...” Said Ol Blu.

  *sigh* “I guess there's no point in saying goodbye then either.” Lefty said solemnly, before turning back towards the tunnel they had originally entered from.

  “I mean… it couldn't hurt. We don't know for sure.” Said Ol Blu, again trying to lift his friend's spirits.

  But Lefty just sighed even louder. “I hate not knowing things.” he said, with enough spite in his voice that Ol Blu didn't press the subject.

  Lefty walked on without turning back, leaving behind The Guardian and the ruins of Perfectum as he headed towards the parts of the sewers that were intended to be sewers. As they traveled on in relative silence once more, Ol Blu thought long and hard about what Lefty had said. A few months ago he would have assumed that the young man was just stating the obvious; declaring a general contempt for uncertainty… but now he wasn’t so sure. Lefty’s mind had developed a lot in the last few weeks. So much so that Ol Blu began to suspect that his words had subtext.

  Was that statement a jab at him? Was the lad losing faith in his ability to dispense information? These questions weighed heavy on the old kicken. Under Pluuthrchk's tutelage Lefty was growing increasingly knowledgeable… and while Blu’s knowledge of the old tongue had proven itself useful … he couldn't help but focus on all those times today when he didn’t know something; on how often he had to speculate. When it came to understanding Scaevolus's past or the nature of Perfectum… the two of them were equals. And while Ol Blu loved that his friend was growing more intelligent… he worried that it might one day render him useless; that eventually Lefty would learn so much… that he would no longer require his friendship.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  That thought filled Ol Blu with more dread than he expected. It hung in his head like a dark cloud, making his ears twitch and his face tighten with concern. And it’s what finally motivated him to break the silence. For he remembered something. Something that Lefty had told Marcus and Domitainus. And he realized that he might know some important information that his friend didn't.

  “...Hey Lefty.” He said casually enough. “You know Scaevolus isn't actually dead. Right?”

  Lefty stopped walking.

  “What!?”

  The intense reaction surprised Ol Blu… but it was too late to reverse course now.

  “Back there… with the immortals… you had me tell them that Scaevolus was dead... You know he's not… right?”

  Lefty slowly shook his head.

  “Oh…. Well… now you do… I suppose.

  “You lied…” Lefty said.

  “Well... only because you told me to. I... thought you knew. I thought it was some clever plan to calm Domianus after he started acting all erratic.”

  Lefty reached up to the top of his head, grabbing the kicken from his spot so that he could look him in the eye as they talked.

  “No Blu… you lied to me. You said he was dead. The first time we met, back at the Food Tabernacle.”

  “What? No I didn't.” Responded Ol Blu, using his flawless memory to recall the exact words. “I said “he closed his eyes for the final time.”

  Lefty furrowed his brow, his gaze growing intense.

  “That’s…” He began to say, his hands shaking a little in frustration before he suddenly pivoted “No. You also said he was poisoned. Pluuthrck said he was poisoned. Poison usually kills people Blu”.

  “Oh… Well… I can see how you would think that- poison is often fatal… but not always. Any act of dark food magic is considered a poison. Many of them are meant to kill… but there are just as many non-lethal poisons.”

  Lefty continued staring daggers at Ol Blu, his grip on the kicken tightening

  “Look, I'm sorry lad, I didn't mean to mislead you. I used those terms specifically because he's not dead. If he was… I would have just said he died… but he didn't. He was poisoned and it put him into a coma. I didn’t think you’d understand that back then so I added a little artistic flourish… I'm sorry, I really am.”

  Ol Blu's words managed to soften some of the young man's anger… but did nothing to alleviate his confusion.

  “But- But- that was a long time ago! He'd be like two hundred years old if he were still alive!”

  Now it was Ol Blu's turn to be confused; clearly his friend understood less about history than he thought.

  “Lefty… the reign of Scevolus ended forty years ago. And he was only thirty eight back when he was poisoned. He's not even eighty now. Even if he wasn't a grand meister of every magic… living that long wouldn't be completely unreasonable.”

  Lefty’s eyes went wide in disbelief. He briefly paced back and forth in shock, trying to find the right words, before practically shouting

  “Forty years is not 'long ago' Blu! Yog-Sothoth! You and Pluuthrchk talk about this stuff like its ancient history. Ash-Tab is barely older than that!”

  Lefty’s hands had started to shake again, the young man pacing faster in his small hallway, like a caged animal looking for escape.

  “Why are you so upset? This doesn't change anything.”

  “Because I don't like not knowing things Blu!” Shouted Lefty, waving his free hand in frustration as he continued to pace.

  “I spent all this time learning history, I thought I understood everything, and now you're telling me I’ve been wrong this whole clucking time?!”

  “Well that's why I'm telling you now!” Ol Blu said, finally raising his own voice, the sound making Lefty stop in his tracks

  “You said you don't like not knowing things… well now you know.” (brief heavy breathing)

  Ol Blu sighed and shuddered, his ears twitching as he tried to regain his composure.

  “Look. I'm sorry for confusing you lad… I didn't realize the specifics would be so important. I used the term “long ago” because I figured forty years was at least twice your age, so to you, it would be “long ago”. Pluuthrchk probably thought the same thing. You have to understand Lefty, thulhans can live for a couple hundred years and kickens can live for thousands; it's hard for us to imagine time from your perspective. To us forty years ago is nothing, but for you… your father probably wasn't even born yet. I was just trying to put things in a perspective you could understand. Clearly I failed. I realize that now, and for that I'm sincerely sorry. From the bottom of my heart I am… I underestimated you. I didn’t know back then that you’d turn out to be such a good friend. From now on I promise I'll talk in specifics and make sure you understand.``

  Lefty took a deep breath and leaned back against the stone wall behind him, letting Ol Blu’s words echo down the empty tunnels. For a moment he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what he had heard. Then he took another shuddering breath… and let it out.

  “...Alright.” He said, the anger gone from his voice.

  “But… (sigh) if Scaevolus's reign ended when he was poisoned… and he's not dead… then what happened to him?” he asked, the tiredness back in his voice as he tried to piece everything together.

  “Well, while the poison wasn't strong enough to kill him immediately, it was still very powerful. It resulted in the king falling into a coma; a kind of, endless sleep… it’s complicated.

  “That’s partly why I used such flowery language back in the food tabernacle. I didn’t think you’d know what a magically induced coma was, and I didn’t feel like explaining it when you already had so many questions.”

  Lefty frowned slightly, “I’m not dumb Blu.”

  “I know lad, I know… At least I do now. Again… I’m sorry.”

  Lefty didn’t smile… but his frown lessened.

  “Point is, he's still technically alive… but he might as well be dead. He hasn't moved or spoken in forty years… and even if he does eventually wake up, decades of sleeping have withered his body to practically nothing. It's unlikely that he'd even be able to speak, much less move.”

  (sighed oof) “Asleep for forty years…. How is he even still alive?”

  “Magic. Remember, he was a master of all four elements- or I guess five elements. They found him sprawled out in his kitchen, amid all manner of experimental food magery. When he didn't die from hunger after the first few weeks, people just assumed that he created some kind of food that extended his life. Knowing what we know now about the Luo and the rulers of Perfectum, it seems more likely that he made himself immortal a long time ago, just like his teachers.”

  “Whatever he did, it obviously didn’t stop the poison though. That shut down almost everything. He keeps on breathing, even to this day… but that’s about all he does… he’s functionally dead.

  For a moment Lefty stood there, leaning against the wall with Ol Blu in his hands. Once more he gazed up at the ceiling while he processed all this new information, trying to add it to the huge burdensome pile already occupying his exhausted mind. Finally, he looked down at the kicken again, his face resigned.

  “This doesn't really change anything… does it.” He said.

  Ol Blu smiled softly “Not really. It’s a technicality. You probably didn’t need to know… but I wanted to make sure ya did.”

  …

  “Thanks… I… appreciate that. Better to have all the information right… right?” Lefty said, the corner of his mouth giving a tiny smirk before he placed Ol Blu back on his head. Taking one more deep breath, he pushed himself up off the wall, and continued his struggling journey through the sewer.

  A few moments later, he spoke again. “Sorry for yelling at you.” He said plainly.

  Ol Blu just smiled. “It's alright friend. It's been a very long day.”