“Ruby, of all your imperfections, your self-doubt is the most potent,” he added.
Ruby let out a deep breath. “But she was my perfect sister. I grew up hearing stories about Cassian’s creation. Not once was I mentioned. I was another throwaway doll just like the women in the filthy clubs.”
“No one is perfect,” Vash said. “The number of times we have succumbed to our failures has been uncountable, yet here we are, standing on the edge of the world.”
“Do not pacify me,” Ruby said, much too similar to Cassian’s dialect.
Lucas shook his head and took a shallow breath. “You and her are the same. I’m not certain of anything anymore, but if you want to save her, get up on your feet, soldier. You are a part of this family.”
Killian kept his attention toward the glowing capsule. “Place your hand on the glass and feel her warmth. We must let her know that we are here for her.”
“C-Can she hear us?” she asked.
Killian nodded, but there was no way for him to really know. “If she can, she needs us because where ever she is right now, it can’t be pretty.”
“Okay,” she whispered, facing the possibility of the unknown. “I’m ready to learn.”
The alphas’ children were silent and still, calmly observing their mother with wide and innocent eyes. Killian scooped them up, one by one, and held them against his beating heart. This was a hard journey. All that mattered was that they got back to her and the children.
He knelt and bowed his head before Rae. “Wherever you are, I’ll be there with a loaded gun, ready to back you up. My queen, my conqueror, our love…”
They would have done anything for Rae. She was, as Killian put it, their queen for life. “Our ride-or-die bitch,” Vash said.
“No doubt,” Lucas agreed. “Until the end.”
Killian cleared his throat and nodded his head as if agreeing with himself on something mysterious, something that he could finally unlock. “Ruby… welcome to the family.”
Ruby wiped her eyes and hesitated. She had never felt that vulnerable in her entire life. “Time for us to come together.”
And as they stood, huddled together with their hands placed near to her heart, she felt the radiating warmth and heard the sounds of some outer world. There was more to know, more to fight back against. The bombs never stopped, but it did not matter anymore because as they connected to their special one, their Precious, the small platform unhinged and slowly started to lower like an elevator.
Downward, they moved into a large glass cylinder. Surrounding them were fish and swirling tails of unknown monsters below. Yes, there was more mystery to be unlocked, and that was unsettling, but as they moved farther into the center of the earth, the warmth of molten rock and ancient air enveloped their bodies.
The platform came to a halt, and Rae’s capsule sank onto the ground. Suddenly, they were in a red-and-gold room. The sound of the inner world was muffled and constantly shifting like the growling of nightmarish beasts even worse than the alphas above.
“Where are we?” Killian asked.
Ruby remained silent. Severin had told her none of this. She doubted he even knew of the full capacity of its mechanisms.
But Lucas walked across the darkened pathway until he reached a passageway that housed a large and golden door. Above, an inscription had been carved. The Furnace.
It must have been thousands of years old…
“The Furnace?” Lucas whispered. “Virgil… he mentioned... something.”
Killian reached into his pocket. He pulled out the small disc of information that the clone, Karen, had given him. The Ark. The data of everything. Quickly, he placed it back inside his pocket, making sure it was safe.
The sound of quick and scurrying feet echoed throughout the area. Low and heavy breathing formed around them, spanning all sides of the under-region. Was this hell? And how many others were near? The sounds of woodwind instruments echoed alongside the sudden movements.
“Shh,” Ruby murmured, turning frantically without sight. “Do you hear that?”
Everyon
e turned to see who was with them, but the rest of the area was so dim they could only see more hallways, leading into more darkness. They were trapped in a confusing maze. Still, there was the feeling of someone watching, waiting, and analyzing their every move.
“We shouldn’t be here,” Vash said. “We should go.”
But there was no direction back. They were too far down. Not to mention, they didn’t belong on that scorched earth anymore, fighting with the rest of the alphas. Whatever this place was… they had to find out.