Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 10

Chapter 91

The sun was up, but the mouse boy refused to get out of bed. Ignis came by as usual to change his bandages.

Ignis, "Join us, will you not?"

Iratus, "It took all my effort yesterday. I think I'm just going to not move for a while."

Ignis, "Sorry about all the wonderous medicines being used on you."

Iratus, "Except Aestus?"

Ignis, "Somehow the medicine has been working beautifully. Give her a few more days, and I think the sickness will be fought off. As for you, it took everything to bring you to consciousness. In fact, I think it was the drugs that allowed you to even walk around yesterday. The only downside is that, while I studied under Heinrich, it was mostly me listening in on his own studies. I have no real ability to operate on your face. If you have serious bone-breaking wounds, you might still die or possibly be permanently deformed."

Iratus playfully, "Anything but my beautiful face."

Ignis, "Ha, just stay here, and the feminine power will gather the necessary ingredients for vegetable glue."

Iratus, "Don't let me stop you. Have fun."

The day would continue with Iratus only doing the minimum amount of exercise. The dizziness and other problems were not as bad this day, and this made Iratus think that his facial wounds were not that bad.

The others gathered a number of grains, rice, and potatoes to use as food and some as glue. They started with grinding and crushing and then heated up the paste until gelatinization happened.

After that, water, charcoal, and glue were used to make some ink, but they did have to experiment to find the best mix for ink.

As for the rest of the day, Iratus would look out and see the girls get the beginnings of a garden started, which took the rest of the day.

---

Chapter 92

The twelfth day came, and Iratus was determined to go to the camp. In the common area, everyone gathered for the morning.

Iratus, "I'm feeling much better, and I'd like to be at the camp for the trade deal."

Victoria, "You ain't going anywhere with all them injuries."

Iratus, "Oh, yeah, well, the headaces have funny stopped now. I'm fine."

Ignis, "Considering we used all the painkillers on you, you should be in intense pain."

Iratus, "I'm fine."

Aestus, "I'm still not feeling my best. I'll just stay here as always."

Iratus, "You're fine."

Ignis, "Beyond reasonable fact, you yourself had very little physical labor in making the ink and paper. Injuries, sure, but what do you hope to gain?"

Iratus, "I'm fine."

The red panda girl snickered at that.

VIctoria, "Do we really want to separate value from that? How about we consider this a team effort and vote together for the trade?"

Aestus, "Didn't we kick the other three out for wanting to make everything a vote?"

Iratus, "I told them that there will be times we vote on stuff. This is actually a prime example."

Resonantia, "What do we want from this trade? Everyone left the train in a hurry, and you saw that not even the hyenas had anything on them, er, I mean other than their loadout."

Iratus, "They have had plenty of time to explore that strange encampment. Worse comes to worse, I saw something like hand bombs that they had. Could always get one of those."

Ignis, "Grenades."

Resonantia, "Ok, then, should someone stay behind with Aestus, we don't know when a blackest day will happen."

Iratus, "You keep bringing that thing up. Is it really something for concern?"

Ignis, "Realistically no, practically yes."

Aestus, "I'm held up in a military fortification. I'll be fine."

Victoria, "I am currently fine with this so far."

Iratus, "I'm fine."

Ignis, "Arg, alright. Let us make our way to the encampment."

---

Chapter 93

The shark girl once again grabbed the bow for herself.

Iratus, "You know, Victoria made that for me."

Resonantia, "And now it is mine. I told you, I bow."

Iratus, "Alright, I can always ask to borrow either the bow or crossbow at any time."

Iratus equipped the short sword and not his armor this time. The sword really was more like a smaller and thinner arming sword. Victoria was equipped with a wooden club and her crossbow. Ignis still had her traveler's robes as well as her crowbar. Finally, Resonantia still had her breastplate, a new makeshift wooden club, and her bow.

They grabbed the papyrus paper, ink, ammo, a few bandages, and some of the treasure. The party headed off into the wilderness and went to the modern-like camp site.

Iratus leaned up against a tree as the others moved around the perimeter. The smell of oil and combustion filled the air like never before. The environment didn't seem any different. However, a battle clearly took place here, maybe recently. Doors were ripped off, and many metalheads lay on the ground in various stages of being smashed and ripped apart.

When the girls came back together, some of them were already exhausted as they ran into some resistance.

Iratus, "You lot look like you've seen some battle."

Victoria, "One actually grabbed me. Luckily, I guess that metal is just for looks because they crumble pretty easily."

Ignis, "Because they are basically aluminum foil."

The others gave her a confused look.

Ignis, "You know, aluminum."

The others still had no idea.

Iratus, "I can't say that I've ever heard of it, and I'm pretty sure I'm from the most advanced civilization here."

Ignis, "Avaritia and I have had enough talks to come to understand that I have the technological world, other train folk not withstanding. In your time, your people had not yet mass produced the steam engine. Now, in my time, my kinsman had already replaced it with the combustion engine."

Iratus, "And I don't understand."

Resonantia, "Regardless, I believe this area to be too dangerous. I think you should turn back."

Iratus, "Hold up, I can carry the bags and free you all for combat. It's the perfect plan; everyone agrees." He finished in a slightly silly way.

Victoria, "Hmm, he's right; everyone does agree."

Resonantia, "I don't believe this."

---

Chapter 94

As the group cautiously approached, the sight that greeted them was one of both fascination and unease. Iratus never actually got this far in, and now he saw just how much the camp sprawled across the considerable expanse around the lake. The collection of weathered buildings and scattered lodges was slowly being eaten away by nature, slowly reclaiming the area, with vines snaking their way up the walls and encroaching vegetation growing in the open spaces.

In the heart of the camp, a central building dominated the scene. Perhaps in its prime it would have been quite grand, but now it stood as a testament to the emptiness of the Nexus Prime. Several vehicles, their paint fading and tires deflated, were parked haphazardly nearby. Beyond the central building, a moderate-sized lake could be seen, reflecting the brilliant light of the sun.

The monstrous metalheads gave off an air of undeath and fear as the group slowly ventured into the camp. The haunting sentinels within the camp stood imposingly, but most also seemed somewhat damaged, as if a battle had happened sometime ago, whether recent or distant. Occasionally, hot combustion would exhale from the metalheads, the sound putting everyone on edge.

The party deftly found a lodge and went inside. Inside were the remnants, such as a rusted fireplace, overturned chairs, and tattered curtains. In the immediate area, the group found some old journals and a few personal belongings, which everyone got to work looting.

After handing everything to Iratus, the girls got to work scouring and securing the lodge.

Iratus, "Oh, hey, this one is written by one of my people."

Victoria, "Shhh, keep your voice low. Let's not catch the attention of the metalheads out there."

Iratus, "Do they even have ears? Alright, let's see...let's see...hm, giant spiders...found a group...uhh...hm. Ok, we've got some daily life, and...it's over."

Iratus grabbed the next journal and scanned through it.

Iratus, "I think we found the world this place came from. Does the planet Purity sound familiar?"

Ignis, "The Planet of Fox and Wolf."

Iratus, "Turns out this place has hosted a number of groups, each either moving on or...not writing anymore for who knows why, or rather dead. A mousey group lived here and ventured into some sort of ice cavern. They swore to investigate it again, and that was the end of their journey. Group two lasted for some time, with people coming and going. Whoever this was decided to move on as well, leaving this behind as a guide to the area. The only thing is that this map is nonsensical. Neither one of these people has mentioned the stone city or the blackest day."

Resonantia, "Maybe the blackest day is a very rare event?"

Victoria, "Those journals sound sorta wrong."

Iratus, "Well, we can try to check out some of these locations. Maybe they still exist?"

Victoria, "Ice Cave? No way."

Resonantia, "We still have the rest of the camp to explore first."

With a nod, everyone got back to work. Iratus ran through some of the other items: photographs, trinkets, and clothing.

Iratus, "Guess we can turn some of these cloths into rags?"

Resonantia, "Yo, we got a celler overhere."

---

Chapter 95

The door opened into a basement, and the girls started to slowly move down into it. Iratus held his head, for the pain was pounding again. Iratus was even slowly walking in, and by the time he was in, the girls had already looked through everything and found nothing worth keeping.

Vicrotia, "I can smell the other three. They were here."

Resonantia, "And a rabbitfolk."

They looked around until they came to a sliding door. Iratus felt his stamina deteriorate as he continued to grit his teeth in pain.

Looking into the new room, everyone saw the staw strewn about, and in the center of the room was an old rabbit man tied to a pillar. He was wearing regal attire that was heavily repaired with patchwork. The rabbit man was tall, muscular, and had short blonde hair. Up against the wall was a great sword, a weapon around six to seven feet long.
(1.8 meters to 2.1 meters)

Iratus thought he was dead because of how limp he was, but getting closer, he could hear the faint beat of the man's heart. Then the heart sped up as the man took a deep breath.

The rabbitfolk awoke and looked around.

Rabbitfolk, "Water."

After a second of confusion, Victora grabbed her waterskin as Resonantia unbounded the man.

Iratus, "Guess we are skipping the, are you a bad guy, part of the conversation. Well, then, greetings, sir. Can you tell us what happened here?"

Rabbitfolk, "Good holiness, man. What happened to your head?" He pointed to the bandaged, covered head of Iratus. His voice almost didn't fit his stature and was a bit on the fast side of speaking.

Iratus, "I fought an ebony monster."

Rabbitfolk, "Is that what people call it? Now that you are alive, I have to ask about the monster you fought. Did it flee or survive? How did you survive? My name is Clamor; by the way, what are all of yours?"

Iratus, "What?"

The group would introduce themselves and explain what was going on.

Clamor, "The tower folk? Good to see you all alive and well, for I have heard good things from you from the surviving train folk."

Resonantia, "Oh, they said good things about us."

Clamor, "The train folk said that they made a mistake and wanted to ask for forgiveness."

Iratus, "Sure, but where are they?"

Clamor, "Something weird happened. We hid nearby, but the train folk insisted on trying to live here. After they did not come back, I had to search for them. The group seemed to have lost their minds, as you can see."

Victoria, "Why tie you up?"

Clamor, "They went crazy, and honestly, I've been seeing some weird things while being down here."

Iratus, "Does anyone think this is the environmental change brought by the metalheads?"

Ignis, "I believed the metalheads not to have something like that."

Victoria, "Maybe we are wrong?"

Clamor, "The only other thing would be the camp itself."

---

Chapter 96

The group headed back to the main lobby.

Iratus, "But seriously, do you know what happened to the train folk or hyenas?"

Clamor, "Maybe they went back to the hideout? As for the hyenas, we have not found them yet, God willing."

Ignis, "How did you end up with them, if you do not mind me asking?"

Clamor, "I fled from a mine-cave place and ran into coming in. I explained what was going on, and they eventually invited me to travel with them. I think it was two days ago that we started venturing into this camp."

Iratus, "How could anyone live here? There are metalheads everywhere!"

Clamor, "Define everywhere? There were not too many of them around when we showed up, and we killed quite a number of them as well."

Victoria, "Nope, these things are quite numerous around here."

Clamor, "God bless it."

Iratus, "Hey, I'm not feeling too well right now; I think I'm going to head back to the tower."

Clamor lifting his great sword over his shoulder, "Oh, mind if I tag along? I'm not at my best as well, and I still feel wozy being in this place."

Ignis, "As long as our friend comes back well, then most definitely you may travel to the tower."

Clamor, "I'll never get used to how red padas speak."

Pounding suddenly stopped everyone in their tracks. The front door was smashed in, and a horde of metalheads started walking in.

Iratus, "Oops, I guess we forgot to lower our voices."

Iratus watched as the metalheads were truly maluable metal beings, with their heads easily caved in with blunt force. The only downside was that they were quite durable and didn't go down as easily as the ashborn.

Iratus, felt his movement would hinder his combat ability too much, so he stayed out of the fight. Clamor sent a metalhead crashing backwards with a mighty swing, while Resonantia killed a few with arrows. Victoria and Ignis tried to hold a line but got burned by the exhaust from the monsters.

In the battle, everyone could see the hyenas, but now they had converted into metalheads among the hostile group. They lashed out at Clamor, who was trying to hold a new line by himself. Iratus came to his aid by protecting his flank, allowing the rabbit to push off his foes and end them.

The battle came to an end quickly, with twelve dead metalheads. Everyone was slightly tired and injured from the combat.

---

Chapter 97

Ignis rubbing her eyes, "This one is also quitting because I can't stop crying."

Clamor, "See, she used this one and I in the same sentence."

Ignis, "Shut up!"

Resonantia, "I think we all need a break. Let's head back."

Iratus examined the hyena bodies, with the others slowly coming to see them.

Clamor, "Ah yes, digital-era folk. You can tell from their equipment."

Resonantia, "Mancus and Laceratio may not have been very nice, but they didn't deserve this."

Iratus, "Let's at least take their stuff. Best not to waste."

While they tried to loot the bodies, they were in terrible condition, if even intact at all, but they did still recover some stuff. From Mancus, they recovered her dark green tactical vest, her knife, and her semi-automatic rifle, along with some ammo for them. The group tried to recover items from Laceratio, but all his equipment was mostly melted and rendered useless.

Ignis had an unconfortable look about her as everyone looted the once-hyenas, but she didn't say anything. Some of the other dead metalheads were also searched, but again, most things were long since expired or damaged. Some personal belongings, ancient coins, new coins, a pocket watch, some medicine, a strange device (gameboy-like device), and some alien bobbles. There was also a tailorcraft backpack with a rope, grappling hook, and rations inside. The useless stuff was discarded.

Everyone started heading home and even ran out of the camp when more metalheads started showing up. Once they got to the dirt road, everyone started to meet up and head out to the tower. On the way back, a conversation started up.

Iratus, "So, Clamor, was it?"

Clamor, "Hm?"

Iratus, "Have you met others or something? How long have you been here?"

Clamor slightly more normally, "A few groups. Some left, some left me, and some died. I've been here for almost two years, I think. There was a certain group that survived the longest. After all my past groups, I found silence to be the best way to stay in people's good graces. I have had problems with many aspects of all my groups, but I often find myself banished from voicing my noble and pious opinions. Despite traveling with these people for over a year, I barely knew any of them. This one goatfolk was really cool, and I mean cool. He saved my life more than once and always acted courageously in helping others. He was also a king, like me. Like I said, I tried to never talk to people, so I didn't talk to him much. When the time came that this group died as well, I found myself regretting how little I interacted with everyone, especially him, Provocatio."

Victoria, "Well, maybe you'll get the chance with us."

Clamor, "And I thank you. God bless each and every one of you."

Resonantia, "Which king were you?"

Clamor, "I am King Clamor Amethyst Cold Iron the Second. I am King of the Seven Tides Monarchy."

Resonantia, "Woh! I'm related to you!"

Clamor, "The Lord gives. You must tell me more."

Resonantia, "Yeah, I'm like...eight hundred years your descendant. My family branch married out of the family. I am from the Heart Steel family."

Clamor, "Heart Steel? The barbarians?"

Resonantia, "Once they open their sea routes, capitalism would see their nation transform into one of the most technological nations on the planet."

Clamor, "Well, good for them...what is capitalism?"

Iratus, "Buying and selling of private goods and services."

Clamor, "Wait, are you saying commoners would come to own their own stuff?"

Resonantia, "Uh."

Clamor, "Good for them. I was never able to dismantle slavery in my time."

Resonantia, "Serfdom."

Clamor, "Close enough. You do realize peasants were property, my dear?"

Resonantia, "Well, slavery got worse when serfdom was discarded worldwide."

Clamor, "Worse than the Centerland Federation?"

Resonantia, "Uh, not in my area of expertise."

Ignis, "Oh, hey, you said you'd get kicked out of groups, and I'd like to gain knowledge of why."

Clamor, "Because they were godless heathens, of course."

---

Chapter 98

Iratus and the girls were quite religious. They would pray a lot and for many things. They had prayer circles for Aestus and prayed before they left the tower. God was honored and praised greatly in the tower, but despite all of this, Clamor deemed it not enough. His zeal for the Lord was even greater, and he said that all things must be with God, and even the mind must always have God on it, with anything less being a sin.

It was off-putting for the others to hear such things, but each of the tower folk just nodded along.

Clamor, "Something wrong? I said that I'm not opposed to toning down my opinions for others comfort."

Iratus, "And we thank you. I agree with a lot of things that you say about the Lord, but I think you might think differently than I do. Like, there isn't any God in eating chocolate pudding, but that does not mean I thank the Lord for allowing me to exist in a time that allows me to eat it."

Clamor, "Or maybe you are just not up for the level of dedication the Lord requires of his subjects. Worry not; in God all things can be forgiven."

Iratus, "Yeah, I know..."

Everyone would rest for a while before they started to get ready to move back out. Before anyone could move out, a storm had started to roll in. Soon a downpour was upon the tower, trapping the others inside. The rest of the day would soon pass.

On the morning of the thirteenth, everyone would come to the commons and chat and discuss the future.

Clamor, "What are the towers goals for now?"

Iratus, "The girls were working on making a garden; I'm trying to reach the coast; we need woodworking tools; and we need to find ways to upgrade our other toolsets or expand the tower."

Resonantia, "The train still has some stuff."

Clamor, "Oh, right, the train. Iratus, you fought one of the ebony monsters, correct?"

Iratus, "One? Uh, yeah, I killed one."

Clamor, "Well, we need to kill the other two off."

Iratus, "Other two, excuse me?"

Victoria, "This is madness!"

Clamor, "Hopefully they are still nesting in the cave, so anytime we can muster our forces, we should kill them."

Resonantia, "But what about the other train folk, grandpa?"

Clamor, "Ugh, yeah, I'll check out the hideout as soon as I can. Then killing the other ebony monsters should be our next target. Also, for the woodworking tools, the camp has a wood workshop of some kind. We need to properly loot the place as well."

Iratus, "So much to do, yet so little time. Oh, hey, these two have been paranoid about something called the blackest day. Can you calm their nerves?"

Clamor, "Sure. The blackest day only happens once or twice a year, so you can't worry about it every day."

Ignis, "But the others were severely affected by it! They claimed it to be hell itself."

Clamor, "True, it is hell touching the mortal world. There are voices that tempt you away, and there are monsters—actual monsters—not these animals in the visage of such things. The Nexus Prime itself is torn asunder, and new lands appear."

Iratus, "So much for calming nerves."

Clamor, "Don't worry about the blackest day; it will come when it comes."

Iratus, "You said that real monsters show up. Are you saying that these things out here are normal animals?"

Clamor, "Correct, metalheads, edax, treeskins, ebony—all of them are naturally occurring creatures."

Ignis, "Except for the gray masks, it was made clear they are made out of imagination."

Clamor, "What are gray masks?"

---

Chapter 99

The morning was still young when Iratus looked out a window.

Iratus, "Something is wrong."

He walked outside, where the dew and mist were thick. Instead of a greenhouse of humidity, there was a chill that should not have been possible in such a tropical location.

Iratus, "Its...chilly?"

Clamor, "Ah, cold season already."

Iratus, "I know planets enough to know winters in tropical areas are not like this."

Clamor, "This planet has no seasons, not really. I've been told that the north pole goes through times of freezing and warming, adding ice and melting. Once it melts a ton of ice, it bleeds all the way down to the equator. Don't ask me about the southern hemisphere, for not even I have been south or even this south really."

Iratus, "So, what should we know about these seasons?"

Clamor after shugging, "This planet has no seasons, not really. I've been told that the north pole goes through times of freezing and warming, adding ice and melting. Once it melts a ton of ice, it bleeds all the way down to the equator. Don't ask me about the southern hemisphere, for not even I have been south or even this south really."

Ignis, "Anything other than the oppressive heat is fine by me."

Everyone got ready to move out for their own plans except for Iratus and Aestus, who were still not at their best. The expedition force went to the hideout to see if they could find the other train folk and then perhaps explore the camp.

Iratus waited with Aestus until the others returned, and by the time the night was slowly creeping in, the group had returned.

Iratus, "Everyone looks healthy and alive. What happened?"

Victoria, "You'll never believe it."

Iratus, "As opposed to waking up in a strange world with strange people and monsters?"

Clamor, "Completely gone. They have disappeared, and we cannot find them."

Iratus, "By the thirteen. What are we going to do about it?"

Clamor, "I'm going to expand the search. I'll be gone for a while, and I don't expect you to abandon the tower for this search."

Resonantia, "But we can't leave our former friends out there."

Clamor, "Like I said, leave this to me. I'll need some stuff, though."

Iratus, "Sure, take what you need. I pray that you will succeed in rescuing the others. Though it seems strange for you to go out of your way for these people."

Clamor, "Is it? I want everyone to live; it is what God would want. I think it's normal to help others."

Iratus, "That's what I always say."

The rabbit man took one of the tailorcraft backpacks, the rope, the grappling hook, and the medicine.

Clamor, "Hopefully, I will be back."

Everyone said their goodbyes as Clamor headed out the door. Afterwards, Iratus turned to the ladies.

Iratus, "Seriously, what happened?"

---

Chapter 100

Resonanita, "We searched, like, a lot. The strange thing is that the hideout he was talking about is some sort of tower with a deep underground area. Someone asked if we were going to explore it, but Clamor insisted that it was too dangerous and that if anyone went down, they would die. Anyway, after the search, we went to the camp for more looting, but we had to stop."

Ignis, "We didn't get too far. We only had a scuffle with the metalheads. We retreated when Clamor was seeing ghosts or something."

Iratus, "So maybe we shouldn't head back just yet? I don't want to see any of you going mad."

Victoria, "We still need those tools, but for now, let's rest at the hotsprings soon and take a proper time of relaxation."

Ignis, "It is unlikely that you hid this information from us."

Iratus, "It never came up. You girls go ahead; I don't think I'll be in a good enough condition to go."

Resonanita, "Girls Day Again. I am all for this!"

The tower folk played some games for a while before heading off to bed. Iratus would wake up on the fourteenth day since he came to this world, and when he looked out the window, his smile turned into a frown when he looked outside. A small horde of treeskins had begun idling near the tower.

Iratus headed to the common room, where the others were already getting ready for the day. In low voices, they spoke.

Iratus, "Anyone see what's outside?"

Ignis, "The pain that is yes is almost too much to bear."

Victoria, "I don't think we have the ammo to kill these things."

Iratus, "I'd like our door not to be smashed in. We will have to lure them away."

Victoria, "I ain't going out there."

Aestus, "I can run!"

Iratus, "Let's watch these things for now and be ready for a fight. Gear up, everyone."

---

EPISDOE 10: END

---
Episode 10 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: Blonde Fur, White Gambeson (moderately damaged, leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest
Weapons: Long Sword, Knife
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones
Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, small metal pot, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, a lot of animal hide, 3 glass jar, 50 oval copper coins, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, several wooden spears, crossbow, some woodcarving pieces, wooden dice, lots of sheets, metal scrap, a tarnished silver brooch, fifteen ancient coins, a small ornamental figurine, a brass ring, a handful of sparkling glass beads, weathered leather-bound journal, a dainty silver bracelet, a small wooden trinket box, a collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, short sword, box of unknown ammo, tailor craft backpack, some medical supplies, surgery tools, combat knife, semi-automatic rifle and ammo, 33 ancient metal coins, 15 fine coins, a poket watch, a strange device (gameboy-like device), 
Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates and clay pots), Basic Butchering Area (few tools, smoking rack), Basic Workshop Area (some tools), Kitchen Area (many tools), Outside Makeshift Tannery, Muddy Hole
Wounds: Left Leg bitten (partially healed), Right Foot dislocated (fixed with lingering pain), Right Hand (limited functionality), Torso bruised (somewhat healed) Face (muliple severe injuries, minor healed)

Year 0, Day 14

---

Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 122
Lost Towers are a common sight throughout Nexus Prime. We've made a great number of Towers to watch over, study, or protect the Nexus Prime. When the day came that we made the mistake of taking in certain creatures, or monsters, as the soulbound call them, Our towers were the first to collapse.

An interesting fact that many of us don't know is that the first soulbound we summoned here were actually put to work in our towers and worked side by side with us to defeat the monsters. When the towers fell, this practice stopped, and presumably all of the towers went into a lockdown state to keep out all living beings and stop them from reaching our most guarded treasures and secrets.
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