The Last Curse
21% Delirious
The second Cayde took a step into the crypts; he felt a chill go down his spine. He was this close to finding out whatever was causing all this, and the thought of meeting it didn't sit well with him. Regardless, Cayde tried to steel himself; if this place made him feel uneasy, he couldn't imagine what Ceylan was going through right now. However, that confidence soon fleeted as Cayde heard the doors lock behind him, effectively sealing him and his companions in the crypt. He turned and immediately started jostling at the handles, but no matter how hard he pulled, they wouldn't budge. "Son of a-," Cayde mumbled before stopping himself. Even with Preston's tricks and his evident frustration, Cayde still made a promise.
With an exasperated sigh, Cayde let go of the door, but he could overhear Ceylan talking to Malerie and Maikoa over his shoulder. Upon hearing the two were monsters, he was struck with a realization. No wonder they lacked the attributes of beasts; they were never beasts to begin with. Though after hearing that, Cayde felt conflicted. He was always told monsters were cruel and uncooperative creatures, but from his time with Malerie, she'd been nothing but helpful and considerate to other people. Even Maikoa, as cryptic as she was, just seemed genuinely curious about her surroundings. For monsters that were supposedly untrustworthy fiends, the two seemed oddly...human.
Deciding not to think of it any further, Cayde shook the thought out of his head. Monsters or not, they were all stuck in here together, and persecuting each other wouldn't help them reach their goal. Still, Cayde kept quiet as they traveled through the tunnels.
After passing by some sarcophagi and eventually finding a set of stairs leading downwards, Cayde would think up a way to navigate through the crypts. "Hey, so I might have an idea..." He said cautiously, "If we want to go deeper in here, I think we should follow the artificial parts. See, Preston said they built this place apart of the caves, which means they used the cave's structure to form parts of the crypt. So the sections without coffins or any man-made details are probably the natural tunnels he was talking about, and I can only assume those are the paths that lead out from the crypts. Why would they need to renovate tunnels out of here when nature's already done it?"
Cayde pointed over to a sarcophagus through the faint torchlight, "And just check out those sarcophagi. Look at all the detail they put into those shelves - the church obviously didn't want to throw their dead in some dank cave - they wanted to make some parts presentable." Cayde realized he was rambling and shook his head before simplifying his ravings, "I'm just saying we should follow where the coffins and constructed parts lead."