Chapter Text
«What is happening?»
«Aren't these people are from that Order organization? Look at the cross on their clothes!»
«I hope it's not another church rate, we have already paid it this year. Why would the churchmen be so freaking greedy...»
They are always greeted by frightened voices and whispers of commoners. Every small town or godforsaken village meets them with a mob of people, who try to understand reasons they are visited by this black carriage with a big silver cross painted over the canvas. The travellers are already used to these glances and questions and behave with same calm dignity every time. Well, at least most of them.
«Hey, your knees are shaking once again, science department chief,» Johnny almost jumps of his skin when he hears a voice of one of his attendants. And despite the elder man looks at him with a friendly smile, he can't stop feeling nervous.
«P-please, do not call me like that,» he swallows and forces a smile. «I am not even close to being a chief in the Order.»
«Well, you're the Enlightener of our mission, so you can be considered our small chief,» the Finder pats his shoulder as if to cheer him up.
«Enlightener is a way too loud word, isn't it?» Johnny giggles as he finally comes back to his senses and jumps out of the carriage to help others with unpacking stuff. «I only read lecture from a piece of paper and show pictures with a help of projector... Not a big deal, actually.»
«Well, we are called Finders as we're supposed to find Dungeons, but, frankly speaking, I've never seen a Dungeon with my own eyes,» the elder man shrugs his shoulders and laughs as he passes to Johnny a large box with equipment. «In reality we're responsible of communication with people in situations like this. So do what you`re supposed to, young chief, and leave the rest to us.»
«Yes, you're right! And thank you!» Johnny smiles as he embraces the box. He is relieved for now. All he has to do is to prepare all the material, unless the Finders manage to persuade people to gather in one place so he would be able to provide a lection. That's what he is supposed to do after all. And it's not like he is that bad at it.
It has been almost half of a year since he has left the Order's Science Department as he was assigned to the enlightening duty all of the members are to carry out after two years of belonging to the organization. And despite being extremely proud for doing such an important task Johnny still feels nervous every time he is supposed to talk to people. It has nothing to do with his personality, at least he can't believe someone in their Department considers him unfriendly or closed-off.
It's all about a fear of unknown he sees every time in every new place they visit. Every hard look makes his head feel so empty. He can't find words to make these people relax their shoulders, to tell them he is not going to do any harm to them. But that's what Finders can do somehow.
They reassure folks that it has nothing to do with the money or recruiting to army, they manage to find local leader and it takes only a few minutes for them to talk to him. Johnny can't hear them for now because of the noise of the crowd, but he knows the questions already.
Is there any place the whole village can gather in? Can you ask all of the villagers to come there as soon as possible? No, it won`t take long, but it`s better to bring all. Yes, even children.
Especially children, Johnny thinks to himself. As it has been stated from latest reports, they are the biggest victims of... He shooks his head to cast the dark thoughts away.
«Hey, we're beginning in an hour, mister Enlightener Chief!» the Head Finder he talked to before waves to him to draw his attention, and Johnny can't help but smile as he reaches the elder comrade through the crowd. «I am here to show you the way. You'll have enough time to prepare the equipment, aren't ya?»
«Yeah, don't worry about it, sir!» the young man smiles, adjusting his glasses. «I am good at what I am supposed to do.»
***
Their meeting is decided to be arranged on the main square where all the fairs and feasts are held. There's no building able to contain all villagers, so Johnny looks at the sky praying for rain not to pour down. He doesn't want water to damage the equipment and ruin all their mission. But there's no cloud in a clear blue space, so his hope that everything will be alright is really high.
He stands on a wooden stage and looks down, watching people searching for a place on a wooden benches and chairs brought from the closest houses. Children and women sit closer to the stage, Johnny can't help but smile at youngsters' curious gazes. Kids watch all of his movements as if he's some actor or magician (the fellow who makes rabbits appear inside of the hat, of course, not the Magician). Opposed to adults' concern, children always look at him with such a pure trust, that it eases Johnny’s work. He almost feels like he really is just a performer on a Sunday fair, who tales a fairy tale to a crowd.
Well, for most of these people, his story will remain a fairy tale to entertain from boredom.
Let it be just a fairy tale for them, Johnny makes a silent prayer to the God. And smiles boldly to the crowd, as he begins.
«We live in a world that has already died once. No-no, please, don`t get surprised, you know already this story! Anyone, who has ever read the Bible or attended the church, knows this story. Can you tell me the name of it?»
Silence. They are silent every time. They are so silent, that Johnny almost feels his knees shaking nervously. But he already knows what to do next.
«I'll give you a hint,» he says as he presses a small button of a remote in his right hand. And the white screen of the projector situated right behind him is already replaced with a coloured picture. The crowd lets out a gasp as if they have witnessed some kind of witchcraft. So Johnny gives them a couple of minutes to get used to this, and to start looking at the picture itself.
«What's that wooden big house on a hill?» Johnny hears a young boy whispering to his neighbour. The other boy rolls his eyes.
«That's not house, you dumbass! That's the...» the kid stumbles as if he has forgotten the right word. «I don't remember it, ugh... but it`s a ship.»
Johnny giggles and allows himself to interrupt their conversation.
«Yeah, you're completely right, boy. And this ship is called the Arc.»
The crowd gasps once again. Young woman from the third line embraces her child in a hurry, and ask a question, her voice shaking in a strange mix of fear and awe.
«Mister from the Order, doesn't that mean that?..»
«Yes, you are right. We're talking about the Flood. A hundred years ago, the church has found the undeniable proof that this story has really happened long time before the Bible was written.»
«When why don't we know anything about it?»
«And what is this «undeniable proof»?»
«How can we know you're not lying, sir from the Order?!»
Johnny hears these doubtful shrieks every time. And he can't blame people. He couldn't believe it at first too. But it's something people should know. So he keeps talking, even though his voice trembles a little bit.
«Because a hundred years ago the first Dungeon was raised.»
And the silence falls once again, as people stare at another picture on the screen. A large building made of stone, which form somehow reminded the Arc itself, only being upside down stares at the crowd with its empty windows. Its gates are opened as if suggesting to enter.
«So... the Dungeons are not a witch tale?» asks that boy who has recognized the Arc.
«And the world has really ended with the Flood?» wonders another person, who sits on the edge of the bench as if not daring to take too much place. Johnny can't see this person's face as their face is covered with cape, but he supposes it's either young boy or girl because of their high pitched voice. «I can't believe the God is so cruel.»
«All questions are to be answered one by one», promises Johnny with a smile, and says into the crowd. «The Dungeons are real. It took years for church to accept them, but after so many of them being conquered, Vatican can't deny their existence. And we can't hide this fact from the world anymore. The first Dungeon is the reason the Black Order was founded after all.»
He presses button again, to switch pictures. Now it's a sketchy drawing of the first headquarters of the Order. Just a small wooden cottage of the first conqueror of the Dungeon.
«Many people entered the Dungeon, but only one managed to return. He was granted with gold, he was granted with power... But was is most important, he was granted with knowledge...»
«Well, power is more important than some «knowledge» if it`s really a djinn, as they say,» notices someone from the behind. Johnny prefers to pretend he didn't hear that and keeps on talking.
«In the Dungeon he found a Cube made of gold with a message written in an unknown language. He could ignore it and just sell the Cube, but, thanks God he didn't do that. Maybe it's the power he was blessed with who bestowed its will into his mind, but we will never know that. It doesn't matter after all. That person spend most of the money he's got on the research, travelling the world and gathering together ancient languages specialists. So, together they finally succeeded in translating the message I am going to read to you now.»
This is the moment Johnny loves and hates the most every time. He feels his hands shaking and his throat going dry. But once again he feels his lips starting to move as if on their own will.
«To you, the first conqueror of our first Dungeon.» his suddenly steady voice and the view of shining golden Cube from the screen stops people's cold. «May the world bless your brave soul, and may our words protect your future for the sake of ours, as we couldn't protect our own. Our world is over; it has sunken under waters of the Flood; it has died out in the void of the Three Days Darkness. We will mourn our world endlessly, but once you read this, we are not here, so do not waste your time on grieving for our fate. Your world is like flowers bloomed on a grave. Your world is a hope that all of our sufferings were not in vain. So, please, treasure it and tell other people to cherish it until their last breath. Tell them to protect their world until the last drop of their blood. Do not let the Millennium Earl get his plans accomplished. We are only ghosts locked in 109 Dungeons, in 109 ruins of our homeland, but once you, people of the new world gather our help, you will get a chance to save your sun of your sky from burning out. May our power bless your brave soul. May your soul be brave enough to resist all evil of the world. To you, our first chosen king, we grant power to lead the world to its future.»
His ears burn once again, as Johnny can`t believe it's his voice as he couldn't believe for the first time. He hears his heart racing so fast that his chest almost hurts. He remembers the first time he heard this message from Head Chief, he remembers the wish to run away and to hide, but there was no way to hide, there was no way to forget. And for the first time in his life Johnny prayed for a strength to face this truth. To face the knowledge that under his own feet might lay the ruins and treasures of the world he had no idea about.
He is not even sure that he is strong enough even now. But he have to. That's why he is standing on the wooden stage now. That's why he looks straightly into people's frightened eyes.
«The Dungeons are raised to prevent the Millennium Earl's plan of bringing our world to an end. And the Order is supposed to fight him and all possible enemies in this sacred war. That's what I was going to tell you. Because for the last ten years more and more people witness this enemy of ours. More and more people are deceived by this creature. So, no matter if you believed my words or not, please, remember one, only one most important thing.»
The crowd watches him in fear, in awe, in expectation.
«If you ever meet a person, who suggests you to curse your fate to bring back someone who is already dead, please, never agree. Please, for the love of that dead yet precious one, do not agree. Just say «no» to that person. Say «no» and...»
As always, the last words are so hard to say that he's almost choking.
«Run away from that person as fast as you can. Run away for your own life.»