Kate, Apollyon and the little void panther had found themselves back at the starry moss they first rested at during their journey into the Deep Abyss. The invisible yet incredibly fluffy cat was resting atop the two demons who were lying on a rge smooth rock, staring at the moss above.

  Kate and Apollyon had not spoken a word since meeting the entity. There was nothing to be said until now. Kate gnced over at her friend.

  “What did we meet down there?”

  “I don’t know. When I was a child, I read stories about things dreaming deep underground. I have so many questions.”

  “Yea, and barely any answers. Why, in all this time, did no one go down there to ask questions?”

  Apollyon shrugged. “We could have but you saw how this went. You don’t just go down there and ask this being what it likes for lunch.”

  “It just felt wrong to do… Still, that was incredible.”

  “Yes, it was incredible and truly wonderful. I think I need a cycle or two to let this all sink in. I apologize if you had a denser pn for this vacation.”

  Kate shook her head. “No, I need some time to process this as well. I feel like I have just started to scratch the surface of the thoughts this entity gave us. We should return home soon and figure out where to go from there, quite literally as well. You are welcome to accompany us, little one.” She ran her hand along the void panther again, who seemed to approve of the idea of following these demons around a bit more.

  The void panther’s decision paid off massively when it had followed the two librarians back to Kate’s home. Not only did it get to snack on some amazing treats, it also made another new friend in Sera who, unlike the demons, could actually see the small cat properly.

  Kate and Apollyon had made some food for themselves and the two cats and where now enjoying their stir-fry.

  Eventually Kate spoke up. “You know… I don’t think we are supposed to understand everything that entity has shown us yet. I think it was a gift that will stick with us for a while in the best way. Maybe one day we will grasp everything it has felt and shared with us, but all those strange thoughts and emotions won’t just make sense if we try too hard to make them make sense.”

  “You are right. It is a strange sensation to deal with thoughts that are so foreign to my mind, but I enjoy it. It is reassuring to know and feel that there are things that are beyond my understanding. We should enjoy this feeling more and not simply try to solve it.”

  “Exactly. Still, I love understanding stuff and there is something to understand out there: the Cocytus basin.”

  “Do you wish to go there after we finish eating?”

  Kate shook her head. “After we had a nap.”

  “Yes, a nap would do us well.”

  A full cycle ter, Kate and Apollyon stood on the edge of the Cocytus basin. Their new cat friend had stayed with Sera in Kate’s home.

  Apollyon sighed. “Depressing, isn’t it?”

  Kate looked down into the crater. There was nothing but rubble and moss there while even a few metres beyond the edge lush bushnds began. “I didn’t imagine it this desote.”

  “There used to be a hill here.”

  “Oh. How big is the basin?”

  “About four-hundred kilometres to the other side.”

  “An explosion that destroyed four-hundred kilometres of… everything.”

  “Mostly stone and pnts. The animals had fled this area before we even considered destroying the facility. The reason this crater isn’t even deeper is the magic infused rock just underneath the rubble. Want to head to the monument now? I would rather not enjoy this view.”

  “Of course, let’s go.”

  The two demons teleported to the centre of the basin. Kate looked up at the monument. This stone recreation of a magical device intended to amplify the destructive magic a single demon could unleash was much rger than Kate had expected.

  “This is a one-to-one recreation, right?”

  Apollyon nodded. “Yes. I stood in the chamber at top to use it. I would have suggested reading up on it but the schematics have been locked away in the cssified section of the library.”

  “The red door on the Hell side… never went in there.”

  “You should. Even if it’s just to know what is in there and not read anything. Everything about this bomb except its existence has been locked away in that section. Even just keeping the schematics and scientific notes about how it works was controversial. In the end, it was decided that we won’t know if we have accidently recreated it if we don’t know how the original worked. It must never be made again. Same with the biomass the bomb was used to destroy. Everything besides the historical facts have been cssified.”

  “That is horrifying. This pce is horrifying, honestly. Nothing but rubble and moss, not a single animal anywhere… I don’t feel any presence, not even the smallest rodent. Even with you here, I have never felt so alone before. There is also this sense of dread here that I can’t really describe…”

  “I feel it too.”

  “You said there was a settlement on the edge of the basin, right?”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “Why would anyone live here? This is as inhospitable as Hell could ever be.”

  Apollyon forced a smile. “They are trying what a team of our best military scientists failed to do. They want to help nature return here. I was surprised to hear that they made actual progress. Small progress, but there is a healthy oasis near the vilge. It gives me hope that one day, the only things left of our grievous mistake is this monument and the fact that there is a basin instead of hills.”

  “That would be wonderful.” Kate took several minutes to just walk around the monument and take it in. “I understand why you never suggested coming here. Thank you for accompanying me.”

  “It’s only right that you hear what happened from the one who did it.”

  “It’s quite the privilege. Speaking of privilege… that cssified section, what else is in there? I know the chariot schematics are publicly avaible, so the hidden stuff must be really bad.”

  “Two things mainly: knowledge that is too dangerous to ever be acted upon and texts that cause harm to the reader directly. The bomb, the self-replicating creature the bomb was intended to kill, the device used in the attempt to contact our underworld that caused immortality, the knowledge of how Lilith was imprisoned, how the needles worked and something you as a Nightmare must never read.”

  “I see, but that st part and the harmful texts are interesting in bad ways.”

  “The book you must never read is a set of instructions on how a Nightmare can cause someone to take their own life. Most Nightmares don’t know about it and you shouldn’t either if you weren’t the head librarian.”

  “Nirrti told me that no one had ever tried, that there was no ethical way to try.”

  “She is correct that you can’t try ethically. A high inquisitor many thousands of years before immortality wrote that book. We haven’t tried her technique but there is enough evidence to assume that it works.”

  “Shit… that is knowledge that I don’t want to have. So, what about the stuff that harms you?”

  “You know how the entity’s thoughts are so alien to us that we only understood the basics and how art can cause certain emotions? Imagine a magical text designed to create emotions that conflict with how your brain works, causing dread and fear of your own mind. Or a poem that makes you feel physical touch that doesn’t exist. There is one verse that causes its reader immense pain as if you had been stabbed in the chest. We never outwed making these texts and they are avaible for visitors to read, but only under supervision and only with informed consent. They are in the locked section merely to prevent someone from accidently stumbling onto them.”

  “Yea… would be really bad if someone like Sarah read one on accident.”

  “Yes. Still, what is in the locked section is public knowledge. We don’t hide what we know unless absolutely necessary and even then, knowing that we know something bad is very important. Mistakes like the ones that caused this basin to exist must never be forgotten.”

  “To preserve, to learn, to teach, for eternity must remember…” Kate sounded quite solemn while reciting the words that encircled the emblem of the library everywhere but the badges the librarians wore.

  “Since lives don’t need to be saved anymore, I have not seen a cause more important than that of our library.”

  The young Nightmare chuckled and shook her head. “Funny how on most days I forget what secrets we have on our shelves...”