Chapter 16: The Labyrinth of the Blue Nexus
After a peaceful night's rest, the group set off again in the warm light of the following morning. They completed a long day's walk across the changing landscapes of S7. It was at sunset that the expedition finally reached the first structures of the lost city. Before them, the remains of the ancient city rose from the ground like sleeping giants: carved stone walls, columns wrapped in glowing roots, and half-collapsed arches marking old paths that had long been forgotten.
High in the sky, S7's lowest sun was already disappearing behind the mountains, while the first three moons were almost perfectly aligned. They cast an even silver light that created three shadows on the ground.
Sixsevenin stopped in front of the entrance to an ancient building that was partly buried in the ground. His eyes glowed softly as he compared the coordinates stored in his files with the surrounding structures.
—This is the place, —Sixsevenin said, pointing to a sloping passage that led deep underground.— The readings match exactly the structure where we got lost last time. The carvings on the front and the way the blocks are arranged follow the same building pattern as the great pyramid.
—And it smells just like last time, —Willity commented, his large dark eyes wide as he examined the entrance.— Like ancient earth and sleeping energy.
Deri did not wait for the group to make a decision. He made a small jump, spread his bluish membranes, and quickly slipped into the narrow stone passage.
—Wait, Deri! —exclaimed Jazzi, raising her crystal branch, which immediately began to give off a warm fuchsia glow to light the way.
As usual in these situations, Ramsi stepped forward and took the lead alongside Iris as the group entered the underground labyrinth. At first, the passages looked familiar to Willity and Sixsevenin, but soon the network of tunnels began to branch off into passages they had not been able to explore on their previous visit.
As they moved forward, the explorers noticed that the walls of this complex were not made of ordinary stone. Quartz was set into the walls, and carved lines and symbols gave off a faint response to the light from Jazzi's crystal branch.
—Look at these paintings, —said Iris, brushing the surface of one of the walls with her long sleeves as they crossed a large circular chamber.— They are not just decorations. They show the planet's energy network. You can see how all these lines meet at two different points... One was the great pyramid in the north, and the other is... the place we are heading to.
—It's amazing that all this has been hidden down here, in silence, for so many cycles, —Willity whispered as they made their way around a small hollow covered with shining crystals.— If the Nexus in the pyramid connected us to other worlds, do you think this second portal will still be active?
—Sage Orom said that the first three moons would awaken the secondary chamber, —Ramsi reminded them in his deep, steady voice as he used a tool to check the strength of a slightly unstable floor.— And if there is one thing I have learned about this planet, it is that ancient stories are rarely wrong.
Despite Sixsevenin's directions, the complex underground passages soon began to confuse them. They reached a junction with four identical corridors, where currents of air moved in circles, making a soft whistling sound.
—Well... I think we have already passed through this corridor, —Sixsevenin admitted, stopping and making his navigation sensors flash.— The walls are identical, and the runic pattern repeats itself. We have got mixed up in the tunnels again.
—It's all right, —Jazzi said with her usual optimism and cheerfulness.— If you got lost last time but managed to get out with Deri's help, then today it will be even easier now that we have my music too.
At that moment, the gliding feline reappeared from the corridor on the far left. He gave a cheerful "Miiiauu!" and waved his tail, inviting them to follow him. Just as he had done when they first met in the lost city, Deri became the perfect guide, moving confidently through the corridors that sloped more steeply downward.
Once they had left the maze of twisting passages behind, the corridor opened into a huge hall. Unlike the dangerous traps of the great pyramid, this place had a calm and solemn feeling. The walls were lined with large reliefs showing stars, unknown constellations, and two enormous discs joined by a flowing beam of light.
—This architecture... —Sixsevenin said aloud, studying the surface of the ancient metal covering the frames along the corridor.— It is identical to the chamber we saw in the pyramid before the floor gave way, with the same carvings and the same technology.
The air in the passage grew heavier, filled with an electromagnetic vibration that made the Nimbis' ears stand on end and cast bluish reflections across the Sixevenians' robes.
At the end of the passage, the space opened into an impressive domed chamber.
The group moved forward slowly, taking smaller and smaller steps until they came to a complete stop in the center of the room.
Before them, set against the main wall of the chamber, stood a gigantic circular structure. It was an enormous frame made of dark, polished alloy, identical to the one they had glimpsed in the pyramid's secret chamber: the Blue Nexus star gate.
However, unlike the rest of the complex, this portal was not completely dark. Along the upper lintel and around its inner edge, a double inscription glowed with a pulsing sapphire-blue light.
On one side, elegant carvings stood out in the stone: figures shown in profile, long-winged birds, suns with geometric rays, watchful eyes, and sacred vessels. They had been carved in a style that could easily have belonged to temples on other distant worlds. Right beside them, intertwined with the picture carvings, shone characters made of clean lines and precise geometric shapes. They changed constantly, making them difficult to read.
Sixsevenin stepped forward and focused his sensors on the glowing geometric symbols, which kept changing.
—Look... —said Sixsevenin, pausing as he checked what he was reading against his memory banks.— It is the same language that was written on Deri's stone, the one that revealed his earlier journeys. Both Deri and Iris were able to recognize the right symbols that made up the hidden message.
—And these pictures... —Iris added, gently pointing to the carved images beside the text.— They seem to be a visual guide, a version in hieroglyphs that conveys the same meaning. Both languages seem to work together to deliver the message; they translate and support each other.
—Because it is written in this code, I will be able to understand it without any problems, —Sixsevenin assured them as the blue lines cast flashes of light across his visors.— The instructions for activating and crossing the Blue Nexus are perfectly clear before us.
Deri sat down on the floor, staring at the light of the double inscription with his large dark eyes, while Jazzi held up her crystal branch, whose light blended with the blue glow of the frame.
Everyone held their breath in complete silence, their eyes fixed on the hieroglyphs and the shining characters on the star gate, ready to hear the instructions that would change the course of their journey...
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