The Tale of the Holy Case - Entering the Monastery

What follows is the report of a journalist who chose to remain anonymous after these events, for his own safety. He heard about our Holy Case and wanted to know its origin and its importance.

I knew where to send him...

Somewhere. Sometime...

BOOM.. BOOM... BOOM...

The iron door knocker is cold and heavy and the sound of it each time rumbles on the huge old wooden door... It pours, I'm drenched and I'm waiting at this obscure ancient building for minutes now. The surrounding dark forest and its unfamiliar noises make me wanting to enter as fast as possible. I can't knock more than three times though. Why does nobody open? ... Is this thing even inhabi- Ah, finally! I can hear something from the inside!

(Not the actual Monastery, for secrecy reasons)

After a while, the gate creaks slowly open, and an unrecognisable creature in long black cape starts addressing me:

"Welcome, human! I was expecting you already. You're right on time. Come in, before your skin gets green from the moist! -hihihi- Let me guide you in to the tombs, eternally protected by the https://app.warera.io/mu/697dfff14fe43895c80e9f4b . Come! Don't be shy, come through!"

His voice is strange, nor human, nor Devil. I have no clue of what this might be... I'm pretty sure I'm at the right location though, as https://app.warera.io/user/6976999c59a84b0ddaed2489 send me that blinded taxi cab that dropped me off here. He arranged this meeting with that What-The-Hell-It-Is... I have so many questions, but will not be allowed to say anything myself. They wouldn't answer and it's already a great honour to be allowed in here anyway.

"Maybe you've heard of it already, but I'll have to blindfold you for our short journey, to not disclose too much of the location of our secrets... Here you are... Sorry to be that direct, but as you'll soon understand, this is a very delicate matter, and we can't take any risks with it..."

After I'm blindfolded, the creature grabs me by the arm and guides me through the ever so long hallways. It's completely silent here, as we are in some kind of monastery, where words have to be chosen wisely, and spoken scarcely... We keep on walking, and all I can hear is our footsteps and the distant noises of rain and wind outside... Time passes and I don't know how long we are walking already, and I suspect him to run circles at this point, just to disorientate me further...

"Be careful now, human, we'll descend a narrow spiralling staircase now, to the underground Sacted Sanctuary! Never let loose of the handrail, I'm right behind you. Meanwhile, I can tell you the Tale of the Holy Case..."

Yes, this is what I asked https://app.warera.io/user/6976999c59a84b0ddaed2489 . Little did I know I was about to get abducted like this...

"It was some cold day in February 2026, when a desperate Devil knocked on our gates. We are not used to visitors, you know, and don't open for strangers. But we saw he was in a really bad shape, and was too weak to leave our grounds again. It seemed like he didn't eat for days, and we couldn't let him starve at our gates too -those beast stink as hell you know!- so someone of us had to open the gate and listen if he was lost, or what he wanted of us... That evening, I drew the shortest straw and had to open the gate myself, while the others could safely hide in these dungeons... Oh yes, sorry, take three steps back, there's a wooden door on the left now!"

A firm hand grabs around my arm and pulls it off the handlebar and on a door knob.

"There you are! Just be careful, there's an even steeper staircase downwards right after this door! … Well, where was I? Oh, yes! I was scared to death by that Devil, terrified, but had to open anyway... He seemed weak, I let him in and gave him some bread. The name of our visitor, or so he called himself, was https://app.warera.io/user/69175a4947cb935b3e09c080 . How he found us will forever be a mystery. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know himself anymore, he was completely lost. Lost and desperate, yet very friendly. He told me about the newly erected MU of his, the https://app.warera.io/mu/697dfff14fe43895c80e9f4b , and how he needed tons and tons of money to build dormitories and headquarters. He hadn't eaten for a week, as he kept all his money for his fellow little Devils. From that moment on, I knew he had a good heart. My fellow monks could safely return from their shelters..."

Oh, https://app.warera.io/user/69175a4947cb935b3e09c080 has been here before?! ... But where are we going?! This isn't walking around pointlessly in circles like in the beginning anymore, but deliberately going to ever greater depths... It might be the tension building, but I should swear the heat starts to accumulate here...

"His funds were totally depleted. Eagerly waiting new members were knocking on his door on a daily basis. His MU needed to grow fast, or it would hinder its ambitions from the very beginning... He asked if we could give him a loan or something, as he saw our beloved Monastery... But I can guarantee you, dear human, we have gold nor fish in here! And as monks, we don't do pills, you'll understand. -hihihi-"

I would not so sure of that though, when I hear his strange voice... Minutes pass again, while steadily descending further and further into the earth's crust...

"Don't mind the heat and sulphur odour btw. That's basically earth gases leaking. You get used to it after a while... I don't know if it's safe to humans though, but we won't let you stay here for too long anyway... So, on that point I started trusting that Devil a lot more already -we have a sense for it you know!- I told him we only have one valuable item, deep in our dungeons, but it could never leave this safe environment. It's a unique piece, in great importance of the world..."

The heat and smell starts to take away my breath by now. I'm sweating like I'm thrown in Hell itself...

"Ah, we've arrived! I'll take off your blindfold here..."

...

The following part will be published tomorrow morning in "The Tale of the Holy Case - The Ancient Tapestry". Subscribe if you don't want to miss out!

(This article is part of the larger general presentation of the https://app.warera.io/mu/697dfff14fe43895c80e9f4b : https://app.warera.io/article/6a869f6605843a89892b8d27 )