Book 3: Chapter 31 - Humans Are the Real Monsters, So to Speak

The most dangerous type of hedron are the old hedron.
That sounds silly to say, but it’s true.
One of the ancient, immortal hedron that don’t seem to need food to survive.
The ones who generate enough clarity to subsist on it forever.

These hedron are almost always violet, and always deadly.

The second most dangerous? That would be people.
—Virgil Clay, Lecture

Violet stepped through the shattered door at the entrance of the school. There were technically four doors next to each other, but this was the only one which actually opened into the nest. It had been harder to find than she’d expected. A few sets of doors had been visible from her team’s camp, but most had been sealed closed by yellow crystal. She’d left her favorite fox behind, so no one was breaking in on her behalf, either. She also needed to maintain the illusion of caution so long as the other students could still see her. As a result, it took several minutes just to figure out how hedron got in. She knew there would be an entrance somewhere, and one she could reach. Especially after Masaki’s little speech. Multiple callings or types of hedron meant at least some of them must’ve been entering from the ground level.

This door was on the opposite side of the primary school building and seemed to lead to a large cafeteria. There were rows of rotted and broken tables, and a long bar that peered into an industrial kitchen. It had been a kitchen once, anyway. Now, it was more a tangled mess of steel and crystal, and one she wouldn’t be able to enter on her own. The entire cafeteria was a bit like that, if she was being honest. This nest felt like it fit its name more than most. Stalactites of crystal connected a vaulted ceiling to what had once been a tile floor. She couldn’t see in a straight line for more than ten to fifteen feet in any given direction.

The yellow was weirdly cheerful, which she found interesting. Some colors simply couldn’t escape the first role they’d ever been cast in.

None of this was the most interesting thing Violet found, however. “Stand down,” she ordered, addressing the orange homunculi Lisa had sent with her. She’d already examined them with Fatal Flaws, so she knew this was safe to do. They couldn’t report any recorded activity back to Lisa until they were in the same place as their master. And that was never going to happen again. They also had orders to do as she said, to the extent they understood her. Which was... limited, but that was for the best. She mostly needed them to stay out of her way.

This was why they didn’t immediately attack the approaching hedron. Violet could hear them before she saw them, and she mentally ordered several to present themselves to her. Once she was certain the homunculi wouldn’t attack, she looked up at the monsters and smirked.

“Well, Masaki was pretty far off the mark, wasn’t he?” she asked. Before her stood a gaggle of hedron, upright and on two feet. She’d actually found herself in a human nest. These were so rare that even Masaki hadn’t considered it as a possibility. They required a nest forming where humans lived, or a huge number of hedron crystallizing all at once. The latter was far more likely. Interestingly, it also offered an alternative explanation for the damage done outside. These hedron could have been hunting each other, sure. But Violet remembered Stephanie. She’d retained some level of understanding of her life as a human. It was hard to believe a bunch of people started trying to eat each other. Even after the mist made them carnivores.

“Guess we’re in a zombie movie now, huh?” The homunculi didn’t answer. That was apparently outside their range of capabilities. That was alright. It meant she could be open with them. Like her best friend forever, the moose. She shrugged at its silence, then returned her focus to the monsters in front of her. “If this nest was caused by a sudden mass crystallization, that kind of has implications, doesn’t it?”

As she crossed her arms, she sent a mental command to the people in front of her. That was how she thought of it, anyway. The orders she gave to hedron. It wasn't like a talent, where she could activate it with an innate understanding. But she felt what she wanted, and the monsters complied. That had always been how it worked. Excepting, of course, when they tried to kill her. But that was a minor detail, and not one she needed to concern herself with.

All of these hedron complied, at least, and they turned to follow her emotional instructions. One by one, they shambled their way back into the depths of the nest, all following the same path. “Come on, they're gonna show us where the heart is,” she explained. The homunculi didn't react, but when Violet stepped forward, they followed.

“This must be what ducklings feel like, huh?” Violet asked. She was tracking the trail of hedron through narrow halls, and the two constructs were following her. The halls hadn't always been such a tight fit. They'd once been designed for a large number of students to travel through them at once, but crystal had filled most of the empty space. Although the farther Violet traveled, the stranger that felt. Like something wasn't quite lining up.

“Is it just me, or is this crystal a little too new? Like, I know crystal grows constantly in the mist, but it feels like most of this is actually brand new, doesn't it?” Violet asked. She had to turn and sidle through a particularly narrow choke point as she spoke, which only made her more certain she was right. The crystal on either side of her was clean and clear, like tinted glass. She could make out a ruined trophy case on the other side, aged yet preserved like an insect in amber.

It felt like a picture of Pompeii, with the city frozen in a single moment of time. She clearly remembered the forming nest near Roseville. The way crystal grew from the heart like blood veins, infecting the wall it was mounted on. It wasn't an immediate process. Whatever had happened in this nest, however? It was like a bomb had gone off. Considering it was a human nest as well...

“Do you guys think someone did this? A person, I mean,” Violet asked, squeezing out of the crack into a slightly more open space. The homunculi easily walked out behind her, their diminutive forms having no problem with the confined quarters. They also remained frustratingly silent.

“You know, when you refuse to respond, it makes me feel stupid for talking to you. Conversation needs to be a two-way street, and you are making me do all of the work. It's just rude, you know?” she complained.

The hedron in front of her waited as she lectured the faceless constructs. The two-foot homunculi tilted their heads up at her, but waited for orders instead of answering. Violet sighed and shook her head. She casually waved the hedron forward with a shooing motion and continued to follow them.

“You're terrible friends, you know that? But I guess I shouldn't have expected any better. My parents always said not to trust anyone under five feet. ‘Cause they're creepy, according to Dad. You two could have proved him wrong. But you just had to be edgy and silent,” Violet lamented. “This always happens when I make friends out here. Well. Alright. I guess you'll just have to make up for it by being really good listeners.” 

The hedron were leading her up a stairwell, which was fine. Except the crystal was overgrown everywhere, and the glaive on her back kept getting caught. Finally, she grew too exasperated with it, unhooked it, and tossed it on the ground. It had been fairly expensive, since the school refused to provide it. She couldn't explain why she wasn't using Tools of the Trade, so she was forced to foot the bill herself. But it was just a prop more than anything, and it had served its purpose. It wasn't like she was going to need to fight anything right now.

Free from the cumbersome weapon, Violet moved more comfortably up to the second floor. As they continued their quiet march through the abandoned high school, she returned to her previous theorizing. 

“Anyway, where was I?” she asked. “Oh, right. Someone probably did this. Another Nightshade, maybe? Or just a dick, I guess. It really seems that way to me, anyway. Although it makes me wonder. What were all these people doing out here? There wasn't a settlement here before. Everything is too fucked up. And there aren't any tracks anywhere near this place. But look at these hedron!”

Violet gestured at the monsters in front of them. Half a dozen people, yellow crystal growing from legs, eyes, and torsos. One man even had his mouth permanently stuck open because of the crystal growing inside. They were horrifying to behold. Mangled and destroyed, limping because their bodies had been warped and twisted by unnatural crystal. But...

“They're all dressed, and their clothes aren't that old. This can't have happened long ago. And there is no way these bodies had time to decompose before crystallization. Someone absolutely has to have done this on purpose, right? I wonder why. And why that dipshit headmaster sent me here of all places,” Violet remarked.

The group passed by an old band room, and a chill ran down Violet’s spine. Band had given her the creeps since she’d first seen one of their club meetings a few months before. The way the light had faded from their eyes. She'd heard weird rumors about them ever since as well. A lot of people actually thought the club advisor—Mr. Drey—was Violet. Or, the Cruel Ivy Killer. Not because of any particular evidence. Just because the band students were all so screwed up and he had a weird vibe.

Violet was relieved when the hedron kept walking. She didn't want to explore the band room while searching for the heart. There was just something... not right about dedicated musicians. She shook the momentary worry off, straightening her back and focusing on the hedron in front of her again.

“I guess my family might be involved. The poor man is trying to recruit me to his side. Or he could be trying to show me what kind of stupid bullshit the Asher family gets up to. Not that it'll save him, of course. I already know my aunts and uncles all suck. Everyone sucks, to be honest. But if Bouvier wanted an enemy of Cyan, he already had one. I just happen to be his enemy, too. I'm a professional hater, after all. I can multitask,” Violet mused.

She didn't think that theory was necessarily likely, although she doubted many other families could pull this off. Then again, just about any violet had the capability. And Ashers weren't the only violets in town. 

Ultimately, she didn't actually care that much. She was just gathering information from the nest. Officially speaking. She'd never bothered to investigate how the world ended so long before. Many people did, especially when they were young. But it made no difference to her. The world was as big as it was, and she fit in just fine. It was simply an interesting thought exercise, and one which already served its purpose. That being a way to occupy her mind while following the mechanically groaning beasts to the heart.

“Ah, so this is it, then?” she asked. Amusingly, the hedron had stopped at the entrance to what appeared to be a teacher’s lounge. It wasn’t easy to tell from the inside. The crystal was more tangled in that room than anywhere else. Like with every heart, roots had grown from it to feed the rest of the nest. She’d probably have to climb inside if she wanted to reach the heart. Or send a cute little two-tailed fox. In any case, she couldn’t make out many of the things inside, except what may have once been a sofa. But the placard on the wall outside that said Teacher’s Lounge helped bridge that gap. Just a little bit.

 Violet peeked in anyway. Just to verify. When she saw the distinctly shaped heart to one side of the room, she was satisfied. She dusted her hands off on each other, then pressed on her head until her neck cracked. Finally, she let out a sigh and faced the hedron again. They really were creepy-looking. The strange desperation in their eyes was unsettling, considering they were all dead. Effectively, anyway.

“Well, that’s done, then,” she said. “I’d like to see some more of the place, though. If you don’t mind. There are some things I want to set up. Oh, and we should probably get in a little bit of a fight so I can scrap these worthless homunculi. Which one of you is gonna be the easiest to kill?”