Chapter 33 - Pendulum

The rain was pelting from outside, the gloomy weather finally crying itself through the skies.

Raindrops pitter-pattered on the glass window beside Alexander Valentine, a steaming cup of coffee was in front of him.

As Hearth's governor, he was expected to always be nicely dressed no matter the occasion.

His phone was ringing, vibrating on the table, but he ignored it.

Clack, clack, clack.

The sound of a woman's stilettos coming to him made him look towards the automatic door of the VIP section of Ace, the famous restaurant only available in Zion.

The woman was of a petite frame. She was wearing a floral dress in white which was formal enough to meet the standard of professional apparel.

Despite the absence of the sun, the woman had worn tinted sunglasses and had only lifted them to reveal her curly lashes and golden brown irises, catching Alexander Valentine's gaze.

A small purse was in her hands. It was enough to fit her phone and some essential things a woman always carried.

Alexander Valentine gestured with his hand, inviting the lady to join him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice."

The woman inclined her head to let Alexander Valentine know she understood.

"I heard about what happened. Damien told me."

Alexander Valentine nodded. He looked towards the window. The view of the city was visible from the seventh floor of the building.

The drones were still flying around, their green light blinking to indicate that everything was in order within the city.

'But was it?' Alexander Valentine thought. His daughter was still unconscious at the medical center, and no doctor could seem to have an answer for her condition.

"Aside from my dead father and grandfather, you and your brother are the only ones who knew about what happened years before my family sat in the government seat."

The woman hummed a response. She put her hands on the table and looked Alexander Valentine in the eye.

"Yes," she crossed her legs under the table, leaning towards Alexander to whisper her next words. "A secret which should remain as such."

–

"Holy cow," Jaspreth muttered. He was actually close to saying something worse upon catching sight of Nayowmi.

She was standing in the middle of a circular platform. Around her, lifeless zombies lay with each of their skulls crushed in the middle and in the sides. There was still quite a number chained to the wall.

From their standpoint, Jaspreth could see more of those re-animated dead were locked inside what appeared to be prison cells.

On top of the circular platform, a pendulum was swinging back and forth. It was hardly touching the ceiling but close to it.

The two metal balls were color-coordinated, one was silver, and the other was gold.

Around them, the same prison cells were present, those with metal bars and padlocks. But compared to the ones present below, it was empty.

"Okay," Beatrix started. "Are we supposed to save her?"

Zera nodded. She caught Nayowmi's gaze.

Ping!

The game's translucent screen appeared before the four friends.

[Special Task Unlocked! One of your teammates is in trouble! Will you be able to save her in time? Say 'Proceed' if you wish to proceed with the task}

"Proceed," Zera replied with no hesitation.

[You have chosen to save your teammate! Please note that if you fail to fulfill this task, it won't affect your progress. You will continue to play with a four-player team until stage seven. You have thirty minutes. The Priestess wishes you good fortune!]

The translucent screen didn't disappear, but it displayed the 30-minute countdown.

"Damn," Astherielle muttered. She eyed the circular platform and then at the pendulum swinging on top. "What are we supposed to do? We can't jump in the den. There are no stairs to get us back."

"Is this another puzzle?" Beatrix inquired, too, eyed their surroundings, looking for anything that might give them any clues on how to proceed.

"I think so," Zera pointed towards the pendulum. "That must be a key, or it will have no purpose."

"How are we supposed to figure out how to save her using that pendulum?" Jaspreth scratched the back of his head.

"Just so you know!" Nayowmi called out. "If you can't save me, no bad feelings!"

Zera let out a snort. She looked at Nayowmi.

Her former attire had been replaced by a black jumpsuit and checkered black and white inner shirt. She had no weapons around her, and the army boots she had on were the only thing she must have used to fight off the zombies that lay unmoving around her.

"We can't do that," Zera replied. "We need you."

Nayowmi looked away. She ducked her head and bit down on her lower lip.

She felt like she didn't deserve their acceptance.

From the previous stage, it seemed like she had betrayed them for not telling them about the reward and everything else stated in the preface.

But, how would she know that they weren't aware of it?

Still, the thought didn't fail to make her feel a pang of regret.

'Was it guilt? But she has yet to do anything.' Nayowmi thought. She had no face to show them now.

"Guys!" Astherielle called out. She was staring at the timer. "We wasted five minutes already. We need to think fast!"

Zera stared at the pendulum again like an answer would suddenly fall down from it and be handed towards her.

They kept on swinging, bumping against each other on a steady rhythm.

"What are we missing?" she murmured, drumming her fingers on her thighs.

Zera watched the two metal balls, trying to see any form of pattern.

"Come on," Zera coaxed.

"Z, what are you doing?" Jaspreth stated. Astherielle and Beatrix scouted their perimeter, looking for a staircase or anything else that could lead them towards Nayowmi and help them grab her from there.

"There must be something we need to figure out in that pendulum," she let out a sigh, looking at Jaspreth with uncertainty before catching sight of the timer in front of them.

23 minutes. They only have 23 minutes to figure out how to save Nayowmi.. If not, she would inevitably be caught in a zombie fest.