Demon continent Alsace in the year 237 in the 9-month Lilithum on the 31st day after the shattering of the empire.
The urge to just keep running, paying attention to nothing and no one, grew heavier with each additional step, and yet she had to fight that very urge. The depictions on the walls showed how the divine races had fought Diva and what those battles had looked like. The titan dominated the fights which seemed to claim a lot of lives, this together with the huge amount of rats that supported the titan in his fight, did not make it easy for the divine races. She did not want to fall back into a state where she was not in control, something that reminded her too much of her own death, which was something she would rather not experience again.
The corridors she followed down were large so that several people could have walked shoulder to shoulder through them. This, together with the actual darkness, which was only illuminated by the arcane light of the runes, gave the images that the corridor was even more threatening, reminding her of the jaws of a monster. Add to that her inner battle against herself, in which she had to be careful not to lose it or she would again lose all control over herself and her body and have to watch like a prisoner in her own body, running through the corridors without sense or reason towards danger.
And she wanted to be prepared and in her right mind when she would face the danger she was sure existed. She didn't want her instincts to take over her thinking and get her into trouble, but the further down the corridor she ran, the more she had to wrestle with herself and the stronger her instincts became. They were the ones that had done the thinking for her and led her down here, she couldn't even remember how she had turned, that she had found these corridors and she hadn't encountered any rats for some time. Which made her assume that the rats hadn't found these passages at all yet. Which gave her a little confidence that she wasn't up against a huge pack of rats.
In her mental battle against her instincts, however, she tried not to be distracted by the representations and runes, even though she continued to watch them with interest, since there was no noise down here and she could not perceive any enemies. Except for the danger, which still lay ahead of her, but which attracted her like light attracts a moth. And that was an instinct which she could not fight against which she could not stand up to, no matter how hard she tried.
Nothing had changed in her environment yet, except that the arcane energy had increased, yet the hallway she was walking through was still the same as the one she had been walking through for some time, only slowly it was getting warmer around her. Which made her sweat and yet it got warmer and warmer with each step she took, it got warmer in the hallway. Soon sweat was running down her body in streams and the air was also getting hotter, making it difficult to breathe. And yet she couldn't stop or give herself a break because her instincts wouldn't let her rest and kept pushing her forward and deeper and deeper into the increasingly hot corridor. Further and further down, deeper and deeper into the dark womb of Arkan.
Without her noticing, the passage kept changing, first getting steadily wider and higher, until finally it was illuminated by light. Something that she perceived only at the edge of her perception and something on which she did not concentrate at the moment. The arcane energy, which was visible to the naked eye down here in the heart of Arcana, rotated before her eyes like a storm around a single point. A point, which lay before her in the gigantic cave, into which the passage had changed. Across from her, she could see another passageway through the storm of arcane energy, as she let her gaze wander she could see two more passageways which were to her right and left respectively.
The cave was huge and she had come out on a circular walkway, from where a narrow path led always in a circle even further down. The walls were decorated with statues and depictions, although she found that the tone of the depictions had changed somewhat and that they had gone from depictions wat represented a glorious victory to depictions which were in a mocking tone. Four huge metal rings spanned the hole at ninety degrees to each other like four strips of a globe and in their center was a single figure.
A rat, which was not unlike the other rats up above, like them, it had something human about it, and it even sat cross-legged in the center of the storm of arcane energy. She could see that these four metal rings were covered with runes and that they were responsible for the storm of Arcane Energy. The rat with what she thought was a human face sniffed the air, swinging its head, which was like a rat's, in every possible direction. The almost-human face, which was where a rat's face normally was, was covered with green scales like its arms and legs. The head was crowned by a crown of antlers. The creature opened its eyes and looked directly at her. Her only option was to put her other instincts in their place and try to keep this one instinct in check.
"Basilisk." Whereupon the creature indicated a slight bow. "What brings the little ruler to my prison?" Diva had an unpleasant voice, which sounded as if something was speaking that should not speak, otherwise it would damage the mind of those hearing it. Yet she was still there and still alive, unconsciously, a hiss escaped her and her face twisted into a grin. Both accompanied with a feeling of disgust at Diva before her.
"Ah, so you are hers to finish what the demons started long ago." She had to fight with herself not to jump into the cage and attack Diva. "Good call, if you don't want to be a battery for the demons for all time like me." A mirthless laugh escaped Diva before Diva continued speaking. "So is it true that you are died or is this new body of yours just some kind of disguise? Personally, I never thought Mother's favorite would dress up as a child of the gods." Diva paused and looked at her, one more Diva sniffed the air. "What have you done you stink like the gods and you look like one of those abominations Lilith and Asmodus sired, like a demon." At which Diva's face contorted into a mask of disgust. "What is it you have slurred your tongue, shall mother come and help you?" This time the cave resounded in laughter from a joyous laugh of Diva. "So it is true, mother's darling has been killed. Then the others like me must be locked away somewhere and you are the only Titan on the loose. But why?" Diva seemed to be talking to himself now, muttering to himself in his thoughts.
Everything she had experienced so far coincided with what she had seen on the displays. Diva as well as the other Titans had been imprisoned in various places on Arcane. For what and why was still an unanswered question.
"What you say is true, at least that the original basilisk died, one of my ancestors defeated it in battle." She uttered between clenched teeth. Diva looked up and seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts. Diva regarded her for a few moments without blinking once then Diva laughed another resounding laugh that made the cave shake.
"A Titan killed by a mortal of the divine race, that I do not laugh. But since you don't seem to know anything, I'll let you in on a little secret. Titans are immortal and for sure mother wouldn't have let you die. So she had a plan, which you were privy to, otherwise, you wouldn't have "let yourself be killed.""
