If You Stare Into the Abyss

Great googly moogly, what a discovery! An honest-to-goodness grimoire.

A grimoire? You mean like a spell book?!

Indeed. It was mixed in with a batch of antique texts I recently acquired. It appears to be an unearthly tome in which a monster from the beyond is sealed!

That sounds wonderful! Dark powers, creepy books, this has it all! The netherworld really does exist.

You sound surprised, Suzette. Aren't you supposed to be a reincarnation of a spirit that fell into the netherworld?

O-O-Of course I am! I'm just saying, it exists. Obviously it does.

Hmm... All the books have been confirmed to be genuine, but I don't know about this netherworld stuff.

What does this old spell book say in it?

There's a lot of prophecies about a beast from beyond breaking into our reality to lay waste to the world. It says the only one that can seal it away again is a "Princess of Darkness" wielding the power of the spirits.

Princess of Darkness? That sounds familiar, somehow.

Heh heh... The seal is weakening... The beast from beyond draws near...

Heh heh heh... The time has finally come for me to fulfil my sacred duty!

Good heavens! You don't mean...!

Indubitably. I am the princess whose coming was foretold. Long ago, I fell into darkness, but now here I am, reborn into this new age.

What a fortuitous coincidence! Then you can prevent this upcoming disaster?

Do you even have to ask? Yes, I will save humanity from its sad fate.

The book itself is being stored in a container at the airport. I was just about to contact a friend of mine to cast an expert eye over it.

No time for that! We must retrieve it and strengthen the seal at once.

Uh-huh... A lot of this is going over my head. But if the world's in danger I'd better pitch in, too.

That's some admirable dedication, Aldo. Very well, I will allow you to assist me.

Here it is! The accursed tome!

I can feel it... The pulse of the dark forces that have led us here... This book is truly inexorably entwined with my own destiny!

Just looks like an old book to me...

For someone who regularly travels through time, you lack wanderlust! Can't you feel this foreboding aura?

Not really. How are you planning to seal this monster away, anyhow?

I...

First, we have to undo the seal!

Isn't that gonna...y'know, doom the world?

We'll be fine as long as we only partially release it. Totally fine! After that, it'll be a simple matter to re-invoke the seal and ensure peace for another thousand years.

Can't argue with that, I think. Well, whatever. Let's get this thing released and resealed.

Huh? Uh, I don't think, I mean, oh! I can feel it... The warps and wefts in the web of our reality! We must perform our ritual at the center of the distortions to properly invoke the seal!

Okay, where exactly is that?

The, uh... The distortions, you see... Some may say their center is...

Huh? What was that?

Something wrong, Suzette?

Didn't you hear that voice?

What voice? I didn't hear anything.

I see it! I have the answer.

The truth has been revealed. We must go to the Industrial Ruins.

How'd you figure?

No time for questions, let's go!

Here, this is the spot.

Right here? I don't see anything special about this place.

Nay, my cursed eye shows me that this place is brimming with abyssal energy. Come, we must begin the ritual!

Century upon century, my will endures... Submit now to my primal power and cast off thy destiny of despair. Ye who art seal'd within this tome... Step into the light, show us your true form!

......

......

...Uh, Suzette? Nothing's happening.

Wh-What? That's weird. I did everything right, so...

Oh, I know! This ritual only takes effect if performed on the night of a full...

Waaah! Who? What? Where?!

What the?!

It really did appear!

......

I mean...just as I planned! It took a while, but I knew this would work.

Greetings, my old foe. How many millennia have passed since I last saw those hateful eyes of yours? I feel the currents of fate that compel you to strive for destruction. None of us can escape that... Now, return to the darkness from whence ye came!

Sink once more into slumber. This world is too beautiful for me to allow you to destroy it.

Well, that's a surprise. I never thought I'd see one of those things again, especially in a place like this.

Aldo, that's my line! Don't try to steal my shtick.

What do you mean "again," anyway? That monster was MY ancient enemy, not yours.

That was a monster from my era. The thing that brought it here was a tear in spacetime.

Huh? But what about the prophecy?

I think it just showed up by chance at the same time you finished up your ritual.

Nonsense! I don't believe in mundane coincidence. That vortex of light was a gateway to the netherworld, summoned by the book! I should know, shouldn't I? I'm the Dark Princess, so I have a special affinity...

We'd better go report on what happened.

Yeah, and what happened was my ritual!

Sorry to keep you waiting. You'll be pleased to know the beast from beyond has been properly exorci...

I'm so sorry!

Huh?

After you left, I still had my doubts, so I did some extra research. It seems a counterfeit volume was mixed in with that batch. The grimoire, it's not real.

Whaaat?!

It's a genuine antique, but it's a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.

But a monster actually appeared. It tried to invade our world!

I can't apologize enough for sending you on such a wild goose chase. It's my own fault for believing that ridiculous fairy tale. I blame it on too many late nights these past few weeks. I should have seen through that ridiculous claim in a second.

R-Ridiculous? Fairy tale?

You must be tired after this ordeal. I promise I'll call in proper experts in future before getting you involved.

......

Suzette?

Heh heh... Heh heh heh! Ha ha ha ha haaa!

Calm down, Suzette! It'll be okay!

Take your hands off me! Don't act like I'm the strange one here! This is so typical of mere mortals! You refuse to perceive things that run contrary to your sense of reason.

You're not ready to see the truth like I see it! It would blow your fragile little minds. And I'm definitely not faking!

Okay, I believe you. Here, have a tissue.

I'm not crying!