The Lazy Chronicles: Apartment of the Apocalypse-Chapter 103: Bargaining with the Stars

The campfire crackled in the silent night, casting flickering shadows on the worn-out faces of the group. Mallory sat cross-legged, staring at the glowing orb resting on a makeshift stand of stones. The celestial entity inside was quiet now, but she could still feel its presence—watching, waiting.

Greg yawned loudly. "So, what’s the plan? Are we keeping the space ghost as a pet, or are we throwing it into a volcano and pretending we never saw it?"

Alex smirked. "You’d just miss it and drop it on your foot."

Greg shot him a glare. "I’m sensing a lot of hostility from this group lately."

Elara ignored them, eyes locked onto Mallory. "You heard it speak to you again, didn’t you?"

Mallory hesitated. "...Yes. It told me I was stronger than I realized."

Greg rolled his eyes. "Wow, how original. What’s next? ’With great power comes great responsibility’?"

Quinn chuckled. "You’re just mad it didn’t compliment you."

Greg placed a hand on his chest, feigning pain. "I would like some celestial validation, yes."

Mallory sighed, rubbing her temples. "The question is, what do we do with it? If it’s really a fragment of a powerful being, we need to be careful."

A gust of wind swept through the camp, rustling the leaves. The orb pulsed, and suddenly, a voice echoed through the air.

"You have questions. I have answers."

Greg yelped and nearly fell off the log he was sitting on. "NOPE. NOPE. NOPE."

Mallory straightened. "Who are you?"

The voice chuckled softly. "A prisoner. A seeker of knowledge. One who has been bound for eons."

Alex frowned. "And why were you imprisoned?"

The pause before the answer was long enough to make everyone uncomfortable.

"Because I knew too much."

Greg groaned. "Yeah, see? That’s the kind of vague nonsense villains say before they betray you."

Quinn leaned forward. "What exactly do you... know?"

The orb pulsed again. "The location of hidden relics. The secrets of this world. And most importantly... the truth about the coming catastrophe."

Silence.

Mallory’s heart pounded. "Catastrophe?"

"The balance is shifting. Forces beyond your comprehension are moving. You have already seen the signs."

Greg crossed his arms. "Oh, we HAVE, have we?"

Mallory thought about everything they’d encountered—the ancient ruins, the mutated creatures, the strange anomalies. Maybe the entity wasn’t lying.

But trusting it was another matter entirely.

Alex gave Mallory a sharp look. "You’re not actually considering working with it, are you?"

Mallory hesitated. "...I don’t know."

The orb hummed. "I could help you. In exchange for my freedom."

Greg immediately stood up. "AND THERE IT IS. NO DEAL. I’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE."

Mallory narrowed her eyes. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You don’t."

Greg threw his hands up. "WONDERFUL."

The entity continued, its voice calm. "But I will give you a taste of my knowledge. A place. A name. A path to power."

Elara watched closely. "And in return?"

"Nothing... for now."

The group exchanged uneasy glances. The deal was tempting. Knowledge like that could be invaluable. But was it worth the risk?

Mallory exhaled. "Fine. Tell us."

The stars above seemed to flicker as the entity spoke.

"The ruined city of Solmere. The vault beneath the temple. The last key to the Forgotten Gate."

Greg’s eye twitched. "That... sounds important."

Alex rubbed his chin. "I’ve read about Solmere. It was abandoned centuries ago. People say the place is cursed."

Greg groaned. "Of course it’s cursed. Because WHY wouldn’t it be cursed?"

Quinn smirked. "Sounds like an adventure."

Greg pointed at him. "Sounds like an easy way to get eaten."

Mallory ignored the bickering. She had a decision to make.

"We head for Solmere."

Greg let out a long, suffering sigh. "Of course we do."

---

The Road to Solmere

The journey to the ruined city was long and treacherous. Mallory led the group through dense forests, across crumbling bridges, and past the remnants of once-great towns.

Greg nearly fell into a sinkhole twice.

Quinn got into a heated debate with a talking parrot at a roadside inn.

Alex managed to win a small fortune in a dice game, only to have Greg immediately lose half of it by betting on a snail race.

Mallory, meanwhile, kept the orb secured in a reinforced satchel, refusing to let it out of her sight.

When they finally reached the outskirts of Solmere, the sun was setting, casting eerie shadows over the cracked stone streets. Buildings stood in various states of decay, their walls covered in ancient glyphs.

Greg shivered. "Yup. Definitely cursed."

Mallory ignored him and stepped forward. The ground beneath her foot suddenly crumbled, and she yelped as she fell through—

Right into a slide.

She tumbled downward, landing with a grunt in an underground chamber.

A moment later, Greg landed on top of her.

"WHY," she wheezed.

Greg groaned. "I regret EVERYTHING."

Alex and the others slid down after them, landing in a heap.

As they untangled themselves, torches along the walls flickered to life, revealing massive stone doors covered in golden symbols.

Elara whistled. "That’s definitely a vault."

Quinn rubbed his hands together. "Let’s see what’s inside."

Greg sighed. "I just KNOW something is going to try to kill us in there."

Mallory approached the doors and placed a hand against them. The moment she did, the orb pulsed—and the doors rumbled open.

Silence filled the chamber.

Then, from the darkness beyond, something stirred.

A deep, echoing growl reverberated through the vault. freёwebnoѵel.com

Greg immediately turned to leave. "NOPE."

Mallory grabbed him. "We’re already here."

Glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.

Then another.

And another.

Greg groaned. "I HATE ADVENTURING."

_____________________________

The glowing eyes in the darkness didn’t move, but the low growl echoed through the chamber, rattling dust from the ceiling.

Greg tightened his grip on his sword. "So, do we run now, or do we run later?"

Mallory ignored him, keeping her gaze locked on the shadowy figures. The vault was massive, lined with towering stone pillars covered in glowing glyphs. In the center of the room stood a raised platform, where an ornate pedestal held something wrapped in shimmering cloth.

Elara whispered, "That must be the key to the Forgotten Gate."

Greg hissed, "Awesome. And we’re definitely about to die for it."

The creatures in the darkness finally stepped forward.

Their forms were vaguely humanoid but twisted—elongated limbs, gnarled fingers, and featureless, shifting faces that seemed to ripple like liquid. They moved in slow, jerky motions, their bodies flickering between solid and transparent.

Quinn took a step back. "Yeah, I don’t like that."

Alex raised his weapon. "We fight or we negotiate?"

Greg scoffed. "You wanna negotiate with shadow nightmares?"

The orb in Mallory’s satchel pulsed.

"They are bound guardians. They do not listen to words. Only to power."

Greg groaned. "WHY is it always power?"

Before anyone could respond, one of the creatures lunged.

Mallory barely dodged, rolling to the side as its clawed hand slashed through the air where she’d been standing. The others sprang into action—Alex parried another creature’s strike, Quinn threw a dagger that passed harmlessly through one of them, and Elara unleashed a blast of fire, which caused one to screech but didn’t destroy it.

Greg, meanwhile, had turned and was already halfway back to the tunnel entrance.

"GREG!" Mallory snapped.

"I’M THINKING STRATEGICALLY," he called over his shoulder.

Mallory ducked another attack. "WHAT STRATEGY?!"

"THE ONE WHERE I LIVE."

She didn’t have time to argue. Another creature lunged, but instead of attacking, it let out an ear-splitting shriek. The glyphs on the pillars flashed, and the entire chamber began to shift—the walls warping, the floor tilting.

"Oh, that’s not good," Quinn muttered.

Mallory’s mind raced. They couldn’t fight these things conventionally. But maybe—

She grabbed the orb from her satchel. "Tell me how to stop them!"

The entity’s voice echoed in her mind.

"Touch the pedestal. The vault will recognize you."

Mallory cursed under her breath. Of course, it wouldn’t tell her this earlier.

She sprinted toward the platform, dodging between creatures as they slashed at her. One managed to graze her arm, and ice-cold pain shot through her body, but she kept moving.

Reaching the pedestal, she slammed her hand down onto it.

The entire chamber froze.

The creatures let out distorted shrieks as golden chains of energy erupted from the glyph-covered pillars, wrapping around them. One by one, they were pulled back into the shadows, their forms dissolving.

Silence.

Greg peeked out from behind a column. "Is it over?"

Mallory exhaled, pulling her hand away. "I think so."

Elara approached the pedestal, staring at the wrapped object. "This has to be it."

Carefully, she lifted the shimmering cloth. Beneath it was a key, but not one made of metal—this one seemed to be forged from light itself, shifting and pulsating as if it were alive.

Quinn let out a low whistle. "I don’t know about you guys, but I say that’s the single most cursed-looking key I’ve ever seen."

Greg pointed. "We should put it back."

Mallory ignored him and took the key. The moment she did, the vault rumbled again, and the golden chains retracted into the walls.

The orb pulsed.

"You have taken the first step."

Greg sighed. "That’s usually the part where things get worse."

---

The Aftermath

Back at camp, the group sat around the fire, exhausted but triumphant.

Alex was sharpening his blade. "So what now? We find the Forgotten Gate?"

Mallory stared at the key, watching its glow reflect in her palm. "We need to figure out where it is first."

Greg leaned back. "And then what? We unlock it and release something even worse than shadow creatures?"

Elara sipped from her flask. "That’s usually how these things go."

Quinn chuckled. "At least it won’t be boring."

Mallory looked up at the stars. The road ahead was uncertain, but one thing was clear—whatever was behind that gate, it was something worth finding.

Even if it killed them.

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