Tower of Ipsissimus
“ERROR. Increasing number of Clockwork Meka..nearing.” Seymour peeped as he stood on his four mechanic legs in a defensive stance.
“Eek! There’s so many of them!” Paimon squeaked as she hid behind the Traveler.
The characters of the unfinished story stood their ground on the lowest floor of the tower of Ipsissimus on their journey to talk to Narzissenkreuz, who was located in the Primordial sea below…
“Ann, Knight and Paimon, you go on ahead. Me and Seymour can hold the Meka off for now… You just focus on the main task,” Caterpillar said as he morphed into his true form as an Anemo Hilichurl rogue, intending to fight the Clockwork Meka.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Paimon mumbled as she still hid behind the Traveler, whom Caterpillar called the ‘Knight’.
“They’ll be alright. We should hurry before the Ipsissimus’ Meka close in,” Ann swirled in the air as she spoke, turning to the portal.
The three gave each other stiff nods before disappearing into the portal, leaving Caterpillar and Semyor to stand alone in the nearing crowd of the tower of Ipsissimus’ Clockwork Meka.
Seymour’s gears moved as he summoned an Electro bomb, aiming at the other Meka. At this move, Caterpillar followed by reaching into his cape, pulling and sending out three shuriken-like attacks infused with the power of Anemo, aiming at the Meka.
The combination of Seymour’s Electro and Caterpillar’s Anemo started an elemental reaction, swirl, that reached a good half of the Meka, making them malfunction and shut down briefly.
Caterpillar took this opening as a chance to dash forward and slash the multitude of different Meka with his three-bladed weapon. He sliced through the metallic exteriors of the Meka effortlessly. He was well experienced in combat by now. After all, he had multiple centuries worth of years behind him.
As Seymour and Caterpillar kept fighting the seemingly endless number of Clockwork Meka, they felt the ground below them tremble and shake as the tower of Ipsissimus began to sink…into the sea…
“ERROR. Sea level. rising. Sinking occurring. Need land.” Seymour peeped, fixing his defensive stance as he stopped shooting out Electro bombs.
“If we get past these Meka, we could potentially break through the window and leave this tower. It shouldn’t be hard for me to fly us out of here. Doomsday clock is turning, surely, but we still have a chance to-” Caterpillar explained before gradually being cut off by another hard rumble and shake of the tower they were in. “-Just joking. It’s foolish to say words that aren’t true. We likely won’t get out on time.” he finished off.
Caterpillar roughly parried a swing of a mechanical blade that a Meka had thrown his way. The parry was perfect; the blade swung back around towards the Clockwork Meka that had thrown it, penetrating its head.
“Protocall finding a way out.” Seymour peeped again, assessing the situation as the ground shook. Seymour’s mechanical gears likely wouldn’t be able to handle being drowned in water, so it was crucial to get out of the sinking tower of Ipsissimus before the situation turned grave.
Caterpillar slowly took steps back and stood next to Seymour. “I suppose finding a way out is still worth a try.”
“Brr. Cater has a plan.” Seymour noted as another peep escaped his voice box.
“Perhaps. We’ll see if it’ll wor-” Caterpillar started before being cut off by another harsh shake of the tower as it slowly descended into the ocean.
Water was beginning to seep through the floor, leaving the floor flooded and wet.
Caterpillar quickly pulled out an Anemo slime from his cloak. He then grabbed Seymour in his hold, and ascended up to float above the water level as it began to rise with the help of the Anemo slime.
“ERROR. Not feeling ground. beneath. feet.” Seymour glitched slightly, not being familiar with the feeling of being carried.
“It’s called ‘floating above ground’.” Caterpillar explained stoically, holding the Anemo slime above his head while holding Seymour in his other arm under his Hilichurl armpit.
The crowd of Clockwork Meka below glitched and crashed down as the water rose. The tower of Ipsissimus was sinking…and soon enough, the whole interior of the tower was going to be engulfed by the sea as well. Caterpillar knew this, and he knew that he had to get himself and Seymour out somehow. Especially Seymour because he was also a Clockwork Meka, which meant he’d definitely shut down if he touched the water.
Caterpillar urged the Anemo slime to float higher. They slowly ascended a bit higher. Caterpillar then scanned the walls of the cylinder-shaped tower, looking for plausible windows or other narrow exits.
No luck…the tower of Ipsissimus was tightly packed and sealed together, leaving no big openings…almost as if it was always made to be thrown into the ocean and drown the beings in it. The windows were sealed with metal…there was no way to truly break them.
Unless…
The fragments clicked in place in Caterpillar’s mind- an overloaded reaction could potentially cause the iron windows to break. He looked around in the air, looking for possible sources where he could obtain pyro from…
The water level kept rising in a threatening manner as Caterpillar kept Seymour floating in the air…
That’s foolish. How could there possibly be a source of fire in a sinking and enclosed tower? Caterpillar stifled a sigh as he kept ahold of the two creatures in his hands.
Then, the Anemo slime gave out and deflated. A gush of wind wafted right in Caterpillar’s face as the air inside the slime poofed and left it.
This simple deflation of the slime caused all of them to fall…into the rising water below.
Caterpillar felt the splash of water as he dropped into the cold ocean water…some days, he didn't mind a little water, but not today…
Caterpillar felt Seymour, who was still in his hands, glitch out and shut down. The small sparks of electricity that came from the Meka stinged Caterpillar, making him let go of Seymour.
Caterpillar was still in his Hilichurl rouge form as he floated in the water, holding his breath. He squinted his eyes beneath his mask and saw Seymour’s now-lifeless body floating in the water.
Caterpillar’s gaze darted around. The realization of being helplessly trapped underwater was starting to dawn on him.
Holding his breath was easy for now…but would he be able to keep it up for much longer? Caterpillar wasn't so sure…
Caterpillar moved his arms in an attempt to swim up and take a breather, but that task was made harder by the fact that the harsh shakes of the tower still prevailed as the tower of Ipsissimus sank deeper…
Caterpillar stopped struggling.
Would it even matter?
Saving himself…
when he wasn't even human.
Monsters can't swim. So why should he even try?
Caterpillar let his blank eyes stare at nothing as he felt his body slowly weaken due to the lack of oxygen.
He didn't even feel the small whirlpool forming in the water and pulling him in as he let the water engulf him…
Caterpillar closed his eyes as he reminisced the empty life he’d led up until now. Following orders and fulfilling duties set up by his so-called “Master”. The only somewhat meaningful thing in his life was helping Lanoire in the Fortress of Meropide…
Now that he thought about it, he’d promised Lanoire to visit her on her birthday… Caterpillar couldn’t break his promise. It was the one thing that mattered.
His eyes quickly focused again underwater, and he finally noticed the fact that he was being pulled into some kind of whirlpool. He tried to swim against it, but the pressure was too strong, and he just couldn’t do anything…
Caterpillar closed his eyes as he felt the swirling water swish his body around. It was the same as being shook around like a helpless ragdoll flushed down the toilet.
He then felt a sudden stop.
He no longer felt water around him
nor the harsh push and pull of the whirlpool.
All he felt was nothing.
Was this what death felt like?
Caterpillar opened his eyes.