Berry was still sitting on the dirty stairs. Zale didn't mind sitting there either. The lobby had only natural lighting. Everything looked beautiful and peaceful, with the slow sound of the raindrops in the background.
Berry looked at each of them slowly, one by one, before sighing deeply. I know that this palace is supposed to stay hidden at all costs, but I can't do that alone. I'll just let them know about the palace as well and get some money out of it. He thought to himself and started,
"My grandfather told me this tale of the king of immortals, and I saw that palace once when I was young. I can help you."
Berry knew the story, but there were so many loose ends to it. Moreover, people from his ancestry treated it like a fairy tale, so over time, there were many changes in this story.
Just as Berry was about to speak, he froze.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw him again—the same man from the night before. The one who had been stabbed by a child.
But this time, the scene had changed.The man was lying on a bed, dressed in a pale patient's robe that clung loosely to his frame. He wept silently in the arms of a young woman.
She looked like someone carved from both silk and steel—elegant, gentle, and wise beyond her years. Tears welled in her eyes too, but she held him with quiet strength.She wore royal robes, heavy with embroidery and history, yet her stance spoke of a fighter's discipline. She wasn't muscular, but her presence was steady— like someone who had long ago trained her body to listen to her will.
Berry kept looking at them for a long time. Orion and others looked in that direction as well but saw nothing. Zale tugged Berry's shirt. Berry was back to his consciousness, but those two disappeared.
"The story is that there was a young prince. His parents were so strong that they invaded countless territories and won over them. Soon, they established a huge empire. They now wanted to take over the neighboring empire, but it was hard to win it. So they decided to marry their only son to the only princess of that empire. When this was all being decided, the prince was 17 years old. Almost in a year, everything was done, and he was married now. He had everything one could wish for. Soon his parents died, and he understood what death was. He left the empire in his wife's hands and started searching for immortality. With the help of ministers from his court, he ended up finding it. He did it all because he wanted to stay with his wife forever. But when the wife was informed about the immortality thing, she killed the king in his sleep, and everyone else related to it. She then took over the secret of immortality and then just disappeared into thin air. No one knows where she went. They say that the palace where the king worked was hidden and had only one guard. He was very loyal to the king. That guard was our ancestor. And he promised that he would protect the palace with all his might even the next generations would do the same. That is how we know about it."
The story was over, and Berry looked at everyone, expecting some reactions. The story wasn't exactly believable. He knew how Orion would react, but he was curious about Zale's reaction. I know my story is not baseless, but for them it is. Zale has looked so calm. Will he be able to keep his calm any longer? Berry had no intentions of testing others in the beginning, but now the story he narrated itself turned out to be a test for Zale's patience.
"This story was so lame. What the hell is it? If it was not for the palace, I would have killed you in between the story." Orion curled his lips in a disappointed smile.
Archer muttered, "A bedtime story? Really?"Liam stayed quiet for a moment, then looked at Zale and Orion. "You dragged us all the way out here for this?" He thought.
It was true he needed the money—but that wasn't the only reason he came. He liked being out here, chasing legends and solving mysteries. And Orion… he had this fantastic theory that Liam couldn't help but be curious about.
"Yeah, it was completely baseless. You should be thankful you're still alive," Archer said, trying to win Orion's favor.But his effort was wasted—Orion wasn't even listening. His focus was elsewhere, quietly studying Zale's expression, trying to read the thoughts behind that calm exterior.
What Orion said was right, though. Who would want to enter a barren palace just based on this tale? Was that palace even real? Even Zale looks disappointed. It's been years since they started wandering all around the world just to find some clues to immortality. It was all in vain. They finally got some clues to the palace of the king of immortality, but it all seemed a joke now. This king is very famous in the tomb raiders community, even 3-year-olds know about him, but still, no one was ever able to find his residing palace or tomb.
Zale was a biology professor and a dedicated researcher. Through his studies on plants and the human life cycle, he had become convinced that immortality—or something close to it—was scientifically possible. He was an eminent mind in his field, but time, the one resource he couldn't control, stood in his way. Publishing groundbreaking work took years, decades even, and for a mortal, that clock ticked too fast. So he made it his mission to find the secret to longevity. If true immortality was out of reach, then perhaps he could still unlock a way to stretch life—like the trees that live for centuries, quietly defying death.
Zale was all alone in this search at the beginning until he found Orion-or maybe we can say Orion found him, hanging upside down in a common architectural trap at the entrance of a tomb. Orion was with a sizeable group of people at that time, and he was the leader of the pack. He first laughed at the site of Zale, but then helped him down.
His subordinates went to raid the tomb alone because Orion had a minor injury in his left leg. It was not as if he felt any pain walking around, but they were just being cautious. Before bringing everyone else to the tomb, he had already examined the architectural structure of the tomb. He was aware of the type of dangers they would face inside there, and it was best for him to stay away from an injury, as it would just slow them down. He had a plan from entering to leaving, a map, and an idea of the type of traps and dangers they would face inside. All of these were told to his subordinates, so he didn't need to enter himself.
Later that night, Orion and Zale had a small talk about kings and queens when Zale found out about the immortality king. Zale found it hard to tell people about his research. He didn't want to be known as a psycho-scientist, but he had some rock-firm evidence to support his research. He finally gathered courage and told Orion about it. Although Orion was illiterate but was quite quick to grasp knowledge. He mostly understood what Zale meant. He found it interesting as well. But his family traditions are all against this kind of jinxed thing. But Orion still chose to help Zale.
That's the reason everyone left him, without any real comrades, he found two men to work for him at pay. Archer was a newbie in Orion's pack at the time and wanted to join Orion and Liam was someone Orion had approached from a different community. He was known for his resilience and workaholic mindset. Orion and Zale are enough as a brain all they needed was a little workforce.
They went around many old houses in this business and found some clues. All those pointed towards Berry's grandfather. Unfortunately, they were a little late. Now the only clue left is Berry. His story doesn't really make any sense, and he even looked mentally upset. But they have no more options now.
Orion and Zale looked at each other. Zale took a deep breath.
"Ok, can you now take us there?" He still asked Barry politely.
"Will you pay me?"
"Yeah, we will pay you. We already promised you."
Orion looked at Zale. He knew that Zale's last few hopes about his search were withering off.
"We should leave tomorrow morning. We can't go there at night."
"Ok" Orion knows the rules, so he didn't force him to work recklessly.
Soon the sun was setting. It was chilly now. There was no time left for them to go and find a hotel. Berry had already offered them the best rooms he could give. But what can be the best of an old wrecked building?
At night, almost midnight, Zale came out of the building. He looked at the stars for a while in some deep tthought Then he lay down on the ground. It felt ironically peaceful. Soon Orion came out as well. He came over and silently sat beside Zale.
"You know what, I feel I am wrong. What if in search of more time I end up dying without accomplishing anything at all?" Zale was speaking his heart right now. They say that all you speak at night is the truth. Maybe that was the case here.
Orion already had a rough idea about what Zale had in his mind since they found Berry. Orion is not the type who can comfort people, but he certainly can divert people's train of thought.
"You know what, my mom used to say that when we are looking at the stars, in a way we look at the past. I don't know what it means but see carefully, maybe you can see the king, see he might be telling you the way already."
"Was your mother a science student when young?" He asked, smiling.
"Yeah, she was. She could have happily lived her life in the city, but I have no idea what she saw in my father when she married him. By the way, how do you know?"
"It's a famous quote in the science world." "When you look at stars you are seeing the past," Zale spoke silently and again got lost in the stars.
On the other hand, Berry was really seeing the past. He heard some noise from the outside, so he looked out the window. He never dares to look at stars, because his grandfather told him not to do so. But because of Zale and Orion, he ended up looking at them. Those were so beautiful that Berry almost forgot to shift his focus from the stars until he suddenly realized what he was doing. He quickly closed the curtains and went to bed. He still had those stars shining in his eyes.