Matsuo Shin and The City of the Elementals
Matsuo Shin and The City of the Elementals is story 10 in the continuing adventures of Matsuo Shin. Both Eiry and Souldier were companions in this story.
Plot
Arriving at a small base in the arctic circle portion of Northern Europe, Matsuo, Guyver, and Eiry were shown the object which had lead them to the area: a small broken stone plaque with strange writing on it. Matsuo was utterly stunned when he recognized the writing as being Quinoxian. He was further shocked, after running some tests, that the plaque was constructed fairly recently--it was only about 1 month old! Pressing the scientists for more information on where they had found the object, he learned that it was found by some locals who had been assisting them in their drilling for ice cores. Excited by the possibilities, Matsuo decided to check the area as soon is there was enough light, ignoring Guyver's words of caution.
The next morning, the three set out along with some guides to find the place where the plaque had been discovered. On the way, Eiry asked Matsuo what the writing on the piece of stone had said. Matsuo told her that it stated that it came from "The City of the Elementals," a location which matched an old Greek legend. When Guyver pressed for more information, Matsuo revealed the name of the place to be Hyperborea.
Arriving on a snowy plain, Matsuo insisted the guides show them the exact area where the artifact had been first discovered. As the three walked toward the designated spot, the ground under them collapsed, sending Matsuo, Guyver and Eiry falling into a pit. As darkness overtook them, they watched as several other individuals join their guides, gazing down into the pit at them.
Upon waking, the three found themselves bound in a strange sleigh moving swiftly along the ice toward a mountain chain. Though Guyver demanded answers from the drivers, they remained silent. As the sleigh stopped in front of a giant wall of ice, the three watched as one of the drivers stepped forward and placed his hand against the surface. At once a hidden door opened and with a signal, the other driver lead the sleigh with its captives through the entrance.
As they passed through a dark tunnel, Matsuo began to experience a strange buzzing in his head. Guyver also seemed affected, although Eiry made no note of any difference. After what seemed to be hours of travel, the group arrived at another blank wall. Once again, the driver pressed his hand against it and the entrance opened, flooding the tunnel with light. The sleigh then moved on to its final destination.
The three travelers were astonished to find a gigantic white city, made of stone and white gold and dominated by a gigantic temple structure in the center with a blazing beam of light issuing from the structure. Matsuo was both dumbfounded and thrilled to realize the structure was architecturally based on several planetary styles, the dominant one being Quinoxian.
As they were led through the city, Matsuo realized he was unable to read anyone's minds, his powers having been neutralized somehow. The group was taken to a great citadel, where they met a robed figure bedecked in gold, with long red hair and dark blue eyes. The driver spoke with the robed man in a strange language, one which neither Guyver nor Eiry recognized. The robed man finally barked an order out to the driver and he was about to take them away when Matsuo shouted at the robed figure in the same language. The guards, driver, and robed man seemed shocked by this, but Matsuo repeated himself and began a conversation with the man. Guyver and Eiry both waited patiently, though still unable to understand anything the two were talking about. When the conversation was over, the robed man signaled to the guards, who proceeded to free the three.
It turns out the city was the last bastion of the civilization existing before the Silver Millennium; the whole thing kept alive by a torrent of planetary energy. Matsuo had recognized the man's speech as an old dialect of the Quinoxian language, and learned that the head of the city is a figure known as "The Wise Man," who lives in a separate castle, and that he is speaking to the prime minister (PM). Matsuo, of course, was delighted with the news, while Eiry and Guyver were more conservative in their feelings.
The next morning during a tour of the city, Guyver and Eiry became separated from Matsuo. Guards were quick to attack them, and despite putting up a good fight were outnumbered. Later, they awoke in an unfamiliar location beneath the city to discover a huge number of slaves, toiling to build thousands of machines.
Matsuo, meanwhile, was still delighted with the wonders of the city--until he sees a disheveled beggar run down the street and quickly dragged away by guards. The PM simply tells him the man is a criminal and continues the tour, although Matsuo is still disturbed, especially as he can't read the PM's mind.
Eiry and Guyver found that hey were able to talk to some of the slaves, learning that they are building an army--the PM is bend on world domination. However, when they had an opportunity to attempt escape, Guyver found his elemental powers also didn't work, but were again overpowered. This time, they found themselves separated and put in compartments similar to cages, each told they would fight in the arena.
At lunch with the PM, Matsuo was quite irritated, and very upset at the PM's persistent evasion of his questions to Eiry and Guyver's whereabouts, as well as the matter of the "criminal" from the street. As the PM finally revealed his intention to use his friends for the "greater glory of Hyperborea," Matsuo realized his food had been drugged, and only had a few moments to feel horror before passing out.
Matsuo, awoke similarly caged, but after some time the three were put together in a holding area, where Eiry told him the most important of what they'd found. This left him disgusted and hurt to find what he'd thought was a noble continuation of his culture was actually a betrayal of those ideals. There was little time, however, for plans, as they were soon let out into the arena for the amusement of the PM and his officials, who sentence them to death. A group of warriors on polar bears enter the arena to kill them.
Despite Matsuo's initial disadvantage without his powers, and Guyver's hesitation to use lethal force, Eiry reminds them sometimes you have to fight now, and deal with your feelings later. They try to coordinate their fight, and Eiry eventually changes form when Matsuo thinks it will help. In the end, the three were forced to kill their opponents. The PM, now furious, ordered his gards to kill them. Eiry's success in fur, however, promts Matsuo to use her again, and she attacks them directly while the other two orchestrate a breakout.
Realizing the city could not continue as it was, the three planned for Guyver and Eiry to free the slaves while Matsuo confronted the Wise Man. While successful in free the slaves, they were again forced to badly injure most and kill some of the guards. The slaves, most of whom were also explorers or captured locals, enabled them to secure the guard barracks.
In the throne room, Matsuo found a rotting corpse with a dagger still through it's heart, the PM's work. The latter revealed that the two had disagreed about the future of the city, and the PM took matters into his own hands to secure his plans for war while seeming to still work for the Wise Man. Matsuo's arrival as a Prince of the original Quinox threatened his position, resulting in the kill order previously decreed. However, his fallback plan, as things had gone quite wrong, was to unleash the full power of the energy torrent--the beam of light they'd seen earlier--ravaging the planet since "if I can't have the world, no one can."
The PM disappeared though a hidden door, Matsuo pausing only long enough to grab a sword before following him. The torrent was housed in a citadel, with the PM already operating ancient equipment to unleash its full power. Matsuo was quick to interrupt him, holding the increase in output. Outside, the slaves were already celebrating when the energy beam became much brighter, and Guyver and Eiry were quick to break into the citadel--this time with little problem. Matsuo and the PM were on a higher platform, sword fighting, Matsuo with skill, but the PM was clearly the stronger of the two. He soon had Matsuo leaning over the edge, where the torrent was now giving off bolts of energy. Seeing his moment, the PM raised his sword to strike, but Eiry grabbed a dagger from a guard's body, and Guyver threw it to strike the PM just in time.
Matsuo caught the PM's sword, using it and his own to behead the man, his body tumbling down into the core. It was then that the ground began to crack and buckle under the strain of the energy continuing to lose control. Matsuo rushed to the machinery, and restored the torrent to normal just in time.
When Matsuo revealed the PM's crimes and plots to the people of Hyperborea, immediate steps were taken to dismantle the war machines, relative peace restored. Many wanted him to stay as their prince, but he declined, appointing a former slave to the position instead. He, Eiry, and Guyver got all their things back, as well as a few other artifacts, and were finally guided back to the outside world with vows not to reveal the city. Once they bass the barrier, Matsuo and Guyver's powers return, and Eiry is able to contact Sali. They theorized that the torrent had interfered with their abilities. Guyver, however, asked if Matsuo regretted leaving, to which he responded he did have some regrets, but he had a new life now, and wished for nothing less.
