Inside of the western section of the Megaden, connected by a number of tunnels under the ground, was the hide out of Twenty-Two, Jason, and Olivia. Most of the buildings within the Megaden were not openly attached at any point, but a number of passages networked throughout the area. Twenty-Two and Jason only just arrived at the one they had built for themselves, taking great care to obscure their movements towards it and its entrance.
They entered one of the stone buildings and moved beneath a hidden doorway, descending down a few flights of stairs before coming to another floor. Its room was small compared to most of the structures, but still about the size of an average house in the fields aside the Megaden. A set of beds and a hammock was placed on the left side of the entrance, and a massive desk dominated the view of the right half. At the desk, Caroline was resting, a light snore coming out every so often.
“She’s going to get caught one of these days we’re not here, you know.” Twenty-Two said before smacking her fist against the wall.
The loud bang made the researcher jump. She snapped her head side to side and started straightening out her clothes before looking over at the two of them. Twenty-Two shook her head and moved over to one of the beds. Before sitting down, she took the cloak off of her shoulders and stretched.
“Er, welcome back. I must’ve dozed off while trying to piece together the information we’ve gotten so far. Did you find the location of the last spot?” Olivia asked her.
“I did. Had to threaten some human he had working for him though. We might have to lay low for a bit to try and avoid any heat that might’ve gotten us.”
“You didn’t mention that earlier.” Jason said, crossing his arms.
“This whole operation isn’t exactly legal to begin with, is it?” Twenty-Two replied, laying down completely on her mattress. “Besides, we’re in the western side of the Megaden now. These Urchski are more territorial than dogs, I doubt they’re going to send guards over to this side. Closest we’re going to get is the location, which is near a bridge on the border.”
“I wasn’t questioning the legality or risk, I was wondering why you didn’t let me know there was a fight at all.”
“What, are you going to try and take pity on me for doing something dangerous under your orders?” Twenty-Two hissed back.
Jason didn’t respond, and Twenty-Two merely closed her eyes in response. A deep silence fell over the room, punctuated only by Olivia’s nervous tapping. She slowly brought herself back to face the desk and finished the document she had been writing before her nap. Once it was done, she rolled it tight and stamped it together.
“Looks...” She started to say to herself, confidence failing as she tried to break the silence. “Looks like this is ready to send back to the Underking!”
“You don’t need to make up excuses if you can’t stand the silence. Just whistle or something, it’s embarrassing.” Twenty-Two snapped at her. “One of us will have to leave and scout the place out in a second anyway. Isn’t this the last old building in the Megaden? I hate dealing with this place and all the Urchski inside it.”
“True, even I’m feeling like we’re wearing out our welcome. That one that was spying on us was definitely the most alarming. Fortunately I don’t think they had any clue what we were doing. I wish we knew what it was they were getting protective about with the buildings though. They all seemed abandoned.”
“Oh! I can explain that!” Olivia cut in. “There’s actually old myths about the Archons hiding ancient machinery inside of the buildings. They say that they summon the ghosts of your dead ancestors, or drive you insane if you stay inside of them too long. Even if the younger Urchski don’t buy into that stuff, they’re not ones to break the flow of tradition at this point. In retrospect, that makes the tunnel trying to access this last place even more curious... oh, I just can’t wait to see what it’s like in there!”
“I’m afraid that you’re going to have to stay behind this time, Olivia.” Jason told her.
“What?!” She said, snapping out of her thoughts and looking at him. “But this is the opportunity of a lifetime! Hidden ruins that no one’s researched in the entire history since even before the ascension!”
“Yes, and unfortunately it seems like the Urchski were very concerned about whatever it is they were doing there. I would prefer we not get you caught in the crossfire if we have to fight our way out at any point.” Jason said before he put a hand on her shoulder. “If we find anything we’ll bring it back to you, or if the place is secure enough for you to show up.”
Olivie stared at the ground and mumbled, inciting a laugh from Jason before he moved back to the stairs. He paused to look back at Twenty-Two, but found her staring at the bottom of the bunk bed above her.
“Aren’t you coming as well?"
Twenty-Two let out a sigh and shifted to a seated position. “We just got back here, can’t whatever dusty gears are piled up in that room wait a bit?”
“I figured Olivia would prefer that the two of us head out as soon as possible to help bring her back there quicker. Besides, the shorter time we have to spend in this place the better. We’re getting more at risk of getting caught the longer we stay.”
Twenty-Two grumbled but got up and followed after Jason, both grabbing their cloaks as they made their way up. Olivia spent no time in returning to her own work, idly examining some of the materials they had taken from other sites. As the two of them left, she let out an impatient sigh and began to kick her legs under the desk.
As they got to the top, they had to wait by the door before the space in front of it was entirely cleared of others. Even then, Twenty-Two made sure to check through the foliage nearby for any signs of someone spying again. Satisfied they were still hidden, they walked to the road and headed off towards the hatch.
Unlike most of their other journeys through the Megaden, this one strayed far off from the more conventional and beaten down paths of dirt through the forest. The thick trees of the area almost brushed against each other a few meters away from the roads, but little other plant life was around because of the leaves choking the sunlight above. Jason strained his eyes to see ahead of himself as things grew darker, relying mostly on wherever Twenty-Two’s pale body moved to as a guide.
“Can you actually see like this? It’s supposed to be broad daylight, but all the dark wood is starting to blend together from my end.”
“Only a little, it’s more like I’m just using my ability to miss anything that might make me stumble.” She answered, having to pause and wait for him to catch up. “Still, it’s better to head through this way than to actually go in from the road. There are guards all over the bridges, they’d notice us right away if we headed off of them.”
“No kidding. Luckily we don’t have to worry about animals though. Anything larger than a squirrel is going to be hiding away in the southern area I’ve heard. Not like anything too dangerous could even move around in this thicket...”
As they brushed past the hard bark, the light from above slowly returned. Twenty-Two was the first one out, poking her head around one of the trunks to look for anyone that might spot them. The river of the area was much thinner than the one she had passed before, and the bridge over it was just barely over a bend into the woods ahead. Jason caught up as well, and they took a few minutes to look for the hatch, eventually finding it hidden away near the forest edge.
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Both of them approached it, and Twenty-Two crouched down to feel along the hinges while Jason kept an eye out for anyone watching them.
“These aren’t as rusty as I would expect. For their sake I hope none of those urchins are in here, I want to get back to bed as soon as possible.” She said, grabbing on the hatch’s handle and yanking it open.
“You not wanting to fight something? I think that’s these woods are having an effect on your mind.”
“Never said I wouldn’t enjoy killing them, just that it would be especially unfortunate for them.” She said with a flash of a grin before climbing down the hatch’s ladder.
Jason sighed and followed her downward. The ladder was long, easily being about two stories deep. By the time they reached the bottom, most of the light was gone. Some dark brown roots could barely be made out wrapping along the walls of the tunnel. Despite the age of the metal outside, the tunnel was absent of any spiderwebs or similar things. The smell of wet dirt became especially overpower as both of them moved in.
Unlike most tunnels, this one seemed to bend and curve at unnatural angles. The roots visibly acted as some kind of support system, keeping the entire structure from collapsing under the weight of the ceiling. For a large portion of the way, they had to press their hands to the walls and inch forward to keep from tripping over in the darkness.
At the edge of the dirt path, Twenty-Two stumbled to the ground. She huffed in annoyance and felt along the floor, noticing the dirt had stopped. Instead it was a smooth stone finish, with only pieces of dirt being tracked into it. Her hand moved along to the wall and found it was the same as the floor.
“We’re close now, should be some kind of light source up ahead.” She told Jason.
They eventually found it, obscured by a makeshift wooden door. It was crudely made, even needing to be shoved open as the pieces didn’t connect together well. On the other side they found the familiar strips of glowing materials lining the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. Further ahead, more natural light came in. Out of the tunnel was a massive antechamber similar in construction to the other’s they’d seen, but on a much larger scale. Most of the room was well lit from a twin pair of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, but were hard to look at directly because of their massive output.
“We haven’t even gone up along the tunnel, have we? This place must be larger than any of the others by a massive margin. It almost feels wasteful with how much of the Megaden is crammed with trees.” Twenty-Two said, stepping out of the tunnel and halting immediately. “Wait a minute... something feels off.”
Twenty-Two’s ability kept pricking her brain with sensations. Her whole body became stiff and twitchy. Even though the room was well lit, there was a looming sense of eyes watching from non-existent shadows. She took a few steps forward before looking back. Jason gave the impression he was feeling something similar. Both of them took their time moving forward, clutching their weapons. It wasn’t long until they noticed the opposite wall’s strange construction.
Gears, pipes, and wiring all fed into a large pool raised slightly off the ground with a border of stone. There was no water inside of the pool. Instead, a viscous, black substance filled it nearly to the brim. Though the bulk of the surface was pitch black, the occasional sparkle of color could be seen emanating from deeper within. The closer Twenty-Two got, the more entranced she was by the softly undulating liquid. Only when she was a few steps away did she stop and clear her head. She gathered enough strength to look away and looked to Jason.
His eyes were transfixed on the mechanisms surrounding the pool. “I can see why the Enterus didn’t want us poking around here. This is nothing like the other buildings we ran into so far.”
“It’s just a pool of some kind of chemical.” She said, masking her own anxiety. “It’s nothing but some kind of rotten soup. Don’t drink from it and there’s no problem, right?”
“That’s not what I mean. You’ve had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up too, right? I didn’t quite know what was wrong with this place when we first came in, but I think I’ve figured it out.” Jason replied before looking her in the eyes. “There’s no dust. This place has been sealed up even after the Urchski left years ago, so there should be at least a little bit, right? But I can’t see anything being dusty. It’s like this place is still being used or something...”
Both of lost either the ability, or interest to speak. There was a quiet thumping sound that reverberated from within the machinery around the walls. Eventually the two of them made their way silently towards the other tunnel in the room. The pool shifted with small bubbles as they passed. Twenty-Two paused her exit to stare at it once more. She kept watch for where the bubbles were coming from.
“What’s the matter? Let’s just get out of here.” Jason told her.
“There’s something in there.”
Twenty-Two breathed slower and lowered her body. Her sword hand twitched carefully as the bubbles started coming in a consistent pattern. She peered at it each time, just barely able to make out what there was. An eyeball. Then there was a paw, pieces of clothing. They sank beneath the surface just as quickly as she noticed them. When the bubbles slowed down again she backed away carefully with her weapon drawn. Jason looked between her and the liquid, following her back into the tunnel.
After a while they were no longer within eye-shot of the pool, and Twenty-Two collapsed onto her backside. She let out a sigh of relief and looked over her blade. The tunnel they were in wasn’t makeshift like the one they had come down. Everything was lit with bright strips just like the other pieces of old Alzholme. Despite the lighting, Jason felt tense like he had been in the thicket above ground. There was no wind throughout the tunnel, just like the antechamber. Without the mysterious sensation that the pool gave off, both of them were now aware of how quiet it was.
“If we’re having this much trouble with this room, I can only imagine that Olivia is going to have a full on meltdown once she gets here.” Twenty-Two said.
“You can never tell with her, to be honest.” Jason said with a shrug before making his way further down the tunnel and peering ahead. “Seems to go on for a while. Hopefully we can actually make it out of this one so we don’t have to go back. You should lead again.”
Twenty-Two stood back up and sheathed her weapon. She glanced back in the direction of the pool and narrowed her eyes. The stillness of the room wasn’t bothering her as much as it did Jason. Having less noise and movement was more relaxing for her. She broke her stare and started guiding the both of them down the tunnel. It wound and bent slowly through the Megaden, but eventually split into a fork.
One of the paths was much shorter, with an exit visible right from where they split off. They looked down the other way and noticed that it curved away even more. Jason was the first to step towards the other exit and reached the door. Like most of the old Alzholme entrances, there wasn’t a clear handle on it. He placed his palm flat against the cool metal and it started sliding away.
A soft breeze broke past them, bringing with it some dust at the same time. It emptied into a room with a pile of neatly placed gears on one end, and among other signs of activity.
“This is where we were earlier.” He noticed. “Would never have guessed it led back here. Does that mean that all of them have some kind of hidden exit back to that place?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Remember when we came in through the sewers? There were back passages you’d never be able to see just walking by. Whoever used to live in this place must have been paranoid beyond belief.”
They both exited out onto the surface and left the building. The sun was shining fully, unblocked by the foliage for once. Jason looked up into the sky and saw a few birds flying between the treetops nearby. Once the majority had passed, he noticed one of the birds clinging to the edges of the treeline. It hopped between the branches instead of outright flying with the others. His attention turned to Twenty-Two.
“Hey... what was it you saw in the pool anyway?” He asked her.
“Just corpses, that’s all. Body parts of Urchski and such, probably the ones that found the place.”
“Ah, how unfortunate for them. I didn’t think something like seeing bodies would scare you though. Especially cause you’re usually the one making them.”
Twenty-Two stared at the ground. “Seeing them in that pool... stirred up bad memories. That’s all.”
Her fists clenched tight at her sides. Jason’s concerned stare felt a million miles away, but she shook off the feelings and marched forward. Both of them headed back towards Olivia to continue the investigation, but Jason paused to glance up. The bird at the edge of the treeline jumped suddenly and stumbled hard into the air, nearly falling to its death. It was only then that he realized it was the same injured bird he had seen Twenty-Two with earlier.