A collective sigh of relief echoed through the air as the elevator finally came to halt, a harmonious sound that felt soothing to their ears now that they could actually hear themselves instead of the cacophony of noise that had been drowning out every other sound until now.
“Ugh, I hated it back in school and hate it still now…” Leora hissed out as she lead her team of six out of the elevator, pained she massaged her ears. A large hall encompassed the elevator exit with their only option forwards being the simple hallway awaiting them up ahead.
“Yeah, my ears are still ringing.” Kai winced in agreement, rubbing his ears. “Not looking forward to the journey back.”
As if in response to his words, the elevator’s gate slammed shut behind them with the suddenness of a guillotine and the green light above flipped over to red. The word ‘Locked’ now adorned the terminal at its side.
“Well, doesn’t seem like we will have worry about that for the moment.” Herald smirked lazily as he patted the crocodile’s shoulder in passing. “Good job.”
Kai gaped after him, opening and closing his mouth in mute aghast.
“What did I do?!” He finally exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. Herald snickered quietly, hiding his grin behind a hand. Man, Kai really was far too easy to mess with.
Behind them, Selene had moved over to the terminal and checked their available options. Nothing, the whole Elevator System had them completely locked out of everything. Only an admin or someone with direct root access would be able to activate the lift again. She called out as much to the others as she gave up on the futility.
“Well, not that we planned to go back up anyways.” Mirabelle stated out loud, crossing her arms. Unspoken went their collective thought that they could have at least been told as much.
“True. Let’s check out this base first and see what we can find to help us out. The Guide Sergeant Garpel mentioned should be our first item to search for.” Leora nodded and following the echoed agreements, her team marched forwards. Kai and Mirabelle taking the front.
The hallway they had entered was long and overly monotone decorated, greys and whites mostly as the whole path was lined with dark metal. Basic lights were laid into the ceiling and cast it in a pale glow. The hallway split into multiple ones further down, forming rectangular segments lined with offices and storage closets. Locked gates blocked them from entering other side paths and stairways.
“Kinda creepy how abandoned this all is.” Selene mused as she looked around, a happy smile on her face despite her remark.
“Could you not? I’m trying to ignore that fact.” Kai groaned.
“Heh, what? You scared?” Herald grinned teasingly.
“No, I just don’t like the mood here.” The crocodile grumbled annoyed, smiling lightly as Mirabelle softly nudged him from the side with a warm wink.
“And here you two still wonder how everybody knows…” The darker furred doberman breathed out silently as he rolled his eyes bemused.
“Mum with the talking.” Leora called out. “Let’s see what we find here.”
The path had inevitably lead to them to their goal, a large gate made out of glass that stood unlocked. Even before they had entered through, they had been able to see the cozy room that laid beyond. The floor was carpeted, numerous partitions holding plants and small water pools separated the central tables while a small indoor garden was laid out before the massive window looking out onto the vast cavern stretching out beyond.
“Now this is a break room…” Herald whistled appreciatively, a lazy grin playing over his lips.
“I have to admit, it does feel more comfortable than what we have at the HQ.” Officer Ungehn nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he admired the decorations. None of the plants had withered yet, proof of both their hardiness and that this place hadn’t been emptied for too long yet.
“Forget the break room! Look what’s out there~!” Selene gasped excitedly as she was already flitting over to the large window to marvel at the incredible view.
The cavern that opened up before them was massive, numerous natural and unnatural pillars of stone and shell rose up to the ceiling. Some of them were connected to countless pipes continuously pumping water upwards. Metal catwalks connected these structures to various buildings and machines that kept all of this going.
This display of nature’s awesome beauty marred by Gaian structures, however, wasn’t their centre of attention. Rising out of the ground in erratic patterns were Amber Crystals of all shapes and sizes, their vibrant blue glow illuminating the cavern without the need for lights. Naturally occurring Amber crystallised commonly as, well, amber in colour. Some variation could be expected in certain energised environments but it was a hint of colour at most, a different hue of the usual, a streak of colour at best. Not the case here, where the Amber sparkled a beautiful azure without even a hint of it usual colouration peeking through.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A refection of the brilliant blue glow that originated form the very core of this cavern. There the crystals grew ever more numerous, their surface smooth instead of jagged as they cascaded down the towering plateau of dark stone like the steady flow of water that seemed to pour of the very stone itself. Surrounding this structure was a frame of walkways, pipes and lifts lead up to the sides of the plateau, this pedestal as it grew slightly wider towards the top.
“… do you think they would mind if I took a piece of those crystals?” Kai asked curiously, looking critically at one of the closer cluster of crystals.
“Don’t.” Mirabelle drawled deadpan and he chuckled sheepishly.
“Good idea, though. Definitely would have made a hammer wedding ring.” Herald praised from the side, making Kai beam for a second before catching.
“W-wait, no…! T-that’s not…!”
The others ignored the embarrassed Crocodile’s attempts to explain himself and instead turned to wander and regard the room around them. Selene was still enamoured with the beautiful view, her eyes sparkling brightly.
With a cheerful grin, Herald plopped himself down in one of the couches, legs propped atop a table only to grumble annoyed when Lagua absentmindedly pushed them back down in passing.
Leora, meanwhile, had found the Director’s room of this place. Not their actual office but more the place where they could conduct meeting with anyone in the base. It was an entire section clean cut out of the break room, a opaque class wall barring the way but the door left unlocked. The room didn’t give a view outside and instead was lined with shelves holding all sorts of books, files and small trinkets. The Guide they had been searching for was laid right atop the desk.
“Great, looks like I’ve got a lot of reading ahead of me…” Leora sighed as she stared at the thick tome.
———
Graam ignored the soreness coursing through his muscles. Damnit, he really had been slacking off on training, just sitting all the time back in his his little shop! Welp, he knew what he had to do when he got out of this.
Despite his bulky body, he was able to move startlingly quick. Wind pushed him from behind, the air parting with barely any friction, while electricity allowed him to push his muscles beyond his normal limits. Having a massive shark barrel towards you at high speeds was generally his preferred way away of dealing with enemies. Right now, it was just another avenue to somehow pressure the mockingly white form of the Demon Witch to where he wanted her. Which proved to be an increasingly frustrating venture.
“Oh, come on~ You already failed five kids today. Can’t you do any better~?” Flizz’ mocking words echoed through the air with a trill as she gracefully bend away from his fist and with a flick of her wrist diverted the bolt into the ground instead of her body.
She was loving this. The boiling, simmering anger and fury within Graam tasted oh so delicious to her~ But the ease of her movements belied her intense focus. As powerful as she was with her portals, it was still exceedingly difficult to fight someone whose attacks could come literally from all sides. Hm, maybe she should just leave right now, buuut… where would be the fun in that~? She was still far from exhausting her internal pool and she could just say she had been testing their abilities if anybody questioned her decision.
A light giggle echoed from her, yellow eyes kindled with her violet flames.
Graam gritted his teeth but continued with his assault as the sound of breaking stone echoed through the air. Rushing forwards, he grabbed some of the fallen boulders from the ground and sent them flying. Veritable cannonballs sped through air towards the white gecko girl.
More and more, the orphanage continued to crumble around them until finally the ceiling above them broke away. A smirk adorned Graam’s face as the boiling storm of his Arc was now whirling right above him. No longer obstructed by any type of wall or ceiling.
“Well, I know when I’m not wanted~” Flizz pouted mockingly playful as she readied herself to flit away.
The spinning disk zooming by her face only missed her by a hair’s breadth as she gently leant out of the way just in time. The amber-powered grappling hook was slightly more difficult to dodge without diving right into her portal, though. Both projectiles rapidly retracted again, cutting through the air above her as she split mid-air.
Myra landed a moment later in the now exposed basement, the booster pads on her feet humming and gleaming bright with energised Amber. Her movements were rapid as she sped around Flizz.
“W-wha…? Get away from here!” Graam shouted shocked, lightning was crackling around him more prominently than ever before.
“Ooh, looks like we got another player~” Flizz grinned wide, though she was really in no mood for the battle to last much longer.
“I wonder if you can…?” Her eyes twinkled evilly over at the shark only to cut herself off and whirl around in furious anger as a third party broke into the battle as well.
“You fucking killer asshole!” Jak hissed out as he leaped down at Haggard from above, the knife in his hands readied to plunge into the wolf’s chest and rip him out of Flizz’ floating hold he was in.
The plan had been simple. Myra distracted that white gecko for a moment while he jumped Haggard from above. Revenge. It truly shouldn’t have worked. But Flizz hadn’t sensed Jak’s location until he was already in motion, too caught up in the moment and his rage masked by the surrounding horror.
Flizz’ foot slammed into Jak’s side and send him wide eyed barreling into a startled Myra before he could actually connected his strike.
“Toodles~” She waved cheerfully and hugging a groaning Haggard from behind, she dropped out. Vanishing through one of her portals.
Graam cursed as his lightning dispersed around him, Halo still active for a bit longer just in case. It had been too dangerous to use his bolts with those two so close nearby. He wanted to shout at them but bit it back. After all, he could understand their feelings perfectly.
The battle had come to a close just as the last of the orphanage had come tumbling down. It was unsatisfyingly anticlimactic for the death and destruction that had been so carelessly brought about.