Chapter 21

“We’re here,” Thomas said.

The entire procession of Remnant Village citizens stopped. The tunnel surrounding them felt a little cramped as the dozens of people looked forward. They had been traveling for three days to reach this place.

All the technology the village was carrying was on the backs of the changelings that had the strength to easily lift hundreds of pounds. Both Akemi and Kyle’s bodies were placed within black metal boxes akin to coffins. From what Aaron knew, the containers preserved the body to prevent decomposition so that the Access Armor could be extracted.

Aaron had two jobs. The first was to keep Seren’s nerves from being triggered from their movement. His left arm was submerged within the wall of flesh to his side and directly connected to Seren’s nervous system. With this, he could send false data through it so that it seemed as though there was no movement. Aaron walked with his arm covered in the pinkish flesh as he constantly rewired the nerves to work in his favor. He was at the front of the procession with Thomas just ahead of him. The village chieftain claimed to know the way to the Underworld by heart.

The second of his tasks was guiding Elizabeth. The young woman was afraid of her foreign environment. The people around her as well as the tunnels of Seren scared her to no end. She clung to Aaron like a frightened child as he guided her through the cramped place. Elizabeth was now clothed with a blue dress one of the villagers had provided.

They had only enough rations for one more day of travel so when Thomas claimed it was time to stop, there was a great relief that spread throughout the Remnant Village. When Aaron commanded the person right behind him to stop, the person behind them commanded them to as well. This order was carried throughout the entire trail of marching villagers. Once they stopped, Aaron looked forward to find the landmark Thomas claimed was their destination.

It was a simple, vertical tunnel that climbed down. It was wider than most tunnels within Seren by several feet. Behind the large hole was a wall of Seren’s flesh to show there was nothing past this.

Thomas looked down as he stood near the edge as Aaron followed him. Aaron found a procession of gray stairs lining the tunnel that led to something resembling a gray, foggy mist. Elizabeth shook her head at the sight as Aaron withdrew his arm from the wall within Seren.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “This is it. No doubt about it. The place I was warned never to return to.”

“It’s our only option at this point,” Aaron said. “Fulir won’t find us down here.”

“Correction,” Thomas said. “Fulir can find us down here. They will not follow no matter which Armor is down there. This is not the place for the living to go unless desperate.”

“It’s so thick with fog I can’t see down,” Elizabeth said. “What’s even down there?”

“The realm of the dead,” Thomas answered.

He then turned to Aaron with a grave expression.

“Will you be courteous enough to follow me down?” Thomas asked.

“I’d be courteous enough to go ahead of you,” he answered.

He gave a faint smile.

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“Interesting,” he said. “But as the head of the village, it is my responsibility to bear the brunt of whatever danger lies ahead for my people.”

Aaron nodded as Thomas took his first steps down the tunnel. After climbing a ways he disappeared through the gray mist below. Elizabeth pressed her face against Aaron’s, the young woman obviously afraid. He turned to face her as she kept looking down at the vertical tunnel.

“Do you want to go down after everyone else has?” Aaron asked.

“No,” she said. “I feel safest right behind you.”

He nodded before following Thomas. After taking his first steps down he made careful attention to not slip as he pressed a foot on each individual step. It wasn’t long before he entered the thick layer of mist a fair ways down in the vertical tunnel.

His world was obscured by gray on all sides, temporarily blinded by the wet moisture hanging in the air. Dew collected on the surface of his armor as Aaron continued to descend. However, once he passed through the layer of grayness he found the world beneath that to be pleasantly cool.

The stairs continued down a few further feet before stopping at the ground below. Aaron found Thomas standing right beside the gray steps. Aaron looked up to see a gray column of fog hovering above them to obscure the tunnel they traveled through. Thomas was looking away from the gray column and frowned.

Aaron could see why. The sky above them was covered in whitish-gray human faces. Their eyes glowed black as charcoal and slowly moved their mouths as though speaking. If Aaron looked closely he could observe wind blowing from their moving lips.

The terrain looked just as alien. The trees dotting the scenery moved back and forth like tentacles sprouting from the ground. Their trunk was lime green with branches that resembled human arms sprouting from their sides. The branches were bone white with black leaves shaped like fingers. As they moved side-to-side, Aaron could hear an odd creaking sound. Pale green fruit with human faces grew from many of their limbs.

The grass around them rose up stiffly, like porcupine quills. Aaron was careful to note that the dark yellow grass did not so much flatten beneath his feet as much as it bent like soft metal wood. It made a strange sound as Aaron stood on it. He bent down to find that, as he stepped on the grass, he could hear faint cries of pain.

Upon discovering the discomfort of the grass, Aaron quickly rushed to find a bald patch in the meadow around him. He stepped on one just behind the staircase only to find it was not made of dirt. It felt somewhat soft which made him look closely at it. Aaron discovered he was standing on human flesh with a few fine hairs sprouting from the substance. It was a nice tan color, similar to Thomas’s skin.

Aaron looked around to find Elizabeth climbing down the stairs and shivering. Once walking on the ground she observed her surroundings and was frightened. She rushed toward Aaron and clung to him as he wrapped her in his arm. Kaitlyn followed Elizabeth to look at her surroundings.

“Odd place,” she said. “I’d like to say the Underworld looks creepy but…well what did you expect?”

“What are those things?” Elizabeth asked.

She pointed just beyond them for Aaron to make out what she meant. Shadowy giants who looked more like silhouettes twice as tall as a grown man walked in the distance. They had eyes that glowed bright red and carried thick bones. They watched the newcomers after reaching the end of the tower, their gaze hostile.

“Those are giants of the dead,” Thomas said. “The souls here take many forms…some of which are shadows with physical power more than ten times that of a man. And they know we are not of the dead.”

“Terrifying,” Elizabeth said.

“Exactly,” he said. “Fulir does not come here because of the threats of this place. The world of the dead…it is stranger than that of the living could ever be.”

“Hmm,” Kaitlyn said. “Then this place seems more fun than our old home.”

Aaron watched as a young man and his father descended the stairs near him, both carrying a backpack as they landed on the terrain below. He sighed in discomfort, feeling afraid. He wondered if the living could even be able to carve out an existence in the Underworld.

“How hostile is the world to the living?” Aaron asked.

“Very,” Thomas said. “Outsiders are not welcome until their appointed time to die. We must be very careful if we are to survive.”

Aaron held Elizabeth closer before looking back to Thomas.

“I feel safe,” Elizabeth said. “So long as I am with you.”

Aaron smiled.

“And I,” he said. “With you.”