Sam was thoroughly impressed.
Simply with a single flashlight, Anemone effortlessly navigated both of them through the dark maze, making sharp turns without even stopping to think. They quietly passed through corridors of metal doors - each seemed to have been eaten away by the sands and time.
For a brief moment, Sam managed to take a peek into a room beyond the eroded barrier. He noticed a single bed resided alone in the chamber - its decayed frame and mattress were disgustingly tainted with mold and an unknown pale-yellow substance. Despite the unsavory scenery, what caught Sam's eyes the most was the wilted flower bouquet lying near the bed. Compared to the other objects in the room, the flowers looked slightly out of place, as if it was placed there recently.
"Did you put them there? The flowers?" Sam asked.
"Hm? Oh no, it was the hooded woman. She’s the one who placed them there. Now that you mentioned it, she puts the flowers in every room," replied Anemone before making a sharp right turn.
"A hooded woman, you say?" said Sam as she recalled the cloak Liz was wearing. It made him wonder if it was her who left the bouquet inside the cramped chambers.
“Tell me, Annie. How long have you been down here?” the man asked.
“I’m…not quite sure. It’s hard to tell the time with this pitch darkness around me,” Anemone responded.
“Okay…let me rephrase that: How long has this place been like this?”
“Since…um,” Anemone came to an abrupt stop as she began thinking deeply to herself. “That’s weird. I…I don’t remember.”
“Then, what’s the last thing you remember?”
“Waking up from my bed…I think?”
Before he could ask further, the little girl suddenly made an abrupt stop, nearly causing the Accursed to collide with her. "What's the matter? Did you spot something?" Sam inquired. But instead of answering, Anemone placed a finger against her lips and turned her flashlight off.
At first, there was nothing but silence and the sounds of their thumping hearts. Seconds later, they could hear something.
KLANG!
KLANG!
KLANG!
"Oh no. Oh no," Anemone nervously muttered as soon as she heard the rattling chains. She quickly grabbed Sam's uninjured arm and dragged him into one of the rooms.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked again.
“It’s the bogeyman,” whispered Anemone as she slammed the door shut. “Now, help me with this.”
Noticing the agitated look on the girl's face, Sam did as he was told. Both of them pulled the rusted bed to block the entrance. Then, they trotted the corner – hoping for whatever roaming outside the room to pass by.
They waited.
And waited.
Until they heard a loud groan.
"Ugh!"
Sam turned his head to the girl, only to see her on her knees – clasping her aching head. "No! That...that can’t be! She wouldn't-! No!" the girl continued to say out loud, much to Sam's bewilderment.
BANG!
Sam gasped as the metal door swung open and the bed flew off into the wall nearby. He tried to reach for the katana, but his hand wouldn’t move – no, it refused to move to his command.
At first, the man thought the Lacerator's venom finally affected his limbs, but later, his chest tightened up, and his heart started beating like a drum. Both of his eyes were fixated on the gaping entrance as if they were pulled in by the vacant darkness.
"Anemone. Can you hear me?" Sam softly called out to the girl, but alas, she remained unresponsive to his voice.
KLANG!
KLANG!
KLANG!
The unnerving sound of clattering chains returned- only this time, it was as if it was coming toward him. In spite of that, he still couldn't see anything – not even the slightest movement in the void, let alone the face of the being that stirred the primal fear he thought he had overcome a long time ago.
‘Hold on…this feeling…is it…?’ Before Sam could process his thought, he felt something belt him squarely in the chest and pinned him against the concrete wall.
"ARGH!" cried Sam.
His head was pounding so badly that he could barely keep his eyes open; at the same time, he also could feel a searing sensation wrapped around his neck. Then from the darkness, he heard a distinct snarl – an amalgamation of a wild boar and a panther.
"So, you finally decided to show yourself, Eidolon," Sam deduced, gritting his teeth in agony. Thankfully, the man regained control of his arm and immediately reached his hand out – conjuring a crimson fire from the tips of his fingers. Sam had no idea what he was aiming for, but there was a screech, followed by the shuffling sands and clanking metal chains. The next thing he knew, his body was freed from the invisible shackles that bound him to the wall.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
After letting out a few dry coughs, Sam pulled out his sword; the blade instantly burst into flames.
Shortly after, another scream came out from the dissipating darkness - the only difference was Sam could finally see the owner of the feral voice. A towering figure covered in chains from top to bottom, except for its abnormally long arms and legs. Its whole face was completely disfigured, twisted into an eddy with its circular mouth as the center.
Sam grimaced at the sight of the Eidolon - for he knew the darkness was this fearsome Distorted's domain. Thus, the first thing that came to the man's mind was to take the girl and distance themselves as far as possible from the Distorted. Unfortunately, as he tried to grab Anemone's arm, the girl promptly slapped his hand away.
'What are you doing!?' Sam breathed - his question was soon answered when Anemone rose to her feet and stared at him with her dead-looking eyes.
'She will not hear you, Child of Fire.'
Sam could only shudder after hearing a deep, booming voice spill out of Anemone's mouth. It was unmistakably the same voice that spoke to him and the Nightingales back in the maple-breech forest. "You? No, that's…but how?" Sam fumbled at his reply.
'Didn't we tell you? That prison of flesh was merely a vessel – the same could be said for this frail being.' Anemone(?) raised her right hand, and the Eidolon instantly bent down to the ground, bowing its head toward the little girl.
Sam was rendered speechless. For all his years with the Order, he had never seen someone control the Distorted like a puppet on strings.
'Now, this is intriguing,’ said Anemone(?) as she glanced at her palms.
"Intriguing? What the hell are you on about?"
'Don't you find it a tad peculiar?' a smirk appeared on Anemone's(?) face. 'For a child her age to live alone in such a dreary place? Or were you too preoccupied with your doubt and pain to even consider that?' Anemone(?) glared at the male Accursed, who looked guilt-stricken by the inquiry. "Oh, you knew, didn't you? The true nature of this girl, and you hid it from her.’
"I have my suspicion," said Sam, nearly choking on his words. "But she wanted my help, and that is all that matters."
Anemone(?) grinned eerily at the man's answer before giving an ominous reply, ‘For now. But when she finds out who she truly is – what she truly is – she’ll wish that she never met you in the first place.’
As she finished her sentence, Anemone’s expression eased up as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep. The girl started to sway from side to side, prompting Sam to sheathe his sword and caught her before she toppled to the ground. 'That was too close,' he sighed out of relief.
GRRRR!
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Sam murmured after hearing the familiar growl. He reluctantly lifted his head and realized the Eidolon was already on its feet. Even though the Distorted has no visible eyes on its malformed face, Sam could still feel them glowering at him. "Now, let's not do anything rash, shall we?" the man calmly advised.
The Eidolon grunted in response as if it was mocking him and his warning. Then, it lunged at him.
Sam swiftly snapped her fingers, creating a flash of red light that caused the Distorted to shield its face.
With the creature temporarily blinded, Sam snatched Anemone’s flashlight off the ground and quickly carried its owner out of the room.
ɹɹ********************************************
[Meanwhile…]
With a green light stick in his hand, Rupert looked at her sister with concern. Not only was she moaning earlier in her brief stupor, but now, she had been awfully quiet for unknown reasons. When he tried to speak to her, she just brushed him off with some vague answers.
"Come on, Lucy. You've been ignoring me for about what? 15 minutes? Can’t you at least tell your older brother what's going on?"
"I told you before, everything’s fine. So, can you please get off my back?" Lucy replied with a hint of frustration in her voice.
“You were spouting gibberish in your sleep. Obviously, you are far from fine."
"Hey!"
The siblings jumped on their feet after being scolded by an irate Elisabeth. "Can you guys just stop bickering for a few minutes? You do notice that Edelweiss fell further down than all of us?" the woman added while pointing at the large hole behind her.
"Well, you should have at least said something before you started poking the floor," Rupert retorted.
"If I didn't, then we will all be dead."
"What do you mean?" asked Lucy, her eyebrows furrowed.
Elisabeth took a deep, long breath before answering, "Did you feel dizzy or weak as soon as Silva snapped his fingers?"
The siblings exchanged looks before nodding at the same time.
"That's because he used soundwaves with a frequency a human's ears couldn't pick up. To the Reprieved, it might not do much, but to someone like us, it could be fatal." After finishing her explanation, Elisabeth moved her head around as if she was searching for something. A tiny frown soon appeared on her face when she saw a doorway across the crater. "Drat, the entrance is on the other side of this blasted hole," she muttered.
Shortly after, she heard Rupert calling for her, saying that he found 'something interesting.' As Elisabeth spun around, she realized that the elder Nightingale was standing in front of the concrete wall, frantically rubbing his hands against what seemed to be a ventilation grille embedded in the wall. "What do you think you're doing?" Elisabeth inquired as she shuffled toward Rupert.
"Um, trying to find a way out, I guess?"
"No. What I meant was - why are you trying to pry that grating open with your bare hands? You know what? Just step aside, and let me crack it open," Elisabeth grunted. She slid in front of Rupert and gently placed her right hand on the wall. A few moments later, her fingers sunk through the solid concrete like butter – much to Rupert and Lucy’s astonishment. Then, with a single jolt, Elisabeth ripped the grille off the wall and casually tossed it over her shoulder.
"I don’t know if someone said this to you but, you know Liz, sometimes you can be really scary," remarked Lucy, her expression a mix between surprise and fearfulness.
"Trust me. There are far worst things beyond this shaft," Elisabeth answered before discarding the torn robe she had been wearing ever since the excavation site was hit by a sandstorm, revealing an ensemble of a brown sleeveless turtleneck, and a pair of grey combat trousers.
"There's a reason you don't see any Disciples down here, and it's not because they were afraid to be buried alive, no. They build something as a security measure. Their very own guardian angel. At least, that's what it was supposed to do."
"Supposed to do?" said the puzzled elder Nightingale.
"The Order's assault from ten years ago not only put a stop to the Disciples' Gene Integration experiment, but they prevented the completion of this monstrous being. Sadly, the beast is hidden away in a secret chamber only known to several people, including Silva."
"I see. Now that he has returned from the dead, there is a possibility that he might attempt to finish what he started," Lucy exhaled.
"Or, you know?" Rupert interjected, "Maybe he already did?"