Falling into the Underground had been interesting, to say the least. Not dying was fortunate. Really, surviving that high a fall is nothing short of miraculous. Considering how many people have...Humans aren't that sturdy. One must wonder if there's some sort of magic overlaid in that particular area, to keep them from dying from it.
It begs the question, though, of why anyone would go up there. People don't come back, after all.
Which mostly leaves the foolish and suicidal. Or both. Or...the people who are curious. Who maybe wouldn't mind dying, if it meant a chance to learn something new, something extraordinary.
There's so little of true interest left in modern life. First world problems, of course. There's always cancer to cure, or Nobel Peace prizes to win, but...neither appealed to me. I wanted to learn about monsters.
So I did.
There's a lot of information about them. Most of it is slanderous, and really not reliable, though. Or it's so vague, or old-they have been trapped for a very, very long time-that it's nearly useless due to obfuscation.
Mind you. Not that I meant to fall down. Or decided to prance around the edge. No; someone pushed me. I'll have to thank them later, if I ever see them again. So. You're probably wondering what happened next, huh? Well. Let storytime begin.
I'm falling. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit-
poof. Well. That was pleasantly anticlimactic. Glad I'm not dead. Really, really glad.
"Thank you, flowers," I mutter. They don't really look soft enough to have kept me from dying after a...well. I'm not sure how high that is, but a really, really far fall. 'M not gonna be picky about what keeps me from dyin, though.
Well. I'm screwed anyway, most likely. All of my supplies is up above. I have my haversack, which has a water bottle and notebooks, but not anything else. I have my hoodie, too, which is nice. It's something of a security blanket. Dunno what I'd do without this thing. Which probably means it's going to get trashed soon. Welp. No time like the present. Time to start walking, before I get a boulder dropped on me, or part of the mountain caves in, or something similarly ridiculous but plausible. I adjust my bag and start walking. This is pretty clearly an actual room-pretty small, considering how it has no fricking ceiling-and there's enough light from above to see where the exit is. Another spot of light-much smaller, and I can't even see the walls. There's grass in the middle, but nothing else. I step around it carefully, feeling vaguely apprehensive. Glance back a few times. Nothing.
There's an actual doorway ahead, and I hesitate. Obviously, somebody made this place, but it was a little more...ignorable back there. Here, I might actually run into someone. Oh well. Nowhere but forward, really, unless I want to rot in the dark. I run my fingers over the archway. It's pink. Very pink. Which is kinda weird. There was an arch before, looking back, but I didn't notice it in the dark. Ahead, there's lots more pink, and I make a face. Not my favorite color, but eh. Eventually, whoever designed the place will get bored of it, I'm sure. There's actual brick in here, too, which is weird. And two sets of stairs, which seems a bit excessive. There's...something shiny. Hopefully it's not dangerous. Reaching out to it, I feel...determined. The vines on the wall are beautiful. Someone cared enough to build this place. Surely I won't be alone for long, and maybe whoever I meet will be friendly. I blink away the odd sentiment and move on. There's a plaque with writing above the door, but it's too old for me to read it. There are a bunch of huge-ass buttons on the floor, and a yellow lever, but it looks like I don't have to worry about them; the door is open, and I don't know what else they'd do. The plaque by the door says something weird and philosophical. Whatever. The next room just says 'stay on the path', so I do. It seems like this one's already been solved, too. Whoever maintains these should probably reset them. This room has a dummy. I stare at it for a minute, and then ignore it. Next. Blueprint? Kay. I'll keep that in mind. I go back and look. Huh. Spikes. That's new. They look really dull, though. I poke at one gently, just to see. Yeah. I could probably just walk on these, but I don't want to wear out my shoes. But there has to be some sort of automatic thing, right? Moving forward. Yup. This is a bit boring. 'Solving' that is also horrendously easy, without even going back to memorize the path, because all you have to do is shift in the right direction and the path opens up. I sigh. This is not nearly as exciting as I'd imagined, peculiarity not-withstanding.
A super long hallway. Are there gonna be swinging blades, or something? No, nothing on the walls or ceiling, besides a decent amount of ivy. Hmph. 'Dangerous' my rear. There's a pillar at the end, but there's nothing behind it, so I ignore it. Hm. Up, or down? Eh, up. 'What goes up must come down.'
Geez, I'm bored. A little pillar with an apparently empty bowl. Great. Very helpful, you weirdos. Do your dishes. It isn't Halloween anymore. A bunch of water, and it looks clear. Sighing, I take off my shoes and stick em in my bag. Might as well cool my feet. I dangle them in the water for a while, just relaxing. So far, nothing's tried to kill me, and nobody's tried to say hi, so...might as well, yeah? I exhale, and get up. No point putting my shoes back on and chafing my feet. It'll be nice to go barefoot. There's another yellow light in the leaves, and I prance around it like a fool for a little while, and collapse laughing. I feel a little less bored. And also determined to find whoever runs this joint and tell them their hosting skills are lacking. With a snort at the thought, I brush myself off and wander back onto the path into the next room, which has a rock and another plaque. I raise my eyebrows at the plaque, but edge the rock along with my toes anyway. Spikes go up at the end of the room. I remove the rock from the button, shaking my head. In the next room, I fall-and, amazingly, don't get hurt,again-and read the plaque. Okay. Seems like I'll actually have to remember this one. Trying to 'not step on the leaves' ends with me falling again, so I huff and step on them. Well, where I'm not supposed to step, anyway. Surprisingly, the ground holds out. I hop to the next branch of leaves, huffing. Rude misleading clue. I reach the end of the room, muttering to myself. I'm gettin real tired of these puzzles. They aren't fun, or even hard! They're just annoying! I hop over the spikes, not in the mood. Another sparkly, but I'm not in the mood. A big mousehole in the wall, and some real old cheese. A random-seeming patch of leaves, and then some cobweb with a sign that says there's a bakesale...made for, by, and of, spiders, and while the last doesn't seem appealing in the least, I look into the cobwebs. Empty. Shrugging, I turn around. The next few rooms are deactivated, too. I walk through them, increasingly bored and confused. Up, or right?..Right? Yeah. Why not. Probably won't be anything interesting in either direction. Geez, I'm being ungrateful. I could have died falling. Or in some trap. Or from any number of things. And I've only been here for like half an hour. Lighten up, buttercup. Whoever runs this place is probably on vacation or something. 'Or something' seeming more likely. The hairs go up on the back of my neck as I enter the next room. There's a whole city, underground, looking shadowed and old and fascinating. There's a bridge, too, and it looks sturdy enough. This promises to be interesting.