It was halfway through the second day; Brittany was shouting herself hoarse as she directed the pikmin and led them into battle. She wasn't surprised that the bulborbs would go down so easy; After all, they were nothing to her and her partners, having taken out multitudes of bulborbs in the past. The creatures a little higher up the ladder were tougher, but again, nothing to write home about (if she could, anyways.)

Brittany was doing a head count as the winged pikmin flew by. Her face fell as she counted twenty of them, four short of what they started with. She shook her head as the first of the bulborbs reached the onion. She knew that they could compensate for the deaths of their fellows by creating more… Besides, they were probably in a happier place now. Maybe.

Soon, there was a fresh crowd of pikmin joining them. Brittany waved the large crowd over and, with a determined look, set forward, ready to take on the day.

She walked for a short while, stopping to take in the area around her. Brittany had to admit, the land around her was really pretty. Even though life here was fraught with danger, she enjoyed the sights of the trees and the bushes, something she didn't see back on Koppai in the field. She enjoyed the feeling of the soft gravel, the air beneath her feet, the wind on her-

Wait a minute, air?

Brittany yelled as she started plunging into the hole she had previously not noticed, trying desperately to save herself from falling.

I'm too young for this! If only I knew how to fly… But wait, can I?

Brittany's eyes widened as she plummeted out of the narrow hole and into a wider space.

Oh, yes I can!

Just before she hit the floor, Brittany managed to flex her back muscles and fly, slowing her fall and landing gracefully. She was glad she wasn't with anyone; She didn't think she could handle the embarrassment of forgetting her own abilities in front of the Koppai Crew. The chirps of pikmin sounded from above as her partners followed her into the area. Brittany waved them over to her side before getting a feel for her surroundings.

She had landed on the top of a massive table. The dungeon she was in was cavernous and dark, the only few sources of light being the hole she came in from and a lone glowing bulb on the opposite wall. Brittany could faintly see something scuttling about, just out of view. She gulped before tentatively stepping forward, feeling a light breeze from the pikmin's wings.

She was only halfway across the table when a creature jumped her and she stumbled back on her behind in surprise. With a shake of her head, she took a look up at what the creature was and her eyes widened. It looked like a sentient bomb rock with legs! With almost no hesitation, she scrambled back onto her feet and ran, her group following closely. The bomb rock exploded behind them, thankfully taking none of her troops out. Brittany smirked and looked back, her momentary lapse in attention causing her foot to snag on something and trip her up. Her glasses were sent skidding across what she had landed on after she fell flat on her face. Cursing under her breath, Brittany started feeling along the ground, looking for her glasses. Her face lit up as her hand bumped something and she picked it up. There they were. She put the glasses back on before looking at what she had just tripped over.

She was standing on a large book. The pages were yellowed and crusty, suggesting quite a bit of age. The ink was smudged in some parts, but she could make out handwriting in a strange language that she couldn't recognize. Brittany rubbed her chin. She found the similarities between this language and Koppai's texts rather uncanny.

Wait…

Brittany reached into her pocket and pulled out her Koppad. Although the map function on it was useless now thanks to her broken tracking signal, the other functions on it were still running smoothly, including the notes. Brittany opened the app, then set to work as she continually glanced between her notes and the language, making sure she was lining everything up right…

A few hours later, Brittany finished writing out the language in her own. She took a glance at her Koppad to confirm her hunch.

Sure enough, the language turned out to be just a fancy variation of Koppai's texts. She started reading what she could make of the texts.

Diary Entry, July 13th, 2063

The lead engineer - S.S. Arcadia was finally - morning. Just a - off this planet in - breathe actual fresh air - worry about - the Allium Project. What - not sure. Regardless, I'm - problem. - course for SDG-52 K, - All I hope - nothing goes wrong in -

-Dr. Kristen B. Johnson

Brittany scratched her head. SDG-52 K? Allium Project? What on Koppai were those? She was particularly interested in the mention of S.S. Arcadia. Wasn't that an ancient myth about a ship that once came to Koppai and blessed the planet with life or something of the sort?

With a shrug, Brittany turned her attention to the name of the entrant. She found it funny that the doctor had the same last name as her. It was probably just a coincidence, though.

Brittany saved the entry and looked around the area. She had a lot of unsolved questions, and she had the feeling this dungeon would help answer them.