Luis picked Aurelleah up and carried her over to prop her up against one of the walls. Leon pulled out his medical supplies and pushed up the elbow-length sleeve of her shirt, which now had blood seeping through it.
"I don't get it," he said, scowling as he surveyed the wound. "That must have been agonizing. Why didn't she say anything? Did she not feel it? She must have, she passed out from it…"
"She didn't want to risk moving with me in such a position," Luis replied gravely. "She knew I could have fallen at any moment, especially if the piton became unstable."
Leon sighed and began cleaning the wound. It was messy as sin. Their weight had managed to rip the super-glue apart, and it was positively pouring blood now.
Luis felt sick. It seemed like she was being damaged or endangered every twenty minutes at this point. He just wanted her to be safe, damnit.
Leon glanced at him briefly before grabbing the disinfectant and spraying it on. "I hope we won't need to go back that way," he said casually. "With luck, this last button will open up the door and we can move on. What's up ahead?"
Luis could tell Leon was trying to distract him. "Bunch of stone crushers we'll need to dodge, rising platform that will bring us back to the surface, a series of fights and traps to acquire the key to the next castle wing, and a whole bunch of new renovations by Salazar, most of which I'm unfamiliar with."
His voice sounded listless, even to him. He was beginning to feel very, very jaded, and he desperately hoped their journey was near an end. If they could just recover Ashley and catch a boat to the island, he'd be able to get them to the device within twenty minutes. There was a cove they could park in right outside the building. Once their bugs were out, they could zip back down to the dock and just…take off. He was sure once they got far enough out to sea, Leon could use his radio to phone for transport.
But in the meantime, they needed to take care. "Leon, the procedure to kill the Plaga is risky. You'll probably be fine, but there's a chance the girls won't be, especially Elleah. If she's already injured, it'll be that much riskier for her. She cannot get hurt like this again, or lose any more blood."
Leon nodded. He'd begun gluing the wound shut again, and was about halfway done already. "Understood. Hey, think you can hit that button while I finish this up?"
Probably a good idea. The faster they got out of here, the better. "On it," he said.
He jogged over to the last cave branch and entered slowly. There were no Novistadors in here, though, and he reached the mural in the back without incident.
Luis had seen these murals before, and, as usual, this one sickened him. It showed three plumed soldiers converging, spears out, upon a fourth. The cult leader from the last mural stood behind them, hand thrown out in commandment. The three being commandeered showed signs of Plaga infection – tentacles coming out of their backs. The fourth did not, and had fallen to his knees in despair.
This mural was meant to show the greatest 'triumph' of the old cult – the turning of enemies into allies through forced infection, and the terror and despondency this inspired. After all, what was more painful than seeing a friend or loved one turned into a mindless, violent husk?
Set into the mural was another button. He walked over, pushed this, then turned and jogged out of the cave.
He emerged just as the light finished shifting. Both now shone on the doorway across the second stone bridge, and he heard it open with a slight squeal of metal. Beyond it, the steady boo-BOOM, boo-BOOM of rhythmically clapping stone crushers turning on echoed into the main chamber.
Leon had finished stitching up Aurelleah and was just picking her up bridal-style. "Door's open," he said. "You take the bridge first, tell me if it's stable."
"Will do," he said. He was pretty sure this one would be okay. It was thicker and shorter than the other one. Sure enough, crossing it did not even elicit a slight groan. Leon followed him across with no problem.
They entered the next part of the cave, and this was where Luis really worried. "This is dangerous. I don't know if you can carry her past these things. We might want to wait until she wakes up."
Leon surveyed the trap. Cylinders of stone and metal, each about five feet in diameter, were continuously dropping and rising along the path. The ceiling was about seven feet tall. It didn't give a ton of time for passage. "Anything special about them, or is it just speed and timing?"
"Just speed and timing," Luis said. "But—"
Leon took a few steps back, then leaned forward and broke into a run straight for the first smasher just as it clapped down. By the time it rose, he'd reached it going full speed, Aurelleah bouncing in his arms, and he cleared the first one handily.
Damn. It takes some kind of strength – upper and lower body – to carry someone in a run like that, even if she is a featherweight.
Luis followed easily without a burden. Next up was a minor impediment – a ledge just taller than they were.
Luis maintained his moment and leapt for it, heaving himself up. Then he turned around – the smasher was just a couple feet behind him, and was very noisy – and reached out to take Aurelleah as Leon hoisted her up.
She groaned softly as Luis hooked his arms carefully under hers and lifted, leaving most of the work to Leon so he wasn't putting strain on her injury. He dragged her over the edge, letting go of her wounded arm the moment he could, and Leon followed him up once she was clear.
"I can get her through the rest of them," Luis offered.
Leon shook his head. "Part of my training has involved carrying injured allies out of danger zones. I could carry you through this if I needed to. Elleah is no problem for me." He lifted her again.
The walls all along this passage were covered with yet more runes, but a new addition was the series of lanterns and strings of chains strung over them. This all truly baffled Luis, who had assumed that such historical record would be very nearly holy to Los Illuminados. Why would Saddler permit his history to be so totally defaced?
Well, it's not really his history, is it? He adopted this cult centuries after its extinction to achieve his own mad goals. He is attached to it now, yes…but perhaps he is not so much attached to what it was as he is attached to the idea of it – what he wants it to be. Perhaps the mere idea of it preexisting him offends him.
Leon once again timed the smasher and jumped down from the next shelf just as it was rising, head scraping the bottom of the great stone. It clapped down well after he'd cleared it. He really was good at this.
"Hold on," Luis called up. He made it past the next one and said, "There are three here. That lever freezes the position of the one in the middle. Leave it to me."
Leon waited. All three smashers before them fell simultaneously, then rose, and as they reached their apex Luis threw the switch.
The nearest and farthest ones slammed back down, but the one in the middle stopped, giving them a safe zone.
This would still be tricky, though, even for Leon. He'd been using momentum to get through these, and he wouldn't have much of it for this one since he'd have to stop in the middle. Luis had a solution to that, though. They both made the first one—
BAM!
—and as the second one rose, Luis stood behind Leon and put his hands on his back. Leon got it. As soon as the smasher was high enough, Luis threw his weight behind Leon and shoved hard to give him an early burst of speed.
It was enough. He cleared the last smasher with a few inches. Luis followed him, and they were through.
They walked without talking to the next chamber. Natural light, dim and grey from the overcast sky outside, shone down through the ceiling upon a beautiful tomb made of granite and silver. The silver was a bit tarnished, though when Luis had last visited, it had been in perfect condition.
"This," he said, approaching and tapping on the plaque before the tomb, "Is the grave of the first Salazar. His remains were entombed here, that his spirit could forever guard the entrance to the cave that sealed the plagues he once defeated."
Leon walked over and inspected it. "Hmph. Bet he's turning in his grave now."
Luis sighed, a small weight of sorrow forming in his chest. "Sadly."
Leon looked at him curiously, and Luis reminded him quietly, "This was once my home, you'll remember. My history. My people. Once upon a time, I had something to be proud of. Not anymore."
Leon winced. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine—"
He broke off as Aurelleah groaned again, her eyes twitching back and forth beneath their lids.
Luis waved away Leon's concern, that sad weight lifting somewhat. "It is fine. All things must come to an end, even noble things. At any rate, I have a bright future ahead of me, I think."
Leon nodded. "No doubt about that. Whatever you decide to do when we get back, I'm pretty sure you'll make a good life for yourself. And you'll have friends who'll help out when things get rough."
Luis felt a surge of warmth as he stepped up onto the plinth, tugged Leon back from the edge, and pressed the Salazar family crest at the head of the tomb, causing the platform to rumble and begin its ascent. "That doesn't sound half bad."
They rose up into the beam of grey light, which enveloped them as they emerged into the chill midmorning air. Leon sucked in a deep breath, exhaling it slowly, and rolled his head along his neck. "Feels good to be out of those caves."
He stepped off the platform. They were in an old, ruined stone crypt. As Luis began leading him through the minor labyrinth he explained, "This was the site of the last great battle between Salazar the First and Los Illuminados. It has been in this state of ruin and decay for centuries, never rebuilt, as a monument to the war's conclusion."
Several of the walls showed signs of Plaga attack – deep scars in the stone from their scythes, divots from their lunging beaks. If they swept away some of the dirt from the stone floors of the larger buildings, they would see the ancient scratches left by C Plagas as well.
He could tell Leon at least picked up on the scythe-marks, as his gaze lingered on a few of these. Then their gazes trailed up to something out his place – a piece of paper pinned to an old wooden structure, fluttering in the light breeze.
Leon approached this and leaned in close to read it. He sighed heavily and went to set Aurelleah down, presumably to grab the note.
Luis walked over and snatched it up, noticing a most intriguing mark on the paper – a lady's lingering kiss left in red lipstick.
"Oi, Luis—" Leon protested as Luis began reading.
Dear Leon, it began in curling, ladylike script.
I see you've teamed up with Dr. Sera. It should go without saying that he is the best chance you have at getting the Plagas removed from the girls. I would advise you two to move quickly – you'll find a great deal more hardship waiting between you and the machine than the doctor might think, and it will take time to get through. Suffice it to say, Saddler does not want you reaching the Plaga-removal device and has acted accordingly. The most reassurance I can give you is that he is unable to destroy the machine due to the fact that it doubles as a scanner for the Plagas, and is invaluable for the collection of data on them. It will be there for you – if you can reach it.
From Ada
Luis considered this. The part about hardship between them and the machine was troubling, but he hadn't expected that Saddler would leave it unguarded. Still, he doubted there was anything they couldn't handle past this point except perhaps for U-3, and that beastie was well out of their way. It was fused with a defective Plaga, and had, as a result, been condemned to a cave system on the island which it was incapable of escaping from.
As for the machine, he'd known, of course, that Saddler could not destroy it for the stated reason. That was not new information to him.
No, what he was interested in was Leon's relationship with Ada. Who were they to each other, that she would leave him such a message?
Leon was glaring at him. Luis shrugged, folded the note up carefully, and slipped it into his pocket for him. "So, I take it you are familiar with the lady in red?"
Leon's brows scrunched up. "You've met before?" Then realization dawned in his face. "Oh. She was your contact, wasn't she?"
"Si. She was the one who contacted me initially, and whom I was supposed to deliver the Sample to in exchange for a lift out of here."
They continued on, ears perked for sounds of approaching enemies. "Trust me, man, you dodged a bullet there. The guy she works for was heavily involved in the Raccoon City incident."
Luis's jaw dropped. "Mierda."
"Yup. Hey, looks like someone's coming around."
They both stopped. Leon dropped to his haunches, lowering Aurelleah partly onto the ground, though he kept her propped up as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around groggily, then closed her eyes again with a low groan. Her head lolled back on her shoulders.
Leon clicked his tongue and pulled off his case, unlatching it with one hand while the other kept her upright. He fished around for a small phial, and Luis was pretty sure he could guess at its contents.
He popped the top off and held it under Aurelleah's nose. Her eyes shot open at the first inhale, and she jerked her head away with a noise of upset.
"Smelling salts?" Luis asked.
Leon nodded, putting them back in his case as she spasmed to life in his arms.
"Urrrk…"
Luis crouched in front of her, hands dangling between his legs. "Hola. How are you feeling?"
She looked up at him with watery eyes. "Awful. What was that?"
He chuckled. "Mostly ammonia. You passed out after you and Leon helped me up. Really did a number on your arm. Feeling any better now?"
She still looked a little dazed, but when she lifted her left arm Luis immediately noted the flashbulb twitch of the lips that signaled pain.
"Yeah, much better," she said, though he knew it was a lie. "Thank you. Um, where are we?"
"Out of the caves," Leon said, and she started. She twisted her head and looked back at him. She'd been so out of it that she hadn't even noticed she was leaning on him. "We're heading for the next part of the castle now. We'll really need to be on our toes going forward, since Luis isn't familiar with all the 'renovations' Salazar has made past this point."
She sat up, and Luis reached out to offer his arm. She took it, and he hoisted her carefully to her feet, steadying her as she swayed. "Thanks. Uh…how did I get here? I don't remember."
"Leon carried you," Luis said.
Her eyes widened guiltily. She turned to Leon and said, "I'm sorry."
He patted her on the shoulder – the uninjured one – and said, "Ah, don't worry about it. Come on, let's get going."
They started on again. They were now moving through a narrow hilly pass spotted here and there with dead, barren trees. They'd been that way for centuries, and Luis did not know why. He'd always meant to take samples, try to figure it out, but he'd never gotten around to it.
As they approached the entrance to the castle – he knew it would be locked, though it never had been before – he saw firelight flickering in the distance. They all noticed this, and they slowed considerably and drew their weapons.
Ganados. The first one was keeping watch just inside the next patch of ruined buildings. Leon leveled his Red at the infected – one of the villagers, it seemed, who had been shipped up here to keep guard – but Aurelleah got to him first, pegging him with her slingshot, perhaps in an attempt to keep the gunfire from alerting any other Ganados nearby.
It worked. The foe grunted and clutched his brow, and Leon ran up in the wake of the shot, swapped gun for knife, and took the man out almost silently.
Aurelleah looked away as Leon cut the man's throat. She could manage a quick, clean headshot without too much trouble, but it seemed she did not care for so much blood. Luis could understand – it had taken him a while to get used to it. Sometimes, he regretted that he ever had. He feared that his callousness to it had, in some way, blunted his emotional facilities in ways he could not readily discern.
They moved past the dying Ganado and saw the source of the fire. It was a large bonfire, around which were gathered a half dozen more villagers. A cakewalk for them by then, but an unfortunate waste of ammo.
Luis pulled out his knife and whispered, "Want to see how many bullets we can save?"
Leon flipped his own blade. "I guess we better. Who knows when we'll be able to restock again?"
"Not 'till the island. Oops," he quipped softly, noticing one of them turning in his direction and squinting into the darkness. They'd been heard.
Aurelleah whispered quietly, "You want me to distract them? I can draw them over so you two can…"
Leon nodded, though Luis felt bad about having her participate in what was going to be a bloodbath. Still, she did not shy from her part. She stepped out into the ring of firelight and said, "Um, excuse me, do any of you know where the restroom is?"
"Cojela!"
"Agárrala!"
He and Leon were hiding behind an old stone wall, and it was past this that she retreated as the Ganados all charged her. She danced backwards, shooting at them with her slingshot until the first one passed the wall.
Leon took point, his arm whipping out viper-fast to slash the guy's jugular on the way past. He clutched at it, gurgling, but did not stop going for Aurelleah until she put a slug in his knee.
Leon repeated this with three other Ganados, and none of the ones approaching even realized what was happening. Then one of them passed by too far from the wall for Leon to get a quick slash in, and Luis took over.
He stepped forward and tripped the man in the middle of his run, then knelt to slip his hunting knife between the fourth and fifth rib, sawing an inch or two before withdrawing to deal with the next opponent.
Aurelleah stayed well back, fired another couple shots, then stopped, dropping her arm. She waited for him and Leon to finished off the last of the Ganados, which they were able to do without firing a single bullet.
Ammo conservation, indeed. Luis grimaced at all the blood, though. Even for him, this was a bit much.
Aurelleah carefully picked her way between dying Ganados and went over to the bonfire to warm her hands. Or to warm one of them, rather. Her left was dangling limply at her side.
He went over to her. "It's bad, isn't it?"
She looked at him, confused, before realizing that she wasn't holding her left arm up. She fixed this, trying to look casual about it. "No, it's fine," she said. She even offered him a sunny smile.
He shook his head, but said, "Alright. Well, be easy with it. You can't afford to lose any more blood, not if you want the Plaga out of you."
She yawned and nodded. "I'll be careful. What's up next?"
Leon came over, and Luis began explaining. "The entrance to this section of the castle will require a key called 'The Offering to the Lion'. It is located in the back of the mine, the entrance of which is nearby. To get to the offering, we will first need to bypass a heavily guarded room, followed by another spike-ceilinged trap room."
"Uh…Luis?" Aurelleah asked.
He pressed on, wanting to finish the overview before addressing questions. "After this, we will need to ride a minecart to the end of the mine, which will contain the offering. The minecart ride, however, will not be easy."
"Luis?"
He motioned for her to wait another moment. "The entire trip, we will undoubtedly be plagued with the numerous Ganados that work in the mines. Once the descending ceiling is activated, they will all receive an alert telling them to swarm the platforms lining the minecart rail. They will jump down at us at every opportunity, so we will need to be very careful."
Aurelleah was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to address her, and at last he said, "Yes?"
She asked, "Is the Sacrifice to the Lion a little red and blue and yellow disc?"
He blinked, surprised. "Yes. How did you know that?"
She pointed to the door. "I think someone already got it for us."
Luis looked over at the lion-head lock on the door. His jaw dropped as he saw the Offering sitting in its mouth.
Leon followed his gaze and laughed. Luis shook his head. "Huh. Did not expect that."
Aurelleah shrugged. "Well, don't look a gift-lion in the mouth, I guess."
"Que?" Luis asked, perplexed, as Leon laughed again.
"Don't look a gift-lion in the mouth," she repeated. "Like, 'Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth.' It means don't complain when you're getting something for free."
"You know," Leon said as they walked over and pushed open the door. Sure enough, it was unlocked. "I've always wondered where that saying came from. I don't get it at all."
"It refers to the practice of checking a horse's teeth to determine its heath. If someone gave you a horse, it would be impolite to immediately start looking it over to determine its quality. Just say, 'thank you!' and look it over when you get home. You know, like, if someone gave you a car you wouldn't just instantly pop the top and start inspecting everything, right?"
Leon said, "I mean, I would. If someone gave me a car I'd want to make sure the brakes weren't cut."
"Well, what if your mom gave you a car?"
"Then I'd definitely check to see if the brakes were cut."
They all laughed as they got into the elevator that would take them up to the next part of the castle. Luis really wished things could have gone smoother…but he supposed he needed to count his blessings where they could be found. The door had been unlocked. They had enough ammo to get them through to the island. One Verdugo was dead, and Salazar would not permit the other to leave his side on principle.
And Aurelleah is alive. Not as well as would be preferable, but alive.
As he thought this, she sidled closer to him in the elevator and smiled up at him. He slipped an arm around her waist and punched the button to take them up.
Yes, he felt decidedly blessed.
Ada ejected a spent cartridge from her handgun and loaded in a new one, but could not be bothered to spend any on the lumbering fool of a Ganado making its way towards her from the stairs. Instead, she bent down, plucked the key from around the neck of the chainsaw-wielding juggernaut that had taken six shotgun blasts to the head to kill, then ran over and launched herself out of the window, deploying her hookshot as she went.
She'd traversed the previous castle section from the outside and slipped around to the tram after planting a few more charges. Upon taking it to the pass preceding the next castle section, she'd looked for signs of Leon's passage, but had seen nothing to indicate he'd been there. What's more, checking the tomb-elevator that led from the caves to the surface revealed that it hadn't been activated in quite some time. She knew that he'd taken the underground route, though she wasn't sure how he'd accessed it, but it seemed it hadn't been the shortcut he'd likely been hoping for. She'd beaten him there.
She'd left him a little note – more a reminder that she was still around, if anything – before heading over to inspect the entrance to the castle. It had been locked pending the acquisition of a key called the 'Offering to the Lion'.
She'd been briefed about this one. They knew the key was at the end of the mine, but they hadn't had information on what was guarding it. So far, bear traps and flunkies. And flunkies with chainsaws.
The flunkies with chainsaws were somewhat problematic, mostly because they ate into her ammo, but she wasn't really all that impressed. She'd gotten the key to the next part of the mine. Hopefully the Offering would be behind this door.
She landed outside of it, unlocked it, and pushed it open onto a stairwell spiraling gently down. She continued onward, pistol drawn, slinking down the steps. She moved cautiously, though she saw no overt danger. This place looked like it had taken inspiration from an Indiana Jones movie. She did not want to die in a cheesy cliché.
At the bottom of the stairs was another door, which she pushed open. She scanned the room, checking the corners before entering. Almost as soon as she stepped in, a stone tile sunk beneath her foot.
Shhhnk!
She glanced up. The ceiling was covered in spikes, and naturally, began to sink.
She sighed and began scanning the room for the off-switch. The doors had locked on her, so she would need to actually disable the trap rather than—
She heard something skittering at her from the side and saw a flash of movement as whatever it was leapt at her. She dodged backwards, and what appeared to be a massive, pale brown spider sailed by her face, barely missing her.
She shot it without hesitation. It barely flinched. It just squealed angrily and turned back around to face her, and as it did she saw another one come sliding out of a hole in the wall.
She was running out of time. The spikes were only a foot above her head, and she hadn't located the…
Off button. Bingo.
She saw a dark red button on the ceiling between two spikes and shot it, expecting the trap to be disabled.
Nothing happened, and unease pervaded her as she fired a few more rounds at the spider-creatures – she thought they may have been adult Plaga – to keep them off of her. Maybe there were more buttons?
She stepped several feet to the right and spotted another. She shot it, but the ceiling kept sinking. She ducked as the spikes reached head height. The spiders came at her again, and she paused to put one of them down before duck-running across the room to look for more buttons. There was one. She shot it. Still nothing, but the three she had shot made three points of a square. Hopefully that last one would be…
She rolled over to where she thought the last button would be, and was knocked to the side as another spider came leaping out of a final crack. She rolled over onto her back, dropping her gun and grabbing the thing's sharp little mandibles to keep them from digging into her throat as it crawled onto chest.
She normally did not allow herself to lose her composure, but this was too close for comfort. She let out a breathy cry of disgust as she shoved the Plaga down, hooked her knees under it, and launched it up into the spikes, which were now only about two feet from the ground.
There.
She spotted the last button through the twitching, dying spider-Plaga impaled on the spikes, reached for her gun, and brought it up with the last of the space available to her.
CRACK!
The ceiling stopped.
She lay there, heart hammering, for a long moment. The last spider-Plaga, though badly wounded, was still coming after her. She calmly switched the gun to her other side and put it out of its misery.
She waited for the ceiling to rise, and when it didn't, she scoffed. It looked like these people weren't even polite enough to raise the roof for her, but at least the doors had opened. She maneuvered herself into a position where she could shimmy towards the door without tearing her dress on the stony, sandy floor. She wasn't overly vain, but she did have her standards. A torn, filthy oufit did not meet them.
Inch by tedious inch she managed to extract herself from the trap, chiding herself all the while for her poor handling of the situation. Honestly, getting out by the skin of her teeth like that – she was not Indiana Jones. No, she'd leave that schtick to Leon.
He was partly the reason she was down here in the first place, of course. She'd been touched by the cordial note he'd left her warning her of the cage trap a while back, even if she'd found it a bit late. And since he'd been such a dear as to get all the doors for her up until now, she'd decided that it was only fair that she get one for him.
Hopefully, that would be the last of the trials she needed to go through for this silly trinket. She continued through the door into a large room that was trickling sand from the ceiling.
She didn't like this, and decided to go ahead and skip. She aimed her hookshot towards a sturdy piece of rock and propelled herself across the chamber, using her momentum to vault through the door on the other side without touching the floor or stairs. She didn't know what that room held, but she guessed it wasn't just an empty sand cave.
The next area opened onto grey daylight, and she sighed heavily. It was good to know that she could have bypassed all of that and just rappelled down here if she'd called in an aerial scan of the area. But then, she hated calling Wesker for little things like that. He'd encouraged her to, but not to be helpful – he just liked mocking her for asking for assistance.
Another entrance to the west wing? Well, if a handful of cultists are too much of a challenge for you, I suppose I could see what's available…
The only thing in this room was a chain of three minecarts and a lever. She'd dealt with things like this before. She felt confident in her ability to deal with whatever lay on the tracks.
She hopped right in and pulled the lever beside the cart to start it up. She began trundling down the rail, pistol drawn and loaded, and waited for the traps and enemies.
Enemies it was. She saw up ahead a gang of Ganados lining a pair of platforms hanging over either side of the tracks. She supposed they would all jump down into the carts as she passed…but she wasn't about to let that happen. These carts seemed very, very heavy and could no doubt clear a few people off without derailing.
She took careful aim on her bumpy and raucous carriage, and one by one, shot the half-dozen peasants in the knees. It took her seven bullets to take care of them all, far fewer than she'd have spent dispatching them in the carts. The carts were shuddery by themselves, but contrarily quite stable when dealing with obstacles, because they didn't shudder any more than normal while running over six humanoid beings. Not bad.
There was another set of platforms, then another. Each time she managed to shoot every Ganado down before the carts passed under them, though a few times it was close. One actually landed halfway in the last cart, and she'd had to hop from the back to the front to heave it out before it could crawl in.
Up ahead she saw yet another area through which daylight streamed, as well as something more problematic. Two very long platforms swarming with Ganados, as well as a switch station. It looked like they were going to put the brakes on her.
She began shooting rapidly and accurately, and managed to knock down more than half before a loud squeal informed her that she'd been correct – they had a brake system up here.
This was going to be a pain. At least five Ganados jumped into her the carts before she sprang out of them up onto the platforms they'd just vacated, and more were getting up from the tracks, having not been run over by the cart. She couldn't deal with quite that many enemies in such a small space. At least, not easily.
She ran down to the lever, shot the Ganado manning it, and grabbed the switch. She paused before throwing it, however. Perhaps she could lure a few of the peasants on her ride out before hopping back in. They weren't exactly high-caliber thinkers.
She waited to see if they would chase her, and sure enough, two of them crawled out and began making their way towards her. Another two were halfway out before the first two reached her, and she threw the lever and jumped into the middle cart as it picked up speed going past.
There were still three in the carts, but three was a manageable number. She pulled out her shotgun to finish them off quickly, then decided against it as she saw what was approaching.
She watched the approaching hazard as the three Ganados hopped clumsily from the front minecart to the middle minecart to reach her. Then, just as one of them grabbed onto the rear minecart, she dropped to the floor of it, and…
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
A heavy wooden plank had been nailed just above cart-height across the tracks, and the Ganados, having been facing her, had not seen them coming. She propelled the one that had been smacked in the rear by the heavy wooden plank off the cart behind her before poking her head up to be sure there were no more coming.
One more up ahead. No, two. That was fine. The other two Ganados were already standing back up. She just ducked as they came after her again, and again,
Thunk.
Thunk.
"Oof…"
That would probably do it. And if it didn't, there might still be another plank. If there was, it would probably take them out completely. The minecart was picking up speed.
She peeked out again and jerked her head back down as another plank flew by over her head. She heard this one snap as it hit one of the Ganados. The next time she looked up, she saw something alarming.
The slope was increasing more and more and going into a spiral. She tensed, thoroughly hoping that she wasn't about to derail on the sharpish turns, but as she hit the first of them the carts showed no signs of instability. They clung tightly to their rails as they went faster and faster into the caves.
There was another straight stretch, this one somewhat dark, but there were no more planks so she kept her head up. She watched for the end of the road…and finally spotted it up ahead.
Oh, dear.
A massive chasm lay before her, and the tracks dead-ended just before it. There was a platform, but it was too far for her to jump. If she used her hookshot on either it or the wall behind it, the momentum she'd gained from the cart, along with that of her swing, would flatten her against the whatever she hit. She'd have to handle this very, very carefully.
She gauged the size of the approaching exit, ran some abstract calculations in her, head, then nodded. Pendulum technique it was.
As she shot out of the high-roofed cave, she turned around and fired her hookshot at the near wall, about ten feet above the cave mouth. The hook sank into the craggy stone and her outgoing speed sent her up into the air briefly before she fell back down, swinging in an arc…directly back into the cave she'd just exited.
She swung into it, her hookshot cord biting into the upper lip of the cave, reached the end of her swing just before hitting the roof of the cave, and reversed.
She swung back out of the cave, momentum much reduced, and detached and retracted her hookshot before whirling around in midair to aim it at the platform. She shot it, hooked on, and zipped herself up and onto the ledge.
That was a move that had once managed to impress even Wesker, which she'd dubbed the Pendulum technique. She slowed her momentum in a given direction by turning herself into a pendulum anchored in the opposite direction. Once she'd swung back and forth once, her momentum was reduced to sub-lethal levels.
"Well," she said to herself after she took a quick swig of water. "That was fun."
She stepped forward, figuring there were sure to be a few more traps and obstacles in the way. Instead, she saw a metal statue set with a blue, red, and yellow disc.
The Offering to the Lion.
She picked it up, and a door in the back opened as soon as it was out of its setting. Wonderful. And if it didn't lead to the surface, she could always use her hookshot to climb up that chasm back there – it had also been lit with daylight.
As she climbed these steps, however, it became apparent that that wouldn't be necessary. When she reached the top of the stairs, she came out – somehow – in another part of the ruins she thought she'd left behind.
Really, the architecture here was rather impressive. She'd somehow managed to get completely turned around in that little maze and end up right back where she'd started. She sank against a wall in shadow as she neared the castle again. There was a band of Ganados sitting around a bonfire right outside the entrance, but she wasn't going to bother with those. Nor was she going to bother with whatever laid just inside. She'd done enough just getting this key – Leon could handle the rest for her.
She darted over to the door and slipped the key in, vanishing before any of the infected men even spotted her. She then retreated a short distance and pulled out an energy bar, figuring it was high time she stopped for lunch.
What I wouldn't give for a cashew salad, maybe a fillet of yellowtail…
The energy bars would suffice until she got home. They always did. As she ate, she contemplated how things were going.
To her knowledge, everyone was still alive. Leon, the girls, the doctor; now, they could cumulatively end up being something of a thorn in her side if they ended up getting the Sample before she did, but she wasn't about to thin them out. Not only had she taken a personal liking to the whole group – Ashley Graham not included, the girl was a bit too prissy – she imagined they'd need all the help they could get going forward. Since Saddler had overhauled the island, it had become all but impregnable unless you knew where the gaps in the armor were. Thankfully she did, courtesy of Krauser, who had set up the bulk of the new security himself.
Krauser. Now there was cause for concern. The man was getting more and more unpredictable. When she'd seen met him so unexpectedly in the previous wing of the castle, she'd assumed that he would simply pounce on the youngest Graham as soon as he found her huddled in that restroom…but he hadn't, and she still didn't know why. She couldn't think of the slightest reason for it, unless he for some reason didn't want to deliver her to Salazar.
Perhaps he was concerned that Salazar would take credit for the capture, and he wouldn't get his Plaga? Of course, it was looking more and more like Saddler intended on holding onto the Sample regardless of Krauser's actions. That was fine by her…except for the fact that, once he realized the game was up, he'd be sure to take drastic measures.
And now that her understanding of him had slipped…she didn't know what measures he would take.
Would he go for Saddler to get the Sample? Risky for him, but possible. Would he go for Leon, desperate to squeeze in a confrontation with the man before this farce drew to a close? Maybe. Would he go for the girl, succumb to his baser instincts for vengeance and sex?
She sighed and slipped the wrapper of the energy bar into her pouch. She just didn't know.
Would he come after her?
I'd like to see him try.
"Um, excuse me, do any of you know where the restroom is?"
"Cojela!"
"Agárrala!"
Ada's mouth twitched up in amusement. It sounded like Leon and party had arrived.
She slunk over to watch the show, arriving just in time to see one of the Ganados chasing Aurelleah go down without a sound, clutching its jugular. She watched a few more going down in like fashion before realizing Leon was probably behind the wall, dealing out death to those intent on his charge.
Speed, power, lethality, and silence. A king of beasts, indeed.
He and Luis, who emerged on the next attack, took the gang down without firing a single shot. She rather enjoyed the show. There was something about watching strong men use brute strength and simple tools to cut down a band of attackers that just warmed her heart – it was a sweet reminder that mankind had not been entirely domesticated by the advent of its most recent and convenient technological advancements.
Oh, Leon, she thought as he cleaned off his knife and slid it back onto the sheath on his chest. You really are a cut above the rest.
Ada took note of a dark bloodstain on young Aurelleah's shirtsleeve, as well as a neat slice in the fabric, and recalled the recount she'd overheard of her and her sister's adventure in the dungeons. But that had been hours ago, and her arm was smeared with relatively fresh blood, as though the wound had been reopened. Poor girl – that must have been painful. It also may have explained why they had been so long in getting up here.
She listened from her unseen perch as Luis began explaining what they would need to get through to find the Offering to the Lion, and wondered how long it would take for him to notice.
"Uh, Luis?" Aurelleah said. It seemed like she'd spotted it already, but Luis did not acknowledge her, only kept talking.
"Luis?" She repeated, and Ada bit a finger to keep in a chuckle.
He finished his explanation. After a brief pause, he said, "Yes?"
"Is the Sacrifice to the Lion a little red and blue and yellow disc?"
"Yes. How did you know that?"
"I think someone already got it for us."
Ada heard a sound that she didn't think she'd ever gotten the chance to hear before – Leon, laughing. It was a deep, rich laugh. It called to mind the chuckling of a heavy brook in spring, one swollen with snowmelt, just when the world was coming back to life after the cruel months of winter.
It was…nice.
She listened with further amusement to the ensuing conversation about gift-lions and gift-horses and the origins of the phrase, which she hadn't known and was glad to hear about. You never knew when such tidbits of knowledge would come in handy.
Ada closed her eyes and waited for the group to move on. She would wait for Leon to clear out the bulk of the forces in this wing of the castle, and in the meantime she'd plant some charges on the outside and see what she could determine of the inside from the windows.
When Leon and the others started up the elevator, she deployed her hookshot. Time to retrieve and plant those charges.
OoO
Hey! Welcome to my newest followers, .s and IdeasthatIcan'twrite! Hope you're enjoying the story :) Had some fun with another Ada chapter. It's good to take a step back from the main crew every once in a while, get some outside perspective on them. On the downside, it is SUPER hard to keep track of where everyone is, what they're all doing, and what they all know. Hope there aren't any continuity errors yet.
Anywho, I have work soon. New manager messed up and accidentally scheduled me for six days in a row, which is not normal for my position. Oh, well. Can't complain about the hours, and at least I have a decent break coming up. On Monday. *yawn*