CHAPTER 17

Forgettable Again

Each regiment gathered instinctively, in groups, in front of the man who Maija quickly guessed was their leader. Commander. He didn't look like the man who could lead such a savage organization of pirates, but everything that had happened in the past week or two had only proven to Maija that she couldn't trust her own understanding. Nothing she had ever guessed to be true had been proven to be.

All she had to go on now was that driving sense that pushed her forwards. In the past few days even, it had grown stronger, feeling less and less like the instinctual sense of survival that reinforced everyone. It felt like an extension of herself, an intelligence she couldn't explain. It spoke to her, calmed her when things were calm, heightened when things got intense. And when things got sharp, when her life was neither safe or at jeopardy, it fell silent, quietly waiting to scream at her when things went south. It scared her because she didn't know why it was there. Or where it came from.

Maija and her new regiment, stumbled into a group, half the size of the rest. The man began to delegate tasks to each group, explaining the layout of the Vaults of Uruk as if he had been there before. Beyond the antechamber they were currently standing in, was a large open arena, the roof looking out into the sky, or sandwall since there was no sky to be seen anywhere near this island. Connecting to that wide open area was five doorways leading deeper into a vault. Apparently, the Academy had been here before, having explored two of these chambers before taking too many losses for it to be deemed worth it.

The man spoke with hurt in his voice, pain and sorrow at the loss of each person laced each word, but he continued to brush it off, excused that they're greed was the cause of each death for the name of science, advancement. It made Maija sick.

"Regiment Fifteen with join Seven since they too have suffered losses caused by the Blight," the man said, eyeing Maija. She resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze, too accepting of her lie. "Please, tell me your name, sister."

Maija cleared her throat, speaking up before she could even think. "Rae."

A small smile grew across his face. His eyes squinted just slightly but he said, "We are happy to see you here, Rae. Please, make haste, so that all of Foundation will feel the power of the Academy once again."

The group broke, each one moving towards the entrance to the main room, voices and conversation filling the small antechamber. Maija couldn't break eye contact with the man who kept his on her. Maija already knew her lies hadn't deceived him, but he still had yet to call her out on them. But he knew who she really was.

Someone touched her shoulder. She clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes closed as she pulled in a deep and sharp breath, finally about to get some sort of control on her fright. It was Luke again, he whispered in her ear, she resisted the urge to back away from him, "We're going. I hope you have some sort of plan up those sleeves of yours."

"Where's the rest of our group?"

"Moving towards the fifth and center entryway into the Vault, two have joined us."

Luke's grip tightened around her arm, "You're taking the lead on this one. Don't. Mess. This. Up."

Maija pulled her arm away, glaring up at him. "I know the situation. I know the risks. I don't need you reminding me."

"Then make your move."

Maija turned, moving towards the exit to this room. Most of the remaining Academy had wandered to their assigned pathway leading into different areas of the Vault's depths. Their leader was nowhere to be found, he hadn't assigned himself to a group and managed to slip from Maija's sight after Luke's distraction.

Her group was waiting for her. Her group and her friend. Erik stood at the edge of the group, stretching his fingers out, then tapping them rapidly against the side of his legs. His face was contorted into a look of genuine, childlike fear, it almost made Maija's heart stop. And the relief that flooded over him when he finally caught sight of her, almost did just that all over again. He had played up such a convincing part in front of Kaius that Maija almost forgot who he really was in this story. To Kaius, he was her protector, her guardian. In actuality, she was his.

He stood closest to Roa, who had her arms crossed as usual, staring silently at Maija and Luke who crossed over to them. Beside Roa was a man and a woman, both tough looking, shaggy hair, both lacking any kind of care for their appearance. A scar crossed the woman's face, traveling from her cheek down to the angle of her jaw. The man stood protectively beside her, clutching his side as if afraid his entrails might just fall out. Blood stained his hand, but it didn't look his wound was still bleeding.

Maija stopped, looking up at the room she had just walked into. Room was an understatement. "Arena" of the Academy's leader had put it was even more of an understatement. She had just walked into a coliseum, rectangular, its stone walls stretching hundreds of feet into the air, a long and wide opening in the ceiling looked out into the sandwall that wrapped around the island, letting warm natural light spilling into the area. Two dug out areas held up by thick stone pillars on each side of the opening hid in darkness, two large statues of bulky humanoids stood guarding two doors to each side of the coliseum, light by dim pale green light. Across the wide open area, at the very end of the coliseum was a large staircase leading under an arch and ending at a single door built into a flat slab of stone, Maija could barely make it out at this distance.

The coliseum itself was large enough to spend days searching through, even more, each entrance that likely led deeper into the island that hung as a massive chunk of earth above an infinite abyss. Even if they did find what Kaius had sent them for, it would have already been too late.

Maija walked past her group, moving with an air of confidence she didn't poses, meeting Erik's gaze just for a second before saying, "Let's get a move on, we don't have any time to waste."

They crossed the coliseum, now the only ones in the area, Maija's footsteps quiet compared to the rest of their group's boots. The stone was cold under her feet until she stepped into the square of light that shone in from above, warming the stone to a heat Maija could barely withstand. She walked through it either way, feeling a strength come from the heat.

With each step, she got closer to the stairway leading up to their assigned entrance. Each step closer to what it might contain. Nerves pulled at her thoughts, urging her heart to beat faster. That driving, nagging voice increasing in volume.

This isn't a good idea. This isn't a good idea. Bad idea bad idea bad idea. You're going to die. You're going to die. Where did the Captain go?

Maija grabbed her elbows, rubbing her upper arms with her hands, silently groaning to herself. She hated this voice, loathed it. It had always been loud enough to understand, quiet enough to dismiss. But it had grown to a shouting, screaming presence that wouldn't leave her alone.

She reached the stairs and began climbing, the blue lit door growing closer. It slid open automatically when it sensed her presence, looking into a void of darkness, a stiff and pungent smell wafting from the airless, damp corridor beyond. Panic overwhelmed her by a voice in her head that wouldn't shut up. Maija latched her teeth to her tongue and bit until it split, and the coppery, warm taste of blood filled her mouth.

Maija acted. Maybe without thought, without any consideration of consequences. She spun, grabbing the bow from her back with muscle memory learned from hours and hours of practice, performing the same move against Makhai who always managed to counter her with one of his own. As her left hand brought the bow into position, her right reached down to the quiver at her hip, pulling an arrow from it. She nocked it, pulling the feather of the arrow back and releasing before anyone in her group could register what she was doing.

The arrow landed in the wounded man's chest. He fell back, tumbling down the stairs dead. Maija loaded another arrow and fired, cutting into the woman's stomach. Erik shouted and jumped back, shocked by Maija's sudden movement. Both Luke and Roa stepped back, eyes widened.

"What the hell are you do-" Luke started but Maija didn't let him finish, taking control of their momentary confusion.

Maija grabbed Roa, using her small frame to move to her back, wrapping the grip of her bow against her throat. She pulled back, then pushed her forwards, locked her feet into place on the stone, throwing Roa off the side of the stairs. She roared, her hand grabbing for the edge of the stairs but Roa wasn't fast enough. Her body landed hard and loud against the stone twenty feet below.

"Maija?" Luke exclaimed, clearly taken aback, shock and surprise lighting his face. "What are you doing?"

She nocked an arrow and fired it, the head of the arrow driving deep into Luke's calf. He shouted, dropping to a knee.

Maija didn't say anything as she grabbed tightly to Erik's wrist, his face pale and pulled him through the doorway, running fast into the darkness. The metal door, grinding against stone as it closed, locking them away. She couldn't think about what she had just done. Three people dead, another wounded, likely to be killed anyway. She had just singlehandedly brought not only her own but Erik's chances of survival down catastrophically. Only the future knew if this decision would pay off or not.

She let go of Erik wrist and kept running, a dim light coming from nowhere apparently leading their way. They were in a dark, stone corridor, doorway ys and opening leading into small rooms and office spaces filled with wooden bookshelves, paper, upturned tables and destroyed chairs. Water leaked from the ceiling, dampening the ground, causing mold and moss to grow along the walls and floor, slimy under Maija's feet.

Something roared. A gurgling growl that echoed off the stone walls from somewhere in the darkness. Maija slid to a stop, Erik almost running into her. She grabbed to his side behind her, slowly easing forwards, listening to the silence for the sound. It came again as a quiet growl, footsteps somewhere in the distance, sharp claws tapping against the stone. The hard walls and floor caused the sound to echo, making it completely impossible to locate.

They had arrived at a T intersection, two corridors leading both left and right. Each one stretching into darkness. It was quiet. Unnervingly quiet. Maija gripped her bow and the arrow nocked firmly, holding it out, ready to pull it back. She stepped into the intersection, turning left for no other reason than she would have for turning right.

A screech deafened her. She screamed, trying to find what had made the sound in front of her. Something moved, a shadow in the darkness. It was a creature, four legged, crawling along the ground. It reached the wall of the corridor and started climbing it, wrapping around to the roof, it's long legs managing to stick to the stone. Maija stepped back, mouth agape, but released her fingers on the bowstring. The thing screeched again, an ear piercing sound that almost made Maija instinctively cover her ears. The arrow hit the ceiling and clattered to the floor. A miss.

"What the heck is that thi- ah!" Erik shouted and fell back as the creature opening its mouth, four detachable jaws that fell open revealing rows of white teeth and a pink tongue that flung out like a lizards, soaring through the air, latching onto Erik's knee, flipping him onto his back. Maija dropped her bow and grabbed Erik's arm as the creature quickly pulled him towards it, squealing and growling, its tongue being pulled back into its mouth by throat muscles almost no other living thing possessed.

She dug her feet into the ground, but the moss and liquid gave her no traction. "Kill it, Erik!" Maija's hand gripped to his wrist like a vise as she reached back and fired her grappling hook, her bow clattering to the ground, the sound echoing through the corridor. The grappling hook made contact and Maija was instantly in the middle of a tug of war game between the impossible grip of this creature and the unbreakable line of the grappling hook.

She felt the joints through both her arms pop, each one being pulled the opposite direction. Maija stood, finally able to get her footing and pulled hard on Erik's arm, wrapping her hand tighter around his. The grappling hook jolted, sputtering out sparks and smoke as it fought to reel in rope and the creature on the other side screamed jumping from the ceiling to get better footing on the ground.

Maija groaned from the strain, blood veins visible through the skin around her flexing muscles that felt as if they could burst with any more pressure. "Kill it Erik I swear to-!" Erik was screaming too but his wasn't like Maija's at all. Hers was from the struggle of being in between both an immoveable line and an unstoppable creature, laced with frustration that any of this was even happening to begin with. Erik's was from fear, pure, undiluted terror. The tongue of this creature was laced with black spikes, almost like teeth that provided grip which cut into the flesh around Erik's leg with each struggle.

With one final shout, Maija released the grappling hook from the far wall and pushed herself forwards. She grabbed Erik's leg, wrapping her own firmly around his torso as the creature stumbled backwards from the immediate lack of resistance. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and stabbed it cleanly into the pink, gooey flesh of the monster's tongue. It screamed a sound so loud, amplified by the corridor's stone walls, that it stabbed into Maija's skull like a knife. Its tongue disconnected from Erik's leg and soared back into its mouth. Maija felt up Erik's leg and found his pistol holstered at his hip and brought it in front of her, firing at the creature. One, two, three, shots made contact. She emptied the pistol's ammunition onto the creature, each squeal and scream marking a landed bullet until the creature fell to the floor, its limp and wet body thumping against the floor.

Maija sighed, letting her head slump towards the ground. She slowly climbed off Erik, spinning around to take a look at his leg. The tongue of that animal had torn the bottom half of his pant leg clean off along with some of the thick leather of his boot, the skin of his leg left mauled and bloody, large gashes of deep colored red blood torn their way down the length of his shin.

She fought back tears, her eyes watered from the sudden lack of action and her muscles ached with a stinging fatigue. "Dammit Erik, why didn't you kill it?"

"I don't- I don't know." He struggled through pain and breathlessness. "How does it- look?"

"Not bad," Maija winced. She really wished she was a better lair. But there was still some truth to it. She had nothing to heal the wound with but as long as they found something within the next few hours, Erik's leg would be back and useable in no time. But then there was the issue about blood. Even though most arteries and veins had been left untouched, blood still pooled on the floor around his legs, wetting Maija's knees. She grabbed the length of cloth that hung from the back of her belt and started wrapping it tightly around his shin. It wasn't much but the cloth was long enough to wrap the most scarring parts of Erik's wound.

She reloaded his pistol and slid it into his hand before grabbing her own bow and putting it on her back. Then she dropped down and helped Erik up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She was much smaller than him making the position awkward for both of them, but it was better than making him walk by himself. Maija propped his hand holding loosely to his gun atop her shoulder, pointing it forwards. "Watch our back please. And shoot this time."

He laughed, his body moving against hers as he did. "Don't worry, I will."

Slowly, they walked down the corridor, closer to the monster's dead body, trudging with each step. Erik winced with each one but there was nothing Maija could do about it.

"Got any more of that paste?" Maija had asked him. She had knew the answer before Erik responded.

He had shook his head, "All out. I've got nothing."

Then they had reached the creature's body. It looked like an overgrown frog, affected by whatever energy had been applied to its body when Foundation was destroyed. By the same energy that had likely produced the mantas and other oversized bugs that roamed this new world. The same energy that kept islands afloat. Its back legs were contorted far above its small rounded body and its front legs sat unnaturally close to its head which was covered in small, beady black eyes. Its mouth was open, four triangular jaws covered in teeth both inside and out, its tongue hanging in a pile on the ground. The creature was riddled with bullets. Maija couldn't help but feel a little proud by the trueness of her aim. Maija tapped the creature's side with the tips of her toes, immediately regretting it. Its skin was leathery, wet and its body was squishy, covered with warts and blemishes, each of its wounds spilling bright purple blood.

Maija had winced, twisting her face into a look of disgust and continued past it, asking Erik where he thought they had come. He say he didn't want to know. Maija didn't think she wanted to know either.

The wetness to the corridor subsided the farther they trudged. It was painfully quiet, only the sounds of Maija and Erik's footsteps and heavy breaths echoed through the corridor. Not only was Maija's arms aching, but now her legs from carrying most of Erik's weight. They had stopped to rest at another intersection, this time between two lengths of corridor, forming an X. After setting Erik down, Maija gingerly sat next to him, sweat covering every angle of her body. There was no natural light anywhere and no sign of an end in sight.

Maija was beat. Everything hurt and her head was split with a piercing headache. She slowly, pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her elbows on bloodied knees and gently pressed her fingertips against her temples, eyes softly closed. The world slowly ebbed away.

"You okay?" A voice rung in her ears, sounding like a million miles away.

She opened her eyes in a panic, pulling in enough air to make her lightheaded- she had been on the verge of falling asleep.

"Sorry! I'm sorry," Erik said. "I keep forgetting about that."

Maija rolled her eyes inwardly. "It's fine, Erik. It's not-" she sighed- "It's not your fault."

Silence, ear ringing.

"How's your leg?"

Erik looked down, gingerly moved his injured leg and shrugged. "It hurts. But I trust you enough to not be concerned about it."

She scoffed, lightly to herself and smiled. "Your trust is misplaced my friend."

Erik asked again, "Are you okay? And I don't mean physically since I'm sure you're exhausted from carrying my ass around so far already."

She pursed her lips in a kind of weak frustration that didn't really go much farther. "I told you, I'm fine."

"I don't believe you."

"I thought you said you trusted me."

"But that doesn't mean I don't expect you to lie to me." He stopped, swallowing. Erik was positioned between Maija and a dim blue light, keeping the corridor lit, making Erik's face nothing but a silhouette. Either way, Maija knew he wasn't looking towards her. "No one's fine Maija. I'm not and I know you're not. You've lost more than me. I know you try to look tough, you have to. But I know you're hurting."

Maija stood, helped Erik up to his feet. He looked surprised but didn't resist her. "Let's keep going. For all we know, there could be more of those frogs."

"Fine."

They continued farther down the corridor, no destination in sight- or even in mind. With each fatigued step, Maija got more and more convinced that they were lost, the expansiveness to this vault overwhelming her. At what point would they turn around and go back? They couldn't hide within the Academy anymore, not after Maija killed two of their people. She had betrayed Roa, Kaius wouldn't trust her anymore and she had stabbed Luke in the back, they couldn't turn to Cliffside anymore. They couldn't turn to anyone anymore.

The longer they continued, the slowly they progressed. Erik's arm felt heavy against Maija's shoulder, and her knees felt as if they were about to snap. But Erik had stopped, a brighter light than the usual farther down this corridor. They had just arrived at a dead end, light spilling in through an open doorway.

Maija's legs buckled, and she finally collapsed, bring Erik down with her. She couldn't breathe, the air was stiff and unmoving. She was hot, drenched in sweat from head to toe, starved, and felt as if she was about to faint from either exhaustion or asphyxiation. She breathed fast, pounding her fist into the ground before moving to help Erik up.

"Maija!" Erik shouted, his voice echoing loudly in her ears. "Stop it. What are you doing? You're pushing yourself too hard."

"I'm not pushing myself hard enough!" She yelled back, overcome with a feeling somewhere between claustrophobia and helpless frustration. She hit the ground again, her open palm making a pathetic slapping sound. "What am I supposed to do Erik! Tell me what to do. I can't go anywhere. I can't go to anyone. I can't go back to Kaius, I can't go to Cliffside. The only person that made my awful, hideous, hateful, life perfect is dead."

She was breaking. The shelf on which she tucked everything away on was trembling. The little glass bottle Maija shoved everything into had fallen and it was so close to shattering across the floor of her mind. Her eyes burned with tears and her heart beat pain through her skull with each pump of her pulse. Everything hurt. She had forgotten the sight of sunlight. Maija had forgotten how to feel anything other than pain, other than anguish, other than the driving, unsatisfying will to live that she now wished she could overcome. If the only place Maija could find true peace was in nonexistence, she would never have it.

Maija curled back on the ground, putting her arms over the back of her head. Her face burned red with embarrassment and the only thing she felt at that moment was the childish urge to curl into the fetal position- a position she had never naturally been in, her childhood stolen from her.

"I have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide." Maija said, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. Her emotions, now free, flooded out in deluging waves. "I don't even know who I am. I fight every single day for an answer, and they all keep coming up short. And now Kaius is here, and he knows. I know he knows. Now I'm part of something bigger than I can understand and all I want is to be insignificant again, unimportant, unrecognizable."

Forgettable. Maija wanted to be forgettable. That was all she and Makhai had been. Forgettable. Living day in and day out, visiting the same islands, searching through the same ruins for a way out. Running into and trading with the same people, only ever remembered by Trey who was probably dead too. Forgotten by everyone they spoke to. Forgettable. Maija wanted to be forgettable again.

Erik remained silent as Maija got over herself, filled now with an embarrassment that made her want to be far far away from here as possible. But not away from him. No, her embarrassment hadn't been caused by him witnessing her at her weakest, it came from him seeing her lose control. She already hated herself for it and hated herself even more by how comfortable Erik made her feel. His passive, calming nature.

From the beginning, Erik had offered himself to her. Even though he had seen, first hand, the destruction Kaius had caused and how he had tarnished Maija's name, turning the whole world against her. He had still urged her to let him help. And at every second after, he had done just that. He faced Kaius, spoke to him, defended Maija and even now, he sat, quietly listening to her, by her side. Even if Maija had nowhere to turn to, no one to go to for help, Erik would always be at her side. And in that moment, in that dark, damp, cave like corridor of a ruin build by a people long dead, Maija for a second, felt as if she didn't need anything else.

And that's what terrified, not her, but that tiny little voice in her head that told her, even now, to get going. No time to lose. No time to lose. She had started to reach out her hand for Erik's but pulled back, hiding it back in her hair, red hot embarrassment and shame beating down on her like whips all from a heightened instinct that had really started to become annoying. It did not like attachments, it barely accepted Makhai, and now it wasn't going to let Maija get way with another.

Someone cleared their throat, anyone else would have assumed it had been Erik, but Maija knew better. It wasn't loud and it hadn't come from Erik's direction, but it was rough, gravely and just deeper than Erik's voice by just barely a noticeable amount. Maija jumped up, her hands finding her bow and arrow, to see the Academy's captain, leaning up against the doorway above them.

"Very touching, fortunately," the man said, pushing himself away from the doorway, "I can make you insignificant again."