Chapter 26: Deep Dark, Part 1
"Melissa, where will this lead us?"
Celia prayed her friend knew her way around the cavern- because not even Blake seemed to have much of a plan as the three kept running. The tunnel from the strip mine twisted and turned, but never branched- they could have been going in a circle for all she knew.
"I-I'm not sure… I don't actually recognize this place! The workers were never authorized to dig this far down!"
"So you're saying these Ender Forge people might've built on the strip mine?" asked Blake.
"Maybe? I have no idea, they were supposed to be gone!"
A sense of despair crept into Celia's mind, already burdened by the terror of their situation. She still had to explain what she knew of the Ender Forge to Blake. The war, the devastation they supposedly wrought, the all but eradication of the noble families, and the daunting reconstruction efforts her parents faced… and at the end of it all, most information about the group only came down to speculation. Their uprising was said to have ended abruptly, the army routed without any indication what they'd even wanted.
Her father hadn't ever seemed comfortable speaking of the group, so she didn't ask. But now, with their apparent return, she would have to learn more.
"If we even escape with our lives…"
And the odds of that seemed to just get lower and lower. Before long, the three had nowhere left to run; the tunnel ended at an impasse. Straight ahead, a chasm which went even deeper, completely unlit and with a few mobs scuttling about below. To their right, a wall made entirely of obsidian.
"It'll take too long to dig through that, but if we dig anywhere else they'll be able to track us!" whispered Blake, his voice breaking a bit. "And… oh, crap, is the night vision wearing off for anyone else?"
It was; the cave was getting darker before her eyes. Not a single torch was placed at the end, and between the obsidian and the dark stone around them their surroundings appeared pitch black. Celia opened the shulker box and handed Melissa the Netherite chestplate (she couldn't wear it, with the enchanted Usurpation armor already on). The grim reality that they'd have to fight their way out was setting in. That was, until she saw the splash potions: strength, swiftness, and…
"Everyone, around me. I have an idea."
Blake looked like he wanted to say something as she picked up the third bottle, but with time of the essence he refrained. Celia looked at the murky gray substance and gulped, praying it would be enough. She felt a hand slip into hers- Melissa was giving her a reassuring smile that didn't quite hide the apprehension in her eyes.
"This isn't how I wanted to see her again… but I'm glad she's here with me."
She dropped the potion at their feet. An instant later, the three were no longer visible. If she wasn't still gripping Melissa's hand, she might not have known anyone else was there- Celia couldn't even see herself anymore. She clumsily handed Melissa the other two potions, just in case.
The breaking of the glass was followed by another sound, one she'd never heard before. It was a strange warble, almost like a chirp, coming from just beyond the edge of the chasm. Celia didn't bother looking down; there was no way she'd be able to see what was making the noise. But as the sounds of hurried footsteps drew near, she decided investigating wasn't a high priority anyway.
Carrying a lit torch, Ray was the first to round the corner. Tara and two other vaguely familiar Usurpation soldiers were with him, as well as half a dozen Ender Forge grunts. With Benedict and the Commandant absent, a fear they were both pursuing Felix gripped her heart. Melissa, meanwhile, gripped her hand tighter. She held her breath, terrified of even the slightest noise.
"Did they go over the ledge? I can't see a thing in there," said Ray.
The hooded girl beside him inspected what looked like a Genesis Core tracker, albeit bigger and dark gray in color.
"You're wasting your time, Esme," Tara told her. "The Countess seemed to be wearing Marshal Orion's chestplate- if she does still have the Fire Core, we won't be able to see it."
"That was his?" asked the fourth Usurper, who Celia also recognized from Luxmouth. "That's… a little messed up."
One of the Enders chuckled. "Trouble, Usurpers? You didn't just let them get away, did you?"
Ray gave him a dirty look. Esme, meanwhile, frowned at the tracker. "There's one unidentified Genesis Core somewhere above us, and the other one is moving in the same direction as the Commandant and the Stone Core. Did the Forge find one?"
"We don't have any of those," answered a second Ender. "But I know this area; our two captives are being held not far above us. I don't know who it could be. Illagers used to have a presence here, and I thought we drove them all out. But perhaps not."
Celia felt Melissa stiffen beside her. She let out her held breath as slowly as possible, still listening to their oblivious enemies.
"Speaking of this area," continued the grunt, suddenly whispering, "we should go. A Warden tends to roam here. Best to leave before we trigger any sculk sensors."
"What does any of that mean?"
Ray was quiet too, but sounded equal parts incredulous and worried. Celia hadn't the faintest idea what he meant either; did the Ender Forge run a jail down there? Why would they be worried about their own warden? And what was a "sculk" sensor supposed to be?
Something slammed into the other side of the obsidian wall with enough force to shake the entire tunnel. Before they'd all even finished gasping, there was a second impact, and the obsidian broke apart. She wasn't sure she wanted answers to her questions, but she feared she was about to get them.
Blake's dreams of adventure as a child had never truly gone away. After all, part of why he left home in the first place was to fulfill them. He wanted to see new places, meet new people, discover never-before-seen treasures, and face off against dangerous monsters. All of which had come true, he supposed, but he found himself starting to regret that last part. Because the creature standing before him was one he never, ever wanted to come across again so long as he lived.
It was the largest mob he'd ever seen, built like an iron golem, but easily twice Blake's height and more than double his width. The thing's arms were almost as thick as tree trunks, and given they'd broken through a solid layer of obsidian in seconds, he shuddered to imagine what they could do to a human body. Nearly all of it was covered in a dark blue-green, mossy looking substance Blake couldn't identify, right up to a pair of thin, twitching horns on its head. What parts weren't mossy instead looked like exposed bone, including a ridged spine protruding from its back. He couldn't see its face from where he stood- right behind the monster- but judging from the Usurpation's and Ender Forge's terrified stares he felt that was for the best.
"But… but the obsidian should have been-"
The Ender Forge grunt was cut off when the Warden lunged, faster than a creature its size had any right to. He didn't even have time to cry out before its fist hit him, and he flew clear across the tunnel. Blake winced when he heard a sickening crunch upon impact with the wall. The man slid to the ground and didn't move again.
In a flash, the rest of his pursuers began to panic. The four Usurpers circled around to the Warden's rear, and Blake had to step aside before Ray could blunder into him. It seemed to notice their footsteps, and it turned away from the Ender Forge, who began to slowly step away from it. Blake realized why its horns kept twitching: the beast lacked eyes or ears, with just a gaping mouth on its mossy face. He noticed something else about the horns: they were making a similar chirp with each movement to the sound he'd been hearing.
"If it can't hear or see us… is it picking up on vibrations?" he thought. "The invisibility won't help me avoid it, then. I guess the best thing to do is to not move too quickly. Please, Celia, don't get its attention…"
Wherever she and Melissa were, they hadn't made a sound. But something in the chasm behind them continued to chirp, more frequently with every nervous move the group made. Tara swung at the Warden, only for her curved iron blade to break against its hide. She gasped and barely managed to sidestep its giant hand, which cracked the stone where she'd stood a moment prior.
"Get back here!" Esme cried to the retreating Enders. "We need help!"
It was no use. They made no efforts to assist the Usurpation, and just fled past their dead comrade. That left Blake backed against the ledge, behind Ray and the fourth Usurper.
Giving a deep roar, the Warden moved to attack Esme next. Ray lashed out with the coil of grass toward its head. Blake didn't know what sort of damage he thought he could deal if iron didn't even scratch the beast, but to his surprise the grass tangled around one of its horns. The Warden shrieked as Ray began to tug, stumbling and losing interest in Esme.
But now it was focused on Ray, and it charged straight at him. There was no time to get out of its path, or anywhere to escape to. Blake was knocked into as the two Usurpers he'd been behind took a few steps back, and all three of them fell from the ledge, the Warden careening off after them.
"We should only be a hundred blocks away!" Felix yelled over his shoulder, both to inform Varris and in a futile attempt to reassure himself success was near.
It was difficult to maintain a brisk run and keep track of how many blocks they'd traveled since entering the tunnel. Varris was a ways behind him, using the Stone Core to build walls in staggered intervals- anything to slow their pursuers down was welcome. The potion of night vision hadn't worn off yet, but so far underground it had to be dim at best, even with the torches along the tunnel's walls.
Speaking of which, it occurred to Felix they were surrounded by an unusual type of dark stone called deepslate. He'd never seen it in person- it couldn't be found anywhere except very far below sea level, and not even Emily had ever worked with it. The material was rugged and more than a little ugly in his eyes, but when he had to begin digging at an abrupt dead end, he noted a potential for practical usage: deepslate took nearly double the effort to break as normal cobblestone, even with his iron pickaxe. Varris seemed to notice the difference as well, bringing up one last barrier behind them with a grunt.
"This stuff's heavy… are you sure we're in the right place? I don't know how much more of this I can move."
"Yes, it shouldn't be too far past this spot," he said, still swinging the pickaxe into the wall.
"Good. Once we dig it up, I'll take it and we can-"
"No!" Felix interrupted. "You can't use two of them, I've seen what happens when someone tries to. They lose control of their powers, and that's not what we need when we're surrounded by stone."
Granted, his warning was based only on one experience, but he didn't want to risk it happening again.
"Hm. Well then, I guess you'll have to do it," said Varris.
He didn't stop digging, but the thought made him clam up. He'd never so much as touched a Genesis Core; was he really going to fight his way out of the situation with it- whatever it was?
Breaking another block away, he felt his heart leap at the sight of a diamond embedded in the deepslate. It wasn't what he was looking for, but he'd never say no to more of those. To his delight, another diamond ore was visible behind it when he'd broken the gemstone free. In fact, he seemed to have found an anomalously large vein of diamonds within the deepslate wall. The more Felix dug, the more he found, to the point he wondered if someone had left them all together intentionally; he'd never heard of ANY ores being found in such quantities.
"Unless…"
"Hey, kid, don't get distracted! We haven't put as much distance between us and them as you think!"
Felix backed away from the tunnel he'd dug.
"I think the Genesis Core's in here! Can you break through the ores?"
Varris hesitated, but did as he asked and concentrated on the wall. He gathered a few of the diamonds and stood back while the deepslate began to rumble. Moments later, a cluster of the ores crumbled apart entirely, scattering bits of stone across the floor. A pile of diamonds hit the ground as well, and something beneath them began to pulse with violet light.
"Is that it?" she panted. "That wasn't easy…"
With a trembling hand, Felix brushed a few of the gems aside. A Genesis Core sat before him, identical in appearance to the one Blake had presented to Duke Xavier. He reached out and picked it up-
"Look what I found! Aren't these diamonds?"
"Indeed. They're the strongest known material, and the humans can put them to good use. Well done."
-and nearly dropped it in astonishment. Blake had mentioned a pair of disembodied male voices when he found the Bonemeal Core, as had Celia for the Fire Core. In the heat of the moment, Felix hadn't braced himself for the surprise. He recognized neither voice, but their choice of words suggested they weren't human. Villagers, perhaps? There was no time to consider it further.
"Well? Can you do anything with that?" Varris asked. A faint crumbling could be heard behind the deepslate walls she'd built- someone was catching up.
Felix didn't collect the rest of the diamonds. He recalled Celia binding the Fire Core to herself, and pressed the newfound Genesis Core against his chest. It broke as expected, its gaseous contents seeping into his body. His entire perception of the cave changed in an instant. Suddenly, it was as though the diamonds still buried around them were in harmony with his presence. The ones scattered at his feet shuddered in response to him binding the Core. So exhilarating was the rush of energy that he actually began to feel confident in their chances of escape.
His optimism dwindled a second later, when the last deepslate wall crumbled. Commandant Red stepped through, entering the dead end with a squad of Usurpation soldiers behind him.
"End of the line, Inlanders. We'll be taking the Genesis Cores from your remains."
Whatever had been making that loud chirp in the cave was going ballistic as the Warden tumbled over the ledge, two Usurpers in tow. Celia still had no idea what to make of anything that had just happened, but with her heart about to burst from her chest she didn't exactly want to understand it at that moment. All she wanted was to get as far from the monster as she could.
But they weren't alone yet. Tara and Esme were still in the cave, the latter having to stifle a shriek as Ray fell out of sight. Celia wondered if it would be better to sneak past, or to attack while they were still invisible; Melissa was unarmed, but surely she and Blake could take them both by surprise.
"We need to go after them!" Esme cried, peering over the edge into the chasm.
Tara pulled her back by the shoulder, still holding the hilt of her broken sword.
"Easy, Lime-2. You saw what that thing did to the Ender Forge grunt, and our weapons don't seem able to harm it. If we rush in, we'll be killed."
Celia watched Esme hold a torch above the drop, trying to see anything to no avail. Some part of her felt for the Usurper- she knew what it was like to worry about a friend's safety. The Warden letting out another roar from below didn't help matters.
"Can you place a single block's worth of water right here?" asked Tara.
Esme didn't pull out a bucket but rather put a hand on the stone floor, around which water seemed to appear from thin air. It flowed into the cavern, perpetually generating from the spot she'd touched.
"She must have the Water Core we saw… this could be a good chance to take it. But…"
With the Warden not an immediate threat anymore, Celia finally noticed Melissa was squeezing her hand so tight it was beginning to ache.
"No. If we really are beneath where her family is held, that comes first. I have to get them to safety."
Tara and Esme jumped into the water, riding the flow over the ledge. Now it was just her and her two friends left- now they could leave without being spotted.
"Blake?" she whispered. "We should be going- we can dig up and find the prisoners."
He didn't reply. She called his name again, still to no response.
"Where'd he go?" Melissa asked. "He couldn't have run past the mob, we would've heard his footsteps."
There was only one place he could have gone. Celia's pounding heart seemed to skip a few beats, and she looked at the cavern the Warden had just fallen into.
"You don't think… d-did he fall with the Usurpation?!"
"Should we follow them in?" Melissa asked. "If he's down there with that thing…
Celia paused. Either she had to go after Blake and put Melissa at risk, or the two of them had to make their way up and leave him without help. To say nothing of Felix, accompanied only by Varris…
"Do I really have to choose between my friends right now? I'll regret it no matter what I do…!"
But she had to do something, regret notwithstanding. She began to tower up with the stone she'd mined earlier, finally letting go of Melissa's hand. Their invisibility wore off a second later, so Celia put on the most confident face she could.
"We need to look for your family first. Blake's a better survivalist than I am; he'll be able to escape that monster," she explained, trying more to reassure herself. "And once you're all safe, I'll come back down to find him."
Melissa followed her lead, building to the ceiling with her. The two began to dig into it and made an impromptu staircase up the cavern. It didn't take long for the dark, hard rocks to disappear and for her to be amidst the dull gray stone she was used to.
"I've heard some of the miners talk about a place called the deep dark, far beneath the surface," Melissa said, "but I always thought it was just… I don't know, a rumor. And I don't think ANYONE in Tenebyss has ever seen whatever that mob was. Well, other than Benedict and his goons, it seems."
Celia clenched the handle of her pickaxe. "This has all gone so wrong! I came to ask TOEC to help us, but not only do we learn the Ender Forge is still active, they're working with the Usurpation now!"
"It's not all bad-"
Melissa cut herself off, appearing to mull over her choice of words.
"Well… okay, it's mostly bad. But there was one good part to all this: I got to spend some time with you again."
That made Celia pause in her digging outright. She thanked the heavens the cramped tunnel was pitch black, because her face was definitely as red as her hair. "M-Melissa! Now is NOT the time-"
"I know, you're right. Just trying not to get too worried here… sorry, that was dumb to say."
It was, but she couldn't quite find the will to be more than surprised by Melissa's boldness. The situation was too dire for anything else to get under her skin. "F-for what it's worth… I'm glad to see you as well."
They wound up breaking into a section of a railway, still in use by the looks of it but with minimal lighting. The tunnel they had entered intersected two others behind and in front of them, the rails leading to parts unknown. A zombie could be heard shuffling nearby, its dragging footsteps headed their way. Celia pushed Melissa behind her, switching to her diamond sword.
"Stay close to me. I will handle this."
From around the corner, a lone zombie came into view with its arms outstretched. It didn't take interest in either of them, though; something else had its attention. At least, something did in the brief moment before a thunderclap blasted through the tunnel, rattling the mine cart rails and making Celia almost double over from the shock. The zombie collapsed in a charred, smoking heap against the track. It was less than a chunk away; any closer and they might have been covered in rotten flesh.
Before Celia even had time to ask herself why a zombie had just exploded, a second blast rant out, and a jumble of blackened bones flew into the intersection. A person walked into the tunnel, letting out wheezing, raspy chortles.
At least, Celia thought he was a person. He was dressed in little more than blue tatters, his brown hair grimy and unkempt. The man's bare arms were sickly pale, and he swayed with every step he took. Sparks raced up and down his body, collecting in his palms.
"S-sir?" she managed to ask. "Are you okay? Did you see what made those explosions?"
She didn't want to be presumptuous. He didn't look like a Usurper or an Ender, so he could have just been someone lost in the caves. Celia tried to step toward him, but Melissa suddenly threw herself in front of her as the man raised a hand. Another thunderclap, and both of them were blown off their feet.
Celia picked herself up and raced to Melissa's side in a panic. She lay on the rails, with a smoldering hole blasted into the Netherite chestplate and her clothes underneath singed.
"I-I'm not hurt… just got the wind knocked out of me…" she coughed. Her condition seemed miraculous, and Celia realized if she'd been wearing any armor less durable than Netherite, Melissa likely wouldn't have survived.
"Who… are you…?" the man croaked, breathing hard after his attack. His lapis-blue eyes were barely visible behind his hair, but he was definitely eyeing Celia with scrutiny. "Doesn't matter… I'll just kill you now…"
Anger burned in her chest as she looked from him to her injured friend. The Fire Core was primed for a fight- and she was going to give it one.
"May I deal with him?" she asked.
"Go ahead."
The man raised his arms again, and more electricity crackled up to his hands. Before he could do anything, she threw a fireball his way in a bit of a panic- if she let him release another thunderbolt, she doubted the Usurpation armor would hold up against it. Her aim wasn't ideal, but he had to duck beneath the fireball anyway, and his stored electricity dispersed back throughout his body. He shuddered, trying to harness it again.
"Why do you feel… familiar…?" he asked, not sounding entirely focused on his own question. "Brother…? No, that's not…"
Celia didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but she wasn't going to pause and ask him anything- not when he was still readying an attack.
"How is he doing this? There's no item that lets you shoot lightning from your hands, except… a Genesis Core…?"
Did he have the unidentified one the Usurpation had mentioned? If it was this powerful, she couldn't let it fall into their hands. She continued to hurl flames at him, disrupting his focus every time he dodged until one fireball caught him in the chest. His ragged shirt ignited, but the man seemed more angered than concerned, unleashing lightning bolts haphazardly. One of them struck the rail and surged through the iron bars. Celia didn't realize the predicament of standing on them until the electricity shot beneath her. She yelped and jumped to the side just as her feet began to tingle. The Netherite boots had protected her, but their soles were burned almost all the way through. As strong as the material was, resistant even to lava, it seemed a Genesis Core could overcome its defense.
"Celia! Here!"
A pair of bottles hit the ground at her feet. Melissa had rolled off the rails and taken cover behind a pile of stone, tossing the swiftness and strength potions her way. Celia gave her a grateful nod before returning her attention to the man, who had begun to roar in fury as his clothing was fully ablaze. Yet he still seemed less bothered by it than expected, and his lightning strikes continued to ravage the cave around him. She had to end it quickly.
Throwing another fireball, she broke into a run toward him. Her attack struck one of his hands this time, causing the electricity to discharge into the ceiling above him. But he was less disoriented now, and his other hand raised toward her. There wasn't time to concentrate on the Fire Core again, so Celia took the only option that came to mind: she removed the Netherite helmet and threw it at him as she drew near.
Blake would surely have something disapproving to say about the logic behind the idea, but all Celia cared about was the result. The helmet perfectly landed over his charged hand, taking the brunt of his lightning blast point-blank. Sacrificing the armor gave her an extra second, which was all she needed to close the distance and strike, empowered by the two potions. Her sword cut across his torso, and in an instant the electricity stopped. The man gasped, slumping to his knees.
"N… Not…" he wheezed.
She felt terrible about having to attack him, but her regret turned to astonishment when she saw the wound she'd given him. The deep gash didn't bleed whatsoever, instead spewing a black gas which dissipated into the air. He fell onto his face, and his body shone with a dark purple light. A second later, he'd vanished altogether. The only trace of him left was a pile of random junk one could take from defeated mobs like rotten flesh and bones, and a violet Genesis Core.
"Is it over?"
Celia could barely hear herself think with her ears ringing from the thunderclaps, much less hear Melissa as she crawled out of her hiding spot. She practically had to shout.
"I think so! He just… disappeared!"
Melissa joined her in staring at the dropped items. Neither said another word for some time; they were just trying to process what had just happened.
"There aren't any legends in Tenebyss about an electric ghost in the mine, are there?" Celia eventually found the strength to ask.
"No… I don't know what that was about. Is that thing…"
She was pointing at the Genesis Core with a trembling hand. Celia knelt and picked it up.
"You're a monster! How could you do this?!"
"I'M the monster here? You betrayed our friends, betrayed ME! If I have to strike you down, I will!"
Were those the same voices she'd heard from the Fire Core? They sounded so kind back then, but now…
She had an idea.
"Can you hold this, please? I don't think it's safe for one person to have two for too long."
Melissa took it from her, flinched, and looked around the mine shaft in shock- as expected. "What- who was-"
"I don't know. Every Genesis Core seems to carry with it a memory of two people. What did you hear them say?"
Melissa put the Core away in her inventory. "It was an argument, I think. Whoever it was, they were about to fight. Did you hear that too?"
"I did. What it means, I cannot say, but the last time I heard them speak they sounded like they were getting along."
They went silent again, unsure what to make of anything. Before long, another man's voice could be heard from around the corner. "Hello? Who's out there?"
Melissa jumped with a gasp. "Galen?!"
The helmet was too damaged to salvage, so Celia left it behind when they ran off, rounding the intersection and finding a dead end in the mine. An obsidian cube stood before them, with a very narrow window blocked by iron bars in the front. A dead Ender Forge grunt was collapsed against the obsidian, her uniform still smoking- she must have been another victim of the lightning man.
Someone peered at them through the iron bars. His eyes, brown like Melissa's, widened, when he saw her. "You're here…! But why- how?"
"Who is it?" somebody else inside the cube asked.
"M-Mom!" Celia could hear Melissa choking up while she put a hand on the obsidian. "It's okay! I'm going to get you both out of here. I've got Ce- the Countess from Luxmouth with me."
Though they didn't have anything stronger than a pair of iron pickaxes, they were able to break a hole in the obsidian cube with some effort. Galen and Daphne Beryl stepped out, looking tired and disheveled but not hurt, and Celia couldn't help but smile as the three embraced. She caught snippets of topics between the sobs- the Ender Forge, Benedict, the thunderbolts, and the Usurpation were the most she could make out.
Celia remembered Daphne Beryl having hair and skin a bit lighter than her husband's, but time in captivity left her and Galen looking much paler. Combined with their worn, messy clothing, the pair could have passed for Usurpation members. Eventually, the three settled down enough to speak with her again.
"What are you doing here, Countess? Are you alone?" asked Daphne.
She explained the proposed alliance and the Usurpation's activity in brief. Galen rubbed his chin- exactly how his father had- while listening to the situation. "Sounds like TOEC is going to be wrapped up in a lot of trouble soon, with the Ender Forge and the Usurpation right under our feet. We may be able to provide supplies, but our manpower's going to be limited," he said. "Once we get back to Tenebyss, I'll see what we can work with. Is the coast clear?"
"We should be able to mine our way out," Melissa answered, "but we'll need to let Dad know what happened right away. If we're quick, we can capture the Ender Forge and the Usurpation all at once. By the way, do you know who that person with the lightning was?"
Both of them shook their heads. That would have to remain a mystery, then; the more pressing matter was getting to safety. Celia's thoughts turned to Blake and Felix, still somewhere below. She had no idea where they were or if they were safe, and she was in no position to help them when she had the Beryls to look after. She could only hope they were able to find a way out of the deep dark.