Chapter 35
"All right, so how the hell does this thing work again?" Abigail asked, wanting to make sure she understood and listened as Dean explained the oxygen mask, nodding.
She was freshly showered, well-rested, and ready to get their journey started. It would be a week trek to the cave where the invisibility cloak was supposedly in. If Dean knew that, why hadn't he tried grabbing the damn thing sooner? Abigail wore a pair of skintight black shorts that rested just below the knee and a black tank top, her hair braided to keep it out of her face and out of the way. It was night, the sun gone, and they were the only individuals out near the lake channel they would dive into in order to escape Wonderful.
"And I have exactly 20 minutes of oxygen before I'm sunk, right?"
He hadn't tried grabbing it because… he wasn't about to go spelunking in an abandoned mineshaft for shits and giggles. Not to mention, MAGIC, not only was there likely natural dangers, but probably magical ones as well. Dean had no reason for an invisibility cloak and she was out of her mind. He liked it.
"Yep. Ten on the way out, we'll stash it, and then ten on the way back in. Unless you think you want to come strolling through the front gates on our way back."
Luckily for her, that old mineshaft was on the way to their actual destination. He had, over the day, taken the liberty of moving some supplies for them, waiting just outside the walls where the spring would surface. Dean wasn't doing this with just luck and charm, hell no.
"We'll have to come through the front gates with Malcolm. There's no way he'll be able to hold his breath that long to swim. Hell, I don't even know if he KNOWS how to swim. It won't matter and there's no point hiding him since he'll be here to help with the magic anyway." Abigail would only need to do this once and had mentally prepared herself as much as she could, hoping she was ready for it. "Let's do this."
Slipping the breathing mask on with the oxygen tank, Dean had one as well and they both nodded to each other before diving into the water. He'd taken the liberty of getting her a waterproof bag for her clothes and belongings she was bringing with for the trip, which was very thoughtful because she was DEEP underwater. It would've sucked if her belongings had gotten drenched. They also had goggles on, so she could open her eyes underwater to see where the hell she was going, and Dean had a flashlight that worked underwater since it was pitch black otherwise. Dean led the way, sort of, since he knew where he was going and, eventually, he surfaced in an air pocket, pulling his mask off to study her. She looked pale, but that could've been the light. He knew being too far underwater could lead to issues due to the pressure.
"We'll take a minute," He trod the water easily and reached out to steady her. Probably a good thing Abigail had been exercising the way she had; swimming like this was tiring as hell if one wasn't used to it. "How do you feel, Abs? Light-headed, dizzy?"
"A little light-headed, but I'll be fine." Abigail assured him, her arms and legs burning from the swimming, but not as bad as they would've had she NOT been working out. The oxygen from the tank was responsible for the light-headedness, though they were halfway there. "You never told me how we're getting to the mineshaft and DOV. Are we taking a car or a bike?" There were a few cars around Wonderful, on the outside, she'd noticed upon arrival, but mostly, everyone rode bikes. If they were going clear across Vesperia to the DOV's domain, a car might've been faster and safer to take.
"We're taking a motorcycle, babe. Cars can't get through tree lines and in and out the way a small bike can." He answered, not missing the look on her face and grinned. That was probably the one thing he and Taker both saw eye to eye on, not that he'd admit it. Well, and her. "Not to mention, way more fuel-efficient. When we get out of the water, I had Roman drop some shit off for us on his way out, including some lightweight body armor. I uh… guessed… your measurements."
"Body armor?"
Abigail blinked, wondering why that was necessary, but didn't say anything and just nodded. They would have to camp out quite a bit, but she hoped they'd get at least 12 hours or so on the road a day. Hopefully, they could find abandoned gas stations on the way.
"Dean, wait, what about Malcolm?" At his arched brow, she kept treading the water and frowned. "We're going on a rescue mission, which means 3 of us have to come back, not 2. You can't fit 3 people on a bike, so what are we gonna do about that?"
"Oh yeah, we'll have to ditch the bike then, now won't we?" He laughed, shaking water out of his hair. "If he's half as good as you seem to think, he can shield a car, right?" Dean wasn't overly worried about getting back. It was getting there without getting blown up or shot, or anything else. "Come on, mask back on. Halfway out." He slipped his rebreather back on, waiting until she had done the same before diving back underwater.
By the time they resurfaced, it was 11 minutes later, and Abigail had never wanted to kiss cold, hard ground so much in her life. Swimming was fun, but when one was doing it for a purpose, for a dangerous tank, to sneak out of somewhere, it SUCKED. She tossed the breathing mask and oxygen tank to the side, coughing, landing on her backside because a dizzy spell overtook her.
"I'm fine…give me…a minute…"
Too much oxygen at once…Abigail just had to wait for it to pass and squeezed her eyes shut, soaked from head to toe and the cool grass felt amazing against her skin. When she was able to sit up, 10 minutes later, without seeing two of everything, she caught the dry clothes Dean tossed at her from her bag and began changing. She smiled when she didn't even have to tell him to turn around while she slipped out of her wet bra and panties, put them in a separate compartment of her bag and quickly dressed.
"Okay, I'm good, I think…"
Abigail squeezed out the excess water from her braid and saw Dean was ready to go. Now, she had on blue jeans with holes in the knees and a purple tank top, dark colors due to them sneaking out. Dean was just in all black, it worked well that way and he was freezing. He could have undressed in front of her and all she probably would have seen was pubic hair, everything else had shriveled up and died from frostbite. Or so it felt anyway.
"Follow me." He said when he felt they were both ready, leading her off at a slow jog towards a tree line away from the main gates of Wonderful.
This was going to be an interesting trip, there was no doubt about that.
The first day, they rode for 12 hours, taking breaks to eat and use the bathroom, but overall, it was a 12-hour ride. The second day was the same thing and Dean made sure to bring a tent with sleeping bags for them to camp out in the woods, even building them a fire to keep warm. It was still summer, so it was more of a light issue than anything, though it did get somewhat chilly at night. Abigail was anxious the first couple days, but once day 4 passed, she was used to the routine and her legs didn't even hurt from riding for long periods of time. Just as Dean said, by day 7, they arrived at the old mine shaft and it was night, which was secluded and had been abandoned some time ago.
"If this isn't down there, we're gonna have to find another way to sneak into the castle and rescue Malcolm." She informed Dean, refusing to give up just because they didn't have an invisibility cloak. It would be far more dangerous, but…Malcolm had to be saved for Wonderful's sake. "You ready for this?"
"Slow your roll, babe."
Dean was rifling through the pack that she had to carry because he drove. Early on, he had explained it was enchanted and something he wanted to keep on the down-low, or else it would have been confiscated by Taker. He had thought once or twice to loan it out, the damn thing could hold an entire two-story house in it without any issues, or seemingly without any weight, but… screw Taker. The man was anti-magic, so… Dean was very easily justified in keeping it for himself.
"Here." He was setting out ropes, not about to dive down into any holes or anything. "You ever go spelunking?" He laughed at the perplexed look on her face.
"Given who I am and my background, what do you think, Ambrose?" Abigail shot back with a snort, shaking her head at his boyish grin and folded her arms in front of her chest.
What the hell was spelunking? Judging by the hookups and whatnot, they were about to dive DEEP into the unknown and she hoped they survived. This was phase one of their plan, phase two would be arriving at the castle, at night, and getting Malcolm out before the sun came up before heading back to Wonderful. They had to time everything perfectly or else the plan would fall apart.
"Care to explain, Mr. Jack-of-all-trades?"
He did so patiently, making sure she understood what they were doing, how the equipment worked, and then… then he hit a snag. "Fuck all…" Dean stared down at Abigail, frowning. "Babe, in case something happens, you won't be able to drag my ass out." Someone had to stay topside. "Damn it." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair, beginning to curse a blue streak.
"So, I have to go…" Abigail surmised, seeing the trouble in his eyes and cupped his face in her hands, knowing they couldn't turn back now. They were here, and they were so close to the invisibility cloak, she could practically taste it. "I'll do it, I'll be fine."
If she wasn't, well…she knew Dean could still get Malcolm out of the castle on his own. He snuck into places before, she discovered, during their first week together. They talked about everything under the sun, Dean pretty much knew everything about her and she knew a great deal about him. There was a reason he was called himself a jack of all trades.
"Strap me up and send me down."
"Fuck all, Abbie!" He rasped, throwing his hands in the air. "Goddamn… no, no… fuck."
Dean knew she was going; they had known there would be danger and he hadn't thought about this. Cursing louder, Dean began strapping her into the harness, followed by the headgear with a light and finally a satchel. She had that Mythril dagger of hers strapped to her thigh and he had contemplated a handgun, but… he didn't want to risk her missing and the bullet bouncing around.
"Here." He fiddled with a tiny little bit, finally placing it in her ear and did the same to himself. "You best constantly talk to me, Abigail, or I'll tie off the rope and climb down there." He had tied off the rope anyway, but he would be giving her the slack to get down and then get back up. "I don't like this…" Dean whispered, his hands moving to her shoulders, rubbing them through her clothes. "Kiss for good luck?" He then added with a grin, trying to mask the concern.
"What happened to your adventurous side, Ambrose?"
Abigail kissed his cheek, knowing that was all she could give him because her heart belonged to Taker. She could see the fear in his eyes and rested her forehead against his, or as much as she could with the headgear on. Stroking his face with her hand, Abigail let him hold her for a few minutes to calm him down a little more and took a few deep breaths herself.
"Okay, enough, I have to do this." Picking up the rope, she yanked on it experimentally and nodded before locking eyes with Dean again. "See you in a little while." Then, she hopped down the hole while holding onto the rope, vaulting her feet off the dirt wall to launch herself down further instead of taking it slow. "I think I might be halfway there, Dean…"
"Yeah, fuck you, Abs, don't fucking free fall like that!" Dean grunted, glad he had put on leather gloves or else she would have just shredded his palms. As it was, her weight dropping like that, he glanced back at the tie-off. "You take it slow, got me? If you go too fast, you're going to snap the damn rope on the stone and then you're dead. Splat, because gravity works. So nice and easy, babe." He was going to paddle her backside when she got back up here. "Listen to me, from old maps, that shaft has two mines, used to be coal. I don't know which one is the one you want, but pay attention to the ceilings. If it looks sketchy or shaky, don't go down it."
"But what if the invisibility cloak isn't in the safe tunnel? What if I HAVE to go down the other one?"
Abigail bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling when Dean growled in her ear, feeling a shiver rush down her spine. She would've much rather had Taker here with her, in this life or death situation, but he was so stubborn, he didn't think it was a good idea. And he hated magic. She was going to prove to him they NEEDED magic in order to take over the DOV.
"Whoa!" Abigail hit the bottom faster than she thought and immediately looked around, flashing the light in all directions. "Okay, it looks like I'm going left, Dean." The air was thin, so she had to move quickly, but not to where she lost her breath. "Okay, so far it's just a dark hall, I guess? I don't knowwwwwwww… holy fuck!" Abigail ALMOST walked off the edge and looked at the gape before her, swallowing hard. "Okay – okay there's a hole and I'm gonna have to jump over it."
"No, you're fucking not!" Dean bellowed, well, sort of bellowed. He had to keep it down because not only was he minding her damn rope, he was supposed to be keeping watch. Crouching down to peer into the mineshaft, Dean took a deep breath. "If you're going to jump a hole, you need to tell me how far you think the jump is, okay? Because I'm going to have to give you more slack." Elsewise, she was going to jump that damn thing and wind up dangling. "Babe, this rope is only going to go so far, you got those flares in that pack around your waist? Start throwing them ahead of you a bit, it'll light things up so you can get an idea how far that tunnel goes, and any more holes." He should have gone and begun cursing again.
"Breathe Dean, don't have a heart attack up there." Abigail soothed, pulling out one of the flares and ripped the tab open, blinking as a powerful red flame came out of it. She threw it as hard as she could, lighting up the way just like Dean said and the hole…was about 2 feet wide. "I'd say 2 feet, maybe a bit more." She finally spoke, hearing him curse and smirked, knowing she could make it. "Give me leeway, I can make it." When he began arguing and panicking again, Abigail growled. "DEAN! Shut up and give me leeway NOW. We don't have time for this." She was scared enough as it was, and he wasn't making things easier. When he listened, Abigail mentally counted to 3 and made the jump, landing on her knees. "Thank god for jeans…" Then, she kept going and used her headlight with the flare behind her, stopping when she came to two tunnels. "Okay…left or right…right or left…"
