Pretzel prowled through the trees, tracking the cloaked figures. Visually the kidnappers were almost impossible to spot; they didn't carry any lights, moving with a silent grace that suggested they were intimately familiar with this area, and their dark cloaks blended perfectly with the lengthening shadows of the jungle. Luckily, Pretzel didn't need sight. These people reeked of darkness, and not even in the sense that they were experiencing a lot of negative emotions. It was more like they'd been rolling in it, deliberately covering themselves with dark, negative auras. Somehow.
The kidnappers slowed as they reached a dip in the ground. Five of them stood guard over Whip and Amy—still unconscious, though Pretzel thought she could feel Whip beginning to stir—while the other two uncovered a hidden entrance in the ground. The first five dragged their victims forward, dropping them into the hole before heading into the darkness themselves. The last two waited a moment longer, probably making sure no one had seen their entrance, before pulling the trapdoor shut behind them.
Ha. As if that would stop Pretzel.
She jumped down from the tree and crept up to the entrance. The trapdoor was old, made of worn wood and rusted metal, set in a stone frame that looked even older. The hinges and lock on the door, however, were newer, as was the padding to muffle the sounds of it opening and closing. A recent renovation?
Pretzel could probably force the trapdoor open, or at least break the lock, but that would alert the kidnappers. Instead she felt around the trapdoor, testing the wood. As she'd suspected; the warping of the wood and the wear on the stone created a gap between the trapdoor and its frame. The gap was far too small for anything bigger than a mouse to get through (and even the mouse would be cutting it close), but as long as Pretzel's shadow could make it… She closed her eyes and concentrated. You are energy. You are liquid. You are a shadow. This body isn't real. You aren't here. You are in there.
There was a brief melting sensation Pretzel didn't like to dwell on, and then she was in. She shook herself, trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling that always followed that trick. Fortunately no one was on the other side of the door to catch her off guard.
Once she'd steadied herself, Pretzel crept forward down the tunnel, pulling the shadows around herself like a cloak. The walls were old stone, but the floor was packed dirt that squished slightly beneath her claws, and over all of it grew moss and vines and roots in a chaotic mess of plant life. Soundlessly Pretzel slipped past what seemed to be sentries, garbed similarly to the kidnappers. There were no lights to illuminate the passage. Could the people within see in the dark, then? That would make sneaking past them more difficult. Fortunately the sentries made the mistake most people did—they expected a human- or Mobian-sized intruder, and didn't think to look down and see the odd shifts in the shadows from Pretzel's passing.
As Pretzel prowled down the tunnel, she saw more and more offshoots, forks i the path and doors to musty rooms. She started scratching the wall at each turn she made. They'd probably need to make a quick escape, and she didn't trust her memory to guide them back out. It seemed this wasn't just a secret passage to a different destination; this was the destination, an entire underground complex. An old one, too, judging by the worn stone and architectural style. That "style" being… creepy, was the best word to describe it.
The walls weren't straight but curved like the interior of a throat, a mental image that did not make Pretzel feel less uneasy. Said walls were lovingly carved with a myriad of eyes that seemed to follow her every movement, and where there weren't eyes, there was what resembled veins. She didn't know how they'd made them raised from the stone without any of them chipping, but they certainly didn't help with the tunnel-throat comparison. (And she could have sworn one of the veins pulsed when she brushed against it.) A lot of tentacles, too. Just way too much going on on the walls. It was claustrophobic. And there were no sharp angles in this place, which should have made it seem friendlier, but the way the doors and walls and floor curved, unaligned with each other or even themselves, just made it feel even more like she was walking through the belly of some massive beast or into some cursed alternate reality.
There were some bits she did like, such as the fanged snakes that ran along the base of the wall in a tangled mass, and the bats that decorated some of the doorways, wings spreading over the arches. The creeping vines and roots and moss were nice, if slippery, and they muffled what little noise there was. No eye-searing lights, either. At some point she reached a part of the passage where a stream of water poured along the side of the hallway, its gentle trickling a soothing melody. Yes, some part of her really liked this place. She was doing her best to ignore that part, however, because this place had kidnapped her friends. And her own personal preferences aside, the whole aesthetic was clearly meant to unnerve the average visitor, which did not bode well for the intents of the inhabitants.
She kept glancing back at the eyes, which always seemed to stare back. Something about them… She shook it off. No dwelling on it. Just get Whip and Amy and get out. Simple as that.
She didn't have to worry about getting lost on the way in, at least; she could feel Whip's blinding presence, clear as ever, as well as his growing distress. She picked up the pace. The white light guided her deeper and deeper into the structure. A temple, she guessed, some sort of cult dedicated to… it didn't matter what it was dedicated to. Find her friends, get out. Don't think about it.
Pretzel slowed as she neared where Whip was being held. It seemed to be the central chamber of the place, which couldn't be a good sign. The door was surrounded by (hopefully fake) teeth. Also not a good sign. Pretzel swallowed and crept inside.
Here at last was light: moonlight, pouring through a hole in the roof which was also surrounded by teeth—these ones made of crystal or glass—, and dripping with vines and roots from above. The hole was covered by tinted glass, dying the moonlight violet and casting the room in an eerie glow. Not like the room needed the help. All the creepy architecture of the previous corridor had reached its peak of grotesqueness here. Veins and eyes covered every surface, while carved figures of snakes and bats and even howling wolves seemed to swarm across the walls. Creeping plants and fungi cascaded down stone steps set up like stands in a stadium, all packed with silent cloaked figures fixated on the centerpiece in the middle of the room: a twisted iron cage. And in the cage, naturally, were Amy and Whip.
They weren't unconscious anymore, not that that did them much good. Whip was flying around in a mad panic like he did whenever he was put in an enclosed space (car rides were a disaster), while Amy tried to simultaneously soothe him and glare daggers at their captors. The seven who had kidnapped them (or at least, Pretzel was pretty sure it was the same seven) stood in a circle around the cage, watching their struggles impassively. It didn't look like Amy or Whip had been harmed… yet. (Was that rust or blood stains on the cage? Please let it be rust.)
Pretzel forced herself to move, keeping to the edges of the room and pulling the shadows close around her. The crystals reflecting the moonlight made it trickier, but hopefully they'd also make it less likely for someone to take notice of any odd behavior from the shadows. She circled her way around the room, studying it. Now that there was more light, she took notice of the style of the cloaks on the… cultists? They were probably cultists, right? Whatever they were, their cloaks had similar eye-patterns as the rest of the temple. A few even seemed to have used glow-in-the-dark thread. And all of them, Pretzel realized, were wearing masks that looked like eyes. Singular giant eyes, covering their faces. Unconsciously Pretzel reached up to touch her third eye. It still felt cool and glass-like, not a real organ. (But it could be.)
A coincidence. This all had to be a coincidence. Please let it be a coincidence.
Pretzel froze as the cultists around her suddenly shifted, but they weren't looking at her. They were looking to the door. Someone was walking through; a short figure, probably Mobian, with an ornate cloak long enough to trail after their feet. The figure held a dark wood staff, embedded with purple crystals and topped with a carved eye (of course). The figure slowly walked down to the bottom of the bowl, the attention of all the other cultists following them attentively. The leader, then.
The seven kidnappers stepped back, allowing the leader to walk up to the cage. Their eye mask stared blankly at the captives.
"Who are you?" Amy demanded, her hand reaching out as if to summon her hammer, though the weapon failed to materialize. Pretzel remembered the metal band they'd clamped on Whip. Did they have some means of power blocking?
"We," the leader said in a wheezing, raspy voice that nonetheless echoed through the chamber. "Are the children of Dark Gaia!"
All Pretzel's hopes that her intuition was wrong, that this wasn't what it looked like, crashed to the floor.
Amy's face blanched. "You're… what?"
The leader threw back their hood dramatically, letting their wide ears spring free, and pulled off their mask to reveal a hairless leaf-nosed bat with blood-red eyes. No, he couldn't be pure bat; he had a small horn on his head and a lizard-like tail. A hybrid, probably.
"I am the Naugus of Darkness, heir of all Naugus before me, last of the trolls!" The bat (troll? was he actually a troll or was he just trying to make himself sound cool?) declared, still in that same raspy voice. Did he smoke? "And we are the children of Dark Gaia, the shadow of Ixis, the true inheritors of darkness!"
Amy leaned forward, a peculiar gleam in her eyes. Pretzel knew that gleam; it was the look Amy'd gotten when she'd asked Pretzel what the world was like thousands of years ago, and when she'd seen the Gaia temple for the first time, and when she'd heard about all the other Gaia temples around the world. It was her archaeology nerd look, as Sonic put it.
"You're the 'last of the trolls'?" Amy asked eagerly. "Does that mean you're descended from them? How directly? I mean it can't be that directly, they've been extinct for millennia. Was it trolls that built this temple? Is this a temple of Ixis? You said 'shadow of Ixis', does that mean there's a connection between Dark Gaia and Ixis?" She grabbed the bars excitedly. "Do you have any idea how hard it's been to find remnants of the first civilization? This could be groundbreaking!"
The Naugus seemed caught off guard by her enthusiasm. "I… Uh, well…" he seemed to remember he had an audience and drew himself up with a cough. "Silence, light one! You and your companion stand here accused of sunblindness!"
"Sunblindness?" Amy echoed.
The Naugus swept around to dramatically gesture at the carvings on the wall. "Long ago, Ixis ruled the world with peaceful darkness!" Pretzel followed his outstretched arm to a carved image of some vague tentacled beast with a multitude of eyes. "But then came the seven stars, the Chaos Emeralds, which shattered Ixis and stole its power, giving it to an undeserving being: the Light." The Naugus spat the word as if it was a bad taste, and the various cultists made strange growling noises that seemed to be the creepy Dark Gaia cult equivalent of booing.
"But Ixis lived on!" Naugus crowed, his raspy voice reaching a fervent peak. He gestured to another image, and this one made Pretzel's heart sink right into the floor. There it was: Dark Gaia, in all its multi-eyed, toothy, tentacled glory. "Its shadow, Dark Gaia, fought against the arrogant Light and sought to return the world to the peaceful dark!"
He dropped his arms, his raspy voice lowering to a vengeful hiss that they all had to strain to hear. "But humanity—children of the Light—took the side of their wretched parent. They built temples to their false deity, strengthening its power. And their hubris reached its height two months ago!" His voice rose again, cracking with passion. "A human woke the Light from its slumber in the earth, stealing power from the Dark and giving it to this impostor deity!" He lowered his head. "And we all know what happened then." Mournful howls filled the chamber.
Naugus swept his arms up again, cloak flaring like wings. "Humans and Mobians alike gave in to the Light's sway, carrying out its bidding! Only the few true children of Ixis stayed loyal. And now we see the price of Earth's betrayal, as the planet itself revolts against us! Storms destroy our homes and famines destroy our families!"
Amy straightened, and Pretzel leaned forward. Did this lunatic know something about the storm monsters? Could they actually get some useful information out of this?
"These disasters are Ixis's punishment of the unfaithful!" Naugus shrieked with mad fervor. Never mind, then. "For the complacence of humans and Mobians in Light Gaia's conquest, Dark Gaia is punishing us! And to appease the Dark's hatred, we must give it a sacrifice!" He gestured grandly to Amy and Whip. "A sacrifice of the lightblinded!"
Whip squeaked in terror, his panic over being put in a cage overshadowed by the implications of being sacrificed.
Even fearless Amy blanched. "W-wait, I don't think—"
But the seven kidnappers were moving forward at Naugus's direction, opening the cage and dragging Amy and Whip out. Pretzel naively hoped Whip would make a break for it—he was small and quick enough he could probably do it—, but instead he tried to fight his attackers and got his wings, hands, and legs bound for his troubles. Amy struggled against the grip of the cultists, and yes, now Pretzel could see a band around her neck similar to the one on Whip's. Power limiters. A rare find. Perhaps someone in this club had powerful connections (or was just rich).
The sacrificees weren't taken far; the cultists dragged them to an open spot on the floor of the bowl and held them there while Naugus pulled out a… oh, yup, that was a knife. A very long, probably very sharp knife. Okay. Time to do something. Pretzel picked up the pace, weaving through the attendant cultists down to the bottom of the bowl. A few jerked in surprise as they felt her brush past them, but most were too rapt by the scene before them to take notice of her.
"This isn't going to change anything!" Amy called, struggling against her restraints. She managed to jerk free of the two cultists holding her, but before she could make a break for it (or, more likely knowing Amy, fight them) the other cultists dogpiled her and forced her to the ground. Pretzel winced, but at least it kept the cultists from noticing her as she slipped past and started climbing up the cage. "You really don't need to do this!" Amy shouted as Naugus approached Whip (who needed considerably less people to hold him down) with a knife. "We're trying to fix the problem, same as you!"
"There is only one solution," Naugus said, raising the knife with a mad glint in his eye. "And that is blood."
That was her cue. Pretzel reared up on the cage, snapping her wings open to their full extent, and pulled on all the shadows and negative emotions in the room. They responded eagerly. Her shadow grew into a huge silhouette, mirroring perfectly the image of Dark Gaia carved into the wall behind her. Pretzel shoved dread onto the minds of the cultists, and a chorus of screams rang out, with some cultists even trying to bolt from the room. Ha. So much for being children of the dark. Even Naugus gaped, staring up at Pretzel's shadow. The knife clattered to the ground.
"W-who are you?" Naugus squeaked.
I am Dark Gaia's vessel! Pretzel declared, projecting her mental voice as loudly (and deeply) as she could. It seemed to work, judging by Naugus's flinch. A few more cultists fled the room, while the rest cowered. The true inheritor of darkness! And you… She cast her shadow over Naugus, twisting its gaping jaws into a sneer. Never mind that that didn't make any sense with how shadows worked; this was about presentation. You dare presume to speak for Dark Gaia?
"B-but the Dark One itself ordered me to do this!" Naugus squeaked.
That was news to Pretzel. She didn't let her surprise show. Idiot. Would you fall for every impostor claiming to be me? Clearly you know nothing of the true dark.
"But—" Naugus started to argue.
I am Dark Gaia! Pretzel declared grandly, casting her shadow as big as she could, while simultaneously sending out another wave of terror, this one mostly concentrated on Naugus. If she could just get him, the rest would likely follow. I am the darkness itself, the depth of the ocean, the chill of the night! Why should I want your petty sacrifices?
"They're sunblinded!" Naugus protested. "They follow an impostor deity!"
Oh, like you? Pretzel sneered. If they are so tainted, how is it that you dare bring them to my temple?
"I… hadn't considered that," Naugus admitted nervously.
Pretzel rolled her eyes. Of course you didn't. Get them out of here immediately. I have no interest in these "sacrifices" of yours.
Naugus blinked. "You would have us… free them?"
And now he was getting suspicious. For all the negative emotion in the room, Pretzel still had only a weak grasp on her powers. Without better knowledge of Naugus and his fears she couldn't terrify him into submission, and she didn't know nearly enough about this cult's beliefs to convince him intellectually. Fortunately, convincing them she was Dark Gaia had never been part of the plan.
Are you deaf as well as dumb? Pretzel's shadow demanded, while Pretzel herself snuck around behind Naugus and over to Amy and Whip. Whip perked up and Pretzel quickly shushed him. Thankfully he got the message and kept quiet.
Naugus's eyes had narrowed. "If you're the real Dark Gaia, then why are you only a shadow?"
You think I have the time to visit you in person? Pretzel projected, making her voice sound bored. There's a hundred lunatics just like you around the world. Or there were a hundred, she corrected thoughtfully. Some of them couldn't take a hint.
Naugus cringed.
While he tried to grovel for his life, Pretzel investigated Amy's limiter band. It needed a key. Great. She grabbed hold of the chain binding Amy's wrists and broke it with a snap. Naugus didn't seem to notice, but at least one of the cultists glanced over. Quickly Pretzel broke the rest of Amy's chains and moved on to Whip. Several cultists were standing now, looking intently down at them.
"Naugus!" One of them shouted, pointing. Naugus whipped around and stumbled back in surprise.
Turning your back on me? Rude, Pretzel's shadow said, right before it slammed into him. There was no physical force to it—it was a shadow, after all—but Pretzel hit him with one last onslaught of fear, distracting him long enough for her to grab his knife and his keys and toss both to Amy.
Amy grinned and unlocked her limiter band just as one of the cultists (apparently this one had a better reaction time then the others, who were still standing around being surprised) lunged for her. In an instant they were downed by a swift hammer to the head. Amy tossed the keys to Whip, who fumbled to catch them before they hit the floor. Naugus jumped forward with surprising agility and grabbed Whip's wings. Whip screamed. Pretzel snarled and pounced on Naugus, digging her teeth into his pointed nose. He screamed. Pretzel—very much regretting biting him instead of scratching, he tasted foul—pulled Whip free, and together they ran to join Amy, who had her hammer at the ready and was facing down the seven kidnappers… who were still hesitating.
"What are you waiting for?" Naugus screamed at the attendant cultists. "Get them!"
The seven kidnappers exchanged looks—or at least, they turned their eyeball masks to each other. Hard to say what their expressions were under there.
"If that's Dark Gaia," one of them said slowly. "Then shouldn't we do what she says?"
"That isn't Dark Gaia!" Naugus shrieked.
"And how would you know that?" One of them challenged. "What if it is Dark Gaia? I wouldn't want to go against her direct word, not even for you, Naugus." Several other cultists nodded in agreement, but another jumped up in protest.
"That's not Dark Gaia! Dark Gaia's vessel is a wolf, not a cat! And besides, Dark Gaia isn't a she. Everyone knows that!"
A heated argument broke out as all the cultists started pitching in their own opinions on what Dark Gaia would look like when she appeared in the flesh. Whatever decision they came to, Pretzel wasn't there to hear it. She, Amy, and Whip were already rushing out the doors and into the corridor, leaving the sound of arguing and Naugus's frustrated shrieks behind. Pretzel took the lead, glad she'd thought to mark the corridors as she went down them the first time. The complex was wonderfully empty; it seemed every one of the cult's members had attended that meeting. Well, almost every one. Two very surprised guards didn't have time to react before Pretzel forced the trap door open, and the three of them burst out into the jungle night.
They didn't stop running until the guards' shouting had completely faded from hearing behind them. At last they paused, listening. The only sound was the jungle ambience. Amy put her hammer away and Whip flopped to the ground, panting. Pretzel started cleaning her paws, hoping to get rid of the taste of Naugus's flesh. Ew.
"I don't get it," Whip said when he'd regained his breath, the first to break the silence. "What was that big shadow? Was that actually—" he shuddered. "—Dark Gaia?"
"That was me," Pretzel said. So technically, yes. "I can manipulate shadows, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Whip said. "Um—umberkin—"
"Umbrakinesis," Amy provided.
Whip frowned, sitting up. "But Pretzel, why did you pretend to be Dark Gaia? Why didn't you just—" he mimed punching motions. "Fight the bad guys?"
Pretzel stretched out on the ground, closing her eyes against Whip's glow. Now that they were safe, the feelings of panic from seeing her friends taken and satisfaction from breaking them free had both been replaced by a pounding headache and a deep-set weariness. She didn't want to think about the horrifying temple dedicated to her honor, and the cult apparently killing people in her name, or about how easy it had been to slip into the persona of their dark lord or whatever. She was just… tired.
"Pretzel?" Whip asked, poking her. The touch sent a jolt of light through her—not enough to burn, but not pleasant either. "Why didn't you fight?
Pretzel sighed. "We can't all be heroes like you, Whip." She ignored Amy's look and stood, shaking herself. "We were going to the town, right? Let's get moving before those lunatics find us again."
Amy didn't look happy, but she accepted the change of topic anyway. "I don't know how we'll find our way there in the dark."
"I'll scout ahead," Pretzel volunteered immediately. "Wait here." She took off into the trees before Amy could argue, glad to leave behind furrowed brows and questioning eyes.
The night sky was beautiful overhead, clear and free of pollution. Why would anyone choose to live underground, in creepy stone tunnels, the only moonlight twisted and tainted into something eerie? Who had built that temple? Had she encouraged cults like that, in the time before? Another item on her long list of sins.
Pretzel stopped on a branch, squeezing her eyes shut. Her conversation with Whip echoed in her head. Why didn't you fight? We can't all be heroes.
Somewhere below, Amy and Whip were waiting for her. Somewhere below were two of the brightest, kindest, most heroic people in the world, counting on Pretzel of all people. Somewhere below were two innocent lives who had almost been destroyed because of her.
They were waiting. Pretzel grit her teeth and kept moving.
Bonus chapter for Pretzel Day!
