Last time Shikamaru told our heroes the tale of one Pai-mey Matoya, a ninja who lived 100 years ago. Apparently Pai-mey and the Empress share several factors, making it possible that the two are one and the same. After that, Martin's computer located the base of the Naz'riak, as well as where the missing children have been taken. With all preparations made, our heroes now descend into the base of the enemy. On with the show!
Chapter 19: Into the Darkness
With one last look at the bright blue sky, Will entered the mineshaft, followed by the rest of our heroes. The tunnel went straight for about 50 feet into the mountain, then the shaft began it's downward slope. With the light from the outside fading, everyone turned on they're flashlights, thanks to Will and some handy Folding. As the light from the outside continued to fade, the first thing Cornelia noticed was the sudden drop in heat, and the rise of humidity. "If I'd known if it'd be this humid," said Cornelia, "I wouldn't have had my hair done yesterday."
"Would you have come even if you did know?" asked Irma. "Yes," said Cornelia, "I would have." "Knock it off you two," said Will, "The last thing we need is any more arguing amongst ourselves."
"You sound tense, Will," said Matt, "Is everything alright?" "I feel fine," said Will, "It's just that I had this weird dream last night." "Well," said Naruto, "Tell us about it." "Yeah," said Luffy, "Let's hear it." "Okay," said Will as she recounted her dream:
"In my dream I was walking down a corridor of a strange castle. It wasn't the castle back in Meridian, or the Temple of Candracar. No, it was someplace I had never been to. I stopped and saw three tapestries on the wall. The first showed a bright silver stag facing this huge cloud of darkness in the shape of a snake with red eyes. The second tapestry was of a silver hand inscribed in a bronze circle. The hand appeared to be holding onto a gold hammer. Finally, the third one showed a large orange and gold colored dragon that looked to be on fire.
"As I was looking at the tapestries, I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see this really strange man." "How strange was he?" asked Naruto. "He was wearing a blue cloak with the hood over his head," continued Will, "so I didn't get to see much of his face." "What's so weird about that?" asked Luffy. "The weird part," said Will, "Was that I could see his eyes, which were glowing bright blue.
"This Stranger then spoke my name again, 'Will Vandom, you must listen to what I have to say.' 'Who are you?' I asked. 'My name is unimportant for now,' he said, 'But what is important is that when we finally meet in the waking world, you and your fellow Guardians must pay heed to what I have to say.' Next think I knew, I woke up."
"Now that is weird." Said Sakura. "I've had weirder dream," said Naruto, "This one time, I dreamed about a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a hamster and a donkey, and they were all reenacting 'Attack of the Clones.' The dog was Anakin, the cat was Obi-wan, the rabbit was Palpatine, the hamster was Yoda and the donkey was C-3P0. the donkey didn't want to be C-3P0, he wanted to be R2-D2. The cat said 'okay, knock yourself out,' the donkey did knock himself out, and the hamster said 'Donkey-Punch!'"
"I don't get it," said Taranee, "Is that supposed to be funny?" "Well it seemed funny when I dreamt it," said Naruto, "Because I woke up laughing." "Weather or not my dream was weird or funny isn't the point," said Will, but she was interrupted by Luffy, "This one time, I dreamt I was being eaten by a shark." "That wasn't a dream!" exclaimed Nami, "you fell asleep with your leg in the water, again!"
"What I'm trying to say," said Will, "Is that I don't think my dream was just a dream. I think it was a vision of sorts." "Well whatever it was," said Saske, "We've got something else to worry about." "What?" asked Sakura. "There's a fork in the tunnel." Said Zolo. "He's right!" exclaimed Luffy as he held up a fork that was on the floor of the shaft.
"Not that!" exclaimed Nami, "That!" She pointed up ahead to where the tunnel branched off in two directions; left and right. "Which way do we go now?" asked Hay Lin. "Wait a second," said Irma, "Martin never said anything about choosing which way." "That doesn't matter," said Will, "There is an easy way to decide which tunnel is the correct one."
Pulling out the Heart of Candracar, Will focused her energy on the crystal. The crystal glowed its usual bright pink, and it pointed at the left tunnel. "It's the left one." Said Will. She; Matt; Cornelia; Caleb, Naruto; Saske; Sakura; Ino; Shikamaru; Choji; Taranee; Nigel; Nami; and Zolo began to go down the left tunnel just as Luffy asked "Did you say 'left?'" "Right!" answered Will. "Then right we go!" said Luffy as he; Irma; Hinita; Shino; Kiba; Akamaru; Hay Lin; Rock Lee; Sanji; Usopp and Chopper proceeded down the starboard tunnel.
It wasn't until they'd reached a large open cave in the tunnel about half an hour later, when Will noticed that several of the group was missing. "Where's Luffy?" asked Zolo. "Where's Sanji, Usopp and Chopper?" asked Nami. "Hinita, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru are missing as well." Said Saske. "Hey Lin and Rock Lee are also gone!" exclaimed Taranee.
"When was the last time we all saw them?" asked Caleb. "It was back where the tunnel branched off," said Ino, "They must have gone the other way." "That moron!" exclaimed Nami, "When Luffy asked which way to go, he thought you were telling him to take the right tunnel." "I did," said Will, "He asked if we were going left, I told him left was the correct tunnel. He can't be that dense to take what I said for real, can he?"
"He is," said Zolo calmly, as if this time of situation happened all the time, "I'll go back and get him." "Wait!" exclaimed Naruto, "does anybody else smell that?" "Smell what?" asked Irma. "That smell," said Naruto, "That which smells like poppies." "Opium gas!" exclaimed Shikamaru, but it was too late. The poppies seed gas had worked it's effect, and everyone in the chamber was knocked out, except for Naruto, who had a stronger constitution than anyone else. He remained awake long enough to see several Naz'riak enter the chamber, wearing gas masks. Before finally succumbing to the gas, Naruto saw one of them pointing at Nami, Zolo, Taranee, Nigel, Cornelia, Saske and Sakura in turn…
Back in the other branch of the tunnel, it had finally dawned on Luffy that things were not as they should be. "Hold on!" he exclaimed, "Where are the others?" "I thought they were behind us." Said Kiba. "Well they're not," said Sanji, "And they're not in front of us either." "Oh crap!" exclaimed Usopp, "We're lost!"
The end of chapter 19. Next chapter, Luffy and the others trace their way back to Will and her group to discover what had happened. What has happened after the gas? You'll find out in the next chapter. Until then, please read and review. See you next time!
