AN: I am finally starting to get my mojo back, thanks to my fiancé's help in writing some of the dialogue in the story. I hope you guys continue to enjoy our creation and keep an open mind about where we take this :)
With the departure of Barry, Brad and Joseph, Captain Wesker, Chris, Jill, Claire and Alana made their way down the tunnel, their footsteps slightly echoing off the rocky walls. Water could be heard dripping down into puddles around them as Claire spotted that the string of lights was soon coming to an end.
"Switch on your flashlights, guys. We got no more light strings beyond this point. Hopefully we will encounter more further ahead as we go deeper," she said and the flashlights came on simultaneously, illuminating the way ahead, which was pitch black.
Once more, Alana huddled close to her adoptive father, who took her by the hand while Claire stayed close to her older brother, her hand linked around his left elbow. Rounding a slight bend some yards ahead, the light behind them slowly faded out of sight until once again, they were consumed by the inky blackness only held back somewhat by their lights. Ahead, the path would break off and on their right was another pathway. Chris would get out their map and look at what has been marked thus far.
"Looks like down that path here to the right, there are two rooms that have been marked. One of them being some sort of storage area and the other has to be where there was another niche for mining out minerals and what not," Jill says, reading out what she could due to the somewhat faded out writing.
"So where do we look first?" Alana asked.
"We could see what's in that storage room first before we move onto the next room. If there are still some things of use inside, we might as well take advantage of what was left behind," Wesker suggests as he points to the marked storage room while shining his light in said direction.
"An thoughtful consideration. Very well then, we shall search the storage room first. We may find useful items, a trap or nothing at all. We will soon learn which of these it may be," Chris nodded in agreement before leading the way down to the right hand path, keeping a sharp eye out for any more traps that may lie in wait for them. With what almost happened to Joseph, the sharpshooter didn't want to take any risks, especially with his young sister and partner in tow.
Coming down the passage, they would come to two doors; one of them being another wooden door while the other seemed to be boarded up with a DANGER! sign placed on the front. Being the curious little girl she was, Alana tried to peek through the boarded up, wondering what was behind it. "Hmmm..." she hummed in thought as she tried to listen as best she could, hoping that if she were to hear what was behind it, it would give a good idea on why it was blocked off. Claire, on the other hand, was pressing her ear against the other door and hearing nothing, she would try the door, this time finding it locked.
"Shit, it's locked," she groaned a bit.
"Lemme see if I can lockpick this thing," Jill says before crouching down near the keyhole and taking out her lockpick tool, she began to mess with the lock. Chris had to admit a soft snort; leave it to the master of unlocking. He was also remembering her history as a former cat burglar as she worked to get the door. At last after a few minutes, the group heard a CLICK and the door opened a bit. "Got it!" She grinned before pushing open the door.
It looked like the inside of a storage locker, but of course the walls were stone instead of steel as crates upon crates were stacked up against the back wall, most of them being either unopened or opened, showing different supplies and other necessities. Thankfully there was no musty smell to it. Instead, the air had a slight aroma of wood and sawdust. To their left, there was a power saw, which was unplugged and the cord hung on a small hook on the side with a small pile of said yellowish dust beside it. The gang fanned out around the room, looking into the ones that were opened up.
"Hey! I found something! We could probably use this rope!" Alana called out from one side of the room, tugging out a thick coil of said rope.
"Yeah since our last one is stuck outside on that boulder," Jill nodded in agreement before going back to looking into her open crate, only to find it was filled with nothing stuffing straw. But when she dug through... her hands landed on something hard and leathery. "Hey guys.. I think I found something as well. Feels like.. a big book." As she pulled it out from beneath the straw, the others had gathered around her as she now held a dark brown thick leathery book.
There was nothing on the front to indicate what it held in its pages so Jill would carefully open it. Inside it would be pages upon pages of unknown symbols and lettering, but Chris would recognize them; they were runes, the same ones that were found in the journal.
"Wait a second... these are the same runes in my father's journal. Perhaps this could be a clue to where we need to go in this place," he said while the others tried to make out what they said, yet did not really succeed.
While Chris would be trying to decipher what was said, Alana's eyes turned back outside to the boarded door and silently tottered out back towards it. Once again, she would listen out for any noises behind them, but heard none. So using her telekinesis, she began to pry them off while grunting quietly with effort until all of them were stacked up along the wall in a neat pile before opening the door. It was another small room but there were dog cages inside. To her shock and sorrow, she saw a few set of dog skeletons hidden beneath some straw inside a few.
'Did they starve in here when the mine closed? Poor things..' she thought, her eyes beading with tears. But she blinked them back forcefully before looking around the room, which was only lit up by a couple of still flaming lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
"Let's see if there's anything in here that can help them out," she muttered to herself before walking to what looked like to be a large storage unit.
As tall as the door she came through and made of steel, there was a rusted deadbolt on the handles so once more using her telekinesis, she ripped it off with ease before opening the double doors. Inside were four large shelves, all of them filled with various objects: on the bottom, a few bags of very old and stale smelling dog food, on the middle shelf, a dozen mysterious bottles of varying colored glasses, a few leftover small bottles of water, and some dusty books, and on the top self, more books either laying down or standing up against them. However, one bottle stuck out to her at the top shelf; a crystal clear bottle that had a slender neck and widened and rounded out a bit as it went down and at the top was a sterling silver chain.
"What is that?" She levitated the bottle into her hand and examined it closely.
The bottle had some kind of clear liquid inside and Alana made to open it. Yet no matter how hard she tugged, the top did not budge. It was as if it were super glued in. So she gave up and continued to look at it closely. For some reason, while she held it in her small hands, it felt.. warm. Like a hug from her mother on a rainy day, giving her safety. A small smile came upon her lips as she held the bottle closer to her and the warmth seem to grow, spreading through her chest and encompassing her small form.
"... Mama... Daddy..." Her eyes slid shut as a memory began to resurface in her mind.
Flashback
A loud thunder crack was heard outside Alana's home and the lights would suddenly go out. From downstairs, her parents heard her cry out and went upstairs to see what was the matter. Alana's mother got to her first and opened her bedroom door to find her six year old daughter crying slightly. "What's wrong my sweet thing?" she cooed while sliding into bed next to her.
"Why did the lights go out!?" Alana cried as she huddled against her mother's side, clinging to her waist and her mother wrapped her arms around the small child.
"It's just a storm, honey. It'll pass soon. There's nothing to be afraid of, alright?" Replied her mother in a soothing tone, stroking her locks. Another thunder boom and Alana whimpered, burying her face into her chest. "Shhhh... hush now. You're safe in here.."
Alana's father arrived next and slid over on the other side of his kid, a large hand on top of hers. "Your mom's right, kiddo. A little storm is not going to hurt you, okay? Think of it this way: Goddess Electra's probably throwing a temper tantrum at something," he smirked, earning a teary giggle from Alana. "And we all know how she likes to throw them little fits every now and then, yeah?" This earned a nod from the little girl, already feeling better about the storm.
At the sound of another thunder rumble, Alana looked to the window and yelled "Quit being a baby, Electra!" That got a laugh from her parents.
End Flashback
As she came back to reality, Alana looked down at the bottle and placed it around her neck. Whatever this thing was, she felt as if it could keep her safe if she ever got separated from the group.
"Alana!" She would jump a bit at the sound of her adoptive father's voice near the door. Seconds later, the group appear in the door and Wesker once more sighed in relief, seeing she had not gone far.
"Don't scare like that, kiddo! We thought you went on ahead," Claire smiled as she came over and hugged her gently.
"I'm okay. I came in here to see if there was anything here.. and look what I found. I don't know what it is, but it felt warm and I felt safe holding it. Do you guys know what it is?" Alana asked them, showing the crystal bottle.
Wesker shook his head, having no clue what he was looking at, but both Chris and Claire seemed to recognize it. The male Redfield was the first to speak on the subject. "That bottle looks familiar. I remember seeing something like that in one of Mother's books. Claire, you remember too, don't you? These special crystal bottles Mother said were called 'Lights of Arlathan'..."
Lights of Arlathan? What were those? Was she holding one of them? Alana thought to herself as Chris contemplated the glowing vial around her neck.
"Yes, I remember now. These are special vials made of pure crystal that contain clean, purified, liquid light. Enchanted by a Goddess whose name has been lost to time, these mysterious bottles glow in the dark, providing light in even the darkest shadows. It is said that when the holder is lost, the light can guide them to an exit. It is also said that when the holder is in danger, the light glows much brighter, almost blindingly so. However the light does not effect the sight of the holder, allowing them to escape without harm. These things are extremely rare... and very valuable," he would go on to explain, making Jill, Alana and Wesker look at it in awe.
This small bottle was able to do such a thing? Alana looked to the bottle around her neck as Claire spoke up next. "So whatever you do, Alana, DO NOT lose it. If you ever get separated and your light happens to go out, this will save you."
Nodding in understanding, Alana slipped the bottle into her shirt, safely tucking it away. Then they would leave the room and Wesker shut the door behind them. Jill knelt down in front of the girl. "From now on, stick close to us, okay?" she spoke in a motherly tone, earning another nod from the girl and Jill would smile, ruffling her hair a bit before joining the other three heading down the tunnel.
At yet another T-junction, the gang looked to the map and saw this is where their guidance would end. They would have to find another piece or go at it blindly. "Which way do we go?" Claire asked, looking to the left and right paths.
"Splitting up would be unwise right now. Like I said, there may be traps laying in wait for any unsuspecting treasure hunters that happen to stumble upon this place. And if any one of us gets stuck anywhere, it could be our asses," Chris says while crossing his arms, thinking of what to do next.
"Too bad our radios don't work down here. Otherwise, we could've kept in contact. Let's think for a moment.." Jill says while going silent, tapping her chin.
While they were pondering of where to go, Alana's crystal bottle began to glow and slip itself out of her shirt. "Huh?" she muttered as it floated and pointed down the tunnel. "It's.. pointing?" Furrowing her brow in curiosity, she would begin to walk down the right hand tunnel.
Chris would notice Alana walking away and a look of recognition entered his eyes. "Huh. Well, what do you know, kid. You've discovered one of the uses of the Light before I did. According to the text in this ancient tome, the Light of Arlathan can be used to find secret areas marked by 'Those Who Came Before'... these symbols mark such locations..." He would say while pointing to a symbol that was lit up by the light. It looked like an umbrella, but it was pink and white with a heart symbol inside.
"Then we better follow her and see where it leads," Wesker says before following his adoptive daughter down the tunnel and around the corner.
AN: WHERE IS THE LIGHT LEADING THEM? WHAT SECRETS LIE IN WAIT FOR THE SMALL GROUP AND THEIR LITTLE CHARGE? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT EPISODE! LEAVE A COMMENT AND DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW IF YOU WANT TO GET MORE ABOUT THE STORY :)