Chapter 12: The Waterway
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The big wooden door opened with a blood-curdling screeching. The hinges were so rusty that Tellah and Cecil had to help Yang pull it open. The twins stood apart from them, feeling a bit useless as the three men struggled to make the door open wider. They gave up a few minutes of tugging, satisfied that they could simply squeeze through the small opening they had made.
The door descended into darkness, and Yang pulled out a torch, which he lit with a match. It flared up bright red and he went forward silently, prompting his companions to follow just as quietly.
They were walking down another set of stairs now, and Porom counted the steps to be safe. But when she counted past eight and nothing happened, she felt somewhat more at ease. She stepped down a step onto a floor, which splashed and squished underfoot.
"It feels like mud," she whispered.
"It is," Yang informed bluntly.
Porom didn't have anything against mud, but she certainly didn't like to walk around in it for a long time; especially not if there were monsters lurking around and she couldn't see very well.
"Why are we whispering?" Tellah asked. "It's not like anyone's going to hear us."
"What about the monsters? Won't they come flocking to us if they know where we are?" Cecil pointed out.
"Won't they be startled and afraid of the echoes?" Tellah countered. "There's no need to be so stealthy way down here."
"So we can stop being so quiet?" Palom asked eagerly.
"No one knows that we're here; it'll be fine to talk at a normal volume for a while. All the whispering is unnerving me."
"Great!" Palom looked up at the high ceiling and grinned. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled up at the ceiling:
"HELLO!"
His voice resonated through the cavern, shaking rocks lose in some places. The rocks splashed into the water around them, and Porom whacked him on the head.
"What is the matter with you?" she scolded. "Just because he said you didn't have to whisper doesn't mean you have to yell, you know."
Palom didn't seem fazed. "That was so cool!"
"Please, don't do that again," Cecil asked. "We need to get going, or we'll never get through this waterway."
Palom pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Okay, fine."
For thirty minutes they wandered through the cave with little incident. There wasn't even a monster to be seen, and Yang's torch was far from going out. The albino creatures that thrives in the dark, dank waterway fled in pain and fear from the firelight, a large comfort to all.
At length, they came to a deep puddle that covered the entire floor. There was no way to walk around it: the only possible way across the floor was through the water.
"What if there are water monsters n the water?" Cecil asked.
"Leave it to me," Tellah said proudly, stepping to the edge of the puddle. He touched his finger to the surface and began chanting.
"THUNDER!"
Lighting rippled across the water in all directions, flickering in sparks over the top. Several small, harmless fish and a few other amphibious things floated to the top, electrocuted by the spell.
"If there was anything dangerous in the water, there isn't now," Tellah informed. He glanced down at the twins. Palom looked very interested, but Porom looked more than a little pale.
"Don't worry, dear, they didn't feel a thing," Tellah assured her, though she didn't look very comforted.
Yang cleared his throat. "Let's move on," he suggested and marched into the water. Though they were hesitant about walking into water with dead things floating in it, the others came quickly after him, not wanting to be left behind in the dark.
For the three men, the water didn't come up very high; only up to their shins. For the twins, the water came up past their knees, making it harder to keep pace.
"Need any help, kids?" Yang asked. "We can carry you, if you need."
"No, no. We're okay," Palom insisted, sloshing through the water and pretending that he was okay.
"I don't know. I'm getting a little worn out," Porom interjected. "Maybe we should—"
She set her foot down, but nothing caught her and she fell into the dark water. The water rose up over her head and she yelled for help, only to have her mouth fill up with the stale, metallic-tasting water. She attempted to swim back to the surface, but the weight of her coat was pulling her downwards. She was out of breath and tiring from struggling.
Porom suddenly felt someone pull her out of the deep water. As her head came over the surface, she inhaled deeply, coughing and trying to spit the coppery, dirty taste of the water out of her mouth. With a start, she began looking franticly for her brother, but all she could see in the dark was muscular tan skin and a bright green sash.
It was Yang, who also had Palom in his other arm.
"You two have to be more careful," Yang scolded playfully, setting the dripping twins in water that only came up to their knees. "The water can suddenly get very deep in places.
Porom wrapped her soaking green coat tighter around herself, feeling a little silly.
"We'll be more careful, won't we, Porom?" Palom said, nudging her in the ribs.
"Uh-hu," she said quietly.
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My Dearest Mira,
I'll begin by assuring you that the twins are okay, mostly. Dark, damp, monster-filled waterways generally don't agree with small children.
As for our party as a whole, I'm not so sure; perhaps following Yang beneath the castle wasn't such a good idea after all. We've been wandering around in this maze of marshy tunnels for a long time—perhaps a week?—and we're running low on all our supplies; torches, potions, ethers, precious food. Cecil is growing more and more tense every hour; I hardly recognize him without his skin on. He's so worried, I'm afraid his immune system might be going loopy. He won't admit it, but he is getting sick.
I must admit, Mira, I'm a little scared. We didn't spend this long even in the Kaipo waterway; it wasn't this deep or dark, and it wasn't a twisting, turning labyrinth. What's more, I'm afraid that we're all catching something; whether from the damp and chill or from some mold or bacteria, I'm not sure.
This safe-spot was a Godsend, and I wish that we could stay here for a while longer, but we'll have to haul out in a few hours. This has been the only chance I've had to write, and I regret that I have no uplifting news for you. Hopefully, the ext time I write, I will bear better news.
Oh, here's something good: Palom and Porom have almost perfected the Break as a Twincast; the blind, albino creatures down here make for excellent practice. I look forward to their advancing as we continue; we may yet be down here a while longer.
Your brother,
Tellah.
"TELEPORT!"
The letter levitated, spun around rapidly, and vanished in a poof of mist. Tellah hoped that Mira wouldn't worry too much.
His letter finished, he turned to his next task: a lean dinner of stale bread and roasted cave rat that he didn't feel like eating at all.
"I wish that we had more to eat than this filth," he muttered, pouting at the tough, stringy meat on the rock before him.
"It's not that bad," Palom insisted," so long as you try not to taste it too much." He took a big bite of his portion, chewed it quickly and gulped it down before it could hit his tongue.
Porom swallowed her bite just as quickly, sniffled, and said, "I'm pretending mine is an oatmeal cookie." She sounded congested and her throat was hoarse.
"You and your oatmeal cookies, sis. Well, I wouldn't really mind one myself, right now," Palom confessed and returned to chewing the rat.
"I still dream about the oatmeal cookies sometimes," he added vaguely.
"What oatmeal cookies?" Yang asked.
"Never mind that; kids, just eat your rat, okay?" Cecil directed irritably. It was the most he had spoken in several hours. His skin was unusually pale, and he tended to break out in a cold sweat a lot; when he did, Tellah had to use his Sap spell to force him to sit and rest for a few minutes. His blue eyes had a clouded look to them, and he had big black circles under them. He had the far off look of someone who was so sick that they couldn't stay focused for more than five minutes.
The twins complied with the paladin's command; Cecil had been sick for about three days now, and they had found that nothing could really cheer him, not even their antics.
"We'll have to be moving a long soon," Yang pointed out, noting how low the torch was burning. "But I hate to keep going. Cecil can barely stand, and Porom doesn't look so good either." Right on que, Porom punctuated Yang's comment with a sneeze that echoed through the cavern. She sniffled again, wiping her watery eyes with the back of her hand and her nose with the sleeve of her dirty coat.
"Sorry," she said, sounding a little embarrassed.
"One thing I will say," Tellah noted, "it would that seem that every time she sneezes, she casts a mini-Heal spell without meaning to. Can you feel it, Yang?"
Yang thought about it for a second and nodded. "I do feel it. How does she do that? I've never known a mage who can cast spells by sneezing."
"It's a rare thing, but many folks in Mysidia can do it. I've known my sister, Mira, to cast mini versions of starter spells when she sneezes; particularly when she is sick and has less control over what her body wants to do."
Yang nodded his head again. "Fascinating."
"Perhaps we should just park it for a while," Tellah thought. "Cecil and Porom's states aside, I think the rest of us could use a few hours too." He turned to Porom. "How 'bout you just lie down and go to sleep for a few extra hours?"
Porom sniffled again. "I'd like that."
Palom regarded his sister, looking worried. "Are you cold? I can cast a light Fire spell to keep you warm, if you need," he offered.
"No thanks, but if someone could whack my nose off with a sword so my sinuses can drain a little bit, I'd really like that," she answered.
"I like you better with your nose on," Palom informed. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"You seem very concerned about your sister," Yang pointed out.
"I don't want her to die," the boy explained.
"No, none of us want her to die, now do we," Yang agreed.
Porom tugged on Palom's sleeve to get his attention. "Can I lean against you and sleep for a while?" she asked.
"Sure you can," Palom agreed. Porom sighed happily and collapsed against his shoulder, hugging her brother's ribs tightly like a cherished toy. He returned the hug, happy to have such a friend in his twin, even if they did annoy each other sometimes. Porom was snoring lightly in a matter of minutes.
Satisfied that she was situated, Palom turned to look over his shoulder at Cecil, who was still struggling through his meal.
"Water rat isn't that exciting, Cecil; you ought to get some rest too, or you'll never get better," he cautioned.
"We shouldn't," Cecil insisted; with his scratchy throat, it sounded like he was growling. "We're lost; we have to find a way out. We can't if we're sitting here."
Tellah began chanting a now familiar spell:
"SAP!"
Cecil began glowing with a green aura, which flowed off of him like a river of green mist. It settled into a cloudy sphere in Tellah's palm, and Cecil fainted, drained of his last scraps of energy.
"I believe I'll give some of this to Porom; of all of us, she needs it the most," Tellah decided, pointing in her direction. The sphere flowed out of his palm and over to Porom, settling over her like diamond dust. She stirred a little bit, but didn't wake up.
"She should feel a lot better when she wakes up," Tellah informed, contemplating what to do with the rest of the glowing energy in his hand. He wanted to keep it on hand, in case Porom and Cecil got worse, but he and the other two needed a boost as well. He decided to put it to vote.
"What should I do with the rest of this?" he asked.
"You could absorb it yourself," Yang pointed out. "But then, could you use it again, should we need it?"
"Sure he could," Palom answered. "He could Sap himself and take that extra energy for us to use; but, so long as he has it, it will be safe and we can still use it."
Tellah nodded. "Very good. I'd like to keep this extra energy about, in case the patients get worse or someone else catches whatever they have. But, on the other hand, the two of you need and extra push, and so do I. Do you want me to just give it to you now or save it for a while?"
"Save it; Porom and Cecil need it more than we do," was Palom's immediate answer.
"He's right," Yang agreed. "We can recover our energy on our own while we rest; and it isn't fair to rob resources from the sick or injured."
Tellah nodded his head in agreement. "Very well, then. I'll just hold onto this." The glowing green mist flowed into his palm and vanished into his veins. He looked a little faint, as if he had gotten high off the new energy.
"I love it when the energy from a Sap spell hits you in the face," Tellah said as the high wore off. "After being so tired for so long, it really does feel like a drug."
"Then we should all be careful about it," Yang advised.
Tellah nodded again, thoughtfully, realizing the danger in what he had just said; especially in front of his young, rash nephew.
"Well said, Yang. Well said, indeed."
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Yang checked his tarnished pocket watch, a token from the king for his service, against the bright new torch and sighed unhappily. The weight of Porom's sleeping self against his shoulders almost stifled it.
"It's almost 7:00 in the morning," he announced. "We rested all day and walked all night. That will be approximately eight or nine days that we've been at this, if we've kept track of time correctly."
"It's a good thing Cecil's too out of it to make a comment," Tellah added. "He'd lose more of his mind than he already has." In fact, Cecil was so out of it that Tellah had casted his Float spell on him and led the Float spell around with them. It was all a tricky matter of making sure that the paladin slept, Sapping his energy whenever he regained enough of it to wake up, and making sure the Float spell didn't wear off. Tellah was so full of the energy he was Sapping from Cecil that he could have restored the entire party at least twice and a half.
Yang stopped still and looked ahead. There was a fork in the muddy path, leading to two new tunnels. Both were too dark to see down.
"I think I know this place; it's hard to tell down here," Yang commented.
"Everything looks the same down here," Palom whined. "Which way do we go?"
"Hang on," Yang said determinedly, walking up to the fork. He listened carefully to the darkness and turned to the left tunnel.
"We go this way," he announced.
"How do you know?" Tellah asked.
"I can hear water flowing this way. That will be the channel that feeds the moat. We're almost there," Yang explained.
Tellah perked up. "Maybe, in a few minutes, I can think about reviving Cecil again. What can we expect from this channel?"
"There will be a big waterwheel which feeds the water upwards, above ground. We'll have to ride it up and then swim the moat," Yang answered.
"Ride a waterwheel? That sounds a little cramped," Tellah protested.
"Trust me; it's a big waterwheel. The current may be a little strong, so we'll probably want to rest for a minute, get our things secured, and make sure we have a set plan for when we get to a stop."
"Is there a safe spot coming up?" Palom asked.
"There should be," Yang answered. "In just a few minutes, we should be there."
And, true to his word, after a few more minutes in the tunnel, the emerged on a cliff ledge overlooking a wide underground river. A giant waterwheel spun like a Farris wheel in the current, propelling water into an opening in the cave ceiling.
"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said the waterwheel was big," Tellah agreed, looking around at the scenery. The bucket-like water carriers were big enough to carry all of them at once. The sage looked down off the cliff at the river below. The river ran at a powerful speed, straight into the waterwheel and turning it rapidly. The water that ran right into the turners created a current that swept anything it caught into the wheel. Once in one of the turners, the water was propelled upward and emptied out of a large hole in the ceiling. Tellah presumed that the hole led to the moat.
"Hey, look!" Palom said, pointing behind the waterwheel. "There's a door and some stairs. Do you think we can get up that way?"
"That was the way I came the first time I was here," Yang identified. "There is a small bridge up ahead, which we can cross to the opposite bank of the river and climb the stairs. It shouldn't be too difficult."
"Cool! Sounds like fun!" Palom said cheerfully, rubbing his hands together.
"How small a bridge are we talking?" Tellah asked.
"Pretty small, and a little bit unsteady, but it will hold; it's only a decade or two old. Cecil might know more about it."
"Can we see it from here?" Palom asked, running to the edge and looking around.
"Turn and look that way," Yang advised, pointing upstream. Palom turned to look and saw a small stone arch over the wide river. It looked very small, indeed, and it had no railing.
"Do you really think we'll be able to cross it safely?" Palom asked doubtfully.
"Just don't jump up and down on it, and you should be fine," Yang dismissed.
"Oh."
Someone shouted, sending echoes through the cavern. Yang and Porom turned to look, and Porom stirred a little. Tellah had just revived Cecil, who looked a little better, now that he had rested for a day and a half. He was looking all around himself, rightly dazed and confused.
"Where am I? What's going on?" Cecil demanded.
"We're about to cross a bridge and go into the castle," Palom informed, attempting to be helpful.
Cecil's attention was drawn to the gigantic waterwheel. "What's that? Why's it in the waterway? No, wait... I remember now. That's the thing that fuels the moat. And I know what bridge you're talking about," he added, jamming his thumbs into his temples. "It leads to a side door; it's for cleaning the moat when debris builds up after a storm or things like that."
"Do you know if it's safe?" Tellah asked.
"So long as you don't jump up and down on it."
Tellah made a thoughtful noise.
"I guess the little demonstration speech about the waterway hasn't changed much in a while," Yang noted.
They rested for a few hours at the safe spot, antsy about crossing the tiny bridge. And when they time came to get up and pick their way down a faint path down the cliff, Cecil found that his legs refused to work from being useless for so long. With a little help from everyone (except Porom, who was still riding on Yang's shoulders and fast asleep), he finally got the hang of walking again and they began their descent.
The trip down the cliff wasn't so hard; the trail was nice and wide, only a little bumpy, and not just a vertical drop. They made the trip down to the riverbank in less than an hour. Yang checked his pocket watch again.
"It's about 11:46. All things, considered, we've made good time," he announced, contemplating the little bridge. "Are we ready?"
Cecil, Tellah, and Palom all nodded doubtfully.
"Let's just get it over with," Yang said hurriedly and stepped onto the bridge. The long stone slab wobbled beneath him.
"Please be careful," Palom blurted out. "That's the only sister I've got!" He scurried after Yang, followed by Tellah and then Cecil. They inched across the plank like a balance beam, their arms extended out for balance. Still, they tottered sometimes for a few frightening seconds, aware at all times of the powerful current right beneath them. If one of them fell, they would be swept up the waterwheel and into the moat. To be drowned in the deep, cold water? To be captured by guards? Anything was possible.
Something snorted upstream, sending fine spray into the air. They all turned to look, startled to see some kind of water large water monster being propelled downstream by the current. It looked like a big yellow fish with sickly red-orange splotches all over. Its teeth were long and sharp, like claws.
"Look at the size of it," Palom said, pointing at it like the others couldn't see it. It was at least twice the size of a dolphin, thrashing in the water, trying to fight the current.
"If that thing hits us, it's going to destroy the bridge!" Tellah cried. "We have to get off this thing or we're dead!"
Everyone charged for the other side, praying that they had enough time to get across. Alas, the monster collided with them, breaking the stone slab into pieces and sending the party flying into the cold, churning water.
Yang got his head above the water, slightly surprised to see that Porom had managed to hang on to him. Like the others around him, she was coughing and breathing hard.
"What's going on?" she asked, sounding rightly panicked.
"We fell," was all that Yang had time to say. He was more concerned about the monster; in the water, they were at a disadvantage against it. "Where's the monster?" he hollered across the current, to where the others had drifted.
"It missed the water wheel!" Tellah yelled back. "It's drifting away!"
"Can't say the same for us, though!" Cecil pointed out. The current was pulling them directly into the waterwheel.
Yang gulped. "Porom, hold on as tight as you can; this could get bumpy."
A few yards ahead of them, Tellah, Cecil and Palom were swept up the carrier before Yang and Porom. Inside the wooden water carrier, Yang was standing in water up to his waist and rocked the thing with every movement. With the wheel turning so fast, they were fifty feet in the air in less than two minutes; if he tipped the carrier, he and Porom would both plummet to their deaths. He kept as still as he could.
"Hey down there! Are you guys okay?"
Yang looked up to see Cecil leaning out of the carrier above them.
"As okay as we can be," Yang answered. "Are Tellah and Palom alright?"
"If incredibly frightened doesn't count, they're fine," Cecil answered. "How's Porom?"
"Glued to my shoulders. What now?"
"The water's going to be really fast when we get dumped into the moat. Brace yourselves," Cecil advised and disappeared back into the carrier.
"Are we going to survive this?" Porom asked shakily.
"I certainly hope so."
Suddenly, they flipped upside down and both landed face-first in more fast-running water. He felt Porom let go of his shoulders, and his back went numb with cold. He pulled his head above the water, gasping for breath. Even though the water was rushing past him at a deafening speed, he could still hear his friends shouting in surprise and fear. He tried to steer himself, but couldn't seem to get control over his large body.
"Where are the twins!" he heard Cecil yell over the crash of the water.
"I don't know!" he heard Tellah holler back, before gasping for breath and disappearing below the surface.
A half-recovered memory flashed before Yang's eyes: he was in the cold, salty water, pulling Rydia back to the surface. There was the serpent that Tellah had confirmed was Leviathan. He heard Rydia scream in terror, and he heard the monster roar savagely in answer. He was spiraling into blackness once more, and Rydia was slipping our of his arms—
No! Not this time! He dove under the water, hoping to find the twins before they drowned.
He found Palom first. The child had trapped himself in an underwater current by trying to swim against it; instead of being pushed forward, he was hardly going anywhere. Yang grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the current, pushing him up to the surface to breathe.
"Where's my sister?" was the first thing he said when he had a breath.
"I'm looking for her right now," Yang informed, noting that the water was slowing down. Actually, it seemed shallower too; he felt his feet touching the bottom. Up ahead, Cecil and Tellah seemed to have gained some control themselves, swimming through the water instead of tumbling through it like toy boats.
"Are the twins okay?" Tellah asked over his shoulder.
Before yang could answer, Palom yelled back, "He lost Porom! I'll bet that she's dead now! What are we going to do?!"
"Calm down! I'm fine!" said a voice.
The four all turned to see Porom sitting on the bank of the moat ahead of them, dripping wet and panting for breath. She was trying to wipe her stringy hair out of her eyes and struggle out of her sodden coat at the same time, and she sneezed violently.
They made their way to the bank and clamored up out of the water. Palom jumped off of Yang like a springboard onto the ground, sloshing over to his sister indignantly.
"You did it again!" he scolded. "Quit scaring me like that, or I'm going to… do something to you!" he warned, shaking his finger at her.
Porom gazed up at his like she was confused. "What did I do?"
Palom snorted and thumped down on the ground beside her, shedding his coat as well. "Moving in these coats isn't so easy when they're wet, huh?" he noted, changing the subject abruptly.
Porom sniffled and nodded vaguely. She was still exhausted and sick.
The three men, also exhausted, flopped down on the cool, grassy bank. A breeze whistled by and they all shivered.
"Well, the point is that we've made it to the castle," Cecil pointed out. "Now all we have to do is walk the bank, open the front gate, get inside, find Cid, and get out as fast as humanly possible."
"That's a long list," Palom moaned. "Can't we take a nap or something first?"
"He has a point, for once," Tellah agreed, sitting up and leaning on his staff. "I don't think any of us can walk a step, much less go questing inside the castle."
"But we must get out of the wind, or we'll catch our deaths; not to mention that Porom's still sick," Yang added. "Do you think we could get a room inside the castle first? Perhaps we could disguise ourselves somehow? Convince the guards that we're refugees?"
"It could work," Cecil agreed. "If the mages I knew still work here, they won't only recognize and welcome me but they'll give us all rooms and supplies for a few hours. Speaking of which, did any of our supplies make it?"
Everyone checked themselves for their bags and items, and found themselves stripped of everything but their clothes.
Cecil sighed. "Someone get Porom; we need to get inside the castle and find some help. Let's pray that someone will help us inside."
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Alright! A reasonable stopping point!
Now, how 'bout some previews, eh?
In the next chapter…
Porom's cold is evolving into a fever! Good thing that Rosa's old teacher is about and willing to help!
"Mrs. Farrell seems very nice," Tellah noted.
"She is," Cecil agreed. "She's probably risking a lot—maybe even her life—to get us this room and medicine."
"She's so very skilled," Yang added. "She seems vaguely familiar, like I've met her somewhere before, but I can't really say. It's her face, and her eyes; I've seen them before."
"I know," Cecil said, nodding his head. "Don't you remember Rosa's last name?"
Yang thought for a minute. "No, I don't. No one ever mentioned it."
"It's Farrell."
Everyone was silent.
"Then," Palom realized, "that white mage is her mother?"
Fully restored and supplied once more, Cecil is in for yet another surprise!
"It's impressive, isn't it? What have you to say to my new gift?" Baigan said cheerily, moving his serpentine head from side to side.
Tellah felt sick; he wanted to throw up. What kind of low-life scum would allow something so evil to distort and destroy his body like this? The body of a lizard, the head and neck of a snake, and all for enhanced strength. Who would sell himself for such a grim fate? Nothing could be worth this!
He heard Palom whisper to Porom, "I knew he was trouble!"
"We should have spoken up; if we had, maybe this wouldn't have happened!" Porom answered.
Tellah spat at the monster's feet. "Some gift."
And, just when it seemed like the misfortune and lies had come to an end, it turns out that they have but come to a head!
The king laughed menacingly.
"'Your majesty'? You must be referring to that weakling I've been posing as for all these months." He grinned evilly. "I must say, playing his role has been most amusing."
Cecil growled in his throat, baring his white teeth like a mad dog. "What have you done with my king?" he demanded.
The imposter rose from the throne and advanced on them. In a voice that sounded superimposed over his real voice, he said, "You'll see him soon enough. And, while you're at it, say hi to Scarmiglione for me. He was never worthy to be an elemental lord."
In a flash, he transformed into a horrific turtle-like creature with a long forked tongue.
"Me, on the other hand, that's a different story!"
Stay tuned! The Faraxhae Family Circus will return after this short break! (We hope…)
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