Author's Note: I'm really, really sorry about the wait. Writer's block, all that stuff. No excuse, really. Kill me. KILL ME, DUMBLEDORE!

Anyway, the chapter is (finally) up. Read, enjoy, subscribe, comment, and like! Oh, wait, this isn't YouTube. Crap.

Whatevers.

Next chapter should be up soon (Where on earth have I heard that one before?!). Also, the next chapter will include LOTS of StarCraft action; PvZ, all that good stuff. I look forward to writing it!

Review, please! :D

AESEARIA

"Boys," she called up towards the tiny spark of light from whence she fell, "I think we have a problem…"

"You okay down there?" Daniel's concerned voice floated down to her.

"Fine. It's only that there appears to be wood down here. Tell me, does wood grow naturally underground? I'm quite certain these columns aren't natural."

"Wait, wood?" Daniel's voice suddenly became tense. "Ethan, can you make the jump? We're going down."

Ethan grunted somewhere above, and a few moments later, a hulking set of Terran armor fell before Aesearia. With much clanking and struggling, the suit of armor made it up standing, but a split second after it stood up, another body, this time without armor, crashed through the air and landed on the Marine, taking them both to the ground again. It was a miracle they both weren't dead, but again, physics in this world might be different.

"Dammit…" Ethan muttered as he pushed himself up, gingerly rubbing the back of his helmet (Terrans were so weird).

Then, Arf fell down and landed on his helmet, which led to much cursing.

"Well," Daniel said, once he was up and about once more, "this is an abandoned mineshaft. Those are underground naturally generating structure found within the game. They usually contain cave spiders, which are small, agile, and poisonous, so watch your step. If you're lucky enough, there'd be a tremendous amount of loot in here. Let's find out. Watch out, though, as it's quite easy to get lost."

With that, the three of them veered off into one of the deep, dark hallways lined with wood.

The initial trek turned out to be pretty harmless, despite what Daniel had said. True, Aesearia heard ominous clattering of fangs from time to time, but nothing jumped at her from the shadows, and so she assumed that she was safe.

The hallway they chose ended in a small, enclosed area ridden with overlapping white lines ("They're called cobwebs, Aesearia."). There was a small chest in the center, ominously lonely amongst all the spider-webs. One lone torch was placed directly in front of the chest.

"Excellent," Daniel said, practically drooling over the prospect of looting a chest, "maybe we'll get something worthwhile. Let's see…" Daniel walked one step into the room, aiming for the chest.

Then chaos reigned.

At least a dozen small, blue spiders leapt from the unseen corners of the room, attacking Daniel. Daniel had but a second to react, but made the right choice by swerving backwards. All the spiders missed him and landed in a pile, which dazed them a bit; but not for long. Daniel, wide-eyed with surprise, turned, panicked, and ran.

"Screw the chest!" he yelled. "We got to get outta here!"

Arf followed immediately, barking in alarm. Ethan took a quick glance at the spiders, decided that he could do without spiders in his life, and ran after Daniel, somehow still managing to look not-too-panicked. Aesearia followed suit.

After a bit of running, Aesearia turned around and saw that the spiders were actually gaining on them, a fact that seemed to be lost on both of the Terrans. Sighing to herself about human stupidity once more, she turned around and casted a small psionic storm in the middle of the hallway. As she did this, she felt a sick feeling somewhere in her abdomen.

Must be the effort it took to cast the storm, she thought grimly. Well, at least that will keep them at bay for now. More will come, though.

Clutching her stomach, Aesearia ran after the two Terrans. Eventually, she reached the place where she fell through the hole. Thankfully, the humans had dug a staircase in the cave wall to let her up and were standing above, waiting for her.

"Hurry," Ethan yelled. "We've got to move! They'll come soon!"

"Understood," Aesearia said grimly.

Once Aesearia made it up, Daniel took out a small cube of stone (how does that inventory work?) and sealed off the entrance. Then they all stood there for a moment, humans and dogs catching their breaths, Protoss clutching their stomachs.

"So," Daniel panted, breaking the silence, "that should hold them off."

A block of stone on the ground popped out of its place.

Daniel looked like he was about to cry, with that mixture of shock, anger, and confusion on his face.

"Or not," he frowned eventually. "RUN!"

Taking the cue, all four of them, dog included, dashed faster than the wind out of the tunnel they had dug. After running forever, they reached the giant downwards-sloping tunnel that they encountered earlier. Daniel's head swerved left to right, looking for an exit. Aesearia turned her head around at the sound of pincers clicking and saw that the spiders were coming.

"Quickly!" she shouted, gripping Daniel's arm.

"There!" Daniel screamed, pointing at a tiny speck of light.

The four of them took off simultaneously again.

Aesearia's legs were beginning to ache from all the running, which was not a good sign. The extensive training required for all Zealots ensured that a mere small jog could not possibly tire a Zealot. How long had they run?

They finally reached the atrium they had come across at the beginning of their cave exploration. Aesearia wanted only to fall down and die, but she forced herself to keep going. She could tell the two Terrans were doing the same as well, though Arf didn't look terribly tired.

For Aiur, she kept on telling herself. For that brighter tomorrow for all of Protoss. For our unification. For Aiur!

Daniel and Ethan had already climbed up the small, narrow "staircase" leading to the surface. Arf stayed behind, whimpering at Aesearia, his black, square eyes, full of emotion, peering pleadingly at her.

Wait. That's not right. Arf didn't have any feelings. He was a robot! Or a program! He's supposedly part of a game! How does that work?!

"Go!" Aesearia yelled, pushing Arf up the staircase. Sensing the urgency in her voice, Arf gave one last sad look at Aesearia and bolted up the stairs (Hang on! He can't sense urgency! Or look sad! What is this nonsense?!). Aesearia took one look behind her, saw the dark blue sea of the terribly Zerg-like spiders, and dashed up after her companions.

She kept her eyes on the sunlight, willing herself to go faster. Her legs were going numb. How far had she run? She never felt this exhausted in battle. Well, maybe there were a few times, but running?! She was a Zealot! An experienced one, at that!

The spot of sunlight grew a tad brighter, a tad larger. But it still seemed so far away! What was happening?! She couldn't seem to reach it! It was almost like an elusive dream; the more you clung onto it, the faster it slipped through your fingers. Each time Aesearia felt like she was about to escape, the spot of light retreated, taunting her, luring her to her untimely death…

But no! Suddenly, the spot of light grew much brighter, much bigger, outshining and outsizing the light of Aiur itself. It sped towards her, and, feeling only slightly taken aback at the sudden change (she couldn't think quite straight), Aesearia embraced the light, falling into the comfort of oblivion, allowing the brightness to engulf her, to cradle her, to seize her painful struggle, to calm her immature mind, to lay her to rest.

Once more, the darkness (how ironic!) of unconsciousness claimed her.

(She had already lost count. She didn't even want to know how many times she'd fallen unconscious in this world already.)