A/N: Hi~ so here's the next chapter, I guess! This time it's Labyrinth exploration! Sadly, no sea exploration though...
Anyway, let's do this!
Warning and Disclaimer... *headdesks*
Enjoy~!
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.17: The Clear-Blue, Watery Labyrinth...
"Hmm... doesn't look like she can go anywhere today... the fever's quite bad."
"I see."
Just as the Guild woke up they noticed that Zakharia is still feverish.
It's been three days since they last set foot in the Labyrinth. Well, two days actually for the group that went to the sea. It was enough time for them to recover from their wounds.
Zakharia, however, isn't faring so well.
The girl forcing herself to use that spell that killed off the giant catfish apparently also worsened her already horrible condition as well. According to Cia, she's not recovering as fast as she should due to the fever. Well, yes, she will recover in due time, but the fever is hindering the recovery process.
"Here," said the Monk, handing Yuki a small piece of paper. Taking it, Yuki looked at the girl, raising an eyebrow.
"Hehe, I thought you might want to help her. That's all the ingredients I need to make the medicine for the fever!" Sighing, the Shogun stowed the paper in his bag.
By now, the Guild is ready enough to explore the second stratum. They went out of the door, checking in first with Flowdia, but she told them that they're free to explore the second stratum whenever they want. 'You've earned it!' she said.
"Ugh... My feet still hurt..." A pat on the shoulder came from the Buccaneer.
"N't *hic* used t'swimmin' *hic* yet, lass~?" said Rudollf, face flushed and body swaying from left to right, obviously drunk.
"Yea- Wh-Wha-? H-Hey, have you been drinking?!" asked the Farmer, baffled as well as angry. The Buccaneer merely continued with his drunk antics.
"Has that battle taught you nothing...?" mused the Farmer, as his shoulders sunk. Another pat on the shoulder came from Ribu.
"Don't worry! Me know way to stop him!" After she said this, Ribu called for some birds. A horde of them came out and she ordered them to peck on Rudollf's face until he snaps awake and gets sober. What? Desprate situations call for drastic measures. Not that this situation counts as drastic, but you get my point...
"Hahah-H-hey, hey! What're you doin'?! Get off of me!" Cried Rudollf as the birds kept on pecking at him, Rudollf prancing about and flailing his arms in a failed attempt to get the birds off of him. The others couldn't help but laugh at that.
Their laughter got louder when the birds got off, Rudollf's scratched up face open for everyone to see. Even Yuki let out a small chuckle.
"Argh, dammit! H-huh?!" Rudollf also realized that his hair's let loose, the band tying it lying on the ground, snapped into two.
"Oh.. oh god, haha! You look so much like a girl without your hair tied, haha!" Rudollf's blush deepened as Cia said this. And no, it's not because of him being drunk. Besides, he's sober now.
"Dammit..." the Buccaneer muttered.
"H-Help me, haha! My sides-ow, ow, hahaha!" excalimed the Princess as she tried to stop herself from laughing, but only succeding in muffling it down a little.
Cia channeled some of her qi to heal Rudollf, though it was small and didn't actually manage to completely heal his face, since Cia is having trouble concentrating due to laughing so hard.
"Alright, I think that's enough..." the Shogun's words fell on deaf ears. Feeling his left eye twich slightly, he readied his katana's sheath, walking up behind the two girls. Heinrich merely sighed as he watched.
"I said that's enough!" he gritted, as he smacked the two on the head with his katana's sheath, the girls both groaning in pain as the pain grew on their heads.
"Ow..." pouting, Cia turned to look at the Shogun,"well, that wasn't really necessary..."
"Haha, thanks! I thought my guts were litellarly gonna explode back there..." Sighing, Yuki turned to look at the others.
"So... who'll do what today?"
"Well..." Rudollf began, still rubbing his aching face,"Might as well check th'Bistro first. Missy there might have some quests ready for us."
"Yeah, he's right. I think I'll go to the bistro!" said Guad. Ribu raised her hand.
"Me... go with you." Guad and Rudollf looked at each other for a minute before nodding. The Wildling smiled, knowing that there's a quest there that they might need help with.
"Then I guess that leaves the rest of us to expore the second stratum!" At this, Chitose's signature smile crept up onto her face.
"Hehehe, this'll be intresting. I do wonder how the monsters there'll look like." Surprisingly enough, this didn't earn her a glare from Ribu.
"So, then! See ya later, I guess!" And with that, Adisa and the rest of her group walked towards the entrance. The other three waited for a bit before heading to the Butterfly Bistro.
"Well, this is it. Those stairs lead to the next stratum." Chitose merely stayed quiet, hands curled up into a ball, tightening and loosening, trying to supress her excitment.
'Thank god Ribu isn't here...' thought the Monk. Heinrich, after adding some little details to his map, led the others down the stairs.
What greeted them is an astonishing sight.
"Wow... we're actually underwater..." mumbled the Princess in amazement. Even Chitose's excitement died down slightly, replaced with surprise and astonishment.
The group though, pressed on, admiring the sight as well as keeping a lookout for monsters.
They then came across a small clearing, with a weird pole-like light coming from the ground in the middle of the clearing. The sound of footsteps diverted their thoughts from the strange looking pole of light.
"I see you've made it this far," the man, Kujura, said, greeting them. The group only silently nodded, waiting for the man to speak. Sighing, Kujura continued, pointing at the strange pole of light.
"One last piece of advice for you. You see that pole over there?" The group nodded.
"That light, or "Geomagnetic Pole" as we like to call it, can be used to transport you from the Labyrinth back into Armoroad and vice versa. We don't actually know how it was created, possibly a remnant of technology from before the Calamity. All I know is that you should utilize it as best as you can." With that, Kujura turns to leave. Adisa turned towards the pole again, eyeing it carefully.
"Huh... nifty," she mused. Heinrich mapped the location of the pole and it's surrounding areas before urging the others to move on.
As they explored, this place became more and more mesmerizing to them. The water is a clear, crystal blue, they could actually see the top, where ships sail by unknowingly, the waters above rippling a bit, distorting what sunlight managed to pierce into the bottom of the sea. Oddly enough, as Flowdia explained to them before, this part of the sea has air in it.
Plant life, algae and the like grew well here, as well as coral shells, strewn about in different colored hues, coloring the Labyrinth in a bright ballad of colors. Sea life apparently, also dwells within this maze, but nothing really dangerous.
Well... not if you add ferocious monsters into their ranks.
Mad starfishes, monster octopuses, poisonous puffer-fish, you name it. There's monsters everywhere in this place, and they are much tougher than those the group encountered at the first stratum.
As Heinrich stabbed yet another starfish right in it's open mouth, the man heaved a heavy sigh.
"I don't suppose we're too... prepared for this..." the others nodded in agreement. Chitose went over to one of the starfishes and cut some parts of it out.
"Well, at least these'll be useful." She handed over some of the materials to Heinrich.
"Sell these to the Firm. I'm sure you'll find it useful." Heinrich nodded and stowed it in his bag. He noticed that Chitose still has some of the animal parts with her.
'I'm... not even going to ask...' he thought.
"Anyone need healing?" asked Cia. The others shook their heads. The Monk sighed. Adisa then started walking, going deeper into the pathway they're in right now. "C'mon!" she called.
As they walked, both Cia and Yuki looked out for some gathering spots. Noticing this, Heinrich, Adisa and Chitose turned to them.
"Y'know," the Princess began,"you two seem to be up to something. Is it about Zakharia's fever?" Surprised that she managed to find out with no questions asked, Yuki sighed, while Cia smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, that's right..." admitted the Shogun.
"We'll help out then!" beamed Adisa.
"What do you need?" asked Heinrich.
"These." With that, the Shogun handed over the piece of paper he had to Heinrich. Reading over it carefully, the Hoplite nodded.
"Alright, we might find some of these in this startum. As for the flowers, we still have some in stock, I think." Sighing a bit in relief as well as nodding, the others walked on, eyes now looking out for gathering spots.
They did manage to find one after some walking, but it was a mining spot. Sighing, Cia and Yuki got up after some searching.
"Well, no herbs here..."
"We'll look elsewhere. C'mon!" Urged Adisa. The others nodded.
They kept on walking, Heinrich mapping as they did, when another monster came up to them, this time looking like some sort of sea lion, with sharp tusks jutting out of it's mouth.
The group brandished their weapons and enggaged in battle with the beast, noticing, as they attacked, that this beast is more powerful than any of the monsters they've encountered in this stratum so far.
"Adisa, go and augment one of our weapons with lightning!" Yuki ordered. The Princess nodded.
"Heinrich!" She called,"cover for me!" The Hoplite did as told.
Chanting an incantation, she casted the enhancement spell on anyone about to attack the sea lion-like-beast, that person being Chitose.
The Ninja slashed at the monster, slicing it's neck in half, lightning coursing through the wound.
Sheathing their weapons, they all sighed.
"Let's hope we don't encounter too much of those...," said the Monk. The others nodded in agreement, Chitose scavenging the monster for some parts that she can use later on, as well as some that the group can sell for some more equipment.
Packing everything they've gathered, the group pressed on, fatigue starting to get to them.
They then reached a door, with a somewhat dreadful presence behind it. Slowly opening the door, Heinrich led the others inside, taking a few steps into the room, which apparently, at first glace, looks to be a branching pathway.
The Hoplite led the group to the left pathway, walking as well as mapping, before noticing that the two branching pathways is actually just one pathway split in two due to a thick wall of trees, forming a loop.
Another thing he noticed is a crocodile creature looming at the end of the pathway, just outside of the loop.
They needed to get past that thing in order to proceed. Though it didn't look like the giant croc will move anytime soon.
"We're going to have to lure it..." said Heinrich. The others hesitated a bit. Crocodiles may look bulky and heavy, but they are fast.
The Hoplite though, stepped forward without a second thought. He turned back to the group.
"When I give the signal, make a break for it." The others nodded, albeit hesitating a bit.
Heinrich then gave a loud whistle to get the beast's attention.
Sure enough, it worked.
The giant croc slowly turned towards Heinrich, saliva dripping out of it's mouth as it snarled, it's mouth looking as if twisting into something almost like a smile.
It then lunged at Heinrich, jaw open, ready to devour it's prey.
"Now!" The others nodded, sprinting towards the other side of the pathway, Heinrich following behind them, while still keeping the croc's attention.
Arriving at the other end of the pathway, the group kept on running, as they noticed that the croc is still chasing them, Heinrich right in front of it.
After another while of running, the group stopped, Heinrich catching up with them soon after, still in one piece, the croc no longer chasing them.
"Heinrich," Adisa began,"do not... do something like that again, please..," she said in between breaths.
After a short while, the group managed to catch their breath and walked on, Heinrich mapping before noticing another one of those crocs looking at them.
Once more, the group sprinted towards wherever to escape the giant beast.
As they stopped, they noticed that the croc is no longer chasing also noticed that they've reached a dead end, where there's a small puddle with a school of fish inside of it, peeking out of the water, mouths agape as if in search of something to put inside.
Kneeling down, Adisa reached to her knapsack, rummaging inside for some food she can give to the fish. Grabbing onto a piece of bread, she took it out, looking at it before tearing apart a small piece, teairing it into smaller pieces and dropping it into the water, the fish huddled into one small crowd in front of Adisa, catching the bread.
After a while, the fish went away, the bread completely demolished. Smiling, Adisa got up, putting the rest of the bread back inside her knapsack.
"Alright, let's go!" The others nodded, Cia leaning over slightly to Adisa.
"You are way too nice..." Adisa chuckled, brushing off the comment.
She then heard some rustling noises coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw some big crabs, claws snapping, ready to grab some fish-the same fish she fed just now. Acting on instict, the Princess unsheathed her sword, walking slowly towards the other side of the small pond, coming up behind the two purple crabs, thrusting her sword forward, stabbing it on the back.
The other crab noticed it's friend dying, crumbling onto the ground with a loud thud. As if enraged, it lunged at Adisa, claws snapping open and shut, ready to snap Adisa's neck in two.
It stopped all of a sudden, it's body wriggling before stopping completely. As she looked back, Adisa noticed that Heinrich is behind her, his spear thrusted into the monster's body.
"Be more careful, Adisa..." the Hoplite said as he released the beast, letting it's body drop down onto the ground.
"Seriously, you are way too nice!" Sighing, Adisa sheathed her sword.
"I can't help it! I mean, those fish just ate and they were about to get eaten and well..." she just shrugged after that, ending the disciussion.
"You know, I see a little piece of Ribu in you for some reason..." said the Ninja, as she picked up some of the crab parts-mainly shells-, dropping it into her knapsack.
"I think that should be enough for today..." the others nodded as Heinrich took out an Ariadne Thread.
"But wait, what about the herbs we need for Zakharia's medicine?" asked Cia.
"We should get those tomorrow. Besides, I don't think we're that far from the stairs," said Chitose.
"And the only gathering spot we can find here are only mining spots. The herbs ar probably on the second floor of this strata." Nodding, Heinrich used the Ariadne Thread, warping them back to the Labyrinth's entrance.
-To Be Continued-
A/N: Oh god... writer's block in the middle of writing this, ugh... I need to play some more EO3... TTnTT And I'm already at the end of the main game! *headdesks*
Anyway, I feel like making an EO4 fanfic, so yeah, I guess I'll make it, but until I finish this one I won't upload the fic so yeah! ^^
And now I shall go do stuff *sneaks away*