A/N: Yo, I'm back! Sorry I haven't been updating in a while... *SMACKED*
Anyway, NOW THE CHASE FOR OLYMPIA BEGINS! :)
Anyway, let's do this! ...While I'm listening to sad music DX
Warning and Disclaimer... *points*
Enjoy~!
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.23: The Search Begins!
"What? No way..."
As Heinrich explained to the group that went out to sea of what happened between his group and Olympia, Adisa and her group couldn't say anything. All they could do is stay quiet.
Suddenly, a rush of coughs came from Adisa's mouth, sending her into a small, yet almost violent sounding coughing fit.
"Adisa!"
"N-No, I'm okay, haha... just chocked on my own saliva..." she then embarrasingly covered her face a bit.
"You sure? I can whip up something for you if your getting sick or anything..." offered the Monk. The Princess though, politely refused.
"So, what're we gonna do?" asked the Gladiator.
"Obviously go after her, ya dummy!" answered his sister. Yuki then came into the room.
"Good news. The two are getting better, about two more days worth of rest, and they should be up and running again."
"Oh, thank god..."
After some more chit chat, the group decided to turn in for the night.
During that time though, Heinrich decided to go out, saying something about going to the post office. Coming back into the room a few minutes later, he woke Adisa up, showing her a letter.
"It's from your brother, though I don't know what's inside."
"Oh! Thanks." Adisa took the letter, and as Heinrich turned in for the night, the Princess decided to get off the bed, turning on the candle on the desk, getting a scrap of paper and a quill pen and a bottle of ink, the girl carefully opened the letter's seal, peeling off the cover.
'Sister, how have you been? I'm sorry I couldn't write to you sooner. It seems father is starting to catch on, though I don't know how... I'm truly sorry, but I swear I did not tell him a thing, not even the slightest hint!
Please, do get back here as quickly as you can... With father starting to catch on to yours and Heinrich's whereabouts, he truly is getting even more worried. Even mother is.'
His handwriting suddenly started to get a little shaky here.
'If your wondering how I have been, I've been doing good. I hope you have to. Have you been getting enough sleep and eating well? I know the Labyrinth is a very intresting place to explore, but do look out after yourself-'
Suddenly, Adisa closed the letter, spotting something on it that she'd rather not think about.
But she read everything. Putting the letter back inside the envelope, she got her paper ready, dipping the quill pen inside of the ink bottle, writing her reply.
'It's ok. I don't think I could've relpied to you in short notice, haha! I'm in some pretty deep trouble right now... well, my whole Guild is, actually. But I've been doing great!
Oh, have I been getting enough sleep and been eating properly or no? Ha, is this mom, or you, bro?
Nah, I'm kidding. I've been getting enough sleep, and yes, I've been eating well. How about you?
Yeah, the Labyrinth is really intresting! There's actually a Labyrinth that's underwater. And we can breathe in there! And I'm not joking, this is me being brutally serious!
Anyway, you take care of yourself, bro... I saw what's on the letter, you know... and it's not your handwriting.
Sincerely
-Adisa'
She then let the ink dry a little bit before folding the letter, fishing out an envelope before sealing the letter tight. She then cleaned up the table and blew out the candle, going back to bed with an oddly worried expression on her face.
Eh, she'll just deliver the letter in the morning.
The sun came up quite early today. The group woke up as the sunlight went past the window and brightened the room.
Waking up, the group got ready for the day, Cia and a few others not forgetting to tend to their still bedridden Guildmates.
Today will be a big one. The group went out of the inn, a tense feeling in the air around them. No words are spoken as they walked towards the Labyrinth's entrance.
Once they arrived, again, they did the usual routine.
"Alright, I guess I'll go into the Labyrinth this time. I wanna see this for myself."
"Are you sure, Adisa?" The Princess merely nodded, her expression stern, oddly enough.
"Betrayal's the worst thing that could happen to someone... I can't blame you for wanting to know her motives. I'll be coming with you." Cia nodded.
"I'm going with you guys too. Can't wait to get my hands on her..." Yuki sighed. Great, she's angry again... this can't be good.
"Sorry, but I think I'm gonna have t'sit this one out." Everyone turned to Rudollf, who's smiling sheepishly.
"Can't be havin' these lasses drivin' our ship. They ain't got the experience fer it!"
As offended as the others may be, they'd have to agree. They have boarded ships, but they certainly haven't drove one yet.
"I think I'll go with you too." Guad then stepped towards the group headed into the Labyrinth. "I haven't been down there in a while, haha!"
Everything settled, the groups parted, going their separate ways.
Guad, having only been in this part of the Labyrinth for the first time, gawked at the place's beauty and strangeness the moment he saw it. This place is underwater, and he's able to breathe in here.
According to what Kujura told Heinrich the night before, they are to meet in the 7th floor. But seeing as there is no where else to go that they haven't mapped yet, they headed to the one place where they saw Olympia in this stratum; the clearing where she directed them to what could've been their deaths.
Once they arrived at said-area, the girl is nowhere to be found. Though she did leave something quite convenient for them...
Heinrich went over to where Olympia once stood, specifically where a particular tree that fell victim to her little 'demonstration' was.
And, as expected, there is now a crack in the otherwise impassable wall of trees.
"All of you, come here." The others went to where Heinrich is, their faces brightening. They've found the real route they should go through.
'Well, pretty convenient leave there...' thought Cia as she leapt through the passage, the others chasing after her.
Right past a shortcut is a narrow, stretching path. They walked through it as Heinrich mapped, Cia trying to restrict herself as much as she can.
The road then branched out, with one headed south. They voted to go south first, going through a few twist and turns before coming into a dead end, with a soldier sitting in it.
"Ah, hello! Are you the Guild who's going to help us with our search?"
"Yes, why?"
"I may not be able to do much, but uh... I can sell you some things. This Ariadne Thread here for 150 En, and this spear here for 4000 En. Sound good?"
Heinrich checked his spear, since he's the only one wielding one in the group. Guad checked his knapsack and realized that they forgot to buy an Ariadne Thread!
"I think I'll buy the thread!" Guad then handed over 150 En to the guard, who smiled and gave the Ariadne Thread in return.
"I think we're gonna pass up on the rapier though, sorry..." said the Princess.
"No, no, it's alright. I hope everything goes smoothly for you then. Godspeed!" The Princess nodded in thanks and went off, the others following right behind her.
Backtracking, and going through a few more twist and turns, they finally found the stairs to the next floor. Does it head directly towards the Deep City? Let's find out.
The group descended from the stairs and arrived at the next floor; the 7th one, where they're supposed to rendezvous with Kujura.
Walking down a path, they noticed a familiar face up ahead.
Noticing the groups approach, Kujura walks towards the group unhurriedly, his disposition unchanged.
"I've heard from the Senatus that you'll be helping us with our search?"
"Yes. Have you found anything?" asked Heinrich.
"No, nothing as of yet. Though some of my men did report fishes preventing the woman's pursuit. My men cannot deal with those things. I'll leave that to you."
'Fish, eh? I bet they're worse down here...' thought the Monk.
"And I take it your base camp's over there?" asked Yuki, pointing at a door, south of where they are right now, no presence of monsters there whatsoever.
"Yes, that's right. You can report back to me there, should you need to." Kujura then points to the passage beyond them.
"Find the Sentry patrolling the Labyrinth. He may have some information for you. 'Ware the Labyrinth." And with that, Kujura walks back to base camp. The others went on their way as well.
They walked, mapping as they did, finding a shortcut marked by patches of blue flowers, before turning and spotting a Sentry up ahead.
Noticing the group's approach, the Sentry walks up to them.
"You must be Guild Zephyr! Glad to have you out here." Heinrich nodded.
"Got anything on Olympia?" asked the Monk.
"Huh? Oh, well... she's not this way, that's for sure. It's a dead end. But everyone else headed down that hidden passage there. Maybe that where you'll find her?"
"I'm thinking it's not gonna be that easy... but thanks, though." Adisa, with a nod, went off, leading the others to the affirmed passage.
Once going through the hidden passage, the group came into more winding paths. Taking a few more steps forward, they suddenly feel a powerful presence.
"Oh... is that the fish that Kujura guy mentioned?" uttered Adisa. They peeked a little and yes, there is a big, green ancient fish up ahead. No, they're not going to fight it.
Quickly running for their lives, as the fish noticed and chased them, they got far enough that the fish decided to abandon pursuit, leaving them to travel further. And they did just that.
Suddenly, a thought came to Adisa.
"Why wouldn't they want the Deep City to be found?" Everyone turned towards the Princess.
"Well, I mean, if the City is found, then that'd mean they'd be able to flourish further, right? Other cities would want to make relations with them. Plus, it's not like their resources are unlimited."
"I don't think it's just that..." Yuki stopped for a minute, before sighing.
"It's an ancient city. They must have a better reason to lock themselves up. Something we can't understand."
"I guess that's true..." The group pressed on, albeit now even more puzzled by this ancient city.
After going through more twisting pathways, getting chased by more fish, finding two shortcuts that are currently impassable, and mapping some more, the group came across a new monster; a giant, royal looking starfish.
It kept on summoning other starfishes, who lunged at the group.
Heinrich covered for Adisa as she nearly got hit by one, Yuki cleaved one in two, and Cia managed to kill off the rest.
The giant starfish, now left alone to fend for itself, lunged at the group, it's mouth open. Adisa quickly stabbed through the starfish's mouth, instantly killing it.
Pulling her rapier out of the gaping hole on the starfish's head, the Princess suddenly went into another small coughing fit, shorter than the one this morning, but still rather violent sounding.
"H-Hey, seriously, you ok? Really, I can whip up something for you right now if you need it!"
"A-Actually, can you uh... make something for my cough? I think I might actually be getting a little sick." Cia nodded and immediately got to work, sitting on the floor and brewing herbs she brought with her on a makeshift bowl.
After she finished, she handed the bowl to Adisa, who hapilly took it and swallowed the medicine.
"It isn't much, but hopefully it helped.." said Cia as she packed her things.
"Nah, actually, my throat feels a little better now, thanks!" With newfound energy, the Princess walked on, the others following, Yuki shaking his head whilst sighing.
They then walked down another narrow path, where they got chased by one more fish before findind a group of Sentries taking rest in a small corner.
"Huh? Oh, your explorers from Zephyr, right? If you want to know where the woman is, then no, we haven't found a thing yet. Though you may turn up something in the southern side of the map. The others headed down there, too." Nodding and thanking the man, they followed his clue and walked towards the southern part of the area.
They reached it, and after getting attacked by a huge swarm of starfishes, they spotted a buard up ahead.
Noticing them, the guard took a stance to block the group's path.
"Don't go through this fork here. Ten of our men made that mistake... not one came back." His voice clearly has fear written all over it, and even if his face is covered, the distress twisting his face could easily still be seen.
After delivering his warning, the man ran, as if fleeing. Cia gulped a bit.
"Ten men never came back... should we really head down there?"
"It's one of those fish that were chasing us earlier. Just make a break for it and keep on heading straight." Yuki then took a few cautious steps forward before running at full speed, the others following.
They went through more pathways, finding a Nectar, before getting chased by the same fish, narrowly escaping it. After a while of walking, the group found a shortcut that, conveniently, they can pass through now.
"Huh... What's past here?" Here's hoping it's going to be Olympia so Cia can kick her butt... maybe.
They didn't find her in there though. Instead, they found two treasure chests, one containing a Volt Jar, the other...
"Whoa, this is a lot of cash. Who'd store money down here, anyway?" asked the Princess. The others shrugged.
Collecting the money and storing it safely inside their knapsack, the group exited the small room and went back on their way.
They then found another shortcut that, again, conveniently lead past the four way where that fish is at.
Taking a few more steps, the party is greeted by a grotesque sight.
Blood bathed the floor as a lone Sentry's body lied limp in front of them. Cia checked for a pulse, but found nothing. The man was already long gone.
"Hey, take a look at this." The group glanced at where Yuki directed them.
Whatever killed this man is bathed in blood, so much blood, it managed to leave a rather large trail behind.
"Well, there's a trail... should we follow it though?"
"Maybe... how 'bout it?" Yuki turned towards Heinrich.
Well... he is their unnoficial leader.
"If you all can still go on, then yes, we'll follow the trail now. If not, then we'll head back."
"We're all good! Besides, as sick as this sounds, I'm pretty curious now." Sighing, everyone heeded the Princess' offer and pressed on.
But before they did, curiously, Cia searched the body. She found a shiny, bronze medal, clutched tightly in the Sentry's hands.
Maybe she could find out who this man was if she took a look at the medal? But then again... this item seemed important. Should she disturb a man's rest?
She decided to take it.
"Sorry...," she uttered as she carefully slipped the medal out of the man's hands.
Cia confirmed the man's time of death to be hours, maybe even a day beforehand, due to rigor mortise. The man's body is already stiff, and it took her some effort to pry his hands open, but she managed to slip the medal out of the man's hands.
Silently, Cia prayed for the man's soul while clutching onto his medal, hoping that now the man had found peace. She then stood up, signaling to the others that she's ready to go.
They then walked further, entering a branch in the road that lead to a dead end. Walking forward, they noticed yet another shortcut that they can pass through immediately.
Say... what's with the sudden abundance of shortcuts?
Well, they didn't linger there to think. They simply went through and is greeted by more narrow, long corridors.
Well... not really, it's actually a branching path, both with long, narrow corridors.
The group decided to go and head straight, Heinrich already guessing what the area past the other branch would look like.
After a turn, the group came across a lone figure. Another Sentry.
"Oh, hey. If your looking for that woman, then, no, she's not here. But I have a favor to ask..."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, see, there's this guy who was with me, but then he took a different road. I'm starting to get worried. Would you mind looking for him?"
"...Yeah, sure, why not? ...I mean, you don't mind, right guys...?" Guad hesitantly asked.
"Well... sure, alright. Just wait here, ok?" The Sentry smiled.
"Oh, thanks! Once you find him, can you tell him to head back to base camp? I got another man down just past here, so I'm counting on you." Cia then blinked.
"Hold up a sec... don't tell me..." She then proceeded to fish out the medal she picked up from the corpse.
"Is... is this that man's..."
"W-Where did you get that? Wait, don't tell me-"
"We're sorry..." Cia's eyes went downcast, rage starting to boil inside of her. Somehow, she knew the girl, Olympia, to be the cause of the man's death.
"No... how... t-tell me he at least went painlessly..." Though the man knew that was nearly impossible. The groups silence is proof of that.
Contemplating about what to say to the man, he suddenly spoke, after taking a deep breath.
"...Sorry about that, I was just shaken. Thank you for finding this at least, though..." said the Sentry as he clutched the blood soaked medal in his hands.
"No, no, it's ok, we understand..."
"The moment we were told to go down in the Labyrinth, we prepared ourselves for situations like these. Thank you. Here, something for your troubles." The man then hands over a spear to the group, Heinrich taking it. The spear seem to be in better condition than his current one. He decided to switch out his old spear for this new one.
"I'll go report this to Kujura, then... can't keep standing around here forever." The man then walked off.
The group too, walked on. They went back through the shortcut, and walked further, soon coming upon the stairs to the next floor.
Fatigue suddenly hit the group. Deciding that they can't go on tired like this, the group decided to head back.
Surprisingly, night hasn't come yet. And the fact that the group didn't feel that tired, they decided to just take a small breather before coming back tonight.
"So, we'll just stay at the inn until nightime?"
"Yep."
"Do they pay half price?!"
"I dunno..." answered the Princess. The monk sighs.
That question is soon answered though as they reached the inn and rented a room for the remainder of the day. No, they didn't bet it at half price, to Cia's dismay.
Still though, what will they find the deeper they go?
Well... they'll find out soon tonight.
-To Be Continued-
A/N: Phew, this was long! But, I managed to write it in one day, surprisingly, since I'm actually feeling lazy today.
Oh, and also, since this is written on the 31st of January, happy Chinese New Years to you all who are celebrating! May you all be blessed with good luck and fortune!
And now I shall go lie down*lies down on mattress*