The Lost Civilization: DLC

by dashboardgecko

A collection of one-shots and mini-stories based off MH fanfiction 'The Lost Civilization,' written to sate my thirst to write! Let's see what sort of adventures and antics the heroes, villains, and side characters of TLC get up to after the main story as we wait for MH4 and the sequel to The Lost Civilization!

8. Underground - Part 3

Underground – Part 3

Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine.

Edited by: Hoenn Master96 and Thomas A. Hawk

This one-shot is CANON with The Lost Civilization

Inspired by A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

---

"Ow… ow, ow! Damn it, that hurts!" Rena continued to hiss and curse as Heine did his best to apply bandages to her leg. He wasn't trained in battlefield medicine or anything, but he knew from experience that he was better at it than either Rena or Cait, if not as knowledgeable.

The circular wound Rena had received from the Giggi was thankfully not as nasty as it had looked. Mostly it had seemed worse since they hadn't had a chance to treat it immediately, and had been forced to run for a good ten minutes at least before stopping. By then, even with her dark skin, Rena was looking pale, and most of the armor on her left leg was lined with trails of blood. The wound itself was thankfully not that bad, but Rena was still forced to drink a couple potions to numb the pain and stop the bleeding while Heine saw to treating her.

Rena had wanted them to cover more ground before they stopped, but despite the Giggi's bite not being too bad, leaving the wound untreated was not a good idea with Rena looking pale, and her breathing becoming more ragged. It got to the point where Heine just couldn't take it anymore, and he and Cait had forcibly grabbed the huntress and dragged her into a nearby alcove to treat her.

At least they could see what they were doing. The red light which had led them into this cave in the first place had turned out to be a rather spectacular sight: hundreds of thousands of crystals, like the one they'd seen back in the lush cavern before, but only as small as Heine's fist, dotted the walls and ceiling of the cave. There were dozens of different colors too, though they were predominantly reds and oranges and yellows, giving the cavern the noticeably red glow they'd followed in the first place. It was a magnificent sight, one Heine would have enjoyed seeing under better conditions.

"They sell these - ow - glowstones in Loc Lac," Rena said idly, brushing her hand against one which emitted a dark green hue. Heine grunted in reply as he finished tying off the bandages. "All the rage, don't you know? All the brightness of a full lantern, but no flames. They're all - ow, ow, ow! Do you need to bind them so tight?"

"Yes, Rena, I do. Do you want to bleed out? It's not exactly a proud death for a hunter, to be killed from a Giggi bite, is it?"

Rena huffed in reply. "Fine, fine… Where was I? Oh, yeah, they're really expensive though… Mostly you just see them in Guild buildings or in the houses of really rich folks. Some of the really famous hunters have them too, but… Well, not many of them. We should grab a few handfuls of these, actually; we could make a killing in one of the cities."

Heine hummed in reply, trying to focus on his work. He'd gotten the wound covered, and it seemed to be good enough to stop the bleeding. He only hoped it would hold when they pressed on. They'd all suffered during their encounter in the Gigginox nest, even if Rena had been the only one to be physically wounded. Heine and Cait had both needed to drink a potion to help stave off their injuries, and the taste of blood still lingered faintly in Heine's mouth.

"Alright, I think I'm done now," Heine told Rena, pushing himself back to his feet. The huntress poked gingerly at the bindings once or twice, before deciding it was good enough and getting to her feet as well, stretching a bit as she did so.

The sound of clinking announced Cait's return from scouting ahead. "The cave goes on for a while, nya," he told the humans. "Couldn't find anything purrticularly interesting, though. A couple paths branch off, nya, but none of them really head upwards. Thankfully, these glowstones keep the path lit fur a long ways."

"Let's get going then," Rena said eagerly, sparing a worried look back in the direction they'd come from. "I'd like to put more distance between us and that cave, in case that Gigginox that spotted us decides to see if it can figure out where we got to."

The cave proved to be surprisingly easy to traverse, even if it didn't seem to be heading upwards toward the surface at all. There were very few rocks and loose stones in the path, and the base of the cavern was well-worn, as though it had been heavily-traveled. It set Cait on edge, however, as the Felyne worried it meant the tunnel was used commonly by Gigginox or something else. The caves were quiet though, and only the trio's footsteps and occasional talking echoed off the walls as they pressed on.

Heine had to admit the glowstones growing from the ceiling were quite beautiful. Now that he could appreciate them, he could see why they'd be so popular in the cities. If nothing else, they'd be a lot safer than using lanterns or fireplaces like most people did in this hunter's world. He had to admit, he contemplated gathering a collection and selling them back on the surface, or at least making an effort to remember the location of this tunnel. Maybe Rena was onto something…

However, the thought of Rena seemed to spark a strange, hot sensation in his chest… and not the usual ones. Something… unnatural had been welling up in him since their encounter with the Gigginox horde, something he wasn't sure he was comfortable with. His fear at the thought of Rena dying, as well as her attempt to save his life against almost a hundred Gigginox, had stirred new feelings within him. He shook his head, trying to force the thoughts out.

"We should try and take a break soon," Heine said after an hour or so of trekking; it was hard to tell time in these caves. The tunnels had started sloping downwards again, much to the chagrin of the trio, and Cait had once again ventured on ahead to make sure everything was clear.

"Why bother? None of us are really tired," Rena noted, kicking a pebble aside behind him. "Besides, shouldn't we be trying to put as much distance between us and the Gigginox cave as we can?"

"Well, maybe… but you're still injured, Rena. We should try and take it easy for a little bit, especially considering how long you went without getting bandaged up. What if you pass out from blood loss or something?"

"Oh, come on, Heine. You know me better than that!" Rena chuckled. "I'm a tough girl, after all, so we can keep going for a while longer. I can handle a little bit of walking."

"The same way you could handle a hundred Gigginox?" Heine replied sourly, wincing as the words left his mouth.

"I'm… What?"

"The Gigginox!" Heine snapped. He could feel his face flaring from frustration as the anger that had been growing in him burst, but refused to turn and face the huntress behind him. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the path ahead. "What made you think you could take on that many of them at once?! It was suicidal! You could've been killed!"

"Excuse me?" Rena sputtered, flabbergasted at the outburst. "I was trying to help you! I was trying to give you and Cait time to escape! It was a gut decision I made to try and keep you both from-"

"A gut decision! That's the thing! You didn't think it through! You charged into a dangerous situation without a plan!"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"And deciding to become bait for an army of Gigginox was how you were going to pull that off? Deciding to slice up a Giggi when its parent was right outside of our hiding place? How were those supposed to help? What would've happened if you'd… what if you'd died? What would Cait and I have done then?" Heine shook his head. "I mean, I know I'm not a hunter, so I can't be certain if I'm right, but shouldn't you try and act more logically in a situation like that instead of just blindly charging in?"

Heine's eyes lowered towards the ground in front of him, and he found his voice growing quieter. His anger seemed to fizzle out in his chest a little as well. "And even if that was the only option… you… you should've focused on your own survival instead of mine. You have the best chance of surviving out of all of us, Rena… you of all people should be the one to escape. If we can't all make it out, it's better to leave behind the ones who won't be able to survive anyway. It's… it's the most logical conclusion."

"It's not… It's not always about logic!" Rena sputtered. Her tone made Heine pause and turn to face the huntress; something about her seemed… off.

When he looked at her, however, his breath caught in his throat. Rena looked even worse than she had before. Her face had grown pale and lethargic, and her eyes were out of focus. Every step she took was unbalanced, and she was sweating profusely, her lips cracked as she gasped for breath.

"Rena!" he gasped, rushing over to her. "Are you okay? I didn't-"

"No… no!" the huntress snapped, grabbing his collar and glaring and Heine unevenly. "You… Don't you change the subject! Just… just because something's logical… it doesn't make it the right choice! Some things are worth more than you can just calculate in your head! Sometimes you have to… have to follow your gut instinct!"

"Rena, please…"

"I have to protect you, Heine…" the huntress moaned. Rena grip slipped, and Heine nearly toppled as the huntress dipped towards him, clutching his shoulders awkwardly. "I'm not going to risk your life just because it's… logical! I have to protect you… I promised… promised I would! Even if… even if it means I have to…" The huntress' eyes seemed to lose focus then. "Heine… I don't feel good…"

Rena suddenly turned and retched, vomiting onto the rocky floor. Heine yelped in shock, jumping back, but when the huntress' legs gave out, he rushed forward again to keep her standing. Rena continued heaving however, and Heine struggled to keep her upright while trying to avoid the spray of vomit accumulating on the cave floor.

"Cait!" Heine cried. The Felyne rushed back from up ahead, and catching sight of Rena's state, darted back and worriedly looked the huntress over. "What's going on?" Heine asked desperately.

"I… I don't know, nya!" the Felyne replied. "She wasn't… I've never seen her like this!"

"I… we need to get her someplace safe! Can you find us someplace to take her? A nook or alcove or something?"

"R-right, nya!" With a quick turn, the Felyne dropped to all fours and darted over the rocks, leaping with haste through the dim red tunnel.

Heine remained next to Rena, watching over the huntress worriedly as she continued to empty her stomach onto the cave floor. She staggered, dropping to her knees as the vomiting continued, until she had nothing left to expel and was left dry heaving. Heine struggled to keep her from collapsing into the pool over her own puke, his own strength barely enough to support the tall huntress' weight and the great sword she bore on her back. Thankfully, the fits of vomiting began to wear off, though Rena's expression became one of pain and delirium. Her breathing came in either gasping breaths or ragged coughs.

"I'm sorry!" the huntress gasped, clinging desperately to him. "I'm sorry, Heine… I just wanted to keep you safe… Please don't hate me…"

"Rena… I could never-"

"I found someplace, nya!"

Cait's cry came from up ahead, sounding like the Felyne was about fifty yards ahead or so. Heine hurriedly wrapped an arm around Rena and lead the huntress in Cait's direction as she began to babble incoherently. Cait had indeed found someplace relatively safe for them, and was waiting for the two humans at the entrance of a small alcove. The opening was just large enough for Heine and Rena to limp through without too much trouble, but small enough that a Gigginox couldn't get in without some effort.

As soon as they entered the small room, however, Rena's strength gave out, and the huntress collapsed, dragging Heine down to the floor with her. As she moaned in pain, Heine and Cait hurried to take care of her, pulling her great sword off her back and laying her down on the flattest place they could find.

As they were doing so, however, Heine's eyes landed on the bandage encircling the huntress' leg, and the courier reeled back in horror. The bite wound from the Giggi had turned a vile purple color, and sickly violet puss seeped through the white bandages, mixing with the red of blood. Under the bindings, Rena's dark skin had grown pale with a tint of sickly purple, and the veins had become more pronounced. Cait glanced down at the wound, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Poison, by the looks of it, nya…" Cait muttered. "That explains it. Ugh, smells nasty."

"Poison? But how?" Heine asked. "I didn't think Giggis were poisonous!"

"No, they are, nya," Cait replied. "It's really weak compared to Nox poison, and only affects you if they're latched onto you for a while. I guess we didn't get the Giggi off of Rena quick enough…"

Heine cursed under his breath, feeling a wave of guilt. He'd just been berating Rena for trying to cut off the Giggi from her leg, and now this… "Do we have any antidotes or anything?"

"Don't think so, nya… They might have had some in the expedition wagons, but I don't think Rena had any on her…" The Felyne snatched up the huntress' item pouch, digging through it. "Nope, none here, nya."

"What…? No! No, there has to be something we can do! She can't die!"

"Calm down!" Cait snapped. "We can keep her alive, nya! Like I said, Giggi poison isn't very strong on its own. Looks like she at least kept a bunch of potions packed in here… As long as we give her one every now and then, the effects should bolster her natural healing and keep the poison from overwhelming her until her body naturally neutralizes it. We'll have to keep her hydrated too, since she threw up, nya, but… we don't have much water to give her."

"We'll do what we have to," Heine replied, pulling his canteen from his belt.

"The only other water we've seen down here was back at the lake though, nya…"

"We'll do what we have to," Heine repeated adamantly.

"Hrm… I guess so, nya…"

The next thirty minutes or so felt hectic to Heine, though very little actually happened. He did as Cait instructed him, carefully pouring a couple potions into Rena's mouth as the huntress muttered incoherently. Water was offered as well, though Cait was hesitant to give much of his; Heine, however, didn't hesitate to give Rena any and all of the water in his own canteen. At least the huntress wasn't so out of it that she wasn't able to drink on her own… Rena's now purple-tinted bandages needed to be changed, and the old rags were buried under a rock. All the while, both of them had to work to keep the huntress from moving around in her delirium and keep her from vomiting on herself whenever the poison made her nauseous again.

Eventually, though, caring for the huntress became a waiting game. Cait took the branches they'd gathered and started a small fire to fight back the cool underground air while Heine sat next to the huntress, watching her to make sure she didn't roll into the fire or try to move around. He needed to be ready to step in if she started throwing up again, and giving her another potion or drink of water if she looked particularly pale.

It was at least an hour before Rena began to stabilize, the purple tint on her leg fading a little, though she was still muttering unintelligibly to herself. Her glazed gray eyes darted around, staring up at the glowstones dotting the ceiling above them. Her dark skin was slick with sweat, and her short brown hair was matted and damp. Thankfully, he and Cait had managed to keep her from making a mess of herself when she was hit with waves of sickness and needed to throw up, and they'd kept their camp from getting too smelly by covering whatever Rena heaved up with dirt.

It wasn't too long after that when Cait announced he planned to leave their small camp for a while. He was getting nervous, sitting in the same place for so long, and told Heine he planned to head back in the direction they'd come from to make sure none of the Gigginox, or anything else, was following them through the caves. They hadn't really cleaned up after the first time Rena had vomited, and her wound might have left some blood on the ground. The last thing they needed with Rena sick and delirious was for some monster to track them down.

Heine accepted the Felyne's decision readily enough. He didn't like the idea of being the only one here if something attacked them while Cait was gone, but Cait was the experienced one in such matters. They certainly didn't need one of the Gigginox following them through these caves if they could avoid it, either. So Heine was left by himself, watching over Rena as the Felyne skittered off, traveling back the way they'd came to clear their tracks.

Heine spent a while just staring into the fire while he waited for Cait to return. Rena seemed to be doing fine for now, and hadn't needed any potions or water recently. She was still half-conscious though, her eyes looking around lazily as she fought against the poison. However, Heine nearly jumped out of his skin when the huntress reached forward, grasping his hand and twining her fingers through his. The courier looked down at the huntress in confusion, but Rena was still partly delirious and was simply staring half-focused at their connected hands. Heine hesitantly tried to pull free, but the huntress' grasp was strong, and he quickly shrugged it off; it wasn't as though he minded holding hands with Rena anyway.

"Can you… sing to me?"

Heine blinked in surprise at the sudden request, very childlike in its tone. Rena was looking at him hopefully, with just a touch of admiration. "Rena…"

"Please, Heine? I like it when you sing to me. Your songs are always so pretty. They make me feel so happy…"

"Rena, I don't think…" But the huntress' pleading eyes, wincing slightly under the nausea of the poison in her blood, was too much for Heine to deny. "Um… Alright. Let's see… Ah, here we go. Night's falling, so take courage that you're not alone, no you're not alone…"

His voice was never good for singing and was now cracked from the strain of the last few hours, but his broken tones made Rena relax, despite his struggles to maintain his rhythm and remember all the words. It took a few songs, but eventually the huntress relaxed enough to nod off through her pain, and soon Rena was sleeping softly next to him. Heine stared down at her for a long while, simply watching her sleep as she continued to cling tightly to his hand. He sighed, wrapping his other arm around his legs and pulling them close, listening to the crackling of the small fire. The weight of the rifle pressed against his abdomen, the coolness of the metal seeping through his clothes.

"Following your gut, huh? You might have the strength for that, Rena, but… All I can do is run and cower. I'm not a hunter like you. I'm not… I'm not strong enough to protect you like you protect me… I have to hide behind you. I have to think, Rena. I have to act with reason, and logic. It's the only thing I can do, to keep myself… to keep both of us alive… And I'm not even good at that…"

He sat in silence for a long time, mulling over his thoughts and regrets, until the clinking of Cait's armor signaled the return of the Felyne from his search down the tunnel. The Felyne reported that nothing had followed them, at least not so far as he'd gone. Whatever Harker and the rest of the research group had done had sufficiently distracted the Gigginox horde long enough that they forget about the three of them.

Just sitting around was making Heine depressed, though. As Cait made ready to scout ahead and see what awaited them, Heine stopped him, volunteering to do the work himself. The Felyne was clearly hesitant; both of them knew Heine was no hunter, and anything dangerous would make short work of him, even with his rifle. Heine promised not to go too far, though. Besides, Cait was worn out. Heine knew the Felyne was likely their best chance against a monster right now, even with such a small body and weapon, and he needed to get some rest. Cait reluctantly agreed, and Heine pulled himself free from Rena, lighting a torch from the flames before heading out into the caverns.

The path through the caves sloped downwards beyond the nook the three had claimed, much to Heine's chagrin. He'd been hoping their path would lead back towards the surface soon, but it seemed like everything they did only sent them deeper. Not only that, but about fifty yards away from their camp, it looked like the glowstones which dotted the walls of the cavern abruptly ceased sprouting from the walls, returning the path ahead to utter darkness. Heine sighed wearily as he pressed towards it; they'd been blessed with luck, having at least a little bit of light at the worst of times, but if they kept along this path, it looked like they'd have to rely on keeping torches lit from here on.

As he approached the darkness, however, Heine realized that the walls of the cavern abruptly changed. As soon as the glowstones sprouting from the walls vanished, the floor, walls, and ceiling of the cave converted into an almost perfectly square hallway. Heine hurried forward in shock, raising his torch up as he stepped onto the new path. The walls were Meridian stone! He'd somehow stumbled onto yet another structure of the ancient civilization, deep underground. He swept his torch near to the walls, and sure enough, just like the walls of the tower north of Nastre, the walls of this hall were covered in Meridian carvings and elaborate designs.

It appeared to be a bestiary of some kind. Tall, detailed images of numerous monsters were carved into the pale stone, elaborate murals with lines and lines of information around each image. Heine brushed a hand across the walls, gazing upon the Meridian drawings. Everything written was so complex, so meaningful… but he couldn't understand a word of it. At least they drew pictures. If they hadn't, Heine doubted he would be able to even guess at the meanings.

They were elder dragons. At least, Heine was pretty sure they were. The first image he came across was one of the Jhen Mohran, a prominent enough creature that even Heine knew what it was. They were Loc Lac's symbol of prosperity after all, chased down to be climbed upon for the sake of harvesting the valuable materials lining the creature's spine. Hell, they were most likely the main reason Loc Lac had become so prosperous in the first place, even if one of the sand dragons did try to assault the city every ten years or so.

There were others there too, though Heine didn't know all of their names. One looked like a unicorn… Heine thought that one was called a Kirin, though he wasn't certain. There were two which looked as though they were a pair, with only a few differences in appearance. There was one which looked like a giant… octopus or something, and the images seemed to indicate the creature could fly, which was strange.

Then he found the Alatreon's image. He knew it immediately; depictions of the beast had circulated throughout Theron for years since the fall of the elder dragon, and only the most out-of-the-way villages likely didn't know what the creature looked like by now. There was more writing and notations on the Alatreon than any other he'd seen yet… little surprise there. If Harker's ramblings about the Meridians had been right, the Alatreon had likely been the cause of their destruction and ruin, as it had been for the Lost. Heine shivered at the tall image of the beast. This was the dragon which had been the bane of his people…

He shook his head, pressing on. There was no sense in staring at the depictions of something that had been dead for six years now.

He felt he was getting a little too far away from Rena for comfort now. The fire was a good eighty yards back through the cave, but even that felt like an unsafe distance, despite Cait guarding her. At least he'd discovered a relatively safe path for them to take once Rena recovered. Before he could walk away, however, the flickers of his torch lit up one last stretch of wall, and something caught his eye.

More pictures of dragons, but this time the images seemed different. There were three of them, all similar in how they looked. They were much narrower than the rest, more lizard-like in appearance, though almost bipedal, standing on their hind legs with their wings stretched out long behind them. The walls around them seemed coated in writings, every open space with some untranslatable tidbit, thousands of notes left behind by the Meridians.

The first of the group seemed normal… well, normal by dragon standards. The two after seemed to have unique properties which separated them from the first. Many symbols Heine thought meant fire or… maybe comets (that was unusual), surrounded it, and there seemed to be a lot of warnings and danger signs. The third seemed… furrier, or at least it seemed to have a fair collection of fur around its head, where the others did not. Images of lightning surrounded this one; at least that symbol was something Heine could recognize well enough.

Heine felt like these dragons should have more meaning to him, but they really didn't. Obviously the Meridians thought they were important or dangerous, but to Heine, they meant nothing. What had caught his eye though, was not the images themselves, but a break in the image, a blemish on the otherwise smooth and clean white stone, and he knew there was nothing more out of place than any sort of crack or crumble in the near-indestructible Meridian stone.

This was far, far more than just a small crack: two enormous, jagged X-marks had been… ripped through the depictions of the fire and thunder dragons. The pale stone had been sheared through in rough gashes which seemed more brutal than anything else, and Heine shivered at the thought of what sort of power would be required for such a violent defacing.

What did it mean? Why had the two dragons been so brutally crossed out from the stone? Heine could only wonder… However, his attention was pulled away as echoes of Rena falling into another coughing fit carried over the rocks. Immediately the thoughts on the dragons left his mind as he rushed back over to her and Cait. There were more important things to think about right now.

---

Rena's fever broke several hours later. The venom, surprisingly potent for having come from a simple Giggi, had left the huntress nauseous for what felt like an eternity to Heine. She'd vomited several more times, and Heine and Cait had been forced to drain their canteens to keep the huntress hydrated. Finally her complexion cleared and her breathing steadied, her body finally having overcome the poison. Her sleeping grew easier, and both Heine and Cait had sighed in relief at the huntress' recovery.

Though, as soon as Rena calmed down, the stress and wounds and exhaustion both Heine and Cait had suffered finally overwhelmed them as well, and both of them ended passing out on the ground next to her. Heine had tried desperately to stay awake and keep the fire kindled, to keep guard in case some other nasty creature crept up on them during their rest, but he just didn't have the constitution and, with bleary eyes, he collapsed.

He awoke to darkness again many hours later, their fire having long since reduced to cinders. The dim glow from the small red crystals in the walls were the only source of light they had now. No sun, no moon… he didn't know how much time had passed. How long had they been in this underground maze? A day? A couple days? More? He couldn't even guess…

He felt… warm. It took him a moment to realize he must have passed out next to Rena, because the huntress had caught hold of him during the 'night' and pulled him right up next to her. Her strong arms were wrapped tightly around his chest and waist, and he could feel her breath tickling his spine as her forehead pressed against his neck. He felt his own breath hike for a moment when he realized her breasts were pressed firmly against his back, but he calmed when he realized he could feel her steady heartbeat thumping along in her chest, and that was more comforting than anything else.

Cait was there with them too. The Felyne must have woken in the night, because the cat-like creature had removed his armor and curled himself into a ball under Heine's arm. The small creature's fur was surprisingly soft to the touch, considering what they'd gone through ever since entering the Meridian Tower, and Cait was just as warm as Rena. The Felyne's ears twitched lightly in his sleep as he snored, releasing low purrs with every exhale.

It was… comfortable here, Heine realized. Despite the situation, despite all the danger and stress of the last who-knew-how-many hours, despite the threats which might even crawl in the shadows nearby, despite a sleep on rocky terrain, right now he was content. Rena was clinging tightly to him, her body pressing against his, and Cait was snuggly rolled up against him as well. They were the two main reasons for Heine's stress over the last few months, but right now… it just didn't seem to matter. He felt himself relaxing, his eyes closing as he allowed himself to slowly drift back to sleep.

Before he could, however, something caught his ears, something small. He wanted to ignore it, to drift back into comfortable rest… but it egged at him, that noise. It slowly dragged him back to consciousness, prodding him as he tried to recognize it. It was faint, nearly imperceptible, but with only Rena and Cait's breathing to be heard, he could just make it out… Water. He could hear water, faint and distant, but it was the sound of running water. Heine realized exactly how thirsty he actually was now, and remembered his canteen had been drained caring for Rena. His mouth and throat suddenly felt very, very dry.

As cautiously as he could, he tried to peel himself away from Rena and Cait without waking either of them. However, once again Rena's strength proved to be too much for him, and every time he tried to wriggle loose the huntress merely squeezed him tighter, murmuring to herself in her sleep and nuzzling against him. The courier sighed wearily, realizing he had no other choice than to wake her up.

It took a bit of work to rouse the huntress from her sleep. Rena was a sound sleeper, and even some prodding only encouraged her to try and dig deeper, grasping Heine tighter. Cait was actually woken up before the huntress was, hissing irately as he begrudgingly pulled himself from his comfortable position to put on his armor. Rena finally cracked an eye open after five minutes of work, glowering for having been woken up. Upon seeing Heine, though, the huntress pulled back in surprise, releasing him and pushing herself into a sitting position. She wobbled a bit as a wave of dizziness washed over her, though.

"Are you alright?" Heine asked concernedly, pushing himself up as well.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm…" Rena glanced around in confusion. "Where are we? How did… Weren't we just walking through the cave? When did we stop? I remember I was… I got… I started arguing with Heine…"

"You got sick," Heine said quickly, cutting the huntress off. "You… the wound you got from the Giggi was poisoned. You got a bad fever from it."

"We've been taking care of you all night, nya," Cait added, as the Felyne worked to pull his armor back on. "You were in a purroper state last night, all vomiting and delirious ramblings. And speaking of vomit, I'd avoid getting too close to the damp dirt over there, nya…"

Rena cringed, scooting away from a small pile of overturned dirt and pebbles. She hung her head a little, looking guilty. "Sorry… Because of me, the both of you…"

"It wasn't your fault," Heine told her.

"If it's anyone's, it's Heine's fault, actually," Cait said. "He was the one who dragged you into that hole where the Giggi was, nya."

Heine felt his heart sink at the words, but Rena shot the Felyne a glare. "My memory may be fuzzy, Cait, but I do remember that you were clamped to my face when Heine was pulling me into that nook." The Felyne chuckled sheepishly at the words, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Let's just… save passing the blame for once we get out of here, and focus on getting back to the surface, okay?" Heine and Cait both nodded, and Rena grinned victoriously. The next moment, the huntress licked her lips and reached for her canteen. Just lifting it and giving it a small shake, Rena realized it was empty, and looked sheepishly at the other two. "Um… I don't suppose I could bum some water from either of you?"

Heine and Cait shook their heads, before Heine replied. "We sort of… used all of it up when you were poisoned. You kept throwing up, and we had to give you more water to keep you hydrated, so…" Rena lowered her head guiltily again, and Heine sputtered on. "But! But, ah… that's the thing. Before I woke you up, I thought I could hear the sound of water coming from nearby. It's faint, very faint, but it should be close enough for us to get there pretty quickly, if we can follow the sound."

Rena and Cait both cocked their heads simultaneously, straining their ears in an attempt to hear the sound for themselves. Rena twisted her face in frustration, clearly unable to hear anything, but Cait's ears twitched and wriggled on his head, his eyes widening in realization. "I can hear it too, nya!"

"We haven't seen any branches in the paths yet," Heine continued. "But when I scouted ahead last night, I saw that the cave connects to a Meridian hallway about a hundred yards down the path. I'm not certain if that's where the water is, but… but maybe this Meridian structure could lead us back to the Tower and the research crew."

"That's great! What are we waiting for?" Rena said excitedly, her eyes lighting up. She leapt to her feet, but the sudden motion sent a wave of dizziness through the huntress and Rena wobbled where she stood. Heine yelped, jumping up to steady her as the huntress staggered, and Rena chuckled sheepishly. "Um, sorry… Maybe we could set out in a couple minutes?"

In the end, the three of them didn't get going for another ten minutes. Heine and Cait worked to put the fire out, made sure they'd packed everything, and ensured the vomit and used bandages were all good and buried. Rena sat to the side as she devoured several rations to recover her energy, muttering sourly about feeling useless and complaining about the bland taste of the rations. Heine and Cait ate a ration each as well (Heine had to admit they did taste gross, and missed the berries they'd had back in the grassy cavern), but did so as they were leaving the alcove they'd camped in the previous night. All of them could feel the dryness in their mouths as thirst set in, and none of them wished to dawdle with the tempting sound of water echoing almost imperceptibly through the cavern.

Rena and Cait were both awestruck upon seeing the dark Meridian tunnel which cut into the cavern, replacing the rugged cave and glowstones with a black, square tunnel. Cait's ears twitched about when they stepped onto the pale stone as the Felyne peered into the darkness. Then he announced that, yes, this was certainly the direction the sound of water was coming from, he was sure of it. Rena still seemed disappointed at not being able to hear the water, but lit a torch in preparation of their journey into the darkness. However, before the trio could begin their journey into the dark Meridian tunnel, Rena grabbed hold of Heine's shoulder.

"Heine, wait." Heine paused at the words, looking up at Rena. The huntress had a forlorn expression on her face, an odd emotion to see considering her personality. "Before we go, I… I wanted to say I'm sorry. Yesterday, when you shouted at me, you were right. I shouldn't… I shouldn't have dove into trying to attack those Gigginox like I did."

"Rena, I-"

"No, please, let me finish. I was too reckless, trying to act as a distraction, throwing myself against all those monsters by myself. You were right. I'm just… brutish, loud, and obnoxious. That's what people always say. I know that I'm too reckless to be a great hunter. When I saw all those Gigginox, I couldn't… all I could do is the first thing that popped into my mind, to try and protect you. All I could think to do was attack, and hope that I could distract them all long enough for you and Cait to escape. That's all I'm good at when it comes to hunting: gut reaction.

"I just… I know I'm not good with this tactical stuff, and I'm not the smartest person out there…"

Heine reached forward, grabbing the huntress by the shoulders. It was an awkward position, with Rena being so much taller than him, but she still paused, looking at him in surprise.

"Rena, you… Please, please, never think that you're not smart. Yes, it seems like you rush in without thinking things through all the way. Maybe you're not great at battlefield tactics either, but that doesn't mean you're not intelligent. You know so much about nature and ecosystems, more than I could imagine, and you learned all that yourself, from books and just listening to Mrs. Kerrigan when you talked to her. You were able to find us food to eat when we needed it, and you knew it would be better than using up our rations. Yes, Rena, you are smart.

"I'm not going to say that your decision back with the Gigginox wasn't a bad idea. There's a time and a place for going with your heart, and a time and a place for listening to reason. But please don't get yourself thinking that anything I say when it comes to hunting or monsters is advice worth listening to.

"I'm not a hunter… I never will be. I'm not strong enough, or brave enough. I'll never know what it means to trust your gut or to be able to act on instinct. It's just… not in me. I can barely even stand to be in danger. Back when that Gigginox subspecies attacked the expedition, I was so terrified by the thing just looking at me that I couldn't even move, while you were able to get Harker out of there and fight it back. What do I know? I didn't even have the courage to run away…"

Heine sighed, staring at the ground. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, Rena. I'm just… so afraid. And so useless here. I can't fight. I have to rely on you and Cait with everything. I don't want you to… to have to risk your life for my sake. I worry for you. I'm terrified at the thought of you dying, even for… especially for my sake. I'd rather you survive all this than me, if it came down to that."

"But I don't want you to die!" Rena replied quickly. "I promised I'd protect you! I'm not going to just…" The huntress paused, looking down sheepishly, then gave Heine a lopsided grin. "I guess… We're both a couple of idiots, aren't we, Heine?"

"We could be a little smarter, I'll admit," Heine agreed. He gave her a grin of his own and held out his hand. "Shall we go? We've still got to find a way out of here, and we can't do that sitting around here feeling sorry for ourselves."

Rena laughed, and gave him a confident smirk. "Well said, I guess." She reached forward, clasping his hand and holding it tight in her own. "Stick close to me Heine. I promise I'll get you… I'll get all three of us out of here, alright?"

"At least you're not forgetting me, nya…" Cait mumbled next to them. "You humans always seem to overlook us Felynes."

"Of course not, Cait!" Rena chuckled, grabbing the Felyne by the scruff of his neck and lifting him onto her shoulder. "Where would we be without the great Cait helping us? Keep this up and you'll be one of those great hunter-Felynes you've always bragged about."

Cait purred wistfully at the thought, humming to himself as Rena grinned, taking the torch in one hand and Heine's hand in the other as the three of them pressed off, striding into the darkness of the Meridian tunnel.

The tunnel proved far longer than Heine would have imagined it to be. The three of them ended up walking for what felt like hours. Admittedly, it could have just been a trick of the mind; the tunnel was almost perfectly straight and perfectly square, and apart from the variations in the drawings and writing on the walls, every step felt exactly like the one before. Heine could feel a headache coming on, with the monotony of this tunnel digging into his head, the clacking of their boots echoing back into their ears as the light of the fire reflected off the pale white stone. All that, accompanied by their growing thirst and the faint sound of running water made the trip increasingly tortuous.

It was only Rena's constant talking which got them through it. The huntress seemed just as unsettled by the bland, monotonous hall as Heine, but pushed past it by talking softly to him and Cait, saying whatever came to her mind as they trekked on. Whether it was random things she saw drawn on the walls, thoughts on what she thought might lay ahead, or speculation on how to turn this whole story into a great tale if - no, when - they managed to get back to the surface. It took some time before Heine realized how hard Rena was trying to keep them all going: none of them had anything to drink in hours, and Rena was still prattling on to keep the hypnotic monotony of this hallway from getting to them.

Luck seemed to be on their side for once. The ever so faint sound of water was getting closer, growing louder with each step. Soon enough, even Rena could hear it, and the huntress' expression grew relieved, her steps picking up speed as she hurried to lead the other two to the source, however much further it was.

They finally found the source of the noise, though it was farther than they thought. The tunnel was a veritable echo chamber, and despite its length, the sound of running water had carried for several miles over the Meridian stone. The tunnel ended after a small eternity of wearying, parched walking, with the white walls widening slightly, entering into a small, circular chamber. It was a stairwell with curving, railing-less steps spiraling upwards. Heine wasn't sure how high the stairs went; that wasn't where his focus was. No, his focus was on the center of the room, where a small bowl dipped in the center of the room.

It was filled with pristine water, dripping down from above, a steady trickle falling into it from far up the stairwell.

Rena whooped excitedly, nearly yanking Heine off his feet as she dashed towards the small pool, and for the second time since coming underground, the huntress dunked her head into water, only barely releasing Heine before the courier could be thrown into the pool. This time, Heine didn't try to maintain decorum, and a moment later his own face was in the water as well as he slurped it down greedily. Even Cait was parched enough that the Felyne was willing to risk getting wet for the chance to sate his thirst.

For a good twenty seconds there were no sounds in the small stairwell other than their desperate drinking. The water level actually dropped an inch or two before the three of them came up for air, gasping for breath and not even caring as water poured down their faces, soaking their collars. Heine's long black hair drooped across his face in a tangle, sticking to his skin and forcing him to push them away as Rena giggled at the sight. The laughter was infectious, and Heine and Cait both found themselves laughing as well. Silence of drinking was replaced for a minute or two of delirious, relieved giggling and laughing as the stress of the last few hours were expelled in the mindless amusement.

As the three of them recovered from their lingering giggling, they got back to the business at hand. Each of them drank a bit more from the pool, before filling their canteens to the brim. Then they continued on, beginning their ascent up the spiraling stairs which wrapped upwards around the walls of the chamber.

It was an eerie climb; the glow of the torch Rena carried only illuminated so much up and down the stairwell. Both above them and below them was darkness, with only the flickering flames allowing them to see a few dozen yards ahead and behind them at most. But a dim light grew out of the darkness, this time a deep blue color, far up the spiraling stairs. Heine was getting worn out by now, and even Rena and Cait were breathing hard. All of them were glad to be reaching the end of this unsettling area.

The stairs ended abruptly, the platform cutting into the wall and entering into a short ramp leading up just a little further to a wide arch where the blue light lay just beyond. A thin trail of water was trickling down the ramp, before running over the edge of the stairs and falling downwards, where it splashed into the pool below. Looking at each other nervously, the trio pressed on, climbing the ramp to find what lay beyond.

When the path opened, they found themselves standing in front of a massive subterranean lake, inside a cavern with a curved ceiling at least three hundred yards high. Heine gasped at the expanse before him; the lake had to be at least two hundred yards across, and who knew how deep. It was a near-perfect circle, a carved bowl made from pale Meridian stone, with hundreds of azure glowstones propped up against the walls as lanterns, one every five yards to fight back against the darkness. The water within it seemed… dead, or at least unnatural. It was pure and clear, eerily so for so deep in the earth, especially compared to the previous lake they'd seen. Several glowstones which had fallen into the water allowed Heine to easily see the bottom curving downwards toward the center. The surface was almost perfectly still.

Off to their right, a massive, carved hole opened several dozen yards up the side of the rock wall. It was a tube at least twenty yards wide, built out of more of that near-indestructible white stone, some sort of circular tunnel which led to who-knows-where. It was sloping upward, which gave Heine a moment of hope, but the tube was at least eight yards off the ground, and there wasn't anything nearby which the three could use to push themselves up to it.

To their left, however, was a towering dam. A slow-curving wall of Meridian stone lifted up towards the ceiling of the massive cavern, reaching almost to the roof, with hundreds of glowstones dotting the structure and lighting it up. Several wide, circular sluice gates jetted out several yards above the waterline, though they all were closed. Just as many spillways lined the upper half of the dam, where a steady stream of water trickled down the sides into the lake from the other side, the only source of ripples on the water's surface. The most notable thing about the dam, however, was the massive water lock which rose up the center. It was made of a brilliant, silvery metal, untouched even by the wear of time, with thick metal cords slinging upwards, connecting to enormous counterweights used to open the towering gate.

"Stairs! There're stairs over there, nya!" Cait shouted. Heine and Rena followed his motions, and sure enough, a thin staircase curved along the edge of the cavern walls, lit by more glowstones and working its way from the waterline of the lake all the way to the top of the dam. Unfortunately, it lacked any sort of railing, which made Heine shiver. One wrong step, and it would be a long, long way down…

"Looks like it's the only way up," Rena noted. Unfortunately it seemed like the huntress was right; aside from the dark tube to their right, there didn't seem to be anywhere else to go in the room, unless they felt like trying to scale the dam itself.

At least it went upwards, though.

So they began to climb. It was a treacherous path to take for all of them, even with the glowing crystals giving them light. Heine was not the most physically fit individual, and after going up one long staircase already, he needed to stop and catch his breath on a regular basis. Rena, while much stronger and resilient, needed to haul her great sword along with her, and that was no small weight to bear. Cait was simply too short to climb the stairs like the humans could, and ended up worn out just as quickly as Heine. All that, combined with the perilous drop only a few feet to their right, made for a strenuous ascent. Finally they reached the top, gasping for air as the pale Meridian stone leveled out once more.

Beyond the dam was a massive reservoir. It was far deeper and more menacing than the smaller lake down at the bottom of the dam, the water turning dark as the trio looked down into it. There was nothing alive under the surface which they could see, fish or otherwise; considering the depth of the reservoir, though, that could have been a good thing. Like the lake below, there was a thin, pale stone path which skirted the edge of the reservoir, lit with blue glowstones. Unlike below, on the left side of the waters, there was something new.

It was a boat. It was a small thing, nothing more than a skiff, big enough for a captain and a few passengers at the most. Its material was a strange color too, a surprising orange considering the Meridian's apparent fondness for white and other light colors. The surprise was that it was in the water, still floating in the same place, its hull still intact after likely thousands of years. It was still tethered to a protruding dock jutting out from the walkway, floating silently in the water. Nearby was a small shack of sorts as well, though since its sturdy structure had kept it standing so long, perhaps 'shack' wasn't a strong enough word.

Once again, Rena's curiosity nearly got the better of her, and the huntress grabbed hold of Heine's arm and started dragging him towards the skiff. She only got a dozen yards before she slid to a halt, however, looking down at Heine with a slightly guilty expression. It was clear what he'd told her of acting logically was still on her mind. Heine chuckled in amusement and motioned towards the boat.

"Want to explore a little?" he asked, and Rena grinned sheepishly, before nodding excitedly.

Irate growling caught the humans' ears as Cait darted up behind them, leaping up and crawling onto Rena's shoulder. "What's with you two, nya?" he asked, looking between them. "You both are acting funny right meow, all fidgety and nervous."

"Sorry, Cait," Rena replied, reaching up and scratching the Felyne's ears. Cait purred contentedly, before yowling in embarrassment and swatting her hand away. "I guess it's just a human thing."

"Humans are weird, nya…" the Felyne muttered. "Is this another one of your species' mating rituals? You have so many of them, nya. Your kind is so needlessly complex…"

"What? No… no!" Rena said quickly, whapping Cait. "Not everything is a mating ritual!"

"Might as well be, from what I've seen of your species, nya," the Felyne muttered, yelping and leaping over to Heine's shoulder as Rena took another swipe at him.

The three of them made their way over to the dock, being careful to avoid falling into the lake. Cait appeared more worried than the humans did, constantly tugging on Heine's ear when the courier got a little too close to the edge for comfort. As they reached the small shack next to the dock, Heine glanced inside, but there wasn't much inside to see; while the structure had survived, whatever had been stored inside had not, or at least had been emptied out long ago, leaving only a few scraps of metal behind.

The boat, while surprisingly wear-resistant in its design, wasn't complex at all. Its age and durability seemed to be the only notable qualities it had, from what the three explorers could see. It didn't have a motor or anything of the like. There were no oars, and without wind a sail would have been useless, even if the ship had one. All there was on deck were some more slabs of old metal and a thin rope hitching the ship to the dock, made of thin fibers which were probably just as durable as everything else the Meridians produced.

Honestly, Heine didn't know why a boat was here. This reservoir didn't go anywhere, there weren't any canals around the side of the dam, and whatever source was feeding it was hidden away somewhere, possibly swelling up from below like the lake in the grassy cavern. So why was there even a boat here at all? Had a pathway or waterway out of here been sunk under the water? Were they just several centuries too late to escape this place? Heine glanced around the reservoir in confusion. There had to be more to this place than what they saw. A massive dam, holding back a reservoir of water, all this distance below the surface of the earth? There had to be a purpose for it all.

As he looked around, he caught sight of something. He had missed it the first couple times he scanned the area, feeling something was off but not quite catching it. Then he finally spotted it: the shadows and rock protrusions from the walls of the cavern were unbalanced at the angle he was looking at them from. Looking down, he realized the pale stone path curved oddly in that area, sweeping around the lake but having a separate path branch off and seemingly lead directly into the rocks. There seemed to be some sort of purple light coming from that direction as well… Heine pointed it out to Rena and Cait, but from this distance, neither of them could see was he was talking about.

Rena was perfectly eager to check it out, however, grabbing hold of Heine and Cait and yanking them off the boat to head out to find what exactly Heine had seen. The reservoir was wide, so it took a good fifteen minutes to circle around the side of the water. The closer they got, though, the more certain he was there was something there. Rena led them along eagerly, and upon reaching the branch in the pale stone path, turned off and followed it.

A large tunnel awaited them, hidden in the shadows. Heine was stunned; the opening was positively massive! How had it been so hard to see from over by the boat? It was at least thirty yards wide and just as tall, curving into an arched path which ramped upwards a hundred yards or so before leveling out again. Thick grooves were carved into the floor, two on each side. Heine realized he recognized this design; he'd seen it back inside the Meridian Tower, before the Gigginox subspecies had attacked them! They'd traveled so far… could this tunnel lead them back to the Tower? It was dark, but at the top of the ramp he could see a brilliant violet light shining brightly from beyond the edge.

If nothing else, the path lead upwards, and that was enough for all three of them. It wasn't as though there were any other paths in sight they might be able to take. Once again, Rena took the lead, pushing up the ramp towards the light above them as Heine and Cait followed behind. It wasn't far to the top, and only took them a couple minutes to reach the peak of the ramp. Heine could see there was a large cavern which opened up on the far end of the tunnel. Maybe it was another subterranean grassland. As they crested the top of the ramp, their breaths caught in their throats at the sight before them.

It was a Meridian fortress. That was the only way to describe the structure. Tall towers and wide pale stone curtains spread across the cavern in front of them, pristine and solid barriers facing the entrance they'd just come through. There were three whole tiers to the structure, three massive walls which encircled the center of the fortress, each one even taller than the one around it. Battlements lined the walls, and Heine could see hundreds upon hundreds of ancient weapons lining them, aimed outward at some unknown threat.

Deep within was the keep, the tallest tower of them all, stretching high over the rest of the walls, so tall the ceiling of the cavern had been dug away to allow it its full height. There, the trio found the source of the purple light. At the peak of the keep, where the cavern roof had been dug away, the ceiling had broken apart, and a veritable river of magma was gushing down from above, pouring down onto the tower itself. The lava pour only added red light to the area, though, and shooting out from the tower's peak was a massive, shining blue crystal.

A Lost crystal, a stone coffin which the Alatreon had constructed for them. That was the only thing it could be. The color was ingrained into the minds of every Lost which had slept in one. This crystal, however… this crystal was absolutely massive!

The glowing blue gemstone was shaped into a massive curved bowl into which the magma poured, siphoning and directing the flow. It kept the molten earth from pouring into the tower, sending it flowing away and behind the keep somewhere. Thick azure tendrils spiraled from the central crystal around the tower, clinging tightly to the pale stone and supporting the massive gem. More shoots even stretched outward, reaching across the expanse before latching onto the far walls of the cavern, clutching tightly to the rocks. The whole thing stretched over them like a massive crystal spider web, shimmering with the eerie blue hue which every Lost knew and feared. In the center of it all was the magma-filled orb, the brilliant, fiery blaze of the magma twisting the light from its normal blue into the vibrant violet that shone out.

The trio stood in stunned awe at the sight before them. Heine could hardly believe such a structure could exist, much less in a massive cavern which had to be… miles underground. He'd always heard Harker going on about the Meridians and their accomplishments, but something like this was beyond anything he ever could have imagined.

"I don't like this place, nya…" Cait moaned fearfully. "Something's… wrong here. We should leave… right meow!"

"I agree," Heine muttered. As impressive as this place was, a veritable treasure trove for the research expedition, something about all this made Heine feel a lingering sense of dread. He didn't know why; there was no reason for him to feel that way, but still… "I don't like this place at all. Maybe we should head back to the boat… there might be somewhere we can-"

"We can't."

Heine and Cait looked up at Rena, shocked. "What do you mean, we can't?"

Rena gave them both an uncomfortable look. Clearly she was just as nervous about this place as Heine and Cait were. She even had her hand hovering over the hilt of her great sword. She pointed up towards the crystals which stretched over the fortress. "Those are… Lost crystals, aren't they?"

"Yeah… they are," Heine replied. "But what does that…" Then it hit him: they were Lost crystals, so therefore, there was a high chance there were Lost inside of them. Hopefully not in the ones pushing aside the magma, but if they were glowing like they were…

"Oh, no…"

Rena nodded solemnly. "If the crystals are glowing like that… it means that the Lost inside of them are supposed to wake up soon, right? That's what all the Guild reports say. They'll all wake up down here, in a dark, Gigginox-inhabited cavern with no way out…"

Heine shook his head. "We can't… we can't just leave them down here."

"No, we can't."

"But what are we supposed to do if they wake up?" Heine asked helplessly. "We've barely got enough food for ourselves, much less an entire fortress' worth of Lost! We don't even know if there's a way out, except back through the Gigginox nest…" Rena simply shook her head, unable to offer him a solution.

"Let's just… let's just head towards the center of this place. Maybe… maybe there's something there that can help us."

Without any other ideas, the three reluctantly headed into the great chamber. The massive structure only seemed to grow larger as they entered through the wide front gates, towering above them ominously. The tall doors were open wide as the entered the fortress, hanging lopsidedly on their hinges. There didn't appear to be any damage to the white stone; the entire place simply seemed to have been abandoned and forgotten. The only sounds in the area were their own footsteps, and the dull rolling of lava as the glowing substance continued to pour from the break in the ceiling, washing over the crystal bowl at the top of the central keep and flowing behind the fortress.

Cait grew increasingly agitated and fearful as they continued though. After everything they'd been through, Heine wouldn't have guessed the dead remains of an old Meridian fortress would bother the Felyne as much as it did, but every step seemed to make Cait increasingly furtive and jumpy.

"What's wrong, Cait?" Heine asked worriedly, and the Felyne shivered, his eyes darting up and down the towering pale walls.

"Something's wrong… something's very wrong, nya!" the calico creature muttered. "I don't like this place…"

"There's nothing here though," Heine said, looking around. He felt more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else though. With Cait so upset, he couldn't help but feel like there was something watching them. Waiting for them. "This place is dead," he mumbled. "And… Rena's right: we have to make sure there aren't any Lost in the crystals… And if there are…"

"There's something wrong…" Cait repeated. This time the Felyne looked straight ahead, towards the bright blue light glowing in the center of the keep. "Something's there, nya… I can feel it in my bones… and it scares me. Everything in me is screaming to flee, nya…"

Heine nodded in agreement. What else could they do though? They had to see to the Lost crystals. All they could do was press on, and hope for the best.

Further and further into the fortress they traveled, weaving their way through the barricades and gates, traveling closer to the inner keep. Thankfully, all the gates were open, allowing for easy access into the interior, though why every door remained open wide was a mystery. The exterior walls had been stark and bare, undecorated but littered with ancient ballistae and strange cannon-like weapons made for whatever the Meridians felt they needed to defend against in such a hidden location. As they traveled further in, elaborate carvings appeared on the pale walls once more.

At first, it was nothing special, and surprisingly mundane, so much that Heine might not have noticed otherwise. Small notations close to the ground, arrows and directions pointing inhabitants of the fortress in whatever direction they needed to go. Simple, commonplace things Heine hadn't seen too often in the rest of the Meridian's works. As they traveled further into the fortress, however, beyond the third gate and into the inner hold, the carvings grew increasingly complex, and once more Heine found himself staring up at immense images of dragons.

The first was… strange. The image of the dragon was unfamiliar, which didn't surprise Heine. The dragon itself, though… it was as though the creature was actually wearing armor. Or maybe it was… made of armor? Not scales or plates like armor, but actual human-made armor. It was detailed like those he'd seen back in the tunnels too, but the details were different. There were notes on organs, muscles, blood vessels, and other things of the like. It seemed more like an autopsy than anything else.

The next image was some complex drawing of a dragon hunched low to the ground. Its wings were held close, hooking over its shoulders like a cloak, with long, powerful talons at the ends which looked more dangerous than anything else. It didn't seem to have eyes, not as far as Heine could tell, and for that matter, the carvings seemed to be fluctuating about whether it had horns or not. Numerous symbols and notations covered the walls around it, and the same symbol kept repeating itself, a cluster of circular shapes. It made Heine think of… poison, or biohazard or something.

The last one was an image of a Felyne, which caught Heine off guard. All the images of elder dragons and creatures the likes he'd never seen before, and suddenly there were images of Felynes on the walls. Like the images before, it seemed to be an autopsy or study of the Felynes, detailing their internal organs and structure, giving detail bordering on eerie. Cait grew immensely uncomfortable at the images, and placed himself on the far side of Heine, trying to keep the carvings out of his vision. Heine couldn't help but be confused though; he knew what the dragons of the world probably were to the Meridians, but why such images of Felynes? They weren't dangerous… well, they were friendly, at least. What exactly were the Meridians doing down here?

His thoughts on such things faded as the three of them approached the central keep, where the brilliant blue glow was at its brightest. It was nearly blinding, compared to the darkness of the caves they'd been traveling through. There was something… off about it. The more Heine looked at it, he couldn't help but feel there was something different about these crystals. They seemed paler than the blue light which would sometimes haunt his dreams. The azure light of the crystals the Alatreon had placed the Lost in was always the same in his memories, but these crystals seemed… faded, and it wasn't just because of the red glow which seeped down from the magma. If Heine didn't know any better, he would have thought that there was an unnatural orange tint to them as well…

Unlike the rest of the fortress, the doors of the central keep were almost completely closed. It seemed an attempt to close off the core of this structure had been made, if failed. The right door was open just a little bit, only about five feet wide, allowing a gleam of vibrant blue light to sear through the gap. Heine and Cait both paused fearfully as they approached, but Rena boldly pressed on, squeezing herself through the small gap in the door and vanishing into the blue light. Heine and Cait looked nervously at each other, before following after her, slipping through the doors and into the brightness.

It took a few moments for Heine's eyes to adjust, it was so blinding. He was completely surrounded by the brilliant blue light, and staggered as he stumbled to find his way. He was forced to stop, blinking furtively as his eyes accustomed themselves to the light and the interior of the keep took shape in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was how close he'd gotten to tumbling over a long drop when he'd stumbled. With a yelp of horror, he toppled backwards, falling onto his back in shock and landing painfully. He heard Rena cry out to him in worry from somewhere, but he clutched desperately to the pale stone under him, not daring to move until he was certain of the path around him.

Slowly, the inside of the central keep came into focus, and he realized it had to be just one singular room. The white stone tower was nearly empty, a hollow core filled with light. The keep stretched into the air above him, curving into a spherical dome at the top, but there was nothing there, save for a single wide window near the top of the back wall, though its purpose eluded Heine, with no stairs or ladders to reach it. In fact, the only thing which existed inside the core of the central keep was a singular walkway, the same one Heine now sat on, stretching in from the door straight to the center of the keep.

Even on both sides, between the walkway and the curving walls, there was absolutely nothing except a long, perilous drop straight down. Heine was close enough to the edge that, if he craned his neck, he could see that about thirty yards down the fall abruptly ended in a large, jagged pit of glowing Lost crystals, with hundreds of edged points jutting upwards. Heine cringed at the sight, scooting away towards the center of the walkway.

It was a wide platform, about twenty yards wide, but was completely unsupported save for its connection to the wall under the door. It narrowed slightly as it approached the center of the room, before rising up a small stairway and ending at a wide platform hanging in the air at the core of the keep. The platform was at least thirty yards wide, perfectly level, and on top of it was a massive Lost crystal.

Heine gaped at the sight. He'd always been told Lost crystals grew in a sort of flower-like design, with individual Lost carried in ones or twos within each 'petal', whereas this crystal was absolutely massive, like nothing he'd ever imagined. It was just as wide and tall as the platform it sat on, and nearly spherical in its shape, save for the crystalline bumps and ridges which lined it, as well as the pointed tips which sprouted from its peak. Thick tendrils of the stone grew from the base, wrapping around the platform and supporting it.

"Sweet mercy…"

Heine glanced up, realizing Rena was only a few steps ahead of him on the platform, looking up at the massive crystal with the same dumbstruck look he no doubt wore as well. Looking around, he realized Cait had barely gotten into the door, and was still blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted. As Heine pushed himself to his feet, Rena glanced down at him, before returning her gaze to the massive crystal in the center of the room.

"Are… are they supposed to be like that?"

"I don't… I don't think so. I've never seen a Lost crystal before… aside from when I first woke from mine. Even then, I don't remember it…"

"Can you tell if… if the people inside are going to wake up soon?" the huntress asked, but Heine could only shake his head uncertainly. Rena grimaced, looking at the crystal with a sour look, gave one last glance at Heine, then strode towards the giant crystal.

Heine yelped in surprise, rushing to catch up with her, and Cait dashed after them. The great crystal loomed as they approached, feeling more and more immense with every step. Heine followed Rena up the short stairwell, hopping over crystalline tendrils which weaved over the white stone platform, until the pair of them were right next to the immense stone.

It seemed far more menacing to Heine now that they were up close. The crystal pulsed slightly, the glow from within growing slightly brighter and fading every few seconds. Rena had her face as close as it would get without touching the great stone, trying to peer through the cloudy substance at whatever lay within. The opaque stone made it impossible to see much further than a few inches inside, however, and there was nothing either of them could see but the inner glow of the crystal. The interior of the stone seemed to swirl and churn almost imperceptibly with some inner fluid, but Heine had trouble seeing it properly, and it felt more like an illusion than anything else.

Next to him, the huntress murmured to herself thoughtfully. Rena raised a hand, glancing between it and the stone nervously, before cautiously reaching out and pressing her fingers against the crystal. She hissed in surprise, pulling away, and Heine yelped in shock, rushing to her side. Rena shook her head, though.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, it just… took me by surprise," Rena explained, wiggling her fingers. "It felt… cold, but warm at the same time. I don't… I'm not sure how best to describe it."

Heine glanced nervously at the azure stone, looking down at his own hands uncertainly. Reaching forward, he brought his knuckles up to the crystal and rapped them against it, pulling away quickly. Sure enough, he'd felt a nip of cold, but it was gone in a second. Heine hesitated for a few moments, before cautiously reaching his hand forward again, this time pressing his palm against the great stone. He gasped at the touch, but didn't pull away. Rena had been right: the stone felt cold, yet warm at the same time. It felt unnatural, and Heine yanked his hand away, rubbing his palm nervously.

"You're both crazy, nya…" Cait muttered, walking up behind them. "You gotta be more purrudent about this kind of thing." The Felyne, rather than using his paw or claws, pulled his small sword from its sheath, tapping the great stone from arm's length with the point of the blade.

"It didn't even leave a mark…" Rena noted, as Cait's swings grew increasingly stronger, ricocheting wildly off the azure stone. Sure enough, the crystal was unmarred by the assault, and the tip of Cait's blade was getting dull and dented. The Felyne huffed irritably, pulling his blade back and looking sadly at the tip of his sword, before sheathing the blade.

"Stupid rock!" Cait hissed. He swung his paw at the crystal, smacking the side of the azure stone, before yelping in surprise and pulling away. "Mrr… that feels funny, nya…"

"So what do we do now?" Rena asked, looking up the side of the great crystal.

"We can't just sit around and wait," Heine replied. "It might be weeks before the crystal releases whoever's inside. Maybe longer… We don't have food to last that long, do we?"

"No, we don't," Rena grumbled. She reached down to the pouch on her belt and looked through it before sighing sadly. "We've only got enough for a few more days at the most…"

"Maybe there's fish in the lake, nya?"

"We don't have a rod, Cait," Rena replied. "Besides… I didn't like the look of that water. I'm not sure I'd want to eat whatever we pulled out of it… if whatever we pulled out wasn't trying to eat us instead."

The Felyne scoffed at the words. "Hmph. I'm not so picky. Purr-vide me with a rod, and I'll catch my dinner with my own two - nyaha that's COLD!"

The Felyne suddenly unleashed a shocked yowl, leaping into the air in shock and tumbling backwards down the stairs. Heine and Rena both gasped, rushing to the Felyne's aid, but as Heine took a step, his boot splashed into a puddle. He looked down in surprise; he hadn't seen any water coming up to the crystal… It wasn't water he saw below him, but a runny, viscous blue fluid which was seeping out over the Meridian stone. Rena reached Cait in a moment, and helped the Felyne to his feet. Cait was hissing and spitting venomously, however, as the calico creature reached down to his feet, shaking his legs wildly to wipe the blue substance from his hind legs.

Heine looked around in confusion, searching for the source, when his eyes landed on the base of the crystal, and his eyes widened in horror. The massive azure crystal was starting to melt! A wide round section of the great stone was slick and dripping, sliding down the side of the crystal, and the effect was spreading rapidly. Heine stumbled back in shock, splashing through the stream of azure fluid which poured down the steps and over the edges of the pale walkway.

As he pulled back from the crystal however, he realized something strange: the center of the melting circle, where the great stone was deteriorating… it was about in the same place where Cait had struck it with his paw, wasn't it?

He had no time to consider that, however. The melting of the crystal was spreading fast, and the trickle of blue fluid was turning into a torrent, cascading down the sides of the great sphere. Gallons of the substance were crashing into the platform underneath it, splashing over the white stone, and pouring over the sides, into the pit below. Splashing echoed up from below as the viscous fluid crashed over the crystals below, filling up the dips and indentations in moments, before spreading over the rest of the pit.

Heine scrambled away from the rush of viscous fluid as it washed over the platform, rushing over the stairs and sliding through the creases in the carvings of the platform. Rena and Cait joined him as he dashed away from the cascade of melted crystal, finally turning back to face the great stone twenty yards from the base of the stone. By then, the melting had covered the entirety of the crystal, and the whole thing was vanishing like ice under the sun. Below them, the crystals at the base of the pit were being covered by the torrent of blue fluid pouring down on them.

It felt like a small eternity, the three of them standing in stark silence and watching the great crystal melting away into nothingness. Heine felt a creeping fear take hold of his heart as he watched it go. Soon enough, half of the crystal's mass had swept over the edge of the platform, and its size was drastically reduced. Yet, nothing had appeared from within the confines of the stone. No Lost, no monster… nothing. Heine could do nothing but continue to watch as gallons upon gallons rushed over the sides.

Soon enough, however, the crystal had reduced in mass enough that the remains of the blue stone was no larger than a small wagon. Heine's eyes narrowed as he stared at the crystal. A single dark shape was coming into focus within the depths of the crystal. As the azure stone reached its final stretch, the melting at the peak of the crystal accelerated, and the stone began to vanish from the top down. In a few short moments, the melting passed the shape inside, revealing what hid within.

There was a man inside: just a single man. He was blonde-haired, colored so vibrantly Heine would have described it as golden, cut short but combed back. He was clean-shaven as well, with a powerful jaw and strong features, and deep bronze skin. Heine didn't understand; this crystal should have been large enough to hold a small town of Lost, but inside was just one person. Why was only one man inside such a massive stone? The crystal continued to melt around the man, the viscous fluid cascading over the side of the walkway and into the pit below. His chest and arms were coming into view now, and both Heine and Rena gasped. They could see now the man was wearing armor.

It was a kind Heine had never seen before, not in the countless towns and villages he'd traveled to, not even in Loc Lac or Frost Town, where armors of every type and make were abundant, and on display everywhere. This was something different. It was a pale white color, much like the rest of the Meridian's structures, but seemed to be made out of some kind of small, pristine scales, thousands of them bound together. They were smooth and form-fitting, almost as though it was not jointed scaling but a single piece of padding material. They followed the curves and shapes of the man's body, unlike plating which merely covered the body.

It was not completely smooth scale mail across the entire body, however. On the man's back, Heine could see some sort of pack which merged with the armor. There were other decorations: thin, finely carved bracers were bound over the wrists tightly, and as the crystal melted below the man's navel, it revealed elaborately designed faulds hanging from a decorative belt, all made of similar pale materials. It was all very impressive, but Heine couldn't help but feel it was all simply for decoration, and the small, tightly-bound scales were all the protection the armor required.

The capper of it all, the truly mysterious part of the whole armor set, was the crystals. Shining golden gemstones lined the armor, embedded into the pale scales. There were dozens of them, all over the man's body on primary points, with thin, glowing fibers crawling through the scale mail, connecting all of them. All of it pulsed with golden light, thrumming in intensity between brilliance and dimness like a heartbeat. At the core of it all was a singular, glowing gemstone, the size of Heine's fist, embedded in the armor's chest. As with the rest of it, the gemstone was glowing a vibrant, brilliant gold. It was truly an armor set unmatched by anything Heine had ever seen before.

Heine suddenly understood. He should have from the start, with the odd crystal, in this fortress. This man was a Meridian.

The blue crystals continued to melt around the man, pouring gallons of blue fluid into the pit below. As the melting continued past the man's waist and down his legs, the man's body crumpled, tilting forward under the weight of his own body. Soon his knees and calves were free, and as the last dregs of the crystal sloshed into fluid, swelling out and pouring over the edge of the platform, the man fell forward.

Before he hit the ground, however, the man's right leg snapped forward, planting itself firmly on the platform before him. The man's torso still dipped towards the earth, and his left arm swept down, tightening to a fist and planting itself firmly against the Meridian stone as the other hand grasped hold of his knee. The man wilted slightly, kneeling on the ground.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. Both sounds reverberated clearly in the silence of the central chamber. Again he inhaled, breathing deeply, but this time, his body tightened, his muscles straining against his armor. The crystals and energy cords across his body swelled with light as well, glowing a brilliant golden color, growing in intensity until it seemed as though the gems would burst apart.

In one swift motion, the man pushed himself upright, throwing out his hands, facing his palms towards the high walls surrounding him. Across his armor, the golden energy surged across his body, accumulating and condensing at the crystals in the palms of his hands. The man opened his mouth, unleashing a deep, howling roar into the air, and all the gathered energy burst forth.

In a massive, cascading blast, massive arcs of electricity ripped from the man's hands, searing through the air and smashing into the thick Meridian stone walls. The white stone, so hard and impervious, was ripped apart by the force of the power, a steady stream of lightning tearing through the pale walls. The electricity twisted and churned as the man continued to howl, lancing across the walls and tearing through the stone. Wild, stray bolts arced across the stones snapping out and cracking against the small platform the humans and Felyne stood on, making the trio wince frightfully for fear of being caught up in the blast.

Then the lightning stopped. The man's roaring ceased, and just as quickly as it had come, the thick arcs of electricity were cut off. The walls of the central keep had been completely devastated, wide swaths of the pale stone torn apart. Massive chunks broke off, falling from the wall and plummeting into the pit, crashing into the crystals and melted blue fluid. The man standing in the center of the chamber sighed quietly, completely unharmed and unfazed despite the devastation he had just wrought.

The three standing below could only gape up in dumbstruck horror at what they'd just witnessed. The man standing on the central platform took another deep breath, pulling his hands up to his face and pushing his mussed golden hair back over his head. Then his eyes opened, snapping immediately to the three below him. They were golden, like the rest of him, and bore into them with a fierce, overwhelming intensity, holding them with sheer force of presence.

The man began to speak. His voice was thunder, deep and reverberating. It was some language Heine didn't recognize, a rhythmic tongue which pounded like a drumbeat, and even the crystals rising across the platform seemed to shiver at his words. He stared down at the three of them, his gaze so intense that Heine could hardly breathe, let alone move. It felt like the golden man was wrapping him in chains with his voice and his eyes, binding him in wires like a marionette. His heart shook in his chest as the golden man continued, each word growing louder and more intense.

"I- I don't- I can't-"

The Meridian turned sharply, glaring at Rena as the words tumbled from the huntress' mouth, and her mouth snapped shut fearfully. The golden man frowned irritably, a look of concentration on his voice, before he began speaking once more.

"I am Facultas Capsus," he intoned, and this time Heine could understand him.

"I have risen from my azure coffin. I have returned to lead the unenlightened. I have returned to retake this land from those who stole it. I have returned to wrest away the powers of those which yolk humanity. May the earth tremble at my power! May my foes flee before me!

"I am Facultas Capsus, the Eagle's Great Prison! I have returned to conquer this world!"

---

Author's Note: Please Review! The song that Heine sang was Take Courage by CatHatFiddle… and that's as close as I'll ever get to a songfic.

I always think to myself, my friends who got me into Monster Hunter in the first place probably had no idea that I would in as deep into this series as I am right now. I mean, one day my friend is bugging me to do a multiplayer arena hunt with him in Tri, despite my protests, and somehow convincing me to get my butt kicked by a Barroth. And now here I am, four years later, having close to 700 hours game time on 3U alone, written a 1.2 million word fanfic, as well as a collection of one-shots, owner of MH Illustrated 1 and 2, and eagerly awaiting the release of 4U. Yep, pretty sure that was not the intended result.

Alright, so I've still got one more open spot available for an OC, but I need to get started writing the chapter in question. It's been four weeks since the offer was put on the table, so I'm going to take that chance away soon. Anyone with an OC will need to submit it by Friday the 25th of July if they want a character in this story, but after that, no more OCs.

Reading: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki (WTF THIS MANGA IS SO WEIRD), Maoyuu Maou Yuusha by Touno Mamare, The Hunters Oath: Master Corps by Thomas A. Hawk, Faber et Filia by Hoenn Master96
Playing: Pokemon X, MH3U, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Pathfinder
Listening: Crit Juice Podcast, Hello Internet Podcast, Welcome to Night Vale Podcast, Relient K, CatHatFiddle, Poets of the Fall, Cake, Pet Shop Boys, Death Cab for Cutie, They Might Be Giants, Revolutions Podcast
Watching: The Prince of Egypt