Part VI -
At the entrance to the next floor, the two familia's gathered after one hour had passed. Time used to prepare themselves for whatever may fall before them. Without words, they marched into the darkness that hung around the dungeon in two columns, and at enough of a distance that wouldn't be considered claustrophobic in case any ambushes. Though that wouldn't happen. The first thing that they noticed when they arrived on the nineteenth floor was the noise. Or lack of.
The Dungeon was silent in a way that none of them had ever known. That sensation alone was all that they needed to know that this day was not going to be like any other as the silence wore itself upon them. There was no breath from the dungeon walls, nor creatures shrieking or crying.
The only sound was from their muffled breaths, and their feet as they shuffled against the dungeon floor. And though the light that was cast from lanterns was low, it was enough for them to safely stay on their desired path as they ventured through the black fog.
"Ahh man.." Tiona said mournfully, she stopped as she spotted a set of familiar figures laying on the floor as a faint glimmer caught her eye. It was a group of adventurers. A woman with a beautiful bracelet on her wrist and features that would be on par of an elves. The only obstruction was a broken claw pinning her skull to the ground. The others, well there may have been three other adventurers. Their remains were scattered, and gore spread across the floor and walls leaving Tiona covering her mouth.. It was hard to tell and they didn't intend on approaching to find out.
"They were so close.." Tiona said under her breath.
That sight wasn't new to them, it was a way of life for adventurers. But this? The tremor, and the empty dungeon floors sent shivers down her spine.
Despite the sight, the two groups kept moving with Tiona catching up to her spot in line. But once Bell walked by, all he felt was sorrow and the shaking in his hand slowly returned.
"Bell.." Ryuu spoke softly as she walked beside him.
"I'm ok.." Bell said, he tried to reassure her but it was a facade that she immediately saw through. He was made. And he knew it. There was no lying with her as she saw right through something so simple. But it was evident that even as he tried to reassure her, she would do the same in this moment. With the team behind them.
"I wish I could say it'd be easier this time. With you by my side.. But to march back into the fire just as we doused the last.." There was tightness in her chest, a temptation once more to reach out for his hand. As she was about to reach, like the oblivious fool that Bell always was, began to walk just a little bit faster. With each step his hand was once more out of reach.
She didn't know whether to feel rejected, hurt, or disappointed that it'd be the second time that she tried. Wondering that perhaps Bell isn't the fool?
"Hey.." Welf walked up following suite, who saw it all. "You know he's a little-.."
Welf rolled his eyes as if trying to communicate something. "-Oblivious to it. If you couldn't tell, don't beat yourself up."
He had the temptation himself to pat her shoulder until he himself remembered something.
"Oh yeah. No touching. Come on." Welf gently ushered her along like the big brother role that he so naturally filled with the rest of the team following behind them.
Though Ryuu couldn't help but feel her cheeks turn red with embarrassment as Welf noticed, surely another did too. In her heart she felt a ping of guilt. Wondering whether or not this goes against her promise to Bell's beloved to be. She knew that once she got back there was going to be a conversation, possibly one she wasn't ready for.
As she drew closer to him, she couldn't help but think.
"What am I doing? Why am I so distracted?"
Questions upon question. She could ask herself them as many times as she wanted but it always came back to the same answer. After everything he's done, the strength and will he carries, how he never gave up on her. Not even when she begged and manipulated him to leave to survive and leave her behind. He always came back, he fought for and beside her. He stood as a constant beacon of light and hope when she wanted to drown in the darkness. It was the answer she wanted to ignore, the conflict that stemmed from her promise with Syr. The truth was..
"I've fallen for you.. And I don't want to lose you to this thing.."
Steeling her resolve and focusing her mind, she came to one conclusion. There always was that chance that a meeting with death was around the corner. But she'd be damned if she'd let it get to Bell.
Their feet continued to walk at a steady pace through the empty corridors and passageways of the Dungeon. Making their way down two floors in record time. Occasionally, their feet would shuffle and kick against stones, sending them to clatter and echo. The sound traveling further than them, they would stop to take a second and wait.
"Watch your feet you little brat." Bete snarled in a whisper aimed for Tiona.
"It's not my fault, these things are everywhere!" Tiona hushed back, and switched her attention to the floor. "Why are there so many of these rocks anyway?"
Tiona bent over and froze, behind her Gareth was looking away scanning the environment looking for any telltale signs of incoming danger. So far there were none, that is until he bumped into Tiona's rear end.
"Hey what do you think you are doing?" Tiona hushed at what she assumed was an advance made upon her.
"What are you talking about? We're walking in a line, why aren't you?" Gareth ordered her.
The rest of the line came to an uneasy stop as they waited.
"I'm trying to do my job! Look!" Tiona said pointing to the floor with her light. Through the darkness, her lantern shone faintly to the ground. And there glistening ever so slightly was what looked like shiny rocks.
"Guys.. I think Tiona's right." Welf said through his mask in an uneasy tone as his lantern scanned the floor.
Covering the floor weren't rocks, or debris from a fight. No they were the hearts of victims. Magic stones lay scattered across the floor in amounts that rivaled some of their best days adventuring.
"Whoever was here was killing a lot of monsters." Mikoto said, her voice quiet as the fabric muffled her words and then she shone her light far off into the darkness. Her breath began to shake and her hand instinctively reached for her sword as her body went into fight or flight mode from the sight alone. "Oh gods.."
She backed away into Haruhime, who gave a soft oof, confused she turned with her lantern seeking clarity only for Mikoto to block her eyesight.
"No you don't want to see this.." Mikoto said guarding Haruhime.
Everyone else looked as the darkness began to lift their lights shone brighter piercing the realm of this floor. As they all stood at a stop they couldn't say anything for whatever words they knew, none could describe what they saw. With the darkness that filled the room beginning to cling to the walls, it revealed a horrible truth.
Bodies of adventurers skewen about amongst the magic stones meant only one thing. They were overwhelmed by sheer force. Slayed and mutilated without remorse.
"There could be survivors. Right?" Lili asked, with little to no optimism, but with an obligation to be a decent person to ask.
"No.." Ryuu said at the familiar sight. "There's no surviving something like that."
Bell and Ryuu shared glances before they took a step, a reluctance to step into a fight with the same thing that hunted them not too long ago, but a shared determination to do whatever it took.
All the way down to the twenty-seventh floor, everyone shared the same sense of uneasiness. It was like a weight that even the most experienced adventurers could feel weighing down on their shoulders. Because with the walls still and dormant, and each step garnered no attention or malice, it felt like this place, a place where death waited around every corner was dead itself.
Having arrived at the twenty-seventh floor with ease, Bell and Finn surveyed the area. Water from the Great Fall rushed past the land with a constant roar that was almost deafening as it proceeded to the lake that rests in the center of the floor.
Peering out, Finn scanned the environment. Noticing every little detail he could. Sweeping from left to right, he saw all that he needed. The entrance to the next floor, the tunnels and passageways that lead to various locations. Drawing upon the years of experience of passing through this floor, everything was able to stick out like a sore thumb. If it were him and his team up here to form a barricade, he already knew what he would have them do.
As he turned to Bell, he saw his eyes locked on the lake.
"Is something the matter, Bell?" Finn asked as he matched his gaze.
Bell's rubellite eyes slowly scanned the waters. The entire time they travelled the floors, there were magic stones. The heart of monsters. In this catastrophe, he couldn't help but wonder about the state of his friends. The Xenos. He could imagine that Marie would be safe. As he gazed to the water, he could imagine her small face peekly out and waving happily upon noticing him.
"I just hope that they're all safe." Bell thought to himself.
"No.." Bell paused and then pointed at the lake. "But we could use that as battlefield if it came to it."
Finn tilted his head and began to ponder it.
"Unless you can swim rather well, I suppose you're right."
"If we freeze it over though, it could ground the Juggernaut. Slowing him down.." Bell's eyes intensely focused on the lake, totally entranced by his own thoughts.
"Assuming that it gets to that, it is a good part of a plan. Now you just have to come up with the rest of it." Finn said happily. Amused that the boy was growing into such a leader. As if Finn himself was going to have quite the competition with him if he keeps up this kind of growth.
"I have a good idea what to do.." Bell said, his voice humbled yet confident as he turns to look at his team. The people that he vowed to protect.
As he turned, he took mental notes, and scanned from left to right. Analyzing the environment.
"He really is taking this seriously, fully engaged in the present before him.. I should expect nothing less of him.." Finn couldn't see the eager youth in the boy before him, but the experience of an adventurer. Composed despite expressing his concerns of terror from just this morning. Even during the meeting, he didn't crack. The fateful question that any ill fool would answer.
"Tell us your abilities."
And he said, "no."
Finn knew the stakes of that question, and was fully prepared to use it at some point if the need ever arrived. But despite the boy's answer, he was sincerely glad. For it meant that he was focused, careful not to let that fear overwhelm him. Perhaps his little lie helped, or perhaps not. That didn't matter. What Finn saw in Bell was an ally for today. And if it all hit the fan, he believed he could trust the boy to do what needs to be done to get them all home.
"If you look over there." Finn said, grabbing Bell's attention, as he pointed to the far end of the lake. "There are three passageways. If we have to fall back to you, it'll be through one of those three tunnels. Plan for that possibility."
"Hmm. Got it." Bell said with a nod.
And so planning and preparations went underway as the Loki familia began to leave. Passing the barren lake where the Amphisbaena spawn, the waters remained calm and nothing rose to the surface to greet them. Bell stood in silence as he watched them leave.
"△▼△▼△▼△"
On the surface, small groups of people surrounded Babel at varying distances. Some at the word of Guild staff, others by the Ganesha familia orders, or just from a sense of wariness. It wasn't that long ago that monsters escaped and rampaged in the Daedalus district, nor the strange tents that popped up as well.
The people who gathered the entrances. Not eager for their fear to come to life, but for the return of the adventurers. Their presence alone would signal that all is normal. That life can go back onto the way things have been. That the people don't have to be afraid.
Standing in the center of the southeast entrance stood a young boy, with fair skin, neatly trimmed hair, and well dressed. Almost uncomfortably so. His thin body shifting as if screaming that he would rather be in anything else than this. This young boy is a god. Behind him approached a tall man, with sunkissed skin, and hair black as night, and perfectly groomed. With a broad physique that carried both muscle and a softer mid section, he looked much like someone's burly uncle or out-of-shape trainer.
Two gods stand side by side. One anxiously awaiting the return of his familia, the other munching on a potato snack in one hand and holding the other idly by in his other.
The sound of crispy potatoes being crunched on, as he stood there. The sound uncomfortably loud in the silence of the day. In the presence of Babel, a tower built by the gods, it felt like an insult.
The boy looked up, his eyes filled with concerned but also irritation as the taller god munched away. Without looking, the taller god handed the young looking god the other potato snack.
"Ahh?" The young god uttered at the gesture. His eyes lighting up as he took it in hand. "Thank you, Krishna.."
The young god's face blushed with embarrassment as he took it, and tried to snack on it as silently as he could. The entire demeanor about him was quiet, insecure, reluctant to be anywhere and nowhere. He was only here for the sake of his familia to watch them return from their expedition amidst the unusual circumstances that caught everyone by surprise today.
The other, was the opposite. His presence alone was that of him being in command of the situation, any and all. That he was the pinnacle of confidence. As he looked up to the top of the tower of Babel with his dark brown eyes, like that of the richest, most exquisite of darkwoods, he spoke kindly.
"Don't mention it, little one."
Krishna gave the top of the tower of Babel a prolonged gaze and then his eyes began to settle down it's length. Following the path of the lines that are etched and embedded in the structure. Then down to the young god where he scruffled up his hair where the young god groaned with a mouthful of potatoes.
"Don't do that!" He squirmed as his head sunk into his shoulders dropping the half eaten potato snack as he tried to pry Krishna's hand away. "My familia put a lot of effort today with this, so leave it!"
Krishna couldn't help but laugh as he released his grip on the young god's skull.
"You've always been uptight when you're out, Lenus. Loosen up, I'm sure they won't mind."
The young god, Lenus shot him a glare and quickly looked away in offense as he crossed his arms, to signal that he was ignoring him.
"Oh come on. Just because you look away doesn't mean it'll go away." Krishna said with a chuckle as if he was pestering a younger sibling.
"I don't understand how you can do something so nice, and then follow it up with something like that. I see your time here in the mortal realm hasn't changed one bit." Lenus said as if pouting by his own personal boundary was being broken. And it was, the young god didn't care for touch. The sensation often overwhelmed him. It was something that only happened once he arrived to the mortal realm, it was the reason why he couldn't bear the sensation of these particular clothes on his body. Every nerve was already past capacity. He knew that the first order of business once his familia gets back was to change into his robe.
The thought it alone brought him comfort. And so he suffered this sensation. Patiently waiting. Completely unaware of what has and is happening in the dungeon. A place where gods and goddesses are forbidden to enter.
"Huh..." Kishna brought his hand up to his chin stroking the corners of his dark mustache. "Haven't I? Well I don't see a problem with that, do you?"
Krishna smirked with those words, knowing all too well what Lenus' reaction would be.
Lenus spun around hunched over as he was fixing his hair.
"Mer." Lenus grumbled as he met Krishna.
"Always, merr.. Alright, I'll go. I'll go." Krishna said as he backed up and away from the small god. As he left, he brought the remaining potato snack to his mouth and bit into it with a loud crunch before turning away. "Mer."
Krishna jokingly grumbled as he left Lenus.
With Lenus alone his eyes rested firmly on the dungeon entrance. The very same spot that his familia entered through. Believing they should be back at any moment. Hoping.
"Please be back soon.."