Drip...drip...drip...was the only sound that the group could hear as they carefully moved through the tunnel. The tunnel that would hopefully lead them to the ancient temple that Skadi resided. Everyone in the group was on their guard, they couldn't afford to let their guard down, not when they were heading into the lair of Ishar-Mla.
Everyone in Ch'en's group was carefully scanning their surroundings, paying particular attention to the shadows. Any number of seaborn, or church of the deep cultists could be lying in wait, ready to ambush the group as they continued their descent. Yua was being especially cautious, the white-haired lung remembered what happened the last time she descended into a cave, it nearly led to her death at the hands of the future Skadi. This caused Yua to feel incredibly paranoid. She was expecting Skadi to pull some sort of trick or spring some trap on her.
Swire, who was walking behind Yua, could see that her surrogate niece was looking around more frantically than anyone else in the group. The feline instinctively knew something was wrong with the white-haired lung. In an effort to uncover what was bothering Yua, Swire put her hand on her surrogate niece's shoulder. However, this caused Yua to unsheathe her sword and point it at the perceived threat. Swire, in the nick of time, managed to remove her hand before she lost it. The feline then quickly found Yua's sword pointed at her neck and could see and hear Yua breathing rapidly.
Hoshiguma heard the sound of a sword being drawn and turned around to see what was happening. What the green-haired oni saw was Yua pointing her blade at Swire's neck. "Yua! What the hell are you doing?! Put down your sword, now!" The oni bellowed out at her surrogate niece. Hoshiguma's shout caught the attention of everyone else, they all turned around and could see Yua pointing her sword at Swire. "Yua! Stop! That's Swire! Lower your sword! She's not going to hurt you!" Ch'en screamed out in horror. The blue-haired lung was fearing about what was going to happen to her friend.
While Ch'en loved her future daughter, she wasn't going to stand by and do nothing if said daughter was going to injure or kill her friend. The blue-haired lung would stop her if she had too. Ch'en put her hand on her own blade, ready to physically intervene if Yua was going to harm the feline in anyway...
Everyone waited with a nervous breath, this was the last thing that they expected or wanted. Nobody, with the exception of W, wanted to see either the white-haired lung or the feline get hurt. They all wanted to intervene, to stop this madness before someone got hurt or killed. But they didn't want to risk their potential intervention to cause the white-haired lung to kill the feline.
While everyone else was expecting the worst, Swire on the other hand, was much calmer than everyone else. Despite having a sword being pointed at her neck. Looking at her surrogate niece, the feline could see that Yua looked scared, "No, Yua isn't just scared, she's terrified. Something must have happened before to make her react like this. She's shaking. I know you won't hurt me, Yua. Deep down, you're just a frightened child who needs help." Swire could summarise what was going on with the white-haired lung just by looking at her.
The feline knew without a doubt that her surrogate niece wouldn't hurt her. All she needed to do was calm her down, "Yua, it's ok. It's me, your aunt Swire. I know you're scared, I can tell something happened to you before. Just put your sword down. We can talk, I'm willing to listen, Yua. Everyone is willing to listen. I just need you to listen to me, please." Swire spoke to Yua in a comforting voice, the feline wanted the white-haired lung to know that she wasn't a threat and didn't intend to hurt her.
Yua hesitated at first, the lung wasn't sure if this was some sort of mind game that the future Skadi was trying to play on her so she would let her guard down. But after looking at Swire's face for several seconds, Yua could tell this wasn't a trick. She was pointing her sword at her aunt. The white-haired lung then lowered her sword once she was certain the feline in front of her was Swire. When everyone saw Yua lower her weapon, nearly the whole group let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Ch'en voiced her relief to everyone "else when she saw her future daughter lower her blade.
"I think we should take a few minutes to compose ourselves before we carry on. Madam Ch'en, I think it's best you speak to your daughter before we proceed any further. We cannot afford for her to have another episode like this, especially in this situation. Once you are ready, then inform me at once." Ulpianus decided that the blue-haired lung should speak to Yua before the group carried on with their mission. Ch'en nodded to the aegir man and walked over to the white-haired lung. Ch'en, along with Swire, decided to pull Yua away from the rest of the group so they could have some privacy. Amiya wanted to know what was troubling her sister and went along with the trio.
Once the four of them were a comfortable distance away from the rest, Ch'en decided to question her future daughter about what just happened, "Yua, I want you to tell me the truth. What just happened back there? Why did you point your sword at Swire?" Ch'en didn't sound angry with her future daughter. The blue-haired lung was more worried if anything else. "Yua, it's okay. I'm not mad with what you did. I just want to know why you did it." Swire, in the same comforting voice as before asked the white-haired lung why she pointed her weapon at her. Amiya didn't say anything, but had a look on her face that showed her concern for her sister.
"It's because of Skadi." Yua simply replied. This answer confused Ch'en, Swire, and Amiya. "Skadi? What does Skadi have to do with why you pointed your sword at Swire's neck? I don't understand, Yua." The blue-haired lung was trying to understand the aegir's involvement with her future daughter's episode. "It's because the last time I entered a tunnel, she played her mind tricks on me. The last time...I nearly died. She nearly killed me! I would have died if it wasn't for Mostima and Fiammetta finding me! I thought that it was Skadi trying to mess with my head again! She's done it more than once!"
"Wait! More than once?! Is that why you went berserk when you came too after we brought you back from the Copper Coast?! Skadi was responsible for that?!" Ch'en remembered what happened when Rhodes Island had taken Yua to the medical wing on the landship after her panic attack at the Copper Coast. Both herself and the doctor believed it was because their future daughter was suffering from PTSD. While that may have been true, it seems that the future Skadi was responsible for the white-haired lung lashing out the way that she did. The blue-haired lung wanted her future daughter to confirm if that was the case.
Yua simply nodded, "Yes, Mother. After I collapsed, I remember waking up in a dream, a dream that I was back in the future. But it felt so real, like I really was back in my timeline. I was back at the Rhodes Island I knew, I was back home. I saw everyone...dead. I found you...I saw what Skadi had done to you...and I found her. I didn't know it was Skadi at first. When she confessed that she killed you, I tried to attack her. I wanted to kill her for what she had done. But when I tried...she..." Yua's voice trailed off, and she stopped talking.
Ch'en, Swire, and Amiya could see that the white-haired lung was remembering a painful memory that she wished she could forget. "It all makes sense now. That's what you told me before, isn't it, Yua?" Amiya remembered what her sister had told her before when the two were together at the hut. The cautus had then passed on this information to the doctor, who then informed the blue-haired lung. Yua didn't respond, but her facial expression was telling the cautus everything that she needed to know.
"I see." Was the reply of Ch'en. While the blue-haired lungs tone of voice was neutral, internally, she was furious. Ch'en couldn't believe that the future aegir could do something so evil and cruel to her future daughter. Then again, with what the future Skadi had done to Yua's timeline, it shouldn't have surprised her at the same time. "Wait, what's this about dreams and mind games? Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Swire was trying to comprehend everything that had just been said.
"Swire, do me a favour and go back to the rest of the group. This is a matter between us three. You have your reason about why Yua did what she did. The three of us just need another moment between ourselves, please." Ch'en calmly asked her friend to give herself, Amiya, and Yua some space. The feline didn't object and began walking back towards the others. Swire could tell that what was going to be said between the three of them was going to be very personal.
Once the feline was out of earshot, Ch'en began to talk to her future daughter, "Yua, I'm so sorry for what Skadi has put you through. You have suffered enough at her hands. I'll tell you this, I am so proud that you are my daughter. You have been through so much at such a young age, but you are still standing. You are so much stronger than me, stronger than anyone else I know. I know the doctor would say the exact same as me. I don't think I would have the strength to keep going if I went through what you have."
The white-haired lung was caught completely off guard by her mother's declaration. Yua certainly didn't expect such praise. Ch'en carried on speaking, she had plenty more to say to the white-haired lung, "I promise you, you will not suffer anymore at Skadi's hands. She is going to answer for everything she has done to everyone, especially you! Her reign of terror ends here! Now! Today! We will stop her! We will save the doctor! We will save Terra! Together as mother and daughter!" Ch'en was adamant that the two of them would finally put an end to all of the death, destruction, and suffering the future aegir had caused to countless people.
This was going to end today...
Yua wanted to believe it, but she was doubting herself, "But what if Skadi tries to mess with my head again? What then?" The white-haired lung knew what the future aegir could do to her and had done so before. Yua was certain that Skadi knew all her weaknesses. "I'm not going to let her! If she wants to mess with your mind, then she will have to get through me first!" The blue-haired lung wasn't going to let the future Skadi toy with Yua's head, Ch'en was willing to put herself in the firing line if it meant protecting her future daughter.
"It's the same for me, Yua. I'm not going to let her hurt you. You are my sister. Even if we aren't related by blood, our bond goes above and beyond that." Amiya was just as determined to protect the white-haired lung as much as Ch'en. Skadi would also have to get past the cautus to harm Yua in anyway. "Thank you, both of you. I'm so lucky to have family like you. Mother, I'm sorry I haven't been the best daughter to you. You have always tried your best to protect me, and I've just been a brat and thrown it back in your face. I promise to make it up to you if we get through this." Yua was nearly on the verge of tears when she apologised to the blue-haired lung.
Ch'en simply smiled, she didn't need her daughter's apology. Just the white-haired lung surviving was enough of an apology for her. Yua then spoke to Amiya, "Amiya, you are the best sister I could have ever asked for. Now, and in the future. You haven't just been my sister, but my best friend as well. I don't care that we aren't blood related, you are my sister. Blood doesn't change that. It will never change that. I owe you so much, just as much as I do Mother."
"You don't owe me anything, Yua. And, you are my best friend as well. You are one of the few people in this world who I trust without any doubts. I would trust you with my life." The cautus had then most unshakeable faith in the white-haired lung, Amiya would gladly put her life in Yua's hands if the situation arose. "Thank you, Amiya. It means so much to hear that. It goes for the same as you, I trust you with my life. Amiya, Mother, I have one request from you both. If Skadi tries to toy with my head again, stop her. Or if you have to, stop me. I don't want to hurt anyone who I care about because of her. Can I trust either of you to do this for me?"
Both the cautus and the blue-haired lung looked at each other when they were asked this by Yua. Both looked apprehensive at potentially having to stop the white-haired lung from hurting someone by potentially having to hurt her. But they both knew Yua would never forgive herself if she harmed or killed one of her loved ones because of the future aegir. Ch'en and Amiya then turned back to Yua, "Okay, Yua. We promise. You have our word." Ch'en said to her future daughter.
Yua could tell that both her mother and sister weren't happy with this decision, but they accepted the white-haired lung's request. "Thank you. Now, I think it's time we re-joined the others. Ulpianus is probably getting impatient." Yua said out loud before she started to walk back towards the rest of the group. Ch'en and Amiya then followed behind her. Both the blue-haired lung and the cautus still didn't feel comfortable with what the white-haired lung asked them to do if needed. Both Ch'en and Amiya hoped that it wouldn't come to that...
When the trio returned to the rest of the group, Ulpianus walked up to the white-haired lung, "I trust that your issues have been settled, correct? We cannot afford for you to harm a teammate. We are on our own down here, Yua. And we still have a long way to go before we reach the temple. I have no doubt that we will meet resistance soon; sent by Skadi herself. We won't make it if anyone here dies before we get to the temple." The aegir man gave a warning to the white-haired lung.
"I understand, Ulpianus. My mother and sister will keep an eye on me. Now, let's keep going. How far do you think we still have to go? I know that we have been moving for quite a while now." Yua asked the aegir man. "I do not know. But I imagine we aren't under the sea just yet. We will know we are close. Until then, stay on your guard. That goes for everyone." Ulpianus said not just to Yua, but to the rest of the group as well. Everyone acknowledged what the aegir man said, then the group began to descend future down into the cave and towards the future Skadi's lair.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the large group of seaborn that had broken off from the main horde earlier had now entered the cave. The seaborn were pursuing Ch'en's group under their gods' orders, "Find Yua! Kill her! Kill her! I demand that you kill her!" The future aegir was telepathically screaming at her kin. The seaborn were not going to disobey their God, the seaborn stalked the tunnels, looking for the white-haired lung.
More and more sea monsters entered the tunnel, each one just as horrifying as the last. They were on the hunt for their prey, the pray being Yua herself. Ch'en and the others were completely oblivious to the number of monstrosities that were hunting them down...
In her temple, the future Skadi was watching over the sleeping form of the doctor. Behind her were many of her high-ranking priests of the church of the deep, all of them on a bended knee and their heads bowed. They were waiting for whatever command their God would give them. Without turning around, the future aegir started to speak to them, "We may well expect some uninvited guests soon. I want you to destroy every last one of them. Kill them all, show them no mercy. Especially the one known as Yua. Make sure she is dead."
All of the priests stood up and acknowledged the future aegir's order. They then left the chamber that the future Skadi was in. The aegir wasn't sure if her kin would reach Ch'en's group before they reached the temple. The future aegir decided that it was best to be proactive and have her followers be ready for their arrival as a backup plan. However, there was also a chance that Ch'en's group could be sandwiched between her priests and her seaborn.
They definitely would not survive such a confrontation...
The future Skadi continued to look at the doctor, she was so close to the perfect world that she wanted. A world that only her kin, herself, and the doctor would be part off. But the future Skadi only had two more obstacles in her way. The first being Ch'en's group, the blue-haired lung and her group were the only ones physically standing in her way. Once they were gone, it was only a matter of time before Terra fell at her hands.
The second obstacle was the presence of the pink-haired sarkaz woman stopping her from manipulating the doctor's mind. The future aegir didn't know who this presence was, but it was adamant on not letting Skadi get her way. The future aegir knew however, that she would overcome this presence eventually.
And she had all the time in Terra once Ch'en and the rest were defeated...