The tendrils covered the exit above Lee Seng. He lifted his hand up and blasted the roots away. He readied himself for another blast and watched the tendril regrow. Lee Seng popped a blast and immediately another, only to see the earth crumble. Lee Seng suspended gravity and pushed the rocks away, revealing the tendrils blocking the way, again.
A ray of sunshine managed to creep through before the tendrils engulfed the new opening. Lee Seng sighed and looked at Olivia fifteen feet behind him. She watched the tendrils fill the space in and wrap themselves around the suspended floating rocks. Lee Seng let out a sigh and rejoined with Olivia, releasing the gravitational suspension. The tendrils drooped, quickly tightening around the rocks, and crushing some of them to dust.
"I don't think we're getting outta here." Lee Seng scratched his head.
"The only way is forward…" Olivia winced. Lee Seng lifted his hand and gave Olivia some more relief. Purple spots would fade permanently, but others would simply return with the pain. "You're completely sure that the root-like tendrils have something to do with Deimons?"
"Growing surer the longer we stay trapped down here." Lee Seng nodded. "And the only way to get out… is to find the source of all of this." He motioned all around them, kicking at some tendrils and burning them. They made a hissing noise like air seeping out of a balloon. Lee Seng moved to stand next to Olivia, revealing the tendrils had fallen farther than she thought they did. She tapped her bracelet and cleared her voice before tapping it again. There was a click of recognition from Lee Seng's necklace.
"Hello?" Olivia spoke. They waited for a couple seconds before she continued. "Can anyone hear me? Team Zephyr?" They waited longer and got no response. Olivia sighed and lowered her bracelet. "Do you think we're getting blocked somehow?"
"These devices work on any Realm, right?" Lee Seng asked.
"Yeah. We've done many jobs with someone watching over you. I don't know why it would cut connection. It's magically linked to all our accessories." Olivia looked at her bracelet and rolled her eyes in frustration. Lee Seng sighed and looked at the tendrils.
"It can't be because of these, right…?" Lee Seng whispered. He reached for the tendrils, again and pressed his hand on it, releasing his energy. Purple filled his vision and faded to black as he shut his eyes. They were further in the network. The drop-off point was close. The faint energy fizzled as Lee Seng pushed downwards. The "noise" in his head grew loud.
"Errraa… Nyaaa…" It sounded like a radio frequency that was off. Lee Seng was close enough to hear something but off enough to not make out what was being said. Lee Seng pulled his hand away and let out the breath he was holding.
"Are you okay?" Olivia asked. "Did it happen, again?" She looked at him out of concern and a hint of dread. Would Lee Seng be in front of her or would someone else be? She couldn't help but wonder that despite Lee Seng telling her and the others, Eleven was dead.
"I'm… fine." Lee Seng shook off the headache. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down the tendril-y tunnel. The tendrils permeated the entire hallway with some sort of strange purple mist. "What's that?"
"What's what?" Olivia looked down the tunnel and saw nothing. Lee Seng took a couple steps forward and reached out. It smelled rotten. The tendrils pumped and energy flew through the tendrils, down the tunnel and disappeared out of sight.
"I can see it now…" Lee Seng whispered. He raised his foot and tapped the ground. The entire space lit up, tracing the tendrils in every direction. Lee Seng smiled and looked at Olivia with fading purple eyes. "I've been seeing the sight that was taught to Keng… I wasn't seeing with my eyes which had changed… If I let myself see like that…" The purple in Lee Seng's eyes stopped fading. They grew large, filling the entire space, again. This time, the purple allowed Lee Seng's eyes to partially fill in. Lee Seng's body cracked. His muscles grew as the clothing on him was replaced with the skintight suit. He let out a sigh of relief like he had been restrained. Lee Seng's tails didn't fade into the suit. They swept the floor, avoiding Olivia.
"C'mon, we have to follow this." Lee Seng motioned. Olivia was pulled forward, following Lee Seng. What once was lines of gold and silver on his suit, was now gold, silver and purple. Each step Lee Seng took, the colors slowly drained. Once they were done, they would grow back to normal and repeat. It was physically showing Lee Seng's seismic step.
With updated information at the bare feet of Lee Seng, he quickly found his way to the conglomeration of all the root-like tendrils – a large carved hole. Lee Seng slowed to a stop looking down. The purple mist had turned to haze here. Olivia coughed, feeling the burning sensation light up. She hissed in pain, going into a coughing fit.
"Are you alright?" Lee Seng asked. He turned and lifted his hand up to her and spoke the spell. "Heal." A golden light washed over her, again. Lee Seng kept his energy going and formed a circle around Olivia. The purple haze crackled with a strange light.
"Everyone… Not… Haaa…" A low crackling voice groaned. The frequency was close now. Lee Seng stuck a closed fist off the edge and formed some energy. He released it and watched golden droplets fall. The golden droplets went for a few seconds before disappearing into the haze.
"A couple seconds… That isn't fun." Lee Seng commented. He looked over at Olivia, who was finally catching a breath. "I think… we're going down there."
"Wh-what?" Olivia began to stutter when Lee Seng's tails wrapped around Olivia, pulling her along with the jumping Lee Seng. Olivia screamed as wind whipped in their faces. Lee Seng and Olivia popped into the haze. Lee Seng raised a hand and pushed light around them, slowing them. Lee Seng watched as they descended. The haze was growing into a thick fog. "W-what—"
Lee Seng flicked a finger and a golden bubble formed around Olivia and Lee Seng's nose and mouth.
"What is all of this?" Olivia asked.
"You can see it?" Lee Seng asked.
"Yeah… It looks like poison… Like a miasma of sorts." Olivia glanced around. She reached to touch her eyes when she realized Lee Seng had only covered their mouths and noses. "Why didn't you cover our eyes?"
"Just a hunch." Lee Seng stopped. He kept Olivia directly behind him, away from any immediate danger that could creep up. Something slithered and moved. Something whispered deep within.
"Everyone's not here yet… What do I do…? What do I do…?" A voice quietly spoke.
"Well, of course you stay here. Where else would you go?" Another voice answered. "It's not like we can do much."
"I want… to go home… Let me go home…"
"Oh, no, no, no! We hit the jackpot! We must stay here and grow!" Voice 2 laughed. "You already know what happens if we step out of this… water. We turn. We cannot go."
"I don't… want to be here anymore… I'm hungry." Voice 1 complained. Lee Seng turned to Olivia and pressed a finger on his lips.
'Two people are down there.' Lee Seng telepathically told her. 'Stay as quiet as you can. I'm going to try to get closer to them.' Lee Seng turned and started to descend before Olivia could tell Lee Seng not to. The way she saw it, she would only be a hindrance to Lee Seng. They pushed through the miasma fog and Lee Seng could see two thin shapes near each other.
"All of that…" The person on the left pointed up. "We need to get out through that…"
"No, no, no!" The person on the left moved closer. Lee Seng noticed the right person's body went farther than it should've been. It weaved itself around the left person a couple of times before pulling their head towards them. "We can't leave. Do you want to become… them?"
"No one's… going to save us." The first person told the second. It slipped out of the second person's hold and moved away. The first person's torso went much further, too! Lee Seng turned and listened as Olivia gasped.
"Who's that?" Person 2 asked. They turned towards Lee Seng and Olivia's direction. Person 1 stopped moving. They started to be dragged forward. "I think… we might've found something! Someone came to say hi!" Person two lashed forward. A purple-scaled snake woman reached out for Olivia. She had deathly pale skin and fangs sticking out of her mouth. Purple eyes looked up at Olivia as Lee Seng pulled it away. The Naga slammed against the wall before the other end flew at Lee Seng.
"SAVE ME!" Person 1 shouted. They were slightly smaller than the other woman. They wore an innocent face as Lee Seng dodged out of the way.
"Snake people?" Lee Seng asked, landing on the bottom. The splash of water caught Lee Seng's and Olivia's attention. The water lit up, drawing the Nagas at their new 'friends.'
"The water lit up?" Naga 2 asked. She pulled up to Naga 1, who nervously shrank. "It's your lucky day, Gabs. We've found our way out of here!"
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l