Lee Seng and Olivia had followed the water down the cave. It snaked and spilled out of random hole drops. The waters started to defy the laws of gravity, floating up and down areas that were unreachable. Lee Seng and Olivia floated to the next opening, landing on the ground.
"They're all going this way now." Olivia pointed out. She looked over at Lee Seng who was spacing out. He was mapping the area around them. "There's so many dead ends and random openings. Its like the caves, at one point, led somewhere but decided not to… Why?"
The humming noise grew louder. They were definitely closer than before. Lee Seng's eyes opened and Olivia moved forward like they had done this many times before. The waters were higher. What once was mere water that spilled to their ankles was now climbing up their calves. The two slowly moved through the water, following the humming noise…
Keng scanned the area from a higher vantage point. The caves endlessly snaked in every direction which made it hard to discern where the water noise was coming from. It was pitch black down here. If it weren't for Keng's darksight and light abilities, none of them would've seen the dead ends or holes coming!
"Find anything?" A shadow bubbled next to Keng's ear forming a small ball. It was Calis' Darkness Voice.
"Nope. I don't see anything. The water noise seems farther this time. I think it's bouncing off the walls." Keng replied.
"What do we do now?" Liz's voice came through the ball of darkness. "Walking around tryin' to follow something we don't even know where it could be? That's more dangerous than fighting with no plan."
"I… agree with that, but we don't really know the way back, do we?" Evan brought up. Keng descended back down to the floor and sighed.
"There's a couple areas we could go, but I'm not sure if—" Keng stopped. His ears rang, blurring his vision. The sound of Keng's breath grew loud for a moment, then it spoke?
"We're getting… closer… I think… it won't be long until we… find it." Lee Seng's voice quietly spoke. "I hope this is the… If it isn't, I'm going to riot." Lee Seng laughed while Keng turned like Lee Seng was getting closer.
"Keng?" Manny quietly called out. Team Zephyr looked at Keng in confusion. "Is something wrong?"
"Hey, Ke—"
"Wait." Lee Seng spoke. He threw his hand up and looked left, the way the water was avoiding. Olivia looked at Lee Seng.
"What?" Olivia asked. She looked down the path and realized it was a drop off point.
"Do you… hear the buzzing noise?" Lee Seng stepped over to the drop off point.
"No… Why?" Olivia turned and followed. Lee Seng craned his neck and stopped short of the edge. He peered out into the darkness and saw nothing. "What's wrong, Lee? Do you sense something? Is it another Naga?"
"No." Lee Seng replied. "It's familiar… I think… I think it's Keng."
"Keng's down here? That nasty liquid is gone?"
"Maybe." Lee Seng shrugged. He sucked in stale air and then closed his eyes.
"Keng?" Calis called out. Keng took a deep breath and began to glow silver. He reached out in tandem with Lee Seng. The group and Olivia watched from opposite ends as silver and gold light shot out of Lee Seng and Keng's finger. The entire place lit up, illuminating every nook and cranny of the caves as the beam of lights shot out.
They flew at each other, weaving through different parts of the caves until they finally joined. It was at that moment, the twins knew they were both down here together.
"They're here." Lee Seng and Keng spoke in unison. Keng and Lee Seng's free hand lit up in cosmic light. The two threw their portals off to the side, creating a connecting portal. Team Zephyr watched as Lee Seng and Keng moved their connected lights to the portal. The starry image absorbed the light. The dark portal flickered, revealing the other in the portal.
"Guys?!?" Olivia stepped over.
"Olivia?!? Lee Seng?!?" Liz rushed over. "You're okay!"
"What're you guys doing down here?" Olivia asked. "Did the nasty liquid finally go away?"
"No. It still hasn't. We had to go inside of a building and it conveniently went underground. We ended up here after hours of walking."
Keng and Lee Seng let out a synced sigh and snapped out of it. The portal was connected and that strange feeling faded. They both turned to the portal and acknowledged the strange thing that happened.
"C'mon," Manny motioned. "Let's go to them." Olivia moved out of the way and watched as the group stepped through the portal. Olivia greeted everyone with waves, smiles and hugs. The pain she had just went through a couple hours ago, no more. When Keng stepped in after Calis, the portal shut itself.
"You're doing okay?" Ritsuka asked Lee Seng.
"I'm fine." Lee Seng brushed himself. "A couple nicks and blows, but it's nothing I can't handle."
"You look a bit pale." Evan pointed out. Manny's ears twitched. He moved over and noticed Lee Seng was pale. He grabbed Lee Seng's hand and looked at it. Their were faint traces of purple in his veins. Manny looked up and noticed Lee Seng's eyes were more purple than before.
"Your eyes…" Manny gasped.
"Oh, that?" Lee Seng rubbed his eyes. "Deimon things. It's nothing to worry about. If anything, I'd check Olivia."
"What happened to Olivia?" Liz asked.
"I tried to drain a Corrupted and its energy hurt me instead." Olivia answered. Liz gasped as she hovered around Olivia. She grabbed Olivia's hands and lifted them up to inspect.
"You're way paler than normal too! Manny you should heal Olivia first!" Liz shouted.
"I'm fine." Lee Seng reassured Manny. "The water we were following healed her, but I'm not sure if she's entirely safe." Manny nodded and went over to check Olivia. There were clear signs of discoloration. Olivia explained to Manny it was due to the drain she did on the Corrupted.
Manny's green light washed over Olivia. The discoloration lit up followed by different areas of Olivia's body. According to what Olivia had recalled, everything was right. Her fingers were the most damaged followed by the veins closest. Manny scanned Olivia, noticing her core was also damaged.
"Your core's damaged, too? Did the Corrupted do this?" Manny asked.
"My core?" Olivia asked. Manny nodded.
"I… I can see it's damaged. I usually can't see the core of energy, though… Why can I see it now?"
"Maybe you're skilled enough to see it now." Evan suggested. " I mean, you did spend a lot of time with the Druid Priestess and the doctor while we were in Daros… Maybe that old man's training did pay off."
"Maybe." Manny shrugged. "There. I've healed the nerves and veins. There shouldn't be much problem anymore." He pulled his hand away from Olivia and noticed the color slowly coming back to her. "You might feel better, but I would take it easy for a bit."
"Thanks." Olivia nodded.
"Now, let's check up on you, Lee." Manny turned and walked back over to Lee Seng. He lifted his hand up and washed the green light over him. "There's injuries on your chest and arms. Did that Corrupted do a lot of work to you guys?"
"The Naga did, yeah." Lee Seng nodded.
"Naga? When did you fight such a humanoid beast?" Ritsuka asked. The others turned their attention to Lee Seng.
"After we fought the Corrupted and Olivia got hurt, we found some root-like tendrils. We followed it into a small opening and came out to a network of tunnels filled with the roots. I managed to tap into it and followed it to a drop off point filled with poison. Don't know what the tendirls are still, but there were two Nagas bound together by their tails. One Naga on one end and one on the other.
"A Glass and a Fighter at that… but they ended up fusing in the end… If it weren't for the fact I had access to a powerful Fox rune, I don't think we would've stood a chance… What's more interesting to me is the fact the water kept them from corrupting, supposedly… It even healed Olivia a bit." Lee Seng explained. He looked over to Calis. "Do you think this is the Cup's water?"
"It sounds like it." Calis agreed. "If the water can stop Olivia and heal her… And we add in the fact that the water could stop corruption…"
"It could potentially be the answer to healing those who weren't lucky in pushing off the Corruption… Hell, it could heal those afflicted with Deimon blood too!" Keng snapped his fingers.
"The Cup's water can heal any affliction or ailment… That must mean something, right? We can stop the Deimons with it!" Evan smiled with the small flicker of hope. "We can heal these people!"
"And heal my people." Calis nodded. "I'm not against that."
"That just leaves the question… How are we going to get a Corrupted?" Ritsuka asked.
"Let's focus on finding the Cup first." Manny pulled away from Lee Seng. "We can decide what we do after that."
Read latest chapters at f(r)eewebnov𝒆l Only